The Best of Alter Ego Volume 2

Flash, Hawkman, & Dr. Fate TM & © DC Comics; other art © Estate of Sam Grainger.

The Best of

VOLUME 2 More Fabulous Features from the Legendary Comics Fanzine of the 1960s-70s

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The Best of

™

Volume 2

Edited by

Roy Thomas and

Bill Schelly

From Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #1-11 (1961-1978) Originally Edited by

Jerry Bails, Ronn Foss, Roy Thomas, and Mike Friedrich

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina

THE BEST OF ALTER EGO – VOLUME TWO Edited by Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly Book design by David P. Greenawalt New contents © 2013 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 website: www.twomorrows.com First Printing: May 2013 • Printed in Canada • ISBN: 978-1-60549-048-9

Pedro Angosto Jean Bails Jerry G. Bails Doc Boucher Al Bradford E. Nelson Bridwell Sol Brodsky Bernie Bubnis Rick Burchett Mal Burns Pete Carlsson Jon B. Cooke Pauline Copeman Al Dellinges Steve Ditko Shel Dorf Jackie Estrada Tom Fagan Danny Fingeroth Shane Foley Ronn Foss Gary Friedrich

Mike Friedrich Dominique Gaillard Paul Gambaccini Steve Gerber Jean Giraud (Moebius) Sam Grainger Irving Glassman Larry Guidry Mark Hanerfeld Ron Harris Hurricane Heeran Robert Hopkins Glen Johnson Douglas Jones Shel Kagan Jay Kinney Joe Kubert Richard Kyle Ed Lahmann Stan Lee Arthur Lortie Russ Maheras

Douglas Marden Raymond Miller Drury Moroz Brian K. Morris Fred Patten Linda Rahm-Crites Trina Robbins Sam Rosen Derrill Rothermich L.L. Simpson Scott Stewart Ken Tesar Albert “Bud” Tindall Dann Thomas Harry Thomas Jean Thomas Mike Tuohey Biljo White Ruthie White Stan Woolston Mike Zeck

—and to Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox, & Otto Binder… always

[Cartoon from A/E V1. #8 ©2013 Roy Thomas & Jay Kinney.]

Acknowledgments (both to those who are living, and to those who have passed on)

This book is affectionately dedicated to the memory of Jerry G. Bails, Ronn Foss, & Biljo White —colleagues and friends Cover by Sam Grainger, colored by Tom Ziuko (Flash figure adapted by Shane Foley) [Hawkman, Dr. Fate, & Flash TM & © DC Comics]

All DC characters featured on the cover, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and all related elements are the property of DC Comics.

Additional Copyright Information: Alter Ego name & logo TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas; Joy Holiday TM & © Estate of Ronn Foss. Characters from DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and others depicted herein are TM & © by their respective companies and/or creators, and are used here strictly for historical purposes.

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“More of the Best” – Introduction by Bill Schelly ..........................................................................................4 “The SECOND Best of Alter Ego” – Introduction by Roy Thomas ...................................................................... 5 The Jerry Bails Interview ........................................................................................................................6 Jon B. Cooke’s e-conversation with the founder of the first comic book super-hero fanzine.

The Naming of Alter-Ego, 1961 ............................................................................................................18 Jerry Bails on how The JLA Subscriber concept became… something else.

Alter-Ego #1-3: The Spirit Duplicator Issues......................................................................................19 How the “Ditto Masters of the Universe” gave birth to “purple” prose… and pictures.

The Comicollector—The Companion to Alter-Ego .................................................................................... 44 The coming of comic fandom’s first adzine—with features intended for A/E!

Alter-Ego #4: Jerry Bails’ Photo-Offset Finale....................................................................................55 Alter Ego #5-6: The Ronn Foss Issues .............................................................................................. 61 Alter Ego #7-9: The Roy Thomas Fan Issues ......................................................................................87 The Alter Ego #10 That Almost Was ..................................................................................................124 Alter Ego #10: The First “Pro” Issue ..............................................................................................138 Alter Ego #11: The Mike Friedrich Issue ........................................................................................154 Afterword by Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly ....................................................................................................159

[Special thanks to Shane Foley for the “Table of Contents” illo above—and for his drawings of Alter & Captain Ego, created by Biljo White. The Captain Ego figure is based on a Major Victory drawing by Biljo in Marvel’s The Invaders #16 (May 1977); the Alter drawing is based on art by Biljo in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #7. Table of contents art © 2013 Shane Foley; Alter & Captain Ego TM & © 2013 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly.]

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“More Of The Best”

Greetings From Co-Editor Bill Schelly

Momentous Musings On This Second Collection From The Original Issues Of Alter Ego, The Classic Fanzine From Fandom’s Golden Age!

When I launched my

publishing imprint Hamster Press with fanzine-format publications such as The Ronn Foss Retrospective (1992), I had no idea that within a few years I would graduate into the wider publishing world.

Trade paperbacks such as The Golden Age of Comic Fandom (1995) and Fandom’s Finest Comics (1997) brought my collections of historical writings and Bill Schelly. reprints to thousands of readers, demonstrating that there were a lot of fans who appreciated reminiscences of the early days of what we then called “comicdom.” The fact that these books were breaking even was sufficient encouragement for me to plan more.

Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine was the third Hamster Press trade paperback. Roy and I worked on it through most of 1997. It proved to be a harder task than we had anticipated. The cover alone, a collage of the covers of most of the original eleven issues of A/E, was a complicated mosaic that took cover layout artist Nils Osmar many hours to perfect.

The Best of Alter Ego (as we only semi-accurately call it for short) was full to the brim with wonderful articles, art, and strips—yet so much more had to be left out! With such an embarrassment of riches, we found ourselves frustrated by the purely subjective process of choosing what to include. While there were admittedly some high-profile items that were inevitabilities (like Howard Keltner’s “MLJ Leads the Way” from #4 and Roy’s “One Man’s Family” from #7, both Alley Award-winners), it soon became clear that virtually anything that had appeared in those original well-constructed issues— for the various editors had always had access to the cream of fandom’s writers and artists—could have been a lead feature in most other amateur publications of that time. What to do?

When you’re talking about material by such talents as Tom Fagan, L. L. Simpson, E. Nelson Bridwell, Ed Lahmann, Fred Patten, Biljo White, Grass Green, and Sam Grainger, not to

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mention more by editors Bails, Foss, and Thomas, it’s clear that a lot of fine material would not make the cut in the 1997 volume.

The solution became a bit easier when I exercised my publisher’s prerogative not to include “The Eclipse,” a 10-page original comic strip (inspired by Dr. Mid-Nite) by Drury Moroz and Ronn Foss from A/E #5, since it had been reprinted earlier that year in Fandom’s Finest Comics. The same was true of the newly discovered, pre-A/E #1, twice-up, inked version of “Bestest League of America,” chapter 1, which otherwise would have been a slam-dunk rarity for the collection.

Omitting these two pieces freed up 15 pages.

We were limited in another way: we could squeeze in just two of the several items that had been sent to Jerry Bails for A/E but had wound up appearing in his adzine The Comicollector, “The Companion to Alter-Ego,” which was published concurrently. Only Roy’s “Four of a Kind” review of Fantastic Four #1 (and his BLA/Thing cartoon from CC #2) made it into the ’97 book. Similarly, the only special “behind the scenes” feature was the five-page “Alter Ego Story,” which told of the fanzine’s creation.

Therefore, we’re thrilled to be able to produce this second Best of Alter Ego volume, which not only reprints considerable additional material from those original eleven issues, but also includes more “phantom Alter Ego features” from the pages of The Comicollector—plus a special section on “The Alter Ego #10 That Almost Was,” highlighting that issue’s projected cover and the partial adaptation by Thomas and Grainger of Gardner Fox’s paperback novel Warrior of Llarn. In addition, we’re presenting Jon B. Cooke’s never-before-published interview with Jerry Bails, the most in-depth interview A/E’s founder ever gave, with numerous previously unseen photos.

Mike Tuohey has added his own evocative reminiscences of assisting Jerry on his fanzines way back when. These and other specially-marked “Alter Ego Extra!” pieces give the reader a deeper perspective from which to view both the rest of this book and, indeed, what we can now refer to as Best of, Vol. 1.

Considering that the first Best of collection has gone through two successful printings (the second one, by TwoMorrows Publishing, is still in print), I have little doubt there are plenty of potential readers out there for this one, and that they will find this book just as interesting and charming as its predecessor.

I do—and I’m just like you: an enthusiastic fan of that erstwhile “Cadillac of fanzines,” which the great Jerry Bails named—Alter Ego!

“The SECOND Best Of Alter Ego” A Bit Of Introductory Housecleaning & Hoop-La

by Co-Editor Roy Thomas

The SECOND Best of Alter Ego.

Yep, that’s the self-consciously ironic title I wanted to give this second volume of “more of the best” of the first A/E series that lurched along in fits and starts between 1961 and 1978.

But younger and wiser heads prevailed—both co-editor Bill Schelly and publisher John Morrow were cool to that name— and I finally decided, what the hell, maybe they knew something. “The second best” might sound as if we believe the material in this book is automatically inferior to what Bill and I selected for the first volume, a decade and a half ago.

Of course, inevitably, some of it is. After all, Bill and I put our best foot forward in 1997, feeling it unlikely we’d ever publish a follow-up volume. Still, as my co-editor says on the preceding page, Ronn Foss’ “Eclipse” origin in #5 was left out only for technical reasons… as were several other features we passed over for one reason or another.

So it’s good, lo these many years later, to see what we can squeeze into a second collection.

In the case of A/E #1-3, I fear, it’s mostly my stuff you’ll be wading through. That was kind of unavoidable, since founder/publisher/editor Jerry G. Bails and I, his titular co-editor, were darn near the only contributors to those initial issues except for a pair of brief re-tellings of heroes’ origins by others, Ron Haydock’s article on the 1944 Captain America movie serial, a smattering of mail, and a clever satirical letter written by my longtime girlfriend Linda Rahm (later, like Jerry, a college professor). But I’ll confess: I’ve always wanted to see a full reprinting of all 17 pages of my three-chapter “Bestest League of America” yarn, which was spread over those three 1961 issues. Whether they deserve a second look, I leave for the reader to decide. At least we shoehorned them all into a mere eleven pages in this book!

From issue #4 onward, the contributors became many and varied, with Jerry in particular far less in evidence as he concentrated on the indexing and data-collection which were his passions, but not mine. Even so, his indomitable spirit permeates the whole.

What are the non-JGB/RT features I’m happiest to see reprinted this time around? Well, besides Foss’ “Eclipse,” there’s Mark Hanerfeld’s “Tor Gambit,” which gave fans a close-up look at the black-&-white art of a stillborn Tor comic strip by Joe Kubert, which still has never been seen elsewhere in its entirety and at this size… Fred Patten’s entertaining look at the original-hero comics of mid-1960s Mexico… and E. Nelson Bridwell’s masterful little overview of the literary monsters who preceded the Thing, the Hulk, Eclipso, and their grotesque ilk.

It was especially gratifying to give readers at least a fleeting

A/E founder Jerry Bails (with beard) and Roy Thomas in Detroit, spring 2002, in the last of their all-too-few face-toface meetings. Photo by Dann Thomas.

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glimpse of “the Alter Ego #10 that almost was”—the wouldhave-been 1965-66 issue whose contents were mostly scattered to the winds when I stumbled into the ranks of comics pros in the former year and wound up doing an entirely different tenth issue several years later. In particular, I rejoice to see my late buddy Sam Grainger’s cover for that intended issue become this book’s cover, nearly half a century after he drew it. I think that, somewhere, Sam is smiling about that… and is more than satisfied with the way Shane Foley transformed his Silver Age Flash into the Golden Age one.

A note up front: Bill and I have tried to make it crystal clear precisely what text and art and photos we have added to this edition, both by the use of italics for all our new introductions, sidebars, and captions, plus commencing the latter, when they accompany vintage material, with the not-too-subtle phrase 2013 Editors’ Note.

And now, with special thanks to publisher John Morrow for agreeing so readily to put out a collection about which he could so easily have simply proclaimed, “Why should I?”—to Jean Bails for providing many photos of her late husband—to Hurricane Heeran, Douglas Jones (Gaff), Brian K. Morris, and Scott Stewart for re-typing several of the original articles onto Word documents—and to layout man David P. Greenawalt for putting the whole book together out of 1001 little pieces— —let’s take a gander at what the more discriminating comics fan was reading in the 1960s and ’70s, in between poring over the latest exploits of the Justice League or Fantastic Four.

Or maybe B’wana Beast and Night Nurse.

In the pro comics world, just like in Alter Ego, it takes all kinds.

An Alter Ego Extra!

The Jerry Bails Interview

A Candid Conversation With “The Father Of Comics Fandom” About His Life And Passion

W

“The Good Doctor”

Introduction by Interviewer Jon B. Cooke

e all have our heroes, whether the four-color, fictional crime-fighting type or the variety of champion composed of real flesh and blood. Me, as I grew into my teenage years, I was inspired less by spandex-attired do-gooders and more by the icons who toiled behind the scenes at drawing boards and on typewriters. I particularly admired those who effectively shared with me stories about hope, redemption, and fortitude in the guise of comic books, or were just plain honest about the world. Will Eisner, Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, Alan Moore, Gil Kane, Archie Goodwin, R. Crumb, and—especially—Jack Kirby were creators who always seemed authentic in their selfexpression, and they rarely appeared to condescend. I felt respected and was treated to expert and excellent storytelling. To these heroes, I was grateful.

My interests as a teen and young adult expanded beyond the comic book universes and (partly due to Kirby’s “Captain America” stories in Tales of Suspense— don’t ask; long story!) I developed an avid interest in history and journalism, two subjects I majored in while attending college. Strange fellow that I was, I nurtured an obsession with bibliographies and indexes and documentation of exhaustive research. Well-sourced tomes with extensively laid-out footnotes and references spoke to me, expressing that the author held a respect for readers, telling us, “Hey, come and find out what I learned! Here’s the route….” It spoke to me of the joy of learning and how joy can be cultivated only if it is shared.

By the grace of God (and an association with John Morrow and TwoMorrows Publishing), I was able to meld my passion for funnybooks and their creators with my love of history and journalism into Comic Book Artist magazine, a place I hoped to express my peculiar mania to a wider audience. My goal with the periodical was to focus on the artist and not so much the artifact, with CBA’s tagline boasting, “Price Guide Never Included,” because I loathed the crass money aspect of the hobby.

The blessings continued as CBA attracted some attention and I was able to interact with many of my real-life comic book heroes. I recall with vivid appreciation, for instance, sitting down in an exhibit hall with Joe Kubert, who, despite my pestering questions, gave me his full attention and respect, thoughtfully sharing answers and making me, a nobody schlub annoying one of sequential art’s greatest creators, feel like a Somebody. For Joe and most of these guys, my hero worship only grew….

All-Star Light, All-Star Bright, First All-Star I See Tonight…

Jerry Gwin Bails in 2003 (middle)—interviewer Jon B. Cooke (top right)—and E.E. Hibbard’s cover for All-Star Comics #6 (Aug.-Sept.

1941), which Jerry said was the very first issue he ever saw of what became his favorite all-time comic book. By the late 1950s he had amassed a complete collection of the title’s 57 Golden Age issues— including bound volumes containing the 30+ issues authored by Justice Society of America co-creator Gardner F. Fox. All-Star was, of course, the 1940s precursor of Justice League of America, the mag whose debut inspired Jerry to launch the heroic-comics fanzine Alter-Ego in early 1961. Thanks to Jean Bails and Jon B. Cooke, respectively, for the photos; cover image retrieved from the Grand Comics Database. [Cover © 2013 DC Comics.]

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Then came the doctor. Now, I never met Jerry Bails in person, but long before we corresponded by e-mail, I felt I knew the man, that we were kindred, that he was one of “my kind.” While I can’t remember when exactly Roy Thomas introduced the doctor to me and an entire generation of comics fans—no doubt there was repeated mention in RT’s legendary letters pages—Jerry’s name captivated me with an almost mythical power. I knew he had started Alter-Ego and helmed the Who’s Who of American Comic Books, and because of those achievements, he had to be a guy who was completely dedicated to the folks behind the stories and not so much the characters they created—a devotion to the artist behind the artifact, if you will.

Soon after launching CBA, I did get in contact with Jerry and—good gravy!—Dr. Bails expressed to me that, after reading my humble rag, he felt that we were kindred spirits!

Imagine your hero telling you that! Heavens to Betsy, was that a rush!

We always kept in touch, Jerry and I, and he was generous in offering access to his Who’s Who database and always answering my questions. We even planned an exhaustive multi-part interview, to be conducted via e-mail, which would span his entire life in minute detail. I wanted, y’see, to give Jerry back, if but a fraction, the same respect and attention he had given to recognize the achievements of many, many hitherto unknown comics creators. I also yearned to know what made this analytical guy, this scientist, this professor, love the wacky world of comic books so much….

So we started with an intensive discussion of his childhood (which you will find below), and plans were to periodically focus on different aspects of his development and career in fandom. To my great regret, Jerry and I never finished the interview beyond what is here. Somehow the aughts got away from me and I became less and less involved in the study of comics. Somehow real life intruded on my hero worship.

Somehow I neglected to be grateful.

But—thank you, Bill Schelly and RT!—at least we can read about Dr. Jerry Bails’ youth in his own words, in a proper forum, told to a proper audience. The Good Doctor remains a hero with me, standing shoulder to shoulder with other giants in the field, and I’ll forever be appreciative for our acquaintance. Thanks, Jerry. Kith and kin, you and I….

Subj: Date: From: To:

Part One of interview 2/3/2005 5:18:58 PM Eastern Standard Jerry Bails Jon B. Cooke

Jon, Here are my responses to your first several questions.

Perhaps you should see them. You may want to reshape your remaining questions or send me off on a different tack. I can provide some scans as indicated herein.

Bestest, Jerry

1) Where are you originally from, Jerry, and can you give us an idea of when you were born?

I’m of the generation of kids that were known as “Depression Babies.” I was born at the height of the Great Depression in 1933. It is interesting to note that the comic book in its “modern” pamphlet format was also a Depression Baby. Comic books and I grew up together. I was there when Superman first became popular. I was wearing a Superman sweatshirt for a family photo taken in 1940. My mom was pregnant that year with the youngest of my two brothers. [Want a photo?]

I grew up in the “Heart of America”! That’s what they called my hometown of Kansas City, which is really two cities straddling the Missouri-Kansas state line. I lived on the Missouri side, and we liked to tease about the small hick town only a stone’s throw away. The border there was a hotly contested area in President Truman’s youth, with memories of the Civil War breaking out on that border, but it was pretty tame by my time.

As a young driver, I frequently found that my favorite places to dance and park with my girl friend were on the Kansas side of Stateline. That was the name of a street that bore no reminder of the raiding parties that flourished there nearly a hundred years earlier. It was just a nice dark street

Jon B. Cooke Oct. 31, 2011

*****

Super-Exposure?

(Far Left:) A few years ago, following Jerry’s passing, his wife Jean sent Bill Schelly and Roy Thomas CDs containing scans of many of the photos he’d saved over the years.

Among them—and the nearest thing we can locate to the “Superman sweatshirt” pic he offered to send to interviewer Cooke in 2005—is this circa-1940 image. According to Jean, it shows Jerry, his younger brother Joe, and a female relative known as Choppy, who “took care of the boys when Jerry’s mom was working a temporary part-time job as bookkeeper for a Unity church and also when Vessie was in the hospital for Jack’s birth…. Jerry said his mom scolded Choppy—gently, though—for having the photo taken of Jerry wearing a shirt with a hole in it…. Either the photo is so overexposed that any ID of the Man of Steel washed out, or as a kid he imagined the super-hero to be dressed in a sweatshirt and the color of it was not important…. Still, he said this was his Superman shirt. I didn’t argue, but I probably did look confused when he said it.”

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(Near left:) Like many boys his age, Jerry no doubt pictured himself as looking like this dramatic Joe Shuster pose (inked by Paul Cassidy), as per the cover of Superman #6 (Sept.-Oct. 1940).

Thanks to the GCD. [© 2013 DC Comics.]

to park on. It was my suspicion that Kansas, though a dry state, catered to teenagers by keeping their neighborhood streets less well lighted. It worked out that way, anyway.

One could drive from Kansas City, Kansas, into Kansas City, Missouri, along main thoroughfares without being aware of such things as the changing speed limit. That was my experience until I got my first speeding ticket at the age of 16. I never got a ticket for parking in Kansas, but then in my day kids didn’t go as far as fast as today’s youth.

In the days before K.C., Missouri, began annexing many of the surrounding areas, it was a medium-sized city with lots of hills that made great sledding thrills in mid-winter. We learned to post a traffic spotter at an intersection that cut through one long marvelous hill. If a car was coming, we simply swerved our sleds into the snow bank on the side of the road and terminated our slide. Most of the time, we got to travel two whole blocks at high speed. No one ever got hurt, but mothers probably didn’t enjoy watching us kids taking such risks.

Nevertheless, they had to know what we were doing.

During the rest of the year, it was fun to speed down those same hills on my bike. I’ll spare you the description of what happens when one’s feet slip off the pedals. Ouch!

Home For The Holidays

A Bails family portrait from Christmas 1945. (Left to right:) Jerry, Joe, Gwin (father), Vessie (mother), Jack, and Gwennie. Thanks to Jean Bails.

2) What was your upbringing like? (Please paint as vivid a picture as you can of the world you lived in as a kid.)

As my previous remarks indicate, I was something of a risktaker as a preteen, and the physical layout of my neighborhood was conducive to lots of running and jumping off of high places and over fences. My parents’ home was built into the side of a hill. The yards were terraced. There was a four-foot stone wall separating our front lawn from the sidewalk. I made a habit of flying off that stone wall to land on the grass parking between the sidewalk and the street. I was also known to jump the banister on my front porch and drop the seven feet to our front lawn. That sure didn’t make it easy for my mom to grow flowers in my landing area.

The roofs of garages on the lower side of the hill I lived on were just a few feet above the terrace that supported the backyard of the homes behind us. This encouraged us kids to climb to the roofs of neighbors’ garages and leap off into the yard behind them. As I got older, I became more daring and started jumping off the roof of my own house after cleaning out the gutters. That was a nice 18-foot drop. I’ve got the flat feet and a bad back to thank for it. It probably didn’t help that I had polio in the epidemic of 1943. I wasn’t paralyzed, but I do have some scoliosis (spine curvature). Nevertheless, polio never stopped me from running and jumping, which lasted into my teen years.

My youth was filled with lots of activities, but not highly organized by adults. I was a Cub Scout but didn’t pursue it into Scouting. I attended Sunday School faithfully enough to earn a Bible, but soon after that I started visiting various churches with friends. None had any answers for me, but I enjoyed the activities designed for teens.

Swimming was also a popular sport for me but I refused to join a team. I played all sorts of street games and organized clubs with my friends, but I wasn’t much for any adult-directed activities. I declined joining Little League after a tryout,

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although I loved baseball. The discipline involved in Little League didn’t appeal to me. I wanted my summers free.

Here’s a tale that illustrates my attitude as a kid. I got a job at a local grocery store when I was 10, but I quit on my 11th birthday. I thought that no kid should have to work on his birthday.

I wasn’t exactly dedicated to schoolwork, either, as a kid. I sat and drew my favorite comics characters in class while the teachers droned on. I almost never remembered what I needed to take to school. My bad study habits cost me a couple of art assignments I wanted in the 5th and 6th grade and the opportunity to be the first boy to sing solo at an assembly, but I just didn’t care that much in grade school. Being a kid was about having fun, and I was good at it.

I was so undisciplined as a student that my 7th-grade teacher would cover for me. She didn’t want to make it too obvious that I hadn’t done my math homework. She would let me read the answers because I didn’t have any homework to pass to another student. Nobody else got off that easy. I’m sure she knew I understood the material because I was almost always the first to finish problems at the blackboard and she’d ask me to help others. That was probably where I learned that I could teach.

I learned a lot of lessons from that teacher, but the biggest lesson was the respect she showed me during one recess period when she caught me trying to retrieve something of mine that a girl had stolen and put into her purse. The teacher listened to my explanation and then explained to me the ideal behavior she knew I’d want to follow. She could’ve made me feel terrible, but she made me feel special. After that, I wanted to win her respect. I wish every teacher could be as wise as she was.

I was very lucky to have such a great lady at that point in my life. But then, I generally had really great teachers.

My sloppy study habits changed drastically when I reached the 8th grade, which was held in my high school. We were called sub-freshmen. For the first time in my school career, we started getting letter grades and I became super gradeconscious. I started competing for top honors in school and never let up until I earned my Ph.D. some 14 years later.

I guess my unstructured, undisciplined youth didn’t hurt me too much. I loved the opportunity to discover new things on

my own. One time, I decided to make a Batman costume. With my mother’s help, I dyed my old Superman sweatshirt a shade of blue. My cape was cut from my older sister’s ribbed dark blue petticoat. My hood was made from a dyed sugar sack. I wore blue swim trunks over light blue pants with the cuffs tucked into long black stockings (the same ones that Santa delivered fruit in at Christmas time). I dressed my younger brother as Robin, Goin’ To Kansas City… but had to be satisfied with an ensemble that switched Robin’s colors The pool hall purchased and run by Jerry’s father—and their family home, freshly painted. Both 1950s photos sent by Jean Bails. around. He was Robin Greenbreast.

We must’ve looked a fright at the younger brothers, and me. During the war, Dad worked for school Halloween party. Fortunately, such things didn’t matter North American Aviation. That’s the company that made the to us kids. It was fun time.

WACO glider that was used to land troops and equipment As a kid in the war years, I was also interested in codes. I behind enemy lines in the battle for Europe. We had a photo of liked to solve simple-substitution cryptograms. I had a pen pal that glider in our dining room all through the war years. in the service, my sister’s boyfriend, who was in the Signal My dad’s job ended with the war, and he tried several odd Corps and later the chemical warfare department. I sent him jobs before he decided to buy his favorite pool hall. He really drawings and we talked about codes and chemistry. Our loved to play snooker and Kelly pool. I recall helping him that exchanges were much like e-mail today. I recall only meeting first day at the pool hall. I cleaned up the ice chest from which him once but he served as a real role model for me. I hate we sold pop and candy bars. During my high school years, I thinking what working in chemical warfare did to such a sweet became the youngest pool hall operator in the country, spelling guy. I was broken up when my sister sent him a ‘’Dear John” my dad for dinner and at least one night a week for the hockey letter. He was the older brother I always wanted. games that he and Mom enjoyed. After my dates on a weekAs a kid, when I wasn’t playing with the neighborhood kids end, I went to the pool hall and cleaned the floors, the tables, at one of dozens of street games, I was building with my the John, and the cuspidors. I sometimes had to wait until closErector set or Tinkertoy set, playing with my collection of toy ing at 2 AM. Right then, I guess I decided that I wasn’t cut out to run my own business. I stayed in school. soldiers, or using my wood-burning kit. I used the wood-burning tool to make my own creations. I did a wooden plaque of 4) Were you particularly attached to comics as a child? the Junior JSA emblem, which is still mounted on the inside of How’d that association start? the glass door of my bookcase not six feet from me right now.

[I can provide a scan.]

I loved the Sunday comics, especially the fantasy technology in Dick Tracy. One of my earliest recollections from that strip 3) What did your parents do? And please describe your was of the submergible tank that Tracy was trapped in. Gould siblings and where you stood in the family line-up. was a master of suspense. I loved his stories. His drawings were crude but effective and I had the feeling, “Hey, I can do My parents grew up in Charleston, a small college town in that.” I almost always started drawing after reading the Sunday central Illinois. They were distantly related. My mom was funnies. from the poor side of the family and actually worked as a It wasn’t long before my mom bought me comic books to domestic for a time in my dad’s home. Being three years older read. She and Dad borrowed hardbacks from the loan library at than my dad, she was able to observe the origin of some of the the local drug store. They loved reading for pleasure and never problems that would plague my dad later. My dad had probgave me any trouble about reading comics. My mom even lems with alcohol, not uncommon for men during the bought me a copy of Crime Does Not Pay when I was quaranDepression who had difficulty finding work, but it was made tined with polio. I was ten. And, you know, I never became a worse by the fact that my dad’s first wife died shortly after juvenile delinquent. giving birth to my half-sister, who was five years older than From the age of 8, I was old enough to have an allowance, me. and I began buying my own comics. I made the rounds on my My dad dropped out of college early on, and my mother finbike of at least a dozen stores that sold comics. My favorite ished high school at night where she learned accounting. My shop was a dry goods store run by two nice little old ladies. dad was also an accountant, although not a CPA. Both had Their place was across the street from the pool hall my dad moved to Kansas City to find work. They rediscovered each later bought. The ladies hung the latest comics from bulldog other there and were married in 1932. clips in their window and always seemed delighted to see me Both my parents had to work during the Depression, but spinning their comics rack. Other retailers were not nearly so when the war started, my dad got a good, steady job, and my nice to us kids. I guess I found my favorite titles there more mother was able to stay at home with my sister, my two often than not.

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5) Were you an avid reader as a kid? What was your culture like, and what particularly engaged you (i.e., radio, movie serials, comic strips, Big Little Books, etc.)?

days and comics with super-heroes were an extension of our imaginative games. Comics were an involving medium. I could draw my favorite characters, make up my own (as I’m sure all true comics fans do), and in my case, I entertained my two younger brothers with stories of my own. It was a regular feature of my babysitting for them. I’d draw a splash page and tell a story—usually a cliffhanger to keep them asking for more.

Unlike radio and movies, one could hold onto comics and reread them. It seems natural that I would come to cherish them. It was the only medium that belonged exclusively to us kids.

The condition of comics was not much on our minds. We simply wanted to read every comic we could get our hands on, and I read practically all of them. No easy feat! We traded comics back and forth all the time. Comics were everywhere.

We had wagons full of them. One couldn’t go anywhere without seeing comic books. They were as ubiquitous as trees.

Trading comics was pretty hard on the comics themselves. A single comic book might pass through a dozen hands. I was 12 before I started to think seriously about preserving my favorites. I loved All-Star Comics, of course, and began in 1945 to look for back issues in every place I could imagine.

Comics frequently ended up in basements or attics and I went on many treasure hunts before I discovered my first usedmagazine store.

The lady running the used-magazine store would get a little impatient with me because I wanted to look through her entire stock just to find one or two issues I might buy at a nickel each. This may be what prompted her to get rid of a lot of her comics or maybe she just needed the space for higher-priced items. One day, she asked me if I knew any poor kids who would like to have some old comics. I was quick on the trigger. “Sure,” I said, “I know just the kid who would appreciate

All of the above. I attended the movies regularly—a double feature every Friday night, and again on most Sunday afternoons. There were at least six theaters within walking distance of my home and most had serials, cartoons, and newsreels. I wasn’t a big cartoon fan. They were too juvenile for me. The serials were okay, but their production qualities didn’t measure up to radio. Radio I loved.

I was a faithful listener to afternoon shows: Terry and the Pirates, Hop Harrigan, Superman, Capt. Midnight, The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, and my favorite, Jack Armstrong. I have recordings of most of these shows from the pre-war period when transcriptions were still delivered to local radio stations. I have the entire year-long adventure of Jack Armstrong from 1940-41. It is a great delight to listen to all the things I learned from that show that year. I learned about autogyros, photoluminescence, the Moros of the Philippines, the China Sea, sailing ships, Pearl Harbor, the potential of U-235 as a source of great energy, Walkie Talkies, and pedometers. The show had a lot to do with my lifelong interest in science and technology.

5) You obviously gained an unusual fascination with comic books, certainly by your young adult years. To what do you attribute such an obsessive tendency (if that’s the right word)?

The concept of dual identity has always fascinated me. At seven, I was just beginning to develop my public persona, but I was still aware of my more authentic self who would like to punch out the school bully, or rescue the girl next door.

Costumes and circuses were also great fun for kids in those

A Time For Crime

Jerry’s mother, Vessie Bails, in the 1930s—and the Bails brothers (Joe, Jack, and Jerry) in 1943, the year she bought him an issue of Lev Gleason Publications’ Crime Does Not Pay while he was bedridden with infantile paralysis. Her gift might even have been the Nov. 1943 issue pictured here, as retrieved from the GCD. Cover art signed by Charles Biro. Thanks to Jean for the photos.

[CDNP cover © 2013 the respective copyright holders.]

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them.” I went home and dressed my younger brother in the oldest clothes I could find and we returned with a little red wagon. I don’t know if we fooled the lady or not. (I suspect she chuckled to herself.) Anyway we went home with a wagon loaded with comics and I found a coverless copy of All-Star #19. It was a splendid day.

ple-color jobs—a big advance in cheap reproduction technology at the time.

In my senior year in high school, I was into all sorts of art projects and other activities. I illustrated a booklet for my history teacher, which got me out of his boring 7th–hour class. I made slides for one of the science teachers. I did layouts on the yearbook sitting at the back of a class on musical composition. I was excused from other classes to work on stage sets or do work on the school paper. I also took my final high school math course across the street at the junior college. The class was held only two days a week, so the other 3 days I spent at the drugstore across from school. I was seldom in class, as most students were expected to be.

One day, when I was walking the halls during class time, the Vice Principal stopped me. I thought I was in for trouble. Boy, was I surprised when he said, “Let me know if you spot any kids out in the halls where they shouldn’t be.” Huh? I guess I had arrived. Such events may have played a part in my cockiness. I tended to believe I could become anything I wanted to be.

I did have one experience that humbled me rather well. I was set designer for the school plays. I also had a part in the play, “Men are like streetcars (...Another will be along in a minute).” It resulted in what was very nearly my most embarrassing moment. I guess I’m old enough now that I can tell it without embarrassment.

During the dress rehearsal, I was playing a scene in which I was being confronted by the “other guy” in a love triangle. He

6) What were your aspirations as a kid? What were your parents’ aspirations for you?

My dad wanted me to go into business, and bought me a set of business encyclopedias. That was about as far from my interests as one can get. I preferred microscopes, chemistry sets, and things like casting figures in lead. I melted my broken lead soldiers and poured the lead into a mold that produced a small airplane, along with a man and woman dressed in aviator outfits. Since they were solid lead, I needed lots of lead. I must have melted about 4 or 5 dozen hollow toy soldiers. I can just hear the toy soldier collectors moaning in the background. They were all broken anyway.

Aviation was one of my great loves as a kid. It is something of a surprise that I didn’t go into the Air Force as some of my high school buddies did. I took aeronautics in high science. To this day, I can identify most all of the planes used in WW2, and I can do a fairly accurate drawing of many.

One of my favorite premiums—and Wheaties had lots of great ones—had to do with aviation. It was the closest thing to a computer game that we had in those days. It was pasteboard model of a Piper Cub mounted in a TV-like console with a joystick and rudder controls that would turn, bank, and adjust the attitude of the plane via attached strings. A full-page ad for this great premium ran in many of the comics at the time. [Want a scan?]

In addition to everything else I did as a kid, I always loved to draw. In 1941, I entered a drawing every week in a cartoon contest conducted for kids in the Kansas City Journal. My Minute Man and American flag won first place. [Scan available.] I was to receive two tickets to the best theater downtown. Unfortunately, I never got the tickets. The Journal closed its doors just days after I won. Damn, the Journal had two full pages of great daily comic strips. That was really a blow.

Shortly after that I did take an art class at the Nelson Art Gallery, and, of course, I took art in high school. I was art editor of the school paper and layout editor of the yearbook.

On a job I had as a teen, I made drawings on stencils in order to help sell the new Rex Rotary silk mimeograph machines. I traveled with my boss all the way to Milwaukee to sell it to the school board there. We got in so late at night that only one hotel room was left—the bridal suite. So, I spent the night with my boss in the bridal suite. And the next day, we sold the Milwaukee schools the new duplicator that did multi-

“I Found A Coverless Copy Of All-Star #19”

Thus, this is probably the first glimpse Jerry had of the comic he found at a used-magazine store circa 1945. He’d long since cut up his own copy of the 1943 comic, as he often did in order to create his own scrapbooks.

Scanned from Roy Thomas’ personally-bound volumes. Art by Joe Gallagher. [© 2013 DC Comics.]

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was supposed to get angry with me.

He screwed up his face something fierce, but it only made me break out laughing. He looked like an angry monkey. We tried the scene over and over, but each time, my laughter infected more and more people.

There I was on stage causing everyone to laugh violently when my bladder let go. Quick as a flash I pull a pillow off a nearby couch and played out the rest of the scene using the pillow effectively to cover my accident. I quickly exited the stage and hid out in the restroom. No one seemed to have noticed and a few minutes later I heard everyone callPatriots & Paladins ing for me. I was supposed to reenter for a final scene. I stayed hid- (Left:) Jerry’s 1940s Minute-Man-and-flag drawing which won a contest in the Kansas City Journal newspaper. As he freely admitted, it was based on art by “Shelly” (Sheldon Moldoff) in the DC-proden for good reason, and someone duced Minute Man pamphlet/comic that was given out with membership in the early Junior Justice stood in for me. No one seemed to Society of America. have had any idea where or why I (Right:) The Crimefighters were a JSA-like group Jerry created in the early ’40s, featuring the heroes disappeared. Thank heaven! In case Doc Psycho, Scarlet Scorpion, The Clown, The Human Fly, Hermes, and Mr. Victory. You can probably you are wondering, I got through figure out which is which. [© 2013 estate of Jerry G. Bails.] the scene on opening night without any laughter.

In 1953, at age 20, I married my high schooI sweetheart.

My success in various art endeavors and winning a Gold Except for a short stay in graduate school in physics at the Key in a city-wide contest for a pen and ink mural led me to University of Chicago, I spent all my formative years in believe that I could head for a career in comics. But fate interKansas City. I joined the faculty at UKC in 1958. I directed vened. the educational program of the local astronomy club, particiIn my senior year, I sent some sample drawings to Al pated in Moon Watch (tracking the first artificial satellites), Feldstein and asked for his advice about a career in comics. and had wonderful intellectual friends from all over the world.

[Scans available, I think.] He was kind enough to reply. The My closest friend in college was a Nigerian, and his experiupshot was that I’d really have to move to New York City to ences as a black man in America taught me the horrors of pursue that dream. However, I was deeply in love with my racism. He and I helped integrate the public swimming pool in high school sweetheart and preferred to accept a nice scholarSwope Park by throwing swimming parties and encouraging ship that I received to the University of Kansas City. the onlookers to “Come on in; the water’s great!” He and I Art seemed a bit too iffy for me, so I pursued a career in sciwere involved in “a coup d’etat” at UKC in which we helped ence. It was something that I was really good at, and I loved it overthrow an old stodgy administration, and installed one that as much as drawing, if not more. It was probably all for the created new programs, including the one in which I ultimately best. I was not cut out for the rough life of freelancers. I got my Ph.D. admire their ability to survive in a tough world. I myself wantIn 1960, I somewhat reluctantly took a position in Detroit at ed a job that offered more security. My risk-taking days were Wayne State University, where I taught for the next 36 years. over.

8) Oops, this is a little out of sequence… Is there anyone in 7) Were there any effects of the Great Depression you peryour family history who shared a like appreciation for ceived as a child? How did World War II come into your perhaps other aspects of culture… that is, could your world, so to speak? mom have said, “Oh, Jerry’s just like great-uncle so-andso who was into toy trains”?

My values were formed in a time of scarcity and sacrifice, and I had siblings with whom I learned to share. It was also a Model railroading was my brother Joe’s hobby. One year I front porch culture. All these factors shaped my values. I was bought lots of accessories for Joe’s railroad, just before he deeply attached to my neighborhood. I spent grades K-7 in one decided to switch gauges. He could tolerate a lot more changes school, 8-12 in another, and earned three degrees from the than I could. He became a contract engineer, and has worked University of Kansas City. I knew the city like the back of my for more companies than I have fingers and toes. hand. I was extremely lucky to have a superb education, good My youngest brother, Jack, began a love affair with fishing friends, and the world’s best mom. My dad came through for at the age of three. He and my other siblings had to spend me, too, although parenting was something he was learning on three weeks at our aunt and uncle’s during the time I was quarthe job. antined with polio. Out of his love of fishing grew his career.

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Parallel Univers(ities)

He became a lymnologist (fresh water ecology) and a top civil servant in Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources.

I may have been the first in my family to finish college but I wasn’t the last. My brothers and I lived in good times, because the things that turned us on as kids became career opportunities. I would wish that could be true for every youngster, but I fear that times are rapidly changing for the worst.

Subj: Date: From: To:

(Left to right:) Jerry at the University of Chicago—and at his Kansas City apartment. Both photos are labeled “1960,” but the former may well have been snapped earlier, since by 1958 he was teaching at the University of Kansas City (Missouri). Thanks to Jean Bails.

Interview with Bails - Part 2 2/5/2005 10:42:45 PM Eastern Standard Time JerryBails Jon B. Cooke

Jon, I notice a couple of typos in the first part. I hope you’ll correct the obvious ones. I meant “Gold Key,’’ not “Good Key.” Please change that.

Here’s part 2. I hope you’ll feel free to rearrange material to make a more coherent flow. I’m not a stickler for literal transcriptions of interviews.

Jerry

ting might be a useful skill, but I soon learned that the mimeograph was a more appropriate tool for amateur publishing.

Being a tightwad, I didn’t figure I could afford a mimeograph machine for many years. I even used a little desk model spirit duplicator to put out the first issues of my comics fanzines in the early 1960s, even though I had by that time a good-paying position on the faculty at Wayne State. I guess I was still thinking like a college student on a tight budget.

During the 1950s, I worked two years for the Starlight Theater, an outdoor musical theater in Swope Park. One of the great perks of that job—besides watching the gypsies rehearse during my lunch hour—was to receive 6 free orchestra seats to every one of ten performances each summer. I really got hooked on American musicals. Later, I tried to catch Broadway shows when in New York, and the pre-Broadway openings at Detroit’s Fisher Theater. That was one extravagance I allowed myself.

I never played any musical instrument myself, unless you count the triangle I banged in kindergarten and on the radio quiz show that my 5th–grade class participated in. I couldn’t even do that well. I had to be prompted when the time came to hit the triangle.

My dad was a piano player, but he couldn’t afford to own a piano until I was in my teens. By then, I had no time in my high school schedule for any music or choir. That’s something I really regretted. When I graduated from high school, I felt I had missed about half of what I wanted out of school. In college, my school and work schedule didn’t leave me with any time or money to pursue music. I would’ve loved to.

9) Did you draw and/or write as a child? Any creative endeavors, particularly art or music or performing?

I’ve already talked about my drawing and storytelling. I also published a few issues of a homemade newspaper using one of those little toy rotary presses. I guess I was inspired by stories of Ben Franklin (still one of my heroes). I thought that typeset-

10) Were you sociable and athletic as a kid? Was sports an important aspect of your youth?

“Happy Youthful Days”

This partial-page from Jerry’s high school yearbook (senior year) shows him to have been very active in extracurricular activities… though not in music or athletics. Thanks to Jean Bails.

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I wasn’t into athletics in high school. I remember the first day in gym class in the 8th grade. A lithe fellow who had come from a grade school on the other side of the city suddenly flipped onto his hands and proceeded to walk on his hands the full length of the gym. He had marked his territory. I went

home and started teaching my younger brothers all I learned in gym class. I wanted them to be better prepared than I was for the athletic competition. My youngest brother played basketball. I played no sports in high school.

Other than baseball, I have never had any interest in sports. I found football and basketball as spectator sports to be dismally boring. After the 8th grade, I stopped going to high school games. This kept me out of the inner circle in high school.

11) How would you characterize your adolescence? Sociable, girlfriends, extra-curricular activities?

Wife, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness

(Left:) Jerry and his first wife Sondra in early 1963 at the Columbia, Missouri, home of Biljo White, during a visit by the Bailses back to their home state. The next morning, Roy Thomas and his girlfriend, Linda Rahm, would join them for what Roy likes to refer to as an informal “Alter Ego summit”—although at that time Ronn Foss had just become that fanzine’s editor/publisher. Ronn had stopped by Biljo’s place a few days earlier, just missing the arrival of Bails and Thomas. Photo by Ruthie White, Biljo’s first wife.

(Right:) Jerry and Jean Bails, Christmas 1967. They were clearly a great match for the last four-plus decades of Jerry’s life. Thanks to Jean for both photos.

My high school buddies and I were sort of the second tier. We were active in various activities, the Spanish Club, the Art Club, Stage Craft Club, and one of the Literary Societies. I came to feel I was lucky not to be part of the “in” crowd. I didn’t much like their values. They seemed to enjoy excluding people, which didn’t much bother me after the 8th grade. The same girls with whom I had played kissing games at parties in the 6th and 7th grades got snooty. Only one or two remained as close friends and they were the cerebral ones. One girl and I were friendly competitors in mathematics.

It cut deeply to learn that no girls in my high school class completed college. But that was the ’50s. The pressure on girls was to get an MRS and have kids.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to date girls who attended my high school, I started dating girls from other high schools. I met Sondra, my first wife, after my sophomore year.

We dated, with a few interruptions, for four years before marrying.

I have never been one to date a lot of women. I was married 13 years to Sondra, and nearly 40 years to Jean.

The question assumes that I would want to give up something I enjoyed. Why would I? As I told Newsweek in an interview in the mid-1960s, “If one enjoys something as a child, why should he have to give it up?” Grown men play at games they learned as children. Enjoying all aspects of comics is no less mature than any other pastime people engage in for fun.

The child never leaves us, even if we like to pretend it does.

I always had plenty of time for girls, school, and work.

Comics were/are a great diversion for short periods of time.

More importantly, a hobby of whatever sort gives life balance.

When things go badly at work or in one’s personal life, a hobby can work as good as anything to help one cope with the stress. I never underestimated the value of my hobby to keep me healthy. It saw me through a number of rough periods. In fact, I started many of my fan projects during the worst period in my personal life.

12) How was your high school experience? Were you highaptitude academically?

Yeah. That’s where I excelled. I was well known to all the teachers, even those I didn’t have classes with. I was asked by various teachers from music to science to handle scientific, technological, or mathematical items that they weren’t too comfortable with. It surprised me that they didn’t want to learn how to do these things themselves. Maybe they just pretended not to know how in order to give a student a chance.

I loved discovering new things to learn. It gave me a real buzz. I never needed alcohol, cigarettes, or other stimulants to get high. Since my dad was alcoholic, I avoided all forms of known addiction, except having a girl friend, of course.

My left brain was probably better developed than my right brain, a condition I tried to correct once I started teaching. The right brain is far more important in human communications, despite what logical types think.

13) Okay: Comics. If this is so, please tell me why you didn’t leave comic books behind like so many of your peers?

14) Specifically what comics did you admire most, and what need do you think the medium filled in you… that is, in retrospect, were comics a substitute for something?

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I suppose this question is predicated on a common experience of many comics fans. Some collectors have told me that they retreated into comics because they were not successful at some other endeavor. I really can’t say that was my case.

Comics were something from my youth that I always enjoyed and never felt any need to cast off. As I said, I might have made a career of comics, but decided not to. So, I continued my interest and expanded the definition of my hobby.

I read fewer comics when I was in college, largely because the strips I enjoyed had been terminated. I watched for their possible return and continued to try to follow the artists whose works in the 1940s had turned me on. I was always interested in identifying unsigned art, and began sending off letters to pros.

stories seemed overly written to me, like a long joke with a not-too-surprising punch line. Once I knew the kind of stories they were doing, the ending seldom surprised me. There was never anything left over after an EC story that made me want to pick up the next issue. I guess my penchant was for characters, not irony or plot twists. It says more about me than EC. Obviously, EC appealed to somewhat older readers who had lost their taste for fantasy characters. I never did, and I bugged the pros with whom I corresponded to return to the fantasy heroes, which I thought were perfectly suited to the medium of comics and vice versa. Superman on TV was a pale imitation of the fantasy character we could imagine on radio or the bestdrawn stories in comics. It would be decades before special effects in movies could match what Jack Kirby or Alex Toth could do in comics.

For me, comics were about free-flight fantasy and characters that inhabited a world that I could escape to with some dependability. With most of my favorite characters in limbo, my interest in comics became peripheral.

That’s was probably a good thing, because I devoted myself to my career.

It was 1953 when I had the good fortune to stumble across Gardner Fox. That led ultimately (6 years later) to my finally completing my collection of All-Star Comics. Gar had been kind enough to share a host of duplicates with me, but I still lacked an issue here and there. I offered him $50 for his two bound volumes of the first 24 issues. He wrote back, “Make it $75 and they’re yours.’’ I jumped at the chance. That was 1959, shortly before Gar put Roy Thomas in touch with me.

15) When did an interest in the people who actually made the funnybooks come into play? What made you realize that there were actual people who did these things?

In the 1940s, few artists signed their efforts. There were those fictitious bylines on strips like Sheena, Batman, and Superman, but I had known since 1940 that the “good artist” who drew some Superman stories was the same artist who later drew the Justice Society and Starman. I just wasn’t sure that Jack Burnley’s name on Starman wasn’t just another of those fictitious names.

I set out to record the names 18) In your estimation, how of artists on strips about 1945. I did you assess the comic used those little nickel spiral book scene of the 1950s notebooks that sold in dime at the time? That is, did stores. All-Star Comics was a you see Wertham as a great place to start because so threat?

Was their heyday As A Matter Of Fact… many artists were on display and apparently over with the Jerry’s first letter ever printed in a comic book appeared in DC’s I had a good run of this title as Real Fact Comics #9 (July-Aug. 1947), at a time when very few demise of the Golden Age well as many of the sister monthcomics had letters pages—only his name got rendered as “Jerry heroes?

Was Kurtzman a ly anthology titles. My hobby Balk” when the editor apparently misread the last two letters of godsend in the dull days expanded into a detective game to “Bails.” It would be half a dozen years more before Jerry estabof Eisenhower? identify unsigned comic art. lished contact for the first time with a comics professional: writer I was almost immediately capti- Gardner Fox, author of the first 32 “Justice Society of America” Wertham was never a particular vated by the art of Joe Kubert, stories. Thanks to Art Lortie. [© 2013 DC Comics.] threat in my community, at least and later Alex Toth and Lee Elias. not that I was especially conscious of.

Fans who were addicted I would’ve been terribly intimidated had I known then that Joe to EC, in particular, were most unhappy about the impact of and Alex were only a few years older than I was. My lord, Wertham.

Since I wasn’t a horror fan, I never much noticed the they were so obviously talented even in their teens that their loss.

Mad continued as a magazine.

That was fine with me. work stood out over the work of so many older veterans.

The 1950s was a time when I was more into amateur astronomy as a hobby than comics. I helped put on a national con16) Did you ever have an aspiration to be part of making vention for amateur astronomers in K.C., and ran star parties comics? every Friday night for the public. We set up telescopes on the lawn of the museum and invited the public to view the latest [See previous answers.] celestial events. I recall giving a 90-minute lecture on astronomy between two passes of “‘Mutt-nik,” which is what we 17) Were the EC comics particularly influential? What was called the Soviets’ second artificial satellite—the one carrying it about them you found appealing? a dog. It was a cylinder that tumbled in space, alternately reflecting sunlight toward Earthbound viewers from its flat I was never as crazy about EC comics as other EC fans. I ends. I recall joking that Laika, the dog on board, was using have always preferred continuing characters. I thought the art Morse Code to signal that he wanted to go for a walk. on EC Comics was terrific and set a new high mark, but the 15

19) Was music ever an important part of your life?

