ROY THOMAS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION by ROY THOMAS Raboy Ruminations — 6 FOREWORD by ROGER HILL Now the Story Shall be Told — 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 14 CHAPTER ONE Origins & Upbringing — 15 CHAPTER TWO The Sidewalks—and Sweatshops—of New York — 18 CHAPTER THREE Early Days at Fawcett — 21 CHAPTER FOUR Little Boy Blue — 26 CHAPTER FIVE Helping Hands — 34 ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Bob Rogers/Rubin Zubofsky — 40
CHAPTER SIX Mac Raboy Makes Three — 60 SPOTLIGHT BEHIND THE SCENES The Style of Mac Raboy — 66 Fawcett’s Capt. Marvel Jr. Guidelines — 78 ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Gene McDonald — 81
ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Marc Swayze — 92
CHAPTER SEVEN A Spark of Green — 98 CLOSER LOOK Ken Crossen and the Comics of Spark Publications — 102 CHAPTER EIGHT A Flash of Gold — 116 ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Bob Rogers/Rubin Zubofsky — 119 CHAPTER NINE Life in Goldens Bridge, NY — 134 CHAPTER TEN The Final Chapter — 136 EPILOGUE David Raboy: The Son of Mac Raboy Speaks — 138 REFERENCE Mac Raboy Cover Index — 159
Chapter One
Origins & Upbringing Manuel Raboy was born in New York City on April 9, 1914, to parents Isaac and Sarah Raboy. Isaac and two brothers had immigrated to the United States from Bessarabaka, Romania in 1904, and settled temporarily in New York City. While passing through the receiving areas of Ellis Island, Isaac’s original last name—spelled “Raboi”—became anglicized to “Raboy.” Isaac secured a job working in a hat factory and, during evening hours, he wrote poetry and political essays. He also attended the Jewish Agricultural School in Woodbine, New Jersey, and moved to North Dakota after graduation. On a horse ranch located just
Woodcut engraving produced by Mac Raboy for the WPA during the mid- to late 1930s. This one is titled “Family on a Barge.”
outside Gladstone, North Dakota, he became a horse-handler and ferrier (blacksmith). He eventually wrote several books. One of these, The Jewish Cowboy, detailed some of his experiences in North Dakota. At his father’s request, Isaac returned to the East Coast, where he took on the job of managing the family dairy farm in Connecticut. At the same time he worked in New York City and continued writing books. After marrying, Issac and Sarah Raboy eventually moved into a home located at 3451 Giles Place, in the Bronx, New York. This is where young Manuel Raboy grew up and developed an intensive passion for drawing. Even as a child, he would render with great detail just about anything he set his mind to.
ORIGINS & UPBRINGING
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Chapter Two
The Sidewalks—and Sweatshops—of New York After leaving the WPA, Raboy decided to try his hand working in the commercial art field. He secured a job with a small art company, where he became adept at lettering and paste-ups, among other chores. In his own words, his duties consisted of “all kinds of the usual dirty work.” In 1940, after seeing a newspaper ad, he applied for work and was hired at once as a staff artist with the Harry “A” Chesler comics shop in New York City. Chesler’s outfit, located at 23rd Street, just west of Eighth Avenue, was one of the earliest “sweatshops” responsible for packaging comic books for publishers. More than likely, Chesler foreman Jack Binder also had a say in Raboy’s hiring. Binder had been employed by Chesler in early 1937 to take charge of a staff of artists that included Charlie Biro, Jack Cole, Lou Fine, Gill Fox, Fred Guardineer, Robert McCay Jr., Mort Meskin, Guspano Ricca, Charlie The Green Lama, created by Ken Crossen, made his debut in the pulp magazine Double Detective, in April 1940, published by the Frank A. Munsey Company. Above is the cover of Vol. 5, #5 (Apr. 1940). Inset right is the cover of Prize Comics Vol. 1 #8 (Jan. 1941), headlining the Green Lama, now featured as a comic-book hero. Below is an early panel by Raboy depicting the cloaked portrait of the Green Lama, uttering the power-giving prayer—“Om! Ma-ni pad-me hum!”—from that same issue. The next page is also from Prize #8. This early work clearly shows an emerging talent.
Sultan, George Tuska, and many others who would eventually move on to greater fame in the comic book industry. Mac Raboy was now surrounded by a team of talented artists, inkers, and writers who, under Binder’s supervision, would crank out completed comic art for some of the largest comic book publishing companies of the day. This included Centaur, National/DC, Fawcett, Quality, and Timely/Marvel, all of
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Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Early Days at Fawcett While Mac Raboy’s early efforts on various back-up features produced in the Chesler shop were competent, his style had a ways to go yet before he would become recognized as someone of special talents. The Chesler shop also provided Fawcett with a lot of their early art needs. Therefore, Raboy was kept very busy working on such notable back-up strips as “Ibis the Invincible,” “Mr. Scarlet,” and “Zoro, the Mystery Man.” Working with other Chesler shop personnel, Raboy began illustrating the adventures of “Dr. Voodoo” with Whiz Comics #9 (October 1940). This back-ofthe-book adventure series, featuring a non-costumed, swashbuckling semi-super-hero, would eventually show Raboy’s transitional growth to a higher plateau of artistic excellence. Unlike most of the other Fawcett Publications features, the “Dr. Voodoo” stories eventually came to utilize narrative captions rather than the standard word balloons, and Raboy’s style grew more mature—and more noticeable to the men in charge at Fawcett. By the end of 1940, Mac was drawing Bulletman covers for Master
Above is Mac Raboy’s energetic cover for Bulletman #1 (Jan. 14, 1942).
Comics; shortly after that, he became the chief artist of that hero’s stories inside. Bulletman, who had debuted in the pages of Fawcett’s Nickel Comics in the spring of 1940, was a crimefighter who wore a bullet-shaped “GravityRegulator Helmet” in order to fly. Eventually he was joined by Bulletgirl and the pair’s adventures continued ’til the late ’40s. When the hero was assigned
EARLY DAYS AT FAWCETT
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Chapter Four
Little Boy Blue Ed Herron had come to Fawcett with a successful track record of writing and creating comic book characters that had gone on to greater popularity, including work on the earliest stories of Timely’s colorful Captain America— and his kid sidekick Bucky. It was during the fall of 1941 that Herron came up with the idea of a new addition to the Fawcett family. With Captain
Explosive is the best way to describe this iconic, colorful cover (on opposite page) by Mac Raboy, whose renditions of a teen-age super-hero with a realistic physique was nothing less than perfect. Captain Marvel Jr. #4, (Feb. 19, 1943). Inset bottom is Raboy’s first cover for Fawcett and the first of the CMJr origin trilogy, Master Comics #21 (Dec. 1941). Below is a vignette derived from Raboy’s cover art for Captain Marvel Jr. #26 (Jan. 1, 1945).
