Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour by TwoMorrows Publishing

Art Glamour The

Edited by Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington

A plea from the publisher of this fine digital periodical: TwoMorrows, we’re on the Honor System with our Digital Editions. We don’t add Digital Rights Management features to them to stop piracy; they’re clunky and cumbersome, and make readers jump through hoops to view content they’ve paid for. And studies show such features don’t do much to stop piracy anyway. So we don’t include DRM in our downloads.

However, this is COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, which is NOT INTENDED FOR FREE DOWNLOADING ANYWHERE. If you paid the modest fee we charge to download it at our website, you have our sincere thanks. Your support allows us to keep producing magazines like this one. If instead you downloaded it for free from some other website or torrent, please know that it was absolutely 100% DONE WITHOUT OUR CONSENT. Our website is the only source to legitimately download any TwoMorrows publications. If you found this at another site, it was an ILLEGAL POSTING OF OUR COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, and your download is illegal as well. If that’s the case, here’s what I hope you’ll do: GO AHEAD AND READ THIS DIGITAL ISSUE, AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK. If you enjoy it enough to keep it, please DO THE RIGHT THING and go to our site and purchase a legal download of this issue, or purchase the print edition at our website (which entitles you to the Digital Edition for free) or at your local comic book shop. Otherwise, please delete it from your computer, since it hasn’t been paid for. And please DON’T KEEP DOWNLOADING OUR MATERIAL ILLEGALLY, for free. If you enjoy our publications enough to download them, support our company by paying for the material we produce. We’re not some giant corporation with deep pockets, and can absorb these losses. We’re a small company—literally a “mom and pop” shop—with dozens of hard working freelance creators, slaving away day and night and on weekends, to make a pretty minimal amount of income for all this hard work. All of our editors and authors, and comic shop owners, rely on income from this publication to continue producing more like it. Every sale we lose to an illegal download hurts, and jeopardizes our future. Please don’t rob us of the small amount of compensation we receive. Doing so helps ensure there won’t be any future products like this to download. And please don’t post this copyrighted material anywhere, or share it with anyone else. Remember: TwoMorrows publications should only be downloaded at

www.twomorrows.com TM

TwoMorrows.Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Dedication To Joan Schenkar, whose journalistic integrity, sage advice, and friendship has guided me through many projects. And to Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., whose many years of tireless research and analysis are the foundation on which this book was built.

Matt Baker Art of Glamour

The

edited by

Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington designed by

Eric Nolen-Weathington text by Jim Amash • Michael Ambrose Alberto Becattini • Shaun Clancy Dan O’Brien • Ken Quattro • Steven Rowe Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. and VW Inc. Joanna van Ritbergen

TwoMorrows Publishing • Raleigh, North Carolina 33

MATT BAKER:The Art of Glamour Edited by Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington Designed by Eric Nolen-Weathington Text and Interviews by Jim Amash, Michael Ambrose, Alberto Becattini, Shaun Clancy, Dan O’Brien, Ken Quattro, Steven Rowe, and Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. Art restoration by Eric Nolen-Weathington with Joanna van Ritbergen

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 First printing: November 2012. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. ISBN: 978-1-60549-032-8 All text and interviews are copyright © 2012 their respective authors. Editorial package © 2012 Jim Amash, Eric Nolen-Weathington, and TwoMorrows Publishing. No part of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. All personal artwork and photographs of Matt Baker are © 2012 the Estate of Matt Baker and may not be reproduced in any form. Used with permission. All personal artwork and photographs of Frank Giusto are © 2012 the Estate of Frank Giusto. Used with permission. All personal artwork and photographs of Ray Osrin are © 2012 the Estate of Ray Osrin. Used with permission. All other illustrations in this book are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders and are reproduced for historical reference and research purposes. SPECIAL THANKS A special thank you goes out to all those who contributed original artwork and photographs, as well as comic book scans to this project: Alter Ego magazine Michael Ambrose Lee Ames Matthew D. Baker Alberto Becattini William Bush Shaun Clancy

Ed Fields Frank Giusto Heritage Auctions Lea Osrin Ray Osrin Stephanie Osrin Jim Reid

Fred Robinson Michael Shawaluk Jeff Singh Joanna van Ritbergen Roy Thomas Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr.

