Alter Ego #98

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY! IT’S

Roy Thomas’ High-Soaring Comics Fanzine

YOU’LL BELIEVE A ®

CAN FLY—

$

7.95

In the USA

No.98 December 2010

—WHEN

MORT WEISINGER, ALVIN SCHWARTZ, & WHITNEY ELLSWORTH

[Superman & Shazam! hero TM & © 2010 DC Comics.]

SAY SO!

AND SO CAN THAT

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GUY—COURTESY OF

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

2010 EISNER AWARD Nominee Best Comics-Related Periodical

Other issues available, & an ULTIMATE BUNDLE with all issues at HALF-PRICE!

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ALTER EGO #82

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MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood,

by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover

by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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

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

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ALTER EGO #88

ALTER EGO #89

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

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

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

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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

SIMON & KIRBY and NOSTRAND cover!

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ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

ALTER EGO #94

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

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

SWORD-AND-SORCERY, PART 3! DC’s Sword of Sorcery by O’NEIL, CHAYKIN, & SIMONSON and Claw by MICHELINIE & CHAN, Hercules by GLANZMAN, Dagar

by GLUT & SANTOS, Marvel S&S art by BUSCEMA, KANE, KAYANAN, WRIGHTSON, et al., and JACK KATZ on his classic First Kingdom! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER’s fan-creations (part 3), and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

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

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo Companion, Part II!” More on the 19631985 series that changed comics forever!

The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

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Vol. 3, No. 98 / December 2010 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Proofreader Rob Smentek

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

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

Cover Artist Jerry Ordway

Cover Colorist Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Joyce Kaffel American Heritage Henry Kujawa Center, Joe Latino Univ. of Wyoming Dominique Léonard Henry Andrews Mark Lewis Bob Bailey Jim Ludwig Mike W. Barr Don Mangus Rod Beck Bruce Mason Jack Bender Ken McFarlane John Benson Pamela Joy McMorrow Steve Billnitzer Brian K. Morris Jared Bond Will Murray Len Brown Marie O’Brien Nicky & Jason Brown Jerry Ordway Frank Brunner John Pansmith Mike Burkey Barry Pearl R. Dewey Cassell Joe Petrilak Shaun Clancy J. Scott Pike John R. Cochran Gene Reed Chet Cox Bob Rivard Joe Desris Charlie Roberts Michaël Dewally Herb Rogoff Betty Dobson Alvin Schwartz Peter Enfantino Evan Shaner Mark Evanier Anthony Snyder Jean-Michel Ferragatti Darrell Stark John Firehammer Desha Swayze Shane Foley Marc Swayze Michael Fraley Dann Thomas Ken Gale Anthony Tollin Janet Gilbert Richard Toogood Grand Comics John R. Waggener Database Lynn Walker Bob Greenberger Hames Ware Jennifer Hamerlinck Lawrence Watt-Evans Mel Higgins Ike Wilson Jerry Hillegas Eddy Zeno Bill Jourdain

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Frank Frazetta & Al Williamson–– also to Whitney Ellsworth & Mort Weisinger

Contents A Pair Of Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “The Driving Force That Really Made DC Great” . . . . . . . . . . 5 Will Murray examines the career of Whitney Ellsworth and the rise of National/DC.

Digging Up Superman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Joyce Kaffel remembers her father, Mort Weisinger, legendary Golden/Silver Age Superman editor.

“I’ve Always Been a Writer” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Writer Alvin Schwartz on his long career in comics and elsewhere, interviewed by Jim Amash.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!: Kooky DC Krossovers! . . . . . . 59 Michael T. Gilbert and his begoggled companion look at some odd DC pairings.

Tributes to Frank Frazetta & Al Williamson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 68 FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America] #157 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze—and Jared Bond on the Superman/Captain Marvel lawsuit.

On Our Cover: We’ll admit it—we’re suckers for a good cover that co-features Superman and Captain Marvel—in Ye Editor’s opinion two of the greatest creations in the 75+ years of the comic book industry.

Our thanks to collector Dominique Léonard and to artist Jerry Ordway for their blessing in printing this breathtaking commission illo by Roy’s 1980s collaborator on All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc. [Superman & Captain Marvel TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

Above: Superman was an instant hit—and not just in English! Jean-Michel Ferragatti sent us this image from a French translation of a very early “Superman” story “Cible Humaine” (the translation of the French is “Human Target”), utilizing drawings from Joe Shuster’s Superman art shop—and, in the foreground, what looks like a Superman figure by major early comics artist Lou Fine from a Fox or Quality comic... or possibly a Paul Gustavson figure from Centaur or Timely... in Kal-El’s colors. Hey—Gustavson’s Angel, in Marvel Mystery Comics, also had a red cape and mostly blue outfit—so maybe the Gallic licensee felt he was fair game as a stand-in for Superman! [©2010 DC Comics.]

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.

Eight-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $85 Canada, $107 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

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C

“I Contain Multitudes”

an we talk?

I thought I should mention up front—not that it’s been an especially well-kept secret—that I have a long history with legendary DC/Superman editor Mort Weisinger, who is remembered by his daughter in one of the five “Superman”-themed features this month.

That history goes back to my two weeks of working as his editorial assistant during the summer of 1965… an unhappy situation that ended when, unexpectedly, I received a rival job offer from Stan Lee to come script for him at much smaller Marvel Comics. I originally wrote of that experience back in the ’90s for the magazine Comic Book Marketplace; those notes were reprinted in Alter Ego #50, exactly one-half this volume’s life ago. In the years since, I’ve never really felt I had much to add to or subtract from that remembrance.

However, I emphasized in that article—and quite sincerely—that I have a considerable respect for the talent and accomplishments of Mort Weisinger, both as writer and editor. How could I not? He was the first scripter and co-creator of such favored features as “Johnny Quick,” “Aquaman,” “Green Arrow,” “Vigilante,” “Seven Soldiers of Victory,” and others—and if I was too old in the 1960s to be grabbed by his postSuperman-TV-series editorial additions to the Man of Steel’s mythos (Supergirl, Bizarro, various shades of Kryptonite, Imaginary Tales, and, God knows, The Legion of Super-Heroes), I respected the abilities of the puppet-master who oversaw the development of a Superman universe that moved far beyond the one he had inherited from Whitney Ellsworth.

In addition, I’ve long been aware that Mort W. was involved with KalEl for nearly two decades before his name appeared in the indicia of the “Superman” titles. When I was reading Superman, Action, World’s Finest, Superboy, and Adventure back in the 1940s and ’50s, I was giving Mort (as well as DC) my economic vote with each dime (or 15¢) that I plunked down.

And when, a few weeks after I moved to New York, Mort became an unscheduled part of the first-ever comic book creators’ panel (a writers’ symposium, of all things!) at Dave Kaler’s 1965 convention, I didn’t let the fact that I’d recently left his employment under stormy circumstances blind me to the certainty that he definitely belonged behind that long table with the likes of Bill Finger, Gardner Fox, and Otto Binder (as transcribed for A/E #20).

So it gives me considerable pleasure, at last, to be able to present this issue’s memoir of Mort Weisinger as father and human being by his daughter, Joyce Kaffel. Her article, I hope, will come as a much-needed counterweight to some of the memories that others, including some of his fellow professionals, have shared concerning him previously in A/E. It’s perhaps a bit awkward that—because Joyce’s memoir appears in a “Superman”-themed issue between a study of early DC editor Whit Ellsworth and “Superman”/“Batman” writer Alvin Schwartz, who often scripted for Mort—it is sandwiched between some less than flattering comments about the man who oversaw so many Kryptonian classics.

Joyce, however, was big enough to understand this. A/E doesn’t want to censor writers’ words and interviewees’ quotations any more than we have to… and until I began to actually put this issue together, I was largely unaware of precisely what was related in the two surrounding pieces; that was up to writer Will Murray and interviewer Jim Amash.

But we were determined to give Joyce her say, too… and we did… and one of these days we hope to feature a reminiscence, as well, by her brother, psychiatrist Hank Weisinger.

Like all of us, from the title-quoted Walt Whitman on down—like Whit Ellsworth and Alvin Schwartz, as well as their colleagues Jack Schiff, Jerry Siegel, Otto Binder, and so many others—Mort Weisinger contained multitudes.

Bestest,

COMING IN JANUARY

#

99

GEORGE TUSKA ARTISTS’ ARTIST—OR FAN FAVORITE? The Answer Is BOTH—And The Proof Is In This Issue!

• TUSKA cover montage from Marvel Comics, Buck Rogers, & Crime Does Not Pay! • A new look at the early career of legendary artist GEORGE TUSKA—by R. DEWEY CASSELL, author of The Art of George Tuska—with art & artifacts by CHARLIE BIRO NICK CARDY • MIKE FRIEDRICH • ARCHIE GOODWIN • MIKE PEPPE • AL PLASTINO MARIE SEVERIN • JERRY SIEGEL • ROY THOMAS, & numerous others—plus a speciallywritten new tribute by GT’s biggest fan—STAN LEE! • JIM AMASH interviews Fiction House artist BILL BOSSERT about his Golden Age work— also about his wife, writer AUDREY BLUM, & his father-in-law, artist ALEX BLUM! • FCA starring Fawcett artist/writer MARC SWAYZE & editor VIRGINIA PROVISIERO— BILL SCHELLY interviews 1960s/70s fan-artist RUDI FRANKE—MICHAEL T. GILBERT looks at still more “Kooky DC Krossovers”—& MORE!!

Edited by ROY THOMAS k Rogers & Wilma Marvel Characters, Inc.; Buc Marvel heroes TM & ©2010 ily Trust; other art © Estate of George Tuska Fam TM & ©2010 The Dille

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associate editorial

3

The Unvarnished– And Unvanquished–Truth A Guest Editorial by Jim Amash

A

lter Ego editor Roy Thomas told me [re A/E #93-95 & 97] that a couple of readers were not happy that George Kashdan talked so much in our long interview about the personal foibles of the people he knew during his time at DC. I knew some of it would be controversial, but George felt a need to discuss it (which was his right), and historically, it fell into the realm of the biography of the times discussed. I’ve not personally heard any complaints, but I don’t usually get much feedback from my work. I can say absolutely that George was not looking to settle old scores; he was giving me his honest opinions.

The truth is, we can’t pick and choose the history we want to learn. At least, not if we care about biography. I know of one particular person

[who canceled his subscription to A/E because of one or two of Kashdan’s remarks in #95] who doesn’t want to know anything negative about anybody, because he thinks it’s not important to know those things. I once asked him, then why does he read so many biographies? He said he had been poring over a biography, some time back, when he had read a claim about the subject that he’d felt was in error. He also told me he didn’t want to know about it, even if it was true, because he felt personal information was not as important as an individual’s accomplishments. So what did he do? He quit reading the book, claiming that if one fact in it was wrong (although he couldn’t even prove it was), then the entire book was untrustworthy. The book was tainted and useless to him. Funny thing is, when this individual himself makes an error and is corrected by someone, he considers that part of the learning process. For anyone else, it’s a failure if they make a mistake, and their work is flawed and sloppily researched.

Sometimes the personal details of people’s lives aren’t pretty, and maybe they are unnecessary in understanding the work they produced.

But in doing the biography part of comics history, I often hear stories involving creators’ drinking, adulterous affairs, and underhanded little schemes relating to office politics and personal lives. I’m not always comfortable reporting them, but if I don’t, I fail in the reportage of the personal biography of those who made the comics. A few stories have made me uncomfortable to the point of not printing them, and a few others I haven’t printed because the interview subject asked me not to publicly repeat something they said. It’s a balancing act, to be sure, and it’s something Roy and I have spent time discussing over the years. Most of the time, I’ll make the decision myself, though there have been times Roy and I make a joint editorial decision not to broadcast certain comments.

This past week, I turned in my long interview with Golden Age DC writer Alvin Schwartz. He was very harsh in his recollections of certain people, including Bob Kane and Mort Weisinger. Al didn’t say much that would be disputed by those who knew those two men, and it seemed to me that his comments were in lock-step with what I’ve heard from others.

Like George Kashdan, Al calls things the way he sees them. It’s the interviewees’ right to say (or not say) what they want, and it’s my job to report what they said.

Yule Be Hearing From George Tuska!

We didn’t have room for a selection of Christmas cards this year. Still, we couldn’t let the season pass with no greetings at all, so here’s a Yuletide drawing done by George Tuska a few years back for Dewey Cassell. It’ll also serve as a reminder not to miss our January 2011 issue, which spotlights “Gorgeous George”! Oh, yeah—and Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays from all the gang at Alter Ego! Oh, and the dimly penciled Xmas list asks Santa for, among other things, “WD-40,” a “6000-ft. extension cord,” and a “bigger little black book” for Tony Stark. [Iron Man TM & ©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Did the personal lives/personalities of the creators affect the work they did? At times, yes… other times, no. In any event, comic book historians and fans make that decision for themselves and adjust accordingly. We know these kinds of stories about people in other fields of entertainment and the arts, and the world doesn’t stop turning because we learned those folks had feet of clay. Knowing this about the people who made the books we’ve read and collected won’t stop the spinning, either—but it does give us a clearer picture of what happened and why. It serves as a reminder that among the heroic, the good, and the gentle, the generous and gregarious, there were those who had faults and foibles as common as our own. They were more than just names in a book (when they were fortunate enough to receive credit). They were human beings who made a living creating fictional dreams for us to enjoy. They were us.

Give Yourself A Christmas Present!

NOW AVAILABLE from ROY THOMAS’ private stash!

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

“You’ll Believe A Superman Can Fly!” — Part 1

5

“The Driving Force That Really Made DC Great” WHITNEY ELLSWORTH And The Rise Of National/DC Comics

by Will Murray

A

Beginnings

mong the talents who jumped from the pulps to comics, the most powerful and influential has to be Frederick Whitney Ellsworth, better known as Whit Ellsworth. As the first editorial director for DC Comics, he went on to guide that company’s super-heroes to greater heights, shaping the formative “Superman” and “Batman” features, consulting on virtually every DC film project from the earliest Superman cartoons through acting as a line producer on the classic 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series starring George Reeves.

For a simple gag cartoonist, Whit Ellsworth sure came a long way. The true story of his rise to prominence can now be pieced together.

Born in Brooklyn in 1908, Whit had early aspirations to be a cartoonist. “In 1927 I enrolled in a cartoonists’ course at Central Branch YMCA in Brooklyn taught by Ad Carter, creator of [the comic strip] Just

Supermen & Super Markets Longtime DC editorial director Whitney Ellsworth (on left it photo) served as producer for most seasons of the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series— while “Superman” comics line editor Mort Weisinger (right) came to the West Coast at times to serve as the series’ story editor. Below are the two halves of an ad spread for Man of Steel merchandise that, at the apex of the show’s popularity, appeared, among other places, in Superboy #46 (Jan. 1956).

Thanks for the photo to Joyce Kaffel, Mort’s daughter, whose reminiscence of her father begins on p. 22—and to the Mort Weisinger Photo File, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, with special thanks to associate archivist John R. Waggener. [Ad pages ©2010 DC Comics.]

Kids,” Ellsworth recalled to data-collector Jerry Bails in the 1970s. “Carter gave me a job as his assistant. I wrote more than I drew, for I was never any great shakes as an artist. He also introduced me to some of the other people at King Features Syndicate, as a result of which I, from time to time, wrote (and did some drawing on) Tillie the Toiler, Dumb Dora, and Embarrassing Moments, among others. This was the heyday of advertisingtype comics in the Sunday comic supplements, and I also did some of that.”

Ellsworth found that many of the top cartoonists he toiled for were “not entirely reliable, either in terms of work habits or paying the people who assisted them.”

So he left King Features.

“I was fortunate enough,” he said, “in the depths of the Great Depression, to get a job on the Newark Star-Eagle as a cartoonist and feature writer.

There, and at the Newark Ledger, I spent three pleasant years before going to work for [Major Malcolm Wheeler-] Nicholson.”

He also scripted off-Broadway plays, including Maiden Voyage in 1935.

6

Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

National/DC Comics—Round One Somehow, Ellsworth drifted into comics. His humor strip “Little Linda” debuted in the second issue of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson’s New Fun Comics, officially published by National Allied Publications, Inc. “Billy the Kid,” “Mr. Meek,” and “Jest Jokes” soon followed. He also drew numerous early comic book covers for the company, signing them “Whit.”

According to his daughter, Patricia Ellsworth, as quoted in Chuck Harter’s 1993 book Superboy and Superpup: The Lost Videos: “My father was one of the triumvirate of editors who worked for Major Nicholson on the very first original comics magazines that were. That was in the middle of the 1930s... and the triumvirate consisted of Whitney Ellsworth, Creig Flessel, and Vincent Sullivan. The owner of the group was Major Nicholson. Somewhere, maybe ’37 or ’38, DC Comics (Detective Comics) bought out Nicholson, and in 1937, Whitney Ellsworth left New York completely and went to live in Hollywood for a couple of years.”

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Creig Flessel was never actually an editor at National/DC… more like a staff artist, except that he was probably never technically on staff; he was just there. See A/E #88 for the oft-reproduced 1990s drawing by Flessel of Major Wheeler-Nicholson, Ellsworth, Sullivan, and himself during those early days.]

In a piece written for Robin Snyder’s magazine The Comics! a few years back, Creig wrote that it was unfair to blame Gardner Fox, early scripter of the “Sandman” strip drawn by Flessel, for writing “wimpy thugs…. All my thugs were wimps; all crooks are wimps, all murderers are wimps…. The truth is, I really patterned my thugs after my publishers and editors: Whitney Ellsworth, Vin Sullivan, Murray Boltinoff, Carmine Infantino, Harry Chesler.”

Sven Come Elven!

Publisher Wheeler-Nicholson himself scripted a number of early adaptations that appeared in his comics, though it’s not certain whether he or artist Sven Elven scribed the black-&-white “Three Musketeers” episode in More Fun Comics #22 (July 1937). Thanks to Michael Fraley for the photo of Elven, seen in later years with a grandchild. [Comics page ©2010 DC Comics.]

“I remember,” Flessel recalled in another context, that “[Ellsworth] drove out in an open touring car with his suitcase. We looked out of the window that Wednesday and he’s waving, on his way to Hollywood.”

There, he married a Paramount actress named Jane Dewey and earned his living writing for the pulps. She was his true reason for moving West. He had met her in New York, and when Hollywood called, she went. Whit followed rather than lose her.

Ironically, Ellsworth might have been one of the many to see and reject Superman during the time when it was making the rounds of comics houses and syndicates before its 1938 debut in Action Comics #1. “Toward the end of the Nicholson venture,” he once reported, “Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster submitted Superman—in newspaper form rather than in comic book pages.

It was turned down.”

Present At The Creation—Or Very Soon Afterwards (Above:) Three DC pioneers snapped at a 1993 reunion.

(L. to r.:) Creig Flessel (at whose Long Island home the pic was taken), Action Comics #1 “Zatara” artist/writer/creator Fred Guardineer, and Vin Sullivan, first editor of both “Superman” and “Batman.” Thanks to Joe Latino, Ken Gale, and the late Rich Morrissey & Tom Fagan for this photo.

(Right:) Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, founder of National Allied Publications, in a 1948 photo. Thanks to Nicky & Jason Brown; Nicky, the Major’s granddaughter, was interviewed in A/E #88.

In his 1944 Writer’s Digest article “A Yank at Yale,” later DC editor Mort Weisinger picked up the story from this point: “In 1941, Maj. George Fielding Eliot, who had been writing the G-Men booklengths for us [at Better/Thrilling/Pines pulp publisher], gave up the assignment for greener pastures. George is one writer who really has a gift of gab, and being a military analyst on him looks good. I get a funny

“The Driving Force That Make DC Really Great”

7

Little Ladies And Lads (Clockwise from top:) Ellsworth’s “Little Linda,” inspired by Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie, debuted in black-&-white in New Fun #2 (March 1935). This is the last of several “Little Linda” tiers of panels on that initial page; the first tier was seen amid A/E #88’s extensive coverage of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Thanks to Jim Ludwig.

“Little Linda” continued when New Fun became More Fun Comics—as per this page from #8 (Feb. ’36), provided by both Michael T. Gilbert & Bob Rivard.

Ellsworth reportedly drew the cover of New Comics #4 (MarchApril 1936), which was shown in this full-page ad on the inside front cover of More Fun #9 (same date). Note that he and Vin Sullivan are listed as “associate editors,” under founder/ publisher/editor Wheeler-Nicholson. New was a second National Allied magazine, which with #12 would become New Adventure Comics, and soon the long-running Adventure Comics. Thanks to Henry Andrews.

Ellsworth signed his cover art for New Comics #11 (Dec. ’36).

Thanks to Bruce Mason. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

feeling whenever I hear him on the radio these days and remember how I used to give him plots for his “Dan Fowler” novels [in G-Men]. Ed Churchill was one of the writers who took his place, and when Ed went back to his publicity job at Paramount he recommended a friend, Whitney Ellsworth, for the chore. Ellsworth filled the breach admirably for three or four novels, then became editorial director of Superman, Inc., and his side output tapered down to novelets and shorts.

Like most writer-editors, he didn’t write for the Gee, Men…! dough, but just to keep Whit Ellsworth, Major George Fielding Eliot, from going stale. At lunch or one Ed Churchill could be hiding behind one afternoon, Whit that authorial house name “C.K.M. Scanlon” pointed out that of the 15 on the cover of the March 1937 issue of comic mags his firm Better/Thrilling’s pulp magazine G-Men. Cover published, two of them

by Rudolph Belarski. [©2010 the respective alone, Superman and copyright holders.]

Batman, had a greater circulation than all the books put out by any pulp outfit, and mentioned that he needed an associate editor. I asked for the job, and got it.”

and knew Leo Margulies. Leo said to me, ‘Why don’t you try Whit on “Black Bat”?’ So I gave him a springboard and he wrote half of it. He brings in the half and I read it. Then he calls me up and asks, ‘How is it?’ I said, ‘Well, over here this has to be changed...’ He cuts me off and says, ‘Well, stick it up your —. Forget it.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute. I like it! Those are little things. I’m going to take care of it myself. I want you to finish it.’

I gave him the advance and he started writing for me and he did all ‘Black Bats.’”

This phase ended quickly. DC Comics and editor Vin Sullivan had a parting of the ways over the profits of the giant-size 1939 World’s Fair Comics, which had apparently been a brainstorm of Sullivan’s. In January 1940, DC’s general manager Jack Liebowitz rehired Ellsworth as editorial director.

“I was the only editor to start with, and I also wrote a good deal of the stuff,” Ellsworth remembered. Returning to More Fun, he created “Congo Bill” with artist Fred Ray—if a perfect steal of Alex Raymond’s Jungle Jim can be called a creation. “Speed Saunders” was one of the earliest preexisting features Whit took over. His official duties, he said, included “editing stories, initiating new projects, checking art—everything but mopping the floor.”

One of Ellsworth’s first tasks was to head off a legal confrontation with his old publisher. It seemed that DC’s Batman bore a suspicious resemblance to the above-named new pulp character called The Black Bat, who had debuted in the July 1939 issue of Black Book Detective—only four months after the “Batman” feature debuted in Detective Comics #27 (April ’39).

“It was a weird coincidence,” writer Bill Finger told Jim Steranko for

Weisinger seems to be wrong on the above dates. In another Writer’s Digest article, “At 41,” Ed Churchill himself claimed that he alternated with Eliot during 1935-36.

Ellsworth’s “Dan Fowler” novels in G-Men are not all identified, but he seems to have done over half a dozen of them circa 1937-38, including Sealed in Scarlet, Sentinels of Slaughter, and The Poison of Power. His byline was masked by the house name “C. K. M. Scanlon.”

In 1939, Ellsworth ghosted at least two Phantom Detective novels for Weisinger: Murder at the World’s Fair and its sequel, The Forty Thieves. Both featured the only foe The Phantom ever tackled twice, Clifford Boniface, and are considered classic Phantoms.

The Second Time Around That was the year opportunity knocked once again. In the fall, Ellsworth returned to New York City, still hammering away for the pulps.

Mort Weisinger continued the story: “Whit came from California

From World’s Fair To World’s Finest Ellsworth’s early co-editor Vin Sullivan left National/DC over disputes arising out of the 1939 New York World’s Fair Comics (forerunner of World’s Finest Comics)—but Whit and the boys had the 1940 season well in hand! (Clockwise from above left:) An ad for Superman Day at the World’s Fair, July 3, 1940… actor Ray Middleton portraying Superman at that gala event… and Jerry Siegel (on left) enjoying the festivities with DC co-publisher Jack Liebowitz (we think!).

Thanks to Shaun Clancy for the ad, and to Michaël Dewally for the film capture. [Superman TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

“The Driving Force That Make DC Really Great”

the latter’s early-’70s Steranko History of Comics. “Apparently this character had been written and on the drawing board. Whit Ellsworth used to be a pulp writer for Better Publications. So through Ellsworth’s intervention a lawsuit was averted. They were ready to sue us and we were ready to sue them. It was just one of those wild coincidences.”

Since Weisinger was editing Black Book Detective, Ellsworth knew whom to negotiate with. It was ultimately agreed that the two characters could co-exist in their separate media without either having to surrender his fight against crime.

Whit brought into DC Mort Weisinger, who brought in Jack Schiff, who brought in Bernard Breslauer. All three of the latter-named future DC editors had worked with him at Standard. Ellsworth’s first editorial hire was newspaperman Murray Boltinoff. [EDITOR’S NOTE: An oftreprinted photo of Weisinger, Schiff, and Breslauer, probably taken during their Thrilling days of yesteryear, was last repro’d in The All-Star Companion, Vol. 4.]

Shaping Up The Company According to Weisinger, Ellsworth quickly began delegating and compartmentalizing DC’s editorial responsibilities.

“What I want you to do is shape up Batman and other magazines, because Superman is in a groove with Jerry Siegel,” Ellsworth reportedly told Weisinger. “By the way, he [Siegel] recommended you.”

Once All-American Comics editors Sheldon Mayer, Julius Schwartz, and then Robert Kanigher came in, when DC’s sister company (cofounded by M.C. Gaines) was formally merged with the older firm in

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1945, the powerhouse National/DC editorial staff that would carry the company deep into the 1970s was in place. All served under Ellsworth’s superb guidance. “All the editors doubled as writers,” Ellsworth recounted, insisting that his staff follow his creative lead.

The two companies, although ultimately housed on the same floor of the same building, were separate and unequal. They even had separate entrances. Ellsworth initially left Mayer alone. Kanigher once described Mayer as “running a kind of Republic Studios to Whit’s MGM.” At DC, Ellsworth imposed the first editorial guidelines that reined in Siegel and Shuster on “Superman,” enforcing on the Man of Steel a nokilling edict in order to protect the increasingly valuable property.

“As editorial director of Superman-DC,” Jack Schiff outlined, “he supervised every aspect of the many magazines that were published, paying particular attention to the fact that the readers (in those days) were quite young. As a result, there was a great deal of action, excitement, and drama in the stories, but very little of the crude violence and killings prevalent in the field.”

This was because the first glimmers of comics censorship were rearing.

Writing to Jerry Siegel in January 1940, Ellsworth warned: “I must inform you that at the present time there seems to be a concerted drive against movies and comic books which parent-teachers groups and women’s clubs claim are harmful for children. I know that there is definite objection to the Dick Tracy serial in the movies. We must point out our editorial policy with a viewpoint of obtaining the approval of parents, while still not sacrificing the adventure, the thrill Superman has always brought to children.”

Right Off The Bat The Black Bat (seen at left), the 1939-53 star of the pulp mag Black Book Detective, was reportedly created for a story that was submitted to the Better/Thrilling editors on Dec. 6, 1938, around the time artist Bob Kane & writer Bill Finger created Batman.

Still, despite threats back and forth of a lawsuit, it seems neither creative team was aware of the other’s work in advance of publication, and Whit Ellsworth helped settle the matter.

Ellsworth decreed early on that Batman should never again carry a gun, let alone deliberately kill anyone, as he did in the above panels from Batman #1 (Spring 1940), reprinted here from Batman: The Dark Knight Archives, Vol. 1. The Black Bat, however, brandished—and used—a handgun throughout his career. Thanks to Tom Johnson’s 1989 study The Black Bat for the info in the first paragraph, and for the vintage Harry L. Parkhurt illo. [Black Bat art ©2010 the respective copyright holders; Batman panels TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

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Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

In-house monitoring of editorial standards fell largely on Ellsworth.

When Shuster submitted the cover of Action Comics #24 (May 1940), showing a girl being held up a gunpoint, Ellsworth returned it with the suggestion to redraw it so the crook was snatching her necklace, explaining, “We’re trying to get away a little from the extreme use of firearms and knives on the covers, at least.”

At the same time, Batman was also tamed after he machine-gunned a group of rampaging criminal giants in one brutal story in 1940’s Batman #1. “I was called on the carpet by Whit Ellsworth,” admitted writer Bill Finger in The Steranko History of Comics (1970). “He said, ‘Never let us have Batman carry a gun again.’ He was right.”

Ellsworth was also instrumental in saving the life of Batman’s chief nemesis. The Joker was introduced in the lead story in Batman #1, and was supposed to die of a self-inflicted knife wound in the fourth, and concluding, tale. Recognizing the Joker’s potential, he told Finger, “Bill, are you crazy? We have a great character here.” The ending was redone and The Joker survived to bedevil Batman ever since.

Bob Kane found the transition from working with Sullivan to Ellsworth seamless. “I liked Whit,” he once recalled. “He was kind of a gregarious, easy-going guy. We got along well.”

Writing Herd On DC Ellsworth also spearheaded the rise of the company’s big super-hero push in 1941, kicking off “Aquaman,” “Green Arrow,” “The Vigilante,” “Johnny Quick,” “Star-Spangled Kid,” “Robotman,” “Starman,” and many others. Ellsworth reportedly drew the first conceptual sketch for “Aquaman”—a cartoon showing a humorous character smoking a cigar underwater—and possibly others. He retired older, outdated features like “The Crimson Avenger” and “Dr. Occult,” and retooled others, like “Manhunter” and “The Sandman,” the latter of whom he decreed would henceforth be a super-hero in the Batman mold, replete with kid sidekick.

“I have nothing but high praise for Whit Ellsworth,” said “Aquaman” creator Paul Norris in Comic Book Marketplace #107 (Nov. 2003). “To me, he was exceptionally cooperative and helpful.” Norris recalled some of the editorial strictures Ellsworth installed: “You couldn’t draw snakes, for one thing. And you didn’t show blood. He was very straightforward. He

knew what he wanted.”