Marvel sales increasing dramatically since his debut in February 1940, Fawcett management figured a teenage version of the “Big Red Cheese” would only increase their profits. Herron liked Raboy’s art very much, and wanted a more illustrative style for the new addition, as opposed to the C. C. Beck or Pete Costanza simplified approach on Captain Marvel. The new boy-hero was ably dubbed Captain Marvel Jr., and it was Mac Raboy who was given the job of visualizing him for the very first time. Jr.’s basic attire was blue, with a red cape. His boots, sash, and trim, were the same as Captain Marvel’s: gold! A brilliant costume of color if ever there was—and with Raboy’s superb draftsmanship, coupled with stories written by Otto Binder, Joe Millard, Manly Wade Wellman, and Bill Woolfolk, a sure-fire success on the newsstands was in order.
LITTLE BOY BLUE
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Above: two pages from Raboy’s magnificent work in Master Comics #21 (Dec. 1941), featuring Captain Marvel and the first appearance of Captain Nazi, “the World’s Worst Villain.” Below: C. C. Beck’s cover of Whiz Comics #25 (Dec. 12, 1941), part two of CMJ’s origin.
With direction from Ed Herron, Raboy started working on an origin trilogy (evidently written by Bill Woolfolk) that began in 1941 and ended the year following, crossing over between two Fawcett titles in the process. The three-part tale begins in Master Comics #21 (December 1941), wherein Captain Marvel—a guest star for the issue—teams up with the title’s regular lead, Bulletman, to take on a new super-villain called Captain Nazi. The second part of the story picks up in Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941), with Captain Marvel saving the life of a young teenage boy named Freddy Freeman, whom the treacherous Captain Nazi has severely injured and left to drown. With the lad near death, Captain Marvel takes him to the underground hall where the sorcerer Shazam gives him magic words (“Captain Marvel!” rather than “Shazam!”) and Marvel powers. Both C. C. Beck and Mac Raboy worked on this second installment of Captain Marvel Jr.’s origin story. Beck, the artist most closely associated with Captain Marvel during that time, maintained a tight unofficial control over the scripts and art produced for the good Captain’s adventures. His
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Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Helping Hands Even though he was the slowest artist working for Fawcett in those days, the company obviously thought a lot of his work. They especially loved his covers, which were always well-designed and attractive. In 1941 and ’42, Mac produced some classic cover images for other Fawcett titles besides Master, including America’s Greatest Comics, Bulletman, Captain Midnight, Spy Smasher, and Xmas Comics. With the increased workload it became obvious to the Fawcett editors that Mac would never be able to keep up with the growing amount of work. The decision was made to hire someone who could give Mac some help on backgrounds. That help came almost immediately from a young man by the name of Rubin Zubofsky, who at age nineteen came knocking at Fawcett’s door in January of 1942. Zubofsky was interviewed by editor Herron Above house ad from Fawcett touting the massive semi-regular annual Xmas Comics, which consisted of 324 pages and sold for 50¢! The first issue’s cover (seen here, from 1941) was illustrated by Mac Raboy.
Inset right is a Mighty Midget Comic edition— this one, Bulletman (#11)—which are 5" x 4" miniature reprint comics sold in sets of four by publisher Samuel E. Lowe & Co., in 1942.
Next page is Mac Raboy’s work on the cover of America’s Greatest Comics #1 (Fall 1941), a 100-page quarterly, demonstrating Raboy’s special talent for drawing the human figure.
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and co-editor John Beardsley, who, during the course of the interview, requested him to produce a drawing in their presence. After completing it, he was hired at a salary of $35 a week as an assistant to Mac Raboy. This meant providing pencils and inks on backgrounds for Raboy’s covers or stories.
Chapter Five
got along well together and, when required, would work late to try to meet deadlines. It was this work, over the next eleven months, that remains popular today as some of the very finest “Captain Marvel Jr.” artwork ever produced. When deadlines got too close for comfort, Raboy would oversee the use of photostats of previously drawn panels or figures, on whatever new story they were currently producing. He would go through the back-issue file copies of the comics and indicate to Ruby which figures he wanted. Ruby would then go to Fawcett’s morgue library to pull up the original art pages, size the figures through a projector to the size needed to fit the new panels,
Patriotism ran high with Raboy and Fawcett editors during World War II as the cover of Master Comics #40 (July 1943) clearly projects (seen on previous page). On this page below is a rather jingoistic and (literal) flag-waving cover by Raboy for Master Comics #30 (Sept. 1942).
and order photostats to be made. Raboy himself usually cut the figures out and placed them exactly where he wanted them on the pages. It was also in early 1942 that Fawcett management initiated a size change in the cover art that Mac Raboy (and probably others) were producing. Up to this point all cover art and interior page art had been drawn twice-up in size. The new size allowed Raboy and Zubofsky to save time by drawing covers “one-andone-half-up” in size. Mac took great pains to produce covers that were “posteresque” in design and patriotic in theme. From 1942 to 1943 he produced some of the finest Golden Age patriotic covers ever printed in the four-color medium. It was fortunate for Mac that comics editor Ed Herron and art director Al Allard recognized his need for additional time in order
HELPING HANDS
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Associate Interview
Bob Rogers/Rubin Zubofsky, Man in the Background AUTHOR’S NOTE Bob Rogers was born Rubin L. Zubofsky in Brooklyn, New York, on January 15, 1923. Raised in that borough, he attended the High School of Music & Art, from where he graduated in 1941. That summer, quite by chance, he was introduced to artist Myron Strauss (1917–99) by a girlfriend he was dating. Rubin, who was anxious to get into an art business of any kind, began working with Strauss on a feature called “Liberty Scouts” for the Comic Corporation of America, also known as Centaur Publications. His first collaborative efforts with Strauss, penciling and inking backgrounds, showed up in Liberty Scouts #3, dated Aug. 1941. Strauss was renting studio space at a photostat firm and, right after Pearl Harbor, received his Army draft notice from Uncle Sam. Rubin—going by the nick name of “Ruby”— finished his last job with Strauss, assisting on Stars and Stripes Comics #5 (Nov. 1941). Strauss left for military duty on Jan. 1, 1942, and, a month or so before leaving, introduced Ruby to Lou Fine, a good friend of Strauss, who was also in need of a background man. Fine was already familiar with Ruby’s work for Strauss and hired him right away, without reviewing his samples. At that time, Fine’s studio was located in a high-rise residential building in Manhattan, called Tudor City, where Ruby began assisting on features such as “Uncle Sam,” “The Ray,” “Hercules,” and “Black Condor.” Within months, the young assistant had moved on to Fawcett Publications, where he was hired to specifically work with Mac Raboy on backgrounds. From then on, it was a mad dash to keep up with deadlines turning out Captain Marvel Jr. stories and covers, with Mac directing the action. This frantic pace continued until Ruby was also drafted in the Army, in late 1942. After his discharge from military service in Sept. 1945, he anglicized his last name to Rogers, following family wishes, and changed his first name to Bob. He and his brother Hank opened a photography store for a short period of time. By November of that year, Bob was back at Fawcett doing background work, only now for Bud Thompson who had taken over the majority of art chores on Captain Marvel Jr. following Raboy’s departure.