Another special thank you goes out to all those who shared their knowledge, information, and memories with us:

Rob Allen Lee Ames Matthew D. Baker Richard Booth Lou Cameron Frank Colletta Jay Disbrow Hy Eisman Al Feldstein Gene Fischione

Burt Frohman Frank Giusto Jack Katz Collin Kellog Nadine King Joe Kubert Cal Massey Lea Osrin Ray Osrin Stephanie Osrin

Don Perlin Trina Robbins Fred Robinson Tony Tallarico Roy Thomas Julie Thornton VW, Inc. Elizabeth Waller Westinghouse High School (Pittsburgh)

Table of Contents Part One: Meet Matt Baker Baker of Cheesecake / Alberto Becattini / 36 Sidebar: The Iger Shop / Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. / 38 Sidebar: Fox Feature Syndicate / Steven Rowe / 46 Sidebar: St. John Publishing/ Ken Quattro / 49 Sidebar: Elizabeth Waller on It Rhymes with Lust / Shaun Clancy / 52 Sidebar: Charlton Comics / Michael Ambrose / 62 The Mystery of Ace Baker / Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. / 66 Sidebar: Ace Comics / Steven Rowe / 67 The Matt Baker Checklist / Alberto Becattini and Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. / 68

Part Two: Family The Talent Runs Deep / Jim Amash / 96 Further Ruminations / Joanna van Ritbergen / 118

Part Three: Friends & Colleagues A Great Friendship / Shaun Clancy / 122 The Best Man for the Job / Shaun Clancy with Dan O’Brien / 136 …On Matt Baker / Jim Amash / 152

Part Four: Comics The vortex of scoundrels and scandal / Phantom Lady, Phantom Lady #14 / 2 the soda mint killer / Phantom Lady, Phantom Lady #17 / 12 Sky Girl / Sky Girl, Jumbo Comics #103 / 24 CANTEEN KATE / Canteen Kate, Anchors Andrews #1 / 31 THE OLD BALL GAME / Canteen Kate, Anchors Andrews #1 / 168 Kayo Kirby / Kayo Kirby, Fight Comics #54 / 176 tiger girl / Tiger Girl, Fight Comics #52 / 182

PART ONE:

Meet Matt Baker

Baker of Cheesecake

AN APPRECIATION OF MATT BAKER, GOOD GIRL ARTIST SUPREME by Alberto Becattini This is an extended, mended version of the essay which originally appeared in Alter Ego #47 (April 2005). My aim was to put some order in what had been hitherto written about Baker, scattered here and there, often incorrectly, as well as making my own points about his works. The result is a sort of cavalcade through three decades, along which I have deliberately taken the liberty of writing about people and facts connected to Baker that I thought deserved some attention too. Whereas I’ve triple-checked each and every piece of information, errors and omissions are still possible, so I expect feedback from whoever can provide further data. For helping me build up the present essay I must primarily thank Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. for his enlightening insights, and Jim Amash for his invaluable tips. I am also grateful to all those who provided information, either directly or indirectly: Jim Amash, Lee Ames, Jerry Bails, John Benson, the Baker family, Bill Black, Shaun Clancy, Bill Devine, Jay Disbrow, Steve Duin, Michael Feldman, Al Feldstein, Jeff Gelb, Stephen H. Gentner, Frank Giusto, Bob Lubbers, Michelle Nolan, Ken Quattro, Mike Richardson, Joanna van Ritbergen, Antonio Vianovi, Hames Ware, Steve Whitaker, and Les Zakarin, as well as the late Jerry Iger and Ray Osrin, and—of course—Roy Thomas, for making it happen! —Alberto Beginnings Forsyth County, North Carolina, December 10, 1921. It was there and then that one of the most talented artists that ever graced the comics field was born, an African-American kid called Clarence Matthew Baker, who would soon move with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he did most of his growing up. Whereas nature had bestowed an outstanding talent on Matt, the rheumatic fever he suffered from as a child left him with a weak heart. One can imagine that Baker’s precarious heart condition, preventing him from doing sports or other physical activities, in a way favored his “addiction” to the drawing board, i.e., his career as a comic artist and illustrator. On the other hand, it was that very condition that would eventually (much too soon, in fact) steal him from his family and friends, as well as from all those who admired his craftsmanship and who had the privilege to publish his artwork. 36