King Lehrer

In the 1950s, Tom Lehrer (often pronounced “leer”) wrote, played, and sang such ditties as the nuclearholocaust spirutual “We Will All Go Together When We Go” and the venereal disease ditty “I Got It from Agnes.” He has been called “the best musical satirist ever to walk this mortal coil.” In his e-mail interview, Jerry accidentally spelled Lehrer’s last name as “Lear”—but we knew whom he meant, so we’ve corrected it. [Photo © 2013 the respective copyright holders.]

I have already mentioned my attachment to American musicals. I also loved dance music. I enjoyed dancing.

I had a high school buddy who took me with him to country music festivals, which didn’t do much for me. Neither did rock ’n’ roll when it came along.

Except for some of the marvelous creations of the Beatles, I thought rock was/is highly monotonous. I thought the really great music in the 1950s was being written as themes for motion pictures.

I never felt that popular music was much of an effective way for me to express rebellion. I was more concerned about nuclear testing in the atmosphere, the population explosion, racism, and the assault on civil rights in the fifties. But then I wasn’t a ‘’go-along’’ kind of a guy. I never wore a crew cut until that craze was nearly dead, and only wore my hair long when that craze was on the way out. My wife says that buying my clothes at a used clothing store always put me out of phase with the latest fashion, or just ahead of the next one.

20) I’d venture that perhaps in reaction to the mundanity of the 1950s—the blandness of a creeping mass consumer culture, maybe—arose the Beat generation, the civil rights movement, rock ’n’ roll, the Ban the Bomb movement, Lenny Bruce & Mort Sahl, and Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad—all arguably acts of a rebellious nature. Did any of that appeal to you? Did the subversive aspects, however small, inherent in the comic book form appeal or repel you?

The standup comics of the ’50s had great appeal to me. They were able to speak to many of the things that were wrong with American culture in the 1950s.

I especially remember Tom Lehrer’s ditties.

I was in demonstrations of various kinds all through the 1950s-70s, but I never considered myself “rebellious.’’ I was simply doing what was expected of a Tom Paine fan. I felt then, as I do now, that the greatest enemy we have is inside our culture, not outside. If we don’t conquer our own demons, we cannot survive as a great civilization.

The whole Cold War mentality was such a turn-off for me that I decided that I could not become a physicist working to support a war machine. Instead, I would teach about science to non-science students, and about the humanities to science students. As you might guess, I was greatly influenced by C.P. Snow’s Two Cultures.

Was that subversive? I guess so, if one believed, as did Admiral Rickover, that we should build a fleet of nuclear-armed nuclearpowered submarines to lurk in all the oceans of the world. That ultimately led to an operational scenario that called for the United States to bring the entire Indian Ocean to a boil in the event of war in order to destroy all of the Soviets’ silentrunning submarines. The recent tsunami would’ve paled by comparison to the worldwide havoc that act of insanity would’ve caused. As a

The Index Finger

In 1962, as he neared the end of his run as editor/pub-

lisher of Alter-Ego, Jerry put together An Authoritative Index to All-Star Comics—followed in 1963 by An Authoritative Index to DC Comics—both printed via spirit duplicator. This is the front cover of the latter, with artwork he traced. [Heroes TM & © 2013 DC 16

Comics.]

physics major, I understood what nuclear weapons meant, and it made me swear off ever contributing to such madness. I decided that we were not in a technological race with the Soviets, but in a human race together, and that we had better change course. Unfortunately, we are still led by old Cold Warriors who are still infected with the old insanity.

the interview that was written up in Newsweek. In both cases, the story was written before they even talked to fans. They simply wanted to get a ‘’hot quote’’ to run in a story that had already been concocted.

In the case of the Newsweek article, I had gathered together in my home top representatives of a half-dozen different aspects of Fandom. For two hours, we filled a stringer’s notebook with all sorts of things about the movement that were unknown to the public. As it turned out, Newsweek only used one quote from me and one from Shel Dorf in an article casting aspersions on a hobby in which young men sat around in the dark watching old serials and slapping each other on the knees. That’s almost word-for-word.

Cronkite’s producer only came to me because his hook for the piece was to show a professional who still childishly collected comics. When I declined to appear, he set up several restrictions on any suggested leads I might give him as to a proper subject. At first, he told me how he had interviewed a motorcycle gang member just recently and thought to himself, “I could have given myself just the interview I wanted. I’m a quick study.’’ Then he asked me for the name of a professional who collected comics, preferably a doctor, lawyer, or stock broker, but he should live in the New York area. I asked, “Why the New York area?’’ He replied matter-of-factly, ‘“If it isn’t happening in New York, it isn’t happening.’’ At this point, remembering the treatment by Newsweek, I asked, “Is it all right if he is married?’’ I didn’t give him a chance to answer. I hung up.

When I was called by the TV show What’s My Line, I referred them to young Billy Placzek in Chicago, who had recently fallen heir to a very fabulous comics collection from a friend of the family. Bill appeared on the show, and I felt a tinge of embarrassment for him when he couldn’t answer one question, “Who was Junior?’’ Imagine a kid from Chicago with a million-dollar comic collection not knowing Dick Tracy’s foster son. But he was a young teen at the time and was really not a longtime comics fan until his good fortune hit.

I received hundreds of calls from newspaper and radio shows in the 1960s. Mostly I gave them the quick answer they wanted, but I refused to quote the latest value on Action #1.

Eventually, they stopped calling.

The last contact I had with TV producers was regarding Bob Newhart’s third TV series, which was about a cartoonist. They called a couple of times, wanting to be sure they were not using any real names of comics people or comic strips. I was invited to watch a taping of the show if I ever came to Hollywood, but that sort of thing had lost its glow long ago.

—— Enough for now. —Jerry.

21) What I’m getting at is that you were an adult—obviously an intelligent man—who read comics. Why? Was it a minor act of rebellion?

To me, being an adult means acknowledging my “Child.”

One of the deadliest transformations we ask of young men is to pretend to put away their childhood and reject any sign of what passes for feminine traits. The pure joy of discovery that is childhood and the empathetic abilities we acquire at our mother’s breast are too often lost to men.

I am astounded daily by the great empathetic insights of a cartoonist like Lynn Johnson (For Better or Worse) and political awareness of Wiley (Non Sequitur) and Aaron McGruder (The Boondocks). There is nothing inherently immature about comics as an art form. In fact, it can help bind generations. It has always given me contacts with the next generation coming along. I prize that. Only a species that doesn’t have to dream could possibly survive without fantasy. It is in our nature and one of the ways we have of reflecting on life and its values.

That this form of reflection can come in myriad forms of entertainment is a blessing. I enjoy stories in all media.

I’ve never been embarrassed about my love of comics. I declined being on Walter Cronkite’s CBS Evening News in the mid-1960s not because I was embarrassed for myself, but because his producer who talked to me on the phone had no intention of doing an honest piece on Comics Fandom. I had learned my lesson after

The Bestest Years Of Our Lives

JGB circa 1961, the year he launched Alter-Ego to give himself a hobby as a respite from teaching science in college in Detroit—and the cover of A/E [Vol. 1] #1, published at the end of March ‘61. The trail of Lean Arrow’s shaft (headed for Martian Manhandler’s butt) doesn’t show up on many extant copies of that issue, such as the one reproduced above… either because it was rendered only in green with no dark-line art, or perhaps because Jerry neglected to retrace that bit of art when he went “back to press” with #1 a bit later. While the basic cover art is by Roy Thomas, Jerry, in tracing it onto a spirit-duplicator master, added the Comics Code seal and turned Wondrous Woman upside down—both significant improvements, by Roy’s lights. [Bestest League art © 2013 Roy Thomas.]

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An Alter Ego Extra!

The Naming Of Alter-Ego, 1961

by Jerry G. Bails [reprinted from Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #25 (2003)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the years, from time to time I’ve asked Jerry how and why he came up with the name Alter-Ego when casting about for the title of a full-fledged fanzine, as opposed to the original JLA Subscriber newsletter he had planned. But he’s never had much to say about his thought processes at the time [February 1961]. So I tried again, in earnest, while surreptitiously preparing this issue’s contents, and this time I was rewarded by the following.... —Roy.]

I

don’t recall considering any options. We had discussed something I think we called a newsletter, but when “alterego” came to me, I thought how well it fit not only our mutual interests but also our dual identities as civilians and fans. It was as if we were donning our costumes and flying out the window. It referred as much to us as fans as it did to our all-consuming interest in costumed heroes and in the people who created them.

I suspect that the name itself triggered more possibilities, which you have so clearly realized.

I’ve always loved any story that deals with secret or hidden identities, even badly executed movies. There is something deeply primal for me in the notion that I am two people: Clark Kent, the civilian who presents a public persona that meets all the acceptable criteria of civil society, and my secret self that worries not what people think of me, but who is inner-directed and willing to correct injustice when I see it.

I think small children have a sense of justice/injustice that they develop but cannot act upon until they have been thoroughly socialized. By then, it is too late. They are “Clark Kent.”

I would love to see a psychological study of those of us who have loved costumed heroes for as long as we can remember and those who profess to hate the genre while extolling the virtues of the medium of comics. I suspect that there is something fundamentally different about the two groups. Our group seems to remain in touch with the feeling of the child that knows two selves. The other seems to want to put one of these selves away. It has nothing to do with intellectual ability, level of creativity, ideological orientation, or emotional stability, but there must be something different about our brains that shows up somewhere else. It has to be correlated with some other behavioral characteristics, but damned if I know what they are.

I would be disappointed to learn that our lifelong interest was just an accidental circumstance of what happened at certain stages in our lives. That wouldn’t explain to me why we didn’t put away this flight of fancy like other comics readers did. The concept of the avenging hero is as vibrant and vital to me at seventy as it was when I was seven. I wish I understood why.

The Alter-Ego Has Landed!

(Left:) Although no photos exist of Jerry Bails’ visit to the DC offices in February of 1961, he dropped by a second time “circa 1971”—at which time his picture was taken with editor Julius Schwartz (center) and artist Neal Adams (on left).

(Right:) The flip cover of Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #25 (June 2003), heralded a celebration of Jerry Bails’ 70th birthday, a tribute of which he himself knew nothing until he received a copy of the issue by Express Mail. A/E associate editor Bill Schelly drew this portrait of Jerry, while editor Roy Thomas selected (and layout man Chris Day arranged) the framing art montage, which featured every single Golden Age Justice Society member, plus Red Tornado, Sandy the Golden Boy, and Doiby Dickles, all taken from actual 1940s comics. [JSA heroes art © 2013 DC Comics; portrait © 2013 Bill Schelly.]

Oh, and just for the record: The thank-you note that Jerry wrote to editor Julius Schwartz and writer Gardner Fox on Feb. 12, 1961, after spending time with them, surely the first occasion on which the new fanzine’s name was ever written down, was reprinted as part of “The Alter Ego Story” in Best of, Vol. 1… while the letter in which he first mentioned the name to Roy Thomas, a day or three later, was also quoted therein. In both instances, Jerry originally spelled it “Alter-ego,” but “ego” was capitalized by the time the fanzine materialized in March. (It was 1963 A/E editor Ronn Foss who dropped the hyphen from the title.)

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An Alter Ego Extra!

Alter-Ego #1-3: The Spirit Duplicator Issues

Jerry G. Bails published and edited the first three issues of

[Heroes & villains TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

[Spectre TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

[Art © 2013 Roy Thomas.]

Alter-Ego, with Roy Thomas as contributor and titular “co-editor”—first from 14242 Dale, Detroit 23, Michigan (in those pre-ZIP Code days), then from 1710 Kenwood Drive in suburban Inkster, Michigan, while he was an associate professor of natural science at Wayne State University in Detroit.

They were printed using a “spirit duplicator,” also called a “ditto machine,” in which text was typed (or artwork traced) onto a “ditto master” from which could be run off up to 300 copies of purple (not black) linework. This was an instrument favored by high schools and colleges at the time; the device itself was less expensive than a mimeograph machine, which however had the advantage of printing more copies per master—and in black, rather than purple.

Ditto masters rendering black and other colors were also available for a spirit duplicator, but had the distinct disadvantage of yielding fewer copies—perhaps 100 or 150 as opposed to 300 before the type or artwork had to be transferred laboriously by hand to a brand new ditto master.

(When one considers the trouble involved, the fact that the cover of Alter-Ego #1 contains no less than six

colors—purple, blue, red, yellow, and green, as well as black— is a tribute to the sheer cussed labor that Bails invested in it.

Yellow (or, more accurately, “brownish-yellow”) masters were available in South Africa, but how Jerry got hold of one we’ll never know; this was before he was in touch with South African comics fan John Wright.

The first three issues were produced on a roughly quarterly schedule. Issue #1 was dated “Spring 1961” and was mailed and postmarked in late March… #2 was for “Summer 1961”… and #3 was dated “Fall 1961.”

Seen at left, from top to bottom, are the covers of the first three issues. #1 & #2 were traced (with a bit of editing) onto a ditto master by Jerry Bails from freehand drawings by Roy Thomas, while #3 was rendered entirely by Jerry, utilizing (and probably tracing) various figures of Green Lantern-related art from 1940s comics.

The first volume of this Best of Alter Ego series, which is still available from TwoMorrows Publishing at www.twomorrows.com, gave a separate, detailed rundown of each individual issue… as well as reprinting from #1-3 Jerry’s initial editorial and the “On the Drawing Board” news section, his Secret Code Chart, a study of JSA foe The Wizard, Roy’s “The Reincarnation of The Spectre” (part 1), a crossword “puzzle tree,” a smattering of early letters to A/E, articles on the Golden and Silver Age Green Lanterns, Linda Rahm’s parodic letter to a fannish exboyfriend, and a sampling of panels from the three chapters of Roy’s “Bestest League of America” parody—all material produced by Jerry and/or Roy, except for the letter spoof written by Roy’s then-girlfriend.

So, this time around, we’re content to offer you the above minimum amount of orientation concerning issues #1-3 and let you plunge ahead, beginning with some of the “best of the rest” of those formative, spirit-duplicator-produced issues....

Ditto Masters Of The Universe

Seen at left is a vintage A.B. Dick spirit duplicator—though probably of the “crank” style rather than the even more primitive type on which Jerry Bails evidently printed Alter-Ego #1-2 and then advertised for sale in issue #1 of his adzine The Comicollector (Sept. 1961—see p. 44). That machine was purchased by Bernie Bubnis, a young fan remembered today for organizing the very first comics convention in July of 1964, in New York City. In 2012 Bernie recalled: “The chance to actually print [the first issue of Comic Heroes Revisited] on the same duplicator that printed Alter-Ego was too enticing to ignore. This printer’s karma would surely rub off on my fanzine. [But] by the time [it] reached me in Farmingdale, Long Island, it appeared that someone neglected to box it and just put a stamp on its metal exterior. Two pieces of cardboard accompanied [it], but they rested next to it on my doorstep….

“This thing sucked. After affixing the master to the drum, you manually ‘pushed’ it along its bed to imprint onto paper. Popeye’s forearm would not have been sufficient. Soon after, I bought my own crank-operated spirit duplicator. Cost me an astounding $130, but it sure helped the rest of my short fanzine-producing career. I attribute most of my later success in life to lessons learned in those early days of fandom. Like for instance: Never buy a spirit duplicator for $25 when an early copy of Captain America is selling for the same price.”

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From Alter-Ego #1:

“Merciful Minerva”

The Story of Wonder Woman

by Jerry Bails

Wonder Woman is the only member of the current Justice

When Wonder Woman first came to the man’s world, she assumed an alter-ego. She posed as Diana Prince, a meek, bespectacled WAC, who served as a secretary to an Army officer, a Col. Darnell, who, unlike Steve Trevor, loved the mildmannered Diana. Of course, neither man knew that both girls were one and the same person.

Wonder Woman also served for a brief spell as a nurse on the front lines during the war. It was at that time that she met Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and was asked by Hawkman to serve as secretary to the newly formed Justice Battalion, a group composed of the members of the JSA acting under the direct orders of the War Department. (All-Star Comics #11, June-July, 1942). From this time on, Wonder Woman served as secretary of the JSA. In All-Star Comics #13 (October-November, 1942), the Amazon Princess was rocketed out into space along with other members of the JSA. Her individual rocket landed on Venus, and she helped the winged women of this planet to overthrow the harsh rule of their male masters, and to set up a new society based on love and charity. However, the lovely Amazon had to return to Venus on several later occasions to help keep the Venusian men in their place. After Wonder Woman and the members of the JSA managed to get back to Earth, the male members voted to make Wonder Woman their fifth honorary member, and like Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern before her, she appeared in a magazine all of her own.

Wonder Woman #1 was dated Summer, 1942.

The Amazon Princess was the fastest rising new star in the D.C. firmament. She was soon to appear in still another D.C. book, a new 15¢ anthology starring Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman— Comic Cavalcade (#1, Winter, 1943). This giant comic starred the same three superheroes until the middle of 1948, when many of the formerly brilliant stars of the comics began

League of America who was a regular, fighting member of the original Justice Society of America. She made her debut in AllStar Comics #8 (December-January, 1941-42) in a bonus, 9page featurette, which followed the regular JSA adventure.

This featurette tells of how Steve Trevor, a U.S. Army Intelligence officer, was injured when his plane crash-landed on Paradise Island, the secret home of the legendary Amazons.

[ED. NOTE: The current legend has it that no man has ever, or can ever, set foot on Paradise Island or the Amazons would lose their immortality and special powers. This was not so in the old days.]

Steve was nursed back to full vigor by the beautiful Princess Diana. Diana, having never seen a man before (except in her mother’s Magic Sphere), naturally falls in love with this exquisite specimen of manhood. She then earns the right to return with him to the man’s world as Wonder Woman—a new champion to do battle against the forces of hate and oppression which, in those early days of World War II, threatened to destroy America—”the last citadel of democracy, and of equal rights for women.”

This first story, in narrative form, reveals many of the secrets of the Amazons—a race of Wonder Women from Ancient Greece. So long as Queen Hippolyte retains the Magic Girdle, and the Amazons remain on Paradise Island, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, grants them the power of Eternal Life. With the Magic Sphere, a gift from Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, the Amazons can study the past, the present, and even, at times, forecast the future. All of these gifts become the heritage of the young Princess Diana; however, this first story does not reveal the secret of Diana’s birth on the island of manless Amazons.

The secret of Diana’s birth was told in the first issue of Sensation Comics (January, 1942). [ED NOTE: Wonder Woman was the headline feature in Sensation Comics until issue #106.] Here is how this bit of “parthenogenesis” was achieved. It seems that Queen Hippolyte was lonely, quite naturally, and prayed to Aphrodite for comfort. The Goddess of Love, who should have known better, answered the good Queen’s prayer in a wholly unimaginative way—she turned the nearest statue of stone into the vibrant body of I’ve Got A Secret a female child, possessing (potentially, at 2013 Editors’ Note: When this first Alter-Ego hero-history ran in least) the beauty of issue #1 (a few pages after its first villain-history—see next art Aphrodite herself, the spot), there was no accompanying illustration. However, there had wisdom of Athena, the been a drawing showing Wonder Woman earlier in the issue, since Jerry, in conjunction with the first installment of the advance-news strength of Hercules, feature “On the Drawing Board,” had traced an early proof of the and the speed of cover of the Secret Origins special which would be on sale 2½ Mercury. Thus, months later. Thanks to Doc Boucher for the scan of that cover as it Princess Diana was appeared in A/E #1 in 1961.[© 2013 DC Comics.] conceived.

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their death plunge.

If Ever, Oh Ever, A Wiz There Was… However, Wonder 2013 Editors’ Note: In the first volume of this series, we printed a Woman has survived to thrice-removed version of this illustration of the JSA’s (and thus this day.

Wonder Woman’s) foe The Wizard—namely, an Al Dellinges pen-andThe Amazon Princess ink tracing of a Jerry Bails tracing onto a spirit-duplicator master of was created by the writer- an Irwin Hasen drawing from All-Star Comics #34 (April-May 1947). psychologist, William Since we had no other illos of the Amazing Amazon from A/E #1 to Moulton Marston, one of display with this article, we decided to reproduce the 1961 the principal developers Hasen/Bails rendition this time, as well as we could, again courtesy of Doc Boucher. [Wizard TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] of the lie detector.

Marston, who signed the strip “Charles Moulton,” and the original artist, Harry G. Peter (now deceased), both believed strongly in the equality, if not the superiority, of women. Their early stories often portrayed women in situations which would never pass the Comics Code Authority today. For this reason, you can expect the upcoming story of the Origin of Wonder Woman in D.C.’s new giant book to be the modern, wholesome version probably written by the current editor and writer, Robert Kanigher. By the way, the current artist is Ross Andru.

Wonder Woman’s costume has changed very little since the Woman herself, and while bound, she was forced to be the time it was given to her by her mother, Queen Hippolyte. The slave of her captor until she could trick him into releasing his American Eagle, the symbol of Wonder Woman’s adopted end of the lasso. country, has always been emblazoned upon the breast of her The Amazon Princess has also always had a faithful, though strapless halter. She has always worn a golden tiara, which at invisible, robot plane; although originally, it was shaped more one time served as her omni receiver, but which today serves like a goose than a plane. Now, it is more streamlined. Today, as a weapon with which she can cut through stone and steel. however, Wonder Woman seems to have little need for her Since gold is a soft metal, we are left to imagine that the tiara robot plane, for she has mastered the impossible feat of riding must be alloyed with the hardest metal known, Amazonium, air currents.

We are even told now that she learned this trick out of which the Amazon’s bracelets are also formed. when she was Wonder Girl. It seems that it would be better if There is an interesting story behind these bracelets, which this bit of fantasy were restricted to the heavy updrafts of hot Wonder Woman uses to ward off the bullets of assassins. By air that surround Paradise Island. the decree of the Goddess Aphrodite, all Amazons must wear In the old days, Wonder Woman used to battle a succession these bracelets to remind them of their former submission to of grotesque male villains, like the Mole Men. Today, she men. In the early days, Wonder Woman could lose her spends her time defeating robots, volcano creatures, sea creaHerculean strength and Mercurial speed if a man succeeded in tures, and the like. chaining her bracelets together; however, she always retained Steve Trevor is still around, and he is still pestering her to the wisdom of Athena, which has gotten her out of many a marry him. He and Lois Lane just never learn. tight spot. There were also some early stories relating how the The Holiday Girls—Etta Candy, Tiny Toy, Lita Little, and Amazon Princess went berserk when her bracelets were Thelma Tall—used to make regular appearances with Wonder removed, but it has been a long time since anything like this Woman.

Today, their revivals only make infrequent appearhas happened. ances, while the spotlight goes to a new pair of characters— In the beginning, Wonder Woman wore short culottes of Wonder Girl (Wonder Woman as a teenager) and her adoring star-spangled blue, but she soon switched to the much more boy friend, Mer-boy. flattering skin-tight shorts that she wears to this day. Her One of the most important supporting characters ever to footwear has also changed some over the years. At first, she appear with Wonder Woman (besides her mother, that is) was wore tall, red high-heeled boots. Many years later, she Paula, the only other Amazon to leave Paradise Island. Paula switched to low-heeled sandals, a much more sensible choice was a brilliant scientist. Her greatest inventions were a time for such an athletic girl. Unfortunately, however, like most machine and the Purple Healing Ray. The time machine was women, Wonder Woman does not use good sense when it often used to send Wonder Woman into time, while the Purple comes to the selection of her footwear, and today, we find her Healing Ray performed one of the greatest services in all back in high-heels. comic history—it restored the JSA members to life after they One of Wonder Woman’s most faithful accessories has been had been killed by the greatest villains of all time. (All-Star her magic lasso, but it seems that over the years it has lost its Comics #38, December-January, 1947-48.) From then on, most interesting property. At one time, the Amazon Princess Wonder Woman played a more active role in all could not only use it to bind her enemies, but she could also JSA adventures, teaming up with other members as use it to compel them to do her bidding. Best of all, this she does today in the Justice League of America. unbreakable lariat could even be turned against Wonder 21

From Alter-Ego #1:

BESTEST LEAGUE OF AMERICA – PART ONE

2013 INTRODUCTION: At the time of Jerry Bails’ passing in November 2006, Roy Thomas, the official “co-editor” of the March 1961 Alter-Ego #1, had long since forgotten that, in addition to having on 1-26-61 sent Jerry a synopsis of his proposed “Justice League” parody “Bestest League of America,” he had also, three weeks later, sent Jerry the BLA drawing reproduced below. In early 2007 Roy was startled to discover, among other posthumous papers that Jerry’s wife Jean graciously sent him, an inked-andcolored illo Roy had prepared of the group’s seven regular members.

[© 2013 Roy Thomas]

Until he saw that sketch for the first time in 46 years, he had long wondered if perhaps at some stage he had mailed Jerry the original art of the 5-page BLA chapter he’d completed by early February—not too likely, since the art on those poster-paper pages was 18” by 13”—and yet, one would assume Jerry would’ve wanted to see some visuals related to the story he proposed to begin serializing in the new fanzine’s first issue.

on plain old garden-variety 81⁄2" x 11" typing paper. On receiving them, in addition to everything else he was doing, Jerry traced that quintet of pages (and the cover) onto ditto masters.

(The BLA drawing Jerry traced as the [color!] cover of A/E #1 was originally intended simply to be the internal “cover” of the BLA material, and Roy was surprised at his decision to use it to front the entire issue.)

The fact that the reverse side of the poster-paper sketch is dated “2-16-61” indicates it was done right after Jerry returned to Detroit by mid-February from his New York trip and wrote asking Roy to get to work on the first chapter of “BLA” for Alter-Ego #1. If Jerry ever saw the original “twiceup” version of those five pages before they were reprinted in Bill Schelly’s 1997 Hamster Press book Fandom’s Finest Comics, this book’s editors have never found any reference to that fact in the surviving correspondence.

As recounted by Roy in the “Alter Ego Story” he wrote circa early 1965 after perusing various letters exchanged between himself and Jerry, he immediately set to work redrawing “Bestest League of America,” Part One—not on ditto (spirit duplicator) masters, with which he was totally unfamiliar, but

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The following five pages re-present both 1961 renditions of “Bestest League,” Part One, in a format which necessitates either turning this book sideways, or else lying on your elbow while reading it. The original “twice-up,” RT-penciled-inkedand-lettered art is printed on the left side of each ensuing page; the JGB-traced (and slightly edited) spirit-duplicator version done for Alter-Ego #1 is printed on the right.

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“Twice-up” inked version, Dec. 1960 - Jan. 1961

Spirit duplicator (ditto) version, Feb. - March 1961 (Alter-Ego #1)

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“Twice-up” inked version, Dec. 1960 - Jan. 1961

Spirit duplicator (ditto) version, Feb. - March 1961 (Alter-Ego #1)

25

“Twice-up” inked version, Dec. 1960 - Jan. 1961

Spirit duplicator (ditto) version, Feb. - March 1961 (Alter-Ego #1)

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“Twice-up” inked version, Dec. 1960 - Jan. 1961

Spirit duplicator (ditto) version, Feb. - March 1961 (Alter-Ego #1)

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“Twice-up” inked version, Dec. 1960 - Jan. 1961

Spirit duplicator (ditto) version, Feb. - March 1961 (Alter-Ego #1)

[For chapter two of “Bestest League,” see pp. 33-35]

A Couple Of Lads Get Together

An Alter Ego Extra!

And Now For Something Completely Different—Sort Of! Years after Jerry did his own spring 1961 reprinting of

Jerry (in checkered shirt) visiting fellow fan/friend Al Dellinges in California circa 1978-80. Jerry always felt that Al strongly resembled movie star Alan Ladd. Lying on the table is a very nice copy of All-Star Comics #27.

Thanks to Jean Bails.

Alter-Ego #1 (minus the “BLA” installment)—and since Roy Thomas had long since abandoned his own 1965 plans for a photo-offset collection of The Bestest of Alter Ego #1-3—a northern California fan-friend of Bails’ named Al Dellinges was given Jerry’s permission in 1988 to do a re-publication of the fanzine’s first three issues.

Since the new edition was done in photo offset, Dellinges retyped all the articles and traced the relatively few illustrations with his own embellishments; those that were based on an Irwin Hasen Wizard and a Paul Reinman Green Lantern were reproduced in the previous Best of volume. He chose to re-interpret all three “Bestest League” chapters by doing his own artwork to go with Thomas’ script. The result was virtually a new work, and an interesting one in its own right—and indeed, in the first chapter, five pages were expanded into six, the final one of which is seen below.

Good—Better—Bestest

(Left:) The sixth page of Al Dellinges’ 1988 artwork for “Bestest League of America,” Part 1, from his photo-offset quasi-reprinting of the 1961 Alter-Ego #1.

[Art © 2013 Al Dellinges; script © 2013 Roy Thomas.]

(Above:) In between those two versions, new pro writer Gary Friedrich, with the blessing of his longtime friend Roy T., utilized the BLA in a new story in the Charlton humor comic Go-Go #5 (Feb. 1967), with art by Richard “Grass” Green. Splash page repro’d from RT’s bound volume, with slight loss of art and text at right. In 1962 Green had briefly been slated to co-publish & co-edit Alter Ego with Ronn Foss; the pair had shared credit on the cover of A/E #4, and in ‘63 Green had collaborated with Thomas in #6 on “Bestest League of America Meets... Da Frantic Four.” [© 2013 the respective copyright holders.]

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From Alter-Ego #2:

New Policies

In the future, want ads will not be accepted for publication in

To get a copy of the Alter-Ego Secret Code Chart, send a selfaddressed, stamped envelope to the address below along with one of the following: (1) The address label from the brown mailing wrapper on your subscription copy of the JLA, or (2) Additions or corrections to the Comics Index published in this issue, or (3) Some really interesting material on the old Green Lantern or his creators that can be used in the next issue.

If you already have a Code Chart but can help me out with items (2) or (3) above, then I will publish a small ad for you free of charge.

Alter-Ego, except in return for the loan of rare comics of the 1940s. This policy does not apply to ads which list comics for sale. Such ads will be sold at the new rate: $1.00 per quarter page.

No subscriptions to A-E will be sold, since it is published on an irregular schedule. I will, however, reserve a copy of the next issue for you in return for: (1) 30¢ (in coins or stamps), or (2) A copy of the current issue of your own fanzine, or (3) An article, feature, or ad that I accept for publication.

(Please triple-space all copy).

If you are an editor, writer, or artist in the comics business, then I will be happy to send you free of charge all issues of this zine in return for a simple letter of request. Reserve your copy of A-E #3 now, for only a limited number will be available.

B

Alter-Ego #2 (Summer, 1961), a comic fanzine published at 1710 Kenwood Drive, Inkster, Mich. Editors: Jerry G. Bails and Roy Thomas. Deadline for material to appear in issue #3: Sept. 1, 1961.

***************************** On The Drawing Board

y now, most readers know that the new hero to be given a tryout in Showcase #34 is the Atom, but you may not know that he will have unusual new powers. Without giving away his origin story, “Birth of the Atom,” let me just say that he will earn the title “The Tiny Titan.”

Showcase #34 will be a collector’s item for more reasons than one. Editor Julius Schwartz will open a new readers’ department, appropriately titled “Inside the Atom,” which will give the history of the original Atom, plus a scene from the first 1940 story, and a scene from the second 1940 story (in which the Atom first appeared in costume). But that’s not all! Julie is going to give us something we’ve been asking for—a chance to see— Ht Ghufhetksjyedev Jsgd Cruljlqdomvd.

[Ed. Note: To get your Secret Code Chart, see the inside of the front cover.]

Showcase #35 will feature another great Atom story, a book-length novel entitled “Dooms from Beyond.” This story and its cover illustration promise to be even better than the first issue, but what else would you expect from the team of Schwartz, Fox, and Kane?

Justice League of America #7 has a very unusual and tricky cover, showing four of the JLA members in odd, distorted shapes standing in front of a fun-house mirror, not realizing that they really have been turned into the distortions they see of themselves. The story is entitled “The Cosmic Fun House,” and marks the first time that any of the JLA members have gone out on a case in their civilian identities. It will be interesting to see if the JLA members are going to trust each other with their secret identities.

JLA #8 is titled “For Sale—the Justice League.” In this story the members are auctioned off to crooks and forced to do their bidding. Here’s what will give the story a real twist— Daolqsh Ffruucnjv Aojnivunnfy Ecyafmrfop.

Gardner Fox

Gil Kane

Up ‘n’ Atom!

Murphy Anderson

2013 Editors’ Note: Jerry had no way to know it when he wrote the second installment of “On the Drawing Board,” but Showcase #5 (Nov.Dec. 1961) would also feature portraits of “Atom” scripter Gardner Fox, penciler Gil Kane, and inker (and “Atomic Knights” artist) Murphy Anderson, all drawn by Kane. These drawings were not included in A/E V1#2. [© 2013 DC Comics.]

Flash #124 will cover-feature “Space-Boomerang Trap,” in which Flash and Elongated Man will battle with and against Captain Boomerang. The second story, “Vengeance via Television,” will be unusual in that we will not see Barry Allen and hence the familiar switch-over to Flash. I think maybe we can survive without this just once.

Sinestro, the renegade GL, will be back in Green Lantern #9 in the story “The Battle of the Power Rings” (which, by the way, is something I promised you in the last issue of this fanzine).

Beginning in Mystery in Space #71, DC will begin the first of a regular (I hope) series of double-length Adam Strange stories. This one will have the not-so-original title “Challenge of the Crystal Creatures.”

And here’s good news for all Murphy (Buck Rogers) Anderson fans. Murph is scheduled for two more Atomic Knight sequels: “Thanksgiving Day, 1990” (Strange Adventures #132) and “War in Washington” (SA #135).

That’s all the news for now, but I plan a special news bulletin before the end of summer.

P.S.: Don’t forget to be on the look-out for the appearance of the new Archie heroes: Jaguar and Fly Girl.

—J.G.B. 29

From Alter-Ego #2:

“Hail, Hail, The Gang’s All Here!”

Part I – The All-Winners Squad

by Roy Thomas

A recent issue of the fanzine Xero spotlighted an excellent arti-

simply, “All-Winners”—a smaller reproduction of the title logo on the cover. The pikers didn’t even bother to have an artist scribble in “Squad” underneath! The lead splash itself, done by a fairly good though unidentified artist who drew the whole story, pictures the seven Squadders standing about in various poses of horror as people fall dying all about them. In the middle of this scene is the supposed “dwarf,” looking properly fierce. Sort of gives you a hint that this is to be a kind of gruesome tale, doesn’t it?

As the story opens, it seems that Captain America has summoned the other members because, in a raid on the hideout of a lovely but lethal villainess named Madame Death, he and his boy-partner Bucky have discovered that the fair maiden and her ruthless gang are about to team up with the dwarf, who is called “Future Man” in the story. You see, Future Man has come in a ship from 1,000,000 A.D. to wipe out all present-day human life so that his people can escape the dying Earth of their era by migrating back in time. Cap and Bucky were doing a good job of mopping up Madame Death’s gang when Future Man, who had evidently been reading Dr. Mid-Nite stories on the side, tossed a “Dark-bomb” on the floor, blinding our heroes.

Naturally, all the crooks escaped in the dwarf’s rocket.

cle by Don Thompson of Cleveland, Ohio, on the subject of the Timely group of comic books, whose mainstays were the Human Torch & Toro, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America & Bucky. Fortunately for those others of us who like to write articles about comic-book heroes, Don left uncovered a few items of interest to fans. One of the most important of these, I believe, is the All-Winner Squad, an apparently stillborn JSAtype group consisting of the five above-named heroes plus a couple of minor ones, Miss America and the Whizzer.

The reason I say that this super-squadron was stillborn is that, as far as I have been able to ascertain, All-Winners #21 is the only comic in which this group ever appeared. Of course, I’ve heard that an early issue or two of that magazine featured a 2page written featurette about a bunch of heroes, and everybody knows there was a lot of crossing-over (such as the TorchNamor fights); but those don’t really count as far as a real JSAlike group goes. Therefore, it is possible to give a pretty accurate portrait of this great if extremely short-lived organization by poring over this one issue, published for Winter of 1946-47; and, happily, in reading it I discovered that it can hold its own with most issues of All-Star and even today’s Justice League of America.

The cover, reproduced elsewhere in this issue, boasted that it contained “a complete full-length mystery thriller,” which is fairly accurate, as the story ran over 40 pages. The title given on the cover was “The Riddle of the Demented Dwarf,” which really didn’t fit too well, as the villain was four feet tall if he was an inch, and no more demented than the average comic-book villain for my money. The reason they called him demented, I suppose, is that he wanted to kill everybody on Earth, but I think “anti-social” would have been a better description.

At any rate, the first page of the real story, like that of many Justice Society adventures, features an entirely different and more appropriate title, “Menace from the Future World.”

Evidently, though, the publishers of All-Winners were either lazy or extremely parsimonious, as the masthead of the story reads

Win-Win With All Winners!

2013 Editors’ Note: This image of the Jerry Bails-traced cover of All Winners Comics #21 which appeared in A/E #2, when compared with the printed cover of the 1946-47 mag, will reveal how hard he worked on those early spirit-duplicator issues. Not only did he carefully trace (somehow) the black line art of the cover of the slightly incomplete comic used

by Roy Thomas to write the article—Jerry even added color! Five decades ago, before the hues had faded as ditto copies are wont to do, the Torches were rapturously red, the villain’s cloak gangrenously green, with plenty of blue and yellow on Captain America and The Whizzer. This required no less than five ditto masters—and a lot of man-hours.

Although he flawlessly traced the title logo, Jerry decided to leave off the issue’s cover blurb. At this stage, neither he nor Roy knew the Squad had also been featured in All Winners #19. [All Winners Squad characters TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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So that’s why Captain America summons his buddies, modestly admitting that he could not defend the whole world even with Bucky’s help. He hands out assignments so that the various divisions of the Squad are soon on their respective ways to Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America, with Torch and Toro staying in North America. I felt kind of sorry for Australia, which was apparently forgotten in the shuffle. It’s a shame Future Man didn’t strike there first and louse up everything.

Anyway, Cap and Bucky’s adventure is related first. The good Captain America was an ordinary human being except that he was strong as an ox, having been given awe-inspiring muscles by a Professor Reinstein some years before. (At least that’s how they explained it in the middle ’50s when he was revived for a time.) For those of you who have not yet identified him in the picture, he’s the one who looks as if he’s suited up for an American Legion convention. He carried a shield to ward off bullets (the chicken!). The blue-and-red-clad boy at his side is Bucky, a normal Robin-type who was to Captain America what Sandy is to Little Orphan Annie. Supposedly Cap was very fond of Bucky, but I notice he never let him carry a shield against bullets.

Be that as it may, they arrive in Europe. Realizing that they cannot cover the whole continent on foot, they promptly borrow a jeep from the occupation forces and arrive on the scene just after a deadly future germ-bomb made by the “dwarf” has wiped out the entire population of a large city in five minutes.

(No, they didn’t say which one.) Obviously, the gas dissipates pretty fast, as Cap and Bucky get along just fine by holding handkerchiefs over their noses. As “luck” would have it, they find a fragment of the bomb, which just happens to tell where it

was manufactured, and soon they are at Future Man’s hideout, which is situated between two snow-covered mountains in Switzerland.

From then on it’s just a matter of time. While Future Man is inside turning out germ-bombs, Cap and Bucky have a typical fist-and-shield fight with the menial crooks. Eventually they get around to doing what they should have done in the first place.

They climb the hill and use sound vibrations to bring a snowavalanche crashing down on the lab, getting the bombs soggy and killing all the crooks but Future Man and Madame Death.

Cap then attacks the “dwarf” only to find it is really just his “astral image,” his real self being hidden elsewhere in safety.

While the fading image explains all this to a wide-mouthed Cap and Bucky, Madame Death sneaks off to rejoin the real Future Man. Thrilling, huh? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Meanwhile, the Whizzer—in the picture he’s the one with the goose on his head—is guarding our Latin-American friends. As he does so, Future Man and Madame Death land at their secret base in South America—an extinct volcano, natch. Since Future Man’s astral image really can’t touch anything, he takes over the “puny minds” of some petty crooks and has them construct a Slow-Down machine, which slows people down to a crawl, and poor old Whizzer, one of the most direct imitations of the Flash ever, is slowed down to the speed of a mere racing car. Exactly how disastrous this slowdown would be after the initial plane, train, and automobile crashes is uncertain to me.

Later, the Whizzer is slowed down to walking-speed by a full dose of the machine, but he escapes and does in everybody pretty well, except, of course, Future Man and Madame Death, who fly off, leaving the Whizzer to congratulate himself on saving South America.

Sub-Mariner (or Prince Namor, as he was called back in the undersea kingdom which spawned him) is meanwhile protecting Asia. There’s a little time to waste while Future Man is fighting his buddies, though, so Namor amuses himself by knocking around a few overweight Chinese pirates. In case you don’t recognize him by his swimming trunks, he’s the one with the little wings on his ankles and the head that looks as though it had been caught in a triangular cookie-press. (In earlier days, those little wings enabled him to fly, though why he didn’t always end up upside down is a mystery to me. By the time of this story, however, Namor had lost his ability to fly—too much night life, I guess. It’ll do it every time.)

Future Man’s plan for Asia is to create the most gigantic tidal wave in history. I suppose Sub-Mariner breaks this up with

From Xero To 60—Or Rather, To ‘61!

2013 Editors’ Note: In writing about the All-Winners Squad (and he should actually have deleted the hyphen), Roy T. was very much influenced (and intimidated) by Don Thompson’s Timely Comics overview in the fourth issue of Dick & Pat Lupoff’s seminal—and mimeographed— science-fiction/comics fanzine Xero, dated April 1961. One of the finest installments of the iconic “All in Color for a Dime” series, that article had been introduced by a tracing by Maggie Curtis (very soon to be Maggie Thompson) of figures and lettering from a 1940s Timely house ad which had sported the defiant words “O.K. Axis, Here We Come!” In the 1970s Roy would adapt that phrase as the battle cry of the wartime Marvel heroes in his comics series The Invaders—but he’s never managed to get a good scan of the actual ad from which Don and Maggie took their title and drawing! This art did not appear in A/E V1#2.

[Human Torch, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, & Patriot TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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whales or some such, but I may never know, as the last few pages of this chapter are missing from the copy I reviewed. The last panel of this chapter that is left shows Future Man’s astral image underwater, enjoying himself by blasting octopi with electrical bolts.

The Miss America segment is complete, though. Actually, she would never have won a real Miss America contest, as she was a little on the thin side and wore big horn-rimmed glasses. She was evidently a near-sighted Wonder Woman. The major point of interest about her is that though she was obviously intended to be the D.A.R. version of Captain America, she could fly.

(Cap couldn’t.) And she seemed almost to match his strength at times. At any rate, in her part of the story she meets up with some mummies reincarnated by Future Man to take over Africa.

She follows them back to their pyramid base (sort of a pun) and slams Madame Death around a little before the latter and Future Man escape, both being astral images this time. The zombies are defeated, however, you’ll be glad to hear.

This leaves only North America for Future Man to attack, if you don’t count Australia, which I do. This continent is happily guarded by the Human Torch and his young sidekick (or maybe I should say sideburn) Toro. Like Sub-Mariner—and perhaps the Whizzer, from the stories I’ve seen—Torch and Toro had no alter-egos (plug!). Torch, a synthetic man invented by a scientist some years back, wore standard tight underwear of red and yellow, while Toro always looked as if he were dressed to go for a swim with Sub-Mariner as soon as he took off his boots.

When they used a little will power, they burst into red-hot flames and flew away, generally scorching the surrounding countryside in the process.

Anyhow, Future Man’s gimmick this time is to start an atomic forest fire which will destroy the whole continent—maybe the whole world—since it will burn about anything, even water and chemicals. After a few pages of aimlessly flying around and telling Future Man that he is no good, Torch and Toro hit on a solution. They stop the atomic fire by smothering it with its own ashes. Why it didn’t continue to burn underground (obviously not needing oxygen) eludes me at the moment, but it’s still a neat trick. (Captain Marvel once solved a similar menace by flying a whole segment of earth into outer space, but after all, Torch was just Human.)

Angered by his defeats but still unbeaten, Future Man vows to the Torch to return to his hidden ship and summon hundreds of future men who could come in ships with “neutronic bombs,” which sounds pretty frightening when you think about it.

Then, in Chapter VII, comes the inevitable re-grouping of the Winners (who are currently in danger of becoming Losers).

Luckily, all of them miraculously remember seeing a big black

storm cloud over the spot where their respective menaces occurred, so they deduce that Future Man’s ship and real person must be inside that cloud. Torch, Toro, and Miss America fly ahead to attack it while the others hang on, snake-dance fashion, to the Whizzer, who pulls them at super-speed to the spot where the ship crash-lands. (The Torches wreck its rocket-tubes.)

Whizzer’s helmet must have been made of pretty hard stuff, as he opens the ship by ramming through it at high speed with his head. Inside, Miss America slugs Madame Death again while the Torch destroys Future Man’s radio with a well-placed fireball. The other Squadders stand around looking valiant.

Future Man, though, presses a switch which will send him and his ship back to 1,000,000 A.D. so he can recruit his army. The Squadders are held off by mental beams, but good old quickthinking Captain America, who has evidently been mastering the futuristic gadgets in the rocket during this time, twists around a couple of wires so that, as he and the other Winners leap off the ship, it goes permanently backward into time instead, thereby saving the Earth (again). Inside the rocket, Madame Death’s last comment on the subject is “Eeeaaaa!”

The story closes with a caption saying that “The World will always be safe from any sinister plot while the mighty ALL-WINNERS SQUAD stand guard over it.” Unfortunately, the Squadders didn’t stand guard for very long, which might explain the mess the world is in today. Come back, All-Winners Squad!

But enough moralizing. Actually, this is a story which can stand on its own two feet. Reading it, one feels sorry that this group wasn’t given a longer trial. I have a hunch it would have been tremendously popular. As it was, the All-Winners Squad was just too short-lived to give the JSA any real competition.

One interesting thing which one can hardly help but notice is the striking similarity between the All-Winners Squad and today’s Justice League, especially before the recent inclusion of Green Arrow. Whizzer was a direct copy of the Flash of the ’40s; Miss America was a Wonder Woman with specs; SubMariner was the predecessor of the longer-lived Aquaman; Captain America had the bulging muscles and great strength of J’onn J’onzz, though on a slightly smaller scale; and the Human Torch had some points in common with the ring-wielding Green Lantern, especially when Torch began making lassos and nets out of his flames. Of course, Bucky and Toro (who were also members of a junior group which appeared in Young Allies Comics) were included in the Squad; but, nevertheless, the parallel is unmistakably and strikingly there. And they say lightning never strikes twice!

I wonder how the hell Sub-Mariner stopped that tidal wave…?

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

Where Are They Now?

Captain America — moved to Australia, and is now known as Captain Kangaroo.

Human Torch ——— married Sun Girl, and is now raising a bunch of bright little kids.

Sub-Mariner ———— developed aquaphobia, and is now a camel-herder in the Arabian Desert.

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From Alter-Ego #2: “Bestest League of America,” Part 2 – by Roy Thomas

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[For chapter three of “Bestest League of America,” see pp. 41-43]

From Alter-Ego #2:

Hawkman, Winged Wonder

[by Jerry G. Bails (unsigned) & Douglas Marden]

In this issue of Alter-Ego we are happy to feature drawings of

A WORD ABOUT JOE KUBERT. Joe, like so many other artists in the business, attended the High School of Music and Art in New York. That was in 1940. Less than a year later, at the age of fourteen, he got his first job working for comic books. When he was sixteen, he moved with his parents to New Jersey, which has been his home state ever since. The only time in the past twenty years that Joe has not spent drawing and producing comics was the time he spent in Germany as the guest of the U.S. Army.

Kubert fans will always remember the all-too-brief existence of Joe’s own creation, Tor, the hunter, who appeared in 1953 in 1,000,000 Years Ago.

the Hawkman as he appeared over the years in Flash Comics.

According to our best sources, the Hawkman was first drawn in 1940 by an artist named Neville, but the job was soon taken over by Sheldon Moldoff, who signed his work “Shelly.”

Shelly, whose art first really captured the spirit of the Hawkman, handled this assignment until 1945, when the very youthful but very talented Joe Kubert took over. The several changes in Hawkman’s headgear probably reflect the several changes in the editorial staff at DC Comics.

A WORD ABOUT THE CREATOR. The Hawkman was created by author Gardner F. Fox. Gar, as he is known affectionately to his friends, also created the Justice Society of America, the original Flash, Space Ranger, and Adam Strange, and in collaboration with editor Julius Schwartz, is now giving us the Justice League of America and the new Hawkman and Atom.

Gar has a B.A. degree in history and English, and an LL.B. Degree, but he gave up the practice of law many years ago in favor of writing. In addition to putting out a comic story or two a week, he writes historical novels under a variety of pseudonyms.

One of his latest on the stands in paperback form is Veronica’s Veil by Jefferson Cooper.

His real name is “owned” by Gold Metal and Crest Books, so he writes under a variety of names for the other houses (Pocketbooks Inc., Popular Library, Signet, Monarch, and Avon). Most of his novels are historical, with an occasional suspense or modern-day background thrown in. Here are the titles of some of his more recent works: Lover in Iron, The Question Sword, Borgia Blade, and Barbary Slave.

News-Beak

2013 Editors’ Note: For A/E #2, Jerry Bails painstakingly drew six Hawkman heads, in the styles of artists Dennis Neville, Sheldon “Shelly” Moldoff, and Joe Kubert, to show the evolution (or devolution) of the hero’s headgear between Flash Comics #1 and its last few issues when his helmet had become merely a cowl—plus a drawing of Hawkman as revived just as that issue of A/E was going to “press.” This study foreshadowed the artistic analyses that would be a staple of comics fanzines from that day to this.

[Hawkman TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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A Synopsis of the First Hawkman Story, T

Which Appeared in Flash Comics #1, Jan., 1940 (by courtesy of Douglas Marden)

he story opens in the weapon-lined library of Carter Hall, research scientist and wealthy collector of ancient weapons.

Carter notices a strange package on the table near him.

He guesses that it is another addition for his weapons collection that has just arrived from his friend in Egypt. He hastily opens the strange gift.

The package contains an Egyptian knife made of glass. It was once used to offer sacrifices to the gods. The knife emits a strange glow which causes Carter to fall into a deep sleep.

A weird dream shapes itself in Carter’s subconscious…

He finds himself in ancient Egypt in the body of a Prince Khufu, who is being held captive by the high priest, HathSet. The priest addresses the prince, telling him that he will be beaten until he reveals the whereabouts of a girl named Shiera, but Prince Khufu refuses to say. He would rather die than let his beloved Shiera be sacrificed to the gods.

With a surge of strength, the prince breaks away from his captors, and uses a chariot to escape into the desert, where he returns to the arms of his loved one.

Unfortunately, Prince Khufu has been followed by the high priest and his temple guards. The prince makes a valiant effort to save Shiera, but he is outnumbered. They are both captured and returned to the temple of the feared Anubis, the HawkGod, where they are to be sacrificed. With his last breath, Prince Khufu vows that he and Shiera will live again, and that he will kill the evil Hath-Set. At this point the dream comes to an end, and Carter awakens. He leaves the house the next day for a short walk. As he passes a subway, he sees people running out, screaming about the rails and train turning blue and then bursting into flames.

Carter races down into the subway to see the cause of the panic, and accidentally bumps into a girl. By some weird trick of fate, the girl is the reincarnation of Shiera. Together they look at the subway rails to see that they are being flooded by millions of volts of electricity. The people in the trains have been burned to cinders. Only a dynamo could have done this, Carter concludes.

With Shiera, he then returns home; and on the way he relates the incredible story of his dream.

Upon reaching home, he goes to his laboratory where he constructs a dynamo-detector. Shortly he emerges from his room clad in the guise of the ancient Hawk-God, Anubis. He is now Hawkman, Peril of the Night. His powers are derived from his discovery of the secret of the ages, ninth metal, which repels electricity and defies the pull of gravity.