ROGER HILL: I can’t tell you just how surprised and happy I was to find out that you are, or were, the original Rubin Zubofsky. I was looking for you two years ago, at the beginning of my research on this whole Raboy project, and couldn’t find any Zubofsky listed anywhere! After what I had read in Steranko’s History of the Comics about you, and from a letter by [Fawcett editor] Wendell Crowley [published in Alter Ego Vol. 1, #8], I knew you were one of the key figures in the scheme of things. BOB ROGERS: Rubin Zubofsky… nicknamed Ruby! That is my real name. During the war, my parents anglicized it. At some point, my mother wrote and told me they had changed the name to Rogers, and I thought, “Gee whiz, I’d like to go along with the family.” But I decided not to do it until after I got out of the service or I’d screw up my records. So I waited until after the war. RH: You were using the nickname “Ruby” at Fawcett, right? You know, it was originally believed that Mac Raboy had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Raboy. ROGERS: I guess a lot of erroneous data gets thrown around out there. It’s funny how little bits and pieces have come back into my recollection that I had forgotten about. I only recently remembered that I had shortened my name to “Zubof” for Fawcett! [laughs] I even went out and got myself a separate Social Security card, which said “Rubin Zubof,” which was legal then. RH: We’ve been discussing by email the “mystery artist” who helped you get started in the comic book business as his apprentice; but so far we haven’t been able to come up with a name, right? You seem to think it was someone called Myron. And your son-in-law Dan and I suggested to you that it might have been
Continued on next page
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Associate Interview
ROGERS: That’s amazing. He wouldn’t give me $5 for my raise. RH: So you talked to Arnold and he turned you down? ROGERS: No, I don’t remember how it came about. Whether Lou spoke up for me or someone approached him for me, I didn’t actually do it myself, so Lou said, “Well, I don’t blame you, you’re well worth it.” He told me that what I should do is see if I could pick up some extra work. So I got together a few examples of what I had done. I wish I still had them. You know, the books where I had done “The Ray” and “The Spirit,” and all the others. I took these samples around, and one of the places I went to was Fawcett. A fellow there by the name of [comics editor/writer] Ed Herron interviewed me, and he looked at the Display signage—featuring C. C. Beck art— promoting the R. W. Kerr plastic figurines of Fawcett “Marvel Family” super-hero characters, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny.
These statuettes from 1946 measured 6½" tall and were hand-painted. They were included in packages featuring Beck artwork.
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work I showed him, and he said, “Wait here.” He went inside and another fellow came out and said, “How’d you like to work for Fawcett?” He said, “How much are you earning?” And I was real sharp and said, “$20 a week.” Then he offered what was almost double that. $35 a week! I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! I mean, I was looking for a $5 raise. Thirtyfive… holy smoke, now I could get married! [laughs] So the guy says, “Would you mind coming inside and drawing something for us?” I said, “No, not at all.” And so, they took me into the art department, which was quite large, with artists all lined up with their tables. They sat me down at a table and gave me something to draw, and I don’t remember what the hell it was, but I drew it. Then they talked a little bit among themselves and said, “You’re hired.” So that’s how that came to pass. RH: I believe Ed Herron was Fawcett’s first comics editor. Another guy around there was Otto Binder, one of the greatest and most prolific writers who worked in comics.
Associate Interview
Chapter Six
Mac Raboy Makes Three Captain Marvel Jr. was introduced in Master Comics in late 1941. A year later, due to reader popularity, was given his own title, with the first issue sporting this grand Raboy cover.
In November of 1942, Captain Marvel Jr. #1 hit the newsstands of America. Raboy’s cover showed a leaping figure of the young hero, set against a brilliant yellow moon in the background, surrounded by black. A simple design, yet most effective as an eye-catcher for kids browsing the racks. Inside the book… not one page of Raboy’s art was to be found! The work was very similar to his, but was entirely provided by assistants. This style of art, produced mostly by McDonald, Mohler, or others, would cause some confusion to comic book historians and collectors for the next 50 years. Under Mac’s personal guidance, Mohler and McDonald provided most of the art for the new title and also assisted Mac, as required, on stories he was drawing for Master. To maintain the special “Raboy mystique” in their work on the “CMJr” stories, Gene and Red were shown a new time-saving device for emulating Raboy’s style of art: a projection camera! In the past,
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Chapter Six
photostats had been cut out and pasted down to make new panels. Now, a group of photostats—showing every imaginable figure drawing of Captain Marvel Jr. that Raboy had ever done—were kept nearby so all the assistants had easy access to them. The artist could leaf through the figures, pick out the appropriate one, size it through the projector onto the new panel where it was needed, and simply trace it off. By this method Fawcett editors were able to insure that Raboy’s style of art remained visible throughout the work. Fawcett readers identified with this style and expected it to be there from month to month. In early 1943, the comic art staff at Fawcett converted mostly to a freelance status. Comics editor Rod Reed left in June and was replaced by Will Lieberson. Mac Raboy had moved into a studio space located on 42nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Occasionally Red Mohler and his wife, Duffy (a letterer), would share this space, working on the “CMJr” feature with Mac. Gene McDonald began doing work on his own, and other freelance artists started drawing “Junior” stories for Fawcett, as
The spirit of his “family patriarchs,” Captain Marvel Sr. and the old wizard Shazam loom about a ready-for-action Captain Marvel Jr. on the cover of Master Comics #23 (Feb. 1942), which featured the second appearance of the super-hero in the title. CMJr would headline the comic book until its demise, in late winter, 1953, with issue #133.
well. Dick Krause became executive editor on Master and Captain Marvel Jr., answering to Lieberson. Bernard Baily, the artist who, with Jerry Siegel, in 1940, had co-created the Spectre for National/DC, also began producing “CMJr” stories around this time. This opportunity probably resulted when Raboy and Baily formed their own commercial art studio together sometime during the early ’40s. Commercial accounts paid much better than comic
MAC RABOY MAKES THREE
Bernard Baily became a studio partner and close friend with Mac Raboy during the 1940s. Years earlier, while working with writer Jerry Siegel (best known as co-creator of Superman), he originated The Spectre, who made his debut in More Fun Comics. Seen below is Baily’s cover for issue #62 (Dec. 1940). At center is a photo of Baily taken in the ’70s.