Artist Sy Barry commented, “He could tell you something with just a couple of words, in a diplomatic way, and you understood him. He was very pleasant about it, but you caught exactly what he was saying, without any question. You knew you either acted on it or you’d be out on your ass.

He commanded respect, but he was a soft-spoken, intelligent guy who was always on top of things. He always knew exactly what was going on among the editors and in the business. He always knew what was going on in production. A beautiful person and a wonderful guy.”

According to longtime “Batman” artist Dick Sprang, whom Ellsworth hired in 1941: “In my opinion, Whit was the driving force that really made DC great. He had a flair for working with artists and treating them with respect, which was a bit unusual around town. In some houses, the artist was the floor mat. Whit was a great guy, a humorous, non-assuming sort of character, and by the way, an ex-newspaperman. Whit had seen it all, and heard it all, but he was never cynical. He was appreciative. He could be tough—hardboiled as all hell, and he could take a lot. He had to, as executive editor.”

“Writing for this group is not a pushover affair,” Ellsworth told Writer’s Digest in 1941. “Inasmuch as we pay better than most pulp houses, we have attracted many established pulp fiction writers. And not even all good pulp writers make good comic writers; this is a highly specialized field, and requires ability to express story through a visual medium.

Anyone who makes the mistake of ‘writing down’ to the medium is licked before he starts. We require all the elements of a well-plotted action story: colorful locale, strong characterization, an original basic idea, tricky picture-making action, and heroes who work with their wits as well as with their weapons.”

Ellsworth’s description of his job in 1941 makes him sound like a hands-on editor who took his work very seriously.

“The average script accepted here is edited as carefully as a magazine story,” he explained. “And a rewrite is the rule rather than the exception— at least until a writer has done enough scripts for us to get himself ‘into the groove.’ Our three-man editorial board ‘talks’ stories with writers, helping them to plot and slant, and almost never does a script go to an artist without one or more of the editors doing a polishing job on captions and dialogue.”

Not content merely to edit and write, Whit executed cartoony covers, cover roughs for other [cont’d on p. 14]

“I Now Pronounce You Superman And Wife!”

Superman’s newspaper comic strip marriage to Lois Lane, as per dailies for Dec. 12, 1949, and June 14, 1950. Thanks to Jared Bond, who reminds us that “this was Clark Kent marrying Lois, not Superman (he kept his identity hidden from her during the marriage).” The wedding was ultimately treated as an extended dream. Jared reports that, when he interviewed Alvin Schwartz in 2007, the writer “thought they didn’t actually plan on keeping the marriage or having a superbaby (as had been suggested in a Time magazine article),” and while he wasn’t certain, he thought that this was “one of a number of storylines that Whit started, and then dropped in Alvin’s lap to find a conclusion to.” [©2010 DC Comics.]

“The Driving Force That Make DC Really Great”

The Medium Was The Message Even In The 1940s Will Murray relates that during the 1940s Whit Ellsworth also scripted “Superman” on radio and in the newspapers. (Clockwise from top right:) Key cast members of the 1940-51 Adventures of Superman radio series. (Left to right:) deep-voiced Jackson Beck, the announcer who shouted “It’s Superman!” in the show’s famous opening and also played various roles… Joan Alexander (Lois Lane)… and Bud Collyer (Superman/Clark Kent in the early years). Thanks to Anthony Tollin.

Although Mr. Mxyztplk popped up in newspapers shortly before his comic book premiere, the latter story was actually prepared first. Here’s the splash for “The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!” from Superman #30 (Sept.-Oct. 1944); script by Alvin Schwartz, art by Ira Yarborough. See the interview with Alvin later in this issue for a bit more about this yarn.

Two dailies from the 1944 debut of Mxyztplk in the Superman comic strip, with script by Ellsworth, pencils by Wayne Boring (Eddy Zeno believes the inking is by Stan Kaye).

Thanks to Bob Hughes.

In 1948 Wayne Boring drew this illo of Superman and Mr. Mxyztplk, for reasons unknown.

Thanks to Heritage Comics Archives & Dominic Bongo. [Superman pages & strips ©2010 DC Comics.]

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Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

Superman vs. Atom Man—The Prequel

Right after World War II, “Superman vs. The Atom Man” became a celebrated sequence on the Adventures of Superman radio series; then, in 1950, AtomMan vs. Superman was the title of a live-action Columbia movie serial starring Kirk Alyn, Noel Neill, and Lyle Talbot (as both Luthor and AtomMan). But before either of these came an atomic power-related “Superman” story that caused more of a stir than even those two Man of Steel milestones… in the nation’s newspapers!

G-men up to the National/DC offices. Jared continues: “Alvin Schwartz [the writer of the tale, though it was officially credited to Jerry Siegel] has said he got the idea from a 1935 issue of Popular Mechanics, but because he was writing about atomic energy the Feds got nervous. Alvin thought the most interesting aspect of the whole thing was how evasive DC’s top brass was about who actually was writing the strips.” The art was penciled by Wayne Boring, and probably inked by Stan Kaye.

Jared Bond, who supplied the Superman comic strip dailies on this page and the next, writes: “Basically the storyline from “Episode 34: The Science of Superman” (April 2, 1945, to June 23, 1945) was about a professor who didn’t believe in Superman and had failed a student who had written a report on Superman’s super-powers. So Superman set off to prove that he’s super, while the professor continually insisted that Superman’s supposed powers were scientifically impossible. The atomic test [portion of the story] lasted only eight days and didn’t seem to reveal any of our atomic secrets.”

It was clearly too late for the G-Men to stop the eight-strip sequence in which Superman is bombarded by a cyclotron or “atom-smasher” from running in newspapers. But Jared disbelieves reports of a college baseball sequence being hurriedly prepped to replace the rest of an atom-power story… because, as seen on this page, that game was already in progress in the dailies right before Superman got bombarded, and there was no real lapse in continuity when it picked up again. [©2010 DC Comics.]

According to reports, the government got wind of the story arc and sent

See all eight of these Superman dailies on Jared’s website www.thespeedingbullet.com.

“The Driving Force That Make DC Really Great”

—And The Sequel!

(Above:) Even if those eight dailies were all there was to the Superman-meets-cyclotron arc, Whit Ellsworth and DC got plenty of mileage out of it! This illustrated feature appeared in the Sept.-Oct. 1945 issue of Independent News, the house organ of DC’s self-owned distributor of that name, and plays up the event as reported in Time and Newsweek.

(Right:) In addition—unless the tale had actually been on DC’s shelf at the time the government gag order came down—’twould seem that Ellsworth soon assigned Don Cameron to write the comic book story titled “The Battle of the Atoms!”; pencils are credited to Sam Citron, inks to George Roussos. Amazingly, it appeared in Superman #38 (Jan.-Feb. 1946) no later than November of 1945, only three months after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, but it bore no resemblance to what we know about the earlier newspaper sequence. In this version, the evil scientist Luthor wielded a weapon he called the “molecular propulsion beam,” which warped the atomic structure of matter, bending it out of shape. DC, naturally, worked references to the Time and Newsweek articles into the splash page caption! Thanks to Jared Bond for the Independent News spread, and to both Jared and Jerry Hillegas for the Superman #38 splash. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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[cont’d from p. 11] artists (including many classic poster-style covers executed by Jack Burnley and others), scripted the Adventures of Superman radio show, and took over the Superman newspaper strip when Jerry Siegel was drafted. During that period, a new “Superman” villain named Mr. Mxyztplk caught his eye. Perhaps because it appealed to the cartoonist in him, Ellsworth borrowed the mischievous imp from an in-production comic book story and used him in the strip. By sheer chance, the newspaper strip saw print first.

“He wrote some stuff when he needed an extra buck—like one Superman daily where he worked himself into a corner with an upcoming marriage between Lois and Supes,” remembered writer Alvin Schwartz.

“Then he dropped it on me to finish.”

That was late in 1949. Superman was really going to marry Lois Lane.

He did—as Clark Kent! Lois was oblivious to the fact that she had also married the Man of Steel. This was no publicity stunt. Time magazine reported at the time, “In the normal course of time (‘even Superman can’t hurry some things’) Lois will present him with a Superbaby. The new challenge: ‘Can Superman cope with modern man’s most intimate problem—namely, marriage?’”

The continuity ran nearly two years, until Schwartz finagled his way out by having Superman wake up from an extended dream!

The newspaper strip had also brought Ellsworth serious government attention during the war.

“We had some incidents such as the one in 1943 when the FBI came into the office and questioned Ellsworth and me,” recalled Jack Schiff to the Overstreet Price Guide #13 (1983). “They told us to change the syndicated Superman strip then running in order to eliminate a cyclotron that was featured. For reasons unknown to us then, this was a no-no. We really should have suspected what was happening. The A-bomb was being developed and this was a possible leak.”

Murray Boltinoff remembered a lunch meeting where Ellsworth and DC vice president Jack Liewbowitz struggled with another knotty wartime problem: “Ellsworth said that he was being inundated with phone calls and correspondence re Superman’s army status,” Boltinoff said. “How come he wasn’t serving his country? What a dilemma for the brass. We simply had to come up with an explanation. (If he donned a uniform, he could kayo the Nazis with one fell swoop, no?) We kicked around several notions, when presto! The light went on in my noggin: Clark wasn’t concentrating on the eye chart before him when he was told to read it, happened to have switched on his X-ray vision... and read another sign in a building some distance away.

“Bravo! Everybody voted for the idea and another chapter in the life of Kent-Superman was born. Hot fudge sundaes for everybody in the house.

Ellsworth clapped me on the back; Liebowitz shook my hand. I didn’t even get a two-buck raise.”

“Lack Of Ruthlessness” As a cartoonist himself, Ellsworth showed enormous understanding and generosity toward the artists he hired for DC. “As a former writer and artist, as well as current writer,” Jack Schiff observed, “he knew the stuff writers and artists faced. Often against Mort’s objection, he’d okay advances to them…. But Whit whole-heartedly agreed with me that keeping a ‘stable’ obligated us to keep them busy. He set that policy.

Dick Sprang, Super-Model Dick Sprang (seen in 1945) is primarily celebrated as one of the best “Batman” artists ever; but in the 1950s he was tapped to draw the “Superman & Batman” tales in World’s Finest Comics, so maybe that’s when he drew this Superman model sheet. Photo courtesy of Ike Wilson; art found in a eBay auction by Michael T. Gilbert. [Superman TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

“It was that lack of ruthlessness that distinguished Whit, and I was proud to be associated with a credo like

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that, just as I boasted about the integrity and principles DC stood for as outlined by Whit.”

According to Jack Schiff, Ellsworth was the prime mover on one of the most important early “Superman” spinoffs:

When, in 1940, artist Howard Purcell came in with his samples, he was hired on the spot.

“During the war we had some extra paper which Jack Liebowitz had managed to acquire, so Whit called Joe Shuster and told him we were going to put out a ‘Superboy’ mag. Joe spent a couple of days in the office, drawing different heads and figures of Superboy and other characters until he had it just right. I worked out a script with Don Cameron, who was writing ‘Batman,’ ‘Superman,’ and just about anything else we needed.”

“Whitney Ellsworth,” he recalled to Fantastic Fanzine, “dipped into his pocket and said, ‘You look like you need a pants press and a shave. How are you fixed for money?’ I remember saying not too good. So he said, ‘Here’s thirty dollars. Go out and get yourself cleaned up and see me in a few days.’ When I got out of the building I suddenly realized I hadn’t even given him my name.”

Dick Sprang once told the story of being given an old “Batman” script as his first DC art test. After turning in the samples, Sprang was astonished when Ellsworth paid for the work even though it couldn’t be printed. “He didn’t have to do that,” Sprang marveled.

Sprang also remembered him as a stickler for accuracy. “If you want to draw a certain airplane,” he observed, “you must make it correct. If you’re drawing the great temples of Egypt, you must make it correct. Our great editorial director, Whitney Ellsworth, insisted on this in a very quiet way.

He said, ‘Look, when a kid reads this comic and you go back in time (like some stories with Batman and Robin), they are looking at the architecture and the chariots or the Knights of the Round Table, we want it to be authentic. In that kid’s mind, there’s an authentic depiction of what’s being depicted, not some faked-out thing. Never fake it, Dick.’”

This was in 1945. And it proved to be a fateful decision. A couple of years after Ellsworth launched “Superboy” in More Fun Comics without Jerry Siegel’s involvement, Siegel sued, winning a settlement on that character but becoming (along with Shuster) estranged from DC. By default, Ellsworth became the in-house Man of Steel expert.

When artist Dick Sprang moved far from New York, Ellsworth thought it prudent to bring in some fresh blood to supplement Sprang’s “Batman” work. Artist Jim Mooney was in line to do the strip. His career had begun at DC arch-rival Victor Fox, where he had done a strip called “The Moth.”

Instructed to make it look as much like “Batman” as possible, Mooney complied. Fox was sued, and The Moth flew no more. Mooney eventually wound up at DC. Years later, Mooney recalled, “Whitney Ellsworth called me in and

He could be a stickler for quality, too, as he was with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the formative days of Superman, when the Shuster shop was turning out the strip at high speed.

Receiving a package of Superman dailies and Sundays he considered substandard, Ellsworth went to work on them himself, explaining to Siegel: “It was necessary for me to spend the entire day, with my mediocre talents, trying to shorten a number of ape-like arms, and to remove extremely curly forelocks from Superman’s forehead, and to de-sex Lois.”

When the depiction of Lois Lane got too voluptuous or sultry for Ellsworth, he came down hard, telling Siegel, “She is much too stocky and much, much too unpleasantly sexy. Please call it to the attention of Joe and his lads that the better artists in this field draw their heroines more or less by a certain formula that makes them look desirable and cute….

While the dames in Smilin’ Jack [comic strip] may be very tasty and exciting, I certainly do not approve of them for exploitation in publications like ours. You know as well as I do what sort of censure we are always up against, and how careful we must be…. What I’d like to see is Lois drawn merely as the nice, capable gal we know her to be really.”

But he did have his favorites. Fred Ray recalled: “I remember Whit Ellsworth telling me that he wished all his artists could draw as well as Jack Burnley.”

Ellsworth’s pulp writing skills also served him in good stead.

“As supervising editor,” remembered Jack Schiff, “he gave a lot of time to the editors under him, patiently showing them all the tricks of the trade. He did this, too, with writers.”

Making The “World’s Finest” Decisions Thanks to his Hollywood background, Ellsworth found himself consulting for a variety of DC-related film projects, beginning with the Max Fleischer Superman animated cartoons of the early ’40s to the late’40s/early-’50s movie serials starring Batman, Superman, and his own Congo Bill. Through all this, Whit found time to pen pulp magazine stories. A final “Dan Fowler” novel, Spotlight on Murder, appeared in 1942 under his preferred byline: Whit Ellsworth.

It’s A Hummingbird—It’s A Toy Plane—It’s Superboy!

Early “Superboy” stories—like this one from Adventure Comics #115 (April 1947)—bore the Siegel & Shuster byline. That quickly vanished after Jerry and Joe sued National/DC later that year. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

and The Atom sported redesigned costumes.

“Artistic Integrity And Moral Integrity” Later that year, with comic books again coming under attack, Ellsworth jumped into the fray as a voice of reason, telling The Newark Star-Ledger: “Comics magazines are a natural outgrowth of newspaper comics, an integral part of the folklore and culture of America. Like the dime novels of a generation ago, they are an answer to the constant, generation-after-generation seeking for the hero and his exploits. The vicarious satisfaction of the yearning of the average guy for participation in great and fine deeds of derring-do in which he can actually never be a participant.”

Anticipating the destructive influence of self-appointed crusader psychologists like Fredric Wertham, he inaugurated an editorial advisory board at DC to oversee story content, saying, “We hear a good deal of talk about psycho-this and psycho-that in connection with comics, but I don’t think any normally-adjusted children are going to be hurt any more by decent comics than we were in our generation by the dime novels.... The line of demarcation between highly objectionable and somewhat objectionable comics on the one hand, and acceptable comics on the other, narrows down to simple, fundamental good taste.”

“Ellsworth felt strongly about artistic integrity and moral integrity,” recalled Dick Sprang. “Because his books had a vast distribution, he felt he had this kind of responsibility to his reader, and to the publisher.”

By all accounts, Whit Ellsworth was a great believer in the new medium even back during the Nicholson days of comics. Gradually, that all changed.

I Love A Mystery In Space Whit Ellsworth not only directed editor Julius Schwartz to launch a second science-fiction title—he named it, as well. This ad for Mystery in Space #1 (April-May 1951) appeared, among other places, in World’s Finest Comics #51 and was sent to us by Bob Bailey. [©2010 DC Comics.]

said, ‘What makes you think you can do this?’ I said I thought I could handle it. And he said, ‘Why are you so sure?’ I said, ‘Well, don’t you remember you sued because I did a strip that looked like Batman and Robin?’ That kind of tickled him.”

Jack Schiff, who substituted for Mort Weisinger while the latter performed his wartime military service, recalled another event that amused Ellsworth: “When Mort returned from the Army, I offered my resignation to Jack Liebowitz and Whit Ellsworth. They both laughed and pointed out that we had expanded our operations with more books. I was to stay as Managing Editor....”

Long-time DC editor Julius Schwartz, who found himself working under Ellsworth after All-American Comics merged with DC in 1945, had a special reason to remember him: “After the war, a girl named Jean Ordwein was hired by DC comics.

She was a very attractive girl and I sort of took a fancy to her. Finally, I asked her if she’d like have a drink. While we were down at the bar, Whit Ellsworth showed up. ‘Listen,’ he says, ‘I have two tickets to a Broadway show. I can’t attend it tonight. Would you like to go?’ So Jean and I went to the show—I think it was Pal Joey—and two years later we were married!”

Early in 1948, Sheldon Mayer resigned as editor in chief of DC’s AllAmerican line, and Ellsworth was installed in his place, virtually doubling his responsibilities overnight. The only visible changes occurred in the first Ellsworth-edited issue of All-Star Comics, #42, wherein Hawkman

“Whit was kind of an intellectual,” Alvin Schwartz recalls, “misplaced in that [comics] business. He wasn’t happy in it. He joined me and Schiff in a plotting session one afternoon just to say, ‘How long can grown men keep turning out this crap?’”

Ellsworth was burning out. And drinking.

“I loved the man, I really loved him,” said Murray Boltinoff. “He could have been a great guy if he wasn’t such a damn lush. He would have been president of the company if he would have stayed sober.”

In 1951, Ellsworth was winding down his editorial involvement. Julie Schwartz recalls that he seldom held editorial conferences, but would sometimes suggest features like a Western series called “Foley of the Fighting Fifth” or dump a faltering book like Big Town or a Western onto Schwartz’s lap to be rescued. Ellsworth was an idea man.

“When Strange Adventures went over big,” reminisced Schwartz, “he wanted me to put out a companion science-fiction comic. I said, ‘Whit, impossible. There are no titles left.’ In those days, there were 30-40 science-fiction magazines. He said, ‘That’s no problem. I have a great title for you, Mystery in Space.’ I said, ‘Oh, Space. That means I’ll have to do stories about space.’ ‘Oh, no, no, no,’ he said. ‘Space to the average reader means space travel, science-fiction, and so forth.’ I said, ‘So why Mystery?’

Whit said, ‘We have House of Mystery. That’s doing very well. I think it’s a key word. When you see the word ‘Mystery’ on a title, it’s a seller.’ And that’s how Mystery on Space was born.”

Hollywood And/Or Bust Later that year, Whit returned to California to create, with longtime Superman radio producer/scripter Robert Maxwell (another old pulp hand), the motion picture pilot for The Adventures of Superman TV show, which was titled Superman and the Mole Men. The plan was to first release it theatrically in order to finance and publicize the planned TV series.

“The Driving Force That Make DC Really Great”

Fantastic Four, Eat Your Heart Out! George Reeves and the three subterranean “invaders” in a scene from Superman and the Mole Men, the 1951 movie that served as a trial balloon for the Adventures of Superman TV series. Ye Editor recalls seeing it that year at the lowrent Orpheum Theatre in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and liking it… except that he missed Kirk Alyn in the title role; still, Roy feels Reeves made an excellent Superman. [©2010 TimeWarner, Inc.]

17

Ellsworth wrote several later Superman scripts during the final season in collaboration with another seasoned pulp writer who had cut his teeth on Harry Donenfeld’s Spicy magazines, Robert Leslie Bellem, including “The Mysterious Cube” and “The Atomic Captive.”

Aside from lightening the series’ tone, Ellsworth made the critical decision to film the later episodes in color—even though color TV broadcasting was years away.

During this period, he grew very close to Superman actor George Reeves, who took to calling him “Dad.” When Ellsworth’s daughter Patricia came down with the degenerative muscle disease known as myasthenia gravis, Reeves threw his support behind the new Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, which Ellsworth personally founded.

It was during the long cross-country drive from his Greenwich, Connecticut home that Ellsworth got the inspiration for the project.

Passing through the Oklahoma Panhandle with its forest of oil derricks, he conceived the basic plot of subterranean creatures who emerge via a drilling shaft. Stopping in New Mexico’s Petrified Forest, Ellsworth banged out a first-draft script in a hotel room. After Maxwell revised it, it was shown theatrically under the joint byline of “Richard Fielding.”

Later, during the Red witch hunts, when TV’s Inspector Henderson— actor Robert Shayne—came under suspicion of having been a Communist Party member, Superman sponsor Kellogg’s demanded the actor be replaced.

The pair, who had collaborated on the Superman radio show, also penned a few early TV episodes together, including the origin, “Superman on Earth.”

This was a wild exaggeration, if not a brazen bluff, but it worked. The sponsor backed down.

When Maxwell’s rough-and-tumble TV version of Adventures of Superman came under criticism, Maxwell was jettisoned and Ellsworth took over. That was in 1953.

Ellsworth decided to replace the first-season Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates, with Noel Neill, who had played the part opposite Kirk Allyn in the two Columbia Superman serials in 1948 and 1950.

Neill told Starlog magazine: “Whitney Ellsworth, from National, was sent out from New York to take control of the series here, and he called me up and said, ‘Hi, Noel, this is Mr. Ellsworth. Would you like to do Lois Lane again?’ I said, ‘Well, sure! Fine!

Thirteen weeks’ work? You got me!’”

Abandoning the grim Robert Maxwell approach to the Superman TV series was Ellsworth’s highest priority. “I just didn’t want to do the show Maxwell had produced,” he revealed in the book Superman: From Serial to Cereal. “In one of Bob’s earlier shows, he showed an old lady in a wheelchair being pushed down a flight of stairs. That was not my sort of thing.... I thought we should have science-fiction stories, a time machine story, some straight cops and robbers, and a few human interest scripts thrown in for good measure.”

With Mort Weisinger, Ellsworth plotted and polished virtually every Adventures of Superman script for its last five seasons. “Together we knew as much about Superman as it was possible to know,” Ellsworth explained. “So in advance of production we’d lock ourselves in a room and work on stories. By the time we were ready to hand out writing assignments, we were able to give the writers outlines of what we wanted—not just so-called premises but complete step-by-step story lines in almost every case.”

“Are you kidding?” Ellsworth reportedly told them. “Our show wouldn’t be anything without the inspector. No way!”

Flash Forward?

When Mort Weisinger made similar charges against Jack Schiff at DC, Ellsworth refused to take action, dismissing the issue firmly.

“Whit, a true conservative, showed a gentleman’s tolerance of Schiff ’s heavy addiction to Stalinism,” observed Alvin Schwartz, “understanding that for Schiff this was a humane (if misunderstood) outlet for very decent and active ethical attitudes toward others.”

Clearly An Unsolicited Testimonial (Left:) George Reeves at a Superman-related autograph session sometime during the 1950s; with thanks to John Firehammer.

(Below:) A DC house plug for The Adventures of Superman, as seen (among many other places) in 1954’s Strange Adventures #42.

Thanks to the Golden Age Comic Book Stories website. [©2010 DC Comics.]

18

Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

Another editor who remembered Ellsworth fondly was Robert Kanigher. He told Robin Snyder’s magazine The Comics!: “Whit Ellsworth was the token goy and... the only gentleman there, beside Jack Schiff. Mr. Ellsworth and I had a unique relationship. He handed me romance titles, smiled, and left for his office. Flash forward: Mr. Ellsworth smiled and handed me war titles. He left, as usual, without a word. I never expected to see him again. He returned, just to give me Star Spangled War Stories....

“Flash forward: Mr. Ellsworth made another of his smiling entrances.

‘The title of the book is Danger Trail. The lead is King Faraday. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ I answered. I liked the title. I hated the name King Faraday. Mr. Ellsworth was probably recalling a title: ‘King for a Day.’ That was the extent of Whit’s involvement.”

In 1957, Whit Ellsworth surrendered all remaining editorial responsibilities at DC. It marked the end of an era, as DC artist Gil Kane remembered: “And as the field stabilized and settled during the ’50s, there was this whole new group of people who became central to comics. About the only editorial survivors I knew of were Stan Lee and Whit Ellsworth. And Whit, as soon as he got the job as the producer of Superman, the George Reeves television show, he never came back.”

Which was not entirely true. Ellsworth often returned to the DC offices. Writer Arnold Drake recalled one such occasion when, as an elaborate practical joke, the other editors hired a girl to act as receptionist and pretend not to know who he was when Ellsworth presented himself at the office.

‘His name is Snapper Carr.’”

Content to work in TV, Ellsworth scripted The Millionaire, worked on an abortive series called The Americans, and created two Superman spinoffs: Superpup, which never got past the pilot stage, and Superboy, which Ellsworth saw as a serious science-fiction effort. He had planned to film an episode he co-wrote with Robert Leslie Bellem called “The Girl on the Asteroid,” to sell the latter show, but budgetary restraints forced him to film the more mundane “Rajah’s Ransom.” The show was never picked up.

Brought in as consultant on the 1966 Batman TV series, he left after a week, upset with the show’s campy direction.

Between 1966-70, Whit Ellsworth concentrated on scripting the Batman newspaper strip, which ran in some 420 papers, as well as a return stint on the Superman strip, retiring from DC Comics in 1971 due to worsening emphysema.

For Alter Ego, Joe Giella recalled collaborating with Ellsworth on the Batman strip: “We worked together on it for close to four years, and we kept calling each other after he moved to California. I remember him saying, ‘Joe, I want you to design the Batman Hilton Hotel,’ which I did....

I remember designing the swimming pool in the form of a bat. We spoke

“Ellsworth finally became frustrated and started screaming,” Drake related. “The editors came out and got him. When they took him into what was once his office, on his desk were 40 cups of coffee. They explained to him that he had forgotten to cancel his regular order.”

One of his last editorial acts was to oversee with Jack Schiff the launch of the book that would kick off the Silver Age of Comics, Showcase.

Robert Kanigher recalled in The Comics! that Ellsworth was at the Showcase strategy meeting in which the critical decision to revive “The Flash” was made. Since no one living recalls who first suggested the revival, Ellsworth is as likely as candidate as any for providing the initial helping kickoff for the Silver Age of Comics.

Julie Schwartz recalls Ellsworth as putting in his two cents on another important early Silver Age title: “When I started the ‘Justice League of America,’ he wanted to have a hip character in there. There was a television program called 77 Sunset Strip, with a character who snapped his fingers [“Kookie,” played by actor Edd Byrnes]. So he suggested I put that character in. Whit said,

On The Trail Of The Flash Ellsworth may have dreamed up Danger Trail, whose first cover (dated July-Aug. 1950) was penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Giella… but it was another Infantino-penciled cover, inked by Joe Kubert, that put Carmine, editor Julie Schwartz, and DC back on the right path a few years later… namely the launching of a revived version of “The Flash” in Showcase #4 (Sept-Oct. 1956). Did Ellsworth perhaps have something to do with that little landmark, as well? Thanks to the Grand Comics Database; see p. 32 for info on this invaluable website. [©2010 DC Comics.]

“The Driving Force That Make DC Really Great”

19

Batman Strips! Cover Your Eyes, Robin!

Two Batman newspaper dailies, both scripted by Ellsworth in the afterglow of the Caped Crusader’s big splash on TV that began in January 1966.

The Catwoman-spotlighting one at the top, from June 1966, was illustrated by Joe Giella; the April 5, 1969, strip below it was drawn by Al Plastino.

Thanks to Henry Kujawa & Mike Burkey, respectively. See dealer Mike’s website at www.romitaman.com. [©2010 DC Comics.]

about 3 or 4 times a month while he was in California. I loved working with him. He was a gentleman, a very nice guy.”

Julie Schwartz once recounted the last time he saw Ellsworth. It was during a trip he and his wife made to California. “I called Whit Ellsworth and I said, ‘Whit, Jean and I are in town. We’d like to come over to see you.’ He says, ‘Come on. We’ll have a nice barbecue.’ So we had a nice time, and all I remember on that occasion is Whit sitting down, smoking, smoking, smoking. And shortly thereafter, he was gone.”

F. Whitney Ellsworth passed away on September 7, 1980, not nearly as famous as his good works deserve.

“To this day,” Jack Schiff once eulogized, “editors and writers hail him as a forerunner in the growth and development of the comics field.”

Will Murray… armed and dangerous.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to all subjects and their interviewers, whose works were consulted in the writing of this profile. Specific quotations were taken from Alter Ego, Comic Book Artist, Comics Interview, Comic Book Marketplace, Comic Crusader, Fantastic Fanzine, The

Collector, The Steranko History of Comics, Starlog, Comics Scene Spectacular, Robin Snyder’s The Comics!, The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, Overstreet’s Comic Book Quarterly: Gold and Silver Age, Time magazine, Writer’s Digest, Superman: From Serial to Cereal by Gary H. Grossman, Hollywood Kryptonite: The Bulldog, The Lady, and the Death of Superman by Sam Kushner and Nancy Schoenberger, Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics by Julius Schwartz & Brian M. Thomsen, and DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Greatest Comic Book Heroes by Les Daniels. Other quotes were gathered by the author in the course of personal correspondence and interviews, both published and unpublished.

A/E EDITOR’S ADDENDUM: As noted in the twin editorials that begin this issue, and on p. 68-69, this magazine intends to annotate and source, insofar as it is possible, all future historical articles which appear in its pages. We greatly appreciate Will Murray’s efforts on this page to list the original sources for as many of the quotations and informational paragraphs as he could, at this late date, his actual article having been written several years ago and intended for another magazine. We regret, however, that while many of the primary and secondary sources for this brief biography of Whitney Ellsworth are listed in Will’s text, others could not be more specifically pinned down in the text (specific quotations by Ellsworth himself, Julius Schwartz, Dick Sprang, et al.), and we would welcome any information on these sources, which we will print in the issue of Alter Ego that deals with the material in this edition. —Roy.