Hawkman goes forth into the night until he reaches a desolate house just beyond the city limits. It is the home of Dr. Hastor, where Hawkman’s instruments have revealed that a gigantic dynamo is in use.

Never Say Never, Neville!

2013 Editors’ Note: The first-ever reprinting of Hawkman’s origin came in DC’s tabloid-sized Famous First Edition “Vol. 2, No. F-8 (Aug.-Sept 1975), which reprinted the entirety of Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), thirteen years after A/E #2 retold the story and Jerry Bails rendered an approximation of Hawkman’s helmet as drawn by original artist Dennis Neville. Script by Gardner Fox. This splash, of course, was not in A/E V1 #2. [© 2013 DC Comics.]

Inside, Hastor gazes upon his creation, a fantastic dynamo which he is using to make the city do his bidding. At this moment, a face appears at the window…. It is Hawkman!

Hastor, who in reality is the reincarnation of Hath-Set, mistakes the Winged Wonder for the God Anubis, and tries to blast him out of the air by electricity from his dynamo. This fails, however, due to the fact that the costume that Hawkman wears is partly of ninth metal, and repels the electrical charge.

Hawkman swoops down and smashes the dynamo with the quarter-staff which he is carrying. When he is finished, Hastor has escaped.

Hastor, who now realizes that Hawkman is really the reincarnation of Prince Khufu, guesses that Shiera must be alive, too, and summons her through Anubis.

When Hawkman returns home, he finds Shiera gone and immediately suspects Hastor. The Winged Wonder then takes a cross-bow and a cloak of ninth metal with him as he returns to Hastor’s house.

Meanwhile, Hastor has prepared Shiera for sacrifice to the God Anubis. He is just about to destroy her with a bolt of electricity when Hawkman appears just in time. The Feathered Fury drops the cloak of ninth metal over Shiera, protecting her from the electrical charge. Then Hawkman turns his full vengeance on Hastor, killing him with a shaft from the ancient cross-bow.

This time it is Prince Khufu who has won, and has slain the evil priest of Anubis, and it is the dying Hastor who has sworn vengeance.

Hawkman flies home with Shiera in his arms. At the end of his first adventure, the Winged Wonder looks out over the night sky, sure that he has not seen the last of Hastor. THE END.

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From Alter-Ego #2:

The Reincarnation Of The Spectre Part 2

by Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails

Once again, through the strange action of sunlight on the

menacingly and draws himself free from the confines of the doctor’s body, and materializes on the dark side of the room.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha ha! I knew the good doctor’s curiosity would get the best of him sooner or later. Now I am free again! This time, I—Count Dis, Lord of Darkness—will defeat the astral forces which oppose me and subjugate this corporeal world! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

As the gloating figure of Count Dis fills the room with his terrifying laughter, the second spectral figure, cloaked in green, materializes on the side of the room bathed in light by the Spectral Sapphire. In somber but confident tones, he addresses his evil counterpart: “Dis, you are the manifestation of Corrigan’s greed and conceit, and can therefore call into existence all of the venomous creatures which lurk in men’s minds; but you and your creatures can be defeated. I’ve done it before and, with the help of Solomus, I shall do it again!”

“But you cannot summon Solomus,” screams the Evil Phantom in angry reply. “Solomus has abandoned the earth people because they persist in wars and persecutions. And without Solomus you are just the spectre of Jim Corrigan and are no more powerful than his sense of justice and charity.”

With this, the Lord of Darkness lunges at his spectral twin, grabbing him by the neck and using his mighty powers to try to destroy him. But the Master of Light is not caught off guard, and the battle becomes almost at once a temporary stalemate. The Lord of Evil realizes immediately that victory will not be won as easily as he had hoped, and with the speed of thought covers himself with an aura of invisibility which even his ectoplasmic adversary cannot penetrate.

With the disappearance of his evil counterpart, the Spectre’s thoughts turn to the unconscious form of his alter-ego.

“My struggle with Dis has greatly weakened our earthly shell. If the force of life passes from the body of Jim

mysterious Spectral Sapphire from India, two ghostly figures from the inner dimensions of the human psyche emerge from the unconscious form of Dr. Jim Corrigan. One of them is dressed in black with a purple hood and cloak; he is clearly the incarnation of the evil which springs forth from the bowels of the id. The other figure, clothed in white with a green cowl and cloak, is just as clearly the incarnation of the good which ordinarily is locked away in those recesses of the human mind known as the super-ego.

With a laugh that would wake the dead, the evil one gestures

Monsters From The Id— Heroes From The Super-Ego

2013 Editors’ Note: Knowing there had been no separate drawing of The Spectre and Count Dis in A/E V1#2 besides the cover, fanartist Larry Guidry composed this confrontation of super-ego and id especially for this Best of compilation. His drawing well illustrates what a DC splash page of such a revival might’ve looked like, since the Spectre chapters in A/E #1 & #2 together would have made up the plot of a single comic book issue. Roy Thomas provided the words, more than half a century after he wrote the original synopses–the second of which was somewhat rewritten by Jerry Bails, leading to a shared credit. [Spectre & logo TM & © 2013 38

DC Comics; Count Dis TM & © 2013 Roy Thomas; other art © 2013 Larry Guidry.]

his eyes through the gem onto the black form of Count Dis! Too late, the Master of Darkness realizes the Spectre’s plan!

The intense white light is too powerful for the Evil Phantom to endure, and he is forced down into the crowd of people in the streets below, where he suddenly disappears. The Spectre then turns his mighty beam against the evil minions from the Dark Dimension, who, bereft of the leadership of Count Dis, flee back to the places from which they came.

Hovering over the now quiet scene of destruction, the Master of Light offers a silent prayer: “O Great Solomus, help me to restore this magnificent city.”

Then, as if in answer to his plea, the Spectre hears the voice of an astral force even more powerful than himself speaking to him from the Dimensions of Light: “Spectre, you have defeated Count Dis, but you have not destroyed him. Dis cannot be destroyed, for he, like yourself, is composed of pure life-force. Through the power of the Spectral Sapphire, you have imprisoned him in the mind of an earthman—which one, even I cannot tell! And someday, somehow, Dis may discover a way to re-enter the earth-plane through this human’s body, even as you and he first entered it via the form of Jim Corrigan.”

Suddenly the voice is gone and all the inanimate objects of the great city are restored to their original state. Only the Spectre and the vanquished Count Dis know that this has been the work of Solomus, the astral force of a super-intelligent hominoid from a world bordering the three-dimensional Earth.

Before the grateful populace can understand what has transpired, the Spectre is gone; and, in his office, young Dr. Corrigan regains consciousness with a full knowledge of all that has taken place. The only thing he does not know is where and when the evil Count Dis may be freed to strike at him again!

Corrigan, then Dis and I will go out of existence until the light of the Spectral Sapphire splits the personality of another hominoid. I cannot let Corrigan die; I must return my life-force to his body, but then I will lose the power to combat Count Dis. Somehow I must destroy Dis and resume the identity of Jim Corrigan before it’s too late!”

Just then, the Spectre’s telepathic powers reveal to him a scene of fantastic horror! The Earth’s largest city is under attack by a horde of screaming, terrifying monsters called into being by the Lord of Darkness. Huge black bats knock even the largest aircraft from the skies. Gigantic and seemingly indestructible lizards and beasts crumple steel buildings like houses of cards; and the most terrible of these creatures, a black viper of tremendous power and length, has wrapped itself around the world’s tallest building and is using its long, dark tongue to pull down surrounding structures on the horrified populace below.

With the speed of thought, the Spectre springs into action.

Exercising superhuman strength and flashing bright beams of destruction from his ghostly eyes, he launches an attack upon the monstrous viper, sending it into a rage. In retaliation, the serpent’s long tongue shoots out with great speed, locking the Master of Light in a crushing grip. As the Spectre struggles to free himself, his evil twin appears on the head of the scaly serpent of doom and adds black bolts of destruction from his own eyes to the already terrific might of the snake. Surely even the Spectre cannot long survive both of these powerful opponents!

As the Spectre seems to weaken, both he and Dis suddenly become aware that Jim Corrigan is on the verge of death. With the death of the young doctor, both the Spectre and Count Dis would go out of existence, but the evil monsters created by the Lord of Darkness would remain to lay waste to the earth.

Realizing that, the Spectre will not let Corrigan die and, not wanting to be vanquished himself, Count Dis orders the huge viper to release the Spectre.

In an instant, the Master of Light returns to the office of the unconscious human. But, instead of restoring life to the dying figure as Dis expects, he grabs the Spectral Sapphire and zooms back to battle his dark twin. In a desperate gamble, the Spectre concentrates all of the destructive beams of light from

The Spectre is a copyrighted feature owned by National Comics Publications, Inc. This feature appeared in Superman D.C. magazines during the 1940s. We are grateful to the publishers of National Comics for their permission to use the name and drawing of the Spectre in this piece of original fiction.

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

Where Are They Now?

The Atom

Spy-Smasher

Liberty Belle

Crimson Avenger Plastic Man

Ibis the Invincible

Captain Marvel

[from two different pages in Alter-Ego #2]

has lost a lot of weight and is making a comeback.

went over to the Russians, who promised him steady work.

finally cracked up, and now resides at Belle-view.

is currently being investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (as are Mr. Scarlet and Pinky). had to retire; he has been suffering from arterial sclerosis.

has retired from crime-fighting, and now operates a magical novelty shop with his partner, Sargon the Sorcerer. was caught stealing thunder and was electrocuted by a charge from a D.C. generator. (By the way, the surviving members of his family were banished to the Rock of Eternity as accessories after the fact.)

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From Alter-Ego #3:

Dear Reader:

A Message From The Editor

[by Jerry G. Bails–untitled in original fanzine]

As a result of the plug Alter-Ego received in JLA #8, the demand for A-E now exceeds the supply. While I will explore the possibilities of increasing the print run, I must advise all readers that I will honor requests for A-E #4 in the following order: (1) Contributors (as defined below), (2) Faneds (with whom I have trade agreements), (3) Creators of the comics (who bother to write me even once), and (4) Paying readers. Those in the last category who order too late to receive issue #4 will be among the first to receive #5. Sorry, no subscriptions can be accepted.

Only orders for the next issue will be honored.

The single copy price for A-E #4 is 50¢ in coins or stamps.

(No checks or money orders, please.) Collector’s copies mailed in a special envelope are 10¢ extra.

I regret to announce that A-E #1 and #2 are sold out. Perhaps at some future time I’ll reprint some of the more popular features “My Salad Days, When from these issues.

I Was Green In Judgment” Because of the huge volume of our mail, it is not possible for 2013 Editors’ Note: If this illo looks familiar, it’s because our first Roy Thomas or me to answer personally all the letters that we Best of volume contained Al Dellinges’ pen-and-ink redrawing of receive. We will acknowledge the more interesting and informaJerry Bails’ ditto-tracing of this Paul Reinman Green Lantern panel. tive letters, all specific trade offers, and contributions (as defined This time, we’re using Jerry’s pointing out the mistake he lettered into below); however, unsolicited materials (drawings, articles, comics, GL’s oath as an excuse to reprint the original Reinman/Bails fanzine etc.) can not be returned unless they are accompanied by sufficient art. Incidentally, the entire area of the lantern’s aura was colored return postage. green in A/E V1#3. Jerry’s GL article was reprinted in Best of, Vol. From now on, “On the Drawing Board” will be published (on roughly a monthly schedule) as a separate newsletter. The current 1, while the original 1961 fanzine also featured a recap of the hero’s origin by fan George Paul, which has not been reprinted in either volrelease (#5) is now available in return for a stamped, self[Green Lantern TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] ume. addressed envelope. Send your requests to me, not Roy. The next issue of The Comicollector (A-E’S companion zine devoted to swaps and sales announcements) will be ready soon. If you are not already entitled to a copy, you may order one for 20¢.

You are also welcome to advertise; the rate is $1.00 per quarter-page or fraction thereof. Free ad space can be arranged in return for the loan of pre-1948 costumed-hero comics at the rate of 40 words per comic. Send me a list of the comics (including issue numbers) that you are willing to loan. Remittance (cash or comic loan) should accompany a double-spaced copy of the ad as it is to appear.

A-E is published on an irregular schedule, which means that there’s no sense in asking me when you can expect the next issue. I just don’t know. I will get each issue ready as fast as I can, but it takes lots and lots of time, a commodity that I don’t have a great deal of. If you would like to see A-E published more regularly, volunteer for a job on the staff. I need good typists, artists, and proof-readers. I also need someone to help me with production and circulation; this has to be someone who lives in or about Detroit and can spend about one afternoon or evening each week with me in my basement office.

Anyone who materially assists me in publishing either of my fanzines, or who has material published in A-E, or who is specifically charged to gather information for me on past, present, or future events in the comics will be counted as a CONTRIBUTOR, on an issue-by-issue basis, and will be entitled to special privileges.

In closing, I would like to say that I am sorry that space limitations crowded out Roy Thomas’ excellent review of the new comic Magic Agent. It is, however, scheduled for issue #2 of The Comicollector.

Best regards, JERRY BAILS (Publishing Editor) 1710 Kenwood Dr. Inkster, Michigan

P.S.: The statement of Green Lantern’s “second” oath which accompanies the Paul Reinman illustration in this issue contains an error. “Blackest” should read “brightest.”

[2013 Editors’ Note: In the actual A/E V1#3, the above page came after, not before, the “Bestest League of America” segment which here follows it. Once again, please turn the book sideways to read the final mind-numbing BLA chapter.]

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From Alter-Ego #3: “Bestest League of America,” Part 3 – by Roy Thomas

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The Comicollector –“The Companion To Alter-Ego”

An Alter Ego Extra!

The Coming Of Comic Book Fandom’s First Adzine

Once Jerry Bails’ creative and entrepreneurial juices started flowing in early 1961, they just wouldn’t quit.

Having founded the first regularly published fanzine devoted to comic book costumed heroes, he quickly realized that many of the “for sale” and “wanted” ads for which he was selling and trading space in early issues of Alter-Ego were becoming dated while sitting around waiting for the next quarterly issue to be published. As he told Bill Schelly for the latter’s 1995 historical study The Golden Age of Comic Fandom: “My initial conception of Alter-Ego turned out to be unrealistic. I wanted well-researched articles and features, comic strips, news, and ads. Each of these features demanded different deadlines.” Besides, a timely “adzine” might even furnish him with a modest profit to help support his interests, which were turning more and more toward data-collecting.

Thus, with a cover date of September ‘61 (but clearly on sale in August—see next page), Bails launched The Comicollector (“The Companion to Alter-Ego”), the first comic book adzine—not that ads related to comic strips or related items would be turned away.

Below, from Schelly’s Comic Fandom Archive collection, is its very first spirit-duplicated page—which even managed to squeeze in its first paid ad!

Artis Gratis

By The Comicollector #2, Jerry had decided to add a few visuals to his new adzine, so that issue sported a Thomas cartoon featuring the Bestest League and the Thing—a nice full-page rendering of two JSAers by fan Raymond Miller (above)—and a cartoon by Robert Hopkins (below), a new English-teacher friend of Roy’s who would, a year or three later, write an article on Doc Savage for A/E #8. [Dr. Mid-Nite & Atom TM & © 2013 DC Comics; other cartoon © 2013 R. Hopkins.]

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2013 Editors’ Note: Since news of upcoming comics was every bit as time-sensitive as advertising, Jerry also transferred that A/E

department into The Comicollector—although, before long, it, too, would be spun off as a third Bails-founded fanzine. Here, from CC #1, is that issue’s:

On The Drawing Board

(Regular readers of Alter-Ego can now receive a free copy of

Green Lantern #10 will cover-feature “Prisoner of the Power Ring,” but I have no idea who the prisoner will be. The second feature, “Origin of GL’s Oath,” will explain how it came about that GL chose his particular oath when charging his power ring. Old fans know, of course, that this is the same oath that was taken by the first Emerald Crusader. However, knowing how Julie Schwartz likes to outdo himself, I don’t think that this story will bear any resemblance to “Flash of Two Worlds.”

Mystery in Space #72 again carries a double-length Adam Strange adventure. This time he is not only teleported to today’s Rann, but to the Rann of 100,000 years in the future.

Oh, yes, the title—”Multiple Menace Weapon!” What I want to know is how the JLA learned about Adam Strange when he’s always running off to Rann. If Adam were to show up on Earth in costume, he would surely be dubbed “The Starman.”

(Hint, hint, hint!)

In case you didn’t notice, Pep Comics #150 features a Jaguar story, and both Jaguar and Fly magazines are published 7 times a year.

Jaguar is not the only new hero to see the light of day recently. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have teamed up to give us The Fantastic Four, a new group of heroes created in one fell swoop by cosmic rays.

The four do, however, have different abilities, or should I say disabilities. There is Invisible Girl; her brother, Human Torch; her sweetheart and head of the group, Mr. Fantastic (a Plastic Man type); and last but not least, the lovable Thing. (Ugh!) The best letters of comment I receive about this new group will be published in Alter-Ego. I await your “I Think That response.

I Shall Never See…”

the Secret Code Chart by sending me a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. —J.G.B.)

Let’s have the good news first! Both Justice League of America and Green Lantern will soon be published 8 times a year, as predicted in Alter-Ego #2.

There is still no word yet on a Hawkman book, but an Aquaman book is on the drawing board. Let’s hope that editor Jack Schiff and writer Jack Miller will give us more imaginative plots and less imaginative fish now that the Sea King has 25 pages to swim around in.

The DC symbol will soon undergo its third change since I became a fan in 1940. The house of Superman and company has changed its name to National Periodical Publications, Inc. Nevertheless, DC will still be publishing comics.

Those of you who think that JLA #9 will serve to introduce the Junior Justice League have another guess coming. Instead it will feature the Jnqhf Bwbot Gjxuzbq.

I am only sorry that this story will have to be limited to 25 pages.

The third and last trial issue of the Atom (Showcase #36) will cover-feature “Prisoner of the Test Tube,” a foreign intrigue story. The second feature will introduce a somewhat different mind-over-matter thief in “The Disappearing Act Robberies.” Of course, I’m prejudiced, but I like the Atom (except for his stripped-down costume), and I hope he wins a book of his own.

Flash #125 will co-feature the Flash and Kid Flash in a fulllength novel in which a menace to the present can only be licked by Flash tackling a problem in the future as Kid Flash tackles a problem in the past. Personally, this is the way I like to see Kid Flash used. I don’t think that he is sufficiently different from his mentor to warrant a story of his own.

Flash #126 will have a double feature: “Doom of the Mirror-Flash” (a return bout with the Mirror Master, of course) and “Snare of the Headline Huntress.” This second story will be unusual in that we will briefly meet Bpo Eppw’ Dzmhaol Aluhxginbyl, as Flash has an interesting adventure with Jghr Cfklog Hahhwlpxxm Izwsjl.

2013 Editors’ Note: CC #1 came out some weeks before the third issue of Alter-Ego, which was

dated “Fall 1961.” The former sported ads from many prominent early fans and dealers: John McGeehan, Frank H. Nuessel, Charles Crumb, Red’s Book Shop, John Pierce, Ronn Foss, Paul Seydor, Dean Newman, Paul Zack, Roy Thomas, Jerry himself—and Robert Lindsay (one of Jerry’s ubiquitous “alter egos”).

In addition, that first issue contained a number of corrections to the comics index which had appeared in A/E #2—a plea from Jerry for help regarding data and information in various areas—a listing of the scheduled contents of A/E #3, which would “be ready in late fall”—a short list of A/E coming attractions (which included a never-to-materialize “psychological study of Superboy’s ‘Heart of Steel’ by Rick Wood, alias Frederick Norwood)”—and a review of a very recent comic book which Jerry had mentioned in “On the Drawing Board”: The Fantastic Four #1!

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2013 Editors’ Note: The first issue of The Comicollector contained no real artwork in its 20 pages—so we’re letting the cat out of the bag by printing the cover of Justice League of America #9, which featured “The Origin of the Justice League.” It didn’t prove to be a particular fan-favorite issue, though. Cover art by Mike Sekowsky & Murphy Anderson; repro’d from Justice League of America Archives, Vol. 2. [© 2013 DC Comics.]

An Alter Ego Extra!

Jerry Bails & Stan Lee – 1961

2013 Editors’ Note: Within a few days of picking up The Fantastic Four #1 (yes, the first issue officially had a “The” in the title) at a Missouri newsstand in late July or early August of 1961, new college grad Roy Thomas wrote a two-page review of it, intended for inclusion in Alter-Ego. However, Jerry (who may or may not have asked for the review) chose instead to include it in the first issue of The Comicollector, which, though dated Sept. ‘61, appeared in August. Roy’s review was reprinted in full in the previous Best of Alter Ego volume.

From the very beginning, Jerry had sent copies of each issue of his fanzines to every pro whose address he could get hold of, though whether he’d sent Timely editor Stan Lee anything prior to the release of FF #1 isn’t known. That company wouldn’t be called “Marvel” again till 1963; in fact, at this stage, Lee was using the stationery of the parent company, Magazine Management, which published numerous types of magazines besides comics. On Aug. 29, 1961, he sent Jerry the following letter, which is probably the first time Stan Lee had ever typed (or even heard) the name “Roy Thomas”:

Stan The Man & Roy The Boy— Together Again For The First Time!

2013 Editors’ Note: (Far Left:) The beginning of Roy Thomas’ two-page review (Stan Lee called it a “critique”) of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), from The Comicollector #1 (Sept. 1961), as retyped by Jerry Bails, who added an asterisked footnote mentioning that Lee “was formerly an editor of the Timely group of comics, which featured the original Human Torch.” Few readers of FF #1—and certainly not Roy—would have known that fact.

(Above:) Stan Lee in a 1960s photo; retrieved by Danny Fingeroth from the Stan Lee Archives at the University of Wyoming for his and Roy’s book The Stan Lee Universe (TwoMorrows, 2011).

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Amazing that by this time—only a few weeks after FF #1 had gone on sale—Lee had already decided to give the heroes costumes and to have artist Jack Kirby re-design the Johnny Storm Human Torch for its third issue—and of course, whether or not Stan Lee had yet made that decision in late August, #4 would re-introduce the Sub-Mariner! Apparently, numerous readers had bombarded him with their “requests” almost as soon as they’d read the first issue. Naturally, Roy would like to think that seeing those same points covered in print in his review may have nudged Stan along a bit, as well.

Below is Jerry’s reply, dated only two days after Stan’s letter; either first-class mail was startlingly fast between New York and Detroit in 1961, or else Jerry—who’d stamped Lee’s missive with the date “Sep 1 1961,” which was probably intended to indicate the day he’d received it—accidentally dated his own reply a day or so early:

Jerry’s response that Prince Namor would be welcome “as friend or foe (or both)” proved predictive. No one could’ve prophesied, though, that the new Amazing Adult Fantasy title, a year later, would metamorphose into the introductory vehicle for Spider-Man. It’s not known if Stan Lee sent Jerry home addresses of Timely staffers or freelancers; more likely, he may have invited Jerry to send copies to the office, where interested parties could pick them up. And no, Stan didn’t send Jerry the original art to FF #1 the way Julius Schwartz had mailed him full issues of Justice League of America. Too bad—’cause if he had, that artwork would be preserved today! Still, from the outset, the pros were clearly taking notice of Alter-Ego. The two letters, by the way, were retrieved from the Stan Lee Archives at the University of Wyoming (in Laramie) by Danny Fingeroth, for his and Roy’s 2011 TwoMorrows book The Stan Lee Universe, where they first appeared.

Gag Me With A Spoon!

2013 Editors’ Note: Roy’s Bestest League/Thing cartoon done for A/E but printed in Comicollector #2 (Jan. 1962) was included in the previous Best of A/E volume; he later contributed half a dozen additional cartoons to CC, five of which were utilized by Jerry Bails in #9 (Jan. 1963). Two of those featured—in a manner of speaking—members of the Fantastic Four. (Roy would revamp the Invisible Girl gag for Marvel’s Not Brand Echh #13, May 1969—and get paid for it that time!) Thanks to Mike Tuohey for retrieving the cartoons. [Cartoons © 2013 Roy Thomas] 47

Time –And The Comicollector–March On!

An Alter Ego Extra!

With issue #2 (dated “Jan. 1962,”

whether published then or in the preceding December), the masthead of The Comicollector announced a circulation of over 500 copies—while Alter-Ego #2 had reached at least 300 people, though #3 might have had a higher circulation.

The first page of CC #2 included a deadline schedule for issues #3 through #8 (the latter due for “December 1, 1962”—Bails was clearly thinking ahead!). By now, he was accepting, even encouraging, subscriptions to the bimonthly zine: 6 issues for the princely price of $1, with a single-copy price of 20¢.

Along with any slight income derived from CC, the adzine gave Jerry an additional stage from which to solicit information. For instance, page 2 of the second issue featured his “Wanted!” ad seeking (1) the fabric version of the original JJSA badge (which had replaced the metal badge due to wartime restrictions; (2) “any membership certificate of the JJSA picturing Mr. Terrific and Wildcat (1945)”; (3) original DC splash or cover art; and (4) information of which artists besides Arthur Peddy, Bernard Sachs, and Frank Giacoia may have contributed to the last ten Golden Age “Justice

It would seem that yet another comic company has followed

Society” stories. In exchange, he offered payment, generous trades, and/or advertising space in CC. He finished off that page by hawking for sale his own old ditto machine—”the one used on the first two issues of Alter-Ego”—for the munificent sum of $35. Eventually he apparently yook $25 for it, see note on p. 19.

A second (and, as it happened, final) review by Thomas, intended for a quarterly A/E, wound up in CC #2: a look at the American Comics Group’s Magic Agent #1, which wasn’t destined to meet with quite as much success as did Fantastic Four….

appears on the Schaffenberger cover.)

His origin, by the way—the second of the three stories in the magazine—is perhaps the weakest link in the magic agent chain. It seems that, in early 1944, some of the Germans knew that D-Day was coming and were going to move some forces from Transylvania to Normandy just in case that was where it would occur. To prevent this movement of Nazi troops, John Force—then just a normal top secret agent with an eye patch but no trench coat—was sent to Transylvania to stir up the underground there, thus making it necessary for the German troops to stay where they were to maintain order.

Captured by the Nazis (along with most of the underground) and imprisoned in the haunted Castle of Cagliostro, Force was awakened by four great “sorcerers of the past”— Cagliostro, Merlin, Nostradamus, and believe it or not, Houdini—and was

the lead of National Comics by throwing its own super-hero into the proverbial ring. Published by the American Comics Group (which previously has had few “regulars” except the “Spirit of Frankenstein” feature some years back in Adventures into the Unknown and the short-lived Atomic Sub mag), this new comic is not generally on a par with Justice League and The Fantastic Four, but it has some noteworthy aspects which will bear watching in future months.

Entitled Magic Agent (or, if you believe the cover, Calling John Force—Magic Agent), it concerns the adventures of “America’s top secret operative,” a character who would fit into that rare category of a super-hero without a distinctive costume.

Taking his cue (perhaps coincidentally) from the post-World War II character Radar, John Force is an otherwise normal human being with a number of psi powers. (Also, like Radar, he evidently wears a trench coat even in 100+ degree weather, even though he doesn’t have any clever device such as turning it inside-out to A Magic Gent change into a secret identity, not having one 2013 Editors’ Note: (Above) The title/byline and a to change into.)

Roy Thomas drawing (based on either the Kurt For added effect, our black-haired (or, on Schaffenberger cover or art from the Paul the cover, brown-haired) hero wears a patch Reinman/Pete Costanza interiors), from CC #2. Roy over one eye. How he acquired this patch is never figured out how to trace art from comic books not mentioned in the comic, but he has without leaving pencil lines or dents on the mags, so obviously worn it a long time, as he sports all his drawings for the fanzines were done freehand— it in the origin story, which takes place in as if you wouldn’t have noticed that! the latter part of World War II. (He was (Right:) The cover of Magic Agent #1 (Jan.-Feb. 1962), courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. This America’s top secret operative then, too, it art, of course, did not appear in CC #2. [© 2013 the seems, so he must be a lot older than he respective copyright holders.]

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given a psi power by each of them. The ghost of Nostradamus bestowed on Force the power of telepathy, Merlin gave him the power of creating mental illusions, Cagliostro presented him with hypnosis, and Harry Houdini gave him extra-sensory perception. Shades of Shazam! These powers are contained, it seems, in a golden medallion on which are carved four pillars, one for each psi power. Force has only to press a particular pillar and presto! he can exercise that power.

After using these new-found abilities to confound and defeat the Nazis in Transylvania (and incidentally to help make DDay a rousing success), Force was appointed by President Roosevelt as “first operative” of a new secret organization— the American Security Group, “composed of patriots sworn to use the exceptional powers which they possess in the service of their nation.”

The others in this group (at least the two shown in this issue) are more normal types—a strong-man and a master of disguises whose major task, however, seems to be to come to the rescue of their leader when he gets into trouble from which even his magic abilities cannot help him to escape. This idea of a “security group” has possibilities, however, especially if a few other members are introduced having some sort of super-powers.

Of particular interest are some of the uses to which John Force puts his supernatural talents in this first issue.

Summoned into action by the President (via a Marlboro-type tattoo on his wrist which lights up in times of danger), he reads minds and extra-sensory-perceives conversations to track down a stolen secret weapon. Chased at one point by three armed gangsters, he is cornered in an alley but escapes neatly by cre-

ating the illusion of a through street so that his pursuers crash into a brick wall.

Even better—though a bit gruesome by current comic-book standards—is his method of preventing the crooks from escaping with the weapon in a plane. From the ground he creates the super-illusion of a landing field so that they step out of the plane and fall to their deaths. Pretty clever, no? Unfortunately, the writer of this super-Mandrake stuff was stuck for an ending for the third adventure, so that this feat was duplicated. This time the crooks are fleeing in a submarine; frightened by the illusion of giant sea-monsters, they gladly surrender to the U.S. Navy.

All in all, though, this was a fair first issue. The gimmick of having everyone unaware of Force’s psi powers smacks of John Jones, Manhunter from Mars, before the coming of the JLA forced visibility upon him. Just the same, however, he does not seem much like a “secret operative,” as almost every villain he faces seems to have heard of him before.

At any rate, I think that John Force, Magic Agent will bear watching in the near future. Evidently the publishers at American Comics Group have faith in him and his magic amulet; they have started him out in life with an ambitious eight-times-a-year schedule. And he may well prove worthy of their faith if only they’ll drop the two 1-page written stories about Force, which come off pretty badly and are worthy of notice only because their last paragraphs average about one column in length.

OK, these are my opinions; now we at AlterEgo would like to hear yours. Or did you perchance buy Rogue instead?

Gag Me With A Spoon!

2013 Editors’ Note: Apparently Roy Thomas drew—probably directly on a ditto master by now—a page of five cartoons to accompany his handwritten want ad in CC #9 (Jan. 1963). Two of those cartoons were printed on p. 47; here are the rest, plus his handwritten ad from the same page. Roy would’ve preferred they go in Alter-Ego, but by autumn of 1962 Jerry had published his last issue of his flagship fanzine. [© 2013 Roy Thomas.]

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The Information Super-Hero Highway

The first page of CC #4, which features excerpts from informative letters (almost certainly sent to Alter-Ego) by fans Ron Haydock, Bill Thailing, Irving Glassman, and Ed Lahmann, indicates that it was delayed by a several-day hospital stay on Jerry’s part… but he didn’t let even illness slow him down for long. [© 2013 Estate of Jerry G. Bails.]

X Marks The Spot—Literally!

One final spirit-duplicator cartoon of Roy’s appeared not in Alter Ego or The Comicollector, but in the third fanzine originated by Jerry Bails: The Comic Reader, originally launched as a stand-alone version of “On the Drawing Board.” The gag in TCR #22 (Jan 1964) parodied The X-Men—and “adorned” a full-page forsale ad of Roy’s, besides plugging his and Grass Green’s “Bestest League/Frantic Four” story, which was slated to appear in Ronn Foss’ A/E #6 (and which was reprinted in Best of A/E, Vol. 1). [© 2013 Roy Thomas.]

Moving on from the ridiculous to the sublime—well, let’s let Bill Schelly tell it, as per his 1995 magnum opus The Golden Age of Comic Fandom:

Alter-Ego wasn’t finished sub-dividing. Timely news of “What’s on the Drawing Board” also didn’t fit into the schedule of an irregular article-zine, and so the OTDB feature gained an independent life with #4, dated October 7, 1961. The first few “issues” were merely one-page data sheets every few weeks; with #8, and the name change to The Comic Reader in March of the following year, it gradually grew into a multi-page fanzine… Jerry Bails was now editing and publishing three fanzines....

Jerry managed to put out The Comicollector (if not A/E itself, after the first three quarterly issues) on a fairly regular schedule— until, in mid-1962, he abruptly announced that he was turning the publishing/editing reins of Alter-Ego and CC over to a self-styled “Triad” consisting of fan-artists Ronn Foss, Richard “Grass” Green, and Ronn’s wife Myra, so that he himself could concentrate on his data-collecting activities. Although Ronn swiftly found himself putting out both magazines on his own, his visual orientation increased the artistic content of both fanzines—including co-plotting a clever parody, “Da Frantic Four,” which Grass Green drew for CC #8. (The latter tale was reprinted in the out-of-print Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #1 in 1999 and is still on view in the 2006 TwoMorrows trade paperback The Alter Ego Collection, Vol. 1).

As for The Comicollector, it was destined to change hands again—passing first, along with Alter Ego itself, to artist Biljo White, and soon winding up in the capable hands of fan G.B. Love, who merged it with his own comics/science-fiction fanzine Rocket’s Blast to create the long-running Rocket’s Blast/Comicollector, which thrived as one of fandom’s premier adzines from 1964 through 1981.

But meanwhile, in mid-1962, Jerry still had one final issue of his Alter Ego to put together….

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An Alter Ego Extra!

“Did Robin Want To Join Batman?”

MIKE TUOHEY On Being An Eyewitness–And A Helping Hand–To Comic Fandom History

2013 EDITORS’ INTRO: In the early 1960s, young Detroit comics fan Mike Tuohey became Jerry Bails’ first on-the-spot assistant and general aide-de-camp. Half a century later, we’re honored that he’s shared his fond memories at length for the first time ever.

I

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute!

What you can do or think you can—Begin it!

–Goethe.

t was in late April 1961 that Jerry Bails invited me to visit him at 14242 Dale, when I summoned the courage to call him after reading a letter from him which editor Julie Schwartz had printed in The Brave and the Bold (the second Hawkman try-out).

I wanted to see a copy of All-Star Comics, my mind aglow with the revelation that superheroes existed that I had never seen before.

Jerry said he was publishing a comic book fan magazine—“fanzine”—and he sent me an abbreviated copy (sans the BLA adventure) of Alter-Ego #1, which arrived May 1, 1961 (I wrote the date in pencil on the back cover), two days before my 13th birthday.

I’m pretty sure it was the following Saturday, May 6, when my mother drove me that first time from my own house in Detroit to the Dale Street address some five miles away, where I met Jerry Tuohey Can Play At That Game!

Bails and his mother.

(Left:) Mike Tuohey, probably a year or so before he assisted Jerry Bails in mailing Jerry was tall, slim, angular, and energetic, with out early copies of his fanzines. He’s holding Monogram’s 1/48-scale Space Taxi, brush-cut hair, sharp features, and clear blue eyes.

He was 26 years old, already a college professor of manufactured from a design by rocketeer Willy Ley in 1959.

(Right:) A photo of Mike at the 1997 Fandom Reunion Luncheon in Chicago, with Natural History at Monteith College, part of the original ditto master of the cover of Alter-Ego #3, which Jerry gave him in the Wayne State University in downtown Detroit. early 1960s—and which he gifted to Jerry’s widow Jean at the July 2011 San Diego The first thing I did was dig into some issues of Comic-Con. Mike writes, “It’s such a beautiful work. You can see Jerry’s pencil strokes, and how he used a softer reddish pencil to do the shading against the green All-Star Comics, and Jerry showed me his bound ditto ink backing.” Photos courtesy of Mike Tuohey. editions of issues 1-24 that he had obtained from Gardner Fox. I took home with me a copy of All-Star Comics #37, feaAlter-Ego’s basement publishing set-up was Jerry’s huge turing the story about the Injustice Gang of the World. But metal desk, file cabinets, a separate stand that held the typethat was only the beginning of the comic book wonders that writer from which came pages of Alter-Ego 1, 2, and 3, Jerry shared with me that day and in the visits that followed: Comicollector 1-6, as well as On the Drawing Board/The Fighting American and Captain Flash and Thrills of Comic Reader 1-25, The Index to All-Star Comics (both Tomorrow featuring Stuntman. original and revised), Secrets behind All-Star Comics, and

I rode my bike on Saturdays to work with Jerry and to read or return more of his old comic books (More Fun with the Spectre, Adventure with the Sandman, Pep Comics #17, Sub-Mariner #34) during that summer of 1961 after the trip doubled (11 miles one-way) when he moved Alter-Ego headquarters to the basement of 1700 Kenwood Drive in Inkster, Michigan, sometime in June.

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The Authoritative Index to DC Comics by Howard Keltner and Jerry.

There were other tables against the walls that held all manner of office supplies: a scale to weigh mail, postage stamps, sponges for wetting the postage (really beat licking hundreds of 3-cent stamps), staplers, manila envelopes, bulldog clips, carbon paper, and various reams of 8½” by 11”

paper—and, on its own small table, the heart of the operation: the spirit duplicator; the “ditto” machine.

Jerry showed me letters pages razor-cut from many DC comics after they had begun including full mailing addresses, and he was in the process of sending flyers about Alter-Ego to each of those addresses. He showed me how to fold the flyers in thirds and just tuck in the envelope flap so they cost the same to mail as a postcard, and I jumped into the task with enthusiasm. (Did Robin want to join Batman?) We filled out a 3x5 index card for each person with his or her address and what we had sent—i.e., flyer, OTDB #, A-E #1, etc.

In between the folding and the stamping and addressing of envelopes, Jerry showed me other fanzines, mostly science-fictionrelated—Xero and Sata, Comic Art—and correspondence from other comic book fans. I started sending away for those fanzines and began writing letters to other fans, as well.

Jerry was focused on doing everything he could to promote the success of DC comics, particularly Julie Schwartz’s titles, hoping for a revival of his favorite JSA characters. Jerry showed me the ideas that he had developed for a revival of the Atom, and some drawings that Larry Ivie had sent him with Larry’s own concept of the character. When we stopped at the drugstore to buy comic books after dropping stuff at the post office, he would purchase ten copies of Justice League of America.

The Heap Is On!

For The Comicollector #6, Mike Tuohey wrote an article on Hillman Periodicals’ Golden Age horror hero The Heap—even illustrating it in the style of later artist Ernest Schroeder, whose very name was then unknown to most fans. It’s produced on this page and the facing one. [Art © 2013

Alter-Ego #2 arrived at my house Mike Tuohey.] in the mail June 23, 1961 (again the date I penciled on the back), and it caught me somewhat by surprise. I had been hoping to help Jerry assemble and mail out that issue, but Jerry was producing at breakneck speed.

I introduced Jerry to The Fantastic Four in August that year. I bought it because it said “Human Torch” on the cover, although the flaming figure bore no resemblance to

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the Human Torch I had seen in Jerry’s collection. He said it must be published by the same company that had put out the earlier Human Torch.

Jerry had tremendous powers of concentration, and he took a good look at the Fantastic Four comic book. In fact, in everything I ever saw him do, then and years later, he seemed to give complete and scholarly attention to what was before him.

Even though both of us were back in school that fall of 1961, Jerry was set on getting OTDB (#6, Nov. 18th) out monthly and The Comicollector (2nd issue, Jan. 1961) out bimonthly, and I remember pages all over the tables in his basement when I arrived—and hours spent collating and stapling and making trips to the post office.

Jerry knew I was a Batman fan, even though the title, in my youthful opinion, had seriously deteriorated in the early ’60s, and gave me a copy of Batman #2 (missing the four centerfold pages and starting to crumble). I didn’t like having coverless or pages-missing comic books, but Jerry convinced me that, if the object was to read the adventures, any readable condition was acceptable. That view really conveyed Jerry’s love of comics to me, and I thank him for that to this day.

August 1961 also brought Jerry’s latest idea, the adzine, and the “companion to Alter-Ego”: The Comicollector #1 (which contained, by the way, a review of Fantastic Four #1

by Roy Thomas). Jerry told me that he wanted Alter-Ego to contain meaty articles on the Golden Age heroes and lengthy, fact-filled letters from other fans. He also did not want to be rushed into publishing an issue of A-E just because some ad might go out of date. In addition he was receiving art for the “Hall of Fame” series by Raymond Miller and articles (“Graham Crackers” by Ronnie Graham) that he thought should see print, but they weren’t all exactly what he wanted in Alter-Ego. I recall fondly helping assemble that first issue of The Comicollector: collating, aligning, stapling, folding, and addressing hundreds of copies.

On the Drawing Board (#4) split from Alter-Ego and The Comicollector into a more or less monthly newsletter beginning October 7, 1961, and self-addressed stamped envelopes started pouring in. October 28th brought OTDB #5 and more folding and stuffing of envelopes.

Alter-Ego #3 arrived in the mail on November 14, 1961, and again Jerry had gotten out an issue without me!

Although he generously listed me as one of the “Production Staff” that issue, it was really recognition for my help with The Comicollector and On the Drawing Board.

I believe I complained to Jerry that I didn’t have a “mint” copy of A-E #3, and he was sorry that the print run was gone and there wasn’t anything to be done about it.

However, he asked if I wanted any of the original masters from that issue, as he really didn’t know what to do with them. I picked out the masters with illustrations on them: the cover, back page, and two or three internal pages.

It seemed as if every time I got together with Jerry he had a new “technology” to show me, like running off gummed mailing labels on the ditto machine or a microfiche machine or photographing first issues of comic books.

March 1961 brought Comicollector #3 and the first Comic Reader (a.k.a. OTDB #8, March 18th) and more assembly.

Jerry mentioned to me that it was a good thing he wasn’t

Detroit Goes to Chicago

Mike Tuohey and Jerry Bails got together again at the Fandom Reunion Luncheon which Bill Schelly arranged in Chicago in 1997. The guy with his back to us is Joe Sarno, an active Chicago fan of the late 1960s. Thanks to Russ Maheras.

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involved in all this while he was in college, or he would never have finished his Ph.D. Jerry moved to 17645 Gaylord in May 1961, and he managed to hurt his back during the move. Even so, in the new headquarters in the basement at Gaylord (4½ miles from my house, making it easier for me to bicycle to), things really began to mushroom, including Jerry finally allowing me to work on the ditto masters myself.

Jerry was virtually exploding with new ideas and new projects. He had begun photographing first-issue covers, a huge undertaking by itself, and he was putting together monthly On the Drawing Board/The Comic Reader, one or two pages which he decided must be separated from Alter-Ego and The Comicollector because of the timeliness of the information. Jerry was also hard at work on his Index to All-Star Comics and, of course, Alter-Ego #4.

Plans for Jerry to transition his fanzine publications (with the exception of The Comic Reader) to other hands were taking shape, and he was working out details with Ronn Foss to take over Alter-Ego and The Comicollector.

Everything Old Is New Again

On July 23, 2011, at the “Meet and Greet” party held in conjunction with the “50th-anniversary of comics fandom” celebration at the San Diego ComicCon, Mike presented his pristine original copy of the March 1961 Alter-Ego #1 to Roy Thomas. That’s Xero publishers/editors Dick & Pat Lupoff in between the pair; veteran writer & editor Marv Wolfman can be seen behind the Lupoffs. Roy was joyfully astounded by Mike’s generosity. Still is. Photo by Jackie Estrada, organizer with Bill Schelly of the fandom event.

I mastered an illustration/tracing of the Spectre on an ad for Masquerader #1 in The Comicollector #6; I felt the page needed some kind of picture. After all, super-hero drawings were what it was all about. Jerry felt that it was paid advertising and that Mike Vosburg had not requested and probably shouldn’t have special attention like that, but I thought it looked cool, and Jerry agreed to let it stand. I desperately wanted to contribute to A-E, and since I couldn’t draw, I wrote an article based on one of the comic books Jerry lent me: “The Legend of the Heap.” Jerry let me type the article and master the illustration/tracing of the Heap for Comicollector #6.

For a time in 1962, I took over the mailing of On the Drawing Board (renamed The Comic Reader with issue #8, March 18, 1961), and fans began sending the self-addressed, stamped envelopes directly to me. I mailed out Comic Readers #11 (July 26, 1961), #12 (Aug. 20, 1962), and #13 (Nov. 8, 1962). I must say, I grew tired of the task fairly quickly, and Jerry re-assumed the mailing before passing it on to Glen Johnson with issue #26. I also handled the sales of some of his comic books (with the letters pages missing) and his first-issue photographs, which he had parceled into what we called “packets” and advertised in The Comic Reader.

Jerry told me about an idea he had for a super-hero, involving a fellow who goes to a female psychologist with a sleep deprivation problem. During the course of his therapy, under hypnosis, the psychiatrist finds out about this guy’s alter ego, a night-prowling mystery man who fights crime: a separate personality that the fellow is unaware of, except that he wakes each morning more exhausted than when he went to bed, with unexplained cuts and bruises. Jerry

explained that the female psychiatrist, who hesitates to reveal to the guy his other personality, for fear of further trauma, eventually becomes a love interest. I thought this an interesting twist, in which the girlfriend knows the secret identity while the hero does not.

Roy Thomas came to Detroit to visit Jerry sometime in 1962 or 1963, and we went to a showing of a couple of episodes of the old Batman serial at a local theatre. While I was always at ease with Jerry, I got the feeling Roy couldn’t wait for me to go home so that he and Jerry could spend time without a little kid around. I can’t really blame him. I was a little kid. I realize now that Jerry was a 28-year-old grown man and I was a 14-year-old boy, but Jerry always treated me as an equal.

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Jerry was a salesman, a teacher, a facilitator. In this one hobby of his, he was a shining example that the individual can make a difference; can nudge the universe to realign itself; can impact the world.

By passing along his projects, by involving everyone he found who had an interest in the same things, Jerry empowered them to uncover their own skills and allowed himself to dig into other aspects of this hobby that held fascination and rewards for him.

Jerry has been referred to as the “Father of Comic Book Fandom,” and what a good father does is enable his children to be productive. He gives them a chance to get involved and to make and share something that’s uniquely their own. To me, this was Jerry’s overwhelming contribution to comic book fandom.

An Alter Ego Extra!

Alter-Ego #4: Jerry Bails’ Photo-Offset Finale

By mid-1962, Jerry Bails was publishing three fanzines:

Alter Ego, The Comicollector, and The Comic Reader (formerly On the Drawing Board), the last one containing news of upcoming pro comics and developments in fandom. In TCR #12 (dated Aug. 20) Jerry made a momentous announcement: “Alter-Ego #4, which I hope will be my finest ... will be my last! Other demands upon my time make it impossible for me to continue as the publishing editor of Alter-Ego and The Comicollector.”

In his editorial “A Parting Shot,” the first item from that issue reprinted herein, Jerry explained developments in greater detail and named Ronn Foss of Suisun, California, as his successor on both fanzines. (Bails continued publishing The Comic Reader for another year.) When you read about the various projects Jerry wanted to pursue, all of them of importance to comics fans, one can understand why he decided to step down. But he was going out at the top, having decided to move on from spirit duplicator to the superior process of “photo offset,” which would not only allow much better reproduction (and the use of photographs and actual images from the comic books themselves) but would enable him to print an infinite number of copies, as opposed to the maximum of 250 to 300 that one could get from the best ditto master.

In his last issue as editor of A/E, Bails rounded up features from some of the most knowledgeable fans of the day.

The cover was signed by fan-artists Ronn Foss and Grass Green (who were close friends), but the printed artwork is entirely a Foss effort. In the early 1990s, Ronn elucidated:

Breakfast Serial

Future editor/publisher Ronn Foss got into the spirit of his new situation by delivering several nicely shaded drawings for Ron Haydock’s piece on the 1943 Batman movie serial from Columbia. Above is his title drawing. [Batman & Robin TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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“Jerry was running a ‘draw Alley Oop’ contest and had selected my drawing as the winner. Then he asked me to do a cover to match.

It needed more than the same Alley Oop figure.

Grass sketched a cover with various comic book heroes in stars alongside. While I did the actual artwork, I wanted to acknowledge Grass’ layout, and also to bring him to the attention of fandom in [Alley Oop TM & © 2013 UFS, Inc.; The a big way. Jerry told Fly TM & © Archie Comic Publications, me he was going photo Inc.; Human Torch TM & © 2013 Marvel offset and printing 1,000 Characters, Inc.; other heroes TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] copies.”

For their 50¢, readers got an excellent 34-page fanzine. In Volume 1, we reprinted “MLJ Leads the Way” by Howard Keltner (which would win an Alley Award for 1962), the report on the 1961 Alley Awards by Roy Thomas, a letter from veteran pro artist Paul Reinman, and an iconic Jack Kirby drawing of the Thing holding up a sign that proclaimed: “Buy Alter-Ego—or else!” This time, we offer two more excellent items by top fan writers.

The first is “The Superman before the Time of Superman…..

‘Maximo,’” an article on one of the very few original characters created for the Big Little Book format. In later life, Ed was a member of Mensa International, which probably explains his attraction to a hero who used his super-mental powers to achieve great feats; but see the note beneath the BLB art spot on p. 58 for a major correction to his article.

The second is L. L. Simpson’s “Hall of Infamy” column about two of the nastiest villains of the Golden Age of Comics: The Claw and Iron Jaw (he spells it “Ironjaw”) from Silver Streak Comics and Daredevil Battles Hitler. The two illustrations are “swiped by the editor,” by Bails’ own admission; his odd signature may be meant as the initials of “Robert Lindsay,” one of the pseudonyms he used over the years in letters to comics editors. Few realize that Jerry possessed a certain amount of art talent and could ably handle an ink pen and brush.

In retrospect, it’s odd to think that Jerry Bails, who conceived Alter-Ego, only published and edited four issues, over a period of roughly 21 months in 1961 and 1962. On the other hand, his vision for the magazine was so powerful that it inspired others to pick up the torch and continue it, while he turned his attention to the project that became his life’s work in the medium: the Who’s Who of American Comic Books.

From Alter-Ego #4:

As most of you know

A Parting Shot (An Editorial)

by now, this issue is my last as publisher and editor of AlterEgo. Ronn Foss is succeeding me; he and his cohorts in California already have the next issue in The issue’s contents page illo was provided by Harry Thomas (no relation to Roy). [Green Lantern & Flash TM & © the works. I know a 2013 DC Comics.] bit about what they are planning, and I am truly excited about the articles, features, It would be worth your time to send me a list of the titles you stories, and art that will appear on the pages of this fanzine. are willing to loan me. (Caution: I can only use mint covers.)

You can bet that Alter-Ego will continue to set the pace, featurThere is still another project that I need time to work on. I ing fandom’s top artists and writers in a high-quality bimontham engaged in collecting data on artists and writers, and all ly publication. Yes, I said “bimonthly,” and I advise you to costumed-hero comics published before 1948. With a big assist subscribe now if you don’t want to miss an issue. (See page 3 from Howard Keltner I hope to publish a big index to DC titles for details.) before too long. Interested?