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THE SPY SMASHER PREMIUM Fellow Fawcett artist alumni C. C. Beck confirmed many years ago to Fawcett historian P. C. Hamerlinck that Raboy painted the Spy Smasher premium created for the 12-chapter Spy Smasher serial, released by Republic Studios in 1942. This premium, pictured in the film’s promotional pressbook, is described as a “Four Color Autographed Fan Photo,” made available to theater managers at a cost of $2.25 per thousand or $2 per thousand in lots of 3,000 or more. It is considered one of the rarest Fawcett premiums ever created.
MAC RABOY MAKES THREE
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Spotlight
The Style of Mac Raboy
(or Who Did What on Captain Marvel Jr.?) One of the greatest challenges in today’s world of collecting Mac Raboy comic books is knowing enough about the artist’s work to properly identify which stories and covers he actually worked on. As we all know, Raboy had a definitive, unique style of art. But that style can easily be mistaken when we look at Captain Marvel Jr. art that had assistants helping out, trying their hardest to emulate the Raboy style. Some of these assistants were instructed to “draw like Raboy,” when they were hired at Fawcett. It turns out they did it well enough to fool most of the comic reading public at that time. In those days, most kids buying those comics really couldn’t tell much of a difference, nor did they care. But, in today’s world of high-priced Golden Age comic books and with comic historians trying to document who actually did what during that Golden period of four-color history, Fawcett interoffice memo from the files of Will Lieberson lists the status of Captain Marvel Jr. assignments, circa 1944, issued at a time when Raboy was leaving Fawcett.
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it’s important to try and nail down
Spotlight
accuracy in identifying the artists behind the work. A major obstacle to the identification is that Fawcett management
Above two pages from Captain Marvel Jr. #16 (Feb. 1, 1944), drawn by Al Carreno. Otto Binder most likely provided the story.
did not care for the artists signing their own work. However, there were exceptions. Occasionally, for reasons unknown to this writer, sometimes an artist’s name would appear, set in type, in the margin area just below the splash page. Why certain exceptions were made like this, we don’t know. Raboy’s name did appear several times on Fawcett stories, but there was no consistency to the process. Leaving names off stories and covers was the norm. Any number of comic artists in those days thought working in that industry was a low occupation. Some were embarrassed, hoping for the day when they could break out of comics and graduate to the higher incomes that accompanied professional illustration work. That’s where greater respect (and greater financial reward) awaited. So to begin to tackle this problem of who did what with Raboy, first we need to know who the assistants were. Most of these names have been known
THE STYLE OF MAC RABOY
AL CARRENO Al Carreno (1905–1964) came to the U.S. in the mid-1920s from his home country of Mexico. In 1935 he was working for United Theater Advertisers, creating movie advertising posters. Following this he took on the syndicated Ted Strong western newspaper strip for the George Matthew Adams Service. After this short-lived venture he drifted into the world of comic books working first for the Chesler and Iger Shops. After becoming a freelance artist on his own, Carreno worked for various publishers, including Fox, Marvel, National, Pines, Prize and Ziff-Davis. In 1942 he began working for Fawcett on a variety of characters such as Ibis the Invincible, Red Goucho, Dan Dare, and Fawcett’s favorite boy in blue, Captain Marvel Jr. We have no proof that Carreno ever collaborated directly with Mac Raboy on Captain Marvel Jr. stories, but he certainly would have known him. In the 1950s he became active in the National Cartoonists Society where he eventually was an NCS membership chairman.
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Behind the Scenes
Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Jr. Editorial Guidelines [The following directives were found in the files of Fawcett Editor Will Lieberson and have been retyped for this book.—R.H.]
CODE OF ETHICS - FAWCETT COMICS MAGAZINES 1. Policemen, judges, officials, and respected institutions must not be portrayed as stupid or ineffective in such a way as to weaken respect
CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. FAWCETT GUIDELINES
for established authority. Crimes against the law
FAWCETT SCRIPT REQUIREMENTS:
shall never be presented in such a way as to throw
Writers should query editors and submit a complete synopsis before completion of material. Scripts must be typewritten. A stamped self-addressed envelope must
sympathy with the crime as against law and justice or to inspire others with the desire for imitation. 2. No comic shall show a male or female indecently or
be included in order that submitted material may be
unduly exposed, and in any event not more revealing
returned if found unacceptable. All submissions are on a
than in a bathing suit commonly worn in the U.S.A.
speculative basis.
Wanton, sexy drawings are not to be presented under
SET-UP OF COMICS SCRIPTS
any circumstances.
The first four panels usually is devoted to the title splash (a large scene which ties in with plot of story, showing hero or heroine in good action pose). Below should appear a brief legend which should interest reader at start of story. Each panel contains, (a) description of scene to artist, (b) caption (used only where necessary to enlighten the reader as to the action involved) (c) dialogue of individuals.
3. No scenes of actual sadistic torture may be shown. 4. No comics which ridicule or attack any religious groups are permitted. 5. Vulgar language shall not be used. Slang is permitted only when essential to the story. 6. Comics shall not give divorce a humorous or glamorous treatment. 7. No comic shall use dialects and devices in a way to indicate ridicule or intolerance of racial groups.