20

Whitney Ellsworth And The Rise Of DC Comics

WHITNEY ELLSWORTH Checklist [NOTE: This Checklist is adapted from information contained in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999), established by Jerry G. Bails (see ad on p. 31). Names of features listed below which appeared both in magazines with that title and in other publications, as well, are generally not italicized. Key: (w) = writer; (a) = artist; (e) = editor; (ed dir) = editorial director; (d) = daily newspaper comic strip; (S) = Sunday newspaper comic strip.]

Name: Frederic Whitney Ellsworth (1908-1980) (editor, writer, artist)

Pen Names: Frederic Wells; Fred Whitby; C.K.M. Scanlon (house name in pulps, also used by others) Education: Cartooning course at YMCA in Brooklyn with Ad Carter Print Media (Non-Comics): writer – articles & features for StarEagle/Ledger (Newark, NJ, newspaper) 1931-34; writer – novels & short stories for pulp magazines G-Man (“Dan Fowler”), Phantom Detective; “Black Bat” in Black Book Detective, 1930s Animation: Fleischer Studios story consultant, Superman cartoons, 1941 Performing Arts: Consultant on movie serials Batman (1943 & 1949), Superman (1948), Congo Bill (1949), Atom-Man vs.

Superman (1950); co-writer of film Superman and the Mole Men, 1951; consultant, TV – Batman (one week only), 1966; producer & story editor, TV – Adventures of Superman, 1953-57; producer & writer, TV – pilots Adventures of Superboy & Superpup; writer, radio – Adventures of Superman (WWII years); writer, off-Broadway play – Maiden Voyage; writer, TV – The Millionaire (series, mid-1950s) Syndicated Comic Strips: Batman and Robin (d)(S)(w) 1946 for McClure Syndicate; Batman and Robin (d)(S)(w) 1966-70 for Ledger Syndicate; Dumb Dora (plot)(a) late 1920s for Newspaper Feature Service; Embarrassing Moments (d)(plot)(a) late-1920s panel; Just Kids (assistant a) late 1920s for King Features Syndicate; Superman (d)(S)(w) 1943-43 for McClure Syndicate; Tillie the Toiler (no specifics if daily and/or Sunday)(plot)(a) early 1930s for King Features Syndicate Comics in Other Media: Gag cartoons (w)(a) 1931-34 for Newark, NJ Star-Eagle/Ledger (on staff) Creator: Congo Bill, et al., for DC Promotional Comics: Advertising comics (w)(a) 1930s for Sunday supplements Retired from Comics: 1970, from National Periodical Publications (DC) MAINSTREAM U.S. COMIC BOOKS:

Little Orphan Linda Little Linda—like a somewhat better-known orphan adventurer—often found herself in desperate scrapes and hoping for the cops (or somebody) to rescue her, though she was usually resourceful enough to get by on her own. This page written and drawn by Whit Ellsworth appeared in More Fun Comics #10 (May 1936) Thanks to Bob Rivard. [©2010 DC Comics.]

DC Comics & affiliates: Action Comics (editorial director) 1939-51; Adventure Comics (ed dir) 1939-51; The Adventures of Alan Ladd (ed dir) 1949-51; All-Star Comics (ed dir) 1948-51; All-American Comics (ed dir) 1948; Batman and Robin (w) late 1940s/early 1950s; Batman (ed dir) 1939-51; Big Town (ed dir) 1951; Billy the Kid (w)(a) 1935-37; Boy and Girl with Pennants (w)(a) 1936; Boy Commandos (ed dir) 1948; Boy with Apples and Man with Gun (w)(a) 1936; Christmas Carolers (w)(a) 1936; The Circus Is Comin’ (w)(a) 1936; Clout O’Casey (w)(a) 1936; Congo Bill (w) 1941-43; covers (a) 1935-38; Dale Evans Comics (ed dir) 1948-51; Dear Old Dad (w)(a) 1936; Detective Comics (ed dir) 1940-51; Dover and Clover)(w) (no dates); Father Time and New Year ’37 (w)(a) 1937; fillers (w)(a) 1938; Genius Jones (w) 1947-49; Green Lantern (ed dir) 1948-49; Hollywood Screen Shots (w)(a) 1936; house ads (w) 1942; Jest Jokes (w)(a) 1937-38; Jimmy Wakely (ed dir) 1949-51; Jonah Jones (w)(a) 1937; Kid and Woman Skating (w)(a) 1937; Kid Boxers and Referee

(w)(a) 1936; Laughing at Life (w)(a) 1937; Leading Comics (ed dir) 194145; Little Linda (w)(a) 1935-38; More Fun Comics (ed dir) 1945-46; Mr. District Attorney (ed dir) 1948-51; Mr. Meek (w)(a) 1936; Penniless Palmer (w) c. 1942; Real Fact Comics (ed dir) 1946-49; Real Screen Comics (ed dir) 1945-c. 1951; Sad-Face Charlie (w) 1944-46; Scribbly (ed dir) 1949-51; Silly Sleuths (w)(a) 1937; Slam Bradley (w)(no dates); Speed Saunders (w) c. 1939-40; Starman (w)(?) 1941; Superboy (ed dir) 1959-51; Superman (w) early 1940s; Superman (ed dir) 1940-51; support (associate editor) 1934-38 & 1939-51 (with “brief hiatus in California” in between); support (ed dir) 1951-59 – “retained title but was active with DC properties in Hollywood”; text (w) 1937-46; Th’ Cunnel (w)(a) 1937; Tinkerman Tad (w)(no dates); Vacation Daze (w)(a) 1936; Western Comics (ed dir) 1948-51

FIRE & WATER

BILL EVERETT, THE SUB-MARINER, AND THE BIRTH OF MARVEL COMICS

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—Roy Thomas.

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“You’ll Believe A Superman Can Fly!” — Part 2

22

Digging Up Superman A Daughter Remembers MORT WEISINGER, Golden/Silver Age DC Editor

by Joyce Kaffel

T

he kids in my cozy, first childhood neighborhood in Great Neck, Long Island, always knew to come to my house if they wanted DC comics, because my dad, Mort Weisinger, often brought stacks of them home from work. Born in 1915 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, he was the editor of Superman for almost three decades spanning from 1941-1970, as well as a science-fiction and popular magazine writer. He wasn’t one to disappoint young Superman fans when they came calling for freebies.

In the late 1950s, I was in elementary school when we moved to Kings Point, a fancy section of town. The street we lived on had a bevy of beautiful, large residences that were too far apart for the children on the block to develop easy relationships. Most of the neighbors didn’t know there were comics for the taking.

My father loved our big house with its swimming pool and tennis court and manicured grounds. His parents were Jewish-Czech immigrants who raised him and his younger brother and sister in the Bronx, then settled in New Jersey. My grandfather was a shoe manufacturer whose prosperity slipped away when his factory accidentally burned down. To earn a living after the fire, he got a job as an egg candler for a dairy company, checking eggs for discolorations. He died in 1945.

My widowed grandmother supported herself as the landlady of a four-family house in Leonia, New Jersey, and by peddling dry goods that she bought on New York City’s Lower East Side.

The Weisinger Way (Clockwise from above:) Mort Weisinger, circa the 1960s, in his heyday as editor of the “Superman”/ ”Superboy” comics lineup, which then included seven titles.

In Action Comics #275 (April 1961), a typical tale from the post-TV-series era that Mort made his own, the villainous Brainiac’s red and green kryptonite combo forces the Man of Steel to wear a hat anytime he performs a super-deed—a mystery resolved only at story’s end. Script by Jerry Coleman; pencils by Wayne Boring; inks by Stan Kaye.

That issue’s “Supergirl” story was written by Jerry Siegel, “Superman” co-creator, who’d been allowed to return to DC as a writer a decade after he and artist/ co-creator Joe Shuster sued the company over rights to Superman and Superboy.

Art by Jim Mooney. [©2010 DC Comics.]

All photos appearing with this article were selected by Joyce Kaffel; some, including the one above, are in the Mort Weisinger collection, American Heritage Center, at the University of Wyoming, in Laramie, WY.

Digging Up Superman

23

familiar with his work as a journalist, but realized I had taken his talents in the sci-fi world for granted.

A Hall-Ful Of Fame Mort and his friend and future fellow DC editor Julius Schwartz were active in sciencefiction fandom during the 1930s; by mid-decade they were literary agents for sf writers.

Seen above, probably at a World Science Fiction Convention in New York (’39) or Chicago (’40), is a gathering of sf, pulp, & comics greats, near-greats, and future greats. (Front row, l. to r.:) Wonder Stories pulp editor Charles D. Hornig; prominent fan Jack Darrow.

(Middle row, l. to r.:) Julie Schwartz; unknown; writer Manly Wade Wellman (we think he’s the cigar-smoker in the white coat); Leo Margulies, editorial director of Better/Thrilling pulp magazines. (3rd row, right three figures seated:) writers Edmund Hamilton & Otto Binder (both of whom would later script for DC); Mort Weisinger (who became an editor for Better/Thrilling circa ’39). Thanks to Joyce Kaffel; repro’d from a scan made from the Mort Weisinger Photo File, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.

After experiencing the Great Depression and witnessing his parent’s misfortune, my father was proud that he had achieved the American Dream. He still gave “Superman” comics to my brother’s friends and romance comics to mine as we grew older. He lived with my mom, Thelma, on Hen Hawk Road in his own version of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. To him, his elegant home was a Fortress of Success where he had privacy and comfort until he had a fatal heart attack in 1978 when he was just sixty-three.

His untimely death was very hard for my family to accept. But with his overweight body, high blood pressure, and Type A personality, it wasn’t a total surprise.

From the time he died, it took 29 years for me to visit his archives at the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center (AHC). I might have gone sooner if his works were stored in the Northeast where I live, but Laramie, Wyoming, is not around the corner from my New Jersey home. For a long time, I was too busy with my own life and just not interested enough in his to make the trip. Although he was a devoted family man, he was such an overbearing presence that I needed to be secure in my own identity before I was willing to delve into his accomplishments.

The catalyst that finally motivated me to go was the 2006 film Superman Returns. As I watched the caped crusader fly across a huge movie screen, the fact that my father helped shape the granddaddy of modern super-heroes hit me like a ton of bricks. I was

Through the years, I had read bits and pieces about my dad in books about Superman. More recently, I found that he was very Googleable. I learned that, around 1930, he was a member of the Scienceers, a science-fiction fan club. It was there that he met Julius Schwartz. In 1932, he and Schwartz founded The Time Traveller, the first sci-fi fan magazine.

They went on to form the first literary agency for the genres of science-fiction, horror, and fantasy, the Solar Sales Service, which acquired many esteemed fantasy and sci-fi writers. My dad left the agency to work for a pulp magazine publishing house, Standard Magazines. In 1941, he was bitten by the comics bug and went to DC to edit Superman. It was a short stay, as the military called him for service in World War II. Sergeant Weisinger returned in 1946 to continue editing Superman. In the DC arena, he’s mostly remembered for his impact on the Silver Age of Comics, expanding the Superman family to include Supergirl, Krypto, The Legion of Super-Heroes, and the Phantom Zone. Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Johnny Quick are characters he co-created.

He was also the story editor of the original Adventures of Superman television series. When I was a little girl, my family lived in Los Angeles for two six-month stints so he could work on the scripts. I liked going to the TV studio to meet George Reeves and the rest of the cast members from the Superman show. I can still remember how magical it felt when Reeves, in his Superman costume, lifted me high up in the air.

“I Sustain The Superman!”

(Left:) One of the few “Superman” comic book stories known to have been scripted by Mort Weisinger—and apparently the only interior “Superman” adventure ever drawn by eminent cover artist Fred Ray—was this Army-Air-Forcesrequested story done for Superman #25 (Nov.-Dec. 1943). Repro’d from the 2006 hardcover Superman Archives, Vol. 7. [©2010 DC Comics.]

(Above:) As reported in a previous issue of A/E, Mort apparently took a while to warm up to the new dynamics in artwork by Neal Adams—but once he did, he had the young artist drawing as many Superman-related covers as he could! This illo appeared in the program book of Phil Seuling’s 1973 New York Comic Art Convention; with thanks to the Golden Age Comic Book Stores website.

[Superman TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

24

A Daughter Remembers Mort Weisinger, Golden/Silver Age DC Editor

My dad chuckled every time he recounted that incident.

My dad was a dedicated husband. When my mom was bedridden with a temporary paralysis for six months, he insisted on taking care of all her physical needs when he was home, including emptying her bedpan.

We went on many family vacations. Until he was about 45, I remember him always bringing a typewriter with him. When we went on car trips, my brother, mother, and I were his captive audience as he used us as for sounding boards for “Superman” plots. Both on the road and at home, he especially liked to talk about stories with Bizarro, Krypto, and different types of kryptonite. He joked about Mr. Mxyzptlk because his name was unpronounceable. The imaginary tales of Superman, where anything could happen, were a source of delight for him under his editorship.

On many websites, my dad is praised as being a great editor. In a few that I looked at, his concept of Superman was criticized for being too wholesome. His take on the character during the Silver Age, I believe, was a reflection of the 1950s’ traditional values and an adherence to the guidelines of the Comics Code Authority.

He was frequently described as being difficult and temperamental. Of course, my dad’s mercurial nature was no secret to me. His lighter side glowed with an over-the-top enthusiasm for every meal, movie, or book he loved. He was childlike in his exuberance in that everything he enjoyed was “the best one” of its kind, even if the “one” before it had been “the best.” His sense of humor was jolly. His eyes would sparkle and his face turned red with laughter when he played practical jokes on friends and family, something he loved to do.

He and Jay Emmett, one of the early licensing agents at DC, were close friends who liked to make mischief together. I remember a prank they pulled on my mom’s friend Mary. They gave Mary a ride into New York City, handed her an empty cup, and told her that if she gave it to the toll taker, he would fill it with coffee. To their amusement, Mary complied, getting nothing but a dumbfounded stare from the man in the toll booth.

Lights! Comics! Action!

By the time of Action Comics #258 (Nov. 1959), Weisinger’s name appeared in the indicia as editor. In the “Superman” story (top left), the hero fought what turned out to be a robot, with script by Bill Finger, art by Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye… “Congorilla,” a golden ape empowered by Congo Bill’s brain (above), did battle courtesy of writer Robert Bernstein and artist Howard Sherman… and “Supergirl” (left) got punished by Superman for revealing her secret identity—to Krypto the Superdog!—as written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jim Mooney. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Overshadowing his positive traits were his bad temper and a need to be harshly critical. His volatility easily upset family events that were supposed to be pleasant. When I was a teenager, he’d wave his hands in the air, yelling at the waiters in a local Chinese restaurant when the slow service displeased him. My mother would take my brother and me out to our car on those occasions. I can’t remember if we ventured back inside or let him eat alone. Maybe he was just stressed and hungry, but we couldn’t take the heat.

It wasn’t easy being criticized for my appearance, interests, or choice of friends. When my dad spoke to others about me, I heard it was all praise.

It was hard for him to give it up in person.

I was never certain of the reasons underlying my dad’s temperament except from what I observed. Once he told me a story of his visit to a psychiatrist. He was leery of confiding in a type of doctor that he labeled

Digging Up Superman

25

The Great Neck Circle, and taking care of his family. If he was pushed too far, he went off like a firecracker, then forgot about it.

My grandmother had wanted my father to become a doctor. His brother became a successful dentist and, although they were close, it’s possible that there was some competition between them. On many family occasions at my grandma’s house, my dad brought checks that he had received from magazines publishing his work.

He would hold the checks up to show his family, saying, “Look at my check from Reader’s Digest,” or whatever the publication happened to be at the moment. It seemed that he always was trying to prove himself.

They’re All Jolly Good Fellers!

A cheery restaurant gathering composed of (left to right) Mort Weisinger… fellow DC editor Jack Schiff… DC functionary Herbie Siegel (for more about him, see p. 53)… and, surprisingly, Bob Feller, Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1956.

Most likely the dinner took place in 1948—a year in which Feller and the Indians would win the World Series and he would lead the American League in strikeouts for the third straight year (despite having missed the 1942-45 baseball seasons because he joined the US Navy the day after Pearl Harbor!). At National/DC in ’48, Feller appeared on the Joe Simon & Jack Kirby cover of (and in a story in) Boy Commandos #30 (Nov.-Dec. ’48), and in no less than two full-page paid ads in numerous DC mags in those same months. The comics went on sale well before the Indians won that year’s Series or Feller his latest strikeout crown, of course—and were probably finalized soon after the ’48 season started, reflecting Feller’s incredible 1946-47 seasons! Thanks to Rod Beck & Gene Reed for the ads, and to Jim Amash for reminding us about the Boy Commandos issue. Its cover is repro’d from the Grand Comics Database website; for info on it, see p. 32. [Comics pages ©2010 DC Comics.]

The scan of the photo is courtesy of the Mort Weisinger Collection, Box 34, MW and Unidentified People Folder, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

a “quack,” but must have had some issues on his mind. From his description of their session, he defensively tried to outsmart the shrink, “outfox” him, as he would say. He made up a dream where he was trying on a pile of different hats to see which one fit, seeking the doc’s interpretation, knowing that he was fooling him. “Dad,” I said, “even though you made it up, it still came out of your head!” In fact, he was a man who wore many hats. He was pulled in a lot of directions between his job at DC, writing on the side, publishing a slick community magazine,

I had no idea how much he was disliked in the comics industry until I started reading some particularly negative accounts of him in Gerard Jones’s book Men of Tomorrow prior to my trip. I learned about Jones’ work from comics historian and Batman

26

A Daughter Remembers Mort Weisinger, Golden/Silver Age DC Editor

movie producer Michael Uslan, whom I met by chance at a local film society. Uslan suggested I contact Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics.

Both men were generous in their willingness to share information about my dad and spoke highly of his efforts. They also gently told me of his browbeating management style that had offended many.

cabinets brimming with periodicals and papers dating back from the late 1920s. I was always told not to mess anything up, which seemed silly since piles of papers were regularly strewn everywhere: on a couch, window sill, and in a tiny refrigerator. The promise of yet-to-be-written stories filled that room even if my dad wasn’t there.

I was looking forward to my AHC visit as a happy event, one to discover my dad’s universe. I was saddened to know that his reputation was tarnished by his behavior. He was a tough cookie, all right, but he was my father.

I finally made my pilgrimage to Wyoming in August, 2007 to explore what had been in my father’s den all those years ago.

*************

It had been hard to understand why my mom let my dad’s files end up in what I imagined to be the middle of nowhere until I actually visited the

My dad’s papers and mementos found their way out west after an avid AHC director, intent on building up the Center’s popular culture collection, spotted his obituary in the New York Times. My mother was grateful to have his memorabilia neatly packaged and taken to a place where it would be preserved and displayed.

My father’s AHC collection inventory contains a long list of materials related to his work as an editor and writer from 1928-78.

Among its contents are two 16mm films from the Adventures of Superman television show, an audiotape of the 1965 Comicon, newspaper clippings on him and Superman, miscellaneous “Superman” art, DC comic books, a board game he created (Movie Millions), and many magazines that published his work. His collection holds correspondences largely about articles he wrote for This Week, a Sunday supplement of the New York Herald Tribune, and other mainstream magazines as well as manuscripts for several books he authored: The Contest, a tale about beauty pageants, The Complete Alibi Handbook, and 1001 Valuable Things You Can Get Free. It also has telegrams from celebrities and many photographs of my dad’s colleagues from his early writing days and family and celebrity photos.

In our home, my father had a study where he spent endless hours pecking away on his SmithCorona typewriter with his two index fingers, never having learned to tackle the keys with all ten. Articles he had written for The Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, and Redbook hung on his den’s knotty pine paneled walls. There were a few large file

Take Your Pic! Mort Weisinger (seen at left in an undated photo from the U. of Wyoming collection) didn’t always not write about comics when he scribed articles for the mainstream. Seen above is the first page of his piece for the Feb. 1946 issue of Pic (“The Magazine for Young Men”), which deals with making money in comic books.

It sported a pic (natch) of Simon & Kirby working on Boy Commandos. There’s a mention, too, of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster being in the top tax brackets— a situation destined to change in a year or so, alas. Check out the online neatocoolville.blogspot.com, where we stumbled across the Pic item. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

Digging Up Superman

AHC. The third largest popular culture collection in the nation is housed in this cone-shaped building which was designed to resemble an archival mountain.

It looks like a spaceship that landed in the desert. Superbaby landed on Earth in a spaceship in the desert. Maybe this really was the right place.

27

writing during that same period equally piqued my curiosity.

“Selling the PseudoScientific Story,” a piece he wrote for Writer’s Digest (April 1933), told about how sciencefiction had captured the public’s interest. It gave writers tips about the needs of different pulp publications for word I discovered that my dad’s length and story content. In materials were in good “The Renaissance of Fantasy company with the archived Fiction” in Writer’s Monthly files, photographs, and corre(August, 1934), he advised spondences of famous people writers wanting acceptance in like Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Amazing Stories to write tales Benny, Ozzie and Harriet dealing with the future of Nelson, actor William Boyd chemistry, time-travel, and (who played Hopalong medical progress. “Pseudonym Cassidy), Duncan Renaldo We’ll Burn That Bridge When We Come To It! Sidelights” in The Author and (alias The Cisco Kid), and Jack (Top row:) The Howard V. Brown cover for the July 1940 issue of Thrilling Wonder Journalist (Aug. 1935) Schaefer, who wrote the novel Stories, probably edited by Weisinger at Better/Thrilling, became an inspiration Shane. My biggest surprise was explained that writers could use for the covers of no less than two comics book later edited by Mort: Superboy #30 pseudonyms if they had more to find out that the Stan Lee (Jan. 1954), penciled by Win Mortimer (inker uncertain)… and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy than one article in the same collection is there, as well as Olsen #53 (June 1961), by Curt Swan (pencils) & Stan Kaye (inks). Never throw away magazine or if the author was the works of William Dozier, a good idea! [TWS cover ©2010 the respective copyright holders; Superboy & the mag’s editor. Of special the producer and narrator of Jimmy Olsen covers ©2010 DC Comics.] interest to me in that piece was the Batman television series.

(Directly above:) Weisinger (on the far right) stands next to DC co-publisher Irwin the example he gave of a writer, Donenfeld during a TV appearance in the 1950s or ’60s. Thanks to Joyce Kaffel, who I had given myself three L. Ron Hubbard, who used the obtained a photocopy of this image from the Mort Weisinger collection at the days to peruse my dad’s name Michael Keith as his American Heritage Center at the U. of Wyoming. materials. When I started to pseudonym. I don’t think my rifle through box after box of his things, I was flooded with feelings of father ever could have guessed that Hubbard would become the founder nostalgia. I was particularly interested in reading his work in a variety of of the controversial Church of Scientology, with well-known followers “stories” sci-fi pulps dating back to the 1930s, including Wonder Stories, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

Startling Stories, Amazing Stories, and Thrilling Wonder Stories. They were written before his Superman days, when he was as young as My dad became editor of Amazing Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and other pulps. He took much of his own advice in his pieces that I read eighteen. Articles he had penned in publications about the business of

28

A Daughter Remembers Mort Weisinger, Golden/Silver Age DC Editor

A Clockwise Orange We ran the photo at left in our Julius Schwartz tribute issue (A/E #38)—but most of these folks figured in Mort’s life as much as in Julie’s. It was snapped at the so-called “Dead Dog Party” following the First World Science Fiction Convention, held in New York City in 1939 to coincide with the fabled World’s Fair.

(L. to r., standing:) Morojo (real name of fan: Myrtle R. Douglas), Julie Schwartz, Otto Binder, Mort W., Jack Darrow. (Seated:) Forrest J. Ackerman, sf author Ross Rocklynne, Charles D. Hornig, and a very young, pre-professional Ray Bradbury. Photo from the Julius Schwartz Collection; special thanks to Bill Schelly & Bob Greenberger.

(Below:) Comics scripter and later novelist and TV writer William Woolfolk leans on Mort. Undated, with thanks to Joyce Kaffel; reproduced courtesy of the Mort Weisinger Photo File, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

(Below left:) Mort with wife Thelma, in a personal photo sent by Joyce Kaffel.

at the AHC, as his themes dealt with time travel, actual medical discoveries, and real-life inventors. A couple of his stories suggested that he had concerns about racial and religious discrimination.

In “Pigments Is Pigments” (Wonder Stories, March 1935) a biologist takes revenge on his mean boss by injecting him with a serum that turns his skin color “ebony black.” The boss becomes scared of his mirror reflection because he looks like an “African Negro.” He then turns “pale albino white.” “Mad about Microbes” (Startling Stories, March, 1939) recounts how Russian scientist Elie Metchnikoff went to Germany, was not accepted (being a Jew), sought refuge in France where he was welcomed by Louis Pasteur, and then isolated the causes of several diseases. This piece preceded the breakout of World War II in Europe in September 1939.

Treasured photos gave me glimpses into my dad’s world with his young sci-fi cronies. They were a rather attractive, intelligent-looking crew, and with a little research, I discovered that all of them were involved in the beginnings of pulp science-fiction: Ray Bradbury, Conrad H. Ruppert, Julius Schwartz, Henry Kuttner, Wade Wellman, Leo Hamilton, Forrest J. Ackerman, Otto Binder, and Charles Hornig. I don’t recall meeting any of them except for Julie Schwartz.

I found a photo of comic book author Bill Woolfolk and my father. Bill and his wife Dorothy, the first female editor at DC, were a lively couple that my parents saw often. Bill had a lop-sided smile and a contagious laugh. I loved spending time with the Woolfolks at our home or theirs.

At DC, my father spent his days developing “Superman” but spent many nights and weekends writing non-fiction at home. In his early years, he moonlighted for extra money, but it was his love of journalism that drove him on when he was financially secure. As he evolved profes-

sionally, being part of a journalistic community and helping other writers became exceedingly important to him. Magazines with his work were arranged in string-tied packages, but since I was familiar with that part of his life, I didn’t go through them.

In 1948, he was a founder of the Society of Magazine Writers, which became the American Society of Journalists and Authors, currently a leading association of independent non-fiction writers. At the time of his passing, he was director of the society’s Seventh Annual Nonfiction Writers’ Conference held at the New York Sheraton Hotel. Many of his dearest friends were colleagues in that group. Despite his faults, he was beloved by his fellow journalists. It was their respect he craved, and he got it, not solely for his writing skills. He was admired and appreciated for his commitment to them and the development of their organization. At his funeral, many eulogies were given by those peers.

My father retired from DC when he was about 55 to pursue his freelance activities and travel. Being Superman’s captain for so many years was his greatest success to those who did not know him well. I know it was his writing that gave him his greatest pleasure. It was the place where he could have a serious voice, unlike the one he had as editor of Superman, or so he thought.

Digging Up Superman

29

Adventure Was His Business No wonder Mort’s smiling in this undated photo from the Mort Weisinger Photo File, American Heritage Center, at the University of Wyoming! Although Whit Ellsworth’s name was still in the indicia as official editor of Adventure Comics #137 (Feb. 1949), Mort W. was handling many of the day-to-day editorial chores… and three of the features therein were ones he’d co-created one memorable day or so in 1941: “Green Arrow,” “Aquaman,” and “Johnny Quick.”

The “Superboy” story was written by Bill Woolfolk and drawn by Al Wenzel… “Green Arrow” by writer George Kashdan and artist George Papp… “Aquaman” by scripter Otto Binder and artist John Daly… and “Johnny Quick” by scribe Binder and illustrator Charles Sultan. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database for the data. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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A Daughter Remembers Mort Weisinger, Golden/Silver Age DC Editor

New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art recently held an exhibit (May 7 to September 1, 2008), “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy,” which embraces the ability of super-heroes to address serious issues in society. An all-day panel discussion on comics culture was part of it. In a conversation I had with Paul Levitz before the panel took place, he said, “In a million years, I never thought I’d be speaking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” I am sure my dad would have taken pride in the evolution of super-hero comics as an art form worthy of discussion in one of the finest museums in the world. A serious discussion.

All In The Family

In writing this, I initially thought it would be juicy to cite more examples of my dad’s temper tantrums and critical behavior. As I have explored my gifted father, I have lost that desire.

I’ve become empathic to this man who truly worked day and night to provide security for his family and to follow his passions.

(Above:) The Weisinger family at a restaurant in Atlantic City, NJ., circa the early 1970s—Mort, wife Thelma, and kids Hank and Joyce. (Right:) Joyce Weisinger Kaffel today.

My journey to Wyoming gave me closure to our relationship. It was a way to pay homage to my dad and to gain some understanding of his life. He was an amazing story, and my imperfect Superman.

Joyce Kaffel can be reached at blueparakeet943@aol.com

Mort’s Magic Touch (Above:) Splash page from the Weisinger-edited Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #91 (March 1966). Script by Leo Dorfman, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein—and editing by Weisinger. [©2010 DC Comics.]

(Above right:) Thanks to Joe Desris for providing a primo copy of this snapshot of a DC editorial conference. From left to right, the personages are: George Kashdan, Murray Boltinoff, Jack Schiff, & Mort Weisinger. Joe writes: “Have original of this photo, sent to me in 1991 by Boltinoff…. Took a magnifying glass to comic on desk in front of Schiff; it’s Batman #69, dated Feb-March 1952. Guess this wasn’t a Superman conference! Photo has ‘Dec. 1951’ written in pencil on reverse, then Murray wrote everyone’s name in black ink for me.” Thanks, Joe! (Right:) Mort always professed, however, to be proudest of his achievements outside comics.

The text of this 1964 letter to a fan reads: “Dear Roger Harris: My greatest satisfaction was when the Saturday Evening Post featured an article I had written on Multiple Sclerosis on their cover. –Mort Weisinger.” Thanks to Charlie Roberts for the photocopy.

Digging Up Superman

31

MORT WEISINGER Checklist [NOTE: The following Checklist is adapted from information contained in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999), established by Jerry G. Bails; see ad below. Some information was provided by Mort Weisinger. Names of features listed below which appeared both in magazines with that title and in other publications, as well, are generally not italicized. Key: (w) = writer; (a) = artist; (e) = editor; (d) = daily newspaper comic strip; (S) = Sunday newspaper comic strip.]

Name: Mortimer Weisinger (1915-1978) (editor; writer)

MAINSTREAM U.S. COMIC BOOKS:

Pen Name: Mort Morton, Jr. [NOTE: This pseudonym is usually associated with artist Mort Meskin, though we suppose it is possible that M. Weisinger used it, as well.]