Some of you may wonder why I am retiring as the publishAnd then, of course, I’d like to have more time to contribute ing editor of a successful fanzine (the print run for this issue: to many of the new fanzines on comics that have recently hit 1000). The answer is simple; I’ve got dozens of other fannish my mailbox. (Do you know that at this writing I’ve received projects that I need time to work on. For one thing, I’ve got no less than 6 such fanzines? A year ago Alter-Ego had no nearly one hundred rare comics from the forties that I purcompetition in this field.) All of these new zines have somechased in the last year and which I haven’t had time to read thing of interest; many have original ideas; some have excelyet, and I anticipate many more as I continue to build my collent art; a few have good stories; and at least one has mastered lection of early super-doers. Dealers and collectors please note: the ditto machine. While encouraging them all to set their ediI always have money for items on my want list (predominantly torial standards higher and strive for better reproduction, I pre-1948 DC comics but also many non-DCs featuring superwish all six of these faneds and any others who enter the field doer origins and cross-overs). the very success I have enjoyed—the support of fandom. (For Another reason I need time—I want to complete my project plugs see page 22.) of photographing the covers of the first issues of all comics Let me take this opportunity to thank all of my friends in magazines published before 1948. (Over 100 photographed so fandom for their encouragement, contributions, and kind comfar.) I can still use a lot of help on this project. I offer free ments. I would like very much to receive a letter of comment advertising space in The Comic Reader (which I will still pubfrom each and every reader of this issue (no matter when it lish), original JLA art by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, may be written). The best letters will be forwarded to Ronn for or enlargements of your favorite comic prints for the loan of publication. first issues that I need. For that matter, I’m looking for any issues that introduce a new costumed hero as the cover-feature.

Jerry G. Bails

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

ALTER-EGO proudly presents its imitators: MASQUERADER (Mike Vosburg, 3040 Avalon, Pontiac, Michigan) THE COMIC FAN (Buddy Saunders, 1605 Joyce, Arlington 2, Texas) COMIC HEROES REVISITED (Bernie Bubnis Jr., 65 Walnut Ave., East Farmington, New York) SPOTLITE (Parley Holman, 3715 S. 3100 East, Salt Lake City 9, Utah) KOMIX ILLUSTRATED (Billy J. White, 407 Sandra, Columbia, Missouri) HEADLINE (Steve Gerber, 7014 Roberts Ct., University City 30, Missouri) FAN TO FAN (Robert Butts, 719 Pierce St., South Bend, Indiana) COMIC HEROES UNLIMITED (G.B. Love, 9875 S.W. 212 St., Miami 57, Florida) THE COMIX (John Wright, P.O. Box 1277, Port Elizabeth, South Africa) THE COMIC WORLD (Robert Jennings, 3819 Chambers Dr., Nashville 11,Tennessee) SUPER-HERO (Mike Tuohey, 16857 Sunderland, Detroit 19, Michigan)

For information about any of these comic fanzines, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the fan publisher.

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From Alter-Ego #4:

Before I go into the story of Maximo, the amazing superman, let

with Erwin L. Hess taking over the art in the second story. Fig. 1 me first tell about the type of book he appeared in, the Big Little depicts our hero as he was done Book. The Big Little Books were published at Racine, by Henry E. Vallely. Vallely was Wisconsin, by the Whitman Publishing Company. These books very adept at using simple lines were about three and three-fourths inches wide by four and oneto illustrate his ideas. This is a half inches high, and held about four hundred and thirty pages of very difficult technique and not alternating story and art, with credits, contents page and three or nearly as easy as it looks. Vallely four pages of ads also included. The Big Little Books were the also did several other Better Little true forerunners of the present day comic book. They made their Books, among which was the appearance in the early thirties and reached their peak about 1939 Lone Ranger.

I personally liked and 1940. By this time these books were now called the Better his artwork.

It was light and Little Books and some of them even contained pictures that breezy and very easy to look at. I would move when the pages were flipped rapidly. Certain variwill go into Erwin Hess’ style and ants of the Better Little Book contained pictures with word balinterpretation of Maximo a little loons in true comic-book style, although all that I have seen were To The Max! later, as I now want to tell how in black and white. I still have the first Big Little Book I even 2013 Editors’ Note: Ed the story of our hero started. Mr. received. The title is Billy the Kid, and it has some very beautiful Lahmann’s 1962 drawing of Hess and his efforts belong to artwork by Hal Arbo of the W Lazy 5 Ranch. The story was by Maximo, based on artwork by another story. I will say this much Henry E. Vallely. [Art © 2013 Leon Morgan. This book was copyrighted 1936. Most of the Big of Mr. Hess, his style was very estate of Ed Lahmann.]

Little Books contained features from the newspaper comic strips different from that of Mr. Vallely. but several original features appeared also, especially westerns.

Our story begins on a rustic country lane where the only traces This then brings us to the feature I would like to tell of here, of civilization are a railroad crossing, the distant sound of a train, Maximo, the amazing superman. and an onrushing automobile. The car being driven by a young The best way I think to introduce you to Maximo is to repeat woman charges ahead as if it were a wild beast loosed upon the here the prologue that appeared before his story in both Better serenity about it. The ever-moving obstacle of the train seems as Little Books in which he appeared. the protector of the peace and in its course will blot out this “WHAT IS A SUPERMAN?......... A superman is a human usurper. The timing is perfect, the result is there transfixed, nothbeing who has greater powers than the normal person—physical, ing can stop what is about to happen. mental, or possibly supernatural. From ancient times the idea of a Maximo Miller, out for a brisk walk and dressed as a matter of superman has fascinated people, capturing the imagination. fact in his hiking togs, also happens to be in this same road and is Hercules was a superman capable of great feats of strength. The witness to the events taking place. He shouts, nobody hears. He knights of King Arthur were supermen of a kind, and so were signals, nobody sees. Maximo steels himself for this coming Robin Hood and Richard the Lion-Hearted. Legends of every age crash. His mind is straining, saying, and every land tell of supermen, who stop!

Every fiber of his body is on fire. had great power and led charmed lives.

He puts his hand before his eyes and The great superman of American stories then a sharp pain in his head, a snap is Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack, somewhere inside his brain, and a feelwhose deeds were marvelous in the ing of great exhilaration comes over extreme. The hero of this story, Maximo him.

He looks up and the train is passMiller, is a new kind of superman. He is ing.

When it has cleared the crossing he gifted with a superbrain which he learns sees something that is most unbelievhow to use to do things which no other able. The car is hanging suspended in man can do. And that makes the tale.” the air about three feet above the This is the prologue as it appeared. ground, its wheels spinning and smoke Now, into my recollection of Maximo, pouring from the exhaust. Then a feelthe amazing superman….

The Collegian And The Crook ing of relaxation comes over Maximo The story of Maximo was authored 2013 Editors’ Note: Prof. Arvid and Watts Garvin, as reand the car settles to the earth. As the

by R.R. Winterbotham and the art was rendered by Ed Lahman for A/E #4. [Art © 2013 estate of car touches the wheels bite in and it

by Henry E. Vallely in the first story, Ed Lahmann.]

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lurches forward. The girl brings it to was the best for Maximo. Of course, an abrupt halt as Maximo runs over this is just my opinion in the matter. to her. This is Maximo’s first Now let us get into the second encounter with his most unique story of Maximo just a bit to gain power. some idea as to what it was about.

We now find our hero in the home Our story starts over the collapse of a of Prof. Arvid of Curfman College, dam. The dam collapsed because of the father of the girl Ella Arvid, so the neglect of its builder, one Big Little Boo-Boo miraculously saved. The Prof. quesThaddeus Steinwick, a brilliant but Editors’ Note: (Left to right:) The covers of the three warped genius. Maximo saves his 2013 tions Maximo as to his history and Maximo Big Little Books from Whitman: Maximo the other facts. He also has Maximo try town from the flooding waters by Amazing Superman (1940), Maximo and the Crystals of his new-found power, and practice diverting them into a nearby valley Doom (1941), and Maximo the Amazing Superman and the with it until the power is in complete by use of his mental powers.

Supermachine (1941). Art by Henry A. Vallely and Erwin control. Ella, being excited over the Steinwick sees Maximo’s feat and L. Hess, as noted in the text. As reader Richard Kyle pointevents that have just come about, lets sets out to tap his brain power to be ed out in a letter that would be printed in A/E #5, Ed it slip at work the next day what has converted into a mechanical device to Lahmann made one basic error in his article, in that the taken place to one of her girl friends be used later to bring power to himMaximo material all came out a couple of years after the and the adventures begin. The girl self. He succeeds in his efforts and as 1938 debut of “Superman” in Action Comics #1, not before—and was apparently Whitman’s way of utilizing the friend is a foil for Watts Garvin, a a result Maximo is just about brought petty tyrant with ambitions of becom- word “superman” without infringing on National/DC’s to his doom. I will reflect a little upon ing an overlord of organized crime. Of trademark. The BLB images appeared in the excellent the struggle between Maximo and the Overstreet tome The Big Big Little Book Book (2004), but course he wants the secret power Supermachine but this story should not in A/E #4. [Art © 2013 Whitman Publishing or its successors be read to be fully appreciated.

Maximo has but he doesn’t know the in interest.] power is in Maximo’s brain. I don’t Steinwick was using an old mill to want to retell the whole story, as that is not my idea, but merely hide his machine and was getting his power from a nearby to reflect upon it. Maximo in his conflict with Garvin becomes stream. Steinwick threatened to use his machine to send out a involved in many situations that would indeed call for a super death ray unless paid an exorbitant tribute. He gave surrounding brain. Winterbotham was very good at hanging our hero on a cliff communities a few samples of his power, and this was where and just as adept at getting him off. The explanations were very Maximo stepped in. Steinwick thought he was safe because his scientific and of the highest order. He had Maximo lost in the machine created a force field surrounding the old mill, but bowels of the Earth but sent him to the surface in a geyser. The Maximo, being equal in power to the machine, managed to slip explanation as to how it was done would have to be read to be by the force filed to confront truly appreciated. In Figs. 2 and 3 Steinwick. Steinwick at once we see Prof. Arvid and Garvin as turned all the power of his rendered by Henry E. Vallely. machine on Maximo; thus, Needless to say, Watts Garvin the death ray which threatand his cohorts received their just ened surrounding communidesserts and as always everything ties was cancelled. Maximo ends well. This then brings us to was able to stand the assault the second of the stories involving for awhile, but being a man Maximo: Maximo the Amazing and not a machine, he finally Superman and the Supermachine. began to wear down and was Before going into this tale let me brought to his knees. On the tell now of Erwin L. Hess, the secverge of defeat, he got an ond of the two artists to do inspiration. He relaxed his Maximo. Mr. Hess had a bold defense slightly and concenU-Hess-A style, very somber and foreboding, trated on the stream outside.

2013 Editors’ Note: with much shading and heavy The stream was diverted and Lahmann’s approximation of black areas. He also drew the the machine was short2013 Editors’ Note: Ed Lahmann Maximo as drawn by Edwin Shadow in the medium of the circuited, and Maximo was in 1964, holding a copy of the H. Hess. [© 2013 Estate of Ed Better Little Book and his style of triumphant. Of course, comics feature “Cyclops,” which Lahmann.] drawing lent itself well to this strip.

Steinwick was put away and he wrote and drew for the Texas Mr. Hess also drew Gangbusters in the machine was destroyed.

Trio’s ama-comics fanzine Starthe old Popular Comics as well as the Black Knight in the old Maximo was a very origiStudded Comics. Photo not from Funnies, both Dell magazines. An example of his interpretation nal effort and the writing of A/E #4. Courtesy of Bill Schelly. of Maximo is shown in Fig. 4. As you can see there is quite a difR.R. Winterbotham was truly ference between his style and that of Henry Vallely. I think Mr. inspired. This was one of the very brightest flashes Hess did the best job on the Shadow that has ever been done in the history of the Big Little Books before their excepting maybe the work of Powell Roberts [2013 Editors’ light finally flickered and went out. The new King Note: Lahmann meant Robert Powell], but I think Vallely’s style was the comic book.

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From Alter-Ego #4:

Hall Of Infamy

by L.L. Simpson

Welcome, fellow lovers of villainy, to the cob-webbed

Huge in size—he made King Kong seem like a schoolboy—the Claw was oriental in appearance with slanted eyes, yellow skin, heavy bushy eyebrows, fanglike teeth, and long slender (claw-like) fingers. He usually wore a black skullcap and red robe. Soon after landing on Earth he learned that he could control his growth; he could become mountain-sized, man-sized, or mouse-sized, and all within seconds. But this was the least of his powers; his greatest power lay in his cruel, brilliant mind. With science unknown to Earthmen, he could design awesome war machines and produce deadly gases. Naturally, with powers like these, he set his eyes on global conquest.

His first step was to enslave local natives with a maddream machine. By a process known as “acclimation,” the natives became addicted to the ecstatic dreams induced by the machine. Only by loyally serving the Claw could the subjects be assured of blissful sleep. The disloyal suffered the torments of agonizing nightmares.

With his slave army, the Claw built a large war base and set out to conquer America, a feat which he obviously never accomplished. One of the least prepared of all nations for war (at that time), the U.S.A. had mighty industries and huge natural resources that the Claw wanted to control. He attempted to hypnotize America’s leaders, he immobilized great cities with sleeping gas fogs, and he tunneled into Alcatraz to recruit the convicts, all in an attempt to conquer America; but always he failed.

Always, men and women of skill and courage appeared to smash his evil schemes.

One of these heroes was a young fellow in a colorful black and scarlet costume named Daredevil! Daredevil fought the Claw many times, always winning each battle (naturally). Daredevil even won a feature-strip of his own and then turned his attention to other villains. From that point on, the Claw’s own strip became a secondary feature, and in the mid-forties, the Claw was finally assassinated (Daredevil #32). In the late forties, however, the Claw showed signs of new life. He attempted a comeback—this time in Rocky X (a secondary feature in Boy Comics). He attacked Earth with a fleet of rocketships, but again he failed, and once again he was dropped from the comics.

corridors of my memory, where lurk the greatest evildoers ever to spice up the pages of a comic book. I speak not of today’s weak-sister villains, but of the colossal super-criminals of yesteryear, who would steal pennies from a blind man or commit murder with equal ease. I have in mind such notorious fellows as the original Two-Face, the Toyman, the Hun, Sivana, Capt. Nazi, the Brain Wave, the Red Skull, Solomon Grundy, and two others I’d like to recall for you—The Claw and Ironjaw. These two master villains were both the special creations of Comic House, who published Silver Streak, Daredevil, and Boy Comics.

The Claw was one of the few villains to star in his own feature-strip. He was even cover-featured on the very first issue of Silver Streak Comics (December, 1939). He was also featured in Daredevil Comics and a special oneshot, Daredevil Battles Hitler (July, 1941). According to a later retelling of his origin, the Claw came to Earth from a distant planet and set up a base of operations in the mountains of Tibet. (Originally, it was the island of Ricca in the mid-Pacific.) In any case, he was one of the first space creatures to descend upon comicdom with evil aims.

2013 Editors’ Note: The Claw, as rendered by Jerry Bails. Maybe the initials represent “Robert Lindsay” or another of his many pseudonyms. [Claw TM & © 2013 the respective copyright holders.]

In the fantastic world of the comics, the Earth can match Space evil for evil, and even the evil Claw had his earthly counterpart. This was Ironjaw—arrogant, cruel, and completely evil. In appearance, he was a hulking giant with a blond crewcut, hard pig-like eyes, coarse evil features, and an ugly metal jaw. The metal jaw 59

replaced the real one he lost in a grenade blast in World War I. During that war, Ironjaw, then a sergeant in the German army, met and became friends with a young private, a former housepainter named Hitler.

When Hitler formed a hard-fisted, gangster-like political group, Ironjaw became his chief bully.

With their cunning, brutal tactics, the Nazi Party came into power in Germany. As Der Fuehrer of Germany, Hitler turned greedy eyes upon neighboring countries, and Ironjaw became his top agent, super-spy, and saboteur.

Finally, in 1941, Ironjaw came to America. His first task in America was to silence a man named Chandler who was speaking out against the atrocities of Nazi Germany. When Chandler shrugged off threats, Ironjaw shot him before a radio audience, then followed his victim to a hospital where, disguised as a doctor, he finished his grisly job on an operating table.

Chandler’s teenaged son, Chuck, was playing hockey when he learned of his father’s plight. Still wearing his bright red hockey-suit and a blue cape, the youth hurriedly left the game to be with his father in the hospital.

He arrived too late. Immediately the youth caught a plane bound for Lisbon. Ironjaw, aware of the boy’s movements, realized that Chuck was trying to reach his unsuspecting mother in Europe. The master villain sent orders to Nazi agents in Lisbon: “Get the boy!” But the agents were unprepared for the boy and his unusual athletic skill and determination, and he escaped. The youth found his mother and they booked passage on the first ship for America. Ironjaw feared that Chuck, with his mother’s help, would continue in his father’s footsteps.

A wolfpack of subs was ordered out. The submarines soon sank the ship. Although Chuck was able to save his injured mother from drowning, a sub machine-gunned the helpless couple, leaving Chuck the sole survivor.

Young Chandler swore revenge, and it was in this way that Ironjaw created his own nemesis. Retaining his red hockey-suit and blue cape as a costume, the youth became Crimebuster, and relentlessly he tracked down the brutal master spy. (The origin of Crimebuster appeared in the April 1941 issue of Boy Comics and was reprinted in the October 1946 issue.)

For years, whether Ironjaw sought to kidnap an American scientist, sabotage an important factory, or murder a key military man, he saw his most vicious plans wrecked by the hero he created. Finally, in the middle forties, Ironjaw “died” after one last climactic battle.

In the late forties, like the Claw and many another comicdom villain, Ironjaw returned from the dead—this time as a communist. As before, he and Crimebuster— now a young man—met head-on. In the beginning, he did much better than the Claw; his comeback battles

2013 Editors’ Note: Ironjaw (often spelled “Iron Jaw”)—another Bails illo. [Ironjaw TM & © 2013 the respective copyright holders.]

with CB lasted for almost two years, but in the end, he suffered a far more bitter fate—he became the comic stooge for a half-witted gang of crooks in a non-amusing comic strip called “Sniffer and His Deadly Dozen.” A more cruel fate a villain never suffered. It shouldn’t happen to a dog.

Well, there you have it—a portrait of two of my favorite evil-doers of yesteryear. Unfortunately, as long as the Comics Code Authority rules the comic books, these great arch-villains will never be revived to their former glory. I guess they will just have to remain in my own private Hall of Infamy.

60

2013 Editors’ Note: L.L. Simpson was one of the older, long-time comics fans who came out of the woodwork to answer Jerry Bails’ clarion call in 1961. The Tyler, Texas, resident had a sizable collection of Golden Age comic books and wrote a number of articles for early fanzines, including AlterEgo. He was also an inveterate writer to the letter columns of the day.

An Alter Ego Extra!

Alter Ego # 5-6: The Ronn Foss Issues

When Jerry Bails announced his retirement as editor of Alter-

cle “The JLA – Overcrowded?” by “F. T. Frost,” who was actually Drury Moroz.

Since he and Ronn were “auditioning” for the editor of the Justice League of America with their Eclipse strip, Moroz was wary of 2013 Editors’ Note: Ronn Foss (left) and offending Julie Schwartz, and so used a Grass Green in the 1960s. As noted on p.

50, Green briefly planned to be Ronn’s pseudonym. partner in A/E. Photos courtesy of Bill Alter Ego #5 was Schelly. published in March 1963. Despite Ronn’s promise of a bimonthly fanzine, his second issue at the helm appeared a full year later, having grown larger both in dimensions (7” x 10”) and page count (40). #6 headlined the cover-featured interview with Joe Kubert and “The Bestest League of America Meets ... Da Frantic Four” comic story by Roy Thomas and Grass Green, both included in Best of, V1, along with Tom Fagan’s fanfiction “Warlock,” Bruce Pelz’s photo-feature “JSA at SF Con,” and excerpts from the “Readers Write” letters page.

In this volume, we offer four more stellar items from #6: Ronn’s editorial (“Growing Wonder”), Irving Glassman’s “The Super IBM Machine” with art by Ken Tesar, Jerry Bails’ 1962 Alley Award report (although, for the actual list of winners, you’ll have to see Best of, Vol. 1), and “Schwartzian Epic” by X. I. Brrz, Ph.D. (who also answered to the initials “R. T.”) All in all, Ronn did himself and fandom’s flagship fanzine proud with his pair of fine issues. But, having experienced his own version of fan burn-out, Foss then felt it was necessary to hand off the magazine to yet another editor, this time to—well, that’s a story told at greater length on pages 87-89.

Ego and The Comicollector in The Comic Reader #12, he wrote, “Rather than let these popular fanzines die the death of most amateur efforts, I am passing the reins on to another fan ... whose interest, talent, and capacities offer the greatest promise.” That fan was Ronn Foss.

In that TCR issue, Ronn told how he inherited the mantle of the two magazines: “On June 3rd [1962] I wrote Jerry Bails of my interest in zine publishing. I mentioned some of my ideas and aspirations. He wrote back that he was looking for someone to assume publication of A-E and CC. By late June, it was decided.”

Foss had already contributed to several fanzines by this time, and Jerry had recruited him to do the cover of A/E #4.

Later, Foss added, “Jerry was frankly impressed by my enthusiasm, interest, and energy. Somewhere he said something to the effect that it almost takes an artist to be an editor, to know how to make the most out of the overall appearance of a fanzine.” As it turned out, Ronn was an excellent choice. He produced two superb issues that presented high-quality features with a great deal of visual flair. Ronn created a new, improved Alter Ego logo (dropping the hyphen in the process) that was used through issue #9, and later formed the basis of the one still utilized today.

Ronn looked for a more professional package that could be printed economically. He arrived at a 7”x 8½” size for Alter Ego #5, made up of 9 legal-size sheets of paper folded over and stapled.

Alter Ego’s first four-color cover featured The Eclipse, a hero he had created with writer Drury Moroz, a 28-year-old prison guard at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. Their “Master of the Midnight Hours” was a variation on DC’s Dr. Mid-Nite, one of the members of the Justice Society of America who had yet to be revived. Foss and Moroz hoped DC editor Julius Schwartz would see their potential and possibly offer pro assignments. Indeed, this 10-page origin story is one of the finest amateur comic strips to be published in the 1960s, and we are happy to reprint it here in full.

Ed Lahmann of Indianapolis returned with “So—You Want to Collect Comics?,” a guide for fans who had the desire (and cash) to build up their own collection of Golden Age comic books. That feature was included in Vol. 1, along with “Portrait of a Collector” (Biljo White) by his wife Ruthie, “SERIALously Speaking” by Ron Haydock, and selections from the “Readers Write” letter column.

This volume reprints two articles with a distinctly fannish bent. “The Mystery of Fandom” by Stan Woolston was reprinted in A/E #5 from Escape #1, a low-circulation science-fiction fanzine published by Ron Haydock and his pal Larry Byrd. The article may seem quaint today, but its description of the various ways fans can participate in fandom was highly appropriate at the time, advising against such mistakes as taking on too many projects.

Jerry Bails learned to pass many of his projects to others in order to avoid “fan burn-out.” Yet the visionary Bails continued coming up with new ideas and outlined many of them in #5’s guest editorial, “The Future Cover of Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #5 (Winter of Fandom—Unlimited!”

1962-63). [Ronn Foss Eclipse art © 2013 Also on hand are a pin-up of the Bestest League of Bill Schelly.]

America by a certain rascally writer/artist, and the arti61

Cover of Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #6 (Winter 1963-64.) [Tor art & photo from 1,000,000 Years Ago #1 (Sept.

1953) © 2013 Joe Kubert. ]

From Alter Ego #5:

I

At any rate, within this world of Alter ’m here to welcome you to the pages Ego, you will find not only currently of this issue of Alter Ego; your world popular comic book heroes, but also and mine. By your, I mean just that. those of the Silver Screen (no relation to Your interest and enthusiasm is what TV) and books other than the seriokeeps Comic Hero fandom (pro as well comic. By simply glancing at the opposas amateur) alive and flourishing. ing page or leafing through this issue, Certainly, without the combined popular you’ll understand far better than I could demand of everyone concerned with explain, so I’ll not preview more. adventure heroes, there would be none.

My point is that Alter Ego is your Someone somewhere sometime ago (I magazine—by many of you, for all of won’t say who for fear of being contestyou. If you like what you see, let me ed, and the point, per se, is relatively know. If you don’t see what you like, insignificant) conceived a fictitious hero then you’re reading the wrong zine, or and/or heroine, which has evolved into I’ve failed somewhere along the line— what we know today as the excitement by all means, let me know, too. In order A Photo-Offset Baton of adventure characters, sometimes to achieve the finest possible publication apparently unlimited as we mortals are, 2013 Editors’ Note: The photo of Ronn Foss that accompanied his first editorial was reprinted in our with the best efforts there are to be but nonetheless they never cease to amaze us and stir our spirit. Perhaps it first Best of volume. The above pic, not from A/E #5, found among fandom, I respectfully represents a symbolic “passing of the [Alter-Ego] request that you write the individual has always been the heritage of man to torch” from Jerry (at left) to Ronn. Although the dream of what he doesn’t ordinarily do, photo is dated “1964,” it may well have been taken directly whose particular work you like; tho I too want to hear your views of the but would perhaps like to—danger, some time earlier, as Ronn is holding a copy of material contained herein, for the purthrills, action … and anything and Jerry’s A/E #4, which was published for the fall of pose of retaining the contributors you everything the mind can imagine. If so, ’62. Apparently, the hyphen in Jerry’s original fanzine title fell off while JGB was handing it Ronn! prefer. Following each article is the then we are part of this heritage. As address of its author or artist—by correPhoto courtesy of Bill Schelly. active fans of adventure, it is not only sponding with him directly, he will get our privilege, but I feel, our responsibilithe full benefit of your appreciation for his work… or your (I ty to maintain this undefineable drive and determination hope) considered criticism. Most assuredly, I want your overtoward more and better adventure heroes… further exploration all opinion of AE; what you like best—and least. As is the and explanation of its wondrous history, and most important, policy with most fanzines, those letters of interest to all readcontinued exposure in the future. ers will be printed in the following issue.

Perhaps at this point I’d best stop and offer the specific defiAlthough this issue has taken more time than was scheduled nition of Alter Ego’s repertoire. and is consequently late, I am pleased to be able to announce As the title implies, the pages contained herein deal with that AE-6 will be early. At this writing, I have over half the individuals of dual-identities. Whereas this generally infers a total material on hand. The next issue will be dated June, but mask being involved, this mask isn’t necessarily always matewill in all probability be in the mails late April or early May. rial or physical. In fact, a character needn’t even have two Here’s to many more to come. personalities to gain interest from readers. (Example: Very Sincerely, Aquaman, Blackhawk, Fantastic Four.) In the foregoing, I’ve

tried to stress adventure hero; which is to say, not only comic characters, but also those from books, motion pictures, and the trusty, unfortunately rusty old radio— Yes, there is a Captain Silver of the Seahound.

Bound For Oblivion?

62

2013 Editors’ Note: As it happened, Ronn, like Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas, was a devotee of Joe Kubert’s renditions of Hawkman—both in the 1940s and the early ’60s—so when it appeared for a time as if the revival version of the Winged Wonder wasn’t ever going to be awarded his own title, Ronn drew this vision of that hero joining the original (then, the only) Captain Marvel in limbo—perhaps forever! Who would’ve suspected that, along with an eventual Hawkman title, even the World’s Mightiest Mortal would return—in a DC mag! [Hawkman & Shazam hero TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

From Alter Ego #5:

W

hen it was suggested that I write on the subject of Fandom from the viewpoint of why a fan stayed on in Fandom, it seemed like it would be an easy job. After all, I have been active in the Whirl of Fandom for over ten years, and I’ve published fanzines, written articles, and corresponded; been active in clubs and even on a Worldcon Committee, among other things.

But looking deeper into the subject, it appears that it will take quite a few words to cover the apparent contradictions that would be involved if I sought to define the term. In this way it’s like science fiction (with or without the hyphen): it’s probably impossible to make up a definition that everyone would accept.

The main element of science fiction is, I believe, individuality. Like science fiction, some people are attracted towards Fandom because they “like a story.” Undoubtedly, some fans would be happy with any sort of tale, or perhaps other sorts have become boring to them. Others may be attracted because of the art element, and both art and Fandom can attract people because they are interested in this. One of the things that is found so often in fanzines is opinion articles; and so selfexpression is but another reason for being active. However, I believe that socializing—to be part of a group of people with interests similar to one’s own—is the greatest attraction for gaining and retaining the attention of the fan.

You will note an omission above: I’ve not mentioned the element of ego-boosting; or just plain “ego-boo.” This may be very important for the newer fan, but I would say that socializing—not only with other fans, but professionals as well—is a more fundamental appeal.

Any person is naturally going to try to get more out of things which he has found interesting in the past, and so a certain process of growth begins with some of the readers. They may see a letter in a magazine, or an advertisement, and write for a feeling of contact with others to locate additional reading matter. It doesn’t take long for the feeling of companionship to involve him in correspondence and then the whole plenum of fanac—getting fanzines, writing for them, and in general becoming a part of a growing circle of various fan interests.

Projects widen the number of contacts, or perhaps the publishing bug may bite. What is important is that there is a wide variety of things a fan can do, and it all depends on the individuality of each fan on exactly what he does. Each new contact may suggest another activity, and if the fan develops the

Fandom Is As Fandom Does

2013 Editors’ Note: This article is basically a re-run of an article from a science-fiction fanzine, with a few words changed (with the permission of author Stan Woolston, who is not known to have been a comics fan per se), because A/E #5-6 editor/publisher Ronn Foss felt it was equally applicable to comics fandom. The latter wrote in a note at the end of the piece that it was “reprinted (with minor revisions due to application) from Escape #1, a West Coast zine edited by Ron Haydock and Larry Byrd, with permission of the copyright owner. The author publishes his own reviewzine, Science Fiction Parade, and welcomes comment on the foregoing. Write: Stan Woolston, 12832 Westlake St., Garden Grove, Calif. The accompanying illustration is an adaptation of the original as done

by Charlie Scarborough, by yours truly.” [Art © 2013 estate of Ronn Foss.]

63

ability to make decisions instead of going immediately into all of these things, his interest can be sustained for a long time.

I hinted above that many fans have a certain type of mental outlook. Many seem to be more willing than the average person to look at the world as much more than merely a series of emotional problems that control his life. The idea of adopting the “scientific method”—of looking at new ideas and processes as related to a method of finding answers, by looking for causes and testing whether a possible solution will work—may be included. This is, I’m sure you’ll agree, just a few degrees above the idea “sock him in the nose” as the popular way to “solve” a problem. Setting up a theory and then testing it means seeing the universe as more than just chaos, and I believe more fans follow this method than any other people.

Modern life seems closely related to engineering and science, and with someone who is science-oriented it is easier to see changes as logical developments instead of things to be

avoided. Yesterday ended last night—tomorrow starts at midcomer can bring is one of the reasons that there are many fans night. who are missionaries, seeking out newcomers and setting them I’ve heard that “comics books are escape stuff”—and, if so, on the road to Fanac. then Fandom must also be classified as such. Still, one of the Newcomers usually have to develop before they do their characteristics of Fandom is that so much real work is done … best. They may have to decide what line of approach they many hours of planning a fanzine, in writing for material, wish to emphasize now, but one thing is sure: they will find often in editing it carefully, adding artwork, and sending it out; Fandom more rewarding, and Fandom will find them more corresponding with other fans of mutual interests, etc. This interesting, if they sit down and think about their interests, and work is practical; it advances a hobby that is as delightful as then develop them as only they can. any other, and like any hobby is an extension of the life of the Newcomers and old stand-bys, by working together when individuals involved. The fans are not “escaping”—they are they can, and by thinking about their own activities, can plan making something that wouldn’t be theirs without their mental for themselves a better and more sustained Fan-life. Maybe and physical efforts. The same can be said for every one of they can even last forever. the projects that individuals go in for around the country, like I hope some of them do … bowling; and also for all the national clubs where members work together.

All of this is a friendship-making activity.

There is nothing more intelligent than deciding what sort of person you want to have as your friend, and then going out to find them. Friends are the fillip to life, and finding others with an outlook similar to your own is much more intelligent than just accepting whoever comes along even when their interests bore you. So while Fandom is not a substitute for other people, to me it is a handy reservoir where I store some of my best friends.

Before I could make any statement about what areas of Fandom are most apt to sustain interest over a period of time I would have to do some research, or run a poll on the subject. But I believe that a poll would indicate that sociability and “interest in fannish things” are high on the list. By “fannish things” I mean interest in things fans do when they get together, in person or by mail. Writing for a fanzine, perhaps even a letterzine, has much the same flavor as this, and I believe that when entering Fandom a person should be encouraged to write “personal essays” that bring out personal opinions on various themes as a way to develop ability to express himself. The well-researched article is much rarer and takes more time, so the article of opinion is more common. But if the newcomer wants to make an impression in a hurry, the researched type of piece is one to adopt. It takes care and attention to details, but it has more substance.

There are usually a few fans who specialize in writing articles, or write articles so often it seems unlikely that they correspond as much as they do.

If more fans would write regularly, it is possible that these few fans wouldn’t wear themselves out Marilyn Monroe, Eat Your Heart Out! and drop out of fanac. So if any fan wants to 2013 Editors’ Note: This “pin-up” penciled and inked by Roy Thomas was submitted help save his favorite article-writer, he might start to Ronn Foss for potential publication. Ronn opted to print it as a full page in #5— by writing his own frequently. and, since Roy would also write and co-draw a BLA/Frantic Four parody for Foss’ Anything leading to “new beginnings” should issue #6 (see the first volume of our Best of series) and took over editorship of Vol. 1 lengthen fan-lives by providing an injection of with #7, it means that his work has appeared in every one of the more than 130 issues enthusiasm when things become too commonof various volumes of Alter Ego from 1961 through the present. Ronn also stuck a circa-’61 photo of Roy atop the page, but we’ve spared you that. [© 2013 Roy Thomas.] place. The fresh outlook that an interested new64

From Alter Ego #5:

In the “good old days,”

during the war, the paper shortage cut pages from 60 comics ran hog-wild with to 40.

That meant one 68 pages per ten cent issue. character was left without a Then, they could easily spot … one noble finally afford an impressive linehad to be held in reserve. up of 10-12 characters and This is embarrassing! still have room enough for Which?

Well, usually (and beginning and ending unfortunately) it was the “socials,” such as meetings ATOM. It probably held by the JUSTICE should’ve been JOHNNY SOCIETY OF AMERICA. THUNDER. But then, of For example—let’s take course, they would’ve been the line-up of All Star left without “comic-relief,” Comics #’s 3-8. Just about and clearly, that would everybody knows that the never do. charter members of the Already, they were stuck.

JSA were: (1) The ATOM, But, inflation hadn’t really (2) The SPECTRE, (3) taken hold yet. Soon, they SANDMAN, (4) FLASH, were down to 52 pages; (5) HAWKMAN, (6) DR. that meant that two nobles FATE, (7) GREEN had to be held in reserve.

LANTERN, and (8) Now it was The ATOM and HOURMAN. To this we The SPECTRE. The latter must, of course, add (9) should’ve “sat out” all JOHNNY THUNDER, along.

(The only character who made frequent if I know of who was even unwelcome appearances more “super” than SUPERuntil his induction in issue MAN. He really didn’t #6.

Hail, Hail—Now The Gang’s Really All Here! need the JSA—or perhaps, By #8, they’d cut 2013 Editors’ Note: The drawings that accompanied “F.T. Frost’s” Justice League it was the other way HOURMAN; and FLASH article in issue #5 represented the first artwork by Bill J. (“Biljo”) White to appear around.) and GREEN LANTERN in Alter Ego. Biljo would remain a fixture in the fanzine through the end of its amaQuickly, things went had gone “inactive,” jointeur run with issue #9 in 1965. [JLA heroes TM & © 2013 DC Comics; other art © 2013 from bad to worse. Now ing (10) SUPERMAN and Estate of Biljo White.] they were heading rapidly (11) BATMAN, inactive toward 38 pages.

And then, the “wrath of the gods” struck! Issue from the beginning. But, they’d picked up (12) STARMAN and #21 was finis for SANDMAN and DR. FATE. The SPECTRE (13) DR. MID-NITE. They still had a 64-page comic, and this and STARMAN soon followed. GREEN LANTERN and FLASH was more than enough to give each character his own six-page were called up. Finally, WONDER WOMAN became an active, “shot.” fighting member. Thus was born the era of the “modern” JSA. With #11, they’d picked up (14) WONDER WOMAN. Though Eventually, it was found (after comics had diminished to 52 she was kept fairly much inactive, things were getting a bit out of pages) that nobles could work together, after all. But it was a last, hand. The original membership had multiplied to half-again as long look. The JSA was nearing the end of its 57-isue life-span. much; the structure was becoming top-heavy and cumbersome, The last great change (when it suddenly dawned on them that perand they were getting more characters than space allowed! haps comic-relief was not so important at that) was from JOHNThen, as in Medieval times, it was absolutely unthinkable to NY THUNDER to The BLACK CANARY—and the membership hold a “noble” in reserve while his fellow-nobles fought the was set at seven. That’s how it ended. enemy. It was equally unthinkable to combine, say, The SPECNow—we have the JLA, successors to the JSA. They’re headTRE in one story with DR. FATE. Space be hanged! Each charing thataway, too, but much faster. They face overcrowding even acter would have his own shot, or the editor would know the reabefore they reach the half-point of their predecessors. We had, to son why. begin with, these characters: (1) SUPERMAN, (2) BATMAN, (3) But Lo and Behold, a WAR came and went; and in the afterWONDER WOMAN, (4) AQUAMAN, (5) The FLASH, (6) glow, the creeping pestilence of inflation set upon the land. Even 65

J’ONN J’ONZZ, (7) GREEN LEAGUE (AWWL); were it left to me, LANTERN, and (8) SNAPPER I’d as soon see her get the axe first. But CARR. you don’t know what I’m trying to do We picked up (10) GREEN yet.)

ARROW; and just recently gained (10) None of the five characters I’ve “redThe ATOM. Soon, all going well, we’ll X’d” for disposal were members of the have (11) HAWKMAN … and there is original JSA. SUP-BAT were inactive. even talk of adding (12) ADAM That’s the key word—inactive. The STRANGE. Now, this is just too JLA ostensibly succeeds the JSA; rightdarned many. fully then, it should contain only those Like—WOW! JSA only had 7 members who are new versions of old members, and they had at least 32 page characters of the same name. (Or, in stories to work with even at their lowest the case of WONDER WOMAN, an ebb. JLA has only 25; on rare occaoriginal member.) sions, 26! Now, just what in heck are Ah, so now it dawns on you, does it? the “Great White Fathers” gonna do Yes, that’s why I kept WW, The [Dr. Fate & Starman TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] with all those beauties? Are they FLASH, The ATOM, and GREEN gonna keep ‘em out? Hardly! The LANTERN—because these members, fans will be heard. in their original form, were at one time Nor is cutting one member to admit active fighting members of the old JSA. another the solution … nor do they They and they alone are worthy to carry have the convenient “dodge” of the on the tradition. good old days of maybe creating You can see now that we have ample another Flash Comics or All-American room for expansion without overcrowdComics to deal with the “surplus.” ing. If HAWKMAN “wins his wings,” The new Flash and new Green he will become a fifth member. Should Lantern already have their own another old character appear as a comics—as does “pure-heart” everyrevival, he will become the sixth. Right body else in the JLA. here is quite enough for the limited Editors in the aforementioned good amount of space the new comics have, ol’ days really had it knocked. No letbut we could possibly add even a sevter-pages. They could, and as a rule enth. Here we must positively stop. did, turn a deaf ear to the fans. “So— But wait; I’m not done yet. What of [Spectre & Dr. Mid-Nite TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

5,000 of you like the SPECTRE, do the “cutaway” members? Certainly you? Well, I don’t, and I’m the editor. Off with his head.” they are to be considered, and I’ve use for them.

It’s not that way today, though—now the editors gotta listen to National had, at one time, another JSA-type group—they were the clamorings of literally thousands of “half-grown snots,” plus a called THE LAW’S LEGIONNAIRES (or 7 Soldiers of Victory), hard core of “half-baked ol’ timers” like myself; ’cause if they and they ran for quite a space in the old Leading Comics. That’s don’t, selfsame half-growns and half-bakeds will wheel and deal what to do with the “splinters” … they become the NEW Law’s with someone who will, and Ye Editor will starve! (Apologies to Legionnaires. They start with five, and can pick up ADAM any half-growns and half-bakeds who may be reading this. I’m STRANGE or any other strictly new character who happens to referring to “somebody else,” namely, those who ain’t!) come along. They can even add one more. If it’ll make them Like for example, cut GREEN ARROW, and 6,000 fans will happy, we’ll let them have more than the now “old” JLA. send threatening letters. And every character, great or small; and And if they’re happy, everyone else is happy, too. Best of all, no matter how much of an idiocy he may be in comparison to we get away from the current “mob-scenes” which seems to be the those characters who are idiocies in nobody’s book, has at least JLA’s heritage of misery. With two that many fans. strong, “virile” groups to take up the Cutting is definitely not the solution. But, we are still faced with slack, no fanwriter will ever have to ask: the problem of an impending superdoer “population explosion” in “The JLA—overcrowded?” the JLA. We can’t pretend that it’ll never come because we know that it is well on its way. The problem is there, patiently waiting Contrary to most fanwriters, for us to do something about it.

Francis T. Frost prefers to remain Sphinx To High So—let’s be doing. incognito; therefore, rather than proHeaven GREEN ARROW is non-super … out with him. AQUAMAN duce a self-photo, he asked that this 2013 Editors’ Note: Ronn is a “fifth- wheel” outside of water—off with his head. J’ONN illustration (Sphinx) accompany his Foss drew this sphinx to J’ONZZ is too super; too much imitation of SUPERMAN—chop. article. Any correspondence directed SUPERMAN we see too much of anyway; also too super–slash. to him will be forwarded by the editor. represent the mystery of F.T. Frost. As noted on p.

BATMAN also too much ‘see’; non-super—out. Out! All of you, 61, “F.T. Frost” was a out! pseudonym for fan-writer (Understand, I’m doing this against my personal prejudices. I’m Drury Moroz. [Art © 2013 the self-appointed chairman of the ANTI-WONDER WOMAN 66

estate of Ronn Foss.]

From Alter Ego #5:

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dru Moroz and I met as most collectors do; via the mail. Within just a few letters, I noticed that he wrote with a “flair” and exuberance of one who really enjoys writing… I asked the logical question: “Are you now or have you ever been seriously interested in writing professionally?” He answered to the affirmative, and I welcomed him to the ever-growing ranks of pro-hopefuls. Both of us having created original characters, we began discussing professional potential any of them might have, with the thought of collaborating on a strip worth submitting. As, I believe, any amateur will discover when he gets down to brass tacks on the matter, nearly all the likely names for a hero (and gimmicks incorporated in an exceptional idea) have been more than well covered through the course of the 20 past years. Discarding this character and that in the search for something unique, Dru came up with a “mentalist”: a hero whose forte was that of a super-psyche. (All this was long before Brain Boy, and the revelation of Maximo.) We settled on DYNA-MAN, for Dynamic and Dynamo of Energy—shortly thereafter, Dell came out with the answer to our plans. We switched to a revival, since these were going strong and it appeared more were on the way.

Several months went into the development of the plot and characterization… more weeks went into picking a fitting, yet original name, since we’d learned from Editor Julius Schwartz that copyright DC characters cannot be used as is. You have just read the fruits of our labors; the future - ??

Ronn Foss 76

From Alter Ego #5:

When Alter Ego first appeared, a skeptical reviewer in

one of those “established” science fiction fanzines offered his opinion that a fanzine devoted to costumed heroes would soon run out of material, fans would lose interest, and the zine would die an early death. Well, that was two years ago. Today, Alter Ego is probably the most widely circulated fanzine on six continents, and its distribution is still growing. And as for material, we have only just scratched the surface of the great wealth of material on costumed heroes. Just let me suggest to you some of the many possible topics for articles. Hopefully, maybe I can persuade you to research one of these topics and come up with an article. In this matter, I would be more than happy to help in any way I can to locate material or assist in preparing an article for publication.

Of course, there is the article dealing with the history of a strip, comic magazine, publishing group, or an individual pro. However, there are many unique ways to approach these subjects. For example, an article could compare similar strips. Roy Thomas once suggested “The Cult of Mercury” as the title for a study of the Flash and all his imitators. Then, an article could easily be written which focuses on a villain or villains of a popular strip.

(I’ve promised myself that one day soon I’ll write the second part of my Green Lantern article, which would tell the story of the original GL’s greatest enemies as seen through the eyes of his side-kick, Doiby Dickles—and by golly I will.) A third theme for an article might be a study of the problems of identifying and distinguishing pencil artists and inkers. I intend to use these pages myself to comment on my eighteen-year study of art styles, and I’d enjoy hearing from other fen on the subject.

But let’s not forget that the comic book is not the only medium in which the costumed hero has appeared.

Remember the great radio serials of the ’40s? There were Superman, Capt. Midnight, The Shadow, Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger, and a variety of non-costumed adven-

ture heroes deserving of attention. I remember in particular exciting adventures of Jack Armstrong, Hop Harrigan (from the pages of All-American Comics), Terry and the Pirates, Tom Mix, and Buck Rogers. Surely, somewhere the original scripts for these famous radio shows exist.

Perhaps someone even has access to transcriptions or tape recordings of the more exciting episodes. I’m sure many older fans remember when Batman and Robin gueststarred on the Superman radio show. They may even recall the famous mystery thriller, “The Snow Man of Lake Placid,” on the Jack Armstrong program; but how many remember the story revealing that Britt Reid (alias The Green Hornet) was the son of Dan Reid, the nephew and frequent companion of the Lone Ranger? I for one would love to relive the exciting moments of these “breakfast-food operas” in the pages of Alter Ego. So, if you are one of those lucky people that have access to records of these great adventures of the air waves, take pen in hand and give us a feature article.

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Perhaps the radio chapter-plays were written on the wind and survive only in our memories, but this is not so with the great adventure strips of the newspapers. Maybe you are one of those many dozens of fans who have a collection of the famous strips: Tarzan, The Phantom, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, Mandrake the Magician, Superman, Batman, or The Lone Ranger. If so, then why not share your enjoyment of these renowned strips with the many hundreds of fans, new and old, who read Alter Ego? Just a few of the things I’d like to know are: (1) What great artists and writers handled these strips over the years? (2) What newspapers carried them?

(3) When and how were interesting supporting characters introduced into the strips? Can you answer these questions? If so, how about preparing an article?

Of course, comic books, radio, and newspapers were only a few of the many media in which the costumed hero appeared. Fortunately, Ron Haydock has recalled for

many of us the exciting moments of the movie serials, and Ed Lahmann had already led the way (in AE #4) by recalling for us the danger-packed adventures of Maximo, a Big Little Book hero; but there are other heroes of the movies and the BLBs that have not been covered. If you collect movie press books or BLBs, why don’t you try your hand at a feature article? Believe me, it is one of the best ways to gain even more enjoyment from your collection.

Well, by now you’ve got the idea, and are probably way ahead of me. You may be thinking of the great heroes of the pulp magazines like Doc Savage and The Shadow, or perhaps you’re remembering the novels which featured Superman, Capt. Marvel, or some other hero. All of these would be fine subjects for an article, but there are many other ideas I haven’t even touched upon.

Right now I’m recalling with pleasure the visit of Ronnie Graham to my humble abode. He brought along

Making A Point

2013 Editors’ Note: Jerry had practiced what he preached: A/E #3 & #4 had contained articles by Ron Haydock on the Captain America and first Batman movie serials. Above is another Ronn Foss illo done for the latter. [Batman TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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his fabulous collection of original art. I encouraged him then and I encourage him now to tell us all how he acquired these precious drawings by such famous artists as Lee Harris, Bob Kane, Alfred Andriola, George Papp, Fred Ray, Paul Reinman, William Overgard, John Cullen Murphy, Al Borth, Henry Boltinoff, Basil Wolverton, Carl Hubbel, Fred Guardineer, Doc Winner, Sam Leff, and Wally McGinnis. I’ll bet Ronnie could write a whole series of interesting articles relating episodes in his career as a collector. Maybe you could, too. In fact, I’d like very much to hear from those fans who have collected movie stills, press books, decals, give-aways, bennie buttons, figurines, coloring books, membership outfits, foreign comics, etc., that relate to costumed heroes. I myself have a few items of this type, such as the miniature edition of Flash Comics that was given away with packages of Wheaties back in 1946; the original membership kits for the Junior Justice Society and Supermen of America; foreign editions of American comics and a few comics featuring original foreign costumed heroes; articles and books on how to write for the comics by Stan Lee, Robert Kanigher, and other famous editors and writers; and other interesting items such as my bound volumes of All Star Comics from the personal library of the author, Gardner Fox. What do you have in your collection, and what interesting stories can you relate? Give it some thought… I know I will.

And finally, I’d like to suggest one other type of article that I’d like to see. Smudge and other fanzines devoted to the humor mags have made excellent use of this type of article—the interview with a professional editor, artist, or writer. In this connection the best articles are produced from tape-recorded interviews based on a list of questions supplied in advance to the person being interviewed. The next best thing to such a wellplanned and recorded interview is a personal letter from the pro in which he answers well formulated questions about his experiences in the comic field. In order to protect the pros from a heavy barrage of prying questions, the editor of Alter Ego will not in general give out the home addresses of pros, but if you would seriously like to do an article on your favorite artist, writer, or editor, contact yours truly and I will be glad to give you all the help I can.

This last remark applies in general to any article you would like to write; however, I must warn you: every article should be thoroughly researched, carefully written, and rewritten if necessary, and the final decision regarding publication is in the hands of the publishing editor; but with that little warning out of the way, let me urge you all, and especially you fans with extensive collections, to research a topic and write an article.

I’ll bet you can think of subjects and angles I have never even dreamed of!

From Alter Ego #6:

From Alaska to Japan, Australia to South Africa’s John Wright, Francis Lacassin and

The Torch Is Passed—Again!

Jean-Claude Romer in Paris, to Scotland and Canada, to Bermuda and Hawaii… Growing 2013 Editors’ Note: Beneath this photo in A/E #6, Ronn Foss wrote: “Biljo White (left), Wonder around the world! receiving his ’62 Ama Alley Award from your In AE-4, Fall 1962, there were 11 comic fanzines listed; AE-5, 6 months later, added 4 retiring ed. Along with the trophy goes the reins to total 15. Now, almost a year later, you’ll find over twice that many in the to A-E publishership, to be co-edited by Roy “Recommended Reading.” Incidentally, when writing any of the faneds for info, please Thomas (see photo in A-E #5).” include a stamped/self-addressed envelope; you’ll get a reply much faster.

Joe Kubert writes: “Unlike many people in the comic book business, I don’t feel myself demeaned in working for comics. The fact is— I’ve always enjoyed this media—and I’ve always given what I felt is my best to it. I’m not ‘saving’ my ‘greatest works’ for painting, or advertising art, or even ‘pop’ art! My best efforts are what you see now!”

For the benefit of our many new readers, as well as to clarify a major point to regular subscribers, it has become necessary to assert some concise position as regards the amateur fanzine editor/publisher in relation to periodicity of production. One must consider that the professional editor/publisher earns his livelihood in the field, doing work not unlike we amateurs—who must not only attempt to present some comparable effort, but also have the time to work for a living in some other, usually completely unrelated field of endeavor. The pro has his eight-hour day to do the job you see in print—this is what he’s paid for… whereas the amateur must put in a daily work elsewhere, then try to find time to devote a few hours to maintaining correspondence, editing, typing, layout, and infinitely more unimaginable tasks synonymous with fanpubbing. This, dear reader, is the primary reason for irregular publishing and erratic schedules. I simply ask that you regard this before expecting an issue of a fanzine tomorrow that you sent for yesterday.