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Behind the Scenes
Associate Interview
Gene McDonald: In the Presence of Greatness ROGER HILL: How did you come to work for Fawcett Publications, Gene? GENE McDONALD: I was going to the Grand Central Art School, attending Harvey Dunn’s night class. There was a fellow there in the class named Irwin Wile who was what they called a layout man. He was doing layouts on some magazine over at Fawcett. Irwin got me and Red Mohler jobs there working with Mac Raboy. You know, word of mouth, in other words. RH: Do you remember who interviewed you at Fawcett to get the job? McDONALD: I don’t remember any interviews. As far as I know, we just went in, said hello to Mac and sat down to work. I don’t remember any interview. We all worked in the bullpen there in the old Paramount Building at 43rd Street and Broadway. They took that building down a long time ago to put up a new high-rise. I don’t know whether they destroyed the old Astor Hotel or not, but I suppose they did. I haven’t been there since a very long time ago. I ought to go back and look around sometime. RH: Didn’t you hire in at Fawcett around 1943 or 1944? McDONALD: No, it was before that. It must of been 1942, because I remember it was right after the war started. In fact, I was amazed at the time that they were getting ready to produce that comic book on such short notice. The war had just started. RH: You’re referring to when Fawcett decided to give Captain Marvel Jr. his own comic title? That first issue came out dated November 1942. McDONALD: Yeah, that’s right. RH: And were you hired there just to work specifically on Captain Marvel Jr.? McDONALD: Yes, just as an assistant to Mac. RH: Mac was a very slow artist from what I understand. McDONALD: Oh, yeah. Mac was very slow, but he did beautiful work. That’s why he was slow. RH: Right. He had a beautiful brush style too. Do you
GENE McDONALD
AUTHOR’S NOTE Gene McDonald was born on June 17, 1918 in Macon, Georgia. When he was six months old, his family moved to Alliance, Nebraska. At the age of five, Gene and the family moved to Omaha, then back to Alliance, where he finished school. When he was 20, he set out for New York City. The year was 1938 and he secured a job working for the A. C. Hielson Company preparing sales charts for merchandisers in the food and drug business. He worked there until the opportunity arose to work for Fawcett Publications in 1942. He began as an assistant to Mac Raboy, working on the Captain Marvel Jr. comic book. When most of the artists on the Fawcett comic art staff went freelance in 1943, Gene stayed with Raboy, continuing to assist him on Captain Marvel Jr. and, later on, the Flash Gordon newspaper strip. Gene was 81 years old when I first contacted him and, although I never met him in person, he was an interesting fellow to talk with on the phone. I was surprised to learn that, since his days of working in the comics, Gene had held on to many of the original photostats of Captain Marvel Jr. figures, drawn by Raboy, which they used to cut up and paste-in to panels trying to meet deadlines. He was nice enough to loan those to me for copying and use throughout this book. A tip of the hat goes to my friend Joe Desris for putting me in touch with Gene. Unfortunately, Gene passed away on Jan. 8, 2000. Below is sample of the Fawcett Publications letterhead from the 1940s.
remember what size brush he used? McDONALD: I think it was probably a number 2 Winsor & Newton. RH: Now when you say you were hired to assist Mac, did that mean just on backgrounds or what? McDONALD: No, we did backgrounds and figures. RH: And were you told to emulate Raboy’s style? McDONALD: Yes. Well, we had a machine in the corner there that we used. It was called an opaque projector. RH: Sure, I’ve heard of them. McDONALD: And we would get a photostat of Captain Marvel Jr. in the right pose that we wanted and put it in that projector. Then we’d trace it off. We had to do that because they wanted to hurry things up. It was supposed to be a production line sort of thing, you see. I mean, we could sit down and copy one of Mac’s drawings freehand if we had to, but why do that if you have a machine? RH: Right, that’s why comic collectors and historians have been confused as to what exactly Mac did on the Captain Marvel Jr. comic book ever since they were published. I’m sure, using those methods you described, it saved a lot of time and effort. Had you had any pen-&-ink experience before coming to Fawcett? McDONALD: No. I hadn’t had any. [laughter] None at all. The only thing I had done up to that point was pitch hay to a bunch of stupid cattle out in the Northern Plains. And that was backbreaking labor. Above are photos of Gene McDonald taken in years after his Fawcett tenure. Below is Captain Marvel Jr. #30 (May 1945) cover probably by Bud Thompson.
RH: So, working for Fawcett: you had to learn how to hold and use a brush, I take it. McDONALD: Yes, everything. It was murder. To go from pitching hay to handling those delicate brushes and making fine lines with them. RH: Okay, so you were assisting Mac on his work. And did the editors there also let you do some stories on your own? McDONALD: Well, yes, later on. I think Mac had left by then. Mac had left and started working in an office over on 42nd Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenue. RH: This was probably the Bernard Baily shop where Mac leased space? McDONALD: Yes, that rings a bell. Me and Red Mohler were doing things on our own for Fawcett. I did a few stories for them, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I really didn’t want to be drawing comics. RH: Why is that, Gene? McDONALD: It was just too awkward for me. I felt like I was doing something I wasn’t trained for or qualified for. That’s why I drank a lot back in those days.
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Associate Interview
RH: And was that when Raboy left, too? McDONALD: Yes, it wasn’t long after that when Mac took over the Flash Gordon strip.
Above is another Reed and Associates paper novelty offered to kids in the mid-1940s, this one for a quarter. “The Three Famous Flying Marvels”—featuring the Captain, his Junior, and Mary—are described by Heritage Auctions as “a cross between paper dolls and paper airplanes.” Pages measure 9.25" x 12".
RH: Did Mac ever talk about Alex Raymond? You know, in regards to him being an influence on his work? McDONALD: Oh, absolutely. RH: What about other newspaper strips or artists who influenced him? McDONALD: No, I tell you, Mac didn’t hardly talk at all. Well, you know, there’s doers and there’s talkers, and Mac was a doer. He would just sit there. I tell you, it used to drive me crazy because I was a young healthy guy who was restless. And I had to sit there with him and, long about three in the afternoon, I just wanted to scream and jump out the window.
Captain Marvel Jr. “Mighty Midget Comic,” published in 1942, by Samuel Lowe Co. The mini-comic measured 5" x 4" and contained 34 pages of reprints in black, white, and red. The cover, naturally, is a reprint of Master Comics #27 cover by Mac Raboy.
RH: Was Red Mohler sitting there with you guys, too? McDONALD: Yes. RH: Didn’t you and Red talk a little bit just to break up the quietness a little? McDONALD: Yes, but we didn’t talk shop. We didn’t talk about the work, except to complain about it. [laughter] But we just didn’t talk that much while working there at Fawcett. Later on after work, we would talk. We had side-by-side studios on 34th Street and so we lived right next door to each other. We were good buddies back in those days. He was the best friend I ever had. RH: I heard from Joe Desris that Raboy and you had a big argument one time and you told him off. Is that true? McDONALD: Well, I got drunk one night and made a horse’s ass out of myself.
GENE McDONALD
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Associate Interview
Marc Swayze Remembers Fellow Artist Mac Raboy ROGER HILL: So tell me a little about Mac Raboy if you will. MARC SWAYZE: Mac Raboy was a member of the Fawcett art staff when I joined it early in 1941. So were C. C. Beck and Pete Costanza, as well as I can recall. The rest of the art staff, under Al Allard, was made up of non-comics artists doing layout work on the various Fawcett magazines. These totaled around 25 to 30 guys. Mac was very fortunate in having had Eddie Herron as his comic’s editor. Eddie and Al Allard recognized that, in order to render the art style Mac had adopted, time had to be allowed. This same consideration was also shown him by Rod Reed, who became editor after Herron’s departure. So, when I hired in, Beck, Costanza, Raboy, and myself were the only ones working in their offices doing comic books. Other comic book work was being farmed out to guys doing freelance work. That was early 1941. Mac reported to Al Allard who was the art director and Mac, along with the rest of us, was on salary. Others began to be added as time went on, such as Eddie Robbins and Al Fagaly. Al later on got into syndicate work. RH: Did Fagaly work on Captain Marvel, too? 1942 pic of Marc Swayze. Note the Bulletman #3 cover art by Mac Raboy in the foreground.