DC Comics & affiliates: Air Wave (w) c. 1942 (unconfirmed); Alfred (w) 1944; Aquaman (w) 1941-42; Batman and Robin (w) 1944; Crimson Avenger (w) 1941 (unconfirmed); Green Arrow (w) 1941-42; John Jones, Manhunter from Mars (w)(?) 1955 [these stories are generally attributed to Joe Samachson]; Johnny Quick (w) 1941-42; Legion of Super-Heroes (plot) 1966-69; Newsboy Legion (w) 1940s; Sandman (w) 1941 (first story with new costume); Seven Soldiers of Victory (w) 1941-42 (unconfirmed, but generally credited today); Superman (plots, some w) 1940s-70s; support (e, plot), 1941-70 (“shaped the Superman titles”), support (veep public relations), late 1960s (“held stock in National Periodicals”); Tarantula (w) 1941; text, 1951; T.N.T. and Dan the DynaMite (w) 1942-43; Vigilante (w) 1941-42

Influences: Jules Verne; Orson Welles; science-fiction; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Member: Early science-fiction fandom; the Scienceers; Science Correspondence Club; Society of Magazine Writers – past officer Print Media (Non-Comics): Associate editor – College Humor magazine 1939-41; co-editor of fanzines The Comet, The Time Traveler [perhaps the first science-fiction fanzine] (no dates given); Planet (science-fiction fanzine) (e)(w) 1930; editor 1936-41 of pulp magazines Black Book Detective, G-Men, Phantom Detective, Popular Detective, Starling Stories, Strange Stories, Thrilling Detective; Thrilling Mystery, Thrilling Wonder Stories; editor 1940-41 of Captain Future pulp magazine; various science-fiction fanzine (w) 1930s Writer – Articles: 1930 to 1970s, incl. Coronet, c. 1948; Cosmopolitan; Reader’s Digest; Redbook; Saturday Evening Post; True Magazine; Writer’s Digest, 1944; Parade (“I Flew with Superman”), 1977; regular column (“Bonanza USA”) for This Week magazine, 1964-66 Writer – Magazines: Amazing Stories, 1933; Doc Savage (plot) 1941; Fantasy Fan, 1934; Fantasy Magazine, 1934-36; Popular Detective, 1934; Secret Agent X (no date); Wonder Stories, 1933-36 Books: Writer – 1001 Valuable Things You Can Get Free, 1955-69 (11 editions); Bonanza USA, 1966; How to Be a Perfect Liar, 1972; The Complete Alibi Handbook (no date given) Novels: The Contest, 1970 (used ghost writers such as David Vern and Ryerson Johnson)

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books (1928-1999) Online Edition Created by Jerry G. Bails FREE – online searchable database – FREE www.bailsprojects.com – No password required

A quarter of a million records, covering the careers of people who have contributed to original comic books in the US.

Animation: Filmation, story consultant – Superman, 1966 Performing Arts: story editor & writer, TV – Adventures of Superman, 1951-54; writer, radio – Air Force Radio Show (with Glenn Miller), 1943; consultant, TV – Batman, 1965+; writer, film (movie serial) – Batman, 1949; writer – film (movie serial) – Superman, 1948; co-writer with Jack Schiff, film (movie serial) Vigilante, 1947 Other Career Note: Agent & co-owner, Solar Sales Service, 1935-36 Honors: Inkpot Award (San Diego Comic-Con) 1978 Syndicated Strips: Batman and Robin (e) c. 1946 for McClure Syndicate; Superman (e) (no dates given) Co-Creator: Aquaman, Air Wave, Captain Future (for pulps), Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, T.N.T., Vigilante, and villains for Superman and Batman Promotional Comics: Superman (w) 1955 premium for Kellogg’s

Cover of the Weisinger-edited Superman #80 (Jan.-Feb. 1953); art by Al Plastino.

Thanks to Mel Higgins. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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“You’ll Believe A Superman Can Fly!” — Part 3

33

“I’ve Always Been A Writer” ALVIN SCHWARTZ On His Long Career In Comic Books— And Elsewhere Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

lvin Schwartz (born 1916) has been a professional writer since 1933. His résumé is so vast that even Jerry Bails’ online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999) does not have a complete list of his works. (Neither does Alvin, for that matter.) And he’s still writing! A poet, pulp writer, novelist, lecturer, documentarian, economist, sociologist, religion expert, metaphysicist, literary critic, radio and film writer, union organizer, and oh, by the way, a comic book writer, too. Alvin maintains an online community board that we highly recommend (www.comicscommunity.com/boards/alvin/), and is

a continuous student of humanity and world politics. His 1997 autobiography An Unlikely Prophet: A Metaphysical Memoir by the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman was followed up in 2006 with A Gathering of Selves: The Spiritual Journey of the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman. Graciously, Alvin let me focus on his comic book career so that we could fit this interview into the issue you hold in your hands (or lap, if you bought the download version at www.twomorrows.com). Alvin had a lot to say about his time in the business, so let’s see what he thinks of that chapter of his life. —Jim.

A

Walk A Mile In My Cape!

All knowledgeable comics readers are aware that Superman and Batman first appeared together in All-Star Comics #10 & #36 back in the 1940s, but didn’t really team up—let alone learn each other’s secret identities—till Superman #76 (July-Aug. 1952). Before that, for over a decade, they appeared together only on the covers of World’s Finest Comics, with Alvin Schwartz writing the interior adventures of both in issue #44 (Jan.Feb. 1950), as per the splash pages that flank his pic.

It was only with World’s Finest #71 (July-Aug. 1954) that Man of Steel and Caped Crusader became a regular twosome (as seen directly above)—in a landmark tale likewise scripted by Alvin, who’s seen above in a photo from his 2007 book A Gathering of Selves: The Spiritual Journey of the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman. (See how we tie these things together?) We’d prefer to think it was someone other than Alvin who coined the un-arithmetic logo for that series: “Your Two Favorite Heroes SUPERMAN and BATMAN with ROBIN in One Adventure Together!” Pencils by Winslow Mortimer; inks by Stan Kaye. Thanks to Jim Ludwig for all three art scans. [Comic page ©2010 DC Comics.]

34

Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

“Jack Schiff Was The First Man [At DC] To Hire Me” ALVIN SCHWARTZ: I’ve always been a writer. I was a poet. I was published in some of the best quality poetry magazines. I was very big in the little magazine movement. Do you know anything about that, which involved almost all the major greats of the late ’Teens and ’30s, to right about the end of World War II? Well, we didn’t have anything to eat, and my wife and I used to sit in my window in Greenwich Village on a street which was the main drag, and watch for a friend to come by so I could borrow a quarter. You could buy quite a sumptuous meal for a quarter in those days. Anyway, who should walk by but Jack Small, who was an artist originally from England, whom I knew quite well.

Jack told me, “Look, this is a great time for you to go over to Street & Smith.” Street & Smith [publishing house] was putting out a whole series of new comic books, and were looking for all the new stuff they could get.

They were particularly interested in Indian stories, so Jack said, “Go up to the library, look up typical Indian material, and see what you can come up with. Bring it over and tell them I sent you.” So I did that. The editor, William DeGrouchy, looked at it, shook his head, and said, “Our staff writer just did this story.” That looked bad. Don’t forget, I was already an established writer, having worked in the literary field for some time. I’d also done a lot of ghosting. So I go home, figuring that’s over, and there’s a call from the same editor. He said, “We read your story, and we liked it better [than the other one]. We’re using it. How soon can you get over here so we can plot a whole series off of it?”

I also remember writing a Russian fairy tale, but my memory is blank on the rest. I didn’t stay with him very long. DeGrouchy was a typical editor, very businesslike, and [my time there was] nothing like what developed later with DC. JIM AMASH: After you worked for DeGrouchy, I have you in 1941 writing for Dell Publications, Fairy Tale Parade [comics]. Does that sound familiar?

SCHWARTZ: It sure does, but I don’t remember anything else about Dell.

JA: Then you wrote some “Captain Marvel” stories for editor Lynn Perkins at Fawcett Publications.

Hail To The Chef!

Alvin says he made use of his Greenwich Village days in “The Chef of Bohemia!” in Action Comics #78 (Nov. 1944), which he calls “one of my best Superman stories of the forties.” It was drawn by Ira Yarborough. In his Oct. 25, 1999, “After the Golden Age with Alvin Schwartz” (Column 24) done for the “World Famous Comics Network” website, Alvin says “Chef” was written as a tribute to a cook (“Not a great cook, either”) who owned a “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant called the Borsht Bowl. Check out his entire fascinating essay online… and let it lead you to other of Alvin’s oftfascinating writings on comics, the literary life, spiritual journeys, and everything in between. Repro’d from the 2007 hardcover Superman: The Action Comics Archives, Vol. 5. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Fairy Tales Can Come True…

(Near left:) If Alvin wrote for Dell/Western’s Fairy Tale Parade in 1941, it might’ve been for #1 (cover-dated June-July 1942). Cover by Walt Kelly, who in ’42 would create Albert the Alligator and Pogo Possum, in that order. In the FCA section of A/E #17, Alvin informed J.R. Cochran that he was acquainted with Jack Small, “who used to draw for Fairy Tale Parade”—though the entire first issue is generally credited to Kelly. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

(Far left:) Schwartz also told Cochran that he scripted roughly ten “issues” (or stories?) of Captain Marvel Adventures in the early ’40s, but he couldn’t recall which ones—so we’ll let this introductory page from CMA #5 (Dec. 12, 1941), drawn by C.C. Beck, stand for all of them! Repro’d from The Shazam! Archives, Vol. 4. [©2010 DC Comics.]

“I’ve Always Been A Writer”

SCHWARTZ: Lynn Perkins didn’t have any talent; he didn’t have any skills. I don’t know how he got to where he was, I don’t know how he ever called himself a writer, and if he wasn’t a friend of the friend who introduced us, I probably would never have had anything to do with him. I don’t think he lasted very long there, either.

JA: Was Fawcett a hard place for you to work?

SCHWARTZ: I don’t remember working at the office particularly as much as [Perkins’] friend’s place, sitting down in the apartment and plotting together. I remember some arguments about plots, but it was all kind of vague. That part of my career was not the happiest or the most enjoyable.

JA: Did you have to turn in synopses, and then write a full script?

SCHWARTZ: It varied with the editor. Some editors wanted you to turn in a whole script, some editors wanted a synopsis, and with Perkins, it was mostly try to get acceptance from the fans. But Perkins didn’t seem to know what he was doing or what he wanted particularly. He was not a very gifted man in the field, and he soon went back to England.

I really didn’t write a hell of a lot there, because I got into something much better. My friend Charlie Green—who wrote pulp fiction—and I used to do a lot of plotting together. Charlie was a Russian emigrant who taught himself English. I learned plotting just from walking the Village streets with Charlie, helping him plot pulp stories, and he helped me on my stories. So come Christmas time, Charlie says, “I’m going to this party over at DC. Why don’t you come with me? They want me to write their stuff [comic books], and I don’t think I know how.” So I went with Charlie. DC offered us a shot at a number of characters. Charlie was reluctant to work on his own; he was afraid of writing comics. We did our first story together, and as far as I was concerned, it turned out so-so. We got by. He didn’t want to do any more, but they loved my contribution to the work so much that I continued to work for them.

JA: What was the first story that you guys wrote?

SCHWARTZ: At the moment, I don’t remember it, and yet I remember telling somebody about it recently. It is mentioned somewhere in the After the

35

Golden Age column [on the Internet]. Jack Schiff was the first man to hire me. He was a hotheaded, strongly-oriented “right-wing Communist,” I call them. That is to say, he was a Stalinist. You know the situation in those days? Jack and I used to argue politics. We liked each other. We got along with each other, though we never agreed on politics. We’d go out to lunch, and a bunch of the other guys would come out to watch the two of us while we argued Trotsky versus Stalin. But on the other hand, Jack Schiff was also one of the fairest, most decent, best-equipped—in a literary way—editors that I ever had. I’d say there might be one exception, and that was Bernie Breslauer. Bernie and Jack were friends. They were both of the same political club. Bernie died a little early and suddenly.

Heart attack.

But Jack was always going out of his way to help writers, to see that everybody got a fair break. He was one of the most decent men in the field. Jack didn’t maintain this reputation, because there were a lot of people who were out to get him, mostly because they didn’t like his politics. Now if anybody didn’t like his politics, it was me. But Jack was among the best where it came to just straight human beings, seeing to it that writers were comfortable, that they got enough advances so they could get their work done. And he was very good at plotting, so we’d often work together.

“Bob Kane And I Were In Grade 1A Together” JA: When you came in to see him, did you bring plot ideas in with you, or did he have some ready for you?

SCHWARTZ: When I went in to see Jack, you did one or the other. Jack had an idea that he wanted to try out, I had an idea, someone else had an idea. [Sometimes] we discussed somebody else’s idea, but usually it was all quite fair. Nobody tried to grab credits, not when Jack was editing. His fairness extended to the point where everything was straightforward; everybody got credited for what they did, with one exception. That was Bob Kane.

Bob and I were in Grade 1A together. I knew Bob from the first day of school, and I remember him sitting on that dunce bench with the dunce cap on. The classes were divided by half-years: 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, and so on. In the middle of a grade, you would change teachers and courses. In

The Brethren Of The Bat An undated Batman sketch by Bob Kane—plus photos of the hero’s co-creators, artist Kane and writer Bill Finger. Sketch retrieved by Dominic Bongo from the Heritage Comics Archives—Kane photo from Les Daniels’ 1999 book Batman: The Complete History—Finger pic from 1941’s Green Lantern #1. The latter, supplied by Anthony Tollin (who reproduced it in the 29th issue of his monumental Shadow reprint series), is more than a wee bit blurry, but we’d grown tired of showcasing the same handful of Finger photos over and over. [Batman TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

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other words, you had sixteen classes in elementary school. They had a lot of young Irish teachers who liked nothing better than to torment kids.

God knows how many of them were anti-Semitic.

JA: Did Kane deserve to be on that bench?

SCHWARTZ: Yes. I mean, was he stupid? Was he backwards? I hate to say it, but it’s true. He had a smart father, in a business sense, who was his lawyer. I know nothing about his family or about his personal life, because I never had that much of an association with him, even though we were in the same classrooms at least two years. Of course we spent a lot of time at DC. JA: The young Bob Kane you knew in school: was he talkative?

SCHWARTZ: No, they repressed the hell out of us. If he felt stupid, they made him look that way. I don’t know how to describe the brand of young, feisty, pretty, young Irish girls who came to the US by several thousand: school teachers who really had very little understanding of the kind of work that was being laid on them. So many things were racist in those days, all over the place. The Jewish kids fighting the Italian kids, the Italian kids fighting the Irish, and this is the civilized northeast and northwest Bronx at Grand Concourse, PS 28.

JA: I heard that Bob Kane met Bill Finger in high school.

SCHWARTZ: That’s quite possible. I came from a different background. I

came from that famous literary group whose names are still plastered over the walls at Brooklyn High School. I was the editor of The Clinton News, which was famous, and The Clinton Magpie, which was our true literary magazine, and had quite a reputation around New York.

JA: Will Eisner went to DeWitt Clinton.

SCHWARTZ: Will was a friend of my kid brother, who was an artist. And they both won a scholarship to one of the famous art schools. My brother didn’t take his scholarship, because he already was a close friend of the head of the Famous Artists School. That was one of those power unions that ran the theatre business. If you (or your father) had that kind of position, you could have any job you wanted, and my brother got lots of work. He didn’t have to worry about jobs when he left school. So he went one way and Eisner went another. However, I continued to know Eisner.

JA: You just knew Kane in elementary school, right?

SCHWARTZ: That’s right. I knew Bob Kane, I would say, for about two or three years running. Otherwise, I didn’t have any contact with him.

[When I saw him years later,] I just remembered, “Oh, my God! That’s the Bob Kane who used to sit in class with the dunce cap on.”

JA: Did he remember you?

SCHWARTZ: No, there wasn’t any reason to. I didn’t do anything so outstanding. Every kid in there was accomplished. Bob was accomplished with the help of his father. How he could have produced a son with a limp brain of that sort, I don’t know. Bob came over to me one day [at DC] and said, “What’s the big idea in that last story putting sheep in the story? You know I can’t draw sheep.” And I, responding to myself privately, thought, “Buddy, I know you can’t draw!” I kept thinking to myself, “How would I know that this guy can or can’t draw what he thinks are sheep?”

JA: Did you ever see Kane draw “Batman” stories, or was everything that Bob Kane “drew” ghosted? Kane had a lot of ghosts on “Batman.”

SCHWARTZ: I knew some of “his” work was ghosted. [The ghost artists] could draw reasonably well, whoever picked them for him, because I don’t know whether Bob had enough sense to pick the right ones. One was Lew Sayre Schwartz, who was a very nice man.

JA: How much of “Batman” do you think Bob Kane actually drew?

SCHWARTZ: Well, since he couldn’t draw, he couldn’t have drawn a hell of a lot, but he probably was in a very good position to pay off a lot of people to do things a certain way. But most of the ideas came from Bill Finger. Bill was a neighborhood friend, and it was Bill who provided most of the ideas. Without Bill Finger, there wouldn’t have been any Bob Kane.

JA: There are people who don’t think he was doing any drawing in the ’40s and the ’50s. Was he?

SCHWARTZ: Oh, yes. He was trying, because, knowing something about drawing, I [would criticize the art]: “fix that,” “strengthen this,” or nothing. Kane didn’t think it out that much. We’d talk, exchange what I felt were mostly nonsensical conversations, [like him complaining about having to draw sheep in a story]. There were a lot of good artists [at DC], and Kane was not one of them.

JA: Bob Kane actually started out at DC drawing humor fillers like “Peter Pup.”

Like A Bat Out Of Hell This full-page house ad for Batman #1 appeared, among other places, in Detective Comics #39—only (and exactly) one year after Detective #27 had introduced the hero. Art by Bob Kane and his crew. Thanks to Bill Jourdain. [©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: I know the stuff, but I didn’t know Bob Kane did it. The only time I had any contact was when he came to the office, and we had to discuss a script. On the other hand, I was close friends with Bill Finger, and I had a completely different relationship with him. Bill never told me any of this stuff about Bob. You picked it up around the office. Bill was never mean about Bob.

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“I Think Almost All Of [“Batman”] Was Bill Finger’s Creation” JA: In your talks with Bill Finger, how much of Batman do you think was Finger’s creation, and how much was Bob Kane’s?

SCHWARTZ: I think almost all of it was Bill Finger’s creation. Bill was actually quite talented.

He had a real feel for it, and I don’t think there would have been any “Batman” without Bill. He was a very good pulptype writer, very good at plotting. He kept records very carefully; he kept ideas for plots [in a gimmick book]. And he was a very nice man, by the way. Gentle. He had a very hard time, because Bob Kane stood in his way like a wall of iron. He’d never get anywhere as long as Bob was there. He wasn’t given the credits to “Batman” right away.

JA: Who came up with the initial idea of “Batman”?

SCHWARTZ: I can tell you this: it was Bill. Bob never had any ideas. He really was a man with very little taste, very unknowledgeable. He was very good-looking, by the way, another thing in his favor. Preening in front of the girls was his greatest success.

JA: Why do you think Bill Finger did not get credit for “Batman” back then?

SCHWARTZ: Because Kane wanted it. It was an arrangement. As far as Bill knew, he was getting all this through the generosity of his friend [Kane]. Bill didn’t realize how much he had been taken. The truth is that Kane rode so much on the qualities of other people.

JA: Did it bother Finger that his name was not on the “Batman” feature?

SCHWARTZ: Of course it did. He’d talk about it privately. Wouldn’t it bother you? Would it bother any normal human being? Bill felt his name should be on “Batman.” He’d get irritated, [but] he was not a vindictive person. Bill’s idea of a good time was to go out and play golf.

He did some mild exercise, things like that. He was not an intellectual.

What he picked up was mostly from the pulps, and his stories tended to reflect that. But, as it turns out, the stuff that he did was pretty good. The ideas he had, the stuff he did, was pretty good for the time and the place.

JA: Finger and Kane did get along in the early days, didn’t they?

SCHWARTZ: Well, they had to get along, or Bill was out. You can always get another Bill Finger. You know they hired a few writers who were pretty good, like Don Cameron, who was a wiz.

JA: Did Finger and Kane ever have a falling out over the lack of credit for “Batman”?

SCHWARTZ: Not to my knowledge, but it may have happened. I mean, I didn’t live with Bill. I knew Bill well enough to know his wife, his family, and visited there often. In fact, Bill lived in the same building with Jack Small, and they were very close friends.

JA: Did Bill Finger make his feelings known to the editors at DC? SCHWARTZ: I don’t think he would have done that. Bill would get grumpy, but basically, Bill thought he was lucky, and you know in actual fact, he just happened to walk into a good spot. Bill had been a shoe salesman, and [then] he was desperately needed somewhere, and suddenly he’s important and it gave him a lift.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Knight…

As has been pointed out by websites such as “The Vallely Archives” and Robby Reed’s “Dial B for Blog”—and to us personally by Alley Oop artist Jack Bender— some key art in the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents (directly above) was, shall we say, borrowed (see art at top right) from the 1938 Big Little Book Gang Busters in Action, based on the popular radio series. The BLB featured all-new artwork by Henry E. Vallely, whose portrait (seen above) was provided to “The Vallely Archives” by Pamela Joy McMorrow, the artist’s granddaughter, through the good offices of Vallely collector John Pansmith. The Dark Knight’s dark origin was first revealed in Detective Comics #33 (Oct. 1939)—and there still exists a scintilla of doubt as to whether that tale was written by Bill Finger or Gardner Fox, who had already scripted several previous “Batman” adventures. For obvious reasons, we’d prefer to think it was Finger’s work. [“Batman” page ©2010 DC Comics; Vallely art ©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: So he made his frustration known to you, but not to others.

SCHWARTZ: He may have. Somebody else must have known this. Jack Schiff would have known it, for sure. Schiff was a very perceptive man.

JA: Was Finger afraid of confrontation? Was he passive-aggressive?

SCHWARTZ: Bill had a lot of those problems. He was very much afflicted with problems; fear, passive aggression. Bill was very shy with women. He married Portia because he had to get away from home. He couldn’t stand his parents’ nagging, the fact that they would show up every payday and take his check. Bill was the most exploited human being I’ve ever seen.

Portia was a wonderful wife to him. She practically supported him, she helped him. She was a flirt and she got involved with [a friend of Bill’s].

Everybody knew it but Bill. I don’t think Bill ever found out. It would have killed him. It’s not a pleasant story. It would have been if Bill was unlikable, if he was a mean guy, if he stole stories from other people. But he was always helping people. He was helping them plot, and he was always very decent to other writers.

JA: I was told he had a higher rate than a lot of other writers because he had done some creation on “Batman.” Is that true?

SCHWARTZ: I don’t know for a fact that it’s true, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. If anyone had a high page rate, it should have been Bill.

JA: Did anyone ever confront Bob Kane about the fact that he cut Bill

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Finger out of the credit?

JA: Was Bill Finger a slow writer?

SCHWARTZ: I’m sure it must have happened, but nothing public that I know of.

SCHWARTZ: I wouldn’t say that. Bill and I used to retire together to work on scripts. [pause] My wife is showing me a thing I had written in one of my books about me and Bill, and a character called “Plastic Man” that we wrote. Bill and I did a lot of work together on the side, apart from DC. We’re talking about a period of years.

JA: Bob Kane had some ownership of “Batman.”

SCHWARTZ: I think that’s the only reason Kane was able to hang on the way that he did. There’s one other factor that may have been helpful. It has nothing to do with comics, but Bob Kane was a very good-looking young man. He had a better front. [But] his speech was—no, he was rather stupid, dull. He wasn’t a good talker.

JA: Did you co-plot? Who wrote the dialogue?

SCHWARTZ: We used to have fun together doing this. We’d sit around, kick it around, saying, “Wait a minute, I got it, I got it!” He’d jump around on the floor, saying, “No, no, let me try it this way.” Bill didn’t come up with all the ideas, but he came up with a lot of them. He did his share, and I feel I did my share. Bill and I and Don Cameron were the top plotters at DC. JA: How much of your writing was done with Bill Finger?

SCHWARTZ: A very small proportion. I didn’t think like Bill Finger. Bill didn’t have my literary background. Bill spent a lot of his time in my home, and in many ways it was Bill who taught me to plot comics. I wrote—I was the writer—I taught Bill how to write. Bill was not literate.

He wasn’t interested in [some of the things I was interested in]. Bill was interested in writing gung-ho comics, and he was very, very good at it. I’d say some [of our work together] was 50-50, and some of it was all Bill, and some of it was all mine. You see, I liked Bill as a human being. We used to have him and his son [Fred] out at the house. Bill was a very poor father in the sense he just didn’t know what to do with this toddler. He tried, he really worked at it, and we tried to help him. He was really up against it.

JA: What was the problem between Bill and Portia? Why did they split up?

SCHWARTZ: It wasn’t a problem so much as the fact Portia was really, truthfully, an unattractive, but very decent wife. Not very romantic, but very interesting, and she really helped Bill a great deal. I don’t know how he could have survived without Portia.

Apparently they knew each other from early on, because the story I got was that Bill married her to get away from home. I remember doing a little prying once, because Bill wasn’t a bad-looking guy. He was athletic, a great golfer, and I couldn’t figure out why he would have settled for someone like Portia. Now, Portia was a great woman for him. She really helped him, backed him up. Some years before his divorce, I moved my family to Canada, and I tried to find out what happened to Bill. So who was the first person I called? Portia. She told me they’d been divorced for a few years.

Hebophrenic Schizophrenia Is No Joke!

From his own e-mail exchanges a few years back with Alvin Schwartz, a correspondent whose name we sadly misplaced and have been trying to contact generously shared art and this anecdote about a favorite “Batman” story of his, “The Crazy Crime Clown!,” from Batman #74 (Dec. 1952-Jan. 1953). In this story, Bruce Wayne becomes “Mad Minos the Mystic,” wearing a turban with a hidden camera. When he saw the same idea used on The Simpson TV series years later, our correspondent asked Alvin how he’d come up with this idea—as well as that of “hebophrenic schizophrenia”—“a form of insanity characterized by extremely silly behavior.” Alvin’s reply: “I was probably the only one around [DC] who knew anything about hebophrenic schizophrenia—and that, along with all of us constantly dreaming up gimmicks for stories, especially when there’s pressure to get the stuff out fast, led to the kind of gimmick factory that was comics in those days. But you’re asking me about stuff that happened over 50 years ago. Ideas don’t come from a particular ‘where’—they come from almost anywhere when you’re thinking about one story after another. The lens instead of the ruby is just a very obvious sort of gimmick to my mind. Bill Finger kept a gimmick book loaded with stuff like that, and others used to borrow from it frequently.” Thanks to Gene Reed & Bruce Mason for the Batman #74 scan. [©2010 DC Comics.]

JA: Bill Finger wrote some “Blackhawk” for Quality. Did you write any “Blackhawk” with him?

SCHWARTZ: It’s possible. I wrote so many things with him, and I wrote so many other things with other people... well, the memory isn’t working as well as it should.

JA: Quality publisher “Busy” Arnold had several editors at one time or another. Did you deal with them, or was it Bill?

SCHWARTZ: It’s possible that I dealt with them, but [I don’t remember now]. I was dealing with dozens and dozens of editorial people [in different places]. I was quite well-known myself, and if you look up the New York Times book section for April 13th, 1948, you’ll find in the “People Who Read and Write” section—edited by a Harvey Bright—a whole long piece on Alvin Schwartz and Superman, where they expose the fact—you see, they were more interested in the fact that I did “Superman”—and they called me and we discussed philosophy because I was interested in existentialism. I was known as a philosopher, and I did

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scribe the “the first conscious existentialist novelist of America.” And then—the most stupid thing I ever did in my career—The New Yorker called me when this appeared, and wanted to interview me. Instead, I made a big joke out of it, about being an existentialist. I couldn’t take it seriously. It was silly, you know.

JA: When you wrote with Finger, who got paid? You or him?

SCHWARTZ: We got paid according to whom the story was assigned. For example, Bill would say, “Al, would you like to come over to the house tonight? I’ve got this tough story to do, and I could use some help.” Or it would be the other way around. We’d do that among DC writers quite a bit, not just Bill and me. Or sometimes we’d be working on two different stories, which was more likely, and we each got paid for our own stories.

JA: Do you think Bill was respected by the editors?

SCHWARTZ: He was treated with some importance because his work was damn good. He had a lot of good ideas, and without Finger, there couldn’t have been a Batman. It depended on the different editors quite a bit. People like Jack Schiff, for example, a fairly sophistic man, and Bernie Breslauer, the same—they knew where Bill’s stuff was coming from. They accepted it. Mort Weisinger was much different.

JA: Jerry Robinson told me that the editors, particularly Weisinger and Schiff, gave Bill Finger a hard time.

SCHWARTZ: Well, they would both give Bill Finger a hard time, but putting it on this basis: Mort would give everybody as hard a time as he could. He easily gave Bill a hard time because he was, by nature, a bully.

Weisinger hated to see writers make more than he did, but he didn’t set the salaries here. But he could give any one he wanted a hard time. The writers hated him.

JA: You did some radio show writing with Bill.

SCHWARTZ: Mark Trail. We only wrote for them a couple of times. I wrote for other radio shows, but I don’t remember what they were. I was also a major writer for some of the largest manufacturers.

“I Was A Trotskyite; [Jack Schiff] Was A Stalinist” JA: We were talking earlier about Jack Schiff. What were your politics at the time?

SCHWARTZ: I was a Trotskyite; he was a Stalinist. We would argue about many of the major differences that each stood for. There were a couple of other Stalinists at DC, like Bernie Breslauer. Most of the editors were Democrats. Some of them were quite talented, like Whit Ellsworth. The radical element was not very strong at DC. JA: So the most radical were Schiff and Breslauer.

SCHWARTZ: And God knows what Mort Weisinger was! By the way, I wrote a strip all in verse for DC, called “Hayfoot Henry.” It was about a policeman who collected rhymes as a hobby. Every time he solved the crime, he got the rhyme he was looking for. That was the second part of the story, and it was written in elegant iambic pentameter. I was very good at it, and they paid me $6 a page at that time. It took a lot of time and effort, and I told Jack Schiff, “I like doing this one, but I can’t afford it, so I’m going to have to give it up.” Saying this, knowing well that there wasn’t anybody in the place who could write it. There were other “Hayfoot” stories that Schiff asked other writers to do, but everybody refused because they didn‘t think they could do it. Next thing I know, I see a “Hayfoot Henry” story written by none other than Don Cameron. I said to Don, “I think you’re the only guy in the whole damn place who could have written one. I’d forgotten you can do anything.” He could. Don could imitate my writing style, [plot and dialogue]. He was really quite, quite

All In Color For A Rhyme Splash page of the “Hayfoot Henry” story from Action Comics #92 (Jan. 1946). Art by Stan Kaye, best known as a longtime “Superman” inker— and script probably by Alvin Schwartz. Thanks to Jim Ludwig for the scan.