PART ONE

Greener Pastures Shortly after finishing high school, around 1940, Baker left Pittsburgh and went to Washington, where he apparently found a job with one of the government agencies. His ambition was to draw, though, and as he was not to be drafted due to his heart condition, he soon moved to New York, where he attended art courses at the Cooper Union. Reportedly, his favorite artists included such great magazine illustrators as

Andrew Loomis as well as such prominent comic-book artists like Will Eisner, Reed Crandall, and Lou Fine. Although he never managed to work together with the latter ones, Baker started his comics career at the studio run by the man who had been Eisner’s partner, as well as Crandall’s and Fine’s coemployer, up until late 1939, Samuel Maxwell (“Jerry”) Iger (1903–1990). As Iger himself recalled, “[Baker] came to my studio in the early ’40s; handsome and nattily dressed, ‘looking for a job’, as he put it. His only sample was a color sketch of—naturally—a beautiful gal! On the strength of that and a nod from my associate editor Ruth Roche, he was hired as a background artist. … When given his first script, he showed originality and faithfully executed its story line. His drawing was superb. His women were gorgeous!”1 Although in The Iger Comics Kingdom (1985) Jay Disbrow writes that Baker joined the Iger studio “early in 1946,” it is evident that he was already working on staff at the office located at 250 West Broadway in 1944. In fact Baker’s earliest documented art appeared in Jumbo Comics #69 (November 1944), published by Thurman T. Scott’s Fiction House, which was Iger’s best client from 1938–53. The Early Iger Years As other “comic shops” of the time, the Iger Studio provided story and artwork to different comic-book titles issued by different publishers, including Crown, Fiction House, Fox, Green, and Gilberton, to name a few. As in other comic shops, art chores on the same story were often shared by different artists, and at the start Baker apparently penciled backgrounds and female characters for other studio staffers. Thus, his earliest efforts are often hidden within somebody else’s artwork—namely Alex Blum’s and Robert Hayward (Bob) Webb’s—mostly in the “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle” stories published by Fiction House in Jumbo Comics during 1944– 45. Blum—a former painter/muralist who was twice Baker’s age, having been born in 1889—was kind of the dean at the Iger Studio. Acting as an art director during the early 1940s, Blum was an early inspiration for Baker, who also occasionally teamed with him on “Wambi the Jungle Boy,” which appeared in Jungle Comics. In fact, Baker’s apprenticeship did not last long. By mid1944 he was able to stand on his own feet and had become the resident artist on “Sky Girl,” a regular feature in Fiction House’s Jumbo Comics. Script-wise, “Sky Girl” was attributed to “Bill Gibson,” one of the many bylines used at the Iger Studio behind which hid different writers, including Iger himself. The titular character, whose real name was Ginger Maguire, was a curvaceous, red-haired Irish girl (reportedly based on actress Ann Sheridan) whose early, semi-serious adventures took place mostly in the Pacific theater, where she acted as a ferry pilot, often helping out Air Force aviators on missions against the Japanese. The evolution of Baker’s style from his early phase to a more personal post-war approach somewhat paralleled the

A sample of Baker’s “Sky Girl” work from 1945.