AUTHOR’S NOTE Marc Swayze (1913-2012) hired in at Fawcett Publications in early 1941 specifically to work on the Captain Marvel Adventures comic book. The first issue had been launched with a cover date of March that same year and Fawcett was gearing up its staff in order to go monthly with the title by the beginning of 1942. This was right at the time when Mac Raboy was being taken off the “Dr. Voodoo” feature and just beginning his work on “Captain Marvel Jr.” for Master Comics. While at Fawcett,
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SWAYZE: Yes, I believe he and Eddie Robbins both worked on Captain Marvel. At first, there was not as much freedom working on Captain Swayze wrote Captain Marvel stories and contributed art for covers and stories in the Captain Marvel titles. He was also co-creator of Mary Marvel, who joined the Marvel family of characters. Swayze, along with Rod Reed, was responsible for forming the Fawcett baseball team, which included Mac Raboy playing sometimes in the outfield. Swayze was drafted in late 1942 and served in the Army during World War II where he continued writing stories for Captain Marvel and mailing them in. After his discharge from military service in
1944, Swayze returned to Fawcett where he drew the “Phantom Eagle” feature for Wow Comics and took on the syndicated Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip. After Wow Comics ended, Swayze continued working for Fawcett’s line of romance comics for awhile and then later went to Charlton Publications where he finished out his comics career in the mid 1950s. He eventually wrote numerous articles detailing his lengthy comics career for Alter Ego magazine. This interview by the author took place on December 28, 1998.
Associate Interview
Marvel. Matter of fact, nobody was drawing the figure of Captain Marvel but Beck and myself. And that’s the way it was until after I left. Mac had drawn a couple of covers for Captain Marvel, which you probably know about. RH: Right, that would be for America’s Greatest Comics. SWAYZE: Yes. The rest of the covers, from 1941 to 1942, were done either by Beck or me. And, the more Beck had to get into forming this team of his, the more work on Captain Marvel fell over on me. And I wound up doing the type of work I didn’t like to do. I was doing the main figures complete and having to hand-off the other work, like doing secondary characters and backgrounds and so on to other people. And, as more of these people came in, this procedure increased. Eddie Robbins was a good artist and Al Fagaly was a good cartoon man. Then there was a couple of guys who came from Pratt institute. Bob Boyajian was one and his buddy was… Oh, I can’t think of his name right now. Beck was grooming him to draw Captain Marvel when my draft number came up. The other fellow I can’t remember, but I think his name was Ray. RH: Gene McDonald told me that Mac was a pretty quiet fellow in those days. He told me Mac hardly said a word at work. SWAYZE: Mac never hardly said a word and was a difficult guy to get to know. Rod Reed could draw him out and was actually instrumental in getting Mac out of a personality shell. I learned later on from Rod that, because I was from the South, Mac assumed I was a bigot. But, in time, he became one of my best friends. I like to think we shared a mutual professional respect. Rod could draw anybody out. He was just a marvelous sort of guy. I had a bunch of great friends there and Rod was one of them. Wendell Crowley was a good friend too. RH: Wendell Crowley was a great guy and I’ve only heard good things about him. SWAYZE: You’ll never hear anything but good things about him. He was just a wonderful guy. RH: Do you know if Mac ever took his work home with him while working at Fawcett? SWAYZE: I don’t know about that but I remember that during the 1941 to 1942 period, when I was working right there on staff with him, Mac had an illness of some kind. And this is kind of mysterious. I never knew what it was and, of course, I didn’t pry, but I remember that he had to go out of state for months because of this illness. This was after he had taken over, or rather after Captain Marvel Jr. had been developed. And he kept doing Captain Marvel Jr. as best he could from out of state. I think Ruby Zuboff was probably there doing
MARC SWAYZE
Top: Wow Comics #10 (Feb. 10, 1943) by Marc Swayze. Above: Marc Swayze Mary Marvel painting created in 1999.
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Chapter Seven
A Spark of Green In mid-1944, assistant editor Ken Crossen left Fawcett to start his own comic book publishing company. He decided to resurrect the Green Lama character he had created in 1940 as a pulp-magazine hero and had later adapted into a comic book series for Prize Publications. He convinced Raboy that the artist should quit Fawcett to join him at his new publishing company, to be known as Spark Publications, promising more than just a page rate. Crossen offered a percentage of the profits, which, in 1944, was almost unheard of for any comic artist. He also offered Mac the prestigious title of art editor. It proved an offer Raboy could not refuse. With a half-dozen capable artists now providing the bulk of the Captain Marvel Jr. artwork anyway, Fawcett editors bade farewell to Mac Raboy. He left with an agreement that, if time permitted, he would still occasionally provide a cover illustration for Captain Marvel Jr., which he did until mid-1945. Oddly enough, in May 1944 a beautiful Raboy drawing appeared on the cover of Dynamic Comics #9. This comic, originally produced by one of Raboy’s first employers, Harry “A” Chesler, had run three issues between 1941 and 1942, before having its plug pulled due to paper quota cutbacks at the outset of World War II. As discussed here, the cover for Dynamic Comics #9 (possibly Raboy’s very first cover) was drawn while working in the Harry A. Chesler shop in 1941 or ’42. For reasons unknown, the art laid in limbo until the issue was published, in 1944. The original art, still in existence today, was inspected by this author in 2005. It is executed with pen and ink, with charcoal pencil shading on pebble board.
A SPARK OF GREEN
99
Closer Look
Ken Crossen and the Comics of Spark Publications Kendell Foster Crossen was born on July 25, 1910, in Albany, Ohio. After graduating high school there, he attended Rio Grande College and wound up working for The Gallipolis Tribune. During his formative years, his favorite hobbies were magic, model trains, and chess. After college, Crossen worked at a variety of jobs, including that of tallyman for steel mills, an electric truckman in an auto plant, a gas station attendant, straight man in tent and medicine shows, and, for a while, he was even half-owner of a bootleg operation. Aside from these interesting jobs, in his spare time he was also an amateur boxer. In 1935, Crossen moved to New York City, where he found employment as a writer in the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and, for a short time, he became an insurance investigator. In 1937, after answering an ad for the Munsey Publishing Co., Crossen Above is a photo from 1960 of Green Lama creator Ken Crossen and friend. On this page and next are various pulp covers starring GL.