A photo of then-Action editor Jack Schiff were seen on p. 25; fellow DC editor Bernie Breslauer was seen in A/E #93. [©2010 DC Comics.]

good, quite eloquent. He was like me in that he had these various literary talents. He was very skillful, and we both admired that in each other and, for that reason, accepted each other. So it didn’t break up our friendship.

And besides, he gets special credit for having once tried to push Mort Weisinger out the window, which I’ll tell you about later.

JA: How good a story/idea man was Jack Schiff?

SCHWARTZ: I think he was pretty good on the whole, if you measure him against what he was doing, what his origins were, and the kind of things he was capable of. It’s a complicated question, because the reach of people getting to where they are will turn out to be what they are. Often, it has very little to do with reality situations. You become what you are.

That I should become a comic book writer—it’s the last thing in the world, I think, anyone would have expected.

I saw myself in a more upper-literary category. I didn’t see myself involved in all of what I have been. I was, in the beginning, quite active in a pure literary sense, whereas I know I tried to write in other circumstances and other events, but other needs changed me. I imagine a lot of that happened to people like Jack and Bernie Breslauer.

JA: Did you know them socially or just professionally?

SCHWARTZ: I didn’t know them socially, except in the sense that we talked a lot. We’d meet for lunch, but we [were in] different worlds. They were a little older than I was. Jack was always polite. He could be rough,

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potentially on your side.” In other words, what’s the sense in fighting each other when we have so much more in common?

Of course, people have different visions of different people, depending on their relationship, because they could see how Jack would have more in common with me, than say, with a fellow Communist, because we could discuss more on a wider level of reality even with our differences. [Jack was not the literary type] in the broadest literary sense. He would not have fit into that universe, like William Carlos Williams or the English poets who were popular at the time, like I would.

JA: Would you say Schiff was more concerned about the writing or the art of the stories? Did you ever have a sense of that?

SCHWARTZ: Oh, yes. I would say that Schiff probably said both [were important].

JA: Did he get along with the people who worked for him?

SCHWARTZ: Jack was a specialist in getting along, a strong believer in fairness. He would never go out of his way to do something special for one person; there was no favoritism in Schiff ’s attitudes. If you did what he needed and wanted, you got along with him. As I said, he was a very decent man, maybe a little too concerned with fairness.

JA: After you had a story conference, and returned with a script, how critical would Schiff be of it?

SCHWARTZ: His memory was good, and he would quite critically go over details [on dialogue and drama]. We never finished a story until it was put in the hands of an artist. Even then, I sometimes said, “Hey, Jack, maybe we ought to discuss this idea, and do it this way,” and at the very last moment, too. I think the story was always prime. In that sense, it’s a craft. By the way, a lot of these qualities were not appreciated in Jack, because you needed some intellectual background to understand him. If you didn’t have that, you were not likely to care. You were doing a job, or you were like Mort Weisinger, and try to get the stuff out and make as much [money] as you can.

UNICEF-icent Obsession A Superman-starring “institutional page” (we’d call ’em “public service pages”) written by Jack Schiff and drawn, reportedly, by Sheldon Moldoff.

It appears in DC mags with a Dec. 1962 cover date. [©2010 DC Comics.]

but on the whole he was thoughtful. More than the other editors, he was aware of the fact that other people had lives, and needed to live them. His political interests were really based on humanistic impulse. [It affected the kind of stories he wanted to use], sometimes negatively in the sense that he would not buy stories that opposed his ideas. Don’t forget, to a pure Stalinist, it’s practically a religion, and he really believed this stuff.

JA: Would he really talk pro-Russia?

SCHWARTZ: Well, that wasn’t so unusual in those days. I’ll give you an idea: I was involved when [President Franklin] Roosevelt started a project on a literary project that he had going [probably the WPA Writers Project]. And a lot of friends of mine got onto it, and that was because my politics were pretty well known. I’m talking about the WPA, and those writers groups and things of that sort. There were some bitter, bitter disputes among those groups. This literary group, I was still going to quit at New York University. I had started there. We were close to people like Smithy Hook. Ernest Hemingway was involved to some extent, too.

JA: How did Jack feel about our government then?

SCHWARTZ: That’s a very broad question, because we all had our own ideas. I remember talking to him once, when we discussed our platforms.

You know, this whole business in Minneapolis. There was a whole scene with the unions going on. I said, “You have to realize where they stand and where we stand, and stop making enemies out of people who are

“I Came Up With [Bizarro] For the Daily Superman Newspaper Strip” JA: Since you mentioned Weisinger, what was it like to work for him?

Would he plot as heavily as Jack Schiff did?

SCHWARTZ: Would he plot as heavily? Never was anybody so pleased with himself. He would impose an entire series of plots on you if he could.

He would try to get you to do something he thought was a wonderful brainstorm, and he hadn’t the least idea what he was doing. Mort was the know-nothingest clown; that was essentially what most of the editors who knew him thought. They felt he was always pushing, trying to help himself, but on a very vulgar level.

His favorite stories were the most popular things on Broadway. He had no sharply defined tastes. All he would think of was what’s popular, and to him, that was taste. One day, he came in with this special aura of excitement about him. One of The New Yorker’s best writers had written a take-off on Mort, and it was very funny. They made such a joke of his work and his stuff, and Weisinger was thrilled to death because The New Yorker paid so much attention to him. And the fact was that everybody realized they were making a joke of him. Mort was the only one who didn’t know that.

JA: Mort was always reputed to take plots from one writer, give them to another, and claim they were his ideas. Did that happen to you very often?

SCHWARTZ: It happened only to those people who let him get away with it. If the writers protested too much, he would gradually slow down [the

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It’s Bizarro’s World—Superman Just Lives In It Although Bizarro made his print debut in Superboy #68 (July 1958) in a booklength story (below) scripted by Otto O. Binder and drawn by George Papp, the outrageous alien had actually been created for the Superman newspaper strip by writer Alvin Schwartz with penciler Curt Swan, as witness the dailies (at right) done for Nov. 17-18, 1958. Inker uncertain. Syndicate proofs for numerous dailies from that story arc were sent by Binder circa 1964 to Roy Thomas when he was editing and publishing the first volume of Alter Ego… so, since Otto didn’t say differently, Roy assumed for years that he must’ve written them. But apparently the McClure Syndicate had simply provided them to OOB as reference. [©2010 DC Comics.]

plots, that broke away from the robust quality that was usually assigned to them.

JA: I felt like, in short order, Mort kind of watered down the character and concept. Do you feel that way?

SCHWARTZ: I came up with the concept and Mort didn’t try to water it down, as you say, so much as that was the way he conceived things. He didn’t think of things as having a broader scope. He simply followed a pattern, and he had the advantage of the first seat, you might say. He lived out on Long Island, and used to come in on the train with Jack Liebowitz, whom he used to influence. Mort managed to induce in him the idea that Mort was great because he could get a story published quite [often] in some important magazines, like Reader’s Digest.

JA: If he was in a hurry, why did he give the Bizarro story to Otto Binder? Why didn’t he have you write it?

SCHWARTZ: I may not have been available. He could influence Binder much more easily than he could me. Mort also knew that I was the one who originated the story, and he wanted to make some changes. He didn’t understand what I was driving at. Also, there’s the factor that I was working almost exclusively on the daily Superman strip. The daily strip had more sophisticated stories than the comic books, and appealed to a more sophisticated audience. I did manage to hold that audience, whereas Mort’s idea of what’s popular was what was big on Broadway, or what was big on television. So there were some differences between us.

JA: Were you upset that he gave the Bizarro character to Otto Binder to write for the comic book?

practice]. That almost happened to me with Bizarro. I came up with this idea for the daily Superman newspaper strip. He was in a hurry to get it out, so he gave it to Otto Binder, who was the last person in the world to understand it. To him, Bizarro was just another robot. It didn’t have the character, the quintessential details that would have been appropriate for a character that size, or the significance of [what it meant]. [Binder] tried to turn him into an ogre, and in the end, once I left [DC], he began to do that; but Bizarro of his own strength, you might say, managed to redeem himself as a real character who didn’t simply turn up as another bloated kind of hero in the comic book field. Bizarro was very real in his own way.

I was interested in creating a character that broke away from the usual

SCHWARTZ: It was usually done, because you didn’t own [the characters]. This was the way that publishing was. There wasn’t too much you could do about it. As a matter of fact, many years later, I wrote to Paul Levitz [then president and publisher of DC Comics] and mentioned the fact that this often happened, and that it was understandable that, being in Mort’s position, we’d do it his way, which was not a reason for taking the kind of negative position a lot of angry writers had, [who] were influenced a great deal by Jerry Siegel. Now Jerry wasn’t a bad guy. I’m not saying that. But he tended to sort of go along with the pack. Everybody felt they were mistreated because there was no readership, there was no policy. I think there was a much better war at our great rival.

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

JA: Marvel?

SCHWARTZ: Of course.

JA: Then you didn’t feel any proprietary feelings towards Bizarro, because you were being pragmatic?

SCHWARTZ: Well, I did at first. I actually consulted a lawyer to discuss this, and was moving along with the case when I started to think about it, and about all these people and how they would look at it, and what they cared about—what they wanted. Finally, I realized, why am I still at DC? Why didn’t I try any of the other companies? Because DC really treated its writers better than anywhere I’d found. It’s crazy to bite the hand that feeds you.

JA: Did you have any confrontations with Mort Weisinger?

SCHWARTZ: Oh, yes. There would be differences on plotting, on ideas, even politics. Mort would come to me with his complaints about Schiff.

You know, the writers and artists would talk about each other. There wasn’t a loyalty in-house, or anything like that for those things. I think Mort was well aware that people didn’t like him. And he paid people to write novels and articles for him. There was one guy he used especially, and paid him well. The guy was a pretty good writer. Mort had a lot of people working to build his reputation.

JA: Did he ever write the stuff, or did he always use a ghost writer?

SCHWARTZ: He wrote the stuff at times. He started as a writer, really. He started with a group of writers. They all worked together at Standard Publications.

JA: I know two of his ghost writers. One was David Vern.

SCHWARTZ: David Vern I knew very well. Actually, David was a good writer, a good comics writer. He was a pleasant man. Considering that he had someone like Mort to handle, he did very well for himself. I liked Dave; clever company. In fact, I liked most of the people there.

David was called upon by the various [DC] editors to write stories at different times when other writers were busy, or when they thought his work would be most appropriate. Often, they chose him. Sometimes, he could be quite brash or noisy. Mostly on the lighter side. I would say he was a likable man.

“Nobody Got Along With Bob [Kanigher] Except One Man: Alvin Schwartz” JA: I know Vern didn’t get along with Bob Kanigher.

SCHWARTZ: Nobody got along with Bob except one man: Alvin Schwartz. We just hit it off, I don’t know, maybe because we were interested in the same girl. That happened very often. I got along with Kanigher. I don’t know why, it was just one of those things. And yet, he was a difficult character. I could see why. He was snarky. While he would be difficult to get along with for some people, I kind of liked him, and felt comfortable with him. I didn’t work for him. I didn’t do anything for him.

Oh, I remember one story where one big [artist] got very angry at Kanigher. Kanigher was a small man, this guy was a giant. He just picked Kanigher up with his two hands and held him up in the air, with Kanigher kicking around. It wasn‘t meant as a friendly gesture, but it was a gesture of personality overwhelming personality. Kanigher was cruel to people.

He was that way with some people and at the same time... [he had a friend] and the guy’s wife had an illness of which Kanigher was very knowledgeable, and as it turned out, was very helpful to them. This brought them close.

JA: What would you talk to Kanigher about?

The Wonder Of You Alvin Schwartz must’ve got along with DC editor/writer Robert Kanigher, since Alvin is credited with scripting this tale from Wonder Woman #27 (Jan.-Feb. 1948). This is one of the very few “WW” adventures not written

by RK over a two-decade period after he’d taken over the editing and scripting of the Amazon’s adventures a year or so earlier. And dig that title—was Alvin waxing philosophical? Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: Whatever we were talking about... we might have talked of office gossip—politics, oddly enough, rarely. I don’t even know what Kanigher’s politics were at this point. I think it was casual conversation, humor, stuff about people in the office. Kanigher didn’t have too many friends.

JA: I know David Vern had some confrontations with Kanigher, usually over money and story.

SCHWARTZ: There were always confrontations going on in that office.

Now Dave Vern had a very good friend out in California, another writer whose wife had a mental problem with which Dave proved to be very helpful. He understood it, having a touch of it himself. It was one of his quirks, and my friend proved, at least in letters to me, what a wonderful person Dave Vern was. Dave Vern was a mixture of popular—he was liked, he was disliked. He wasn’t highly disliked by anybody that I know of, other than people were annoyed by his special function with Weisinger.

JA: This friend that you were talking about, what was his name?

SCHWARTZ: I’m trying to think of his name. He lived on the West Coast, and ran a small magazine of his own. [He also wrote for DC.]

“I’ve Always Been A Writer”

JA: Another person who ghost-wrote for Mort was William Woolfolk.

SCHWARTZ: Yes, that’s an interesting story. William Woolfolk wrote all the stories that his wife [Dorothy] allegedly wrote. She knew how to handle Weisinger. So between the two of them, they wrote for Weisinger.

Dorothy was a nice woman. She did her work well. I think she was quite competent. Bill Woolfolk was a competent writer who wrote some wild attacks on Weisinger, and throughout gave the truth about him sometime afterwards.

JA: In your opinion, did Mort like people?

SCHWARTZ: Mort liked to be among people, especially when he was able to influence them. People were interesting to Mort to the extent that he could make them feel he was wonderful. Why do you think a man needs to hire another writer, in that sense, to abase himself, so that not a lot of people get to know about it? Is it to build himself up in the opinion of others? And at the same time, remain blind to the fact that everybody knew that these stories had been written by somebody else, who’d been paid by Mort? Mort was blind to a lot of features in himself. He was an ungainly man…. He overate, he was clumsy… he must have had a hard time as a kid. That happens. They make up for it.

Frankly, in some respects, I feel sorry for him. I would hate to be in his shoes. He must have been a very unhappy man. There were times when

43

Mort told my wife about himself. He felt that he wasn’t getting the most recognition. That was his reaction. It’s pitiable, really, because in any case, anyone who acts like that is suffering.

JA: Did he ever show an ounce of compassion to anybody?

SCHWARTZ: I don’t think there’s a human being that lives who failed to do that at some time.

JA: But I never hear it about him.

SCHWARTZ: Well, the stories about him really don’t lead to that. But I think there were people he liked and got along with. I mean, he functioned rather well, I would say. He got along with Jack Liebowitz, and Jack was a real freak in many ways. I can tell you many stories about that.

Jack couldn’t stand other people easily. He had a hard childhood on the Lower East Side. He was mostly a class thinker. He thought of himself as upper class, and the other people as merely beings, to put it into my own language.

JA: I understand that Jack Schiff and Mort had an intense rivalry, but Schiff was the managing editor.

SCHWARTZ: The real managing editor work had to have come from Schiff. It couldn’t have come from Weisinger. Weisinger was too selfcentered, too direct to the self, along those lines, to think of the company.

Whereas Schiff tended to think of a company’s needs, and he thought about it as part of his job. I don’t know if that explains it to you.

JA: But Schiff didn’t have more power than Weisinger, did he?

SCHWARTZ: Weisinger managed to pretty much take over the power from Jack as much as he could. And he succeeded in doing it only, I think, because of his influence on Liebowitz. In actual fact, Whit Ellsworth understood him. Whit was a bright guy, one of the smartest people there.

Whit could see through Mort like a fish sees through glass. And he knew what Mort was trying to do and would manage, for the most part, to stymie Mort’s efforts, probably kept Mort back more than anyone else.

And Whit was not a lovable man. For some reason, I don’t think either of us could explain how they actually ever got along very well, but they managed to be comfortable with each other, never the less. But I admired [Whit’s] intelligence and I think he was a very competent editor. And I think what he knew about Mort was pretty much what I knew. [Whit] also wasn’t the kind of person who would go around firing people.

JA: Did anyone respect Mort, besides Liebowitz?

SCHWARTZ: Yeah, there seemed to be a few writers who gave to Mort [a boost], told him he was great. Mort either managed to talk them into it, try to educate them, or tell them his side of the story first.

“The Delectation Of The Editors” JA: Tell me a little more about Bernie Breslauer, who died young.

Caveman Tactics In “Lois Lane, Cavegirl!” in Action Comics #129 (Feb. 1949), a circus strong man believes he’s a caveman thawed out from an iceberg—and the ladies go wild for his Stone Age ways. The splash and another page of this Alvin Schwartz story were printed in earlier issues of A/E. Pencils by Winslow Mortimer, inks by Al Plastino—with line editing by Mort Weisinger. [©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: When you say he died young, it sort of gives you a clue.

Bernie always seemed like a rather old man. I thought I always found him fair, decent, and easy to discuss things with. He seemed to have all of the virtues, and none of the vices. He was quiet, he was always well-collected, he was always somehow in balance, he was a gentle man. Nevertheless, he could joke. All my memories of Bernie are positive; I regarded him highly.

I never even got into a political discussion with him. He knew where I stood, I knew where he stood. He was close friends with Schiff, and when Bernie died, I guess Schiff was the only one who attended his sort of lay funeral, a very specifically lay funeral because of his politics.

JA: Was he as involved as Schiff in the plotting of the stories?

SCHWARTZ: There always was a lot of cross-cutting, but if so, it would

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

be like, “Hey, Bernie! What do you think of this?” Bernie as mediator, Bernie as the third party, “What were your ideas over the story?” But never did Bernie walk in, interfere, or try to cut in on somebody else. I never worked for him directly.

JA: Tell me about Murray Boltinoff.

SCHWARTZ: It’s a hard story. Murray, basically, was a good reporter. He was a shy man. I almost feel like quoting his brother Henry, the cartoonist. [Later in life,] Henry sat down with me one day and said, “Murray could have gotten out of there [DC]. He was miserable. He was offered a job.” He mentioned a number of papers that could have worked for. “He just never got off his ass.” Once, when Murray’s girl friend left him, he practically fell apart, and we got together with some of the guys and turned Murray over to some of the whores they kept at the hotel across the street. By the delectation of the editors, which Bernie never knew about because he wasn’t part of the club, Murray came back with a happy smile. There were stories like that. I personally liked him. I thought he was a nice, decent man who was in the wrong place.

JA: Murray has been described to me as being insecure. Do you think that was accurate?

SCHWARTZ: It would set the pattern.

JA: Did you talk politics with him?

SCHWARTZ: No. But Murray was always pleasant when there was a political discussion between me and Schiff. Murray would never miss one. I don’t know why. He didn’t seem to have any special interest in politics.

JA: You never worked for Murray directly either, did you?

SCHWARTZ: No. JA: Was he well-regarded there?

The Brothers Boltinoff Because of space limitations, we haven’t reprinted oft-seen photos of a number of DC personnel, particularly editors, whose likenesses were seen either earlier in this issue or in conjunction with the recent George Kashdan interview (#93-95 & 97), such as Robert Kanigher, Bernie Breslauer, Sheldon Mayer, et al. But we did want to show the Boltinoff siblings: editor Murray B., depicted above in a drawing by an unknown hand [perhaps Jim Aparo?] from the Feb.-March 1976 Limited Collector’s Edition, Vol. 5, #C-43 (“Christmas with the Super-Heroes”)… and a photo of cartoonist Henry B. (in dark shirt) talking to artist Gill Fox at the 2000 All Time Classic New York Comics Convention. The Henry B. halfpager at the top of the page is from Adventure Comics #137 (Feb. ’49)—while his sketch of two of his most popular characters is courtesy of Shaun Clancy. Thanks to Joe Petrilak for the HB/GF pic.

[Comic art ©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: I never heard anything bad about Murray, if you call that well-regarded. I got the feeling that Murray was competent, and most of that came from his brother who seemed to know a great deal about his work, what he felt about it, and where he should have been, instead of where he was, but failed to get to because he just couldn’t make the effort. In other words, he was too passive about his career.

I didn’t know him very well. We’d have lunch together. We could sit and talk about almost any subject that was discussable around the office.

After I had left DC, I was running a major research department at Darcy Advertising, which was the 12th largest agency in the world. I was standing in front of the building, and I ran into Murray. He was telling me how sad and miserable and horrible things were over at DC, and that was the last time I saw him face-to-face. But I remember him as always pleasant, and I always had a small liking for him.

JA: Another editor I want to ask you about is George Kashdan.

SCHWARTZ: I knew George quite well.

When I worked there, I found George sort of dull, and not very interesting either as an editor or as a person. And I remember when George was dying, my very good friend—he died recently—Arnold [Drake] came here to visit us. Arnold tried to persuade me to call George when he was dying. I told him I couldn’t do it.

I felt I didn’t know him well enough. I felt this was too intimate, and I would have been imposing, and so I couldn’t do it. I really felt I didn’t know George well enough to give him the kind of cheer I knew he needed, that I would have liked him to have. So there was not much I could say about him. I didn’t especially like George; I didn’t dislike him, either.

JA: Would George participate in the political discussions?

SCHWARTZ: I take it he would have been in on some of them.

JA: What was his brother Henry like?

JA: I know you didn’t work for Julie Schwartz, but did you have much contact with him?

SCHWARTZ: Henry was a little quicker, a littler sharper, a little more active, a little more opinionated, a little more everything, a little more bitter about the fact that his brother hadn’t pulled himself together and taken advantage of his opportunities.

SCHWARTZ: I had more contact with Julie outside of work. We had common friends like John Broome. We were close buddies. We knocked around together, we shared ideas together. I knew that John was close

“I’ve Always Been A Writer”

friends of one of the editors.

JA: In fact, John was best man at Julie’s wedding.

SCHWARTZ: I knew that. After I left DC [and was in advertising], I decided it was time to get out of that world. Maybe I ought to go back to DC? I had a few ideas. I decided my closest contact would be Julie Schwartz because he was a close friend of John’s, and John was a close friend of mine. John, Julie, and I formed a triumvirate.

JA: What was Julie like as a person?

SCHWARTZ: Very much what you saw. Nothing hidden, straight out what you got. He’d be a hard one to describe.

JA: I knew Julie the last 20 years of his life, and I always got along great with him.

SCHWARTZ: Knowing him personally would have been fun. [He was] pretty much all business in the offices. If Julie disliked something or disliked somebody, he wasn’t very pleasant about it. I knew the quirks in Julie’s personality, but I’m not going to spread them around.

JA: You said Julie Schwartz used to talk about business. Did he talk about the company, or about his books?

45

SCHWARTZ: Well, that’s a funny question in some ways, because if you were doing one, you were doing the other. He talked about everything: He talked about people... what So-and-so did to So-and-so the other night… he talked about stories that were current in the company; he talked about what the guy next door—who was in the publishing business—was also doing. And we were, at that time, at 480 Lexington Avenue.

JA: Julie didn’t participate much in those political discussions, did he?

SCHWARTZ: He wasn’t involved at all, as I remember. Let me tell you that my favorite series to write was Buzzy. If they’d let me write what I wanted to... you could take a look at all the Buzzys you could find and read them. I think they’re the best piece of comic writing that ever came down the pike.

JA: Who was your editor on Buzzy?

SCHWARTZ: I don’t remember.

JA: Because I’m looking at the time period there, ’44 to ’46.

SCHWARTZ: They kept stretching and changing editors, and so on. But you see, it was the artwork that was so good, that worked so perfectly with the way I was working, and that was Stan Kaye. Sometimes [I discussed the stories with him]. He managed to get the right touch, just a superb feeling.

JA: Did he know much about writing, or was he strictly an artist?

SCHWARTZ: The question never came up in that form. To me, some of the artwork was writing, because I have a scene in my mind at the moment, where they borrow an elephant from another town because Aïda was supposed to be playing in their town, and they something happened to their elephant, and they couldn’t go on. You can‘t go on without an elephant in Aïda, you know. It was a very funny scene, how they borrowed the elephant and marched it to the small towns, and there’s something about the movement of those things. There was something about the way that moved, and the way that Stan Kaye had that nobody else had.

“I Don’t Like The Whole Idea Of The Superman Character, To This Day” JA: Mort Weisinger was in charge of the Superman newspaper strip, right?

SCHWARTZ: At one time, but it varied. It went from person to person.

Schiff had done quite a bit of it. I never dealt directly with the McClure Syndicate [that distributed the strip].

JA: Were you ever told how many newspapers the Superman strip was in?

SCHWARTZ: No, but I knew it was very popular, and I knew they [McClure] made a mistake in not building on it themselves, because it was probably one of the best strips they had. I expressed my willingness to do the damn thing for nothing. I thought it was that good, and it gave me the possibility of letting me do my best work. This was my art. Most of it was done with Schiff, which was always a pleasure. We got along.

What’s The Buzzy?

The titular teenager wielded a mean trumpet (apparently in every sense of the word) in the post-WWII end-of-an-era Big Band days, as evidenced by this page from Buzzy #9 (Sept.-Oct. 1946). Art by George Storm. Jim Ludwig reports that this issue’s jive-talk-heavy script is attributed to Alvin Schwartz. Say what you like—both script and art have a definite style that isn’t just imitation Archie! [©2010 DC Comics.]

JA: A story line would often run eight to thirteen weeks. [Al agrees.] I’m assuming that you would plot the broad picture of that particular sequence, and then you actually wrote it. How often would you come in with the written scripts to talk with Jack or with Mort?

SCHWARTZ: I don’t remember coming in at all to talk with Mort, probably because it might not have been pleasant memories. Most of my memories of working with Schiff, that was always more or less pleasant.

On the Batman newspaper strip, Bob Kane came in a few times [but he

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

JA: I see your point. But Superman’s sort of a Big Brother figure, because he’s stronger than everyone else.

SCHWARTZ: I’m not into Superman as Big Brother. Well, I don’t know anything about these characters. I think you’ve got to read my two books, and then I’ll send you my third, and I think you’ll enjoy it as part of your education.

JA: You wrote the “Superman” story that dealt with the cyclotron.

SCHWARTZ: Yes. By the way, I had close friends who were involved with the development of atomic energy, and the dropping of the bomb. Anyway, that’s a long story, but I know a great deal about what happened.

JA: Did you catch any flack for the cyclotron story, because I heard that DC got— SCHWARTZ: I understand that they blocked the story, but not completely. But it went through just the same.

Book ’Em, Alvin!

The covers of Alvin’s two memoirs: An Unlikely Prophet: Revelations on the Path without Form (MacMurray & Beck, Inc., 1997) and A Gathering of Selves: The Spiritual Journey of the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman (Destiny Books, 2007). Happy hunting on eBay! [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: Because I know that there was one “Superman” story, the one that dealt in the comic book with it, was delayed until after the war.

SCHWARTZ: This I know nothing about.

JA: In 1949, in the Superman newspaper strip, you married Superman and Lois Lane. Whose idea was that?

didn’t contribute to the writing in any way].

JA: In other words, you and Schiff would discuss a story line that might go thirteen weeks. Would he micromanage each daily that you wrote?

SCHWARTZ: Would he micromanage it? No, not with me. Sometimes we’d get hold of a story, then get another idea and change it a little. We played with it. It was our baby, our joy, and certainly mine. I preferred doing that where I could have been making—I wasn’t rich, exactly, but I could have been making more writing “Superman” or “Batman” comic book stories.

JA: What did you think the essence of the Superman character was?

SCHWARTZ: To begin with, I didn’t like the essence of the Superman character as it started. I didn’t like what it stood for, I didn’t like the jingoism, and I tried to change it as much as possible. When it came to World War II, Schiff and I were pretty much in agreement. We didn’t have problems with that, although I had a different way of seeing it, a different way of evaluating.

JA: Did your feelings about the character change in the post-war period?

SCHWARTZ: No. Sometimes, you did a story that you just knew was good, it was working out, even though you may not like [the theme]. Let me put it this way, I don‘t like the whole idea of the Superman character, even to this day.

JA: Why not?

SCHWARTZ: Have you read my book An Unlikely Prophet?

JA: No. SCHWARTZ: You have an experience waiting for you. Read the book.

JA: Let me throw this at you. In the early 1970s, Jack Kirby used Superman in Forever People #1. Jack felt that, if a Superman really existed, people would hate him because he was so superior to the average person, and that they could not relate to Superman.

SCHWARTZ: Did that make sense to you? Did Gandhi being hated depend upon [one’s point of view], or not being hated or being loved?

SCHWARTZ: It was Whit Ellsworth’s. He tried to write a story, he wanted to get in on [the Superman newspaper strip]. He needed some extra bucks, and he wound up being unable to finish it and turned it over to me. It was the nastiest job, and yet I couldn’t refuse it. We were friends, and he needed me. He was my boss, besides. I think Whit thought halfassed on this one. Listen, he wasn’t the best writer or plotter in the world.

They permitted a lot of this [kind of stuff], and very often I was called in.

“Come in and save us,” you know. But there’s a lot of stuff like that.

JA: They were married in the newspaper strip, but not in the comic book.

SCHWARTZ: Well, DC liked to consider them as separate features.

JA: Do you think marrying those characters was a good idea?

SCHWARTZ: No. Whatever they had to do on something like that, I knew a bad idea was coming my way.

JA: So you were like a Mr. Fixit?

SCHWARTZ: In that case, yes. In several cases, in fact.

JA: In this particular case, they were married in the newspaper strip for a couple of years. Why did DC decide to not make them be married?

SCHWARTZ: I wish I could say.

“‘Batman’ Was Less Interesting [Than’ Superman’]” JA: What were your feelings about “Batman”?

SCHWARTZ: Much less so than “Superman.” “Superman” allowed more room for the imagination. “Batman” was less interesting, a lot fewer possibilities for stories.

JA: Did you find “Batman” harder to write than “Superman”?

SCHWARTZ: Not necessarily. I found that sometimes you work on a story that would just roll by itself, and you would be fine. It was full of

“I’ve Always Been A Writer”

Eight Days A Week Alvin was kept busy writing newspaper strips in the mid’40s! The above Superman daily, supplied by Jared Bond, finishes off the spring 1945 “atomic” sequence covered in detail on pp. 12-13 (pencils by Wayne Boring; inks probably

by Stan Kaye)… while the 1946 Batman Sunday at right, drawn by Jack Burnley, depicts a dramatic confrontation with Two-Face.

The late Jack Burnley himself sent Ye Editor the b&w Batman syndicate proofs, some years back. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

surprises. Fiction can surprise you. Currently, I’m having a big discussion with my editor and my publisher about the significance of fiction—what its value is, and whether there really is such a thing—because I’m questioning it and trying to lift it into another category called “metarealism,” which is a long discussion so I won’t go into it now. So I’m not prepared to jump into this one at the moment.