evolution of “Sky Girl.” The splash-page caption to the “Sky Girl” story in Jumbo #87 (May 1946) read: “They mustered Ginger Maguire out of uniform, but they couldn’t muster her away from flying… Yet the nearest she can get to flying now is an airfield cafeteria, serving mustard to the better class of pilots!” With Ginger demoted and working as a waitress, the strip now decidedly veered towards comedy. Ever wishing she could go back to her previous pilot status, Ginger did manage to fly again, yet she was more often seen hanging from planes’ wings rather than holding the control stick, in a whole series of predicaments whose ill-concealed purpose was to allow Baker to highlight the girl’s long legs, regularly uncovered by pitiless turbulence to the delight of male readers. Ginger’s legs were the real plus in these stories. Baker drew them from every conceivable angle, in positions that were often ungainly. Deliberately so. In fact, Baker was the first comic artist who had the courage to draw a beautiful pair of legs in an unaesthetic if natural way to increase the general humorous effect. Needless to say, he was hugely successful. Baker’s last “Sky Girl” story appeared in the August 1948 issue of Jumbo. MEET MATT BAKER

The Iger Shop by Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. William Eisner and Samuel Maxwell “Jerry” Iger’s first comic book collaboration began in earnest in Wow:What a Magazine!, published by Henle Publications and lasting four issues from May 1936 to November 1936. If one considers this to be the beginnings of the Eisner-Iger Shop, then it has the distinction of being the first company to massproduce comic-book art (Harry A Chesler’s Shop would start functioning in February 1937). Eisner was the creative director of the two, and Iger the business manager (though Iger also did some cartooning as seen in Wow). They began providing comic material to foreign markets and soon other New York-based comic publishing houses accounts, including Quality Comics in 1937, Fiction House in 1938, and Fox in 1939. The prime years for the Eisner-Iger enterprise would be the pre-World War II years. When Eisner departed in December 1939 to pursue independent projects (continuing his Spirit feature, as well as strips for Quality) he took along much of the shop’s top talent. And though Iger still had a number of talented artists, the war left him with a much scaled down shop that from circa 1944 on would take on a more assembly line approach. Iger lost the Fox outlet soon after Eisner left. Shop work was being phased out at Quality as owner Everett Arnold hired away many of Iger’s better artists. The shop’s main outlet through the ’40s and the early ’50s were Fiction House titles, for which Iger is listed as art director; Classics Illustrated, which allowed Matt Baker and other artists rare bylines; and the multitude of companies published by Robert Farrell. Canada’s Superior Comics was one of the shop’s last venues in the American comic book market, although the shop continued to produce material for the foreign markets until possibly the early ’60s.

Iger Studio Memories “Sky Girl,” as well as other features Baker drew at Iger’s from 1945–47, were often inked by Al Feldstein, who kindly provided an interesting insight to his and Baker’s Iger Studio days: “When I was discharged from the Air Force in 1945 after World War II, I returned to the S. M. Iger Studio (where I had worked prior to being called up for service), and Jerry Iger immediately offered me a job. My drawing board was located right next to Matt Baker’s… and it might have afforded me an opportunity to get to know the guy… but that was not to be the case. Matt was a very withdrawn, quiet type. He rarely participated in the banter and joking that went on in the large room that housed the Iger artists. Although he was friendly when approached, Matt shyly kept to himself. Most of us brought bagged lunches or went out to local diners in small groups for our lunch breaks. I do not ever remember having lunch with Matt Baker. He would go off on his own and literally disappear. 38

PART ONE

“Tiger Girl” splash panel from Fight Comics #39 (August 1945).