was hired as an assistant editor for Detective Fiction Weekly, a pulp magazine devoted to mystery stories. At this time, he started writing stories using the names Richard Foster, Bennett Barlay, Kent Richards, and several others (including his own). Between 1937–40, he edited other magazines, including Baffling Detective, Detective Cases, Keyhole Detective Cases, Stirring Detective Cases, Movie Play, and other pulp magazine titles. He also wrote his first Green Lama story, which appeared in the April 1940 issue of Double Detective Magazine. Writing in 1976, Crossen recalled, “The character was created because the publisher, the Frank A. Munsey Company, wanted a competitor for The Shadow, published by a rival publishing company.” The Green Lama was originally a crime-fighting Buddhist hero whose powers emerged upon reciting a Tibetan mantra, “Om mani padme hum.” These stories are often considered to be science-fiction or supernatural fantasy due to the Lama and other characters possessing super-human
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Closer Look
powers, fantastic super-weapons of science, and
Comics title. The Lama made its four-color debut in #7,
possessing the ability to fly. The Green Lama was the
dated December 1940. The art was by nascent comics
alias of Jethro Dumont, wealthy resident of New York
artist Mac Raboy, who, at that time, was employed at
City. While attending college at Harvard, his millionaire
the Harry Chesler shop, located at 163 W. 23rd Street.
parents were killed in a car accident, leaving Dumont an
Harry Chesler was in charge of one of the earliest comic
inheritance of some ten million dollars. He then moved
production companies, having produced Star Comics, in
to Tibet, where he spent a decade studying and acquiring
February 1937. Employing a staff of writers and artists,
mystical powers to become a lama, a Buddhist spiritual
Chesler eventually branched out to produce comic
teacher. Upon his return to America to spread the
material for a number of rival publishers, including
word of Tibetan Buddhism, he soon instead turned to
Detective Comics (DC), Fawcett, Fox, MLJ (Archie),
fighting crime.
Street & Smith, Timely (Marvel), Fiction House,
Crossen wrote 14 novel-length Green Lama stories for Double Detective, all published between April 1940–
and others. Mac provided three Green Lama stories for Prize
March 1943, and by Fall 1940 he had struck a deal with
before being replaced by fellow Chesler shop artist
Feature Publications (also known as Prize Publications)
Charles Sultan. The character would continue through
to write Green Lama comic book stories for their Prize
Prize #34 (September 1943). By that time, Crossen had
KEN CROSSEN AND THE COMICS OF SPARK PUBLICATIONS
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KEN CROSSEN AND THE COMICS OF SPARK PUBLICATIONS
111
112
Closer Look
Chapter Eight
A Flash of Gold For the next couple of years, Raboy’s work was not to be found in the comics. He continued to establish and work on commercial accounts. Sometime between 1945–47, he landed an account providing beautiful full-page illustrations advertising The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. These detailed renderings depicted daily commerce of 18th century Colonial Philadelphia establishments, and were exquisitely executed with pen-&-ink on scratchboard. Each one of these, which appeared in Fortune magazine, was signed by the artist. This work reflected Mac’s personal interests in U.S. history (though he was especially keen on the Civil War). Then, in spring 1948, King Features Syndicate hired Raboy to take over the Flash Gordon Sunday page from departing Austin Briggs, who had been drawing the strip since creator Alex Raymond’s exit in 1943. Raboy, who had idolized Raymond’s style of art for many years, decided he was ready to take it on. His first Sunday page appeared on August 1, 1948, beginning a new story with 116
Chapter Eight
Flash taking off in an atom-jet rocket, headed for adventure on Mongo’s second moon, in an episode titled “Visitor From Space.” No credits were allowed on the strip for the first two months. Finally, on September 26, the names of Mac Raboy and writer Don Moore appeared on the masthead. As an artist following in the formidable footsteps of the legendary Alex Raymond, Raboy doubtless felt pressure from King Features as to how he approached working on one of the greatest adventure strips of all time. From August through December of 1948 the artist’s work was absolutely stunning. Since Mac only needed to produce five to six panels a week for each strip, his attention to detail and precision inking were flawless in execution. His anatomy on Flash, Dale Arden, and other characters never looked better; and because his figure work was so well done, it seems he delighted in filling up the panels with them. During the first few months of the strip, each Sunday page contained, on average, some 24 figures. Raboy was making top money now, with King Features paying $300 for
A FLASH OF GOLD
Previous page is a panel vignette from Mac Raboy’s first Flash Gordon Sunday strip (Aug. 1, 1948) and his Philadelphia Inquirer ad (Nov. 1946), one of a series that saw print in Fortune magazine. This page is, top, Raboy Flash Gordon strip (Aug. 8, 1948), and, above, vignette from the cover of Flash Gordon #7 (Aug. 1967), published by King Comics. The image was flipped horizontally here.
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Associate Interview
Bob Rogers and His Nine Months on Flash Gordon ROGER HILL: How is it you wound up working with Mac on the Flash Gordon strip when he lived up in Goldens Bridge, New York? BOB ROGERS: I was working for a firm in New York City doing camera repair work. I couldn’t find any work in the comics business, at that point. So I came home one night and my wife says, “Guess who called?” And I said, “Oh, come on, I don’t have any patience for this stuff.” Then she said, “Mac Raboy.” Now, the funny thing is, I had bumped into Mac in the city some time before this and Mac had told me that one of these days we were going to work together again. And I said, “Oh sure, oh yeah, all right.” And that was the last I saw of him. So here he had called, and I called him back, and I took the train to Goldens Bridge so we could talk. He’d decided he wanted me back as his employee. He couldn’t remember where I was, but he knew I’d changed my name, so he’d started calling all the “Rogers” residents in the Queens phone book, and then he started going through the Brooklyn phone book, ’til he finally came across my wife. So that’s how we got back together. RH: What year was this, Bob? ROGERS: Let’s see. I recently did a chronology of my years in the business. Yes, here it is… 1949. Now this was for
AUTHOR’S NOTE The Flash Gordon newspaper comic strip made its debut in newspapers across America on January 7, 1934, scripted by Don Moore and illustrated by Alexander Raymond. Up to this point, the newspaper-reading public had been mostly exposed to the science-fiction adventures of Buck Rogers and Brick Bradford. Leading characters in the new strip were handsome polo player and Yale University graduate Flash Gordon, his beautiful heroine Dale Arden, and mad scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. The strip received wide distribution and, by the late 1930s, was published in 130 newspapers and reportedly being read by 50 million people in eight foreign languages worldwide. The feature became so successful, it eventually spawned a radio show in 1935, followed by three movie serials starring Buster Crabbe, released in 1936, 1938, and 1940. During the strip’s most popular years, numerous books, comic books, coloring books, toys, puzzles, posters, and many other promotional products were licensed and issued sporting the property. A daily strip was introduced in 1941 drawn by Austin Briggs. This lasted until 1944, at which time Briggs took over the Sunday page, following Raymond’s departure to join the service. Continuing to work on the Sunday page for the next four years, Briggs drew his last episode, which appeared in newspapers on July 25, 1948. A week later, on Aug. 1, a new segment of Flash Gordon started, this one titled “Visitor From Space,” drawn by Mac Raboy. Followers of the strip could tell right away a new artist was drawing the feature, but it would be eight more Sundays before the names of Mac Raboy and writer Don Moore actually appeared on the masthead, alongside a smiling portrait of Flash himself. Artists were allowed to sign their strips inside the borders of the art if they elected to, but Mac Raboy never signed any of his Sunday pages until much later in life, when he took the time to pencil in his signature, usually in the last panel or the lower border area. This first became evident when Raboy’s family began selling Sunday pages from their holdings, a decade after Raboy’s passing. Continued on next page
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Epilogue
David Raboy: The Son of Mac Raboy Speaks ROGER HILL: David, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me about your father. I have to ask you right off—was his last name originally “Rabinowitz”? DAVID RABOY: No. My great grandfather’s Ellis Island papers show the name was “Raboi.” These were the papers he brought with him. My grandfather preceded my great grandfather and, when he came over, he departed Ellis Island with the name spelled “Raboy.” So I’m guessing that “i” became “y” on Ellis Island. It got “Anglofied.” My grandfather came with one or two other brothers when they were quite young. There were nine brothers altogether, and after they had established themselves with jobs and so on, they brought the other brothers and my great grandfather across. RH: And the name “Raboi” originates from where? RABOY: Bessarabka. RH: Do you know how to spell that? David Raboy.