JA: When you were discussing plot with Shelly, who was a cartoonist— would he ever doodle out a scene? Did he think like a writer, or did he think like an artist when you were discussing this stuff?

JA: There’s a couple more editors I want to ask you about. Like Larry Nadel.

JA: Were you surprised when Shelly quit being an editor?

SCHWARTZ: His name rings a bell [but nothing comes to mind].

JA: Did you ever deal with Shelly Mayer?

SCHWARTZ: A great deal. Shelly was a great guy. I wrote a lot of stories for him. I wrote much the stuff he was doing [“The Flash,” “Green Lantern,” “Wonder Woman.” —Jim], even though there were others who were also [writing for him]. Shelly was a very good editor, good man all around.

JA: Was he as heavy into plotting sessions as, say, Jack Schiff?

SCHWARTZ: I don’t think he had the time. There were occasional long plotting sessions. Every editor has a style or his ideas about what made a great story. But other than that, I didn’t spend a lot of time at the office. I did most of my work at home in Westchester, New York, at the time, and commuted in from time to time when I had to discuss a plot or ideas for a plot, or the future of the newspaper strips I worked on. Usually, I was working on several things at a time.

If we were working on a run of dailies or working on a Sunday, where the deadlines were [tight], I’d come in. It was a rather loosely-run place, and there were a lot of people going in and out all the time, and we were

all talkers.

SCHWARTZ: I tend to think of Shelly as a writer.

SCHWARTZ: I wasn’t that close to the whole scene. I was surprised when I found out that they [the All-American line] were coming over to DC [in 1945]. I was doing a lot for Shelly at the same I was doing stuff for DC, but there didn’t seem to be any problem or mixture.

JA: It’s said that if you worked for one editor at DC, they frowned upon it if you worked for another.

SCHWARTZ: Depends on the editor, and it depends on the stories and how they were grouped. Some editors were in charge of group stories, and if any other editor worked on them, they didn’t mind because they were also involved. And there were other editors who regarded certain characters [as] exclusively theirs, and they did mind. It depended a lot on personality, and I wouldn’t say this is true in all situations.

JA: Well, I understand it was mainly true of Schiff, Weisinger, and Julie.

SCHWARTZ: Schiff, Weisinger, and Julie ran the show, you know. They had the most important characters, and consequently the most important writers and the artists.

“I Wish I Knew More About Don [Cameron]” JA: Tell me the Don Cameron/Mort Weisinger story.

SCHWARTZ: I walked in the middle of it, you might say, and there was a big fuss around the window behind Jack Schiff. Jack Schiff sat at the desk in the corner when you came in, far right. And an angry Cameron—he was a small man—and Weisinger, as you know, was a battle-ax, but I don’t think he could lift a flea. But anyway, Cameron was on a real toot. He was really loaded, and mad as hell because he felt that—Cameron rarely complained. He was very easy to get along with. In fact, he was a lovely guy in many ways.

Well, I happened to come in at a time when there was a whole crowd trying to pull Don off Mort, and Mort was pushing against the windows. The windows were covered with a kind of steel mesh. Mort wouldn’t have gone through anyway. We were way up on the, what, 11th or 12th floor, I don’t remember. But there was a lot of screaming and squalling, and it was a very funny scene.

JA: What did Cameron say about the incident?

SCHWARTZ: Just general stuff about, “Get rid of the bastard,” “He’s no good,” stuff like that. None of his [complaints were] organized. I wish I knew more about Don. I never saw him outside the office.

JA: Do you have any idea why he drank so much?

Besides just being an alcoholic.

Tornado Alley Panels of editor/cartoonist Sheldon Mayer’s “Scribbly and The Red Tornado” from All-American Comics #28 (July 1941). This story’s splash is on display in the 200-page volume The All-Star Companion, Vol. 4, still on sale from TwoMorrows Publishing. Thanks to Betty Dobson. [©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: Well, I’ve known lots of alcoholics. There’s nothing strange about them, and I was comfortable enough with them. They weren’t a different species, after all. But why was he an alcoholic? I have no idea. I knew nothing about his personal life.

“I’ve Always Been A Writer”

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JA: I was told that, in the 1940s, he would actually write in the DC offices. Do you remember that?

SCHWARTZ: In the 1940s? He used the office to write? I didn’t know that. I was there for an amount of time in the 1940s.

JA: I did some research on Don Cameron at the request of [early “Batman” artist & later comics historian] Jerry Robinson, who knew him well, and I learned that Don Cameron’s father was William J. Cameron. Does that name mean anything to you?

SCHWARTZ: Yeah, he was a high officer with the Henry J. Ford organization.

JA: And a noted anti-Semite.

SCHWARTZ: That I didn’t know.

JA: The elder Cameron was the editor and one of the main writers for the Dearborn Independent newspaper, which you know was owned by Henry Ford. He also was involved with people like Father Coughlin [the famous anti-FDR “radio priest” of the 1930s]. It was Jerry’s belief that part of the reason that Don Cameron developed a drinking problem was because of the family history, because he was ashamed of his father.

SCHWARTZ: I know there was some problem with his father. I didn’t know what it was, except they didn’t get along. I didn’t know anything about the anti-Semitism, which would have been rough. It would have been rough to have been an anti-Semite, or to be characterized as one, in that atmosphere.

JA: Jerry said that Don Cameron was not an anti-Semite.

SCHWARTZ: I knew he wasn’t, and it was his conflict with his father that was his problem [but we never discussed it]. That much I knew. But Ford was known as an anti-Semite for years. Look, I had my own foot in the Union Movement. I was an organizer for it at Crucible Steel. I helped organize Crucible Steel. I was involved in the Steelworkers Union. This was all volunteer stuff. I was quite active politically, and on top of that, I was a Trotskyite, as you know.

JA: Cameron was considered to be one of the top writers there. [Al agrees.] Bill Finger was known to be a slow writer, though you disagreed with that. How reliable was Don Cameron?

SCHWARTZ: I can’t answer that, because I didn’t have to deal with his assignments, but I think Don was far more reliable than Bill. Bill would always get lost in a world of his own making. His gimmick book, and things that had to do with writing. He liked to talk about it, he liked to be the writer. If Don had problems, they were direct writer problems. That’s the only thing I would say. I also think that Don was by far the better writer. Bill’s writing was basically infantile kid’s stuff, always. I mean, all of his ideas came out of kids’ things, and he didn’t have the same education as Cameron. Bill had no education. So they were on completely different levels.

The Don Of An Era This story from World’s Finest Comics #28 (May-June 1947), with script attributed to Don Cameron, was reprinted in the 2009 hardcover Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives, Vol. 2—but the splash is repro’d here from the actual comic. Pencils by Ira Yarborough, inks probably by Stan Kaye. [©2010 DC Comics.]

JA: I heard that when he wrote a story, he always researched his stories very thoroughly.

SCHWARTZ: Yeah, he had a great way of stalling. [Jim laughs] It’s true!

He did research the stories very thoroughly, because this was his way of putting off the moment when he had to set pencil to paper, if you like. A lot of writers have it and it serves them well, but Bill carried it to extremes, and it was part of his problem. That was his main problem. All of his gimmick books—everything was a process of procrastination.

JA: But to be a writer, you have to be alone to write, right? I think so, anyway. I wonder if maybe that was part of Bill’s problem, too.

JA: Don Cameron had written for newspapers and pulps, and wrote a few novels.

SCHWARTZ: Being alone?

SCHWARTZ: Don had been around.

JA: Yes, because writing is a lonely business. You, of all people, would know that.

JA: Bill Finger was an avid pulp reader. In fact, the very first “Batman” story was stolen from a Shadow pulp story.

SCHWARTZ: Yes and no. Bill was very much not alone. Portia looked after him from head to foot, and took good care of him.

SCHWARTZ: Well, I didn’t know that, but I might have [at some time in the past]. Bill was, to me, not a great writer. He got his reputation by sort of building up his buddy, Bob Kane. It was Kane who got Bill into the business in the first place. Bill was a good writer for the kinds of things he did, but he was limited. Bill couldn’t do anything that required knowledge or any education. Bill had no education. He went through high school.

JA: But do you think part of Bill’s writing procrastination was that, to write, he would have to cut himself off from other people, perhaps, and maybe that was hard for him?

SCHWARTZ: I think that‘s getting into it a little too deeply. You know, you could guess stuff like that.

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

“Sometimes [The Writing] Used To Flow Like Crazy” JA: How easy was writing for you?

SCHWARTZ: You did your research well. Most people don’t know these things about me. I was writing this while writing comics.

JA: How did you divide up your workday?

SCHWARTZ: [At times] it was very difficult. At times, it was very easy.

Sometimes, it used to flow like crazy. It varied. It wasn’t the same from time to time. It depended on how well I was doing, how well I liked doing it. I probably did more different kinds of writing than anybody I could think of. You name it, any style or lifestyle connected with writing, and I’ve been there, and that goes all the way through the business. Politics, science, I’ve covered so much.

SCHWARTZ: Oh, you know what happened? I really was fed up with writing for the comics for a while. From time to time, I couldn’t stand it.

So one time, I “got” tuberculosis. I wasn’t sick at all—I wanted to stay home and work on The Blowtop, which I did. I finished it, came back to DC, restored to health. I was so very interested in the Arts, and had very close connections with the Guggenheim Foundation. In fact, they gave me a scholarship. I was married to an artist at that time. I was very close friends with Jackson Pollock. We spent a lot of interesting times together.

JA: Did you keep a record book of what stories you wrote?

JA: Did Pollack know you were writing comics?

SCHWARTZ: Oh, God, no. [mutual laughter] And what a record book that would have been! Keeping a record book of a record book is pretty bad.

SCHWARTZ: Yes.

JA: A few people did. I was curious if you were one of them. Just your comic book career alone... you wrote “Tomahawk,” you wrote “Vigilante”—“Superman,” “Batman” we’ve already discussed—“Hayfoot Henry,” which is unlike all of them. Did you have a favorite genre that you liked to write in?

SCHWARTZ: Strangely enough, one of my favorite genres was stuff like Buzzy, the teenage stuff, the way I did it.

JA: Did he have an opinion on that?

SCHWARTZ: No. Pollock’s opinions were of a different order, you might say. We discussed painting; we discussed wine; we discussed his wife, too.

She had a great deal to contribute to Pollock’s ideas. My wife Maggie and I, and Pollock and his wife, used to spend our evenings just talking. I did paint, but not in an organized way. I was involved in just about anything do-able in the Village [i.e., Greenwich Village] that could be labeled “Art.“

JA: You also wrote A Date with Judy.

SCHWARTZ: A Date with Judy and Buzzy were the same ilk.

JA: So did you find that easier to write? It is a different mindset than writing “Superman.”

SCHWARTZ: Writing “Superman” was boring. You know, there’s nothing interesting about writing “Superman.” For a long time, I was offered it and I refused it. I ducked away from it. It looked dreary, and the idea of this guy who could fly around, do [some of the things he could do]... I got rid of all that stuff once I got my hooks on it. I managed to get rid of the kid stuff—the flying and repetitious stuff like Lois—and changed it quite a bit.

For example, he never flew until I got there. It got tiresome watching him leap. It was idiotic to leap when he could fly, because he had the ability to do it.

JA: A lot of writers were ashamed of writing comics, and didn’t want anyone to know it. Did you fall into that category?

SCHWARTZ: I didn’t have to be, because I had my other published stuff.

But my first agent was Curtis Brown, and my first story was published in the UK, as a matter of fact, and I wrote ladies’ love stories. For one thing, I had been working since the Depression. I had been working for an uncle who was known as a super salesman. He was the head of a sales department of Rockwood-Chalkwit [sp?], and he took me on for a while. I got so fed up with the place and the people, so I got hold of a friend from my high school, who was working under similar conditions in a pickle factory, and we started a ghost-writing business. We advertised, and we wrote everything you can imagine—science papers, love stories, biographies, novels—and, by God, we made a living at it.

JA: I was looking at some of the things that you wrote. You wrote for The American Scholar, The Journal of Marketing, Progressive Grocer, American Imago....

SCHWARTZ: American Imago was the literary journal of the New York Psychoanalytics Society. Many of my friends were psychoanalysts.

JA: And of course, you wrote children’s literature, articles on politics, and The Blowtop in 1948.

“Batman And Robin In Buckskin” At various times, Alvin wrote both “Batman” and “Tomahawk” stories.

According to this ad page which cleverly faced the splash of the “Batman” entry in World’s Finest #28, that wasn’t too much of a stretch. Hey, d’you think Alvin ever wrote “Green Arrow,” who has been referred to as “Batman with a bow”? [©2010 DC Comics.]

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SCHWARTZ: Yes, he certainly was. I used to hand out little tidbits to Mort, because I was great friends with the anthropologist Herbert Joseph Spinden, the man who wrote The Reduction of Maya Dates, and solved the secret of the Mayan calendars.

Joe was one of the most learned men I’ve ever met.

Whenever I got information from Joe, I would pass it on to Mort, and we would use them in our stories. [The reference material made “our”] West [more authentic].

JA: How much of this did you discuss with him?

East Is East And West Is Best

SCHWARTZ: I never discussed it with him. I didn’t (Right:) “Vigilante” splash by Mort Meskin (pencils) with inks by high-schooler Joe Kubert, from Action Comics #66 (Nov. 1943); think Mort was the script by Alvin Schwartz. It was generous of Meskin to give young Joe a credit of sorts, since even Mort’s own was a pseudonym. kind of guy who Thanks to Jim Ludwig for both scans. [©2010 DC Comics.] would be interested. He didn’t By the way, I’m a very good jazz pianist. I used to be, until I stopped have that kind of intellect.

I didn’t really know him, except the personal practicing. My mother was a good pianist. I learned from her. meetings at the office. And that he was a great artist.

JA: What got you interested in writing in the first place?

JA: I see that you wrote some “Mr. Terrific” stories.

SCHWARTZ: I was interested in writing ever since I could remember. I SCHWARTZ: The name is very familiar, but I don’t remember it. was always a writer, and that never changed.

(Left:) Congo Bill hit the home front for a change in Action Comics #94 (March 1946). Maybe scripter Alvin suggested a big city setting because he found the character so forgettable than he no longer remembers writing his adventures at all. Art by Edwin Smalle.

“I Usually Wrote Whatever I Was Asked To Write” JA: Let me get back to some of the DC features that you wrote. You wrote “The Adventures of Alfred,” Batman’s butler. Do you remember doing that?

SCHWARTZ: I remember something about “The Adventures of Alfred.”

They were short stories.

JA: Another feature you wrote was “Congo Bill.” Do you remember that one?

SCHWARTZ: I remember the name “Congo Bill.” That’s one I don’t remember writing.

JA: You also wrote “The Vigilante.” Did you like this character?

SCHWARTZ: I remember doing a lot of writing for this particular character. First of all, I liked the artwork that was coming out on “Vigilante.” I thought it was well done.

JA: You mean Mort Meskin. He was great.

JA: You also wrote some “Newsboy Legion,” too.

SCHWARTZ: I wrote a lot of “Newsboy Legion,” and [the premise of the feature] was really stolen from a famous Broadway play, The Dead End Kids.

JA: Was this a feature that you particularly enjoyed?

SCHWARTZ: In a way, yes. I even saw the original play, The Dead End Kids.

JA: Some of those stories are Damon Runyonesque. Was he an influence on you when you were writing this particular feature?

SCHWARTZ: Well, I knew Damon Runyon’s work. There are ways in which a writer who’s really into something just sort of sops it all up and becomes it all. I don’t know how to describe it.

JA: You said Bill Finger had a gimmick book. Did you have a book of ideas?

SCHWARTZ: No, I have them all in my head. I’m very widely read and very interested in many things, including religion. I mean Eastern religions, exotic concepts, particularly in India, China, but that was all

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

part of it. I had so many levels of interest that it’s like, “here am I” and all this stuff going on in the world, I had a little piece of all of it.

JA: I have you in 1952 as writing Jimmy Wakely for editor Julie Schwartz.

SCHWARTZ: Jimmy Wakely sounds familiar, [but] I never worked with Julie.

JA: You also wrote some “Jimmy Olsen” stories and some “Lois Lane.”

That was some of the last stuff you wrote for DC. Since you weren’t thrilled with “Superman,” how did you feel about writing these ancillary characters?

SCHWARTZ: Some stories are more fun to write than others, and “Jimmy Olsen” and “Lois Lane” were so-so [characters].

JA: Why you were writing those stories, when you’d been writing the main feature, “Superman”?

SCHWARTZ: I usually wrote whatever I was asked to asked to write.

JA: If you came in and they said, “We want you to write this,” you would just say, “Okay?”

SCHWARTZ: Sometimes.

JA: Did you ever refuse work at DC?

SCHWARTZ: I didn’t refuse much. I liked the editors I worked with, I liked getting along with them, and it helped them out. Usually, I’d get a request like that [writing second-tier characters] when they were in a spot. They had to have something, and that’s how a lot of the books got invented. Somebody had to solve the problem with the paper shortages.

That was when we teamed Superman and Batman in World’s Finest.

Jack Schiff approached me about it. He told me what the problem was.

He said me that there wasn’t really a literary problem here; it was a paper problem. There was a paper shortage. They really had to do it. He hated the idea as much as I did, but he figured I was the only one who could write it. It was his idea. We had several discussions about it because I tried to evade it. [mutual laughter] Well, it was very hard for me to say “no” to Jack. I was very fond of him. Those stories were hard to write.

“Who’s Alvin Schwartz?”

JA: I’d like to ask you about some of the artists.

SCHWARTZ: Curt Swan was very good. Wayne Boring and I were good friends; he was a nice guy. Wayne could draw quite well. It was high style, a better quality. Wayne liked my stories and enjoyed drawing them. When we were doing the newspaper strip, we put people we knew in the strip, and Wayne could do it so well. Win Mortimer was another artist whose work was quite different in style, and whom I would call in when I wanted to get [a different look]. In other words, I had my own sneaky, special influence on the way the drawings would look.

JA: Did you get to know Al Plastino at all?

SCHWARTZ: I got to know him very slightly. He came in kind of late, compared to where I was, so I didn’t know him. For the most part, I didn’t find the artists very interesting.

JA: Would you ever write a story and say to Mort, “I’d like Wayne Boring to draw this one” or “Win Mortimer to draw this one”?

SCHWARTZ: No, you didn’t then, because Mort would [do what he wanted].

JA: After the lawsuit that Siegel and Shuster had against DC [in the latter 1940s] was over, DC removed the Siegel and Shuster byline from the “Superman” stories.

SCHWARTZ: I didn’t notice it or pay any attention to that. I knew about the lawsuit, [but] never talked to Jerry about it. [Once] we were sitting in the bullpen. We had a place where writers could sit down and knock out a piece to add to a comic, or take out or change. We were both working on a 12-page story, and I asked him, “Jerry, how much are they paying you for that?” We knew each other quite well. He said, “$16 a page.” And he looked over at me and asked, “How much are they paying you?” I said, “Eight.” I didn’t feel that was unfair, not that difference. After all, he had developed the series. It was his idea. He may have, in my mind, missed certain elements possibly. He may have been childish in some ways [in his writing], but what he did, he did well. I wouldn’t say the same thing for [Joe] Shuster, who wasn’t much of an artist, either.

JA: Where do you think Jerry Siegel missed on “Superman”?

SCHWARTZ: He didn’t develop anything. He couldn’t have had the character fly, instead of the absurdity of leaping... lots of little things. I liked Jerry. He was a nice guy, I had no difficulty with him as a human being. But his work was not sophisticated.

JA: What was the difference between your “Superman” writing and his?

Cub Scout From Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #30 (May 1958). Script by Alvin Schwartz, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Ray Burnley. Need we say more?

Oh, yeah… thanks to Jim Ludwig! [©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: Very much different, in the sense that I tended to go more strongly into character, give them more meaning. I didn’t simply repeat things, a punch-out, just one after another—you know, beat up a guy, beat up another.

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JA: The lawsuit was not discussed in the offices, was it?

SCHWARTZ: Not publicly. Not out in the open.

JA: Was there much sympathy for Siegel?

SCHWARTZ: I thought there was a great deal of sympathy at that time.

Sure, the boss is always the bad guy, and the artist is getting robbed.

Jerry’s partner, Joe Shuster, was not very interesting as a person. He was not very good as an artist, and he was sort of dragged along by Jerry. Jerry was not without talent. Jerry had story ideas. Jerry wrote a couple of other very good series, which I thought he did reasonably well.

JA: Did you know Edmond Hamilton, who wrote some “Superman” stories?

SCHWARTZ: Ed Hamilton wrote a lot of stuff. He was one of Mort’s pets, and he was fairly successful as a pulp writer, I seem to recall.

JA: Do you want to talk about Herbie Siegel?

SCHWARTZ: What? About the fact that he packed a gat? The fact that he was a backup man for his boss? He was a gunslinger, he was. But he was also a very sweet man with the people he knew, and I got along with him as well as anyone. In fact, I can’t think of anybody who had problems with Herbie, except the people who ran into the front of that revolver of his. He didn’t do anything around the office, except that he was very nice. He was a very gentle, nice man.

JA: I always found it interesting that everybody seemed to know that Herbie Siegel took an obscenity rap for Harry Donenfeld in the 1930s and then, when he got out of prison, Harry gave him a job for life. This is not exactly a story I would have let get around.

SCHWARTZ: Well, you have to know this about the publishing business in those days: it was completely gangster-ridden. It was where the Left Wing went when it didn’t go into something crooked.

JA: Would you say that a lot of people would have known that DC had Mob ties?

Taking Up Space Herbie Siegel (see photo on p. 25) was apparently the DC offices’ equivalent of a “filler”—and, Lord knows, Alvin Schwartz wrote plenty of those, too! His “The Boy Who Turned into a Star,” with art by Mort Drucker, first appeared in the singer/minor cowboy-movie star comic Jimmy Wakely #17 (May-June 1952), later reprinted in Hopalong Cassidy #126 (Nov.Dec. 1957). What’s really amazing about all this is that Jimmy Wakely actually lasted eighteen issues!

The script for “Giants of the Telescope” from House of Secrets #21 (June 1959) is attributed by the Grand Comics Database to “?”—but Jim Ludwig, who located both pages above, says that somebody somewhere credited it to Alvin Schwartz, so we’ll toss it in here. Artist unknown. [©2010 DC Comics.]

That’s Super, Boy! Splash page of a Schwartz-scripted, George Papp-drawn tale from Superboy #18 (Feb.-March 1952). Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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SCHWARTZ: I would say there were not a lot of people who knew, because some people would have made something out of it, tried the “not good for our kids” [gimmick]... anything they could do to get a leg up because DC was walking all over them. But the point is that Mob ties are not what they seem to be, for the most part. Very often, these Mob characters are simple. If you lived on the Lower East Side, as I did—I wasn’t brought up there, but I had enough of a large Jewish family to have had even a grandmother and a grandfather living there—and I knew the neighborhood from which most of DC’s people came, including Jack Liebowitz, by the way. He tried so hard to be a non-gangster as he grew into an old man.

JA: That’s an interesting analysis.

SCHWARTZ: Well, the fact is that was his background. I heard all the stories when Jack would run into some old-time friends from the Lower East Side at a swank dinner, or something like that, where they shouldn’t have been. He would be outraged, he would be embarrassed. It wasn’t surprising, because psychologically Jack had travelled the longest to come away from that. And he was a gentleman and an accountant, by God. JA: I take it your contact with him was minimal.

SCHWARTZ: It couldn’t be more minimal than this. Did you see the article in the New York Times Book Section when Harvey Brice, the

editor of the section, made the announcement that Alvin Schwartz was the real writer of “Superman”? Because it wasn’t widely known. When the article first came out—April 13th—it was at the end of the decade [1948].

Into the office walks Liebowitz, over to where Jack Schiff and I are having a plotting session, and he holds up the paper and says, “Who’s Alvin Schwartz?“ I had been using “Al Woodrum” as my pen name at DC. I hadn’t been making a secret of it. I simply used it because it looked better on the bill we got from the landlord. My wife had a better credit record than I did, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Jack Liebowitz didn’t know who Alvin Schwartz was. What he was expressing was his annoyance of the fact that the true story of who wrote “Superman” had come out in the press. I stepped forward, I told him, I said it was mine.

And he didn’t say another word. He just turned his back and walked away.

That was all.

JA: Was that your only contact with him?

SCHWARTZ: It’s not my only time. I spoke to him many times about other things because, inevitably, he spoke to people, even you when you were in the office. And the office was fairly large, and I would say I probably knew just about everybody who was there after a while.

JA: He didn’t get too friendly with the so-called “hired help,” did he?

SCHWARTZ: I was sitting with Jack Schiff. Now, Jack was hired help, but he was quality hired help. [Liebowitz] may have known who I was when he walked over, because his lack of a response is just getting that little piece of his patience. That wasn’t a greeting or anything—that was just a nasty comment to make.

JA: But you said there were other times you talked with him.

SCHWARTZ: Oh, there were other times he talked to me. I must have talked with everybody in the office. I was particularly good friends with Harry Donenfeld’s son Irwin. Irwin was a very nice kid, and when I was having some divorce trouble, Irwin was the one who showed a beautiful, simple, caring sympathy of a father feeling pain. I remembered him for that, because he didn’t do anything else around there anyway. But it’s that kind of mix of personal, public life—almost like a family. It went on for an awfully long time. You weren’t terribly close to people, but you were close enough to be able to walk up to any one of them and talk to them without any introduction.

“I Never Went Back [To DC]” JA: Why did you leave DC Comics?

SCHWARTZ: I couldn’t get along with Weisinger.

JA: You couldn’t just work for Jack Schiff, or go to Julie Schwartz?

SCHWARTZ: I didn’t have any choice. Weisinger had been accumulating power all along, courting Jack Liebowitz, and his influence became stronger all the time.

JA: Are you telling me that, if you didn’t work for Mort, he was going to blackball you? Did he blackball you?

SCHWARTZ: No, he didn’t blackball me, but he could have. And there were ways in which he did blackball people by complaining [about them].

He did have a lot of influence. Next to Whit, he seemed to [have the most] influence [at DC].

Dondi Est…

JA: Then, if you didn’t write for Mort, you didn’t feel like you were going to be allowed to write for anybody else?

One wonders if this Schwartz-scripted 2-pager, which Jim Ludwig tracked down in My Greatest Adventure #19 (Jan.-Feb. 1958), wasn’t a reprint, as well… since the art is reportedly by Irwin Hasen, and by then that early “Green Lantern” artist had left comic books and had been drawing the Dondi newspaper strip for several years. [©2010 DC Comics.]

SCHWARTZ: Yes, but it didn’t take that severe a form. There weren’t that many people involved. In other words, there were a lot of people who generally hated working for Mort, but found various ways to do it. What

“I’ve Always Been A Writer”

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happened was, I was sitting in my impoverished apartment in Manhattan when a friend of mine who was a nursery school brother dropped in, saw the abysmal state of the place, and asked me how I would like to write some advertising. In other words, what came along was a very cushy job in the ad industry, and I was particularly good at it. So from there, I went on. Well, there were think tanks operating in New York at the time. I got involved with them, got to a high position, worked directly for Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and for some of the top agencies. Later on, when these things sort of faded down, I went back to writing novels.

JA: When you left DC in 1958, that’s it. You never went back.

SCHWARTZ: That’s right. I wrote a few novels, but I never went back.

JA: Did they ever call you?

SCHWARTZ: No, they didn’t call me. My publisher contacted them when one of my books came out because Superman was a major character, and they didn’t want to get into a lawsuit with Superman. And that was where we established a new contact.

JA: Mort never called you to ask you why you weren’t writing for him any more?

SCHWARTZ: Well, he [didn’t care]. He pushed me out eventually.

JA: Do you think he did that on purpose?

SCHWARTZ: I would say he did this on purpose. We never got along well.

But I went on with my life. Oh, I just wanted to add one thing while you’re on the subject. Your best ideas often come at a time when you have no access to the answer. If something like that should come to happen to you, if there’s something you really want to know—need to know—it hits you out of the blue. Don’t worry about calling me up. You won’t be disturbing anybody, so feel free to pick up the phone and call me.

Writing With A Punch Splash page of the Alvin Schwartz-written lead story for World’s Finest Comics #31 (Nov.-Dec. 1947), as reprinted in Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives, Vol. 2. Pencils by Ira Yarborough; inks by Stan Kaye. [©2010 DC Comics.]

ALVIN SCHWARTZ Checklist [NOTE: The following Checklist is adapted from information contained in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-199X), established by Jerry G. Bails. Some of the material was supplied by Alvin Schwartz himself. Names of features below which appeared both in magazines with that title and in other publications, as well, are generally not italicized. Key: (a) = full art; (p) = pencils only; (i) = inks only; (w) = writer; (S) = Sunday (for newspaper comic strip); (d) = daily Monday to Saturday (for comic strip).]

Name: Alvin Schwartz (b. 1916) (writer)

Paris 1950 as Le Cingle) 1950 bestseller; No Such Warriors 1973 (Canada)

Pen Names: Robert W. Tracy (novels); Vernon [or Al] Woodrum (slick magazines & comics)

Television: Warner News 1950-53

Education: City College of New York Co-editor: Mosaic (a small literary magazine) Articles: American Imago; children’s literature; politics; The American Scholar; Journal of Marketing; Progressive Grocer Writer: World Famous Comics page (weekly, 1999-2000) – www.wfcomics.com Film: 30 documentaries; The Consuming Impulse; The Humback; training film on ship maintenance and management; two features films for National Film Board of Canada; 3 films for Czech director Jirii Weiss [Canada] Lyrics & Story: 3-record set, 78 r.p.m., 2 Superman operettas Novels: 3 mysteries for Argo Press 1952; The Blowtop 1948 (reprinted in

Radio: Co-writer of Mark Trail (with Bill Finger) Editor: Tudor Publishing – 2 years Manager: Group research – D’Arcy Advertising – 2 years Organizer: steel & textile workers organizing committee (while in college) Consultant: direct mail – Human Factor Analysis (his own think tank); various Canadian governmental agencies Teacher: lectures on pop culture – Sir George University (Montreal, Quebec); University of Connecticut (Storrs) Director: Market research – Reuben H. Donnelly 1963-65; marketing & creative design – Advertising Associates; research dept. – Institute for Motivational Communications

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Alvin Schwartz On His Long Career In Comics—And Elsewhere

Honors: prestigious Canadian Council grant for study of religious symbolism in popular culture Syndicated Comic Strips: Batman and Robin (d & S) 1945-46; Superman (d & S) 1945-58 [scripting in the latter strip reportedly alternated with Whit Ellsworth] Creator: Bizarro [artist = Curt Swan, in Superman newspaper strip]

MAINSTREAM U.S. COMIC BOOKS:

DC Comics & affiliates (all as writer): Alfred, mid-1940s; Batman and Robin, 1943-46, 1953-54; Buzzy, 1944-46; Congo Bill, 1946; A Date with Judy, 1947; The Flash, c. 1942; Foley of the Fighting Fifth, 1951; fillers, 1950s; Green Arrow, c. 1942; Green Lantern (no dates, 1940s); Hayfoot Henry, 1946-48; House of Mystery (no dates); Indian Boy Who Turned into a Star, 1952; Jimmy Wakely, 1952; Lois Lane, 1958-59; Mr. Terrific, c.