The foregoing is one of the many reasons I’ve found it impossible to continue A-E and CC. Notwithstanding the fact that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed editing and publishing (which encompasses bookkeeping, and other equally demanding clerical works), my foremost interest lies in illustrating and writing—which has been appreciably impaired in the course of the past 18 months. My dire hope is that my successor, Biljo White, artist that he is, finds some way of minimizing the time consumption of the painstaking trivialities required of a faned.

I will by all means remain active in Comicdom—perhaps more so than ever—in the capacity of fanartist and writer. I hope to do as much as possible to further the development of more and better fan efforts, but I have found it imperative to state the sine qua non that I see an issue of your zine (assuming you request art/articles) before ever considering a commitment. Relieved of the obligation of editing and publishing, I plan to proceed with many ideas I’ve long harbored for improved strips, articles, other related fanworks, and general advancement of amateur efforts. I hope to very soon present Femmes in Fandom, capsule autobiographies and photos of all known female collectors—tho aren’t we all, fellas?

Speaking of collecting—I’m selling / trading much of my own collection of comics, Big Little Books, etc. in favor of particular artists’ works; Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Wally Wood… and of course, Simon & Kirby and Kubert. If you have anything for trade, or would simply like to enlarge your own collection, write for my list, enclosing stamp, please.

I must take this opportunity to express my very deepest gratitude for all the support and encouragement, as well as constructive criticism I’ve received in the span of A-E/CC under my handling. Fond indeed are the memories I shall always entertain of your quips, comments, and critiques of my efforts to enlighten and entertain. Special thanks to all who’ve had a hand in making Alter Ego what it is: contributors, supporters, and of course, Separated At Birth? you readers.

2013 Editors’ Note: Because the proportions of the Roy Thomas/Grass Green parody “Bestest League of America Meets… Da Frantic Four” would otherwise have left what he felt was too much empty space at the tops of its ten pages, Ronn Foss used that space to print readers’ short letters—and, atop the final page, to highlight this comparison between comedian Steve Allen and Alex Raymond’s comic strip hero Rip Kirby.

[Rip Kirby art © 2013 King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

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FANatically,

[Shazam hero & Superman TM & © 2013 DC Comics]

From Alter Ego #6:

The IBM machine was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe

Shuster. They called him Superman. They put a fancy wave in his hair, and they let him smile at intervals, but he was really an IBM machine palmed off as a costumed super-hero.

In fact, Superman was so flawless, and so ultra-superior, that I’ve never been able to figure out why it used to take him thirteen pages (never more and never fewer) to complete each adventure. (Is it possible for an IBM machine to develop a fetish for the number 13?)

An occasional story, like the one in which the Man of Steel got a job as a one-man circus, could logically fill thirteen pages, but logic has to be thrown out the window if it takes Superman more than a full page (of which onequarter is taken up with the “Superman” logo) to run down the sort of crooks whose faces decorate the Post Office walls.

With his super-speed, ability to fly, invulnerability, super-strength, X-ray vision, telescopic vision, and (it is hoped) super-intellect, it should take only two seconds for him to round up all the sinister characters prowling the streets of Metropolis. In fact, on bright, warm spring days he should be able to do the job properly in just one second.

Goodbye, logic!

It began to look as if the super-hero was born, and would die, with Superman, for there couldn’t be much of a market for comic strip characters who persist in dragging each assignment out to thirteen times its natural length.

But Fawcett saved the day when Billy Batson entered

that legendary subway station and emerged as Captain Marvel, the World’s Mightiest Mortal. For although Superman and Captain Marvel had a number of superpowers in common, only one was a mortal, and could logically take sixteen pages (or thereabouts) to solve a case.

The secret lay in some sort of elusive “chemistry”: Captain Marvel was a tongue-in-cheek strip, yet it never really made fun of the type of comic strip of which it was, in my opinion, the best example.

Captain Marvel loved superlatives. Ordinary people weren’t for him. They had to be the mightiest, wickedest, goodest, or baddest, before he would deign to notice them.

While Superman would spend thirteen pages rescuing Lois Lane from the clutches of some petty crook, Captain Marvel developed (literally) a few hundred pages hunting down an earthworm.

But this was no ordinary earthworm. This was Master Mind, the World’s Wickedest Worm, and my hand trembles as I write his name, so many years after his death. But I feel a sense of security, knowing that Master Mind is no more, which is perhaps unfortunate.

Other villains of the World’s Wickedest Variety who crossed Captain Marvel’s path were Sivana, The World’s Wickedest Scientist, Sivana Jr., World’s Wickedest Boy, Georgia Sivana, World’s Wickedest Girl, Captain Nazi, World’s Wickedest German, Captain Nippon, World’s Wickedest Japanese, Ibec, World’s Wickedest Monster, Stinky Printwhistle, World’s Wickedest Criminal, and Marmaduke, World’s Wickedest Something-or-other (I’m 80

still trying to figure out exactly what Marmaduke was). However, The Scorpion (from Captain Marvel’s movie serial) didn’t rate a superlative adverb.

And although Mister Atom was a villain, he was described, if my memory serves correctly, as the World’s Mightiest (if not Wickedest) Immortal.

So, as you can see, Captain Marvel was badly in need of another pair of hands. Fortunately for Civilization as We Know It, the World’s Mightiest Mortal didn’t have far to look for assistance. Whenever the going got too thick, he knew he could always rely on Captain Marvel Jr., the World’s Mightiest Boy, Mary Marvel, the World’s Mightiest Girl, the innocent fraud who called himself Uncle Marvel (World’s Mightiest Uncle, indeed!), and the Mightiest Marvel of Them All, little Hoppy, the World’s Mightiest Bunny.

(It has been recently suggested that patrolmen on their beat be accompanied by little bunnies on a leash. These bunnies would be decked out in the Marvel Bunny’s familiar red, white, and gold outfit. The sight of these awe-inspiring creatures would be sufficient to instill cold fear into the hearts of all malefactors. Of course, these pseudo-Marvel Bunnies would be well paid for their invaluable assistance to the Police Department.)

And so Captain Marvel and his World’s Mightiest Friends-and-Relations spent just about a dozen years saving we good people of this world from the World’s Wickedest Scoundrels. And the fans loved him, and smiled with him.

By the early 1940s, Superman tried to imitate Captain Marvel’s imaginative use of tongue-in-check, and Lois Lane’s pesky niece, Susie, and Mr. What’sHis-Name from another dimension were written into the series, but the Man of Tomorrow was not the World’s Mightiest Mortal, and his attempts at humor were as sparkling and imaginative as a politician’s Fourth-of-July fustian. At present, the IBM machine from the planet Krypton is squeezing the last dregs of a less than sophomoric wit from the Bizarro World.

So whenever I pass a newsstand and see it cluttered with a whole line of comics featuring this Super-IBM machine and his friends, I shed a tear for Captain Marvel, and say for all the world to hear: “Thank goodness for Donald Duck and his friends and relations!”

The Way They Were

2013 Editors’ Note: Ken Tesar, who contributed the article’s sole illustration. This 1964 photo (which did not appear in AE V1#6) is courtesy of Bill Schelly.

Sadly, it seems that, even though Calvin Beck, editor of the horror-movie mag Castle of Frankenstein, playfully adopted a pseudonym lifted from Orson Welles’ film classic Citizen Kane, we must take Ronn Foss’ footnote below at face value and assume that writer Irving Glassman passed away before his article was published at the turn of 1964. Nor can we be certain whether it was Glassman or editor Foss who accidentally referred to Mister Mind as “Master Mind.” But it was almost certainly Glassman who confused Mister Atom with Oggar, working mostly from memory as many fan-writers had to in the early 1960s.

POSTSCRIPT – The foregoing was written by Irving Glassman about mid-May, 1962. It had been submitted to former A-E editor Jerry Bails, who in turn passed it on to me when I assumed editorship.

Accompanying the original article, along with a few others which have been forwarded to Biljo White, was a note reading as follows: “I’m reluctant to contribute any autobiographical sketch, but not because I’m modest. The truth is I’ve lived all my life on a strange roller coaster that seems to ride on a track that’s all dips and no rises. Only Hal (Orphan Annie) Gray, Paddy Chayefsky, Chaim Ackerman, or Eugene O’Neill could handle such a downbeat soap-opera. Personally, I detest soapopera. At present, I’m dividing my time between looking for a full-time job, drumming up material for a number of magazines (including Castle of Frankenstein, which I believe is popular with many of your readers), “finalizing” a book-length thriller called Sword of Satan, and breaking ground on a book-length vampire romance called Twilight of Reality. (The plot-gimmick involves an original—I hope—and fantastic twist.) As you can see, I have my hands full, but I’m certainly not rolling in money. My first book, a paperback called Hilda’s Uncle Abercrombie, was published at my own expense, but I managed to sweet-talk a professional publisher into publishing some of my other writings. It’s a percentage deal, so my savings account isn’t growing at present. The publisher is dreaming up one or two new pen-names for me, so as silly as it may sound, I don’t know who I’ll be when the presses start rolling.

All I have to do to make this autobiographical slice-of-life perfect is to shoot myself.” Then, there is reported in the second issue of Castle of Frankenstein: “Irving died quietly as he was still asleep on the morning of June 26, 1962. He would have been 32 years of age July 31, 1962—after 15 years of intense love and participation in the world of Fantasy and the Macabre, his death leaves the field all the smaller and poorer. —Charles F. Kane, publisher.” Hence the foregoing, while having been selected for publication on its own meritable values and without previous knowledge of Irving Glassman’s demise, is now also presented as a testimonial and tribute to the author.

—Ronn Foss.

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From Alter Ego #6:

Alter Ego is fortunate in having acquired, via a time-warp, the introduction to a three-volume work of literary criticism written in the year 5263 A.D. by Professor X.I. Brrz of the University of Texarkana. They are written in the super-standardized language of the 53rd century, but are here presented in definitive translation by Roy Thomas, with an assist from Linda Rahm.

Introduction To

The Rise Of The Twentieth-Century Epic New Light On Schwartz’s Justice League Of America

by X.I. Brrz, Ph.D.

Having withstood the ravages of time and cosmic catastrophe, a

believe that civilization in the twentieth century produced not one or two or perhaps even three such classics?

Volume I of this work, then, discusses these historical problems. Volume II analyzes the work itself in its various aspects, but most especially as it reflects life in that long-ago time. Some preliminary work has been done on this period in the field of anthropology2 and archaeology3, but Just A League Of Americans results have thus far 2013 Editors’ Note: No illustratons been discouragingly appeared with “Schwartzian Epic” in small.

Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #6, but since its 1963 Primary among these publication, the time machine operated by amazing disclosures, of Dr. Elbert Wonmug and his associate A. course, is the method of Oop has brought back this image of one of writing itself. The com- the pages of the epic extant in the 53rd bination of pictures and century—apparently from a coverless copy cartouches (twentiethof Justice League of America #19 (May century term: word bal- ’63). Thanks to David P. Greenawalt for loons) suggests a short- his arduous efforts at restoration. [© 2013 lived return to the hiero- DC Comics.] glyphics of the early Egyptians. Except on a fragmentary page of correspondence, lower-case letters are all but unknown. A long-since-lost rule of grammar seems to have dictated, moreover, that all proper names be written with boldface letters. Also, the period—which appears in earlier and later extant writings—seems to have been completely ignored in favor of the more artistic exclamation point.

Or perhaps, as Professor Urgiz theorizes, it may simply be that twentieth-century man was in such a state of constant excitement that only the exclamatory sentence would fill his needs.

small handful of literary works remain from the first three millennia A.D. One of these, the classic Schwartzian epic Justice League of America, stands out head and shoulders above all the others and, as is well known, has inspired volume upon weighty volume of comment since its rediscovery only a little over a century ago in the basement of a ruin in the center of this continent once known as America.

These commentators and critics have been in agreement on virtually nothing about this epic except, of course, the undeniable fact that it must be ranked with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as one of the great works of antiquity. Those scholars who have attempted to relegate it to a position inferior to the surviving anonymous play Hamlet have long since been conclusively shown to be lacking in critical faculty.

It is not the place of an introduction to go deeply into the subject of a three-volume work, but a few highlights may be pointed out to the general reader who is interested in obtaining a liberal education in the classics.

First of all, of course, there arises unavoidably in any study of our one extant nearly-complete piece of twentieth-century literature what is known as the “Schwartzian question.” Was the Julius Schwartz mentioned as being “editor” (a still confusing and untranslatable term) of the epic a real person? Is there any plausibility to the view of Professor Urgiz1 that Schwartz is but a composite representing a large number of persons who may have kept the epic alive and in the process of growth over a period of many years?

New light—or perhaps new darkness—has been thrown on the problem since Professor Urgiz’s early work by the discovery in 5248 of a part of one of the missing pages, a printed one containing personal correspondence from various parts of the planet Earth, which seems to give credence to the view that this work was actually the effort of many superior minds. Unless this page is a clever forgery, Justice League of America stands as the only epic work in the history of the Earth to be written by an academy of literary geniuses, thereby truly deserving the title of “world epic.”

The few remaining scraps of this page also present a question as to the previously supposed uniqueness of the epic. Scholars have identified allusions to other epics (twentieth-century term: issues) of a related nature, generally reputed to have been as excellent as the surviving one. Would it not indeed be wonderful to be able to

1See his Prolegomena to the Study of the Schwartzian Epic, pp. 310 ff.

2See Anvlix, Georr Y., Life in the Twentieth-Century As Gleaned from a Perusal of Old Chewing-Gum Wrappers: An Interpretation.

3The classic work in this field is still Prof. Zorig’s monograph, “The Striped Tubes: What Was In Them?,” the results of which are inconclusive due to the archaeologist’s inability to decide between “tiger oil” and “zebra fat.”

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the “members” still clung to modes of defense once though to have been obsolete in the twentieth century—arrows, lassos, boomerangs, etc. It has been suggested by some critics that this shows a primitive psychology lying dormant just under the mentality of twentiSomewhat Of A Summit eth-century man, a view long since shown to be 2013 Editors’ Note: Roy Thomas and Linda Rahm, the translators of the 53rd-century article about the Schwartzian Epic, are seen at spurious. right in this photo taken in early 1963 at the home of Biljo White Nonetheless, medical (seen at left). Also pictured are Jerry & Sondra Bails. The photo by science in the twentieth Ruthie White, first printed (far bigger) in Bill Schelly’s The Golden century seems to have Age of Comic Fandom, did not appear in Alter Ego #6. been particularly deficient, as is evidenced by In the section of Volume II which deals one as-yet-unidentified disease which with the fascinating and well-delineated turned men green and caused their hair to characters of the epic, the reader will find fall out, as well as another which caused an amazing diversity of character. Contrary extreme dwarfism. An extant fragment of a to the popular tradition which holds that possibly related epic features a benevolent this was a time of conformity and uniformibut deformed hero who was in the process ty of dress, the Schwartzian epic unfolds a of devolving into a bird. panorama of astonishingly divergent modes Another startling discovery made by of clothing and transportation. study of this epic appears to be that the typFor example, the costumes of the various ical dwelling in this period was not comheroes (twentieth-century term: members) posed of wood, stone, or bricks, as was preare of a myriad of designs and colors. A viously supposed, but was a hollowed-out few of them wear capes and/or suspenders, mountain. It was this which caused the first once thought to have been largely a ninediscoverers of the epic to assume it to be a teenth-century fashion. The women seem survival of Old Stone Age culture. Other to have worn rather scanty costumes decofactors which led them to this over-hasty rated with drawings of now-extinct birds conclusion were the apparent lack of an and magic symbols then intended crudely organized system of vocations, primitive to resemble stars; they also seem to have tattoos on some members’ faces that look worn head-bands4 and clumsily constructed like masks but have no visible means of sandals with elevated heels. support, and the communal, marriage-less In the matter of transportation, the cirtype of life implicit in the epic. (Work is cumstances are equally diverse. Some of still being done on the reason or reasons for the “members” were able to fly (without the the surprisingly high sex-ratio—eight men use of anti-gravity shoes, it would seem), to every woman5.) others had highly personalized aircraft, There seems to have existed at this time a some could run with astonishing speed and keen class struggle between two groups little fatigue. One hero who is difficult to called the Crimefighters and the Criminals, fit into any set category is the “member” though exactly what Crime was has not yet named Aquaman. It is uncertain whether been determined. The epic seems to indihis ability to swim at high speed and to cate that in the twentieth century there were exist under water for extended periods was still a handful of people who did not posintended to represent scientific advancesess everything they wanted and that this ment or a reversal in evolution. led to clashes with other humans (the Despite the many amazing technological Crimefighters) whose powers enabled them achievements of this ancient era—for to get everything they wanted. example, scientists are still unable to dupliAlso, the reader will note that I have cate Green Lantern’s power ring—some of made an admittedly ambitious attempt to

decipher the dialogue of the youngest member, Snapper Carr, efforts at translation of which have broken down three lingua-translators. It has been suggested by Professor Urgiz that this unique language was a form of psychological compensation utilized by Snapper Carr to make up for the physical malfunction which compelled him to constantly snap his fingers, or perhaps some form of secret code.

The third, and briefest, volume discusses the place of the epic in solar literature.

Despite analogies to The Iliad, the epic shows an even closer resemblance to that realistic treatise on everyday medieval life, Le Morte d’Arthur.

Also included in this volume is a short appendix on the texts of the recently discovered fragment of a Fantastic Four epic, discovered in Death Valley, about which little is known but much has been conjectured6.

It is to be devoutly hoped that future generations of scholars will utilize these two, a semi-complete work and a fragment, to tell us more of that far distant civilization where classics of literature were available to all citizens at an absurdly small price.

Joy To The World

2013 Editors’ Note: In 1962 Linda, whom Roy had been dating for five years, posed for him as Alter Ego’s first mascot, the Ronn Foss-created Joy Holiday. The figure from this photo was cropped to appear in Ronn’s A/E #5; the full version has never been printed before.

4Similar to those of the Indians in the surviving 19th-century epic, A Narrative of the Life of Davey Crockett by Himself.

5See Frpp, Sex in the Justice League of America, 2½ pages.

6The standard work on the subject so far is Huppw’s The Fantastic Four: New Light on the Death Valley Scrolls. See esp. his fine chapter on “The Thing as a Vegetation Deity.”

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From Alter Ego #6:

E

well as our number-one choice in book-length stories, “The Planet That Came to a Standstill,” a well-conceived space epic revealing how the Justice League learned of the existence of Adam Strange.

This story had many outstanding qualities, but most important, it possessed the one attribute that is essential to the success of an adventure strip—viz., continuity. Continuity is, in fact, a characteristic feature of all Gardner’s strips. By bridging the gaps within and between his stories, Gardner has succeeded in creating a fantasy-world populated by adventurous heroes and colorful villains that not only survive from issue to issue, but promise to outlive us all. Mark my words, Gardner is creating the classics of tomorrow.

The next category, “Best Pencil Artist,” is a little more specific than last year’s corresponding category, but the Alley Trophy goes once again to that superb artitst, Carmine Infantino. Carmine’s work continues to improve year after year. He has been winning awards for years now, and it looks like he’ll go right on. His work is appreciated by fans, fellow artists, and by the hardest of all to please, his editor. It should be a real inspiration to all aspiring illustrators to look back over Carmine’s career and watch his climb from strips like the Ghost Patrol and Black Canary of 1947 to The Flash and Adam Strange of today. It will take some doing to unseat Carmine as fandom’s favorite pencil artist.

The next Alley Award trophy goes to the talented artist whose final choices can “make or break” a strip—the inker—and fandom’s choice of “The Best Inker” is none other than that wizard of pen and brush, Murphy Anderson. Murphy wins the award not only for his fine inking of Adam Strange and many Flash tales, but also for his inking of the JLA covers, and the Atomic Knight series, both of which he pencils as well. While Murphy is a young man, he has been a pro for quite a few years. Comic art collectors proudly display his work in the Planet Comics of the ’40s, and the syndicated Buck Rogers strip from the early ’50s.

I have already mentioned the fact that Hawkman was selected as fandom’s favorite hero, but it should be pointed out that he polled more votes than both the second and third place winners, Flash and Green Lantern. Guest appearances of the Feathered Fury with the Atom are fine, but fans won’t be satisfied until Hawkman and his lovely wife, Hawkgirl, have a book of their own, or are made the cover-features of a monthly like Strange Adventures.

Sub-Mariner is another excellent revival of an old favorite that fans want to see in a strip of his own. Prince Namor, The SubMariner, polled more votes for “Best Villain” than all his competitors combined, and his revival story was ranked second among the book-length stories of the year. Perhaps, after Namor’s appearance

ach year the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences conducts a continent-wide poll to determine “The Best Comic Book of the Year.” This year the title goes to the Fantastic Four. In the short space of just one year, the super-talented team at Marvel Comics, headed by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, managed to make The Fantastic Four the number-one favorite of more fans than both the Justice League of America and The Flash combined. Stan and Jack, with a half-century experience in the business between them, accomplished this feat by giving adventure-hero fans just what they wanted in the way of colorful heroes and villains, twofisted action and adventure, and off-beat plots and dialogue; not to mention a snappy letter department and pin-up page. The Fantastic Four also edged out The Justice League as fandom’s favorite adventure-hero group, and contributed “The Best Villain of the Year” – The Sub-Mariner, and “The Best Supporting Character” (i.e., a character not having his own title strip) – the Thing. So our congratulations and the Academy’s special award trophy, The Golden Alley, go to Stan and Jack, and to inker Dick Ayers, and all the others on the Marvel team.

This is the first year that the Academy has offered a specific award for “The Best Editor of a Comics Group,” and the award couldn’t go to a more deserving gentleman, one of fandom’s favorites, Julius Schwartz, a DC editor since 1944, and the man most responsible for the strip development, story ideas, plotting, and final approval of scripts and art for The Justice League of America, Flash, Mystery in Space, Green Lantern, The Atom, and Strange Adventures, as well as many issues of DC’s two “try-out” magazines, Brave and Bold and Showcase. All eight of these titles were among the Top Ten Comics selected by fandom in the 1962 Poll. This is an accomplishment deserving of fandom’s highest Award, the Golden Alley.

“The Best Script Writer” is also a new category this year, but over the years it will bring recognition to the industry’s finest writers. It is most appropriate that the first Award trophy should go to Gardner F. Fox, who may well may have written more scripts for the comics in the last quarter of a century than any other writer; and without a doubt, he has created some of the most memorable. In 1962, he gave us fandom’s most beloved hero, Hawkman, as

Where, Indeed?

2013 Editors’ Note: Stan Lee’s hand-scrawled note to Academy secretary (and results reporter) Jerry Bails, on receiving the notice that Fantastic Four had won the “Best Comic Book of the Year” Alley award.

He didn’t bother to object to the fact that “Spider-Man” was spelled “Spiderman” all through the article—maybe because in those early days it sometimes got lettered that way even in Marvel comics!

Retrieved from the Stan Lee Archives at the University of Wyoming (Laramie) by Danny Fingeroth for his and Roy’s TwoMorrows tome The Stan Lee Universe, but not included therein. Incidentally, none of the images accompanying this reprinting of Jerry’s announcement/analysis of the 1962 Alleys was run in the original A/E #6, which was unillustrated. We have not reprinted here the actual list of awards, which was seen in Best of, Vol. 1 . [Art on stationery © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.] 84

in the Fantastic Four Annual, the art appear idiotic by comparison.

Marvel Comics Group will be National made the decision not to ready to try him out on his own. try to hold their aging readers with In the category of “Best these strips, and as a result, lost Supporting Character,” The Thing what could have been a substantook first place, although many tial number of life-long readers. fans feel that he is the star of The One would think that National Fantastic Four. The idea of a hero would wake up to the fact that it is Articles Of Faith with a monstrous appearance and a failing to reach a large and stable 2013 Editors’ Note: The four winners of Alleys for best fanzine arti- audience of older readers who temper to match seems to have cles in 1961-62. grown on fans, but any attempt to were brought up on Wonder (Left, l. to r.:) Jerry Bails, Howard Keltner, and Roy Thomas (plus imitate him would meet with a very Woman and Batman, and who this volume’s co-editor, Bill Schelly) the evening before the Fandom cool reception. By the way of his would in time take to comics Reunion Luncheon at the 1997 Chicago Comic-Con. Bill was one entanglement with the Yancy Street of the chief organizers of that landmark event. again if they found their old Gang and his blind girlfriend, The favorites being treated in a mature (Right:) Richard Kyle circa 1961, in a pic printed in Bill’s book Thing added real depth to The fashion. It is time that all conFounders of Comic Fandom.

Incidentally, the four Alley-winning articles have all been Fantastic Four, and it is clear that cerned, including the CCA, recogfen would enjoy seeing him in solo reprinted, between Best of A/E (Vol. 1), Alter Ego #101, and the nize the existence of adult comic 1970 Arlington House hardcover All in Color for a Dime, the latter readers. Give us an adult version action. edited by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson and back in print from “The Origin of Spiderman,” the of Batman and Wonder Woman; it Krause Publications. try-out story for a brand new coswon’t hurt the kids to read adult tumed hero from the Marvel Comics Group, took first place as comics any more that it does for them to see “adult” westerns on “The Best Short Story” over such notable stories as “Earth’s First TV. Green Lantern” (second place), and “Superman under a Green Almost every comic magazine was listed for improvement by Sun” (third place). On the basis of fandom’s warm response to more than one fan. However, notably absent from this list was The Spiderman, author Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko are now preFlash. The Scarlet Speedster, it would seem, deserves a special senting The Amazing Spiderman in a book of his own. We can award for the most gregarious and extroverted hero of all time. expect this colorful and mysterious hero to challenge all of the old Have you ever stopped to count all the costumed heroes and vilfavorites in future popularity polls. lains that have appeared in action with or against him in just the “The Best Cover of the Year” was created by Joe Kubert—a last couple of years? Try it sometime when you have about an hour Hawkman cover, naturally. You just can’t escape the fact that the to spare. fans want Hawkman. I was eleven years old when Kubert first Once again this year fans selected The Spectre as the strip they drew Hawkman, and it was one of his early Hawkman covers for would most like to see revived. This is a very curious result, no the old Flash Comics (early 1945) that converted me into a lifedoubt indicating that fans liked Roy Thomas’ revival version of time student and lover of comic art. I suspect the same thing is Jerry Siegel’s old hero, and want to see more of the mysterious happening today to eleven-year-olds everywhere. hero with occult powers. Fortunately, they now have one in the I now come to the Special character of Dr. Strange, another Division, “The Comic Book creation of Stan Lee and Steve Most in Need of Ditko. If my suspicions are corImprovement”—not a very rect, fans are going to clamor for cherished or euphonious title, more and longer stories of this but still more accurate than last new master of Black Magic. It year’s title, “Worst Comic.” looks like DC missed the boat by Clearly, fans aren’t interested not responding to our plea last in the worst title; they wouldyear for the revival of The n’t even bother to read what Spectre. they considered the worst.

The Presentation However, among those they Of The Silver Alleys read, they can surely pick the It was the decision of the Alley one that disappointed them the Awards Committee to award two most – the one they would like Silver Alley Trophies this year; most to see improved. Last one for the year 1961, and one for year it was Wonder Woman; 1962. this year it is Batman. In both The award for 1961 goes to Roy cases, I think fandom laments Thomas for his hilarious comic the fact that these strips, which …And They Felt Ditto About Ditko! strip parody, “The Bestest League were among the more mature 2013 Editors’ Note: This original 1960s drawing done especially of America” (Alter Ego #1-3), and adventure-hero strips in the early for The Comic Reader shows the bond that existed between for his two-part story, “The forties, are now aimed at the artist/co-creator Steve Ditko and his fans during that period…

Reincarnation of the Spectre” youngest comic readers; consethough he only ever attended one comics convention (the very first, (Alter Ego #1-2), both of which quently the stories, characters, and held in 1964). [Spider-Man & Dr. Strange TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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Up An Alley

received top ratings by fans in their respective categories.

The Alley Award for 1962 goes to Biljo White for the most popular feature, “Profiles on Collectors,” which appeared frequently in Biljo’s own highly rated fanzine, Komix Illustrated. It is the opinion of many fans that both Roy’s “BLA” and Biljo’s “Collectors” ought to be reprinted, especially since many fans missed parts of these offerings, and hundreds of new fans missed them entirely.

Besides, both efforts deserve to appear in unsegmented form.

2013 Editors’ Note: Pre-pro Roy Thomas may have technically won a “Silver Alley” in 1963 for his threepart 1961 feature “Bestest League of America,” but the one he actually received (and still has) was painted gold. Maybe it was in celebration of the award that he drew the above cartoon, which Jerry Bails ran in The Comic Reader #22 (Oct. 1963), the fanzine he had launched as On The Drawing Board, a spin-off of his Alter-Ego department. Roy, who’d named the Alleys, was and remains a big fan of the Alley Oop comic strip. [Cartoon © 2013 Roy Thomas; Alley Oop TM & © 2013 UFS, Inc.]

3. Are you satisfied with the titles of the various Ama divisions, or would you suggest changes?

Comments On The Poll The most serious criticism leveled against the Alley Poll was that it was too restricted in scope, concentrating as it did on upon the adventure-hero strips. This, of course, is a direct reflection of the fact that the active comic fans on this continent are, by and large, adventure-hero fans, and until this situation changes, it would be meaningless to try to change the ballot radically. The Academy Board can and will seriously consider the addition of new categories to the ballot as it perceives changes in the interests of fandom; however, at the present time, there is little indication of any such change—witness the fact that the only comics receiving more than one vote for “Best Comic” (a write-in category) were adventure-hero comics. It is incumbent upon the fans of other types of comics to call them to the attention of fandom through articles and reviews. As with any poll, there were fans who thought there should have been more categories, fewer categories, more write-ins, no write-ins, more nominees, fewer nominees, and so on and so forth. Believe me, it is impossible to reconcile all of the suggestions, but we do appreciate them—in fact, we encourage them, because they help us to see all of the possibilities.

There were some misgivings about the ratings system that fans were asked to employ in judging the entries in the Ama(teur) Division of the Alley Poll. The rating system was admittedly more complicated than a simple popular vote, and its success depended upon the ability of fans to follow instructions and render an honest judgment, but the need to eliminate a certain type of bias from the poll made it imperative that the system be given a try-out. As is well-known, fanzines have widely variable print runs. In a simple popular vote, the fanzine with the largest print run would have an unfair advantage over other fanzines in the field. In order to minimalize this bias, it was decided to use a system according to which each fan effort listed on the ballot would receive a score which was the average of the ratings given by fans who had had an opportunity to judge the entry. As it was, the system worked out very well—a credit to the intelligence and honesty of fans.

After you have had a chance to study the results of the poll and the way they were presented, we would like to have your opinions on the following questions. Send your opinions to the Academy Secretary.

4. What do you think of the idea of presenting only one Silver Alley each year in order to make this Award more highly cherished?

5. What do you think of having the Academy Board nominate five top fans for the Silver Alley, leaving the final choice to fandom-atlarge?

6. Should the rating system used in the Ama division be used in some or all of the Pro divisions?

7. What title should be given to the Division now entitled “The Comic Most in Need of Improvement”?

8. Should the special division devoted to revivals consist of a list of strips actually being considered by publishers for revival, from which fans would select their favorites?

9. Should there be other special divisions? If so, what should they be?

10. Should there be a new division for the Best Giant Comic (15¢ or 25¢)?

11. What fan not already a member of the Academy Board should be asked to serve as a nominator?

Respectfully submitted, JERRY BAILS 22595 Karem Court Warren, Michigan Secretary

The Academy of Comic-Book Arts And Sciences

1. Should all comic-slanted amazines be listed on the poll this year, or should the Academy Board nominate the top 5 or 10 outstanding single issues?

2. Do you feel the poll this year accurately reflected, on the whole, fandom’s judgment of its own efforts?

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Jerry Bails Nelson Bridwell Dale Christman Richard Durell Tom Fagan Donald Foote Ronn Foss Paul Gambaccini Steve Gerber Don Glut Richard Green Ron Haydock

Parley Holman Robert Jennings Howard Keltner Richard Kyle Ed Lahmann Gordon Love John McGeehan Douglas Marden Raymond Miller Fred Norwood Frank Nuessel Bruce Pelz

Howard Rogofsky Bill Sarill Paul Sarill Paul Seydor Roy Thomas Don Thompson Mike Vosburg Bill White

An Alter Ego Extra!

Alter Ego #7-9: The Roy Thomas Fan Issues R

s—now.]

[Marvel Family TM & © 2013 DC Comic

2013 Editors’ Note: (Above:) Circa May of 1963, Ronn Foss (on left) and Biljo White look over Ronn’s original layouts for A/E #5 with daughter Sunday White looking on. Photo by wife Ruthie White.

(Right:) Foss’ fantasy interpretation of his passing the torch of A/E and CC to White—and to Roy Thomas, who was never actually in any room with those two friends at the same time—was seen in RF’s final issue of The Comicollector (#12, Sept.-Oct. ’63). A miniaturized Joy Holiday (the Foss-designed mascot of both zines) stands on the table at left; note the Alley Award statuette at upper right. [Art © 2013 estate of Ronn Foss.]

[Blackhawk TM & © 201 3 DC

Comics—ditto.]

oy Thomas’ tenure at the helm of Alter Ego is amply documented; but less well known are the odd circumstances under which he became its editor/publisher, after a year (and two issues) of having no close connection with the fanzine he’d help launch in 1961.

During the summer of 1963, after publishing A/E #5, Ronn Foss asked fellow fanartist Bill J. (Biljo) White if he’d like to take over the reins of that zine, plus The Comicollector and The Comic Reader, an offer accepted by Biljo (as we tend to refer to him nowadays, though in those days he was always just “Bill” in person or in letters). A fireman in Columbia, Missouri, White was already the publisher of a popular ditto’d fanzine titled Komix Illustrated, devoted to original ama-strips.

(Above:) A/E’s only wraparound cover. All three covers on this page were drawn by Biljo White. [Heroes TM & © 2013 the respec-

tive trademark & copyright holders.]

Although it would take Foss another six months to finally publish A/E #6, Biljo White lost no time in announcing the prospective changeover—in a special three-page ditto’d announcement, seen on the next page….

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While White (who prepared and mailed out the above pages on his own) doesn’t actually say in the announcement that he will be the main editor and publisher, with Thomas as co- or associate editor, that’s the clear impression given by the way the pages are written and laid out. In addition, the sheets bear White’s mailing address. And that’s the way Thomas and Foss always recalled events—though BJW himself, who passed away in 2003, tended to discount in later years that he’d ever really intended to become publisher/editor of A/E.

jo White.] [© 2013 estate of Bil

Page 1 of that three-page announcement seen above, had a rectangle cut out of one section of it, so that the word “SURPRISE!” could be viewed through from the second page (top right), which was stapled to the first.

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At any rate, somehow—and how, no one precisely remembered years later—things soon got flipped around, with RT assuming publishing and editing duties, and BJW on board as chief artist (with the formal title of “art editor”) months before A/E #7 went to press. The editors of this volume suspect that White quickly found the duties involved in putting out The Comicollector so time-consuming that he felt he couldn’t also handle Alter Ego. Thomas was less than eager to take over the latter; but when “Captain Biljo” backed out, “Corporal Roy” felt he had little choice but to step up to the plate, since he’d been Jerry Bails’ official coeditor/contributing editor on the earliest issues. White drew—and provided color overlays for—the covers of A/E #7-9, the last three “amateur” issues.

As fate would have it, though, Biljo bowed out of CC, as well, after only three issues. (Seen at right is his cover for his final issue (#15, March 1964); note that, at this stage, the adzine was combined with The Comic Reader, though it would soon become a separate publication again.) CC, after all, was mostly drudge-work—keeping subscription lists, typing ads, collating, and mailing—a poor vehicle for one with White’s creative abilities. He left it to a fellow fan to pick up the pieces; Gordon B. Love merged The Comicollector with his own fanzine Rocket’s Blast to become the long-running RB-CC, fandom’s foremost adzine for at least a decade.

It’s probable that the only item on which White actually began work that would wind up in A/E #7 was the 7-page “Alter and Captain Ego” super-hero comics story he wrote and drew, which was reprinted in full in Best of, Vol. 1. (The BJW Captain Ego art below is from an ad in #7 announcing the never-published Alter Ego Comics, a related project of Thomas’ that was to have featured ama-hero stories and/or art by White, Thomas, Foss, Grass Green, and others.)

[Batman TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

city-employee newspaper. The shadowy figure of Ego and his name/logo (both rendered backward) were taped to the backside of a sheet containing the rest of the illo and logo.

Whether Biljo renamed the character in the 1960s or circa 2000 is unknown.

The two pages were intended to be printed on opposite sides of a single sheet of paper.

Thus, when the page was held up to the light, the reader would see the spectral figure of Ego peeping through, eager to foul up Alter’s date. A/E layout man Christopher Day painstakingly combined the images here in 2003 for A/E #33.

Another piece that may have once been intended for a White run on A/E was an earlier, non-super-hero effort he called “Alter and His Ego.” Circa 2000, he sent Roy Thomas both it and a similar “see-thru cartoon” of “See-Thru Sam” that he’d done years earlier as art editor of the Columbia, Missouri,

[Captain Ego TM & © 2013 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; character created by Biljo White.]

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[© 2013 Estate of Biljo White.]

hours going through vintage issues in “The White House of Comics,” as Biljo called the little cinder building in his yard in which he kept his four-color treasures. White would commemorate—and partly fictionalize—Thomas’ visit in a two-page, hand-lettered humor-piece for the 5th issue of his own fanzine Komix Illustrated, published in late 1963. That piece has been retyped below because of the considerable bleed-through on the back-to-back spirit-duplicator pages. White’s accompanying illustration was based on a photo taken at the time by Ruthie White, which has been reprinted more than once in the current volume of Alter Ego.

With the new editorial/publishing order settled, the two principals got down to cases. Biljo White completed his “Alter and Captain Ego” tale, which for the first time personified the fanzine’s name in print… while Roy Thomas began work on a long-projected article about Fawcett’s Marvel Family.

Published in A/E #7 (Fall 1964), the latter would introduce many Silver Age readers to that conglomeration of heroes who, from the early ’40s through 1953, had been at the top of the super-hero heap.

Since White had a nigh-complete collection of comics featuring the Fawcett Marvels, Thomas drove to Columbia and spent KOMIX ILLUSTRATED 1963 EDITION:

[© 2013 Estate of Biljo White.]

It was a cold gloomy day in December and I wasn’t sure he would make it in to Columbia. Arnold, Mo. is well over 100 miles to the east and earlier in the week the weather had been quite bad. It was already 11 A.M. and he said it would probably be 10:30 at the latest if he came. So the day seemed even more dismal—when the phone finally rang.

Immediately I recognized the voice… months had passed since our last visit but I knew it was Roy. I now live 10 miles south of Columbia so I cranked up the old station wagon and headed for town.

So it was—by noon—and after a good home-cooked meal by my wife, Ruthie, Roy and I were really ready to get down to business—or pleasure, as we see it.

First I took Roy out back to the new “White House of Comics.” I’d finished building a 10’ by 14’ concrete block house solely for the purpose of keeping my (fabulous) comics collection. Inside, I showed Roy the metal cabinets crammed full of Action, Whiz, Detective, Batman, Pep, Zip—etc., etc.—a collection accumulated over a period of many years but mainly from 1955. Sometimes I don’t even believe it when I realize how many rare items I have.

Roy wasn’t saying much—just standing there stiffly—then I noticed my friend was trembling. Did my collection really start him to doing that? Gosh!—I suddenly realized what had happened. I rushed into my house. ‘Come quick’ I yelled at Ruth. We grabbed my daughter, Sunday’s, wagon and hurried back outside. Gently but with great haste we lifted Roy into the wagon. ‘He’s mesmerized!’ panted Ruth. ‘Heck—no, woman,’ I scolded her… ‘He’s frozen!!’

Yes—it was almost that cold—but after getting Roy thawed out we got out my complete run of Marvel Family comics. “I-I t-think I’m o-okay, now.”—whispered Roy thru blue lips. That fellow has guts—that Roy, I thought. We, the White family, live on a high row of rolling hills overlooking the Missouri River and it gets darn cold as you can see the horizon in all directions. Sometimes I believe this would be a good spot for an observatory.

From then on Roy and I should have completed our task of preparing the Marvel Family article… but I failed to mention we had two pets in the house that day (a dog & a cat—both just months old—and it was cold) so then it started.

Sunday chased the dog—who chased the cat—while all three were chased by Ruth. Luckily Roy and I sat around a circular table so none of our antagonists ran into any sharp corners. Roy sat there writing away in between the sniffles and soon he said his head hurt. Over the roar of barking, meowing—and ‘No—Sunday—don’t do that!’—I wiped away the spilled Pepsi and got Roy a couple of aspirins.

Believe it or not by four o’clock Roy had his article written. He also had: dog bites, cat scratches, a toe run over by Sunday’s tricycle (he may sue—trial pending)—indigestion from Ruth’s cooking—a slight case of pneumonia, and after looking at the cover I prepared for this issue he stated—unsmilingly—“Captain Marvel may never die—but I am only mortal.” He turned to leave and said he’d be back sometime after the first of the year.

He didn’t say just what year though.

—Biljo

Thomas’ article “One Man’s Family” (actually written back in St. Louis, though the notes for it were indeed prepared that day in Columbia) was reprinted in Best of, Vol. 1, along with White’s art spots and a larger image of #7’s cover than was seen on p. 87.

Both the fanzine issue and the article won Alley Awards.

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As detailed in Best of, Vol. 1, Alter Ego #7 was published in fall of 1964, after Thomas returned from a six-week driving trip to New Orleans and Mexico City. The 40-page photo-offset fanzine was printed in his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, by the CashBook Printing Co. Pressman Leroy Beatty later remarked to Thomas’ buddy Gary Friedrich (then editor of the related Missouri Cash-book local newspaper), who had helped set up the deal: “The best printing job I ever worked on, and it had to be for a g—d— comic book!” The distinction between a comic book and a comics fanzine was apparently lost on the colorful Mr. Beatty.

Because fanzine publishers in those days were by and large ignorant of “fair use” laws, which might have allowed the reprinting of a limited amount of professional art to illustrate points in a fanzine, Biljo White’s interior illustrations for articles on the Marvel Family, the Justice Society, and the original Human Torch were invaluable—as was his striking, iconic cover, only the second appearance on the printed page, anywhere, of Black Adam, and that villain’s first-ever cover.

[Human Torch & Sub-Mariner TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Seen above are Biljo White’s title logo for Roy Thomas’ pseudonymously written article for A/E #7 about the Golden Age Human Torch (with art based on Frank R. Paul’s cover for 1939’s Marvel Comics #1), and his illo à la Alex Schomburg’s Torch/Namor cover for Marvel Mystery Comics #9 (July 1940)—two of the three illustrations that accompanied the piece. White drew all spot-art for A/E #7-9 at precisely the sizes needed for the original pasted-up pages; in those pre-photocopier days, it was harder (and expensive) to get them scaled up or down. [Human Torch & Sub-Mariner TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[© 2013 Roy Thomas.]

To issue #7 Roy Thomas contributed a three-page cartoon section titled “The Gilded Age of Comics,” drawing and writing in the style of popular Playboy cartoonist Shel Silverstein.

Pictured at left is the only one of those cartoons that didn’t fit into Best of, Vol. 1. The costumed figure is a caricature of 1964 Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater (hence the “AuH2O” symbol), who was viewed by many at the time—including RT—as being a warmonger who, unlike Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson, would escalate the stillminimal anti-Communist hostilities in South Vietnam.

The cartoon’s tagline was: “I’m sorry, but the publisher said to tell you we’re not going to start any new super-hero comics until November the Fourth!” [Cartoon © 2012 Roy Thomas.]

Need we add that the election was held on Nov. 3, 1964?

LBJ won by a landslide.

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Because of his own (and original A/E publisher Jerry Bails’) fascination with the 1940s Justice Society of America, Thomas commissioned one article by Richard Kyle (whose photo is on p. 85) and two by Glen Johnson for an on-going series he christened “Them Justice Guys,” after a gangster’s exclamation in All-Star Comics #5 (1941). Those articles, each of which dealt with one or two issues of that title grouped around a theme, appeared in all three of RT’s “fan-issues” in 1964-65. Since they mostly just summarized and commented on the 1940s stories, the article themselves have not been reprinted in this book, despite their high quality.

[All comic characters on this page TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

From Alter Ego #7:

Glen Johnson, 1964 (from A/E #8)

2013 Editors’ Note: (Above:) For the first installment of “Them Justice Guys,” in A/E #7, which dealt with the JSA’s battle with the monstrous Solomon Grundy in AllStar Comics #33 (1947), inveterate Joe Kubert fan Ronn Foss drew his own homage to the splash panel of that mag’s “Hawkman” chapter.

(Right:) Biljo White contributed three drawings: an interpretation of the cover of All-Star #33 (which was seen in Best of, Vol. 1) and these two: the first, in the style of artist Paul Reinman, in which Green Lantern battled the marshland monster—the other, of Hourman and Dr. Fate, the two JSAers who would battle Grundy in the Silver Age Showcase #55 (March-April 1965). [JSAers & Solomon Grundy TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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From Alter Ego #8:

2013 Editors’ Note: White’s rendering of conflicted pacifist Dick Amber with JSA guest stars Mr. Terrific and Wildcat, from All-Star Comics #24 (1945). The original artist had been Martin Naydel. The masthead drawing for this article was printed in Best of, Vol. 1; the article itself dealt with the two “Conscience” issues, #22 & #24. [Heroes TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

From Alter Ego #9:

2013 Editors’ Note: Biljo’s title logo and art for the “Them Justice Guys” entry that dealt with the two Injustice Society stories, in All-Star #37 & 41 (1947 & ’48)—and two of his other three art spots done to accompany it, all based on Irwin Hasen art. A fourth drawing, in the style of Carmine Infantino, appeared in Best of, Vol. 1. [Heroes & villains TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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Now, on to a few of the previously uncollected treasures (whether unalloyed or gilded) from Alter Ego #7-9, in the years 1964 and 1965….

From Alter Ego #7:

T

[Artwork accompanying this article © 2013 Estate of E. Nelson Bridwell. The Thing and the Hulk TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Eclipse TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

Article and art by E. Nelson Bridwell

friends. Together they battled and killed the monster Humbaba.

Then the goddess Ishtar tried to seduce Gilgamesh, who upbraided her with reminders of her past misdeeds. (Remind anybody of early “Blackhawk” stories?) In vengeance, Ishtar got her father Anu to send the Bull of Heaven (a storm spirit). But Enkidu killed it and hurled its thigh at Ishtar’s face, which shows a certain lack of common sense.

For this the gods caused him to sicken and die. This scared the devil out of Gilgamesh, who had never before stopped wrestling long enough to recall that he was a mortal, even if he was the world’s mightiest one. The rest of the Epic tells of Gilgamesh’s fruitless search for immortality, and includes the story of Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, the only human in ancient Mesopotamian myth who ever gained eternal life.

he current fad for monsters as super-heroes in comic-books may be said to have started with the appearance of The Thing in the first issue of The Fantastic Four.

With the success of that magazine, Lee and Kirby immediately imitated themselves and came up with The Incredible Hulk, whose spotty career seems at present to be on the uphill grade once again. And the trend has spread; witness The Doom Patrol (Robotman), and Eclipso.

Yet these are but the latest embellishments on a tradition as old as history.

One of the earliest works of literature which we possess—though in somewhat fragmentary form—is The Epic of Gilgamesh, which was to Sumer and Babylonia what The Iliad and The Odyssey were to Greece.

It treats of Gilgamesh—two-thirds god and one-third man, with superhuman size and strength, the ruler of Uruk (or Erech)—one of the first known “super-heroes.”

His arrogance became unbearable to his subjects, for he could take whatever he wanted with impunity. (And what he wanted was for the men to go hunting with him when they had other things to do—and for the women to fill his insatiable desire.)

So the people prayed to the goddess Aruru to create a man to match Gilgamesh and keep him busy. Aruru therefore made a man from clay—Enkidu.

And here, in a tale over 4,000 years old, we meet our first monster super-hero!

Enkidu had shaggy hair that covered his entire body. The hair on his head was long like that of a woman. Furthermore, he is represented in the art of the times with the legs and tail of a bull (see picture; the horns were a symbol of divinity). All in all, he looked rather like a premature Greek satyr.

He grazed with gazelles and drank with wild asses (like a forerunner of Mowgli and Tarzan), and he loved to foil hunters by filling their pits and tearing up their traps.

Finally one unhappy hunter complained to Gilgamesh, who sent him back with a temple woman; for, even then, Beauty could tame the Beast. She disrobed before Enkidu, who was filled with ardor and made love to her for a week, which certainly ought to classify him as a super-hero.

At the end of this time Enkidu tried to return to his animal friends, but they avoided him. He had become a man and was no longer one of them.

Bowing to the fait accompli, he clothed himself and went to Uruk, where he challenged Gilgamesh. They wrestled furiously, and finally Enkidu forced Gilgamesh down. But (like Robin Hood after him) Gilgamesh immediately liked his adversary, and they became fast

E. Nelson Bridwell, 1971.

Photo by Mike Zeck; thanks to Pedro Angosto.

The Greek pantheon, as well, had its ugly gods. Chief of these was Hephaestus, the lame smith-god, whom the Romans identified with Vulcan. In Book XVIII of The Iliad, Homer tells how his mother, Hera, hurled him from Olympus because he was born lame. Though ugly, Hephaestus forged objects of great beauty, and was eventually reinstated to his rightful Olympian status.

More easily comparable to today’s omnipotent uglies was Pan. In the Homeric Hymn to Pan, an anonymous poem of perhaps the fifth century B.C., it is related that when his mother beheld her child— horned, goat-footed, and bearded—she fled in terror. But his father, Hermes, was pleased, and took the infant to Olympus, where he delighted all the immortals; hence they called him Pan, meaning “all.”

Pan grew up to be a lusty god; but his aspect was hardly the kind to inspire a maiden’s dreams. The nymph Syrinx, as Ovid tells us in his Metamorphoses, fled from his advances. Finding her way blocked by a stream, she prayed to be rescued from the famed fate worse than death.

And, just when Pan thought he had her, he found himself clutching a handful of reeds, out of which he made the first Pan-pipes, called “syrinx” after the nymph.

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The Cyclops Polyphemus, who appears most notably in The Odyssey, hardly seems a likely hero; yet he is one of our “tragic monsters.” Theocritus, in his eleventh Idyll, tells of his love for the sea-nymph Galatea. Though he doted on her beauty, she scorned his ugliness. Later, when she fell in love with a

prince named Acis, Polyphemus killed him.

As everybody knows, however, Polyphemus eventually got his in the end— or, rather, in the eye.

however. Not long after, he created Triboulet, the hunchbacked jester whose pandering to the lusts of King Francis I brought dishonor and death to his own beloved daughter in Le roil s’amuse (The King Amuses Himself).

This unsavory view of royalty was banned; and the same fate came to Verdi’s operatic version, which later was altered to become Rigoletto.

Years later Hugo created a different kind of monster in The Man Who Laughs. This was Gwynplaine, a victim of the Comprachices, who bought children and turned them into freaks, to be jesters and clowns. They gave him “a mouth opening to the ears, ears folding over to the eyes, a shapeless nose,” and other sterling features.

One could go on literally forever in the classical world, but equally good examples are available in what historians refer to as “the modern world”—meaning anything during or after the Renaissance.