“Part of Matt’s problem, I feel, in retrospect, was due to a basic and despicable problem prevalent in America during the early post-war period—racial bias and racial inequality! Matt was a black man. He was a rare phenomenon in an industry almost totally dominated by white males. However, he was extremely talented, and it was his talent that overcame any resistance to his presence based on racial bias. But I feel that Matt, personally, was acutely aware of the perceived chasm that separated him from the rest of us. And it may be that because of that perceived problem there is little known about Matt Baker, aside from his stunning artwork that speaks for himself. “It must be said to his credit that if Jerry Iger suffered from any innate racial bias, he was smart enough as a business man to bury it… to hire Matt… and to give him the opportunity his immense talent so richly deserved. And what a talent Matt had! He could draw women… white women!… like nobody else. With my board next to his, I could observe his pencils and his inking… and learn from it… absorbing it like a sponge. I was also privileged to be given the opportunity to ink Matt’s pencils on countless stories, which afforded me a priceless art education and further influenced my own style of drawing women… which I came to use successfully in my ‘headlight’ teenage comics for Fox Publications: Junior, Sunny, and Corliss Archer. Not long after I had accepted the job at Jerry Iger’s, I decided to freelance… and so I left the S. M. Iger Studio… and Matt Baker… and his influence. But I will always remember him and his silent and withdrawn immense talent.”2

More Jungle Girls For a while Baker teamed up with Alex Blum on another jungle girl strip, “Tiger Girl,” which regularly appeared in Fiction House’s Fight Comics. At about the same time Baker took over “Sky Girl” in Jumbo, “Tiger Girl” became another regular assignment of his, and such it would remain until early 1948. Baker’s style greatly progressed during his three-and-a-half-year tenure on the jungle strip. In the first few “Tiger Girl” stories he drew, his depiction of wild animals was not on a par with his already proficient treatment of the human figure. Aided by a turbaned Hindu named Abdola, the statuesque blonde was very much an alternative version of Sheena, although she differed from the Queen of the Jungle in at least two ways: she derived her exceptional strength from a magic amulet (which she would often lose), and—more importantly—she spoke in an impressive Shakespearean idiom (“’Tis done! Now must we speed to Danbessi, and speed as the wind, for there lies the danger!” is how she would address her pet tiger, Togara). Bylined “Allan O’Hara,” “Tiger Girl” was one of the few Iger Studio strips Baker occasionally managed to sign (e.g., in Fight Comics #39, August 1945, and #43, April 1946). Yet another Sheena clone the Iger Studio developed for Fiction House was “Camilla,” who starred in Jungle Comics, written mainly by Ruth Ann Roche (1921–1983). “Camilla” started out in 1940 as a Viking queen/She-type with a lost kingdom. In Jungle #27 (March 1942) she morphed into the zebra-skin jungle girl that Baker would draw so well. The beautiful Queen of the Jungle Empire, who had a blond mane rather than blond hair, was accompanied by her canine friend, Fang, and “Mayomba!” (whatever it meant) was her favorite exclamation. Her idiom was simi- A “Tiger Girl” page from Fight Comics #50 (June 1947). lar to Tiger Girl’s in that it sounded very lofty and theatrical—which probably justified the “Victor at Iger’s. For Wings Comics, during 1944–45, he drew “The Ibsen” byline. Baker drew her in Jungle Comics #69 (Septem- Skull Squad” (“by Ace Atkins”), telling the adventures of a ber 1945), but—as we shall see—would later have a longer RAF team formed by Jimmy Jones (an American), Sandy McGregor (a Scotsman), and Kent Douglas (an Englishman). stint on the character. For Fight Comics, in 1946–48, Baker depicted the boxing feats of “Kayo Kirby” (bylined “Chuck Walker,” albeit its Baker the Ubiquitous Although “Sky Girl” and “Tiger Girl” represented Baker’s actual writer was Ruth Roche). main efforts for Fiction House, he worked on several other Although the aforementioned strips regularly featured characters and series for T. T. Scott’s publishing house while charming female characters alongside their respective male MEET MATT BAKER

At left, a “Kayo Kirby” page from Fiction House’s Fight Comics #53 (December 1947). Above and on the following page, another strip featuring a boxer: “Kid Kane” from Green Publishing’s Atomic Comics #2 (March 1946).