1942; My Greatest Adventure, 1958; Newsboy Legion, c. 1942; Superboy, 1950-51, 1956-58; Superman, 1944-52, 1955-59; Superman and Batman, 1954; Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, 1958-59; Tomahawk, c. 194951; Vigilante, 1943, 1948; Wonder Woman, c. 1946 (2 stories) Dell/Western: Fairy Tale Parade, 1941 Fawcett Publications: Captain Marvel, c. 1941

Three For The Money Final panels from the “Superman” exploit in World’s Finest Comics #51 (April-May 1951), written by Alvin Schwartz & drawn

by Al Plastino. In those days, the Man of Steel appeared regularly in “only” three comics, not counting Superboy and Adventure—but Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane would follow in the next few years, thanks to television. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Now out!!! Bill Schelly’s new book!!!

FOUNDERS OF COMIC FANDOM! Profiles of 90 Collectors, Dealers, Fanzine Publishers, Writers, Artists and Other Luminaries of the 1950s and 1960s In the 1950s and ’60s, a grassroots movement arose to celebrate comic books and strips, which were becoming an increasingly important part of American popular culture. This broad group of ardent readers and collectors of comic books had little formal structure until the 1950s. As the art and literary form grew in popularity, a dedicated core began building an organized network. Profiled here are 90 people at the heart of the movement, from dealers to convention organizers to fanzine publishers. Also listed are the writers, artists, and industry professionals who have helped build an evergrowing movement of pop culture.

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Wonder Woman TM & ©2010 DC Comics; thanks to Anthony Snyder

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The classic 4-issue adventure is now available in a full-color graphic novel edition.

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Only $17.95—order it online at www.heroicpub.com/orders/trades.php Or send check or money order to: Heroic Publishing 6433 California Ave. Long Beach, CA 90905 P.S.: New comic adventures of A/E are coming in 2011!

59

60

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Kooky DC Krossovers—Part 1

by Michael T. Gilbert

Superman Goes Hollywood!

This amusing Kooky Krossover from Superman #19 (Nov.-Dec. 1942) may be the Man Of Steel’s first “Imaginary Story,” though it isn’t labeled as such in the comic itself. In “Superman, Matinee Idol,” the comic book Lois and Clark attend the premiere of one of the Fleischer Brothers’ new Superman animated shorts. Lois naturally makes a spectacle of herself, loudly cheering for her animated twin. But my favorite bit is when comic book Clark Kent distracts Lois so she won’t see the cartoon Clark change into Superman. Whew! Close call! Now only he (and the rest of the audience) will ever know!

Batman made his comic book version of a big screen debut in DC’s The Adventures of Alan Ladd #3 (Feb.-March 1950), courtesy of the star of Shane and other classic films. In “Alan Ladd, Stunt Man,” the Hollywood hero entertains some young fans by showing them Columbia’s 1949 Batman serial (there’d been an earlier one in 1943, of course). Later, plucky Alan foils some finks who want to sabotage his own film and completes his movie right on time. Now that’s a Hollywood ending!

Superman In The Funny-Books!

(Above:) Superman #19 (Nov. 1942). Art by Joe Shuster & John Sikela, script by Jerry Siegel. (Right:) The Adventures of Alan Ladd #3 (Feb. 1950).

Art by Ruben Moreira.

(Next page:) Leave It to Binky #5 (Oct. 1948) & #1 (Feb. 1948).

Art by Bob Oksner. [Comic art on these two pages ©2010 DC Comics.

1957 I Love Lucy image ©2010 Desilu or its successors in interest.]

Kooky Krossovers—Part 1

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Binky’s Buddies!

Binky Biggs was one of DC’s most enduring comical characters. His title, Leave It to Binky, lasted an impressive 82 issues from 1948 to 1977.

But did you know that he once met Superman? Well, A/E editor Roy Thomas reminded me that he did! In issue #5 (Oct. 1948), Binky and his gal Peggy arranged to meet for a date, but somehow kept missing each other. Finally they agreed to meet in front of Mearns Department store for future dates since “That can never be moved.” But leave it to Superman to show up in the final panel and prove them wrong. Kooky!

Binky’s big sister Lucy had once had a brush with Superman, too. Issue #1 (Feb. 1948) featured a story in which Lucy’s radio won’t shut off, so she enlists the help of the cute boy down the block. While he’s helping her, a misunderstanding lands him in jail. She tries to square things with the cops, but they’re too busy listening to the exciting Superman radio show to notice her. When he’s finally released, she finds her sweetie’s too distracted by the same radio show to notice her! What’s a girl to do? In Lucy’s case, she gets his undivided attention by dressing in a Superman costume!

Oddly, another Lucy—Lucille Ball—tried the same trick during a 1957 episode of her and Desi Arnaz’s I Love Lucy TV show. Talk about a Kooky Krossover!

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Real Fraud Comics!

One of the strangest Kooky Krossovers appeared in DC’s Real Fact Comics #5 (Nov. 1946), when Batman met his creator, Bob Kane! The uncredited script purports to tell “The True Story of Batman and Robin!”—while rewriting comic book history to conveniently eliminate any mention of Batman’s co-creator, Bill Finger. Ouch!

It makes you wonder if Bob himself wrote this fractured fairy tale, or if any of the other stories in the comic were equally “true.” After all, this history was written only eight years after Batman’s creation. This story’s factual inaccuracies have been discussed elsewhere (including in Alter Ego, Vol. 2, #5 in 1999), so I won’t dwell on them here. But one item stands out.

Most cartoonists create their characters from their imaginations. Not Bob! Real Fact Comics assures us that perfectionist Kane’s first Batman sketches were drawn from life when his pal “Larry” posed for him wearing a Batman costume sewed by Bob’s mom. Which seems impossible, since that would mean Mr. Kane’s first drawings of the character were sketched after the costume was designed. How could that be, unless...

Could Bob have stolen credit from Batman’s real creator...

His mom? Hmmm!

Et Tu, Batman?

Looks like Batman also forgot to credit Bill Finger!

Art by “Batman” ghost Win Mortimer. Scripter unknown. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Kooky Krossovers—Part 1

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Faster Than A Speeding Bratwurst!

This page & the next: “I, Nazi,” from All-American Men of War #7 (Oct. 1953).

Two-fisted script by Frances E. Herron; patriotic art by Irv Novick (pencils) and Bernie Sachs (inks). [©2010 DC Comics.]

Man Und Superman!

I’ve saved the Kookiest Krossover for last—namely, a Supermanthemed story in All-American Men of War #7 (Oct. 1953). “I, Nazi” features a German super-spy “trained with Nazi thoroughness” who “knows the name of every American President ... of every river ... of every mountain range.” Wow! Even I don’t know that! Disguised as an ordinary G.I., the crafty Kraut joins a division of soldiers and secretly sabotages their mission. However, despite his training, “Wilson” does make a few minor missteps, like when he overhears a sports jockey say, “The Pirates easily took New York.”

“The radio announcer must be crazy!” he snorts derisively. “Everyone knows we haven’t had trouble with the pirates since we put down the Barbary pirates in 1815!”

Talk about an “educated idiot”! Hey, dummkopf! Didn’t spy school teach you anything about baseball?

Luckily, the Nazi super-spy’s training instantly kicks in. “Ha! Ha!” he sputters, sweat dripping from his finely-chiseled Aryan brow. “I was only joking!” Nice save, goose-stepper!

Later, the division tries to attack the Germans by crossing a bridge.

When Wilson secretly ruins their plans, a frustrated dogface complains that the squad seems jinxed lately. “What we need is Superman!” jokes his pal. “Anybody seen Superman? He can carry us across the river!”

The Nazi’s ears perk up. “Superman! A subject I know thoroughly!” he thinks. “This time there shall be no slip-up!” He then proceeds to lecture them about Superman... the Nazi version!

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

“You’re joking of course! Superman isn’t real!

But a creation of the writer Nietzsche—who lived from 1844 to 1900!” lectures the Aryan overachiever. But he’s not finished yet. “Some consider the Superman philosophy the greatest...”

By the time the Teutonic bore shuts up, even the dumbest G.I. finally gets it.

“Not every G.I. knows that the Pirates are a baseball team!” snarls Brooklyn. “But who wouldn’t know Superman was a comic strip character? Everybody... except a... Nazi spy!” he says, slugging the hapless Hun. Private, I couldn’t have said it better myself!

That’s it for this month, friends. Hope you enjoyed our Kooky DC Krossovers. More next issue. Be there!

Till Next time...

Herbie TM & ©2010 Roger Broughton; other art ©2010 Michael T. Gilbert

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In Memoriam

65

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010) “Worldbeater”

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by Don Mangus

adly, the passing of Frank Frazetta marks the end of a modern fantasy era.

Frazetta’s iconic cover images for Lancer’s paperback reissues of Robert E. Howard’s immortal Conan series marked a sea-change for fantasy art.

The athletic and movie-idol-handsome artist’s work has inspired and influenced every fantasy artist since the 1960s, and has spawned scores of bald-faced “art pirates,” often dubbed “Fauxzettas” by fandom’s sardonic wits.

Without doubt, Frazetta was a one-of-a-kind artistic prodigy. Though justly celebrated for his barbaric fantasy paintings, he was a master of every cartoon and illustration genre: action-adventure, caricature, costumed hero, crime, funny animal, jungle, romance, horror, humor, satire, science-fiction, Western, and everything in between.

To measure the scope of Frazetta’s legacy, it’s worth taking note of both the fickle nature and short memories of the publishing industry and the reading public. All too often “today’s super-star” becomes tomorrow’s forgotten creator. For most, “Glory days—well, they’ll pass you by....”

It’s sobering to ponder how close to this fate even the supremely talented Frazetta came.

In 1954, after creating a superb (and now highly collectible) body of early comic book work for Standard, Eastern Color, DC, ME, Toby, ACG, and EC, Frazetta found himself in need of a steady paycheck, and began anonymously assisting Al Capp on the syndicated Li’l Abner comic strip.

In 1961, after being refused a raise, Frazetta quit the Abner job, put together his latest and greatest portfolio, and hit the streets looking high and low for work from the few comic book companies that had survived the huge implosion following the industry-stifling 1954 US Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency. Despite a no doubt superlative portfolio, the now-forgotten Frazetta came away with only a few comic book jobs, thanks almost entirely to the good graces of his old EC stable mate and friend, George Evans.

To the discerning eye, the Frazetta touch can be found submerged in the panels of Dell Comics’ The Frogmen #1-3 (1962). These last-gasp comic book jobs helped keep Frazetta going during a turbulent transitional period.

The breakthrough in Frazetta’s fortunes came thanks to another caring friend, fantasy legend Roy G. Krenkel, who had scored a series of Edgar Rice Burroughs illustration assignments from Ace books and was largely carrying on a tradition pioneered by J. Allen St. John. At first, Frazetta helped the perpetually procrastinating Krenkel fulfill a few of these assignments. Then, at the wildly enthusiastic Krenkel’s urging, he struck out on his own. Not content to merely knock at the door of opportunity, Frazetta savagely kicked it off its hinges with his visceral Conan covers for Lancer Books, as well as painting a number of spine-tingling horror magazine covers for Warren Publishing. A bunch of enchanting fantasy paperback cover assignments followed, along with other strikingly successful commercial art assignments—all of which ended up crowning Frazetta the “king of living fantasy artists.”

To Be Perfectly Frank A triptych of Frazetta images: a 1962 self-portrait… a sketch of a barbarian who may or may not be named Conan… and his cover for a 1977 Zebra Books paperback. [Sketch & portrait ©2010 Estate of Frank Frazetta; cover ©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

Always mindful of getting his originals back from the publishers, Frank and his wife Ellie purposefully built the Frazetta legacy. Starting in the mid60s, the Frazetta legend grew and grew among creative art directors, fans, and collectors alike, thanks to a wealth of posters, fanzines, portfolios, calendars, record album covers, and books. Among the important career milestones were a series of five Frank Frazetta volumes from Bantam Books, the triumphant appearance of the Death Dealer on the cover of the May 1976 issue of American Artist, Ralph Bakshi’s 1983 animated movie Fire and Ice (based on Frazetta’s paintings and co-produced by Frazetta himself), the 2003 feature documentary Frank Frazetta: Painting with Fire, and perhaps most importantly—the opening of the Frank Frazetta Museum in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 2001.

Frazetta was, quite simply, the greatest comic book artist of the 20th century. Amazingly, he was also a modest soul, and a true gentleman in every way. He will be missed, but never forgotten. R.I.P., Worldbeater.

Don Mangus adds: “In my many years as a comic book and art collector, and as a Comic and Illustration Art expert for Heritage Auction Galleries, I have been awestruck by the talent of Frank Frazetta, in print, and even more so ‘in person.’ Two images from childhood continue to stand out: his 1967 cover to the Lancer paperback called simply Conan (the battle with the man-ape), and Warren Publications’ Eerie #23 cover (“Egyptian Queen”). Surely we will never look on his like again.”

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In Memoriam

Two Tributes to

Al Williamson (1931-2010) Williamson was passionate about his work. Even back when he knew the art would not get decent reproduction and the originals would not be returned to him, he’d spend hours on a panel, adding detail that would never survive the printing process. It mattered to Al that the work be as good as possible when it left him. After that, he had no control over it.

The first piece below is printed basically as it appeared on June 15, 2010, in Mark Evanier’s website www.newsfromme.com.

W

Al Williamson, R.I.P.

ell, sadly, it’s true. Al Williamson was 79 years old, and while we haven’t heard a cause of death, we’d all heard how he’d been suffering from Altzheimer’s for the past few years.

Al was a great talent and a great guy. I can’t think of anyone who saw his comics and didn’t love the way he drew, and I’m darn sure I don’t know of anyone who ever met the man and didn’t enjoy his company. Al Williamson was born in New York on March 21, 1931, but spent much of his childhood in Bogota, Colombia. He fell in love with comics at an early age, especially Flash Gordon, in both the Alex Raymond newspaper strip and the Buster Crabbe serials. Al used to joke that all heroic males he drew either looked like himself or like Mr. Crabbe.

He studied at Burne Hogarth’s Cartoonists and Illustrators School and struck up friendships with many artists around his age, most notably Wally Wood, Angelo Torres, Frank Frazetta, Roy G. Krenkel, and Mad editor-to-be Nick Meglin. Most of his friends wound up working for EC Comics, and it was there that Al did the work that gave him his reputation. He was an amazing illustrator, especially in the line’s science-fiction titles, where his work had a pageantry and beauty.

Al was the perfect example of the Second Generation of comic book artists—the kids who got into the business because they grew up on comics drawn by the guys who started the business. He was an enormous fan of almost everyone. The first time I met him was in 1970 at a New York convention, where he pumped me for information on Jack Kirby. The last time I saw him was (I think) at the ’97 Comic-Con in San Diego. One of the other guests that year was George Tuska, and Williamson had as a child been inspired by Tuska’s work. When I went off to do a panel interviewing George, Al asked if he could sit in on it, ask a few questions himself, and tell the audience how much he admired Mr. Tuska.

Al Gets With The Program (Books) Because Al Williamson’s EC and Star Wars work has been so often reprinted, we chose to show instead this sketch done for the program book of the 1969 SCARP comics convention in New York City—while the photo appeared in Phil Seuling’s 1969 con program book. [Art ©2010 Estate of Al Williamson.]

He worked for most publishers in the ’50s and ’60s, including Atlas (Marvel), ACG, Charlton, and Harvey. No matter what they paid, he gave them the best work possible within the deadline… and was known to miss deadlines in order to get the work the way he wanted it. In the ’60s, he especially distinguished himself with his work for Warren on Creepy and Eerie, and with a short run on a new comic book version of Flash Gordon in which he astounded readers with his ability to capture that world as drawn by Alex Raymond. That work brought him an offer, which he grabbed, to carry on another Raymond character. He and writer Archie Goodwin produced the newspaper strip Secret Agent X-9 (now retitled Secret Agent Corrigan) from 1967 until 1980. He and Archie later handled the Star Wars newspaper strip for a time, following Al’s acclaimed work on the graphic novel adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. In the late ’80s through the ’90s, his comic art jobs were mostly as an inker for DC and Marvel.

Al won the National Cartoonists Society award for Best Comic Book Artist in 1966 and later won two Will Eisner Awards (and four other nominations); also, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000. He won seven Harvey Awards and numerous other accolades. He was also, as I mentioned, a really, really great guy to be around. As much as we’ll all miss his art, I think we’ll miss the guy who did it even more.

Two Tributes To Al Williamson

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This second tribute was written especially for Alter Ego by Len Brown, formerly an executive with Topps Chewing Gum and a longtime personal friend of Al’s.

Remembering AL WILLIAMSON

T

he night before I was going to meet Al Williamson for the first time, I was so excited that I couldn’t fall asleep for hours.

I had grown up reading and re-reading the beautiful sciencefiction stories that Al had illustrated in EC Comics’ Weird Science and Weird Fantasy in the 1950s—and now, almost a decade later, I was going to meet him in the flesh. I couldn’t have been more excited if it had been Mickey Mantle or James Dean dropping by my office the following day.

In early 1961 I was working in the New Products Department for the Topps Chewing Gum Company in Brooklyn, New York, and Al Williamson was coming by to see if we could find a project he’d be able to fit into his busy schedule. Unfortunately, at the time, this comic book superstar was booked up solid with other assignments.

Yet the most important result of that initial meeting was the beginning of an almost 50-year friendship with one of the greatest talents in the world of illustration.

Flash Point Len Brown provided this gorgeous print by Al of his favorite adventure hero and art subject, Flash Gordon. [Flash Gordon TM & ©2010 King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

Ultimately, in the mid-1990s, Al did finally work with the Topps Company and drew a group of ten trading cards based on a favorite film of his, This Island Earth.

Going back to the early 1960s: I was invited to visit Al and his dear family in their upstate Fosterdale, NY, home… and what an experience!

Stepping through the front door, I was surrounded by classic framed comic strip art and beautiful paintings from the masters of illustration. In every room there was another surprise! Artwork by Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim) and Hal Foster (Tarzan, Prince Valiant) to full-color paintings by J. Allen St. John, Mead Shaeffer, Hannes Bok, Roy Krenkel, and what seemed like dozens of others whose names I can no longer even try to remember. Everywhere I looked I saw more wonderful artwork. Al’s home was a virtual museum of the most beautiful comic strip and illustrated artwork I had ever seen collected in one place.

Al also collected the printed works of the greatest comic strip artists of all time, and I saw scrapbook after scrapbook of his favorites, each strip

meticulously mounted and preserved for ready reference. Al had created homemade editions of Captain Easy, Buz Sawyer, Terry and the Pirates, Flash Gordon, The Cisco Kid… dailies and Sundays, years before any publisher had tried to issue collections of these classic strips.

And finally, at the end of the tour, we went into Al’s movie room.

There he had dozens of 16 mm sound film classics from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. That evening Al invited me to choose a movie to watch, and I picked an Errol Flynn swashbuckler, which he projected on a big screen.

What a delightful way to end one of the most special days in my life. This was the first of a number of trips to the Williamsons’ home, and 26 years later I brought my young children up to Al’s home, then in Pennsylvania.

They, too, were able to share the same sense of wonder I had experienced spending time in such an exciting place with a precious man. They remember to this day.

Al Williamson was something special. He was kind, intelligent, and always showed a wonderful sense of humor.

His generous nature was second only to his magnificent artistic talent.

Alice In Williamson-Land Once in the early ’70s, when Roy Thomas was visiting Al Williamson, the artist generously told Roy he could have any single piece of his artwork that was piled on a certain table. Al said later he hadn’t known this Secret Agent Corrigan daily for March 2, 1971, was in the stack, but he was as good as his word.

Posing for Lushan had been author & model Alice Denham, who’d been a Playboy Playmate in 1956. Actually, this form of the strip never appeared in any newspaper; the syndicate made Al blacken in her figure on proofs, saying she looked “too naked” in the original. Al always maintained this was one of his favorite Corrigan dailies… and Roy promised to offer it back to Al before he would ever sell it to a third party. It’s still on his wall. Script by Archie Goodwin. [©2010 King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

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The MAD World of William M. Gaines, by Frank Jacobs.

All in Color for a Dime and The Comic Book Book, both edited by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson.

Letters to me from Bill Gaines and Harry Harrison.

Talking to Don Thompson and Steve Bissette.

Squa Tront [fanzine published by John Benson].

Seduction of the Innocent – a friend got me photocopies of the pages that had been razor-bladed out by the publisher.

An off-print of the New York state legislature’s report on horror comics.

Martin Barker’s book about comic book censorship in England… A Haunt of Fears.

Every other book I could find about comics, from Steranko’s to the Smithsonian’s.

Information about comics distribution in the 1950s came from comics-related sources, but also from [sciencefiction writer] Frederik Pohl’s discussion of magazine distribution in his memoir The Way the Future Was, and from conversations with Tom Doherty, the publisher of Tor Books.

I also talked to a lot of other writers, collectors, dealers, editors, artists, etc. For example, I had dinner with Will Eisner at the 1985 Atlanta Fantasy Fair, and I think I got some information about Jerry Iger’s studio from him.

[Captain Ego TM & ©2010 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; hero created by Biljo White; other art elements ©2010 Shane Foley.]

I bought some original horror comic art and looked at how it was done—editorial notes on the art, overlays, etc. (EC and the Iger studio worked very differently.)

Basically, the article was the result of a decade of reading everything I could get my hands on about pre-Code horror comics, going to primary sources wherever possible.

Lawrence Watt-Evans

B

eneath Shane Foley’s rhapsodic re-rendering of a Swan & Kaye “Superman” drawing into a scene of our maskot Captain Ego unlocking the door to his own “Fortress of Solicitude,” we’ll be giving over most of this “re:” section to communiques on Alter Ego #83, our second “sword-and-sorcery” issue, which also spotlighted a Bob Rozakis alternate-DC/AA chapter, “Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!,” Bill Schelly’s annotation of photos from the 1965 New York comics convention, FCA, and the second part of Jim Amash’s interview with Archie artist Joe Edwards.

First, though, we need to deal with something that should really have seen print in our previous issue. Because we feel strongly that research/historical articles should make every attempt to acknowledge their sources insofar as is possible, we asked Lawrence Watt-Evans (admittedly at the last minute) to provide a bibliography of sorts for his informative study “The Other Guys,” which dealt with the non-EC horror comics of the 1950s. (As we sadly neglected to mention las issue, the piece had originally appeared in the Summer 1997 issue (#19) of The Scream Factory magazine, published by Peter Enfantino & John Scoleri—complete with a Mr. Monster cover by Michael T. Gilbert.) Lawrence’s response was received a wee bit too late to squeeze into A/E #97, so we’re including it here: Hi Roy— I’m afraid I no longer have a written account of my sources. A great deal of that article just came from carefully reading the comics themselves, including indicia, ownership statements, and so on. At the time I wrote the article I had copies of virtually all of them, though I sold my horror collection to Harley Yee a year or two later. Here are some of the sources I was familiar with and may (or may not) have used: Overstreet Price Guides (various years).

Thanks for doing what you could, Lawrence. In recent postings to online chat groups, A/E associate editor Jim Amash and I have been kinda hard on the sparse or even misleading documentation in several recent books dealing with comics and their creators. Jim’s had issues with several such tomes which have borrowed heavily from his interviews, either with no acknowledgement or with at most some front-or-back-of-the-book mention that says, in effect: “Hey, I got lots of the info herein from Jim Amash’s interviews in Alter Ego. Thanks a bunch!” And I had a similar experience only days ago when I saw numerous quotations from one of the few interviews I’ve conducted included in another writer’s otherwise admirable book, with woefully inadequate attribution. If such scribes don’t wish to use footnotes—and we can understand their point—then they should document their sources at the point in the text where they are used.

As one or two academic scholars have (quite correctly) pointed out, the lack of attribution as to the sources of quotations or information in comicsrelated articles makes it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone—be it scholar or general reader—to check the accuracy of a statement or quote. How many years was it, for example, that comics aficionados accepted as gospel the (probably sincere, but still inaccurate) pronouncements of publisher Bill Gaines and others that EC had been first as well as foremost in churning out horror comics—even with vintage copies of Eerie Comics #1 and Adventures into the Unknown on sale by mail and at comics conventions?

How long did we accept as unvarnished fact the unverified statements that publisher Victor Fox got his start as an accountant for National/DC… that M.C. Gaines (or maybe rival claimant Harry Wildenberg) was definitely the person who came up with the precise format of the modern comic book… that Motion Picture Funnies Weekly was given away at movie theatres around the country… even that the original Captain Marvel was inspired by a flying sequence in a Fred MacMurray movie (which, it turned out, came out a year or two after the first issue of Whiz Comics)?

[correspondence, comments & corrections]

69

Hyborian Paradox Richard Toogood sent us these three pages from Barry (Windsor-) Smith’s early-1970 story “Tales of Hyperborea: Paradox Man,” from the UK fanzine Aspect.

“The splash pages,” Richard writes, “appear to show [Barry] in the fullest flush of enthusiasm for [Jack] Kirby and [film director Stanley] Kubrick,” and feature his suited-up spaceman protagonist, as per above left. However, the very Conanesque (Starr the Slayerish?) panel by Barry that we reprinted in A/E #83—plus the page printed below right—were worked into it, as well. Roy recalls Barry showing him “Paradox Man” pages in the early days of their working together— either before or after 1970’s Chamber of Darkness #4 and Conan the Barbarian #1. [©2010 Barry Windsor-Smith.]

It’s high time that, without sacrificing any fun and enjoyment, comics historians—myself included—catalogued their sources in articles whenever possible, even if it isn’t practical (or traditionally required) within the bodies of interviews. End of (sadly necessary) sermon.

By coincidence, this September, Fantagraphics published Four Color Fear, edited by Greg Sadowski—a fine collection of some three dozen preComics Code, non-EC (and non-Timely/Atlas) horror tales—some of which were discussed in Lawrence’s study. That book’s “Notes” section, too, could’ve used clearer attribution to Jim Amash, in particular, as the source of a number of its quotations from his A/E interviews, as Greg has since graciously agreed—but it’s still a volume well worth adding to your shelves.

Now on to A/E #83, which had picked up from where our first “sword & sorcery in the comics” issue (#80) had left off, beginning with this letter from Britisher Richard Toogood: Dear Roy— I’ve been enjoying the ongoing history of sword & sorcery in the comics that you’ve been running in Alter Ego. Regarding that curious one-off panel of Barry Smith’s which you printed on page 26 of issue #83: it originally appeared as part of Smith’s comic strip “Tales of Hyperborea: Paradox Man,” which was run in the second issue of Steve Moore’s fanzine Aspect, dated March 1970. Whether the illustration was created specifically for the strip, though, or was an outtake from elsewhere arbitrarily inserted, the deliberately opaque and disjoined nature of the strip renders it difficult to judge. Aspect similarly boasted the nascent talents of Steve Parkhouse and Paul Neary.

Richard Toogood

70

re:

Dear Roy: I got my copy of A/E and saw the pictures of Nelson from the New York Comicon 1965. Nelson looked so happy, and you could tell he was having so much fun. Recently I was shopping at an antique store and purchased two old comics that had Nelson listed as the editor and assistant editor. In the DC 100-page Super-Spectacular the Original Captain Marvel Shazam! for Dec. 1974 is a story by Nelson titled “Mary Marvel and the Dog Nappers,” with a dog named Brutus. Brutus was a real dog that lived on the farm with my grandparents. Nelson was a dog-lover, so it was great to see him honor and remember Brutus, who was a faithful and loyal watchdog. Nelson had a great sense of humor, so I am sure he was very honored to be called “Birdwell” in your [Not Brand Echh] story written in 1968. You have been a great help with info about Nelson.

Marie O’Brien Good to know that tidbit of information behind a 1970s story, Marie.

Steve Billnitzer opens up our comments re #83’s swordand-sorcery content:

Frankly, “Ziff” Always Sounded To Us Like A Sound Effect!

Former Ziff-Davis and Hillman comics editor Herb Rogoff tells us that this gag cartoon of his “appeared in a Z-D house organ [the Ziff-Davis News] which was briefly published (two issues) for the edification of Z-D employees.” [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

Thanks, Richard. Seems like only yesterday that every second or third issue of Conan the Barbarian showcased one of your letters from across the pond. Next up, a letter from John Benson, who, besides having written a couple of books on romance comics for Fantagraphics, also provided an introduction to the aforementioned new tome Four Color Fear: Roy— Just finished reading A/E #83 and really enjoyed your interview about Conan, especially since this is one of the few interviews in A/E about a comic I have really read. I especially appreciated your comments about not having any sound effects or thought balloons in Conan, and keeping him separate from the Marvel Universe.

In the letters page, Ken Quattro offers Ramona Fradon’s statement that she never worked at St. John as proof that she didn’t. I would suggest that memories are not necessarily proof, particularly when they are pitted against other memories, such as the following from Irwin Stein: Q: What about some of the other artists? You mentioned that you used Ramona Fradon.

A: Yeah. And got chastised for it. Because she wasn’t realistic enough. I happened to like her style, but St. John wanted very detailed, very realistic material, and she was stylized, is the only way I can describe her work. There were also two other women, Renee and Atkinson…. Ramona Fradon sticks in my mind because he bawled me out for it.

Fradon may never have worked for St. John, but Stein’s recollections suggest that she probably did one story, at least. I found Stein’s memory (at the time the above interview was recorded, 1985) to be unusually sharp. And he doesn’t just recall her name, but he recalls it in a specific context, and he himself brings up the name (in an earlier conversation).

Nothing is certain, but I’d go with Stein in this case.