Shakespeare’s Caliban, in The Tempest, was truly a monster: “A freckled whelp, hag-born,” son of the witch Sycerax and the devil himself. Forced to serve the magician Prospero, he was filled with bitterness and hate: “You taught me language, and my profit on’t Is, I know how to curse.”

There is something tragic as well as pathetic about the fantastic Caliban. Nor was the Bard the only great writer ever to see his intrinsic possibilities. Browning, famed for his poetic monologues, never wrote a better one than his “Caliban upon Setebos,” which portrayed the misshapen dwarf worshiping his equally grotesque god.

One need hardly say that Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the prototype of both the Hulk and Eclipso. Jekyll discovered a potion which could isolate the dual natures of man. Finally, having lost control of the process, he took poison.

Edmond Bostand created what could be considered a “monster” hero in Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano and most of the other characters in the play were real, but the plot was Bostand’s invention. Cyrano was a 17th-century poet with a huge nose—and a ready sword to battle those who derided it. He was not really a monster, of course, but he did display a few of the same character traits as our friend Ben Grimm.

The list, of course, could go on and on.

However, it was the second wife of another poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who created the most famous monster of all. The plot of Mary Godwin Shelley’s Frankenstein is too well known to need repeating here; but no reasonably intelligent reader of today’s Thing and Hulk tales can be oblivious to the affinity which exists between them and the loquacious monster of this classic example of the Gothic tale of horror.

For the benefit of those interested, and those who otherwise would besiege both the writer and the editor with letters demanding to know what all this has to do with comics—I append a note on the Classics Illustrated versions of these stories: Speaking of classics, another world-famed hero of uninspiring The Odyssey, in which the occasionally sympathetic character appearance is Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. When Victor Cyclops appears, is out of print. was nine, his father sent him to the College of Nobles in Madrid.

Today’s CI #13, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is not the original (and Here he was awakened each morning by a hideously deformed hunchvery poor) CI issue. The current version contains good artwork by backed boy. This kind “monster” inspired him to create one of his Lou Cameron. It omits the origin of Hyde and has some incidents out greatest characters, one who has left his mark in the comic book field of sequence, but otherwise is quite good. as surely as in great literature or the movies.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame, CI #18, is again not the original, Hugo’s description of Quasimodo bears repetition here, if only for but a later and better adaptation. It features excellent artwork: pencils its sneakiness:

by George Evans; inks by Reed (Blackhawk) Crandall. One outstand“We shall not attempt to give the reader any idea of that tetraheing error: a cresier (crook) is depicted as a cross. dron nose, of that horse-shoe mouth, of that little left eye stubbled up The CI version of Frankenstein, #26, is likewise fairly good. This with an eyebrow of carroty bristles, while the right was completely was the first issue to be originally published as a 48overwhelmed and buried by an enormous wen; of those irregular pager (#45 was the second) and is consequently uncut, teeth, jagged here and there like the battlements of a fortress; of that whereas several which were formerly 56-and 64horny lip, over which one of these teeth protruded, like the tusk of an pagers were later cut to 48 pages. The art by Robert elephant; of that forked chin….”

Hayward Webb and Anne Brewster is superior to It’s a good thing Hugo didn’t really want to revolt us, eh? Still, most early CIs. Esmeralda liked him; she and the Thing’s girl, Alicia, must have Victor Hugo’s The Man Who Laughs, #71, is not the been tired of the pretty-boy type. early CI version, either, but a new one (1962), better Quasimodo was not Hugo’s only monstrous hero, adapted and with excellent art by Norman Nodel.

And, last but not least, we have #79, Cyrano de Bergerac. This is the Jose Ferrer film version, with changes, added screams, etc.—and some of the best passages absent. The art was done by Alex Blum.

It is perhaps too early to judge how long the “tragic monsters” will continue to enjoy a heyday in the comics. Until a stricter Code decides green A “Joy” Forever skin will give a child nightmares, I suppose.

2013 Editors’ Note: The 1964 edition of Alter Ego’s comely mascot, Joy Holiday, However, for the present, it would appeared in A/E #7; she was Pauline Copeman, a friend of Roy Thomas & Gary appear that gruesome super-doers are Friedrich in Jackson, Missouri. (Roy and previous “Joy” Linda Rahm had gone their a monstrous success! separate ways in 1963.) The photo of a reclining Joy led off the issue’s letters section, then still called “Readers Write” as during the Ronn Foss era.

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From Alter Ego #8:

H

istory has proven whenever liberty is smothered and men lie crushed beneath oppression, there always arises a man to defend the helpless, liberate the enslaved, and crush the tyrant. Such a man is BLACKHAWK!” In 1939 the Germans pushed through Poland, only to be slowed at the gates of Warsaw by the small but valiant Polish Air Force. Captain von Tepp, Nazi air ace, led his infamous Butcher Squadron against the outnumbered Poles. The latter were shortly defeated and their last remaining planes shot down.

The skillful pilot of that final Polish fighter managed to land his machine near a farmhouse.

As he ran for cover, von Tepp attempted to bomb him; however, the bomb hit the house instead, killing—by one of those amazing comic-book coincidences—the pilot’s brother and sister, who lived there. The saddened aviator swore to avenge their deaths and walked away without a backward glance.

Soon a number of armed, dark-clad men calling themselves “Blackhawks” began popping up throughout Europe, always searching for von Tepp. At this time he was in a chateau somewhere in the north of France, preparing to execute an English nurse who had refused to reveal where certain medical supplies were hidden.

Just before she was to be shot, the mysterious figure known only as “Blackhawk” entered the courtyard and ordered her would-be executioners to surrender. As Blackhawk’s uniformed [Blackhawk TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] men materialized on the wall around the plaza, von Tepp tried to escape, but was tripped by the nurse.

Soon arriving at a secret island base somewhere in the Atlantic, Blackhawk explained to von Tepp that he was the Polish pilot who had escaped him and challenged the German ace to an aerial duel in an attempt to avenge the deaths of his brother and sister.

Secretly, von Tepp managed to loosen the gas valve on Blackhawk’s craft. Just an insurance move, you understand. As the world’s greatest pilot and a member of the master race to boot, he knew he couldn’t lose, but why take a chance?

In the midst of the battle Blackhawk realized what von Tepp had done and unhesitatingly did a back flip, ramming his plane into that of the German. Both of them survived the resulting crash to earth in good health, though, and Blackhawk had to polish von Tepp off with a gun. The nameless nurse aided the wounded avenger but was soon sent back to England: “Ours is a mission of justice and death, while yours is one of mercy and healing.”

Thus Blackhawk was first introduced in Military Comics #1, dated August 1941. The rest of the comic consisted of war stories, featuring such characters as the Death Patrol (an unproclaimed parody of the Blackhawks), Yankee Eagle, the Sniper, and others.

Despite this wealth of heroes, however, Blackhawk was always cover-featured, as he proved the most popular of the lot by far.

In Military #2 the Blackhawks for the first time utilized the revamped Grumman Skyrockets which were several years later to be replaced by streamlined jets. They rescued a cowardly English pilot who was showing an extremely white feather in a dogfight over the English Channel and took him to their island, where he stayed until he later proved himself a hero by saving Blackhawk, getting himself gallantly killed in the process.

The item of greatest importance in this issue was the introduction of the individual members of Blackhawk’s great fighting team.

The first story had been anything but definite as to the exact number and origin of the Blackhawks.*

*Elaboration in late-forties issues of Blackhawk depicted the leader as an American pilot rejected by the RAF and therefore forming his own little air force of similarly frustrated warriors; but this was merely a rabbit pulled from a convenient hat, as it would obviously be unpatriotic to have the leader be anything but an American, you know.

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During the search for von Tepp, the readearly Blackhawk. er had never seen the faces of any member There was a sad note to this story, though. but Blackhawk himself, and knew only that A German general, spotting Blackhawk on one of them spoke with a heavy Cockney the cliff, fired at him, and the blue-clad accent: “You ’eard the guv’nor, lads. ’Op leader was saved only because the courato h’it, lively now!” When they had resgeous Andre took the bullets instead. Smile cued the English nurse, one panel had on his bon vivant French face, the “dying” showed at least seven on the wall, with the Andre then cheerfully leaped off the cliff to implication that more might be lurking start an avalanche which buried the remainabout somewhere. ing Nazis.

However, when they were introduced in Meanwhile, back at the island, Chop Chop the second issue, there were only six: freed himself and found a sword. When the Andre, Stanislaus, Hendrick, Boris, Zeg, Blackhawks arrived, they found their minds and Olaf. The Englishman was never abruptly taken off the horrors of war as heard from again.

Chops chased them into the night, swinging [Blackhawks TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

Even these six didn’t stay the same for his weapon over his head. All in fun, of long, however. Boris and Zeg were quickly and quietly course. dropped from the roster and Hendrick soon became the The true origin of Chop Chop thus differs immeasurably Hendrickson of today. Yet, as simple as these six names are to from that printed in Blackhawk #203, just as Chops himself is remember, the artist managed in the introductory panel to quite different today from his early self. In deference to the introduce Olaf as Hendrick and vice versa.

Comics Code, he has been changed into a handsome Chinese With this wide range of characters, many possibilities were copy of Blackhawk who was fighting for freedom and justice open to the writer, but few of these were ever capitalized on. long before meeting the Blackhawks. This new “origin” The author did, though, wisely avoid a problem that frequents undoubtedly pleased many of the younger readers, but we still many comics today. By using only a few Blackhawks each miss the short, fat, and very funny Chinaman once featured in issue, he avoided overcrowding and confusing the stories.

Military.

Although all the Blackhawks usually appeared in a story, only Chop Chop’s entrance into the strip provided an element a few were actually featured. very much absent until then—humor. Although how he It was the third issue, however, before the most interesting of received his colorful name was never told, it was rather evident this fabled group was introduced. that his favorite weapon was a meat cleaver, which he handled From out of nowhere the Blackhawks heard a plane overwith considerable skill. His never-to-be-forgotten war cry as head. Thinking the Germans had finally located their island, he charged into battle was “Yippee! Me make hamburger!” they manned their anti-aircraft guns. However, before any Chops also brought about a significant change in Blackhawk action was taken, parts of the plane above began raining from himself. In the first two issues Blackhawk’s desire for revenge the sky, followed by the body of the plane itself. against the Germans was the major influence. As a result he Blackhawk rushed to the wreckage and held aloft a cursing was little more than an unsmiling machine of destruction, Chop Chop, who insisted in such English as he knew that showing little emotion other than hatred. Chop Chop’s infec“Missee Ann” was in danger. Miss Ann, who turned out to be tious humor could not help but affect Blackhawk, who from the very English nurse Blackhawk had saved in the initial this issue forward was not above an occasional pun himself. story, operated a haven for crippled soldiers in Yugoslavia.

As soon as his personality began to change for the Learning that 10,000 Nazi soldiers better, Blackhawk found himself up to were on their way to destroy the his chest-insignia in predatory females. haven, Chop Chop had fixed up an old Time and again a familiar plot pattern plane and had flown for help. It had repeated itself: Blackhawk was caplasted just long enough. tured by Nazis (Japs, other) and taken Not eager to have the ridiculous litbefore a female leader (Black Tigress, tle Oriental tagging along on the resRed Laura, other), who immediately cue mission, Olaf tricked Chops (as he proclaimed her love for him. He was often called in early issues) into steadfastly refused, of course, and was tying himself up, and the Blackhawks then imprisoned (tortured, other). At zoomed off into the wild blue yonder. the end of the story the villainess The Germans had conveniently (occasionally after a rapid reformation) camped in a valley just below a dam, somehow managed to get herself killed so Blackhawk heroically managed to in the fray as Blackhawk broke up her blow it up. His men thought that he nefarious scheme. Sniffle. had been killed in the explosion, but Even when the girl wasn’t an enemy he showed up in time to help them agent, but One of Ours, she still often massacre the German troops with glee. managed to lust after Blackhawk at There was a bit of the sadist in the first sight. In Military #6 Blackhawk [Blackhawk & Chop Chop TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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sacrifice. However, the heavy rain soon forced them to take shelter in a nearby castle. It seemed empty enough at first; then suddenly a man in an iron mask appeared from a hidden door to warn Blackhawk that the castle was being used as Nazi Regional Headquarters before he disappeared as mysteriously as he had arrived.

Ere long, the Iron Mask had occasion to rescue the oft-captured Blackhawk (and Olaf as well this time) from a German firing squad. It was soon revealed that the man behind the metal disguise was none other than the late Andre, reports of whose death had been somewhat premature. Though he had survived both the supposedly mortal shot and the avalanche, his face had been so scarred that he had decided to wear a mask forever.

Determined to return his friend to his former self, Blackhawk at once flew to a concentration camp in Germany and rescued one Dr. Fritz von Rath, the world’s greatest plastic surgeon. However, the horrors of the concentration camp had [Andre TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] affected the doctor’s mind and had driven him, for all practical purposes, insane. stole a germ warfare formula from a lab in the Bavarian Alps.

Despite his madness, Dr. von Rath attempted to restore Rescued later from an avalanche by a girl who happened to be Andre’s appearance in the next issue. But when the bandages skiing nearby at the time, he discovered (surprisingly?) that she were removed, the face was not that of the old Andre. Dr. von was Elsa Hammel, daughter of the inventor of the formula.

Rath could remember only the face of the evil Baron von Later, her father killed by the Gestapo agents who had forced Ziefh, who had forced the doctor’s daughter to marry him and him to work for the Nazis, she joined Blackhawk in an attempt who had thrown him into the concentration camp. In his madto escape on skis, but she and the Fearless Flier were trapped ness von Rath had made Andre over into the image of the by a ground patrol and planes. The other Blackhawks quickly baron. arrived to save their leader, but Elsa got shot anyway.

To make an 11-page story shorter, Andre ended up not only As she lay dying, she gasped out to her newfound idol, restored to youthful handsomeness but also engaged to von “Please...go. And never... stop... fighting for freedom. You Rath’s daughter, who had turned up like a good penny. The must go... oooh...” Sniffle again. romance evidently went downhill, however; Andre is still with Like Smilin’ Stan Lee today, however, the writer seldom let the Blackhawks. a tale end on such a gloomy note. Later, when the boys Telescoped like this, it may sound as if the early Blackhawk returned to their island, Chop Chop mistook them for Germans stories were, to use the current but imprecise teenage vernacuand tried to machine-gun their planes. He was too small to lar, corny. But there was a lot of good, solid action in these control the gun, though, and went bouncing around the field, early stories, which continued until relatively recent times.

In Military #13, for example, von Tepp’s brother (his friends shouting, “Gen’l Sherman right! War is &*%$#!” called him “The Butcher”) tried to avenge himself on the The Nazis and Japanese weren’t the only menace fought by avenger. the Blackhawks, however. For example, what do you think In #17 a secret-identity female named would cause the belligerent nations to Golden Bell (Japanese this time for variety’s cease hostilities in the middle of a sake) got the usual bullet treatment. Shot in world war? An invasion from space? the climax, she nevertheless managed to aid The sudden appearance of a giant monour hero by staggering several blocks, ster? climbing a fire escape to a roof, and lighting Wrong both times. In the seventh a lamp to mark a meeting hall for bombing. issue of Military Comics, Genghis Clever, these Japanese.

Khan returned to life and again tried to In #19 the first King Cobra appeared, conquer the world. He turned out to be aided by a group called the Rattlesnakes in merely a phony wearing a bulletproof imitation of the Blackhawks.

They were a vest, though, and his own men eventuparticularly vicious lot. ally finished him off.

These stories, of course, show that the Military #9 provided a great surprise writer was imitating some of his earlier for Blackhawk as well as for the readgreat successes.

They even used the sympaers. On a dark stormy night—and thy angle again.

This time it was Stanislaus, amid artwork reminding one of the faband he was only growing blind instead of ulous Will Eisner—the Blackhawks dying in an avalanche.

After a supposed returned to the mountain scene of death in Military #31, he turned up the very Andre’s death in remembrance of his next issue and was able to muddle on to vic[King Cobra TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

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tory when given the eyes of a recently deceased dog.

The ancestor of today’s Lady Blackhawk appeared then, too; in #20 a stuntgirl nicknamed Sugar (because she was so hard to get—a common war joke) helped Blackhawk escape his daily quota of Nazi captors and vowed to return. She never did, though, unless you believe in reincarnation.

Perhaps the most unusual pair of adventure-hero stories ever published in a comic book appeared in #12 and #29. They concerned a mysterious briefcase and its terrible secret (Xanukhara, they all called it before they died). They must be read to be 2013 Editors’ Note: Roy Thomas has absolutely no recollection of precisely how arrangements were made for RB-CC publisher G.B. Love to print a second edition of Alter Ego #7, but clearly he gave appreciated, however. his permission—and Biljo White provided a zip-a-toned drawing of Captain Ego to draw attention to In addition to good stories, the one the ad. [Art © 2013 Estate of Biljo White; Captain Ego TM & © 2013 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly – character thing most apparent about these early created

by Biljo White.]

Blackhawk tales is the fine artwork—

by Reed Crandall later, but initially by ued in Modern Comics (the post-war title of Military) for a Charles Cuidera, who is again drawing the strip today. He is time, until that comic ceased publication. perhaps one of the best artists in the comics field, but it must In the late ’40s and early ’50s he fought primarily against be admitted that his present work is not quite up to the highfictitious dictators from mythical countries, but later—and quality art evinced in Blackhawk’s fledgling adventures. especially after the Quality Comics Group folded and DC One probable influence on his style in the early issues of began publishing Blackhawk—he became increasingly Military was the editorship of the aforementioned Will Eisner, enmeshed in science-fiction tales of less appeal to his older whose famed Spirit strip stands as one of the epitomes of the readers. masked hero. As was the case in the Spirit stories, each As long-time Blackhawk fans, we therefore eagerly awaited Blackhawk tale boasted a different, creative title logo. The use the recently promised changes in the comic. Having watched of heavy shading and detail, plus the fact that much of the the slow disintegration of Blackhawk from one of the best action often took place in the shadows, also lent an atmosphere magazines on the market to an extremely mediocre one featurreminiscent of Eisner—as well as of Bob Kane’s excellent ing the traditional DC monsters and spacemen, we thought that work in pioneer Batman tales. any change must necessarily be for the better. And it was.

Cuidera gave up the illustrating chores after the eleventh But, though quality of stories and art has improved someissue, and the strip was then brought to its all-time height by what, National has lessened these benefits by giving the Reed Crandall, whose name is more closely associated with Blackhawks new uniforms which make them look more like that of Blackhawk than of any other comics character. Cuidera fashion models than a semi-military group. As a result, the later returned to the strip, but the flair displayed in his first first days of Blackhawk continue to be the greatest in his long year as Blackhawk artist was lacking. career....

When the war ended and many costumed characters slowly Perhaps, when all is said and done, it is these faults more but surely began to vanish from the newsstands, one might than anything else which prove the intrinsic worth of have expected the war-born Blackhawk to have been among Blackhawk as a comics character. Through the bleak days the first. But this was far from the case. Not only did after World War II, when comics were entering a decade-long Blackhawk do well in his own magazine, but he even contindecline, Blackhawk continued as a going concern while Sub-Mariner was living and dying a second time and while Green Lantern was sitting in Limboland polishing his trusty but increasingly rusty ring. Blackhawk has survived declining artwork, inferior stories, the stodginess of the Comics Code, and a more-than-healthy dose of what has been called “Creeping Monsterism.”

Perhaps he can survive his current “new look” as well.

2013 Editors' Note: In A/E #8, future underground cartoonist and author Jay Kinney illustrated several comics-style gags written by Roy Thomas.[© 2013 Roy Thomas & Jay Kinney.]

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2013 Editors’ Note: In 1965 a teenage Paul Gambaccini agreed

images at bottom of The Atom and The Human Torch.

Paul Gambaccini, besides having his name used by DC editor Julius Schwartz as the basis for “Paul Gambi,” the costume-maker who turned out garb for foes of The Flash, went on to become a prominent personality on BBC-Radio in England, where for several decades he has hosted series related to classical music. To a number of people in the UK, Paul’s might well be the only recognizable name in this entire volume!

to handle the affairs of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors, though not long afterward he relinquished those tasks to future Charlton writer David Kaler. Roy Thomas, as a supporter of the ACBFAC, agreed to run ads for both the group itself and its official newzine, The Comic Reader, in A/E #8; RT even typed the ads, pasted up a Kirby/Stone Thing head he found somewhere, lettered the page’s headings, and drew the From Alter Ego #8:

The Cat In The Hat

Paul Gambaccini at 15, in 1964—from a blowup of an already-fuzzy photo that appeared in Bill Spicer’s fanzine Fantasy Illustrated (#3, 1964). [Kirby & Stone

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[© 2013 Roy Thomas & Jay Kinney.]

Thing art © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Cap’n Biljo Strikes Again!

2013 Editors’ Note: (Clockwise from top left:) Art editor Biljo White kept busy in A/E #8, first illustrating both an ad for his own popular (and pre-TV-show) fanzine Batmania. [Batman TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

A four-color drawing of Alter and Captain Ego became the issue’s back cover, announcing the winner of the contest to suggest the coloring of the Captain’s outfit; Biljo selected the winner.

Roy Thomas never liked the bare legs, but otherwise has followed that color scheme in A/E, Vol. 3.

Wonder if Sheldon Lettich still has that drawing—and the even more valuable original page of Sekowsky/Sachs Justice League of America art! [Alter & Captain Ego TM & © 2012 Roy Thomas & Bill

Superman line editor Mort Weisinger. In answering it in print, Roy thanked him for the story by Ed Hamilton and artist Kurt Schaffenberger: “Herko is obviously much stronger than Superman, for he did something the Man of Steel could never make me do—buy an issue of Lois Lane Comics. I’ll pay closer attention to future issues, however.” Roy always found it a wonder that Weisinger offered him an assistant-editor job only a couple of months later.

Schelly; heroes created by Biljo White.]

Biljo also drew mascot Joy Holiday (again portrayed by Pauline Copeman) with Herko, the courting alien from Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #54 (Jan. 1965) as the heading for the newly rechristened letters page. The latter sported a missive from

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[Herko TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

From Alter Ego #9:

As many of you already know, since the last issue of Alter Ego

so much of my supposed “spare time 2013 Editors’ Note: 1965 photo of RT and money,” I gener- taken by St. Louis roommate and high ally find it impossischool friend Albert “Bud” Tindall, then a ble to confirm orders, fellow high school teacher, and today a etc. If you wish your successful (if semi-retired) attorney. order confirmed, it would be best to include a postcard in your letter. I may miss answering a few of these, too, but I do try, so help me Alley.

I have, in my own small way, “gone pro”—having written and sold to Charlton Publishing Company one script each for Son of Vulcan and Blue Beetle and being currently at work on more scripts for the same two heroes.

In honor of the occasion, I have decorated (if that is the correct word) this page with the above photograph of ye editor hard at work researching his next script (I’m the one between the remodeled models). After all, Blue Beetle in his alter ego is an archeologist, so anyone who writes his adventures should at least be able to count to Carbon 14.

Writing the Charlton scripts has thus far been an almost entirely pleasurable task, which I look on as being as much a hobby as a job—albeit a grueling hobby, requiring long hours of slaving over a hot typewriter while sandwiching work on Alter Ego in the interim. It has, however, given me an excuse to do some long-intended re-reading in such things as Homer’s Iliad (my favorite work of literature after Yeats’ play “On Baile’s Strand”) and ancient Egyptian religion (which I would now be studying at the University of Chicago if I had several thousand spare dollars).

When these issues come out in a few months, I would appreciate any comments (pro or con) which you might have on the stories. I tried, as I imagine most comics writers do, to steer a middle course between what I thought was salable and what I myself wanted to see in this second heroic age of comics. And if a few of you think you spot traces of one of your favorite heroes or villains of yesteryear peeping through now and then, don’t be too sure that your senses are deceiving you. After all, we’re all the products of our environments—and my early environment included a ferocious number of comic books. Heh heh heh.

* * * Two items scheduled for this issue are noticeably absent: the completion of Fred Patten’s “Supermen South” and Ronn Foss’ “Warrior of Llarn.” Fred was sending the article in three installments—and only the first two arrived in time for publication. It is hoped that “Warrior” (scripted by ye editor and based loosely on the Ace novel by Gardner Fox) will see print in AE-10, where it will dovetail nicely with the by-mail interview with the creator of Flash, Hawkman, and the JSA. And, speaking of problems, this brings me to a minor but troublesome matter which has arisen of late. Because of my various fan and pro activities which take up

* * * A small dispute seems to have arisen in regard to Blijo White’s character Captain Ego in AE-7. About two years ago David Kaler sent Bill a script for a hero called the Gypsy. There are a number of similarities between the two characters, at least in origin, which may indicate that Bill was unconsciously influenced to some extent by the Gypsy script in doing his Captain Ego strip for AE-7. There are no hard feelings on either side in this matter, since the characters are quite different except in origin; however, both Bill and I thought that Dave, a talented scripter, deserved at least a portion of the credit for the success of Ego. Bill himself is too busy at present to continue the series, but I’d like to close this column by printing a teaser panel sent me by Sam Grainger, a professional commercial artist and newcomer to fandom who wishes to illo a future Ego strip. And who could have refused?

2013 Editors’ Note: The Sam Grainger drawing that appeared on #9’s editorial page showed Biljo White’s hero Captain Ego knocking down Roy T’s door; it was printed in Best of, Vol. 1. The Grainger/Ego illo at left accompanied an ad for the adzine RB-CC, elsewhere in that 1965 issue. Balloon & lettering by RT. [Captain Ego & Tigris TM & ©

2013 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; created by Biljo White.]

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From Alter Ego #9:

space nor the knowledge to write a full history of each character, from his origin story down through the years to the present.

Imagine that you are walking through the streets of downtown Mexico City and you stop at one of the newsstands which abound at almost every street corner.

This is what you’d find right now. * * * * * * * * * * * As I said, a very few Mexican hero comics are stylistic copies of their US counterparts. In support of my aforementioned theory that independent Mexican comics survive because they are more closely attuned to the Mexican cultural heritage and daily life, I [2013 EDITORS’ NOTE: All art accompanying this article © 2013 the respective copyright holders.] note that there are only two such pseudo-American comics being published today. These are n the first part of this article were discussed Mexican comicboth published by La Prensa, on a monthly schedule, at $1.00 books which reprinted U.S. super-hero stories, as well as origi(one peso—about 8¢) per copy, containing 24 pages, not nal Mexican comics which utilized characters from the counting covers.

American magazines (e.g., Blackhawk).

The only one of these two which can be unequivocally conActually, the bulk of Mexican super-herodom consists of the sidered a super-hero comic is Relámpago el Ser Increible (or, comics in the first of these classes. Virtually every super-hero in English, Lightning the Incredible Being). This comic is and science-fiction/fantasy comic being published today by exactly one year old as these lines are written, the first issue DC and Gold Key, not to mention several of Marvel’s best and being dated July 1964, so perhaps it would not be out of place such Dell titles as there are, appears on the Mexican newsto cover the origin story in some detail…. stands. With this horde of relatively cheap reprint material “The story of this extraordinary being begins in the laboratoavailable to readers, the chances of producing a significant ry of the notable scientist Dr. Van Hackett,” we translate from number of entirely original, financially successful super-hero the Spanish, “hidden in the high mountains of the Atlantic comics must be fairly slim.* coast”(which should place it in the state of Veracruz, if it’s not Such do exist, however, ranging from stylistic copies of the a completely mythical setting).

In this lab Dr. Hackett is putAmerican magazines to those containing stories based much ting the finishing touches on an experiment which will “have more closely upon Mexican customs and daily life. Frankly, I revolutionized every concept of medicine.” suspect that the latter factor is one primary reason why indeTo his two assistants—his pretty 24-year-old daughter Linda pendent Mexican comics do exist: being more Mexican in their and young Rod Hanelson (who bears a striking resemblance to cultural background, dialogue, setting, etc., they appeal more Elvis Presley)—he demonstrates that he has kept a rabbit’s to the reader as “realistic” stories, just as we American readers heart beating artificially for ten days, and that other parts of praise the Marvel comics for their “more natural” American his equipment will restore other organs to functioning status: dialogue.

“I’m almost sure that I could revive a corpse.” Rod has his This, then, is a coverage of the super-hero comic books feadoubts that such a revived being would still be human, and the turing entirely original characters to be found on Mexican doctor admits, “It will live electrically, and I don’t see how it newsstands today. And, while disliking to be a spoilsport, I’m will be capable of having sentiments and passions.” afraid I’ll have to emphasize that “today.” While I intend to go They are soon to find out, though. Leaving the laboratory to into as much detail as seems advisable, I have neither the

I

* If the reader doubts the veracity of this statement, let him consider what happened to the Australian comics industry—John Ryan will recount the story of the rise and fall of the Aussie super-heroes in a near-future AE. 103

close down the building’s electric installations in the face of an approaching storm, Rod is working on some defectivelyinsulated wiring when a lightning-bolt strikes a nearby powerline and the overload races through the wires, electrocuting him instantly. Attracted by the noise, Dr. Hackett and Linda rush to the room to discover Rod’s body.

The only hope lies in the doctor’s new invention. “The moment of proving his theories has arrived. With a wild look and a trembling voice, the doctor locks himself in his laboratory….” For the next several hours, the doctor operates on Rod amidst an atmosphere of slowly rising tension: “I’m almost finished now…. If my experiments are a success, I’ll have saved Rod—though it will leave me without the apparatus I’ve been constructing. I don’t know if I can make new equipment, but Rod’s life is more important…. I’m ready now to connect the battery….”

The experiment is a success. Rod returns to life—but is it the same life he had known before? Remembering his earlier doubts as to a restored being’s humanity, Rod fears that he may now be a robot. “That’s what we don’t know,” Dr. Hackett explains. “Your body is functioning well even though your vital impulses are electric… but what you call your sentiments is another thing… it’s outside of human control. The only robot that’s in you is the apparatus that makes your body function. The rest is human. And so, being more human than robot, you will be a more superior human in many respects than the rest of us….”

Rod is still not convinced that he has not lost his soul and is merely an electrical robot, but he is willing to accept the doctor’s hypothesis until he discovers differently.

Joining Linda, he finds out that “his emotions will be reflected in electricity built up in his body,” emphasizing his human-robot status. The doctor goes on, “I had to cover your body with a substance that, when an electric current is passed through it, ionizes and generates a magnetic field that can repel anything. With the electricity that’s produced in your body, you’ve come to be a practically invulnerable being.”

Rod muses, “That puts me in the category of supermen, and since I have been permitted to return to life, I’m going to use my life to help mankind.

All that I am capable of doing, I will put to the service of justice and good. What’s your opinion, doctor?”

“I think that it’s what you ought to do, Rod. But I believe that we ought to keep these powers and your true name a secret. What other name would you like?”

“What’s your opinion of Lightning?” suggests Linda. “It was a lightning-bolt that brought you to the threshold of death and that made you come to this state of being.”

“Very good, Lightning,” agrees the doctor. “I’ll help you with my scientific knowledge.”

Thus the birth of a new super-hero. The rest of this first issue tells of Relámpago’s first test under fire, as he rescues the infant daughter of an atomic physicist from a powerful criminal who hopes to blackmail the scientist into working for him. In subsequent issues, Relámpago has defeated a mad sci-

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entist bent on world conquest through a machine controlling all forms of energy, an invader from space who used superhypnotic powers to control mankind, and an Oriental fakir who raised the dead to create his own private army of moldering zombies. He has traveled into several subterranean worlds— one inhabited by fishmen, another containing a very Romanlooking lost civilization of immortal Spaniards and Indians under the Mojave Desert (they disintegrated into skeletons when he destroyed their life-giving apparatus), and even a city of Lunarians at the heart of the moon. He has also saved the life of an extraterrestrial visitor whose hideous appearance turned everyone against it, although it meant no harm.

By issue #11, the world is beginning to connect Relámpago with the brilliant Dr. Hackett, and a criminal genius threatens to kill Linda unless her father consents to perform the same operation on him so that he, too, can be an invulnerable, flying super-being. And so forth.

Some of the plots are poor-to-average, others are surprisingly good. One of the best gimmicks so far appears in issue #5, wherein a maddened scientific genius, an expert in studies of light waves, disguises himself as a tailor. Under the pretext of measuring a customer for a suit of clothes, he would take a light-image of the man, then later “dress” a robot in this lightimage and send it out to commit crimes, thus incriminating the innocent customer and remaining free of suspicion himself. A truly ingenious idea.

On the whole, there has been no change in the basic storyline since the first issue.

Relámpago still isn’t sure whether he’s human or a soulless, Godless robot; but he doesn’t seem to worry about it quite so much as he did earlier. His costume is a skin-tight yellow suit with a small raised helmet ridge (similar to Starman’s), a purple mask, and a wide leather-looking belt that changes color from issue to issue. The belt has a triangular buckle with rounded corners and the base topmost, featuring a design of a lightning-bolt; to the back of the belt are fastened the tubes of his “transportador,” Dr. Hackett’s propulsion device that enables him to jet through the air.

He wears this costume under his street clothes.

As I remarked, the artist is apparently using a photo of Elvis Presley as his model for Rod/Relámpago; the resemblance is too marked to be accidental. The electric shield that surrounds his body melts bullets fired at him and causes death-rays used against him to rebound against their source. His principal Achilles’ heel seems to be the danger of running down his battery, so to speak, through a great output of energy—in a particularly difficult battle, for instance, or in trying to escape from an escape-proof prison. Only once has he actually succumbed (in issue #2), and on that occasion Dr. Hackett was able to recharge him sufficiently. On the whole, he’s as invulnerable a super-hero as you could find anywhere.

Relámpago runs to novel-length (24-page) stories. The first issue credited the script to Enrique Noroña; the art in all issues is signed by Ramón Alonso Grecia. Grecia has a distinctive style which I can’t say is bad, though I find it displeasing. He

runs a bit too much toward grotesquerie for my tastes. There is almost no shading; he works in sharp contrasts of primary colors with heavy lines to indicate shadow when such is necessary. Streamlining is nonexistent; large masses are all (he seems particularly fond of bulky, tin-can robots). He has almost no talent for facial characteristics: when two men or two women appear in the same story, unless there is a great difference in their ages or one is malformed, it is often impossible to tell them apart except by their clothing and hair color.

Grecia’s covers, especially, are artistic abominations, being of the kitchen-sink school—the cover for issue #11 shows Relámpago battling a robot (five scenes), Relámpago being held by a man in Roman gladiatorial dress, assorted demons, snakes, and monsters, the Sphinx, the jackal-headed god Anubis, Adolf Hitler (with horns), the Earth, various wild animals, groups of people including Indians and Nazis, the American and Japanese Rising Sun flags, a composite street scene of Washington and a Turkish-looking city, an altar, a Swastika, a Star of David, and possibly other ingredients that I missed. All this is painted in the two colors of bright red and dull pink—and, with the exception of Relámpago’s battle with the robot, none of it has anything at all to do with the story. To call the cover “confusing” would be an understatement; it looks like something Alex Schomburg might have done for the old Timely comics after a particularly disturbing nightmare.

Fortunately, the interior art is not so confused as to subject matter as the covers, and if Grecia isn’t the best artist in the field, he’s still better than some American artists, so I won’t complain too much. Evidently, he rather likes his stuff; he sometimes includes at least one full-page panel in the middle of an episode, and signs his name there as well as on the first page.

La Prensa’s second adventure-hero comic is not science-fictional, but fantastic: El Piloto Fantasma, or The Phantom Pilot. This one has been going slightly longer than Relámpago, with issue #14 dated May 31, 1965.

The usual setting is an unnamed modern USAF base. The principal characters are Capt. “Stash” Colton, one of the base’s best flyers; Cmdr. Nelson Bright, the base commander and Stash’s friend; the Commander’s daughter, Spark, who is Stash’s unofficial (as yet) fiancée; and the “ghost” of Anthony “Lord” Sword, an RFC buddy of Bright’s youth who was killed at the front in 1917 but whose ghost still appears today to help American pilots in need—usually Stash Colton.

This comic contains three stories per issue. Unfortunately, it is not living up to its potential because of an almost complete

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lack of plot development. Up to issue #7, the stories were virtually all the same. Stash would be flying a mission to test a new plane or to complete some secret assignment. Either because of an accident or (more often) enemy sabotage, his plane would be in danger of destruction. Suddenly, out of the blue, down would come Sword’s old Sopwith Camel to strafe the enemy lying in wait for Stash, or to warn him of a booby trap in his plane.

In the earlier issues, there was supposedly some doubt as to whether Stash’s miraculous savior was really the ghost of Cmdr. Bright’s old friend, or whether it was some trick on the part of the Air Force to keep an unknown type of super-plane a secret (after all, it outstripped the fastest jets). Stash himself is a hard-headed skeptic who refuses to believe in ghosts, insisting that there must be some logical explanation to the phenomenon of The Phantom Pilot.

However, as each new story presents “Lord” Sword performing some new feat that only a ghost could do, Stash is becoming increasingly desperate in his search for the “logical explanation.”

In issue #8, Stash suddenly came up with what he hoped would be a telling question: If “Lord” Sword is supposed to have been a guardian angel of Allied pilots since his death in 1916, how come nobody ever saw him until he appeared over their air base in 1964? Commander Bright answered with a “legend” of a ghostly pilot who had appeared during World War II, that everyone at the time thought was a hallucination but which must really have been “Lord” Sword.

Since then, El Piloto Fantasma has alternated stories of Sword’s saving Stash with tales of his helping other American and British pilots down through the years (#14 explains how it was “Lord” Sword who helped make Lindbergh’s 1927 flight across the Atlantic a success). But, at three stories per issue, these two plots are rapidly beginning to pall.

The main flaw, I think, is that “Lord” Sword has been basically a background character up till now. The story spends its first three or four pages setting the scene; the ghost only appears briefly in the last couple of pages to save the day à la Mighty Mouse, then he’s gone again. Stash tears his hair looking for the “logical explanation,” Spark makes eyes at Stash, Commander Bright looks wise and knowing, and that’s it. The stories don’t go anywhere. If “Lord” Sword were played up more as an individual character and each story didn’t end on the same theme, the comic would be much more interesting.

Unlike that of Relámpago, the art in El Piloto Fantasma is superb. The comic has two artists, either of whom would be a credit to US comics. The better of the two is R. Avila, who works mostly in cool colors, often with a foreground object or person in bright crimson as a contrast. One of his tricks is to leave a key figure completely uncolored in the midst of a colored panel. His art sometimes approaches the photographic, and his people are as detailed as characters drawn by Murphy Anderson. The other artist is a man named Durán, whose colors are a bit brighter than Avila’s and whose characters aren’t drawn in so fine a detail. He also makes Spark look considerably sexier. No story credits are given.

This is a comic with a lot of promise, but—if its publishers want to keep it alive—I’d guess they’re going to have to start delivering on that promise pretty soon.

* * * * * * These are the two comics which most closely approach the style and technique established by the American comic book.

The other original Mexican super-hero comics are vastly different from these, though most of them bear strong resemblances to each other, namely: (1) They are all weekly; (2) None have colored interiors—they are all brown-andwhite, being published by a rotogravure process; (3) The settings and characters are all distinctly Mexican, while El Pilot Fantasma is set in the U.S., and Relámpago’s adventures take place in a big city which could be New York as easily as any other; (4) They run 32 pages each, consisting of one full-length story per issue; (5) They, like most Mexican comics, are one peso each.

One of the most popular of these is Santo: El Enmascarado de Plata, or, Santo [The Sacred One] the Silver Masquerader.

Santo, of which there have thus far been over 250 issues, is published weekly by Ediciones José G. Cruz, Arquimedes No. 73, Chapultepec Morales, México, D.F.; it contains 31 pages of story plus an “art” page of sketches of Santo sent in by the readers—who hail from Central and South America and the Caribbean as well as Mexico.

The basic illustrations in Santo are not drawings but are photographs using live actors in the fumetti style employed in this country by such magazines as Kurtzman’s Help! The precise process used in Santo, called

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Fotomontage, was invented by Sr. Cruz in 1943 and includes a sizable amount of touch-up and additional drawings to provide exotic backgrounds, outer-space monsters—and often the bodies and clothing to accompany photographed female faces.

The result is a bit crude, but effective enough. When one considers that José G. Cruz is turning out 32 pages per week of this title alone, it’s a wonder that the result is as polished as it is. The covers are usually paintings, many of them done by Cruz himself and prominently featuring well-proportioned and alluringly-clad femme fatales. On occasion, however, an action color photo is used instead.

Santo is not actually a super-hero but a costumed hero, a cross between a tough-guy private eye and Batman. What there is of his costume gives him a silverish look, consisting as it does of white tights with silver knee-patches, silver boots, and a silver mask that covers his entire head except for holes for his eyes, nose, and mouth. Aside from this mask, he is nude to the waist. On covers he sometimes wears a glimmering cape, but this is never worn in the stories; Sr. Cruz explained that it would make the action poses “difficult.”

Basically a lone wolf, Santo often cooperates with the chief of police of his home city (probably Mexico City, but never named). He doesn’t do much scientific detecting, but he invariably finds out whodunit before the police do, and he’s handy with his fists at the climax. Though science-fiction stories are not rare, the plots are usually of the gangster, copsand-robbers variety. All stories are at least full-length, and serials running over two or three issues appear about once every two months.

In addition to his weekly comic book, Santo also appears in a Mexican equivalent to our Big Little Books. This is a reprint of old stories originally published several years ago, in a format of about 61⁄2” x 5”, containing 260 pages and selling at 31⁄2 pesos a copy. The latest issue I’ve seen is #210.

Undoubtedly, the most amazing thing about Santo is the fact that its star is not an imaginary dual-identitied hero at all. He is quite real, and, according to Sr. Cruz, only a handful of “sports newspaper people” know his true name. He began his career in 1936 as a masked wrestler and became so famous in the Mexican sports world that in 1951 he was signed by José G. Cruz to appear as the star of his own comic book adventures—similar to what has happened in this country with Roy Rogers, the late Alan Ladd, and many other entertainers. The resulting comic was originally smaller and appeared three times a week; the current 32-page weekly dates from about 1954. Santo is still active in the wrestling ring; his picture appears almost as often in such magazines as Box y Lucha (Boxing and Wrestling) as it does in his comic. One can purchase Santo-type masks and costumes, as well.

In addition, there are also Santo motion pictures, in both feature-length and serial forms. A few of his movies, which seem to be quite popular with young and old alike south of the border, are Hombres Infernales (Infernal Men), Santo y Las Majeres Vampiros (Santo and the Vampire Women), and Santo Contra Los Zombies (Santo Battles the Zombies). These pictures are long on

action and short on plot—the villain in the latter film was almost ridiculously easy to spot—and seem to exist primarily to give our masked hero a chance to slug and be slugged.

Santo’s wrestling career is not ignored in the films, however. Santo Contra Los Zombies, for example, begins with a several-minute wrestling match, won, of course, by The Sacred One. And, later in the movie, one of the walking dead is substituted for one of Santo’s ring opponents, with results almost fatal even for the Silver Masquerader.

Actually, one begins to believe after a time that Santo must be some sort of super-hero in order to act in 31 pages of comics weekly, star in movies, and still keep up an active wrestling career! It is possible that the movie Santo is a professional actor; and one may well wonder if the comic book Santo is the bona fide article as well. Since the identity of Santo and/or his doubles is a well-kept secret, we can only speculate, though José G. Cruz has stated that there is “no relation” between the movies and his comic book.

How much of Santo’s comic book popularity is due to the stories it features and how much to his role as a wrestling and movie star, I couldn’t say. But Santo is undeniably one of the favorite costumed-hero comics in Mexico, with an announced average sale of 100,000 copies per issue, or 5,200,000 per year. At least one other Mexican masked wrestler, The Blue Demon—who generally uses the English form of his name rather than El Demonio Azul—has tried to imitate Santo’s success with a comic of his own, but it was inferior in quality and didn’t last long. The Blue Demon, La Bestia (the Beast), and other masked battlers are still quite popular in the ring in a country where roughly half the wrestlers seem to be hooded, but only Santo has successfully made the transition to the comic book field. * * * * * * Santo does, however, have a close sartorial competitor in the form of Neutrón. Neutrón is published every Friday by Editorial Argumentos, S.A. (EDAR), San Lorenzo 1009, Desp.

103, México 12, D.F., and has run over 175 issues as of this writing.

At first glance Neutrón bears many similarities to Santo, though the former is a totally fictitious character not based on any specific wrestler.

Neutrón is reproduced by a rotogravure process

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much like Fotomontage, if not Fotomontage itself, consisting of photographs of living models. Also, Neutrón’s costume is almost identical with Santo’s in all save coloring: Neutrón’s is basically black with white trimming—three white lightning-bolts on the headpiece, converging at a point between the eyes; and white streaks on the front of the legs of his tights, beginning about midway down the thighs, reaching their broadest point just below the knees, and continuing down into the boots, which have white laces. Neutrón’s costume lacks the knee-patches found on Santo’s, and it has two features of its own: a large black leather belt (with a broad white buckle bearing the initial “N” in jagged-lightning lettering) and heavy leather gauntlets.

Aside from these surface similarities, however, the two comics are quite different. Technically, Neutrón is quite a better product than Santo. The photographic reproduction is even more clear and distinct, and the drawn-in backgrounds and special effects are more effectively integrated into the photopanel. Also, an extraterrestrial or medieval man-in-armor is as like as not to be a photographed actor in costume, while in Santo it will invariably be a drawing; also, there appears to be greater use of actual props and backdrops in Neutrón.

Apparently the EDAR studios have a more complete costume and stage props department than does José G. Cruz, as well as superior printing facilities.

Neutrón is also far different in story development.

In the first place, Neutrón has a kid assistant, a nine- or tenyear-old boy named Iddar (also called Neutroncito) whose costume is identical to Neutrón’s except that his headpiece exposes his full face. While the value of kid assistants in comic books is debatable, they do add another hook upon which new plot elements can be added.

Secondly, Neutrón’s adventures are much more sciencefictionally oriented than are those of Santo. Neutrón and Iddar live in Mexico City, in a big house which contains, among other things, a large laboratory. The pride and joy of this lab is a large machine which consists primarily of a wall-sized television screen and a camera. The camera will project onto the screen whatever it’s focused on; or, conversely, the machine can transport anyone into this scene. When used in the fourth dimension, it is capable of focusing anywhere in the physical universe—Paris, Rome, Jupiter, or wherever you wish. When used in the fifth dimension, it transcends these limits and will focus either into the real past or future, or into the realms of fantasy. Thus, in addition to fighting current crime, Neutrón and Iddar can undertake adventures in the Middle Ages or the world of mythology, to name just two locales.

On one occasion (Neutrón #141), Iddar left the machine accidentally focused upon a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, and that worthy escaped into Mexico City to create a considerable amount of panic before Neutrón was able to force him back into the book.

A third major member of the cast is Cósmico, a being from another galaxy who came to earth through the machine in issue #114 to observe human customs. Mummylike bandaging hides his alien face. He has become a solid friend of Neutrón and Iddar and seems to have settled down as a permanent co-star of the series; in fact, he sometimes goes on adventures in issues in which Neutrón does not appear at all.

The result of all this is a much wider field for adventure than Santo has, though the emphasis is less on action and more on setting and story development. Santo is basically straight cops-and-robbers stuff, with each story complete in itself. Neutrón uses its individual plots to build up a large, continued story, and utilizes emotions other than pure action-excitement. Some of the episodes in which Cósmico learns about human customs are strong on soap-opera sentimentality.

While definitely a nemesis of evil, Neutrón does not work solely against Mexican gangsters; and he hardly works at all in connection with the law, preferring to arrange events so that the criminals are punished by their own actions. In the more fantastic adventures in Neutrón, the heroes appear more as spectators than as participants; there is no “solving a mystery of the past,” as is so common in most time-travel stories in our comics (e.g., Batman and The Atom).

Neutrón relies rather heavily on deus ex machina endings, especially in its more fantastic episodes. A typical finale, for instance, has Iddar about to be sacrificed by ancient Mayas (this is in #148) when Neutrón discovers this on the fifthdimensional screen at the last minute and transports himself there to rescue the boy.

(On the other hand, deus ex machina conclusions in Santo, while much less common, are usually much less acceptable when they do occur. In #213-1485, the second part of a twoissue adventure, Santo has been tracking down stolen bank money hidden somewhere in the Mexican countryside. Just as he finds it, he is discovered by the bank-robbers. After a 15page battle, Santo is unconscious, badly wounded, and trapped in the middle of a forest fire which is about to do him in. How can he possibly escape from this situation? Well, the White Fairy appears, waving her magic wand…. I submit that this is cheating, even if it is explained—in a rather passionate love scene that probably wouldn’t make it past the CCA—that they are “old friends” and that she is always looking after him.

Neutrón’s dei ex machina are at least acceptable, being based on already established plot elements.)

Neutrón is also considerably less gory than is Santo, which seems to go in in a big way for bloody corpses, mad axe-murderers, and the like, all shown in full detail. “Blood and gore all o’er the floor, and me without my spoon,” as the saying goes.

These differences aside, Neutrón and Santo do have similarities that no American costumed-heroes share. Aside from the fact that Neutrón has his fantastic machine that carries him to exotic places, neither of the two is scientifically inclined or has any special “powers.” Both are strong, but rely on hand-to-

hand combat with their fists or on fairly simple acrobatic skills. Neither has any gimmicks such as utility belts or employs special physical stunts such as swinging over rooftops on ropes across unbelievably long distances.

The fact that they are costumed is singularly ignored. They are never seen out of costume, nobody remarks on the fact that they are costumed, and I have never seen an issue of either comic in which the matter of a secret identity has even been mentioned.

Like Santo, Neutrón also stars in Mexican movies, the first of which was Neutrón: El Enmascarado Negro. He made a guest appearance last year in the Mexican section of Los Angeles in connection with one of his films.

And, speaking of movies, EDAR happily gives “screen credits” at the end of its magazines. The stories are by Alfredo Hernández and the art (read: photography?) is by José Herrera B. Neutrón is played by Marco Antonio Arzate, Iddar by Iddar de la Parra, and Cósmico by Fernando G. Calderón.

Sr. Arzate is a lucky man: how many people can claim that they are genuine comic book heroes?

EDAR is one of the largest comic book publishing houses in Mexico. In addition to Neutrón, they publish two maskedcowboy revistas with the same photo-and-drawing combination: these are El Latigo Negro (The Black Whip), about a masked and caped Zorro type, and El Charrito de Oro, which can be roughly translated as The Little Cowboy of Gold and has as its protagonist a pre-adolescent wearing a western-type outfit and half-mask of golden hue.

They also publish two other comics of especial interest to us: Criollo (which features Supercharro—or “Supercowboy”— and Tawa, starring a sort of s-f version of Tarzan. These two weeklies, plus Colección Policiaca’s El Hombre Invisible will be reviewed at the length they richly deserve in the final installment of this series in the next issue of Alter Ego.

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[Robotman TM & © 2013 DC Comics.]

From Alter Ego #9:

I was “born,” you

might say, on a latewinter day in 1942.

(In Star Spangled Comics #7, to be exact.)

The earliest memory I have is one of light—a stray beam of sunlight which had drifted through the window of Bob Crane’s laboratory and had fallen upon my ocular lens. This activated my electronic heart—and I lived.

My first inclination, of course, was to move, to get up from the steel chair on which I sat. I was vaguely aware of being numb and somewhat stiff; and, in my confused state, I fancied naturally enough that I had been asleep.

It was only with the first squeaking of my knees that I began to become aware of the true state of things. Looking down to locate the source of the irksome sound, I beheld—feet and legs of metal! In fact, my entire body was constructed of a light blue steel-like metal which clanked as I stepped awkwardly from the low platform on which I had awakened. “Have I gone mad?” I wondered for an instant. “Or am I still dreaming—?”