protagonists, Baker was, of course, more at home with fullfledged heroines. Rangers Comics featured, among others, “Glory Forbes,” a charming if half-witted girl who found herself in one predicament after another. Bylined “Bob Hickock,” her stories were drawn by Baker during 1947. “Mitzi of the Movies” (later known as “Mitzi in Hollywood”), instead, was a back-up strip in Movie Comics #2–4 during 1947, starring a buxom bimbo who wanted to be a movie star. Other publishers profited by Baker’s talent during the early to mid-1940s. “Wonder Boy” was a teenage superhero Jerry Iger himself (under the pen-name “Jerry Maxwell”) had created back in 1940 for Quality Comics, later re-launching him in Bomber Comics, published by Elliot (an outfit co-owned by John R. Mahon and Robert Farrell). In 1945, Baker worked on at least one of the Boy’s adventures with considerable help from Al Feldstein. Written by Ruth Roche and Frank Little, “Ace of the Newsreels” was another Iger Studio strip drawn by Baker, this time for McCombs/Golfing’s Crown Comics, in 1945–47. The handsome, dauntless cameraman Ace Williams was accompanied by his red-haired assistant, Foggy Gibbons, whose beautiful legs were always in the foreground. Ace and Foggy were 40

PART ONE

also portrayed on the cover of Crown Comics #7 (November 1946)—apparently, the only one Baker managed to sneak his initials on (“M. B.”, in the lower right corner) while at the Iger Studio. For Crown Comics Baker also penciled one story each starring detective “Clue Kelly” and jungle man “Voodah.” Another small comic-book outfit, Green Publishing (later also known as Norlen Magazines), was active during 1944–47 and again from 1957–59. Its titles consisted mainly of reprints from different publishers (including DC, MLJ/Archie, and Fox), but there were some original stories too. Those which appeared in Atomic Comics #2–4 during 1946 were provided by the Iger Studio, and Matt Baker drew two stories starring “Inspector Dayton” by “George Thatcher,” another Iger Studio pen name for, possibly, Jerry Iger himself. It must be noticed that before appearing in Atomic Comics the Inspector had been a regular feature in Fiction House’s Jumbo Comics from 1938– 44, drawn by other Eisner-Iger Studio artists, including Jack Kirby, Bob Powell, Rafael Astarita, and Arnold Hicks. By the way, the story Baker drew for Atomic Comics #3, “The Case of Measles and Murder!” was the only “Inspector Dayton” yarn to have a title. The other character Baker drew for Atomic Comics was a fast-fisted guy named “Kid Kane.” Bylined “Fred Foster,”

boxing champ Kane was first seen in uniform along with his manager, Lenny O’Keefe. Soon afterwards he became a movie star and a part-time crimefighter—especially when a beautiful babe needed help. Curiously enough, “Kid Kane” was almost a direct swipe of Fiction House’s “Kayo Kirby,” which Baker was also drawing at that time. For several years, the adaptations and artwork for Gilberton Publishing’s long-lasting Classic Comics/Classics Illustrated series were provided by the Iger Studio. Although Matt Baker drew only one issue, he did a magnificent job of visualizing Richard D. Blackmore’s novel Lorna Doone (1869), set in 1680s southwest England and revolving around the love affair between a farmer and an outlaw’s daughter. This 48-page