John Benson Point taken, John. Next, here’s a missive from Marie O’Brien, the aunt of the late E. Nelson Bridwell, who in A/E #80 had appeared in photos taken at the 1965 New York comics convention (with more photos from the con seen in #83):

Roy,

No doubt you read, as we all did this week [early Feb., 2009], of the prehistoric monster snake whose remains were found down in Colombia. My first reaction was, I wonder if the cairn of Niord might have been also found nearby, had the archaeologists only looked a little closer. Y’know, 36 years later, your and Gerry Conway’s and Gil Kane’s stirring adaptation of the Robert E. Howard classic “Valley of the Worm” in Supernatural Thrillers #3 is still one of my favorite ten or so comics ever (yes, I later read the REH prose original, but I experienced it in comics first), right up there with “SpiderMan No More!” and Wein & Wrightson’s “Swamp Thing” one-off in House of Secrets. The good ones stay with you.

Steve Billnitzer That was a favorite co-adaptation of Gil’s and mine, Steve. Gil, of course, later oversaw still another adaptation of the story as Bloodstar, drawn by Rich Corben.

We’re always happy to hear from Herb Rogoff, who was a comics editor first at Hillman, then for Ziff-Davis, in the 1950s, and who was interviewed in depth in A/E #43: Dear Jim: Just finished reading the second part of your interview with Joe Edwards. It was informative and illuminating. I was interested in his notes on Scott Meredith. I had never known Meredith had anything to do with the comics. The first I heard of him was that he was Howard Browne’s literary agent. Remember Brown of Z-D’s Fiction Group? [NOTE: See the “re:” section of A/E #86 for photo.] It seems that Howard had bought a story idea from William McGivern, his friend and one who played highstakes poker with other staffers at Z-D. McGivern was a published novelist with a few of his books being made into great film noir movies.

Howard paid McGivern $500 for a plot idea he then wrote as a story called “Into Thin Air.” He sent the finished manuscript to Scott Meredith to sell to one of the slick magazines. One day, Howard decided to call Meredith to see what was happening with his story, and he announced what he was doing to our staff—just me and the managing editor, Paul Fairman. After the pleasantries to open the phone call, he asked about the story and suddenly shouted out: “You son of a b-—-!” Then, in what had to be the greatest turnaround in telephonic history, he said “Great,” smiled, and hung up. Scott had sent his story to Cosmopolitan, who offered $2500, and which Meredith told Howard he had turned down.

This had brought about Howard’s temper outburst with its loud denunci-

[correspondence, comments & corrections]

71

ation of Scott’s mother. But then, mere seconds later, when a smile covered his round face clear up to his bald head, we learned that it was in reaction to the news that Meredith had then demanded $5000 and got it.

He later sold the story to a movie company for about $9000. They never produced it, but they got to keep the money.

I have other anecdotes about doings at Z-D. I’d like to send them to you occasionally, if I may.

Herb Rogoff Send ’em in anytime, Herb! Our letters section is always open!

Next, Mark Lewis sent this critique to FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck, who passed it on to us: Roy’s remembrances of how he came across Conan and convinced Stan to pursue it were very interesting. In his position, others might have been inclined to “embellish” the past a bit and say, “Oh, I always thought Conan was the greatest thing ever invented in the history of Literature, and I knew it would be a big success.” Roy, though, refreshingly admits that he wasn’t that into Conan at first, and that it took him a while to warm to the character. Good thing for all concerned that he did!

[Re FCA:] Rubén Procopio’s cover did a good job of capturing the sense of fun the [Fawcett] Marvels had. Mr. Swayze’s column this time was a little surprising in some ways. I know he didn’t really care that much for anyone else’s version of Mary Marvel but his own, but it was still a little surprising to read his opinion of C.C. Beck’s painted cover to Captain Marvel Adventures #18. You mention in the caption that Beck himself wasn’t entirely pleased in retrospect that he’d chosen to paint the characters, but that image has certainly become an iconic cover in the minds of most fans. It’s also funny to read Mr. Swayze’s own dissatisfaction in retrospect with his CMA #19 cover (almost an equally iconic one) over the fact that he didn’t think to include any evergreen trees!

Mark Lewis Things like that will bother an artist or writer for years afterward, Mark—as you probably know, since you’ve done some of the best Fawcettstyle art stylings to have appeared in Alter Ego, with more scheduled for the near future.

Now, a few fast comments; Darrell Stark informs us that the Conan drawing on p. 24 of A/E #83 which “to the best of our knowledge” had never before been reprinted had actually appeared back in 1975 in Marvel Treasury Edition #4, a “Conan” issue. Oops! We forgot to check that one!

Ken McFarlane pointed out that the John Buscema Conan illo we reprinted from The Comic Reader #18 (Aug. 1980) was not inked by Ernie Chan, as we thought, but by a very young Dennis Jansen: “You can see the initials “JB” & “DJ” in the shadow of the treasure chest below the woman’s left hand.” Thanks, Ken! Barry Pearl, who has often proved himself an invaluable resource for A/E in matters related to the history of and media attention to Marvel Comics are concerned, recently informed us that his extensive reference book on Marvel Comics is currently looking for a publisher. TwoMorrows, for its part, has already published Pierre Comtois’ Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue by Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon (still available, on TwoMorrows’ website)—but here’s what Barry has to say about his own rather different take on things: Dear Roy— My book, The Essential Marvel Age Reference Guide 1961-76, is written for the reader who is interested in finding out what made the Marvel Age unique and exciting. It defines this Marvel era and specifically lists all 4000 comics, even rating every story. The book uses illustrations from the original comics (not reprints) to illuminate its points. There are also comments by the original creators, many never before in print.

Boy With Two Dolphins Above is a recent photo of longtime comic book artist J. Scott Pike (who was interviewed in A/E #52) with a recent king-size painting of his 1968 creation Dolphin—a heroine who made a big splash in just a single appearance! Wouldn’t every reader of A/E like to have some of J. Scott’s art hanging in his/her living room?

Well, now you can. JSP would like folks to that he is now doing commission work, and can be reached at jscottpike@comcast.net. Inked commissions, 11” x 17”: $75 for a headshot, $125 for a full figure, $175 for full figure and backgrounds. Cover re-creations: $1000 for black-&-white, $1500 for color.

For painting prices, please inquire. Buyer must supply any reference, since Scott doesn’t own many of his old comics. Thanks to Jim Amash for help with this matter. [Dolphin TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

Included are cover credits for all original and reprint Marvel comics of this era; there is also a separate section for the black-&white era of Marvel, 1975-78.

The book begins with an analysis of the Marvel Age, its creators, its stories, and its characters. There is a listing of the chronological appearances of every major character in the Marvel Universe from 1961-77; a history of the Marvel Universe and a year-by-year breakdown of the comics’ publication; a section on Marvel Stamps (listing where each was published); a section on the Timely/Atlas era and how it relates to Marvel; an illustrated section on Marvel merchandising; and a section on the reprints, outlining what was altered or deleted. Finally, the “Not Quite the Marvel Age” section has features on the MMMS, FOOM, Captain Britain, the Big Little Books, Spider Super Stories, and much more.

Barry Pearl We know that you’ve done your homework, Barry, so we wish you luck!

We figured mentioning your book and your quest in these pages was the least we could do for all the help you’ve given us over the past few years.

72

re:

Raising The Barr Mike W. Barr, veteran comics pro writer and editor (and author of the landmark graphic novel Camelot 3000), has announced that his new science-fiction novel, Majician/51, is now available from the Invisible College Press: “It’s the story of a research scientist at Nevada’s secret and foreboding government base, Area 51. Dr. Ross Gardner is trying to reverse-engineer the technology of the flying saucer that crashed at Roswell, NM, in 1947. It’s the best job in the world, sure… but to him, Area 51 is just the office, his second favorite place in the world—after wherever his beautiful, devoted wife Danse is. Until Dr. Gardner discovers the meaning of the strange sigils found in the saucer. That will set into motion a chain of events that will upset every facet of his well-ordered life. Then he’ll know why people fear Area 51.” You can find out more— including how to order it—at the book’s website: www.invispress.com/M51/. The book’s ISBN # is 978-1-931468-29-9.

[Cover art ©2010 Invisible College Press.]

In conclusion: one of the best-kept secrets on the web is the Alter Ego Fans chat list, which discusses matters pertinent to this magazine. It’s hosted by Chet Cox and Lynn Walker… and the likes of Jim Amash and Yours Truly drop by occasionally to share advance information on future issues, or to share additional thoughts on recent interviewees and articles.

(Well, actually, we haven’t done nearly as much of that yet as we’d like, but we’re getting geared up to do so.) You can find it at: groups.yahoo.com/group/alter-ego-fans/, where the Golden and Silver Ages still live!

Meanwhile, you can send any comments on this issue of A/E to that site… but hopefully you’ll also send some of them to: Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135

e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com

Remember—Alter Ego #100 is only two issues away! But that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to skip our special George Tuska issue in between!

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Send ad copy and payment (US funds) to: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. • Raleigh, NC 27614 919-449-0344 • fax 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com

74

Shortly before or about the time that I joined the Fawcett art staff, Pete was transferred from other comic book work to assist C.C. Beck. He spoke fondly of having done “Golden Arrow”… and also of having attended the Art Students’ League and studying under the old illustrator, Harvey Dunn. He told a story of Dunn’s reaction when another student defended his project, an illustration Dunn had criticized severely, by saying, “One of the other instructors down the hall said he thought it was pretty good!”

“That’s just it,” Pete quoted Dunn. “In this business ‘pretty good’ means NO DAMN GOOD!” That impressed me. I have since directed that philosophy on many occasions to employees, students…

[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 we re-presented Marc’s 4th column— from FCA #57 (1996)—where the artist covered an array of topics, from drawing tools to colleagues Keaton, Raboy, Beck and Costanza to having briefly assisted Smilin’ Jack artist Zack Mosley when D-Day hit. In this issue, we re-present another pre-Alter Ego Swayze column, from FCA #58 (1997), wherein the artist reminisced about Pete Costanza, producing Captain Marvel artwork, and playing in the music combo: The Famous Fawcett Four. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

A

t Fawcett Publications, after the initial excitement over our entry into World War II, we were back at our tasks… perhaps very much the same as most other Americans.

Changes came, though. One of the first to be called into the military was Pete Costanza. I have read where he was gone about ten months, but it didn’t seem that long before he was discharged with a heart murmur and was back with us. Everyone was glad, because Pete was fun to have around. Affable, talkative, humorous, completely unaffected, Pete conducted his day like a top executive. Always a little late, he would blow in, the morning paper under his arm, remove his coat and hat and call downstairs for his coffee and doughnuts to be sent up. You’d have thought the entire staff down at Walgreen’s had been standing at attention awaiting his call. Then he would stroll leisurely down the hall, past the reception room, the paper still under his arm, to the bathroom. Back at his drawing board later on, his breakfast and the newspaper finished, Pete would set to work.

There was never any evidence of resentment from the art staff at Pete’s early-morning procedure, and I suppose art director Al Allard tolerated it in view of the tremendous output Pete was capable of, as well as the positive effect of his presence on the morale of the group.

and to myself!

Pete had a special friend among the non-comics artists whom he must have known from earlier days: Harry Taskey. Harry was a few years older—and many years more experienced—than young Pete, and frequently served as an advisor. This was especially true while Pete was courting his soon-to-be wife, lovely Yolanda… Harry obviously being familiar with the mysteries of married life that were looming before Pete.

On a noon break, as we boarded the elevator—which was always crammed with people from the upper floors at that hour—Harry was attempting to relieve Pete’s fears of the coming event. As the elevator descended, a hush gradually fell over the occupants.

“You’ve nothing to worry about,” he was assuring Pete in a fatherly manner. “Unless…” he added slowly, as though as an afterthought, “… you have some nasty little secret habit you’ve been ashamed to discuss.”

The elevator was so quiet it hurt. Pete was indignant.

“Whaddaya mean, nasty little secret habit?” he demanded.

The elevator was softly touching down as Harry answered, clearly, for all to hear.

“Well, like… do you wet the bed?”

Regarding Pete’s work, I’d have to go along with the opinions of the Binders, Otto and Jack… Pete could have been better.

He could have, but he was satisfied… apparently. He was very fast and thus capable of a tremendous output, but the layouts, rough penciling, and inking he did as Beck’s assistant suggested he may have been too fast.

A Golden Artist Marc Swayze described “Golden Arrow” artist Pete Costanza (seen here in a 1940 photo) as “affable, talkative, humorous, completely unaffected” and “fun to have around”—and also noted that the future C.C. Beck collaborator was a high-speed worker “capable of… tremendous output.”

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

75

My responsibilities had increased almost without my realizing it. The reason was the popularity of our hero. Titles were being doubled up, some books appearing twice a month, and the occasional one-shot titles seemed to be showing up more frequently. New artists were still being signed, some being groomed to draw Captain Marvel, but none of the work yet was seen beyond the inner pages. And, as one historian commented, “Captain Marvel was becoming a bit pudgy.”

I was churning out story art by doing entire layouts from the scripts, hastily penciling and inking Captain Marvel and major characters, then turning the projects over for completion to any of the assistants available.

The story, “Klang the Killer” (Captain Marvel Adventures #15), for example, indicates that I stayed with the art to the final pages only on Captain Marvel, the girl character… and Klang. It was not the way I liked to work, or had hoped to work… but I suppose I was enjoying myself so much with the music combo, the ballgames, the bowling… and I was dating a couple of charming young ladies connected with the company… I guess I didn’t notice or mind the change in the workload.

The interesting conversations with Beck continued, but less frequently, of course. At one point there was a massive weekend Fawcett party hosted, I believe, by the distribution department in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Beck, Rod Reed, and I were dozing quietly on the beach when Beck suddenly said, “I like to think of his feet as being real heavy, like maybe he has concrete in his boots!”

I knew who he was talking about… Captain Marvel, of course... but it just wasn’t our style to let opportunities like that pass. “Who,” I asked, “Roger Fawcett?”

Rod laughed as Beck quickly continued. “… So there is an aura of weight in his movements… heaviness… you know.”

I always thought the way Beck had of expressing himself in those days was priceless. And, as in art, he got the job done!

Making Headway

Somehow, the talk got around to the humor element of the Captain Marvel art style. “I like a little funny stuff now and then,” said Beck. “Like

Fawcett Publications, like most comic book publishers of the day, jumped onto war-themed stories for their heroes after the U.S. entry into World War II. Marc Swayze was assigned a wartime cover—Captain Marvel Adventures #12 (June, 1942) early on enough that he drew the US infantrymen being led by the World’s Mightiest Mortal over a battlefield wearing WWI-era helmets!

(New headgear was issued by the military around the time the issue hit the newsstands.) [Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

I still have several gifts received from friends at Fawcett in 1942.

Among them is a small original painting signed by Pete Costanza. I treasure it.

On the personal basis the war wasn’t a usual subject of conversation on the 22nd floor of the Paramount Building. I suppose we all knew that depending upon our eligibility we were subject to call, so why talk about it? Professionally, on the other hand, I wonder how many partiallyfinished peace-time stories were yanked out of typewriters on the morning after Pearl Harbor and fresh paper inserted. Fawcett, like most publishers, jumped onto the war stories without delay. After all, the comic book super-heroes were out there scrambling to be the first to be involved in the US effort.

I was assigned a wartime cover so early on that the US infantrymen Captain Marvel was leading over a battlefield wore World War I helmets!

The modern lids were issued about the time the book (Captain Marvel Adventures #12) hit the newsstands. Nevertheless, I was proud of having done that cover art, although it seems never to have ceased to be a source of amusement. In recent years, a publisher stated that it was “the finest drawing of Captain Marvel C.C. Beck ever rendered.” Oh well…

Killer Assignments In 1942 Marc Swayze toiled away on Captain Marvel story art—from scripts to layouts to hastily penciling and inking major characters—sometimes turning projects over for completion to assistants—as with the story “Klang the Killer” from Captain Marvel Adventures #15 (Sept. ’42).

[Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

76

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

if there’s a holdup… instead of having a frightening, foreboding scene of the robber pointing his gun menacingly at the victim, why not do it Mutt and Jeff style? Having him pressing the barrel of the gun right up against the poor guy’s head… funny-like!”

At the office when Weill and I began to jam around in the after-work hours, Vic Capalupo heard us and brought in his clarinet. Vic was another of the non-comics artists… and could play by ear, had a nice tone, and knew all the old standards. We had us a trio!

Beck spoke of the humor quality in the art almost apologetically. I wondered if he realized in 1942 that it may have supplied the extra dimension that made the “difference” whereby Captain Marvel sat comfortably at the top of the heap of Golden Age super-heroes?

Then C.C. Beck heard us and brought in his guitar the very next day… and took it right home. He told my wife years later that I told him he was lousy… but I don’t believe I was that rude. Well, he was lousy on the guitar, and I suggested he try the string bass… that was the instrument we needed… and I knew he didn’t have one!

Rod Reed had come on as executive editor of the comics department following the departure of Eddie Herron. The Fawcett art staff had increased from the 20 or so (named in FCA #19, 1983) to about double that number. Aside from the additions to the comics group, there were several more doing page layouts for the non-comics magazines. One was Irwin Weill, whose home I had shared during my first few weeks at Fawcett.

Weill was a dark-haired lightweight with a thin mustache and a twinkle in his eye that belied his involvement in a bitter divorce case.

Although he was of an industrious nature, he did have an aversion to what he termed “wasted energy.” On a sunny Saturday morning I suggested that, instead of lounging around all day, we walk the few blocks to a golf driving range and hit a few balls.

“I feel the need of some exercise,” was my complaint.

Weill, stretched out on the living room couch where he spent a lot of time, stirred slightly. “I know the feeling. When it hits me I go somewhere and lie down until I get over it!”

It was generally accepted by publishers for their salaried artists to do outside freelance work, as long as it was not of a competitive nature. Beck, for example, was doing a regular feature for Tootsie Rolls (“Captain Tootsie”), and prior to that had done a series for a strong-man (Joe Bonomo) correspondence course, without objection. As Fawcett did not publish “pulp” magazines, there obviously was no secret to Weill’s freelance projects. For each of the two pulp publishers, he did a monthly full-page feature of the Ripley’s Believe-It-or-Not type thing. Off to the local library he would go on a weekend with a briefcase containing a few art materials and a “lucida”… a pocket-size substitute for a projector. From the reference books, he would select several oddity items, letter a brief paragraph pertaining to each, copy an illustration or two with his lucida… and be on his way home… all in a couple of hours or less… absolutely no “wasted energy.”

Now, here’s the kind of guy Beck was: The next session he came in with a beautiful, full-size, brand new bass violin. He had gone to the biggest music store in Manhattan and talked them into letting him take out on a trial basis one of the finest instruments in the store. Of course, he did make a purchase… a two-dollar instruction book. Then, also typical of Beck, within a few sessions he was doing a fair job of playing the bass!

So now we had a four-piece combo: Weill playing chord rhythm on the tipple, aided by Beck thumping away on the string bass… and Vic and I swapping lead and fill-ins on the clarinet and guitar. We jammed to our hearts’ delight in the late afternoons and eventually decided we’d like to hear how we sounded. Up the street a few blocks, just off Broadway, was a recording studio where we made arrangements to “cut a few sides.” As we walked up the street with our bare instruments… no cases… the New Yorkers thought we were street musicians. Later, Vic said to Al Allard, “If we’d had a hat we could have picked up a few bucks right there on our very first recording date!”

I remember one of our numbers: “Whispering”… other than that, I can’t recall—or even imagine—what we sounded like.

But there, in the early evenings, on the 22nd floor of the Paramount Building, in 1942, The Famous Fawcett Four had fun!

I thought I was at least vaguely familiar with most musical instruments, but Weill said he played one I had never heard of: the tipple. I thought he was kidding. The tipple? A part of the anatomy? A bar order? As we spoke he removed from a closet shelf a rather plush case.

The instrument he showed me was like a slightly oversized ukulele… and tuned like one… but with steel strings, doubled in the manner of a mandolin. His was a finely built instrument, and he played it quite well. He had studied under a famous ukulele expert, Mae Singhi Breen, whose name was on much of the popular sheet music of the day as preparer of the ukulele arrangements.

“[They] Thought We Were Street Musicians …”

Making their way down the streets of NYC one day in 1942 was “The Famous Fawcett Four”— the music combo comprised of Fawcett artists Marc Swayze, Irwin Weill, Vic Capalupo, and C.C. Beck. 1997 drawing by Swayze. [©2010 Marc Swayze.]

77

The Year DC Abandoned Superman …As Captain Marvel Looked On!

by Jared Bond Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

Not-So-Super-Friends National Comics Publications (i.e., DC) sued Fawcett Publications, Inc., over the alleged violation of its copyright on “Superman,” and thus a succession of court clashes ensued for twelve-plus years—all while both Superman and Captain Marvel thrived on the newsstands. On the left is the cover of Superman #6 (Sept.-Oct. 1940), one of the issues which Fawcett attorneys were able to convince the court were incorrectly copyrighted under Superman, Inc.—until the appeals court overruled that 1950 decision; on the right is C.C. Beck’s cover for Captain Marvel Adventures #6 (Oct. 1941), which showcased the six immortal entities whose initials formed the word “Shazam, which became virtually a household name … at least for a while. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Introduction

B

y 1950, National Comics Publications (the precursor of DC Comics and the result of a merger between Detective Comics, Inc., and Superman, Inc.) and Fawcett Publications had been tied together in a bitter lawsuit for nine years. As is fairly well known, National had sought an injunction against Fawcett in order to prevent the publication of comics featuring Captain Marvel. Citing similarities to the figure and character of Superman, National felt that Captain Marvel infringed upon their copyrights.

During this copyright case, Fawcett Publications presented two different defenses, and as a result briefly changed the landscape of the comic industry. First, they claimed that Captain Marvel was a unique entity, not related at all to Superman. Second, even if Captain Marvel did infringe upon the Superman copyright, Fawcett prepared an argument that showed that the copyright on Superman material had been invalidated through improper copyright notices on the Superman magazine and on the syndicated newspaper strips. It was this final argument that

convinced Judge Alfred Conkling Coxe, Jr. On April 10, 1950, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that National Comics had abandoned the rights to Superman.

In this (literal) case study, of National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications, Inc., et al., the Superman newspaper strips play a vital role in the history of the Superman character. Though the ruling in this case was eventually overturned, the case allows comic fans to imagine what the implications might have been if Superman had entered the public domain before the Golden Age of comics had ended. Would Captain Marvel have been able to maintain his 1940s popularity into the next decade? Would an influx of Superman imitators have prevented the sharp decline in super-hero comic sales of the 1950s? The possible implications of such a ruling would have been endless. Sometime after Superman’s 70th anniversary, it is important to bear in mind that in just 23 more years the character will, again, enter public domain under current copyright laws.

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The Year DC Abandoned Superman... As Captain Marvel Looked On!

Superman Newspaper Strips The history of Superman newspaper strips needs to be reviewed in order to understand its significance to the 1950 ruling. On September 22, 1938, Detective Comics, Inc., licensed the Superman newspaper strips to the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. Under this agreement, Detective Comics would pay the artists and own the original artwork of the strips, and even have the rights to use the strips six months after their newspaper publication. McClure, agreeing to pay Detective Comics a share of the profits, would be allowed to copyright the strip under the McClure name, and would transfer the rights back to Detective Comics on July 22, 1941.

As a result of this agreement, the Superman newspaper strips were first published in three newspapers beginning on January 16, 1939. By 1944, the strip was carried in at least 160 papers, and a few years later Superman was seen in over 300 newspapers. As a point of comparison to understand the volume of the Superman newspaper strips, Judge Coxe commented that, between June 1938 and December 1943, Action Comics published sixty-seven different Superman issues. From January 1939 to December 1943, however, thousands of newspaper editions published Superman stories.

Movie Marvel Republic Pictures was also included in the National-Fawcett litigation. Fawcett, claiming to be the sole originator and owner of Captain Marvel, licensed their character in 1941 to Republic, which duly produced The Adventures of Captain Marvel, a 12-chapter movie serial starring Tom Tyler in the title role. That serial is still considered by many to be the optimum film of its genre. Above is a rare theatre lobby display card from the serial’s first chapter. [Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

Contrary to the claim by Detective Comics, Judge Coxe noted that McClure was not merely a licensee of Superman. Instead, because of this complicated agreement, Coxe ruled that Detective Comics and the McClure Newspaper Syndicate were involved in a joint venture. This limited partnership meant that both parties were liable for the handling of the copyright. Superman’s copyright hinged upon the significance of these newspaper strips and their use by McClure.

Copyright Notices Fawcett presented a number of arguments in an attempt to show that National had used improper copyright notices on their Superman publications. Any provable instance would seemingly negate the entire copyright. To aid their case, they used examples from the publication of the Superman magazine and the publication of the Superman newspaper strips.

First, Fawcett claimed that the “Superman” stories published in the first six issues of Action Comics, under a 1938 copyright, were improperly copyrighted when reprinted in the first and third issues of Superman, under a 1939 copyright. Judge Coxe concluded that this would have been so, had the issues of Superman not contained substantial new material— which they did.

Fawcett’s second claim was that certain stories in the Superman magazine were copyrighted under Superman, Inc., when Detective Comics held the true copyright. The first four issues of Superman were copyrighted under Detective Comics, but when Superman, Inc. was formed in October 1939, Superman, Inc. copyrighted issues five and six.

However, the January 18, 1940 agreement between the two companies specified that the copyrights would remain in Detective’s ownership.

While this mistake was noticed soon after the August 1940 publication of Superman #6, and the agreement was amended to allow Superman, Inc. to copyright Superman in their own name, there was no way to retroactively validate Superman, Inc.’s claim on the two issues.

Furthermore, Fawcett claimed that Superman, Inc. acted just as an agent of Detective Comics, and thus was not a proprietor of the Superman copyright. As a postscript, Fawcett noted that the copyright notice on Superman #12 failed to note the year of publication. However, Judge Coxe ruled that the amended agreement left Superman, Inc. as a trustee of the copyright, and cited previous cases to show that there was substantial enough compliance on the Superman #12 notice.

Fawcett’s final approach highlighted the lack of proper copyright notices on the Superman newspaper strips. They pointed out that the form of copyright notice required for books (“copyright,” the name, and the year of publication) accompanied only a few of the strips. The rest of the strips were published with a variety of notices, including just the name McClure Newspaper Syndicate, the year followed by the McClure name, the letter “C” in a circle along with the year and McClure name, the word “copyright” along with the year, or with no notice at all. It was this line of reasoning that convinced the judge.

The Ruling While Judge Coxe acknowledged that the copyrights were secure in all but issues five and six of Superman magazine (which were reprints of copyrighted stories anyways), and even that he felt the character of Captain Marvel was a direct imitation of Superman, the improper copyrighting of the newspaper strip was enough to invalidate the National Comics copyright on Superman. Almost all of the copyright notices were insufficient to support a valid copyright on the newspaper strips. The

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

79

Daily Dramas The Superman newspaper strip by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster premiered January 16, 1939, in the Boston Transcript, the Milwaukee Journal, the San Antonio Express, and the Houston Chronicle, and soon flourished all over the US. Above are a pair of daily strip samples from the Reading (PA) Eagle dated October 30 and 31 of that year—published without any copyright notice… and below is a Sunday strip sample from the August 4, 1940, edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, with appropriate copyright language in place. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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The Year DC Abandoned Superman... As Captain Marvel Looked On!

copyright for a book, he explained, “should consist either of the word ‘Copyright’ or of the abbreviation ‘Copr,’ accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor, and, if the work was a printed literary work, the year of publication.”

He further explained that he felt the published Superman strips did indeed fall into the realm of books, as they were printed literary works.

Were they a print or pictorial illustration, the letter “C” in a circle along with mark of the copyright proprietor would have been sufficient. If these were prints, though, these two elements would have been required on each strip (which they were not), and the “C” needed to have been legible to the naked eye (which it often was not). However, the Superman strips were not prints or pictorial illustrations, as that would have been the term for a single panel. The strip taken in its continuous sequence constituted a literary work.

Detective Comics, being in a limited partnership with McClure, was responsible for ensuring that the Superman copyright was protected in the publication of the newspaper strips. Judge Coxe explained that “if a copyright owner authorizes or permits the re-publication of its copyrighted material without copyright protection, it forfeits, i.e., abandons the copyright.” Because of the improper copyright notices on the McClure strips, Detective Comics had essentially abandoned the copyrights on the Superman stories printed in Action Comics, and thus on the character itself.

The Appeal However, the above ruling would not last long. On August 30, 1951, the United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit overturned the previous ruling. Judge Learned Hand wrote, in his opinion, that it was

important to distinguish between “abandonment” and “forfeiture.” While McClure’s “negligent omissions may have invalidated many of the copyrights in the suit, the very fact that it continuously attempted to publish ‘strips’ with some sort of copyright notice affixed, however imperfect that may have been, [was] conclusive evidence that it wished to claim copyright upon them.” The notices on the newspaper strips did not show intent of abandonment.

In addition, the appeals court questioned Judge Coxe’s assumption that there was a joint venture between McClure and Detective Comics, and instead found McClure to be the proprietor of the copyright during the length of their contract with Detective Comics. In fact, the appeals court questioned and overturned almost every one of Judge Coxe’s decisions in the 1950 case, and concluded that Superman still remained under a valid copyright. This then opened the door for National Comics Publications (as Detective Comics was now called) to continue its litigation against Fawcett Publications to prevent their publication of Captain Marvel Adventures.

Outwardly, this case study appears to have been meaningless, as the following year the appeals court overruled the 1950 decision. However, it provides an often-overlooked aspect at Superman history, and a shocking look at what might have been. This case study shows the importance of the Superman newspaper strips to the history of Superman in that, for a moment, the strips derailed the Superman franchise. Legally, a judge had ruled that National Comics had abandoned the copyright on Superman.

Though this ruling only lasted sixteen months, had the ruling remained it indeed would have marked the end of the Golden Age—and the beginning of an unknown age for the comic industry.

Fawcett’s Defense Fawcett presented a number of different arguments for their defense against National.

If the court was not convinced by one argument, they’d move on to another one….

• Captain Marvel was unique and separate from Superman.

• Fawcett did not create any unfair competition.

• Superman #1 and #3 had improper copyrights.

• Superman #5-6 were copyrighted wrongly under Superman, Inc. • Superman, Inc. could never legally take out copyrights.

• Superman #12 lacked its copyright date.

• Superman newspaper strips were improperly copyrighted.

• McClure was a mere licensee and could not take out copyrights.

• McClure was not the proprietor of Superman in all periodical forms.

A Shocking Finale Crucial trial panels from “The End of Mr. Mind” in Captain Marvel Adventures #46 (May 1945), the 25th and final chapter of the “Monster Society of Evil” serial. Since there was a death penalty in those days, the World’s Wickedest Worm was electrocuted—and put on display. Script by Otto Binder; art by C.C. Beck. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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