Then I remembered.

The events of the previous night flooded in upon me now: I, Bob Crane, wealthy young scientist, pursuing my life’s work in the lab attached to my palatial residence. Chuck Grayson, my lifelong friend and assistant, working busily with me to perfect a mechanical robot which would look and act like a human being. A forgotten date with my fiancée, Joan Carter— of which I had been abruptly reminded by an insistent doorbell followed by a stinging slap and the screech of automobile tires.

And then, only minutes after Joan had left, three men—one of them called “Flip”—bursting in with drawn pistols.

Harshly impatient questions about my “valuable new invention.” One of the trio heading for the screen which shielded a section of the lab. My instinctive, protective lunge toward the armed crook—and then my own outcry of pain mingled with the smell of gunsmoke as I fell. Then—nothing, until— “Bob—Bob—speak to me. It’s Chuck. Are you all right?”

Unable to move, I had looked up into the anxious eyes of Chuck Grayson, himself still stunned by a blow from the butt of a pistol. We had exchanged hurried words, each of us realizing fully that my only chance for life lay in having my human brain transplanted at once into the skull of the metallic

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figure which sat motionless and unliving behind the nearby screen and which had not been disturbed by the criminals, who had thought it nothing but a statue and who had fled in disgust at the thought of gaining nothing from their dirty work.

And now I stood alone in the laboratory, just beginning to recover from the effects of the delicate operation which Chuck had performed. Chuck—but where was Chuck?

Almost in a daze, I rushed to the door and retrieved the morning paper lying outside. Completely unaware of the frightened newsboy rushing away as my metal hand clutched the paper, I scanned a headline that made my oil run cold.

Chuck—had been accused of my murder! But then, after all, hadn’t Bob Crane’s lifeless body been found in my lab, with my assistant standing over it?

Determined to help Chuck before it was too late, I rushed into the streets of the city. A traffic-hardened taxi driver panicked and stepped on the gas as I approached. Without even thinking of why he was afraid or of what I was doing, I overtook his cab easily and hopped into the front seat. Only the clanging of metal when the cabbie slammed a wrench against my head reminded me of my fearsome appearance.

After one more encounter—with two policemen who emptied their pistols at me—I returned in stealth to my lab. To my amazement I had discovered that I was now invulnerable to small-arms fire, “just like the Superman we read about in the funnies!”

Quickly fashioning a false face and false hands of flesh-like material and wearing them over my metallic parts, I donned a suit and visited Chuck in jail. To the police I used the fictitious name “Paul Dennis.” Revealing myself to my elated friend, I vowed to clear him by locating the real murderer and left—to attend my own funeral!

At the graveyard I met the weeping Joan Carter (the only person present besides a minister—I was evidently not a popular soul as Bob Crane). Probably because I unconsciously reminded Joan of her late fiancé, she expressed a desire to see me again.

Leaving Joan at her doorstep, I proceeded to search for a hood called “Flip”—and of course I soon found him and cleared Chuck’s good name. However, I chose to tell no one else that the awesome Robotman was “Paul Dennis’; only

Chuck and I shared that secret.

Chuck, naturally, was eager to recommence our scientific investigations. But I had discovered a more important reason for living.

“The criminal element,” I told Chuck, “is going to hear a great deal more from Robotman!”

And hear they did! Unfortunately, my foes through the years proved to have names (The Human Magnet, Slanteyes, Murder Master, et al.) which were much more dramatic and inspiring than the crooks themselves. They proved simple to overcome—and, once imprisoned, none of them ever returned to bother me a second time. What I wouldn’t have given for one good Luthor, Sivana, or Joker—if only to relieve the doldrums! I had Superman’s artist, Joe Shuster, for my initial story—but that was all.

Meanwhile, I built a new life for myself as Paul Dennis. I became a regular escort for Joan Carter, though I knew that marriage was out of the question. And, officially, I became the “associate” of Chuck Grayson; the two of us continued our scientific researches whenever I could spare time from my crimefighting activities. In fact, we even designed and built for me an entirely new body, complete with rockets concealed in the back, in SS #13.

By the end of 1942 I had become a steely thorn in the side of big-city crime—so that a shyster lawyer named Sam Slugg decided to try to get rid of me so he could become top dog in the underworld (this was in SS #15). His assistant, Brutus Bane, served me a summons as a “public nuisance,”and, when I tossed him and his boss into a crumpled heap, assault and battery was added to the charge against me.

Actually, this was just what I wanted. As I explained to Chuck, “Sooner or later the courts must decide whether or not I’m a human being. If I can win this case, I can take my place in society again.” We tried not to think of the consequences if I failed to convince a jury of my ultimate humanity.

The decrepit courtroom was packed with people, friends as well as enemies. I allowed myself to be bound in heavy chains, and the trial began.

After I had managed to get Brutus Bane’s “evidence” laughed out of court, Chuck Grayson took the stand and revealed to the world the astounding events of my creation— everything except my new “human” life as Paul Dennis. Joan, who seems to have loved Bob Crane more than had been apparent since his demise, burst into tears at the news and had to be helped from the courtroom.

Following this rousing scene, Slugg introduced a horde of perjur-

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ing witnesses who testified that I was an “iron fiend” who trampled women and children with glee and made Adolf Hitler look like a gentleman. During World War II these were strong words indeed; but I resisted my impulses and then spoke in my own defense (I will confess, however, that I was perhaps influenced, whether consciously or not, by a similar incident that had earlier befallen my good friend and mentor Adam Link): “None of you has ever heard these lies about me before. But all of you have heard of the good I did, saving lives, smashing crime...

I want to go on doing good—being human as my brain is human! Is a man less human with a wooden leg or a glass eye? Society needs my strength, my abilities, my trained scientific mind...”

At that moment there was a rumbling as the ancient courtroom, which had never been meant to hold such large crowds, began to collapse. Forced against my will to reveal the full extent of my robot strength, I easily burst the thick chains and braced the walls while the people were evacuated. Then, when my enemy Slugg ironically turned out to have a weak heart, I rushed him to the hospital faster than any ambulance could have made it. When I returned, anxious about the effect that my display of super-human prowess might have on the jury, I found myself being cheered! The trial, it seemed, was over— and I was pronounced a free human being and a citizen. It was the happiest day of my life!

Not long afterward, though I still continued my partnership with Chuck Grayson and my unrewarding courtship of Joan Carter, I felt the need for companionship of my own kind—so I created (in SS #29) Robbie the Robotdog. The Mutt of Steel, you might have called him. He was, of course, much smaller than I and much more vulnerable to crooks (who were forever kayoing him with blows on the head which would not have fazed me); but he had several good points, as well. For one thing, he could talk, and, once I got him past the “Two plus two is four” stage, he acquired an almost human intelligence.

Along with his mentality he developed an entirely human conceit—and an aversion to the white terrier disguise which protected his (and therefore my) secret identity when we took pleasure jaunts through the city.

Despite his shortcomings, he could be a lot of help on a case, too. Once, for instance, he hopped onto the back of a fleeing criminal’s car and scattered parts of his metal body as a trail to lead me to the crook’s hideout. On another occasion I used a small tree to catapult Robbie through the top of a gangster’s auto. For this feat

Robbie received due approbation; he was used in an immense ad campaign for Barker’s Dog Biscuits. Actually, being a robot, Robbie didn’t need food, but he chewed around on a biscuit for a minute and then gave the company its slogan for the campaign: “After tasting Barker’s Dog Biscuits, I’ll never eat any other dog food!”

Robbie retired, I’m sorry to say, when after SS #82 I moved my adventures into Detective Comics. Perhaps he didn’t feel that a new artist could handle his escapades as well as Jimmy Thompson; at any rate, I haven’t heard from him since.

My career in Detective, much more than in Star Spangled, was largely concerned with pulling myself together—literally.

For example, in the very first Detective tale (#138), a petty thief named Dirk McGurk slammed me against the side of a building with a crane. As he so aptly put it, I “busted apart like a cheap watch.” The police gathered the parts faithfully, but I made Humpty Dumpty look like a kindergarten jigsaw puzzle until they discovered a blueprint inside one of my feet.

Just the same, it was an ill portent that proved depressingly prescient, as far as I was concerned. I must have been the most accident-prone super-hero since Plastic Man first stumbled over Woozy Winks. If it wasn’t my arm coming off, it was a bullet piercing my electronic heart or damaging my self-charging battery powered by cosmic rays. If I wasn’t becoming a super-magnet so that I had to sit around in a rubber sheet all day, I was having a freak accident which made me repeat my actions every five minutes. And I went through a series of bodies made of almost every conceivable material—rubber, gold, glass, I had them all!

Worst of all, when I needed repairs, it seemed that some inept bumpkin would always show up to put me together again. In Detective #145 it was Joe Blow of Toonyville, who couldn’t have tied his own shoelaces without a road map; he gave me one leg shorter than the other, a rubber hand, a music box inside my head, and other decidedly non-vital organs.

And once a farmboy named Zeke (in #175) fixed me up with rocket attachments so that I couldn’t help flying (and all this at a time when I had long since given up the sport as too dangerous).

And through it all, I was now alone. Chuck Grayson had become an infrequent visitor during my latter days in Star Spangled, and now I saw no more of him. Joan Carter, too, had faded from the picture; for all I know she ended up marrying Steel Sterling and living metally ever after. And of course Robbie was gone...

Still, there were other robots in the Detective series now and then. In #177 I met Robotgirl—only to discover eventually that she was nothing but a lady journalist of the standard Lois Lane type, masquerading as my female counterpart to capture a crook; what a frustrating experience that was! And then there was Robotcrook in #150, controlled by Gimmick Gus; Robotrobber in #158 (who would commit a crime for a 50¢ inserted fee); and a “second Robotman” who was just like me except that his human brain turned out to be that of a wanted murderer, so that he had to be electrocuted. In one story I even had my own robot, à la Superman, when “Paul Dennis” was quarantined during a big-city crime wave.

In fact, I’d say that I, Robotman, was all things to all people during these years. I was a one-man restaurant, a six-armed fire department, a police-controlled guided missile, a “human”

armored car, and even a racing-car driver (long before this Cliff Steele)! And my artists and writers managed to pack enough gadgets into my metal chestplate to fill Green Arrow’s quiver—and that’s going some!

But nothing lasted. It was the same old story. In Star Spangled my 12-page origin had had the misfortune to appear at the same time as Simon and Kirby’s Newsboy Legion; just about the time they left the scene, a kid named Robin moved in to hog all the glory. Not only was I never cover-featured; I was speedily and permanently cramped into six-page stories— and, in one black issue, into 31⁄2 pages for possibly the shortest super-hero tale of all time. It’s really a shame, as I made a handy guy to have around in a fight and would have made a great recruit for the Justice Society—except that I lasted longer in comics than they did. The importance of being obscure, I suppose.

Eventually I decided to retire. My last appearance (Detective #203) was as a “human war machine,” capturing some bank robbers in the midst of some war games by becoming a human cannonball. What an ignominious end from such a promising beginning! My only consolation was that in the final panel of my last story I was decorated for valor; the medal was held to my chest by a hidden magnetic plate. I was replaced by one Captain Compass, about whom the less said the better. He didn’t even have a costume or a secret identity—just a purple uniform and a nondescript smile.

So now I sit here in the Home for Retired Robots, playing checkers with Adam Link and chatting about the “good old days” of comics and science-fiction. Every now and then I pick up a copy of Doom Patrol to see how my modern-day successor is doing. Not too bad, that Cliff Steele—although I haven’t adjusted yet to his orange body and I would have felt naked appearing in public without metal joints at my elbows and knees. Cliff is pretty much a chip off the old girder, though, complete to sacrificing parts of his body at least once an issue. And, boy, that Rita Farr. That’s a whole lot of woman there, Yancy....

Say, I’ll have to take a glance and see if there’s still a Joan Carter listed in the city directory. There just might be a dance left in the old tin can yet!

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2013 Editors’ Note: The caption for this Ronn Foss “Special ‘Pin-Up’ Section:” in #9 read: “Altho it is regrettable that Ronn’s illustrated strip ‘Warrior of Llarn’ was not ready in time for this issue of Alter Ego, we are fortunate to have two drawings by him which deserve to see publication. The Eclipse drawing on this page was originally done as a possible front or back cover for AE-9; but, because Ronn did not have time to make color overlays, it could not be used in that respect. We are glad to be able to print it here, however, as a special pin-up-type illo.

On the following page is a trial sheet done by Ronn for display purposes in connection with the December 1964 fan-meet in Chicago, where it was a resounding hit. It is hoped that the ‘Warrior’ strip will see publication in AE-10 or -11.”

As it turns out, however, due to various factors, including a dispute between Foss and Thomas, the artist never did draw the actual feature, and it was given to Sam Grainger to illustrate for issue #10. See our section on “The Alter Ego #10 That Almost Was” for the full story.

[Eclipse art © 2013 Bill Schelly; Warrior of Llarn art © 2013 Estate of Ronn Foss.]

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From Alter Ego #9:

S

ATIRE DEPT. (Notification for the Benefit of Those Who Wouldn’t Recognize It Otherwise Division): As the best-selling comics fanzine in the world, Alter Ego naturally receives a great deal of mail—and ye editor wouldn’t have it any other way. In recent months a number of readers seem to have run out of prose comments on comics and their creators and have taken to utilizing poetry to express their thoughts on the world of the super-hero. Because it is thought that some of these contributions may be of interest to those of AE’s readers who know an iamb from an Atom, a few of them are reprinted below. We call them:

A TREASURY OF MORTAL VERSES

The first of these was submitted by Carl Sandbug of Chicago; we don’t know, but we suspect that he may be one of fandom’s famed “Chicago hoods,” which include Alex Almaraz and Billy Placzek. At any rate, here is his free-verse letter of comment, which he calls: “National”

Comics Factory for the World, Hero-Maker, Producer of Panels, Player with Word-Balloons and the Nation’s One-Company Paper Shortage, Stormy, husky, affluent, Company of the Full Pockets:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen Diana Prince told she had a father.

And they tell me you are wordy and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the evil scientist talk his head off and go free to talk again.

And they tell me you are artless and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen not the slightest vestige of recognizably human expression.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my company, and I give them back the sneer and say to them: Come and show me another company with hooded head singing so proud to be alive and wealthy and strong and cunning.

Flinging gosh-wow curses amid the toil of fighting foe after fancy foe, here is a scarlet speedster drawn vivid against a dwarf-high skyline; Fierce as a dinosaur with tongue lapping for anachronistic dog-faces, cunning as a Bosch ace still fighting the Allies after fifty years; Mask-wearing, Zooming, Hiding a secret identity, Smiling, Talking, running around, re-talking,

Under the same old masthead, blurred ink all over his mouth, laughing with gigantic capped white teeth, Under the terrible burden of newsstand sales laughing as an Infantino-drawn man laughs, Laughing even as an ignorant Amazon laughs who thinks she had a father, Bragging and laughing that under his glove is a six-inch-high Power Ring, and in his pocket a piece of red Kryptonite which catches on fire when out of water for an hour unless freed by a male with a faulty responsometer during an eclipse.

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, affluent laughter of Middle-Age, capeless, air-conditioned, proud to be Comics Factory, Hero-Maker, Producer of Panels, Player with Word-Balloons and One-Company Paper Shortage for the Nation.

(NOTE: Don’t laugh, Stan. Next letter he said he was going to defend you!)

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Our next missive comes from a fan who signs his name “e.e. cunnings.” I am not sure if his unusual signature is a sign of personal eccentricity or of not having progressed beyond kindergarten in the grammatics of punctuation. He entitles his contribution:

The ensuing letter of comment is in a slightly more traditional form: that of the sonnet. We have no knowledge of the private life of its writer, Percy Blithe Shellfish, but would guess him to be a romantic soul but with an eye to the practical world.

“Now, by My Hand, Shall Perish a Villain” or “Good-bye, Zemo”

Billy Batson

I met a collector just in from Long Isle Who said: Two large but empty trunks of tan Stand in a junkyard. Near them, in the pile, Half sunk, a comic cover lies: a man, Whose dotted eyes, and Fred Mac Murray smile, Tell that the artist well his trade did ply To draw so fine that boldly-lettered “BAM!” And jagged lightning streaking from the sky; And on that cover there these words appear: “When Billy Batson shouts the word ‘Shazam!’

He is the Mightiest Mortal on this sphere!”

Nothing beside remains. And on the spot Of that amazing, valued find, I hear The city plans to build a parking lot.

iron-man told

him:he couldn’t believe it (thor

told him;he wouldn’t believe it)giant-

man certainly told him,and wonderful (oh henry) wasp; and even (believe it or

not)stan lee told him:artie simek told him;we told him (he didn’t believe it, no sir)it took an Americanized bit of an old scrapped panzer

Next we have a comment from New England comic fan Robert Frosting. This biting letter deals with his reactions to some recent changes for the better in House of Secrets:

him

Whose cloak this is I think I know.

His pad is in the Village, though; He will not see me stopping here To try his cape on . . . just for show.

tank;and a sudden rockslide:to tell

Stopping by a Cloak at a Propitious Moment

My former cat must think it queer To stop without a monster near In this 12-pager, hard to take, My weakest story of this year.

He gives his whiskers just a shake To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s that creep Eclipso ’bout to make a break.

115

My ways are sneaky, dark and deep — Now I’ve his magic cloak to keep — And tricks to learn before I sleep,

Amid all the furor regarding the current revival of the comic-book super-hero, fandom should not forget some of the early comicstrip greats who were the forerunners of Superman and company. The following letter (or letter-fragment, to be more exact) on this subject was submitted by fan Samuel Taylor Coleslaw of England, who claims to have written it while chewing a piece of Topps gum air-mailed to him by Len Brown of New York.

Ming and Klan

On Mongo world did Ming and Klan A dangerous tournament decree: While Flash, the son of Gordon, ran Faster than a greyhound-man Toward his XK3.

Unfortunately, at this point Sam’s reverie was interrupted by the sound of the Beatles appearing on the telly, so that we’ll have to await further correspondence—if any—with him.

Luckily, another fan—one Robert Brownie, also of England— sent us the following note: Home Thoughts from Old Mongo

Oh, to have been on Mongo During Raymond’s reign, And whoever woke on Mongo Saw, each morning, with a pain, That the toothed boughs and the clinging vine Did round the milk-white neck of Dale A. twine, While old Ming just laughed from his flag-ship’s den On Mongo — then!

And after Arden, when Flash followed, As a quicksand-man his rocket swallowed — “Help!” — as the lizard-men burst through the hedge, Ray-guns ablaze at Dale, and almost clove ’er, Topmost and bottom — at volcano’s edge — Then the hawk-men; they razed the field twice over!

Ah, well we know none ever will recapture That Alex Raymond rapture!

But though conquistadors now tramp through, All will be fine when Ming awakes anew And once again those old ray-blasts are hurled — If I can just get off this crazy world!

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And tricks to learn before I sleep.

The following paean of praise comes to Alter Ego from one William Bleak, obviously one of the growing cult of Stan Lee’s worshippers:

Recently a lot of attention has been focused on the Superman family of comics. One of AE’s Southern subscribers—“Eager Allen” Poe—editor of the horror-movie fanzine The House of Ushers—has sent a few thoughts on this oft-discussed topic:

The Spider

My Puppy and Me

Spidey, Spidey, spinning high, ’Twixt skyscrapers and the sky, Who but Ditko and Stan Lee Could frame such profitable symmetry?

It was many and many a year ago, In a far-off galaxy, That a scientist lived — and his wife, you know — Named Jor-El and Lara, you see?

And this Jor-El he lived with no other thought Than to build him a rocket and flee.

In what distant ocean’s ebbs Were designed your arty webs?

On whose typer did you spawn?

Whose the hand that you has drawn?

I was a child and Krypto a pup, In that far-off galaxy, But we flew with a speed that was more than speed, I and my little puppy, With a speed that old Doc Smith’s evil Eddorians* Coveted him and me.

And what fingers and what nails Could letter all your teenage wails?

And when the atomic spider bit — Who’s the genius thought of it?

Whose the pencil? Whose the ink?

Who decides just how you think?

Whose the brainchild? Who’s the gent Made Pete Parker like Clark Kent?

And that was the reason that, long ago, In that far-off galaxy, The whole darn world went KA-BLAM, shocking Me and my little puppy; So that my nervous parents came And picked up my pup and me And shut us up in a rocket ship In that far-off galaxy.

When F4 began to move And old Spidey hit the groove, Did Lee smile his work to see?

Or give a bonus to Steve D.?

Those villains, not half so swift in old Eddore, Went envying Krypto and me: — Yes! — that’s the true reason (survivors know, From that far-off galaxy) That the whole darn world went KA-BLAM, all right, Shocking and rocking my puppy and me.

Spidey, Spidey, spinning high, ‘Twixt skyscrapers and the sky, Who but Ditko and Stan Lee Could frame such profitable symmetry?

But our powers they were greater by far than the powers Of others more Flash-y than we — Of many more Savage than we — But neither Eddorians from up above, Nor Atlantisans under the sea, Can get through to rescue our fate from the fate Of that far, far-away galaxy: —

For the sun never suns without bringing earth tons Of survivors from that galaxy; And the dippers ne’er dip but I see a new ship Of survivors from that galaxy; And so, like a dumb klunk, I lie down in my bunk With my bottle — named Kandor — my pup and my monk, In Fort Solitude near Arctic Sea — In this o’er-crowded galaxy. *see following article 117

There are various types of fans: neo-fans, to whom Stan Lee and/or Julius Schwartz comics constitute the best of all possible super-hero worlds; indiscriminate fans, who would place Fantastic Four on an equal footing with Lassie if asked; and of course the Golden Age fans, who long for the days when Joe Shuster used to forget Superman’s “S” every other panel. One of the latter type, who signs his name as “Edward Arlington Swissfamily Robinson Crusoe,” is the author of our final contribution in this special section—a contribution which deals with the most fascinating subject of all for many comic fans: comic fandom itself.

Oliver Fannish

Oliver Fannish, comic buff, Grew lean while he lambasted National; He wept for all that Gold-Age stuff — And called it rational.

Oliver loved the days of awkWard capes and villains foully dying; A drawing of a Kubert “Hawk” Would set him flying.

Oliver sighed for what had been — As to his dreams he would surrender.

He dreamed of worlds of cartoon sin And pre-Code splendor.

Oliver mourned the ripe renown That made so many a name so poten’, Mourned Captain Marvel (long mowed down), Black Terror—verboten!

Oliver loved the JSA Albeit he had never seen them; He would have swept all crime away Could he have been them.

Oliver cursed the commonplace And eyed a Dacron suit with loathing.

He missed the oft-supposed grace Of form-fit clothing.

Oliver scorned new mags — he said — But sore annoyed was he without them.

He read and wrote and wrote and read And dreamed about them.

Oliver Fannish, sore out-classed, He revelled in his shrewd dissecting; He subscribed to the Rocket’s Blast — And kept collecting.

2013 Editors’ Note: Though the piece sported no credit in A/E #9, it was written and illustrated by the issue’s editor. [Art & text © 2013 Roy Thomas] 118

From Alter Ego #9:

2013 EDITORS’ NOTE: This footnoted article was headed by the title art and logo at left, pasted up by Roy Thomas, using a figure from Hubert Rogers’ cover for the science-fiction pulp Astounding Science Fiction (Oct. 1939)—and, even more astoundingly, a Green Lantern figure which was actually cut out of a page of Mike Sekowsky/Bernard Sachs original art from an issue of Justice League of America given to Thomas by DC editor Julius Schwartz. Of course, access to a good photocopier or Photostat machine was difficult for the average person in 1965, but RT still considers it one of his worst youthful follies—on both an artistic and a financial level. [Astounding art © 2013 the respective copyright holders; GL art © 2013 DC Comics.]

Alas, neither of the editors has any knowledge of Shel Kagan’s later doings—although that name did pop up as an editor in issues of National Geographic only a few years ago. Do you think maybe…?

All of this is by way of introducing a series of science-fiction novels, now about thirty years old, which (as an additional reason for this article) would have made a magnificent comic-book (or -strip) series.

The visual possibilities, the colorful characters and variety of weird beings, the sweep of galaxy-wide adventure—great enough in prose—would have been classic under the knowledgeable pen of a true master of panel art. As it is, there are a number of parallels that can be drawn between this series and several currently popular ones. This is the story of—the Lensmen.

W

hile science-fiction no longer enjoys the flush times comicwise that it did during the 1950s, still a large percentage of today’s comics are concerned with s-f themes. A very common figure is the scientist-hero, and two very popular and closely-related origin motifs are those of the experimentgone-wrong and of the accident-with-radioactivity, as witness Doctor Solar, the Metal Men, and a good number of Stan Lee’s abundant offspring.

Many other super-hero comics have close connections with science-fiction either in conception or realization. The power of Green Lantern was bestowed on him by a stranded and dying spaceman and many of his adventures take place on other worlds; Hawkman, too, has been transformed from a reincarnated Egyptian into an interstellar policeman. And, of course, Superman’s birth on Krypton and his subsequent journey through space are the classic examples of sciencefiction in panel form; even the original explanation for his “flying”—the lighter gravity of Earth—is straight out of an astrophysics textbook.* Probably justifiably, Julius Schwartz denies any real dependence on science-fiction prose. However, he does point out the large number of comic writers who have also worked in the science-fiction field: Alfred Bester and Otto Binder, to name just two.

As both a science-fiction reader and a comics fan, I can’t help thinking that there is a distinct relationship between the two genres. It’s not so much that one owes any particular debt to the other, but rather that they share a common body of ideas—a pool, as it were, out of which authors and illustrators draw (pun intended) their story lines and graphic concepts.

I.

Two thousand million or so years ago, two galaxies were colliding; or, rather, were passing through each other.

So begins Triplanetary, the first volume of E.E. (Doc) Smith’s six-volume Lensmen series. The opening chapters of this first novel detail the encounter between two superraces—the Eddorians and the Arisians, each from one of the two colliding universes. The Eddorians, “intolerant, domineering, rapacious, insatiable, cold, callous and brutal,” are planning the conquest of our space-time continuum, which they have just recently entered. The Arisians, kindly yet powerful guardians of our Milky Way star system, discover the interlopers when Enphilistor, a young Arisian, stumbles (if that is the right word, since they are all pure mentalities) on an Eddorian war conference. Lightly parrying a destructive thrust of Eddorian mental energy, Enphilistor calls for help.

A grave, deeply resonant pseudo-voice filled the Eddorians’ minds; each perceived in three-dimensional fidelity an aged, white-bearded human face.

“We, the Elders of Arisia in fusion, are here.”

* It is perhaps this matter of science-fiction, as much as any other single factor, which elucidates the basic difference between Superman and his accused imitator, Captain Marvel. The World’s Mightiest Mortal was based entirely on fantasy—magic, if you will—while the Man of Steel was a product of elementary-level science-fiction. —RT. 119

The Elders, whose visualization of the cosmic all is practically infinite, begin immediate plans to save the galaxy from the Eddorians. They cause their enemy to forget the encounter until such time as a suitable offense can be mounted—one that will succeed in destroying their menace altogether.

The Arisian plan is an ambitious one—the author stretches it over a half million words and eons of time pass in its unfolding. Whole civilizations will be developed under Arisian guidance only to be annihilated in the ever-continuing struggle for the supremacy of the universe. When at last the plan is near completion, the Arisians will translate themselves to the next highest plane of existence, leaving the galaxy in the hands of its new guardians—the Lensmen of the Galactic Patrol.

Triplanetary traces the history of Tellus (Earth) through the civilization of Atlantis, Rome, World War I, and a time labeled 19-?. In the final half of the book, which formed the original serialization (see below), the reader is introduced to Virgil Samms, who is destined to become the first Lensman, and to Gharlane of Eddore, in the form of Gray Roger the pirate, “an over-brained, under-conscienced human machine—a super-intelligent but lecherous and unmoral mechanism of flesh and blood, acknowledging no authority save his own scientific drivings and the almost equally powerful urges of his desires and passions.”

We also meet the name Kinnison (Kinnexa in ancient Atlantis); it is the Kinnison family—specifically the descendants of Rod Kinnison’s wife Clarissa MacDougal (all modeled on Smith’s own wife and family)—who will eventually form the backbone of the Galactic Patrol. The Kinnison children themselves will accomplish the destruction of Eddore.

More specifically, strewn throughout this epic story are the Overlords of Pelgon, lizard-like creatures that, in siren fashion, lure spacemen to their hidden lair with hypnotic images, then fall upon their captives and devour their life forces; Helmuth, an Eich entity “who speaks for Boskone” and who is destroyed in the final sentence of Galactic Patrol; the human Alcon, Tyrant of Thrale; and, lastly, the nefarious Wheel-Men of Aldebaran II, who get around pretty fast and who shoot from the hub.

III

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[Art © 2013 Roy Thomas.]

Opposed to these enemies, and ranked beside the human Terrans, are a number of oddly-shaped and specially-endowed non-human Lensmen. Of these, three have important places in the story.

The first is Worsel of Velantia, a winged snake with a body of steel who possesses a double-edged, razor-sharp tail and the ability to compartment his mind so that he can perform hundreds of jobs at one time.

Tregonsee of Trenco (Rigel IV) is the most fascinating of the lot. His body is shaped rather like an oil drum, he walks on four stumpy legs, and he has four tenfoot tentacles which end in a myriad cluster of oddly-shaped tendrils.

Because his smooth dome of a head sports only four mouths and an equal number of nostrils, he has no sense of sight or sound, but is instead a highly developed telepath. Needless to say, II his sense of touch is extraordinary.

Because of these factors, he has been The Eddorian power structure begins made Lensman in special charge of with the unnamed “all highest, his ultiTrenco, a world of distortion wherein the mate supremacy himself,” but this ordinary senses of earthmen cannot func[Alien GL TM & © 2013 individual plays almost no part in any DC Comics; other art © 2013 Roy Thomas] tion. of the six books because Nadreck of Palain VII (not specifically described in any of the volumes I have) is a master mathematician. His patience enables him to work on one problem for numerous decades He pays little attention to any one planet or race. without being distracted. He comes closest to the Arisians Even such a mind as his, when directing the affairs in mental stature. of twenty million and then sixty million and then a In the conclusion of the last volume, Children of the Lens, hundred million worlds, can do so only in broad, each of these outworlders pairs off with one of the Kinnison and not in fine. daughters for the ultimate destruction of Eddore by the use of a mental lightning-bolt, hurled and focused thru the Next comes the already-mentioned Gharlane, second in linked Lenses. Tregonsee and Camilla, Worsel and command, active throughout the saga. The echelon below Constance, Nadreck and Karen, and Rod with the remaining him consists entirely of the Ploorans, beings who must daughter direct the telepathic stroke that vanquishes the undergo vast cyclical changes in appearance and metabolism enemy of mankind.

It is curious that, although denied the in order to conform to the variable nature of their sun. The use of the Lens (see below), it is the women who are responthird level contains a diversity of types, most notably the sible for the safety of society. frigid-blooded, poisonous Eich, of which the Boskonian branch is the tangible enemy against whom the Lensmen are pitted.

IV

V

At this point it would be well to discuss the central symbol of this saga—the Lens.

The Lens is unquestionably one of the most intriguing of the numerous s-f and comic-book devices that yields the wearer powers beyond his normal state. It is developed, in First Lensman, as a substitute for the Terran glowing meteor emblem, which has been successfully imitated by the enemy Boskonian forces. The search begins for an emblem which cannot be duplicated.

Calling Arisia for help, but still unaware of the real role the Arisians have been playing, Samms and Rod Kinnison are instructed to visit their planet. As their ship hangs in orbit, each of the assembled spacemen—about a dozen, including Samms’ daughter Virgilia—is contacted by an Arisian through hypnosis. They always appear to the humans as a fused form—a single entity having the name Mentor. He is sometimes an old man, a patriarch, and at other times only a naked brain. Each of the Patrol personnel thinks of himself as visiting the planet but in reality none of them ever leaves the ship. Samms receives the first Lens:

To the alert comics fan, the parallels between the saga of the Lens and a few of the heroes of comicdom must be readily apparent.

The motif of the potentially fatal flaw (an essential part of Aristotle’s theory of tragedy, wherein the flaw—or hamartia—is always fatal) can be traced in the adventures of numerous heroes, starting with Achilles and that undipped heel. We have Kryptonite’s effects on Superman, Iron Man’s heart and not inexhaustible transistors, Green Lantern’s 24hour supply of energy, to name only the better of the many comic-book uses of this classical theme.

While the Lens has no spectrum limitations, such as GL’s inability to cope with “yellow” (whatever that is), and while it has no physical impurity or time limit, there are limits to what it can do. It can telepath and hurl bolts of mental energy, but that’s about it.

But its origin and relationship to the wearer closely parallels the story of the Power Battery. Although the Emerald Crusader originally obtained his Power Ring from the dying Abin Sur (in Showcase #24), his ties to the Guardians of Oa are much like those of the Galactic Patrol to Arisia.* As a matter of fact, the assorted Green Lanterns from other worlds put one in mind of the trio of extraterrestrial Lensmen (see illos).

There snapped around his wrist a platinum-iridium bracelet carrying, wrist-watch-wise, a lenticular something at which the Tellurian stared in stupefied amazement. It seemed to be composed of thousands—millions—of tiny gems, each of which emitted pulsatingly all the colors of the spectrum; it was throwing out—broadcasting—a turbulent flood of writhing, polychromatic light!

The Watcher (FF #13), on the other hand, is somewhat different, for he follows a hands-off policy. Although he can see everywhere in the universe, his visualization of future events is limited (Avengers #14). He stays as far away from human conflict as possible.

Returning to the Green Lantern parallels, Gharlane the Of this first group, only Virgilia Samms is not given a Eddorian and Sinestro are, it is apparent, brothers under the Lens—due, according to Smith, to the curious sex-based skin. Although Gharlane is not a false Lensman, as Sinestro nature of the Lens itself: it is “as masculine as whiskers.” is a renegade Green Lantern, there is Much later, Clarissa MacDougal will become, at the cost of some hint in Children of the Lens much trauma, the only woman to wear a Lens. The Kinnison of an opposite number—a “black children, it will turn out, can create Lenses at will, so Lensman,” as it were. And well have they been trained under Arisian tutelage.

Sinestro is banished to the antiAlthough its early wearers did not realize the matter world of Qward, a locale full extent of its powers and only later were similar to the alien galaxy of the able to utilize it fully, the Lens is immediately Eddorians, where evil is king. functional as a sophisticated, if limited, Both the Oans and the super-tool. It has no actual power of its Arisians are etiological creown, but instead “concentrates, intensiations—specifically funcfies, and renders available whatever tioning as explanations of powers are already possessed by its later events—and are in wearer.” Semi-alive, it is a perfect teleboth cases offstage adminispathic instrument, and glows only when trators who are barely the individual to whose ego it is attuned known even to the stellar is wearing it. It kills anyone else who law-enforcers who serve attempts to wear it, since in its dark under them. Hal Jordan state—off its owner’s wrist—it emits a was consciously unaware fatal burst of energy if touched. The of the existence of the Lens goes dead if and when its owner [Guardian TM & © 2013 DC Comics; Watcher TM & © 2013 Marvel Guardians for several dies.

Characters, Inc.] * Interestingly, this brings up the matter of the origin of the comics’ first GL, which is more similar to that of the second one than is generally noticed, inasmuch as the meteor from which the Power Ring was later formed had been sent to earth by a mysterious, never-explained source in outer space for the purpose of bringing power to its final user. —RT. 121

issues, and even now knows little about them; the Lensmen, too, know only the small amount which the Arisians allow them to perceive.

The two groups of ultra-beings even have almost identical qualifications required of their respective apprentices.

The Battery of Power scans the entire earth in quest of a man utterly fearless and honest; the same two qualities are demanded of the Lensman, who must be completely willing to go “to the verge of death itself” and about whom there must be no question of “moral turpitude.”

VI

A Ph.D. graduate of George Washington University in the District of Columbia, Edward Elmer Smith’s interest in writing dates back to 1915. In 1920, while holding an important position with a doughnut manufacturer (he designed some of the machinery now used to make doughnuts), he turned back to an unfinished novel begun as a 2013 EDITORS’ NOTE: Biljo White drew this figure of Green Lantern for collaboration with one Mrs. Lee Hawkins Garby, and com- inclusion in issue #9’s letters page. [Green Lantern TM & © 2013 DC Comics.] pleted the work on his own. This was his first book, The Skylark of Space, which was published in Amazing Stories Late in 1964, after reading Moskowitz’s profile of Smith, in 1927.

Pyramid Books editor Don Benson approached the author for In the early ’30s, after several other novels had been pubthe rights to the Skylark and Lensmen series. Galactic lished, Smith was urged by friends and editors to turn away Patrol was chosen as the first release because of the potential from the solar system, which had been his literary province market appeal of its melodramatic title. Only Galactic Patrol up till then, and write a book about the galactic spaceways. and First Lensman have appeared so far, however, and the By 1936 he had completed the original outline for the future of the Pyramid series seems uncertain at this writing.

Lensmen saga—a projected 400,000-word novel in four parts. The original titles were Galactic Patrol, Grey Postscript Lensman, Second Stage Lensman, and Children of the Lens.

Sam Moskowitz, in an excellent piece in Amazing Stories The many similarities of the Lensmen concept to that of (April, 1964) to which I am indebted, pointed out that the Green Lanterns—and the early Guardians of the Universe Galactic Patrol is one of the earliest novels of the genre to who appeared in two Captain Comet stories in early-’50s “popularize the community of worlds or galactic empire issues of Strange Adventures—might naturally lead one to backdrop.” For this comics fans, as well as s-f readers, owe surmise unequivocally that the older concept directly inspired him a vote of thanks. the younger. Investigation in this direction, however, points After some experiences with the vagaries of book-publishup the dangers inherent in such “educated guesses,” for ediing, Smith saw the Lensmen series published handsomely tor Julius Schwartz says he has never read the series (though, under Lloyd Eschbach’s Fantasy Press logo between 1950 as a longtime s-f fan, he has of course heard of it). And DC and 1954. These are all out of print and are collector’s items writer John Broome, author of both the Captain Comet and for the science-fiction fan.

Green Lantern series, disclaims all knowledge of the Smith books.

In Schwartz’s words, the Guardians were and are simply a “pet idea” of Broome’s. As if to establish beyond dispute the extent to which (as noted earlier in this article) the comics and science-fiction share a fund of common ideas, Broome himself has this to say about the concept:

With the exception of First Lensman, written to fill out the series, and the first sections of Triplanetary, the Lensmen tales were serialized in Street & Smith’s Astounding Stories (now Conde Nast’s Analog) as follows:

Triplanetary — Jan.-April, 1934; Galactic Patrol —Sept. 1937-Feb. 1938; Grey Lensman — Oct. 1939-Jan. 1940; Second Stage Lensman — Nov. 1941-Feb. 1942; Children of the Lens — Nov. 1947-Feb. 1948.

First Lensman was added to the hard-cover Fantasy Press edition as an origin tale in order to tell the dramatic story of the first Lens. The earlier sections of Triplanetary are completely historical in intent—they help to explain the very beginnings of the Arisian-Eddorian conflict.

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“The Guardians” is just another name for God— Who has appeared under numerous guises in forms of fiction down through the ages. Some day when man matures a bit the question of how science proves religion will be a widespread one (I hope).

When that time arrives it will no longer be necessary to introduce the idea of a Supreme Intelligence in dramatic metaphors—probably it will no longer be possible.

An Alter Ego Extra!

Crudzine

Steve Gerber & “Comic Heroes Of Past, Pressent, Future, And Others!!”

In 1964, perhaps a year before he “turned pro,” Roy Thomas impishly birthed

the notion of producing a one-shot parody publication. Crudzine #1-and-only would take aim at all the truly awful, badly-illustrated, and sub-literate comics fanzines that had sprung up in the preceding few years. The term “crudzine” was indeed in use at that time as a dismissal of, obviously, a “cruddy fanzine.”

Crudzine would be printed on a spirit duplicator (not that that, in and of itself, was anything to be ashamed of), would have spectacularly lousy production standards (and spelling), would be studded with art spots and comic strips that would give the word “amateur” a bad name, would have its pages stapled partly upsidedown and out of order, and would consist entirely of wretchedly written, ill- (or un-)researched articles with atrocious sentence structure and worse punctuation.

As a final fillip, one-syllable words would be divided at the end of a line.

All of these things were in evidence in the “crudzines” of the day—although they weren’t always all on view in the same publication.

Roy, then a high school English teacher in Arnold, Missouri, enlisted his younger St. Louis friend Steve Gerber (then in high school in suburban University City) and several of the latter’s teen friends to contribute. A blast was to be had by all.

However, as Roy first got busier and busier with Alter Ego itself, began writing long-distance for Charlton, and then abruptly got the call from “Superman” line editor Mort Weisinger to move to New York City, he reluctantly turned the entire 2013 EDITORS’ NOTE: This quarter-page ad for project over to Steve and his buddies (Bruce Carlin, Steve Grant, and Allen Crudzine #1 appeared in Alter Ego #9—which may Goffstein). The U-City boys ran with it—and how! have come out after the spirit-duplicator mag did!

Crudzine was, in one sense, like The Comicollector and On the Drawing Roy Thomas’ advertised “Interview with Stan Lee’s Board/The Comic Reader, a spinoff of Alter Ego—but this time of Roy Thomas’ Third Cousin”—conceived long before RT had met A/E, not Jerry Bails’. And, just so that nobody could miss the point, it was decidor gone to work at Marvel, remember—was never written. ed the Crudzine logo would be a send-up of A/E’s own.

The Gerber-andcompany Crudzine hit the U.S. mails sometime in 1965, perhaps after Roy had departed for the Big Apple. Its highlights included a two-page “Complete History” of Batman, a Justice League of America checklist (with some truly hilarious one-sentence summaries of issues’ stories), and, perhaps best of all, the SG-written-and-drawn “The Green Rabbit,” a takeoff on ama-hero strips of the period. (Any resemblance to Steve’s later work on the Howard the Duck feature he co-created, or on Man-Thing, Omega The Unknown, et al., is strictly coincidental.)

Crudzine ended with Steve’s basically serious admonition to all fanzine editors: “IF YOUR ZINE LOOKS ANYTHING, REPEAT—ANYTHING—like the magazine you have just read… BURN ALL COPIES AND DESTROY THE MASTERS!” And apparently most people did—’cause copies of Crudzine #1 are roughly as rare as those of the 1961 Alter-Ego #1!

For a several-page, illustrated article discussing Crudzine in more detail, see Alter Ego #95 (July 2010).

2013 Editors’ Note: Steve Gerber, some years later, ponders the cover he drew for Crudzine (or should we call it Crud Zine?) #1. And yes, Virginia, the rest of the issue was printed upside-down from the cover. [© 2013 Estate of Steve Gerber.]

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An Alter Ego Extra!

The

#10 That Almost Was

The Story Behind The Never-Published Issue Of A/E, Vol. 1

by Roy Thomas

A funny thing happened on the way to Alter Ego, Vol. 1, #10.

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[Flash, Hawkman, & Dr. Fate TM & © 2013 DC Comics; other art © 2013 Estate of Sam Grainger.]

I became a professional comic book writer and editor.

It happened in three stages in 1965, while issue #9 was in the final stages of preparation and printing. In late winter or very early spring of that year, while teaching high school in the St. Louis area, I sold two super-hero scripts to Charlton via mail; by year’s end, they would be published in the final issues of the mid-1960s incarnations of Son of Vulcan and Blue Beetle. Also early in '65, I received a letter from DC editor Mort Weisinger offering me a job as his assistant on the seven Superman/Superboy-starring titles.

Turning my back on a graduate fellowship under which I would have studied foreign relations at George Washington University in the nation’s capital, I accepted his offer and in late June I flew to New York City. As it turned out, before mid-July I wound up working for Stan Lee at Marvel Comics.

When I left Missouri, not only was the entirety of A/E #9 in the hands of a St. Louis County printer (who did a mediocre job on it after I made the mistake of paying him in advance), but the 10th issue was well under way and had been announced at 48 pages, the same length as the previous edition.

Its promised contents, as revealed in the first Best of volume and in the #9 house ad printed on the facing page of this book: The cover had already been drawn by future Charlton and Marvel artist Sam Grainger, utilizing the Ronn Foss mask logo that Biljo White and I had kept for #7-9. Sam’s illustration art depicted Golden/Silver Age writer Gardner F. Fox and four of his co-creations: the Silver Age Flash and Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Alan Morgan, hero of Fox’s 1964 Ace paperback novel Warrior of Llarn. (Sam had misunderstood my instructions and had drawn the Silver Age Flash instead of the Golden Age speedster—not that Fox shouldn’t rightfully be considered cocreator of the 1956 incarnation, as well. Sam cheerfully volunteered to draw a Jay Garrick/Flash figure I could paste over that of Barry Allen/Flash; and he would have, if that cover had been used for the tenth issue. For this book, Sam having sadly passed away in 1990, Australian fan/artist Shane Foley traced/redrew one Flash into the other and sent us the results digitally, so that no pasting needed to be involved. Layout supervisor David P. Greenawalt has added the text for the cover blurb at lower right. The resultant cover is reproduced at right—as it would’ve been seen had it been printed in late 1965 or ’66 as originally planned, except for the lack of color. The art portion of Grainger’s work, as adjusted by Foley, became the cover of this publication.)

The cover feature was to be a by-mail interview with Gardner Fox (see a more photographic drawing of him on p. 29).

The writer had consented to my interviewing him via that method while I still lived in Missouri, but I don’t believe I ever got around to sending him any questions before my plans abruptly changed and A/E Sam Grainger #10 got delayed.

Next up, as per the ad in #9, was to be the third and final part of Fred Patten’s “Supermen South” study of the adventure comics then being published in Mexico. (Fred would finally publish it in a fanzine in the 1970s. His entire lengthy article, plus added material on the mid-1960s Mexican “Conan” comic, was gathered with beaucoup illustrations in A/E Vol. 3, #43—but, while it is certainly of ample quality for inclusion in any “best of” volume, it is not reprinted herein. Its magazine version, however, is still in print.)

“The Cult of Mercury” was in the process, presumably, of being written by Derrill Rothermich, who had co-authored the “Blackhawk” history in #8. It would have covered the Golden Age likes of Johnny Quick, Silver Streak, Quicksilver, The Whizzer, et al.

Perhaps because my circumstances changed and A/E #10 became officially delayed, Derrill never delivered any of the article to me, to the best of my recollection.

Plastic Man. I was thrilled that Don Thompson, whose nostalgic

Frank Frazetta painted the cover and drew a single interior drawing for Gardner Fox’s 1964 Ace paperback Warrior of Llarn. The book was a resonably good pastiche of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian novels. [© 2013 the respective copyright holders.]

article “O.K. Axis Here We Come!” had been one of the best entries in the already-legendary “All in Color for a Dime” series in the Lupoffs’ Xero, had finally agreed to write an article for Alter Ego—the fanzine whose first issue had, without trying to, nosed out the debut issue of his and wife Maggie’s Comic Art in spring of 1961. Don had volunteered to write about Jack Cole’s creation—but, although he might have begun work on it, I never received a draft of it, either. I suspect Don would’ve come through if I had, though.

L.L. Simpson, who’d written other installments of “The Hall of Infamy,” was to tell the story of Captain America’s archfoe, The Red Skull. Never

saw that one, either.

The “great new comic strip” announced in the ad in #9 was, of course, Sam Grainger’s and my adaptation of the opening chapters of Fox’s novel Warrior of Llarn. I only wish I had shortened many of my script’s captions.

That 11-page contribution, at least, was completed by Sam and me sometime in 1965. As noted in Best of, Vol. 1, and as attested to by art on p. 126 of this book, Ronn Foss was originally scheduled to be the artist.

However, after those few concept drawings, Ronn abruptly withdrew from the enterprise. I had totally forgotten the circumstances, but in an interview reprinted in Bill Schelly’s book Comic Fandom Reader (Hamster Press, 2002), Ronn recounted that he had objected to the suggested monetary split between himself and me if the literary agent for original copyright owner Fox managed to sell it in some foreign country. From his account, which contains

some arithmetic I can neither verify nor disprove, it doesn’t seem that Ronn tried to negotiate a different split; he simply quit cold.

I’m happy to say that, after a brief period, Ronn and I remained on good terms, and he was overjoyed when I found an excuse to give him an assignment in an issue of Marvel’s Not Brand Echh in the late ’60s. Sadly, he passed away in 2001.

In 1965, however, suddenly left without a collaborator, I turned to commercial artist Sam Grainger, with whom I had planned to do an authorized continuation of Biljo White’s “Alter and Captain Ego,” to draw the “Warrior of Llarn” script I had written as the first episode of what was to be an ongoing series. Sam enthusiastically accepted, got right to work, and finished in short order.

When A/E V1#10 was delayed, and then delayed again, and then its contents were entirely revamped when the fanzine basically “went pro” with a quite different 10th issue in 1969-70, Sam and I agreed to offer the extant pages of our “Llarn” adaptation to the Texas Trio’s ama-hero fanzine Star-Studded Comics. It saw print in SSC #17 (Summer 1971), with its introductory two-page spread gorgeously rendered in color. So far as I recall, I never wrote—nor did Sam ever draw—any continuation of the feature.

The nigh-dozen pages of “Warrior of Llarn” were reprinted by Bill Schelly in the trade paperback volume The Best of StarStudded Comics (Hamster Press, 2005). Its re-presentation in this volume is, in effect, the third printing of the only completed contents, aside from the cover, that remain of the Alter Ego issue that never quite was.

And, after you peruse those 11 pages, we’ll deal with the A/E, Vol. 1, #10 that did see print….

Next-issue ad from A/E #9. [Art © 2013 Estate of Biljo White.]

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[Script © 2013 Roy Thomas; art © 2013 Estate of Sam Grainger; Warrior of Llarn text © 2013 Estate of Gardner F. Fox.]

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An Alter Ego Extra!

Alter Ego #10 - The First “Pro” Issue

Much of the story of how the tenth issue of Alter Ego was

form; most of he art had been utilized in a different format (and with considerably different verbiage) in Joe’s color eventually published was told, to the best of Roy’s ability to Tor comics for DC in the ’70s. This coup led to Mark’s remember it, in Best of, Vol. 1, so by and large, below, we’ll being listed as an “assistant editor.” The circumstances try to add information he and Bill didn’t have room for in around John Benson’s groundbreaking interview with 1997. would-be comics industry escapee (and very definite And those memories, as Roy admits, are far less sharp innovator and entrepreneur) Gil Kane, which became the than those concerning Modeling with Millie #44 (the first cover feature and lead piece in the issue, were related in Marvel comic he dialogued) or Conan the Barbarian #1. detail in Vol. 1 of this series. Roy got informal permission Why? Simply because the preparation was all done, in from Topps Chewing Gum (i.e., its young exec and former fits and starts and little pieces, in the space in between the RT roommate Len Brown probably cleared it verbally with demands of being an associate editor and writer for Stan his superior, Woody Gelman) to reprint from black-&-white Lee at Marvel Comics.