story, which made up the 32nd issue of Classic Comics, was first published in December 1946 and then periodically reprinted by Gilberton until 1968 (when it was also serialized in three weekly sections in the Catholic newspaper Twin Circle). Besides being the only story Baker did at the Iger Studio that he received an official credit for (“Illustrated by Matt Baker” was clearly stated on the splash page), Lorna Doone constituted, in very many ways, Baker’s first foray in the romance genre, of which he would eventually become a master. There were occasional odd assignments too—“odd” meaning that they had little or nothing to do with Good Girl Art—like the one-pager Baker drew for Standard’s Real Life Comics #45 (August 1948), a feature entitled “Hardscrabble, Cal.—How It Got Its Name.” Another odd job was the Telpic Book of Cartoons Baker apparently drew in 1945. This featured a text-illustration story starring a blond hero aptly named “Ato McBomb.” Baker was credited on the splash page, which also informed the readers that the story had been written by Nathan Hyman and Phil Marcus, and that the publisher was Telpic Sales, Inc., a New York outfit which also published two volumes of Eyes of the War: A Photographic Report of World War II (1945). A copy of this rare graphic-novel-style comic is owned by Matt Baker’s nephew, Matthew D. Baker, and it is very likely that it was never actually published.

The opening splash page from Baker’s adaptation of Lorna Doone in Classic Comics #32 (December 1946). 42

PART ONE

Sea Stories In 1945, Jerry Iger decided to set up his own comic-book publishing outfit, and until early 1947 his Universal Phoenix (a.k.a. Leader Enterprises) issued three titles: Bobby Comics (with story and art by Iger himself), Slick Chick (a teenage humor comic by Iger and Frank Little), and Seven Seas Comics. The latter title was the one which had the longest run (six issues between April 1946 and early 1947), with Matt Baker, Bob Webb, and Bob Hebberd tackling its features art-wise. Baker drew all the adventures of the main character, “South Sea Girl,” attributed to “Thorne Stevenson” yet actually written by Manning Lee Stokes (1911–1976). The titular character’s actual name was Alani—an exotic beauty with flowers in her dark hair, who lived on a faraway island. The setting’s uncontaminated peace was, unfortunately, periodically threatened by blood-thirsty

Cover art for Seven Seas Comics #6 (1947). Scanned from the original art, courtesy of Jim Reid. MEET MATT BAKER

The cover and an illustration from the This Is a Tiny Tale adaptation of “Cinderella.”

slave traders or spies (not to count hungry sharks or giant in 1946. Baker and Blum were credited as artists, whereas the octopuses), so that Alani was ever ready to save her fellow na- fairy tale adaptation was attributed to Ruth A. Roche. tives or occasional guests such as a blond and handsome (yet rather dumb) fellow named Ted. Aiding her was a pet cheetah A Not-So-Secret Identity named… Cheeta. Baker also portrayed Alani on four of the Wall Street veteran Victor Fox set up his own publishing Seven Seas Comics covers. outfit, Fox Feature Syndicate, back in For the same title, Baker also helped 1939 with considerable help from the out Alex Blum on the very first story Eisner-Iger Studio as regards scripts starring “Tugboat Tessie” (“by Lee Stoand artwork. Around 1946, Fox deken”). This was yet another pen name cided it was time to revamp his comicfor Manning Lee Stokes, who basically book line and once again turned to Jerry Iger for art and stories. cloned writer Norman Reilly Raine’s Tugboat Annie, the protagonist of a se Soon afterwards, following the curries of popular magazine stories as well rent trend, Fox turned such funnyas of a 1933 movie directed by Mervyn animal titles as All-Top Comics and LeRoy, starring Marie Dressler and Zoot Comics into veritable paper Wallace Beery (followed by another shrines of Good Girl Art, featuring the movie in 1940 and by a TV series in adventures of such heroines as “Rulah, Jungle Goddess” and “Phantom Lady.” 1958). Very much like Annie, Tessie was an elderly, stocky woman who ran The latter had had an earlier incarnaher own towing business at the helm tion back in 1941, debuting in Quality of the Harbor Lady. Whoever threatPublications’ Police Comics in August ened the tough towboat skipper or her of that year. Drawn by Arthur Peddy, fellow Old Bill Jetty had to deal with the original Phantom Lady was Sandra Knight, wealthy daughter of a U.S. her frightful fists. Aiding Tessie—but Baker’s cover to Phantom Lady #13. mostly being there to provide a good senator. She was not a superheroine, in dose of charm—was her beautiful niece, Melody, whom Bak- that she had no particular powers, her only weapon being a er added to his ever-growing pin-up gallery. blackout flashlight she used to temporarily blind criminals. A one-time diversion from comic-book stories was an illus- Yet the most peculiar detail about the early Phantom Lady trated version of “Cinderella” that Baker drew with Alex Blum was that she wore a (green-and-yellow) costume but no mask, for a children’s book in Steinway Hall’s Tiny Tales Book series nor did she do anything to look different from Sandra. (At 44