AUTHOR’S NOTE David Raboy has worked as a zoo director in various locations in the United States, including Syracuse, New York and Waco, Texas. He retired in 2004, after 11 years at the helm of the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Massachusetts. While growing up in the woods of Goldens Bridge, New York, David learned much from his father about building things. Mac Raboy had a love for animals, a passion for conservation and science, and an awareness of all things that played into that. David developed similar interests during those years and eventually earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Animal Science and Animal Behavior. He has worked as a zoo director, which entailed the planning and building of new zoos to replace old ones. David has loaned his abilities to the development of zoo facilities all over the United States, including the building of new zoos in Syracuse, New York; Waco, Texas; and New Bedford, Massachusetts.
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RABOY: [Laughs] No. All I know is that it is somewhere in eastern Romania. RH: Was your dad’s name Emanuel or Manuel? RABOY: Manuel. But all of my life, when he was alive, I never once heard him referred to as Manuel. No one ever called him anything but Mac. RH: I understand your grandfather’s name was Isaac, and that he worked in a hat factory and wrote several books. RABOY: And essays, poetry, and political polemics, and so on. RH: I believe he eventually moved to the Midwest later on, didn’t he? RABOY: He moved to North Dakota, which is probably a little further than what most people think of as the Midwest. He was a horse-handler on a horse ranch just outside of Gladstone, North Dakota. He wrote a couple of books about that experience. All his books were written in Jewish [Hebrew]. I don’t read Jewish. Two of them, however, were translated into English. The Nine Brothers is about him and his brothers coming to this country, and The Jewish Cowboy was more
Epilogue
specifically about experiences in North Dakota. He was there for just a year or a couple of years. The other brothers and their father had a fairly large dairy farm in Connecticut, and my grandfather had graduated from an agricultural college in New Jersey. So he was asked by my great grandfather to return to Connecticut to manage the family dairy farm—which he did… I think, probably, to his regret, but that’s beside the point. So he managed the dairy farm for a while, and worked in New York City, both in a hat factory and as a furrier. As his fame grew as a writer, he ultimately ceased factory work. He contracted TB and died around 1944, when I was about three. I have just a couple of recollections of him. RH: So where was Mac born? I’ve heard both New York City and the Bronx. RABOY: The Bronx is one of the five boroughs that make up New York City. Whether or not he was born in the Bronx, I honestly don’t know. He was born in New York City, somewhere.
IF YOU ENJOYED PREVIEW, CLICK THE LINK RH: I heard that Mac THIS was a graduate of BELOW ORDER THISYet, BOOK! DeWitt Clinton High TO School in the Bronx. when a friend of mine tried to locate a picture of him in the high school yearbook records there, he couldn’t be found.
MAC RABOY: MASTER OF THE COMICS
RABOY: The only thing I can tell you is my understanding that he graduated from DeWitt Clinton. We would drive by it when we drove into the city to visit his mother, who was my grandmother. I can’t account for why there is no Beginning with his picture. WPA etchings during themy 1930s, yearbook Knowing father as I do, I’m not surprised.
Mac Raboy struggled to survive the Great Depression and eventually found his way into the comic book sweatshops RH:InYes, fromof what I’ve learned so far, he was a little camera shy. of America. that world four-color panels, he perfected his art style on such creations as Dr. Voodoo, Zoro, The MysteryRABOY: Man, Bulletman, Spy Smasher, Green Lamacharitable. and [Laughs] That’s being My dad also went to the Cooper Union his crowning achievement, Captain Marvel Jr. School the Pratt Institute. Raboy went onand to illustrate the Flash Gordon Sunday newspaper strip, and left behind a legacy of meticulous perfection. research and interviews RH:Through Bothextensive are highly respected institutions for artists. with son David Raboy, and assistants who worked with the artist during the Golden Age of Comics, author Roger Hill brings Mac Raboy, the man and the RABOY: nottoaware that heThis graduated or received any kind of degree from artist, into focus for I’m historians savor and enjoy. full-color hardcover includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master either of them, but I suspect not. of the Comics! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8 • (Digital Edition) $11.95 • Diamond Order Code: APR192022 http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=95_93&products_id=1433
DAVID RABOY: THE SON OF MAC RABOY SPEAKS
THE STORY BEHIND THE ABOVE PAINTING Mac Raboy created two paintings while working for Fawcett Publications during the 1940s. One was a gouche painting portrait of Captain Marvel Jr. The painting was an unknown piece of art until it showed up on eBay in 2005. It was being sold by a collector who had bought it from comic art dealer Joe Parente years earlier, after it had been consigned by Mac’s wife Lulu, along with a Green Lama page of original art. On the next page is the handwritten note from Mrs. Raboy that accompanied the piece when consigned to Parente. As stated in her letter, Lulu Raboy identified this original painting being created for the cover of the first Captain Marvel Jr. comic book. Since the art was not used for any Fawcett cover, other theories have been put forth over the years, including one that the painting might have been intended as a photo-premium to be given away through the Captain Marvel Fan Club or other Fawcett promotions. After being purchased Continued on next page
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