Photostats, with no money changing hands, two Wally Roy has only the foggiest recollection of how Stan and Wood-drawn parodies of pro heroes Marvel production manager Sol that Topps had test-marketed circa ’67 Brodsky became, at least for a brief (with one script each by Len and time, his “silent partners” in the Roy)… while Comics Code Authority enterprise—though he’s positive it was administrator Len Darvin was happy to Stan’s idea as a business proposition, scribe an article about the Code and that Sol was rung in mostly (another freebie). Roy’s Coney Island because he was there (although Sol poker host Phil Seuling turned over became quite enthusiastic about the photos from his 1969 New York Comic project). Under these circumstances, Art Convention for Roy to add allegedit no longer made much sense to utily humorous word balloons to; Phil lize the fan-material originally even wrote a few words about the con planned for issue #10 (although Roy (promotion for the ’70 one, don’t you would’ve wanted to run many if not all know). Roy doesn’t recall quite how his of those pieces at some later stage). underground cartoonist friend Trina He’s pretty sure it was Marvel letterer Robbins came to suggest the SterankoSam Rosen whom Sol assigned to related riff on the “Paul-McCartney-Isadapt Ronn Foss’ A/E logo into the Dead” rumor then making the rounds, version still in use more than four but it was probably her idea, just as he decades later (but as to how Sam was wrote in 1969; the two of them still paid—or if he was paid—Roy has no The cover of Alter Ego #10 (1970), with art by giggle about it occasionally when they memory; Sol sadly died in 1984, and Gil Kane framing a caricature of Kane by run into each other at the San Diego Stan’s steel-trap memory is no better Marie Severin. It was printed far bigger, of Comic-Con. What Jim Steranko on this subject than it is on who inked course, in Vol. 1 of this series. [Caricature © thought of it, they never asked.

Fantastic Four #1). Roy can only 2013 Marie Severin; Green Lantern TM & © 2013 Marie Severin was asked by Roy if assume that each man became a oneDC Comics; Captain Marvel TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; other art © 2013 Estate of Gil she’d draw a caricature of Gil for the third partner, though he doubts that Kane.] cover—and, again, Roy’s not sure if she anything ever got put down in writing received, or wanted, remuneration. She before Stan decided to withdraw his took to the task with apparent relish, and Gil himself was so participation, well in advance of the beginnings of real taken with it that he obtained the original from her. It hung preparation of the issue. in his home for the rest of his life. Gil was only too happy Roy recalls Mark Hanerfeld acquiring the never-printed to draw a frame for it, consisting of a mix of DC, Marvel, samples of Joe Kubert’s 1960s Tor comic strip as and generic heroes—plus his own hero, from the graphic Photostats, as well as Joe’s permission to publish them— novel His Name Is… Savage, which he then intended to be and we are eternally grateful to Joe, a year before he his ticket out of what he felt was the comic-book ghetto. passed away in 2012, for permission to reprint them in this That last part didn’t work out—but of course Gil is now book in the same size and format that we did more than honored, and was honored late in his lifetime, as one of the forty years ago, so that they can be seen in their original 138

5000 copies. Presumably, all of these were eventually sold—or, if a few got remaindered somewhere, Roy was and is unaware of it.

Around the time the issue was published, Sol left Marvel to become the “sky” in the new Skywald company headed by the ever-hustling Israel Waldman, and he felt it best that he not continue as my partner in Alter Ego. How the profits of #10 were distributed, Roy has no idea—but Sol surely got his share. Stan, having left the enterprise earlier, got no money from it… nor did he ask for anything.

Artist (and Roy-pal) John Verpoorten, Sol’s successor as Marvel’s production manager, volunteered to step in to take Sol’s place as a partner; Roy eagerly accepted.

As per the “near-future issues” ad from #10’s inside back cover, potential upcoming interviews were in place from Jack Kirby (a promise made not long before Jack

(Above:) This ad for A/E #10 appeared in Jerry Bails’ 1969 publication Collector’s Guide: The First Heroic Age. [Hulk art © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Tor art © 2013 Estate of Joe Kubert.]

true greats of the field.

The precise date (or month, or even year) that Alter Ego #10 was published is uncertain. Sol Brodsky arranged, at something of a reduced rate—though it was still expensive by our lights—for the fanzine to be advertised in all the Marvel mags on two separate occasions. Both ads were reprinted in Best of, Vol. 1.

The first, with no art except the A/E logo, appeared in fall of 1969 for comics cover-dated Dec. 1969 and Jan. 1970, probably at a time when Stan was still a silent partner. The second, utilizing a Kirby SubMariner figure, saw print in the summer of 1970 in all Marvel comics dated Oct. & Nov. of that year, which probably indicates that the issue was actually mailed out around that time or very soon afterward.

A/E #10 was, for all practical purposes, sold only via mail, since there were as yet virtually no true “comic book stores,” nor was there any newsstand distribution of it.

Even so, the print run of the issue, set by Sol and (Above:) The inside back cover of V1#10. Roy no longer recalls how many, if any, readers actually did cut out the subscription coupon on probably based in part on the orders generated by the facing p. 42. Lettering by Sam Rosen. [Sub-Mariner art by Bill Everett and John the first ad in the Marvel titles, was approximately Verpoorten-drawn Forbush-Man TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Kirby art © 2013 Estate of Jack Kirby; Jonny DC art © 2013 DC Comics.]

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bolted Marvel for DC; he’d also given Roy copies of his costume designs for a college production of Julius Caesar), Dick Giordano (a Thomas crony now bouncing from a DC editorship into his and Neal Adams’ Continuity Studios), Ross Andru & Mike Esposito (in tandem; Mike was another poker buddy of Roy’s), and Bill Everett (the only one of the four interviews that actually came to fruition). Roy had also arranged for near-future publication of Steranko’s Agent X art samples that had landed him work at Marvel, as well as the Marvel art samples of Barry Smith and Sal Buscema (surprisingly, by spring of 1970 the latter wound being used by Roy as the 3- or 4-page opening of The Avengers #78)… more from Otto Binder and The editorial page and photo from the inside front cover of #10. [© 2013 Roy Thomas; photo probably by Jean Thomas.]

Wendell Crowley on Fawcett in the ’40s and ’50s… an article by Green Lantern/Green Arrow scribe issues, no doubt about it.

Dennis O’Neil, whom Roy’d helped bring into the field, on But, as fate would have it, Marvel’s expansion would take the roots of his “relevant comics” (an article Denny comup all of Thomas’ and Verpoorten’s available time—while pleted and which, sadly, somehow got lost in the 1990s)…

Roy’s serving as editor-in-chief from 1972 through 1974, an plus “fan-slanted footage” which would have included Don off-and-on-again marriage, which ended in a permanent Thompson’s long-contemplated article on Plastic Man, separation from his wife Jean in mid-1975, and his moving though Roy has no idea who would’ve written about Wonder to Los Angeles a year later would together lead to a yawnWoman or The Shadow. Gil Kane had promised Roy an ing Ginnungagap of nearly a decade between A/E #10 and interview about his own comics career, as well… and #11. there’d be more cartoons by Marie Severin (from the closets Now, with only a couple of bottom-of-the-pages “2013 and walls of various staffers who’d been their audience Editors’ Notes” where needed for purposes of identification and, often, their subjects)… and hopefully more of the or copyright, here’s what Ye Editors feel is the Topps parodies… plus whatever Roy and Mark H. had up best of the material from that issue that wasn’t their sleeves as “Secrets behind the Comics – 1970!,” now reprinted in our first volume… and there was perhaps mercifully forgotten. Those would have been gala other material we wish we could have included in this book. It was a pretty nice issue….

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From Alter Ego #10:

The Help

2013 Editors’ Note: A/E #10’s two assistant editors.

(Above:) Mark Hanerfeld, fan and sometime DC editorial assistant; 1965 photo from the files of Jerry G. Bails.

(Below:) Tom Fagan, fan-writer and host of Rutland, Vermont, Halloween parties. Thanks to Al Bradford.

These photos were not in A/E #10

Sol Brodsky designed and probably even pasted up the inventive #10 contents page, utilizing art and photos from the body of the issue. Nice job, huh? [Hulk & Captain America art © 2013 Marvel Characters; parody art © 2013 Topps Chewing Gum, Inc.; Tor art © 2013 Estate of Joe Kubert.]

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From Alter Ego #10:

Y

Joe Kubert. Photo not in A/E #10.

Generally, it starts with my quietly explaining to them that

just because more than one person is involved in the creation of a work of art doesn’t mean that work (be it literature, painting, or whatever) is any less valid as “art.” After all, didn’t many of the great painters of the Renaissance have their assistants help in finishing-up those slightly less important details of a painting? And furthermore, is not the subject matter of many of those great paintings drawn directly from the mythology of the ancient Greek and Roman storytellers? As old axioms die hard, this bit of analogizing usually leaves the poor victim flustered, especially if he’s never really given those axioms a second, or perhaps even first, thought. That’s when I hit them with the clincher. I double back to their original qualifications and tell them all about Tor. It goes something like this: Back around 1953, there was this enterprising comics group called the St. John Publishing Co., whose publisher, Archer St. John, had the foresight and daring to allow an artist to edit, write, pencil, letter, ink, color, and even own the rights to his own character. Why, the artist even got to share in the magazine’s profits! Unheard of! The comic book was called Tor, and the artist was Joe Kubert. Tor was a caveman adventure strip set in the world of one million years ago, and although the ecological balance was a bit jum-

[All art accompanying this article © 2013 Estate of Joe Kubert.]

ou know the line. I mean the one about how comic books can’t really be art because so many people are involved in the production of the thing. And how there are different pencilers, and inkers, and colorists, and how most of the stories are written by other people anyhow? Yeah, you know the line! You almost always get it from the ones who like their opinions ready-made and predigested (although, at times, I have gotten it from people who should have known better.) Whenever I get any of these people, I usually sit them down in a nice comfortable chair, and hit them with something I call…

bled for story’s sake, the strip had an air of reality about it that grew out of the powerfully-drawn characters and settings.

Even though later issues occasionally employed the writing talents of Bob Bernstein and inking talents of Bob Bean, the strip still bore the distinctive stamp of a Joe Kubert creation: the product of one man’s thought and imagination.

By the time I’ve finished haranguing my poor victim with words (and illustrations, if I have my copies of the magazines handy), he is customarily ready to grudgingly admit that, yes, some comic books can be art. No mean accomplishment, I assure you. But chances are, if you’re reading this, you already know all that because you already are a comics fan.

However, if you’re a new fan, you may not have heard of, let alone actually seen Tor. Well, let’s remedy that situation here and now!

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In a way, we’ll begin at the end, with a “new” Tor story. On the next six pages are printed an unfinished two weeks’ worth of an unsold Tor newspaper strip, which was written by Carmine Infantino and illustrated by Joe Kubert, circa 1959.

The comic book followed the adventures of mature Tor; the strip harks back to his childhood…

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Tor’s premiere appearance was in the September 1953 issue of a comic entitled One Million Years Ago. Eventually, the book would be retitled Tor in the World of One Million Years Ago. However, the book was first conceived as a multiple-feature magazine, and the contents of the first issue included a one-page introduction by co-editors and long-time friends Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer; an 11-page Tor origin tale by Kubert; a six-page caveman humor feature called “The Wizard of Ugghh” by Maurer; and seven pages of “Danny Dreams,” a strip by Kubert that was destined to be a co-feature in all future Tor issues.

In passing, some note should be taken of the “gimmick” that was the basis of the “Danny Dreams” strip. High-schooler Danny Wakely would occasionally have vivid dreams in which he relived episodes of a previous life in the primitive past. Upon awakening, he would usually find some evidence to support the reality of his experiences.

Besides Kubert, Alex Toth, Mort Meskin, and Bob Bean also handled art chores on this strip.

But it was Tor who set the tone of the magazine and for which it is justly remembered. The first Tor saga set the theme of the series: a theme of right over might, of alienation, and of prehistoric man’s emerging humanity. The initial story relates how Tor, The Hunter, spearfishing in the dangerous swamps of his homeland, rescues the little lemur-like creature Chee-Chee from the jaws of a predatory swamp beast. Chee-Chee immediately attaches himself to his rescuer’s shoulder, thus cementing an everlasting friendship—a rare commodity in that primeval world. The partnership is mutually beneficial; the little lemur’s keener senses forewarn Tor of imminent danger, while Tor’s prowess is a source of sanctuary to the little one.

As the story progresses, Tor meets up with a hunting party from his tribe and has a verbal run-in with Klar, the master huntsman. When another of the tribe’s hunters, Zul, becomes trapped upon a cliffside by the attack of a tyrannosaurus, only Tor dares disobey Klar’s order to depart before the monster turns on the rest of the hunting party, and saves the life of his tribesman. Klar, fearing loss of face, attempts to bludgeon Tor from behind, but is thwarted by Chee-Chee’s warning cries. Tor strikes and fells the leader of the hunt, thereby breaking a law of his people. The rest of the hunting party advances upon him, weapons at the ready, when they are halted by the sudden appearance of Lokun, the chief, who manages to settle the matter peacefully.

That evening, Zul warns Tor

that he has overheard Klar plotting to take Tor’s life. Meanwhile, Klar has kidnapped Chee-Chee, and causes the lemur to squeal in terror. Racing to see what sort of trouble his little friend has gotten himself into, Tor falls into Klar’s trap. However, Zul has followed Tor and attacks Klar, only to be killed by the master huntsman. Tor literally kills Klar with his bare hands. The rest of the tribe has been drawn by the sounds of battle, and only through Lokun’s intervention is Tor once again saved from the tribe’s blind justice. However, Tor is banished from the tribe, to wander, homeless, through the primordial wilderness.

Thus ends the first tale of Tor, the Hunter!

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Tor became the first adventure-hero to appear in the three-dimensional comics format when he starred in the second issue of 3-D Comics for October 1953. In the first story in that issue, Tor, exploring a crater, is captured by the resident cavemen to be made sacrifice of as an appeasement to the hunger of the “Killer Beast.”

Tor bargains with the tribe’s leader to be allowed to fight for his life with the beast. He then goes forth to meet the beast, a tyrannosaurus, manages to kill it, and returns seeking his freedom. The leader moves to keep Tor prisoner, but his actions are interrupted by the attack of a huge serpent. Tor swiftly disposes of this monster as well, and there are none who will now oppose his departure from the world of the cavern people. The issue’s second feature is another “Wizard of Ugghh” comedy.

The third tale of the issue is a six-page Tor story that commences with a double-page centerspread action panel of Tor and Chee-Chee fleeing an oncoming “express train” of a prehistoric turtle. The plot simply relates Tor’s life-or-death underwater encounter with the giant shell-back as they both seek escape from a raging “Fire.” The three-page story following this merely relates “A Day in the Life of Tor,” his daily fight for existence in a savage world. A five-page “Danny Dreams” story closes out the magazine’s contents.

The second issue of One Million Years Ago/Tor is dated November 1953 and is rather a headache to collectors because this is another 3-D comic, and was also titled 3-D Comics and was also numbered two.

Therefore, there are actually two Tor comics titled 3-D Comics #2, the first of which is an off-size 10¼” x 8”, has a blue cover, and is dated October. The second is normal-sized, has a green “3-D effect” cover, is dated November, and is really the second regular issue of Tor. The story lineup for

this issue includes “Killer-Man,” a six-pager that pits Tor against a cripple whose madness drives him to kill or maim all the men or beasts that cross his path; a five-page “Danny Dreams” story; a full two-page centerspread “panelrama” splash that leads into a 10-page story entitled “The Giant One,” in which Tor fights to free a tribe from the brutal domination of a twelve-foot giant and his scavenger cronies; and “The Runaway,” a four-pager in which Tor defends the right of a girl to choose her own mate.

The third issue of Tor, dated May 1954, returned the series to the normal four-color comics format. In this issue’s 11-page lead feature, Tor journeys to the “Isle of Fire,” where he becomes instrumental in the freeing of a tribe enslaved by the murderous Fire-Men. The second Tor story is a two-page text (only two Tor text tales appeared in the series, neither of which was written by Kubert) entitled “Snow Trap.” This was followed by a one-page strip in which editors Kubert and Maurer talked directly to the readers, a page which became a regular feature in succeeding issues. The double-page “panelrama” splash in this issue opened the story “Black Valley,” in which Tor, after much trial and tribulation, manages to reconcile a tribe of amazons to the fact that all men were not monsters. The issue concludes with the first installment of a threepart “Danny Dreams” tale.

July 1954 was the cover date of the fourth issue of Tor. In “Red Death,” the issue’s 10-page lead feature, Tor finds himself caught between the debilitating effects of a merciless drought and the cruelty of a band of men who profiteer through possession of the only available source of water. The four-pager entitled “Last Chance” has Tor joining forces with Barta, leader of a band of thieves, to help fight off the attacks of the Lizard Men against a small, migratory band of tribesmen. This issue’s panelrama spotlights Tor’s seven-page battle against “The Great Wolf” and a charm-maker’s treachery. The second part of the “Danny Dreams” three-parter rounds out the issue.

Tor #5, September 1954, marked the last issue in the series. The ten-page featured story for this issue is “Falling Fire,” in which Tor’s friendship with two young boys leads to a confrontation with the malevolent scheming of a witch doctor. Next, Tor is involved in a four-page tale of adultery and “Murder.” In “Man-Beast,” the last Tor strip story, Tor battles to the death with a man-like

ape, in order to obtain a life-giving herb and stop an epidemic. The final Tor tale, strangely enough, is a twopage text story entitled “Avenging Waters,” in which Tor rescues from death a trio of his own tribesmen.

They offer to stand up for Tor if he will return home with them, but he refuses the offer, choosing instead to follow the dictates of his own ideas. The final installment of the “Danny Dreams” serial completes the issue.

Tor was unique. The strip was derivative, of course, from Tarzan and from the motion picture 1,000,000 B.C., and from who-knows-what-else—but only superficially. If it were being published today, the strip would probably be labeled swords-and-sorcery, although there is neither a sword nor a sorcerer to be found in the strip. It probably has something to do with the term heroic fantasy, but then again so do Superman, Batman, and the whole super-hero milieu. The strip is all of this and more than this.

Uncategorizable except as Tor. Tor is a man fighting for those things he believes to be right, in a world where might is king; a man who thinks, in a world where it is easier and safer simply to act. Tor is a man in a world of almost-men, or soon-to-be-men; a man alone, on the brink of mankind’s tomorrow. Tor is Tor! I am supposed to have told you all about Tor, but nothing I say here can truly do that because, simply, it is not Tor! The only way to truly understand the character is to read the books. I guess it’s just a case of “you had to be there!” I was.

And one thing more. In the final analysis, there is but one criterion by which a work may be adjudged “art,” and this is if it touches something within you—if it strikes a chord that rings true. Then let me stand as this strip’s advocate; for I read Tor at a much more tender age, and, having recently reread the entire series after a lapse of some years, I can first begin truly to appreciate its influence in shaping my early thoughts and attitudes. I was strongly affected by Tor, and recall it vividly. Such is a work of art.

[2013 Editors’ Note: Joe Kubert passed away while this volume was in the late stages of preparation, but we express our gratitude to him, and to his assistant Pete Carlsson, for granting us permission to reprint the 1960s Tor comic strips in the precise format as they appeared in 1969-70.]

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From Alter Ego #10:

It was Trina Robbins who first made the Great Discovery.

She’s a funny girl, is Trina. An underground cartoonist, a sometime seamstress, a maker of weird and wonderful cookies from arcane, occult recipes.

A few years ago I’d have written her off as a kook. Now’s she just good people.

Anyway, we were sitting around rapping one night not long ago—she, I, my omnipresent wife Jeanie, and Ted White (yes, the one who writes that crazy Buck Rogers stuff)—when suddenly Trina said it.

“Jim Steranko is dead due to acute lead poisoning in his right forearm—and I can prove it!”

Simonesque sounds of silence resounded through my living room. A mote of dust crashed loudly into a scatter pillow.

And then, as we three sat mesmerized, Trina unfurled her case with the aid of my dog-eared bound volumes of Marvel Comics. An airtight case, I might add. An all but irrefutable line of inductive reasoning.

For some time, it seems, in between chronicling the often amorous escapades of “Panthea the Beast-Girl” for Gothic Blimp Works, Trina had been copiously poring over the collected comic book works of one Jim Steranko. Hardly a life’s work, inasmuch as Jim has (had?) built his monolithic reputation on the merest handful of panel-art masterpieces.

And slowly—inescapably, she likes to put it—there had dawned upon her the staggering conclusion that the awardwinning super-artist of S.H.I.E.L.D. was no longer with us—or with anybody, for that matter.

The internal evidence to support the Trina Thesis was massive—and impressive.

According to it, Jim Steranko perished soon after completing

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the mind-rending artwork and script of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 (“Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill!”—which many devotees consider his finest hour), and was swiftly and surreptitiously replaced by a second artist, who has actually done all artwork attributed to Steranko since that time. The cause of the Jaunty One’s untimely demise was a severe puncture of the right forearm by an errant Eversharp.

More strangely still, there is even evidence to suggest that the real Steranko had premonitions of disaster—that he foresaw that he was not long for this mortal coil.

Consider for a moment, if you will, S.H.I.E.L.D. #3.

In that issue—Jim’s last, according to the Trina Thesis— there is a singular obsession with death, tombstones, and graveyards. “R.I.P.!” screams the stone on the cover, and “R.I.P.!” echoes an almost identical stone in the final panel of the tale.

Consider also the myriad other references to death and to things dead in that story. The murder with which the magazine opens, splashed in living black-and-white across two pages; the movie stars with whom Jim has peopled the book, some of them deceased (and waiting for Jim to join them?); the supposed ghost with whom Nick Fury duels; the rusty, cobwebbed armor, a relic of a bygone age, which almost dispatches the indestructible agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; even the climax, in which it is revealed that the true villains are a crew of unregenerate Nazis, last remnants of a dead Reich.

The most telling clue of all concerning Steranko’s imminent demise is a name which pops abruptly in and out of the story on page 4. Nick Fury states that he has come to Ravenlock because of the death of an old army buddy, one “Ken Astor.”

And Ken Astor spelled sideways is—Steranko.

And yet, all this seems flimsy enough—until one realizes

and reflects upon Steranko’s own long-standing sense of identification with two specific comic book heroes: Nick Fury and Captain America.

For, it is Fury who is almost killed first by falling armor, then by the phantom swordsman, not to mention by the cadaverous canine itself. And if Nick Fury goes—could our awesome artist be far behind?

Still, the mere fact that Steranko might have foreseen his going doesn’t prove he actually went. Rather, it is the evidence of later issues that points alarmingly towards that conclusion.

For instance, the very next S.H.I.E.L.D. (#4) is the first one bereft of the style-setting Steranko artwork. True, there is a supposed Steranko cover—but much of it is composed of photographs, as if it had been partially finished when Jim expired, leaving someone else to add photos around a completed Steranko figure. Does this captivating cover perhaps fix the very day and hour of our artist’s swan song?

The story itself offers little to support or refute the Trina Thesis except insofar as it is heralded as an “Origin Issue”—an attempt to rebuild a new Shield—one without Jim Steranko.

It is S.H.I.E.L.D. #5 which is the clincher. The last, lonely example of supposed Steranko artwork on the series. But is it?

Take a good, long look at Scorpio in issue #1. Then glance at the villain (also supposed to be Scorpio) in issue #5. Except for a red face and the Key to the Zodiac, what have these two figures in common? Precious little. Has a new artist—doing a fantastic job of faking the superb Steranko style—merely changed an evil-doer’s costume here for reasons never explained to the reader? Or is the very change a tip-off to the fact that the artist as well as the villain is not who he seems to be?

That there is some sort of deception going on seems to be the very theme of S.H.I.E.L.D. #5. The issue is, in fact, replete with deceptions. From page 3 onward, the late actor Sydney Greenstreet masquerades as one “Pickman” and gets himself shot for his pains. On page 4, there is an obvious photograph of Steranko himself (as a comparison with the photo in Fantastic Four Special #7 will quickly reveal), wearing the Fury eye-patch, thus completing the identification with Fury that we mentioned before.

When Scorpio appears, a “scintilla” (whatever that is) obscures his face and features from us for an entire page—or until Fury is smashed in a head-on collision. Then Scorpio disguis-

es himself as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.—and, since a number of readers had by then guessed that Scorpio was in truth Nick’s long-lost brother, that completes Scorpio’s identification with Fury and with Steranko. Later Fury himself crashes a S.H.I.E.L.D. meeting disguised as a Life Model Decoy—numbered “13,” as if to underscore how unlucky Steranko was to have had his rendezvous with the Reaper between issues.

That enough to hold you?

Still, nothing has revealed the precise method by which this talented titan met his Maker. An auto accident, perhaps; there are enough cars cracked up in Steranko stories to illustrate a variorum edition of Unsafe at Any Speed. And yet . . . And yet . . .

We reach the cataclysmic conclusion of S.H.I.E.L.D. #5.

Fury/13 is chasing Fury/Scorpio. Muscles strain—sinews ripple—colors blur. Then, suddenly, one Fury turns to face the other, who sees—what? His brother? Himself? Perhaps—on the simplest plane. But also, perhaps death—the fate worse than life which Steranko met between S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 and S.H.I.E.L.D. #5.

But what kind of send-off was it? In the very next panel, four unidentified, anonymous S.H.I.E.L.D. agents empty shell after metal shell into the leaping figure of Scorpio/ Fury/Steranko. That they have hit him dead-center they are positive. “He’s got enough lead in him to sink straight to the bottom,” one philosophizes.

Lead. Not the typical reference to laser beams, or gamma rays, or cosmic fuzz—but lead, that old standby nickname for bullets. And yet, is it really a mere colloquialism this time— or does the word refer symbolically to actual lead with which the real Steranko somehow managed to impale himself while rushing to meet one of his ever-impending deadlines? One wonders.

After issue #5, as if realizing that the eagle-eyed readers of S.H.I.E.L.D. would soon spot the hoax which Marvel had pulled on them by switching artists in mid-scream, Steranko never again penciled S.H.I.E.L.D. Neither did “Steranko,” as the Trina Thesis christens his not-untalented successor.

And yet, there are those two covers . . .

S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 and 7 feature covers reminiscent of Wally Wood and Salvador Dali, respectively. And respectfully, if we are to believe the tradition which says that Steranko intended these covers as tributes to two fine artists. But, is their derivative nature perhaps just a way of expressing the fact that Steranko himself no longer exists? Is the new “Steranko”

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determined somehow to give his own secret away? Surely so, for even the newspaper headline pasted vertically on the cover of #7 contains such ominous words as “Unmasked.”

The two X-Men issues by “Steranko” offer few clues.

Still, the first begins with someone being boarded up in a coffin—surely a bad omen if anything is. And the artwork in the second story is not identified as being by Steranko/”Steranko” at all; the penciling credit reads only, “Do we have to tell you?” It is as if the Steranko successor—driven unto the brink of madness by being forced to imitate another man’s monumental work—were trying to tell the world: “I am not Jim Steranko! Catch me before I draw more!”

Equally ominous are the three Captain America issues (#s 110, 111, and 113). For, even more so than with Nick Fury, Jim had wanted to draw the star-spangled sentinel since long before he became a comic book pro. What better place to look for clues to Jim’s pathetic passing?

The first of the three stories starts with two Captain Americas—a masked, illustrated figure on a poster, and an unmasked Steve Rogers. Again the duality, the deception—the implication that there are two of everything and perhaps of everybody.

And look at the covers of #110—of #111—of #113. Does anything about them strike you as different from previous renderings of the sentinel of liberty?

It should.

Cap’s shield is on his right arm!

Think about it, friend.

Almost invariably, before, Cap’s shield had guarded his left arm, not his right. See the cover of #110, or of album issue #112, or any issue thereafter. What was “Steranko” trying to tell us by this? Why the shield on the right arm—unless it means that the Jaunty One perished by a wound inflicted only because his own right arm was left unguarded. His right arm.

His drawing arm!

If we add this undeniable clue to the fact that Scorpio/Fury/Steranko was filled with lead in S.H.I.E.L.D. #5—not to mention the pelting with lead of the Cap dummy at the end of C.A. #111—the conclusion is inevitable. Steranko was done in. By lead. In his right forearm.

Just to hammer the point home for him who hath eyes, the new and nameless artist continues his emphasis on duplicity

and deception. Rick Jones tries to become Bucky. A dummy passes for Captain America. Even the casket in #113. which is supposed to hold the very costume of Captain America, reveals, on close inspection (page 8, panel 2), to bear instead the name of “Charlie America.”

Sacrilege? A macabre sense of humor? Or a desperate attempt by “Steranko” to reveal himself and his sinister secret to the world?

Even the brief “Steranko” appearance in Tower of Shadows #1—the last of “his” artwork to appear at this writing—has its mysteries, according to Trina. A rather nondescript host called Digger narrates all three of the book’s tales—but the “Steranko” Digger is far different from the more or less identical ones drawn by Craig and Buscema. He even carries a ring of keys, unlike the others—as if to say that his duality furnishes the key to a great mystery.

There is no sense in documenting the case further by musing over a rumored romance story by “Steranko” yet to be released

by Marvel, or on paintings for Creepy, or on covers for paperback books. For, by their very departure from Jim’s previous art, they seem to herald the fact that some second person is at work—or else that some very versatile, extremely talented individual is behind it all, which the critics have told us is impossible in a comic book anyway.

At this point Trina finished her analysis. The others of us were drained of strength. With difficulty we fought off the air molecules which buffeted us.

Trina waited for argument, for some pale, putrid attempt at refutation. There was none. Her evidence was undeniable, insurmountable.

Jim Steranko had, indeed, on or about the time of completing S.H.I.E.L.D. #3, been dispatched by one of his own lead pencils (possibly a self-inflicted wound, executed in a fit of frenzy at some buzzing, bothersome fly)—and his place taken by another “Steranko” who has thus far escaped detection only by lurking furtively in the wilds of Pennsylvania.

At last, I timidly ventured the question which had hovered above us in the air during the entire analysis—the question that had remained unvoiced through it all: “If Steranko is really gone—then who is the guy who’s been turning out all that mind-boggling artwork for Marvel for the past year?”

Trina smiled, an enigma.

“Paul McCartney— and I can prove it!”

[2013 Editors’ Note: All art accompanying this piece © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc. The above photo shows Trina Robbins in 1982; obviously, it wasn’t in A/E V1 #10.]

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An Alter Ego Extra!

Alter Ego #11 – The Mike Friedrich Issue

In his editorial on the first page of Alter Ego

and Jean Giraud’s discussion of the latter’s #11, Mike Friedrich—comic-book writer and “highly spiritual approach to drawing and stoeditor, and by then also the publisher of rytelling” translated all that well into print.

Star*Reach Publications and its small line of That’s as may be, but Mike was still one of the “ground-level” comics between mainstream first people on this side of the Atlantic to conand underground—says that it was more Roy duct an interview with that artistic genius. The Thomas’ issue than his. That might be true in decades since have borne eloquent witness to terms of the number of pages it contained Mike’s estimate of Giraud’s stature in the graphdevoted to Roy’s interview with artist/writer ic arts, as Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier Bill Everett as opposed to Mike’s with French arranged in the 1980s and ’90s for much of his cartoonist Jean Giraud (22 vs. 7), but the fact work, both the Western Lt. Blueberry (done as remains that, without both Mike’s initial impe“Gir”) and the science-fantasy (as “Moebius”) tus and his stated desire to become A/E’s fourth to be published by Marvel for an American publisher/editor, the issue would never have audience, and for Moebius and Stan Lee to colhappened. laborate on a classic Silver Surfer graphic Or at least, Roy feels, it wouldn’t have hapnovel. Giraud passed away in 2012. pened till at least 1986, the year in which his Morever, since the artwork and writings of The cover of A/E #11 consisted of a second three-year contract with DC Comics Sub-Mariner/Amazing-Man creator Bill Everett caricature of Sub-Mariner creator came to an end and he became, at age 45, for have also come in for increased and wellBill Everett drawn by Marie the first time in his life, that most tenuous of deserved critical attention in the 21st century, at Severin—surrounded by a frame drawn by Everett. [Caricature © 2013 least partly because of a combination of coverlife-forms: a professional freelance writer.

Marie Severin; Sub-Mariner, Fin, & Venus age in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, and in hardcover books That was the year, after all, when Roy and TM & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; wife Dann got together with a new Chicago edited by Blake Bell, that makes A/E #11 a bit of other art © 2013 Estate of Bill Everett.] company called First Comics and turned out, a landmark in more ways than one. (Though with artist Ron Harris, a four-issue comic book series called— Roy has never totally resolved in his own mind the question of Alter Ego. whether he interviewed Bill circa 1970, as he believes, or in Since additional details regarding how and why A/E V1#11 1972. He’d give more credence to the later date, which he cited got published in 1978 are fiendishly vague in the minds of both in his 1978 editorial, but that would set it much closer to the gents, suffice it to say that Roy dug out his transcription of the date of Bill’s death in February 1973, and he feels their talk Everett interview (done for him by Don & Maggie Thompson), came rather earlier than that.) and Mike did As an additional if minor milestone for #11, there’s Mike’s the rest, though use, in his interview with Giraud, of the abbreviation “A/E” for “Roy Thomas “Alter Ego,” which had previously only been used once—on the and Mike contents page of #10 (see p. 141). This usage, which splits the Friedrich” were difference between the fanzine’s original hyphenated name and listed—by Mike, the two-word version amended by Ronn Foss with issue #5, generously—as would be re-introduced by editor Jon B. Cooke in 1998, when co-editors in the Alter Ego (in a “Vol. 2”) resurfaced after twenty years to indicia. become a separate-cover “rider” to the first five issues of his In the notes TwoMorrows magazine Comic Book Artist. This time around, he wrote for Roy took a liking to that slash… and “A/E” it has been ever Best of, Vol. 1, since.

Mike said he Although destined to be the final issue of A/E’s initial incardidn’t think the nation, that single splendiferous definitely-1970s issue means majority of his that, from 1961 through the present, there has never been a decade in which This photo of Mike Friedrich (times 2), taken by a comics-related magazine titled Alter San Diego Comic-Con co-founder Shel Dorf, was snapped on the California coast in 1978, and Ego did not play a part. appeared on the inside back cover of A/E #11, And Roy is determined to accompanying an ad for back issues of keep that streak going for Star*Reach comics. [© 2013 the respective copysome time to come.... right holders.]

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From Alter Ego #11:

2013 Editors’ Note: Jean-Giraud (Moebius) around the time of this interview. This photo was not in A/E #11. Giraud passed away in 2012.

Monday, November 1st, 1977. “All Saints Day” in France is

a holiday, so the Parisian streets are lacking their usual bustle.

Londoner Mal Burns and a friend of a friend of his, Dominique Gaillard, and myself are taking the train out of town to visit Jean Giraud. While passing the row of auto plants I’m trying to remember the first time we’d met: New York some five years previous, when we’d shared a coffee shop table with a number of other comics people. All I can recall is that at the time I knew his name and had glanced at his work on “Lt. Blueberry.” The conversation had been distant, perhaps strained.

Now Giraud’s become the famous “Moebius,” seen first in L’Echo des Savanes and Metal Hurlant, then more recently in translation in Heavy Metal. His “Blueberry” is now much more familiar (and exciting). Perhaps more than any single European comics artist, this guy’s bridging the gap across the Atlantic, making the world that much smaller. What kind of person was I going to meet? What does one say?

We get off about 60 km outside Paris and he’s there to greet us—in a bright (if faded) red American college jacket. He’s clear-headed, instantly cordial and open. All worries evaporate. In fact, he appears more nervous than we are, perhaps due to having to speak in English (in which he is reasonably fluent, if not confident). Fortunately, Dominique is with us to translate and interpret when necessary, so even this problem is quickly erased.

We meet his very young son (the kind with searchlight beacons in his eyes), who’s fascinated by the foreigners. Then we settle down to talking, whereupon we discover that “Moebius”

has a mind as agile as his artwork. Mal’s tape recorder captured most of it for you (though some is missing, including more of our conversation about America).

Most of the recorded questions are asked by Mal, who is the one who has transcribed and edited the interview into its present form. Mal has printed this interview in his British magazine Graphixus and we thank him for permission to use it here.

Thanks, too, to Jean-Pierre Dionnet, who arranged the meeting, and again, to Dominique Gaillard for her invaluable assistance and company. —MF ALTER EGO: [Previous to the point where this dialogue begins, we have been looking at the latest issue of Brainstorm Comix – in particular, the emotional impact of Steve Berridge’s “Sonny” strip and then Tony Scofield’s “City Tale”….]

JEAN GIRAUD: It is very typical, you know—after all this time. The detail is very small. It conveys the kind of vision that goes right back to the Aztec cultures, people who take mushrooms, Mexican mushrooms, they all get the same kind of vision. This scientist has recently discovered it—a special way in which the eye views things that is not present in our [normal] vision, but that things like mushrooms can bring out.

A/E: Do mushrooms and similar catalysts help you much in your work? Some of the images do suggest so.

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GIRAUD: Well, I’ve taken mushrooms, yes, but I did not

but for me that’s good and now I’m going to be 1,000 kilometres away, which means if I see someone coming it will be great and they will have made much effort.

My piano teacher is coming soon—I’m taking piano lessons. [sly snigger]

A/E: You intend to take the music world by storm, too?

GIRAUD: Well, I’m still on the pages of the book! I intend to take it step by step.

A/E: [Sometime later, we are discussing a Moebius story, “Ballade” in Heavy Metal #8, which depicts a modern man on a strange planet. The man meets a “free” woman in the plains, who helps the man to loosen up for a while….] It has been suggested that this story is showing that there are many things a man can learn from women….

take LSD. I was a bit frightened, but it was more because LSD is a chemical—it’s not natural or organic. I find that the most important thing is the spirit of the mushroom, and if I take LSD—well, what spirit is in that? Maybe the spirit of the chemist [laughs]…and if he has a good spirit, well, maybe that’s okay.

I’m sure now that, if I want to grow more, I must leave all these things behind me—marijuana, for example. Maybe it will be today, maybe it will be tomorrow, but if I want to develop my spirit, I must find myself without help from these things. I hope I’m strong enough to do so, because I’m so weak really.

It’s the same with many people—we live in changing times, not just in this country but all over the world, and there’s this new mutation in people’s minds. [notices the tape recorder] The machine’s already on—after all these lies [laughs]…oh, well!

For me it’s very important, because it’s not so much a part of just my life, but more a part of the universe, and this decision—all my life is decision—is another way for me to lead a natural life, which I try to do as much as possible.

There’s a certain system in which I cannot work, like with machines, where I just can’t do it. Sometimes maybe I practice, but still I can’t do it—it’s very strange.

GIRAUD: Well, it was my own experiment… but it’s not necessary to learn things from a woman as such because you [man] can learn from the woman inside you. You can see the story as a story, like you might read the Bible as the Bible— but the story merely has an appearance and you can see many things inside that. You can see all you want to….

I mean, I put many things into a story—subconscious things that I can’t always see immediately myself. When I do a story, I really suffer! I try to do, say, eight pages, and I put all my feelings toward it inside it, but at the same time I try not to put a “message” into it, because I know that the basic message is the story itself. It’s rather like hitting that exact magic note when playing music, so for this reason I don’t try to be intellectually very strong—but more try to be in harmony.

A/E: With anything in particular?

A/E: Everything comes from the artist’s hand, so to speak?

GIRAUD: Yes. Even in my inclination it’s the same way—I try to be natural, but it’s very difficult because people must buy my product.

You know, it’s very easy to be natural in the city—well, not easy, but materially easy anyway. It’s only the decision and the money—if you have the resources you can organize yourself that way, like I do here. It is not good but I have to be here for many things. Next year I will be moving to the south of France, going to the mountains—and I think it will be my real… height.

To live in the country with nature, you have to be really strong because nature is cruel and often stupid—I don’t know.

I will be in a place that’s fantastic and still very virgin—not so much removed from civilization, but if someone wants to see me it will be difficult for them. I mean, here it is difficult— many people think that 60 kilometres is too far [from Paris],

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GIRAUD: I try to be in harmony with all the people I know and with myself. When something seems wrong, I try to love it as such. When there is a mistake, I embrace it and make it part of myself and subsequently part of the finished work.

It’s like my making decisions in actual life. Three years ago, for example, I took the decision to stop smoking cigarettes because I had intentions and projects that weren’t possible while I was smoking. I had to stop, and to that end my spirit had to be stronger than my body. I was suffering for three months fighting with a part of myself—but I had a clear objective. Sometimes the objective is not so clear and then of course it’s not so good to fight it.

In my stories it’s the same way— sometimes I have strange ideas and I don’t know why but I put them in.

Then, when the story is finished, I find I’m not so happy with it—but it is a sign anyway. When I do a story I have very strong feelings inside me and I’m interested in letting these feelings leave my body to introduce the spirit of them onto the paper. Often, when I’m not happy with the result at first, I find that upon reflection it is a good omen. It doesn’t matter what the comic says, good things or bad things, because it is still essentially coming from my soul.

With “Blueberry,” I have something else that is very strange. You know Castenada? When I read the four books of Castenada, I felt this very strange, privileged relationship with Mexico and the south USA in general—first in my work and secondly in my life itself. Like many young boys around the world, my whole youth was spent in Westerns—but I traveled to Mexico first when I was 17, then again at 24, and more recently with my wife. The first time I had an initiation, a strong one, from the Mexican people which was very magical for me. I also knew marijuana for the first time, which is very important because this was 1957, very soon in my life and before the mass movement of people discovering it. The second time, I came to know the mushrooms and then got to know other kinds of people, too. These three experiences with Mexico are very important to me in my life, and the division of time involved is very precise and curious also. I don’t know when the next time will be, or how it will affect me.

“Blueberry,” at least my part in its creation, is a reflection of this junction inside me. I did several drawings in “Blueberry,” with a scenario by Charlier, who knows nothing about this, that are very near to Don Juan and Castenada—very strange.

For me it’s very important. For eight years and eight years again I have had this junction with Mexico and Castenada and it has resulted in a special revelation—like peyote, which has its own personality. I can introduce my mind into the “Blueberry” strips as a reflection of the junction I have with all these people.

A/E: Do many other artists over here [France] relate to this?

GIRAUD: The things I’ve said—they are enough that is important. I don’t know about the rest of Europe, but in France we have this political mind in comics. Many people have it and it is encouraging because the personalities and aims of the creators serve their ideology. So, whether or not the creator can see whether he is good or not, he still tries, and if he is clever he will be good. It’s very easy to be good, but it’s also very easy to be bad, too—so it’s for us to see who has the ideas and is good inside for that reason. Most of the artists here want to give a message of some sort to the public and this is also why there are a lot of people publishing their own material. This suits the environment because the stories of this kind can be educational, too—although it’s sometimes to the contrary.

A/E: Tell us a bit about history—like your changing perceptions and the “Lt. Blueberry” strip.

GIRAUD: In the first days of “Blueberry” I was living like everybody else and trying to be happy. In a way I was searching after something else, but it was not a conscious thing.

Now, well, I don’t work on “Blueberry” alone of course— but I can’t change [the strip] completely, which is strange because it is another part of my life. It is a very good exercise to be strong in this disciplined way, but it’s very difficult because I do have this temptation to be more creative with it.

“Blueberry” is very… well, square [gestures], but at the same time I try to do it like that because the people, the young people, ask that it should be like that. If they want it, I feel I must do it—I want to give it to them.

The other reason for “Blueberry” is the money. With that kind of money I can do many things—like buy this expensive new house in the mountains.

“Blueberry” is big—over 100,000 distribution, while Moebius only gets about 10,000. I can actually see something changing in the new pages of “Blueberry,” but I’m unclear as to exactly what. Maybe in two years I will look back at it and see what, but right now I’m too involved with it.

A/E: How do you feel about American culture today and the cultural movement we touched on a minute ago?

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GIRAUD: I have a fantastic respect for this country America. It has no real traditions that really span the centuries like we have here, but it has the energy and the mental energy that’s great. You have this place where the older races have made themselves part of the land—yet you have these other people living right on top of it.

Although these things do not burn inside them, they receive the ideas because they are all around.

To Americans I say: Like the sky, earth, air, and yourselves—you are the life, the man, the woman, and your way should be to receive all that is pure. When you receive this, you receive it all ways— across, horizontally, vertically—and you project this to the other people.

If you are a publisher or artist or

would finish?

I think an artist must always think in this way because he will be read and his creation may have a good effect or a bad one, but the reader will gain an experience of some kind from both.

I think when one looks at a story, all the big motors inside us must be in action—our mentality, our intelligence and our passions—and spiritually we must be in love—love not lust— love not down but love high—and these three elements must be in equal quantity to make the story. This way, when the reader takes the story, he can see them or not as the case may be—but the elements must be mixed and have an equality without one another.

We had to end abruptly; our flight back to London was leaving shortly and we had to get to the airport.

A couple of final notes: Mal and I have left in the occasionally obscure syntax, in order to achieve a close approximation of Giraud’s actual speaking pattern; this was in a second language to him, after all.

Editor/publisher Jean-Pierre Dionnet cited a 40-50,000 readership for “Moebius” work in Metal Hurlant, in contrast to what Giraud tells us.

At the time of our visit, Giraud was once again concentrating on “Lt. Blueberry,” after quite an absence. He talked about how there was a part of himself that related to “Blueberry” (as he said, “square,” full pun intended), that he’d created his “Moebius” work to show the “Gir” fans what he could also do, and now he felt it was time to go back the other way and show the “Moebius” freaks what else he was into. In any case, the pages in progress he showed us were tremendous.

There’s a three-page sequence where Blueberry fights a hawk (on the ground, in the air, over a cliff) that knocks one out with its dramatic impact. I’m looking forward to seeing it in print (if it isn’t already).

And I’m looking forward to returning someday to talk with this man again, hopefully at greater length. I fall back again on Sixties phrasing, but meeting with Giraud was mind-blowing. His spirit uplifts us.

—MF

whatever, you are in a good position to do this. Also, as you say, many young people now have reconnected themselves with their environment, which is good.

A/E: Finally, from the feedback you get on your stories, both here and in America, do you think people interpret them as you would like?

GIRAUD: Many people who read them seem to like something light and devoid of any kind of importance—something that they interpret as just the interior world of Gir or Moebius.

At the same time, other people say: Wow… and they get very excited, wanting to see more and calling me a wizard [laughs]—but that is not true!

It is better to me if people just read my stories and smile or something. I try to be harmonic and even if the harmony is harsh it is still a harmony. If the harmony then goes into other people it is nice for me—it is my seal. If the effect stays for one hour or ten minutes, it does not matter, but if some person has a problem with some other person in that period, say, but it becomes endowed with the effect of my story and the relationship is influenced by that effect—then it’s the beginning of something I would appreciate with my work. That would really be an appreciation of me—and who can say when that effect

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[2013 Editors’ Note: All “Moebius” material in this piece © 2013 Estate of Jean Giraud; all “Blueberry” material © 2013 Estates of Jean-Michel Charlier & Jean Giraud.]

Afterword

by Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly

When the eleven quite divergent issues of Alter Ego that are

Next, Bill Shelly’s extended coverage of Alter Ego in his groundbreaking 1995 work The Golden Age of Comic Fandom led Roy to suggest a “best of A/E” volume be put together by the two of them for the former’s Hamster Press (as it duly was, in 1997). Its second edition is still available from TwoMorrows.

And it was only a year later that TwoMorrows co-publisher John Morrow and Jon B. Cooke, editor of the then-forthcoming magazine Comic Book Artist, took Roy up on his offer to include an “Alter Ego section” in CBA, which immediately became “Volume Two” of A/E—with the result that, less than a year after that, Roy was half pulled, half pushed into launching a full-scale Alter Ego, Volume 3, that continues to this day, with 120 issues having seen print at this writing. In this venture he has been aided by the continuing editorial contributions of Bill Schelly, Michael T. Gilbert, P.C. Hamerlinck, and Jim Amash… as well as by John Morrow and several adept layout directors, most prominently Christopher Day. In 2012, there was even a fifth issue of Heroic’s Alter Ego super-hero comic book series by Thomas and Harris, with more in the planning stage. All five issues are available at www.heroicpub.com.

And all along the way, the original editors from the ’60s have been a part of A/E V3—with Jerry contributing to Volume 3 of the mag a piece on the name of the fanzine (reprinted in this book), with Ronn giving his blessing (and a new introduction) to Best of, Vol. 1, and with Biljo doing several new drawings of his creations Alter & Captain Ego, who have become one-half of a “maskot” tag team for the new series. Alas, none of those three gentleman is with us any longer in the flesh… but their spirits hover overhead and permeate the 21st-century Alter Ego, and will for the duration of its run, whatever that may be.

Alter Ego, it would seem, has a life of its own… and that only proves the strength, the resiliency, of Jerry Bails’ 1961 vision.

Long may it rule!

excerpted in this volume were first published, they represented several instances of “finales”… or at least, what their perpetrators presumed would be finales.

Jerry Bails assumed he was finished with the fanzine after four 1961-62 issues, but found himself cajoled by successor editor/publisher Ronn Foss into writing articles for the fifth and sixth ones.

Ronn Foss himself, having relinquished his duties after only two issues, contributed to the next three, as well.

Biljo White, who nearly became A/E’s third editor-publisher, stuck around instead to serve as a prodigiously productive “art editor” for the next trio of issues.

And Roy Thomas first laid down the reins after three issues (when he finally gave up on the notion that he’d ever have time to do a #10)… then again some time after a quite different #10 emerged in conjunction with Marvel production manager Sol Brodsky… and a third and, he imagined, final time after Mike Friedrich’s #11 proved to be a one-shot, rather than a new incarnation and direction for the title.

But both the concept of the fanzine itself, and the name “Alter Ego”—both of which, as Roy often reminds readers, were entirely Jerry’s contributions, not his—seemed determined not to let the four of them rest.

First, Roy and wife Dann and artist Ron Harris, in 1986, put together a four-issue comic book series starring a super-hero named Alter Ego for First Comics of Chicago. (These issues were later collected in graphic novel form by Dennis Mallonee’s Heroic Publishing, and in 2011 Heroic reissued the four individual issues in a 25th-Anniverary edition.)

&

The Way It Was

(Above:) Roy Thomas, Bill Schelly, and Jerry Bails at the Fandom Reunion Luncheon in Chicago, summer of 1997.

(Right:) A panel from the comic book Alter Ego #3 (Nov. 1986), written by Roy & Dann Thomas, penciled by Ron Harris, inked by Rick Burchett. [Alter Ego script © 2013 Roy

& Dann Thomas; art © 2013 Ron Harris; Alter Ego is a trademark of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

159

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More Of The Best Of Alter Ego, The Legendary Comics Fanzine!

This sequel to Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine presents more fantastic features from the fabled mag begun in 1961 by Jerry Bails & Roy Thomas—covering undiscovered gems from all 11 original issues published between 1961 and 1978! Editors Roy Thomas and Bill Schelly uncover never-revealed secrets about the first super-hero fanzine ever published, with vintage articles about Tor, Hawkman, the Spectre, Blackhawk, the Justice League of America, the All Winners Squad, Robotman, Wonder Woman, the Heap, the Lensmen/Green Lantern connection, and so much more! Plus rarely-seen comics stories by Joe Kubert (a gorgeous, unsold “Tor” newspaper strip), Ronn Foss (“The Eclipse”), and Roy Thomas and Sam Grainger (adapting Gardner Fox’s novel “Warrior of Llarn”), as well as Roy’s entire “Bestest League of America” parody, collected for the first time ever!

There’s even a never-before-reprinted 1977 interview with Jean Giraud (“Moebius”), plus special sections on Bails’ adzine The Comicollector and on “the A/E #10 that almost was”! It’s all behind a classic cover of Gardner Fox and his greatest creations by then-future Marvel artist Sam Grainger!

Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, Blackhawk, Marvel Family are TM & © DC Comics. Tor is TM & © Joe Kubert.

All other characters are TM & © their respective owners.

1995

$

In The US

ISBN 978-1-60549-048-9

ISBN-13: 978-1605490489 ISBN-10: 1605490482 51995

9 781605 490489