PART ONE

least, Clark Kent wore glasses and had a different hairstyle from Superman’s!) In spite of that, nobody seemed to recognize her. It was writer/artist Frank Borth, who took over her adventures in 1943, who gave her a domino mask as well as a curvier body and a costume which allowed readers to admire her cleavage. The original “Phantom Lady” gave up the ghost in October 1943, reappearing four years later in Fox’s Phantom Lady #13 (actually, the first issue in the series), with story and art provided by the Iger Studio. Bylined “Gregory Page,” the revived character was actually written by Ruth Roche. Alex Blum seems to have drawn most of her first story, with help from Matt Baker. It was probably Blum who redesigned the Lady’s costume, giving her a blue two-piece which generously revealed Sandra’s gorgeous body. (Her cape was now colored red.) In civilian life, Phantom Lady was still Sandra Knight, she was still using her “black ray” to bedazzle her adversaries, and she was back to wearing no mask to hide her “secret” identity. Initially, the Lady’s field of action was Gotham City (perhaps in homage to the equally affluent Bruce Wayne, alias Batman?), yet later the setting would change in almost every adventure, nor were there any recurring villains in the series. The only other regular characters were Sandra’s father, Senator Knight (although his The opening splash page to the first story in Phantom Lady #16, which ran as per usual looks and apparent age weren’t con- with the series on the inside front cover in black-and-white with one spot color. sistent at all), and her fiancé, Don Borden—yet another example of a “dumb mate” for what 1954 essay, Seduction of the Innocent, that cover visualized was possibly the best example of a “liberated woman” in the the scantily-dressed heroine in the act of freeing herself from Good Girl Art genre. ropes on a jetty, somewhat mimicking Jane Russell’s posture And Good Girl Art it was, mostly thanks to Baker. The use on The Outlaw (1943) movie poster. of irregular panel arrangements added dynamism to each and As for the stories, they got more and more explicit themevery page. Phantom Lady’s adventures appeared concurrent- selves, as Victor Fox urged Iger to season his production ly in Fox’s Phantom Lady (#s 13–23) and All-Top Comics (#s with larger doses of murder and mayhem, the victims be8–17) until May 1949, with Baker drawing most of the early ing mostly women. Whereas it is true that the killings in issues (although John Alton, Jack Kamen, and Gus Schrotter Phantom Lady were never as gory as those seen in other Igeroccasionally filled in). Baker also depicted the Lady on seven Fox joint ventures such as Rulah, Jungle Goddess, it must be covers, the most memorable of which is the one for Phantom observed that, differently from his rather mediocre fellow Lady #17 (April 1948). Described by Dr. Fredric Wertham artists, Baker was so good that even when he would depict as, “Sexual stimulation by combining ‘headlights’ with the sa- the stabbing or strangling of a beautiful girl, he would still dist’s dream of tying up a woman,” in his famous/infamous manage to do it in good taste. MEET MATT BAKER

Fox FEATURE SYNDICATE by Steven Rowe It’s difficult to separate Fox Comics from its owner, Victor Fox. Fox, the man, was a larger than life character who would strut down the halls of his offices stating, “I am King of Comics!” Victor Samuel Fox was born April 13, 1893, to Russian emigrant parents in Nottingham, England, and immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1895. He served briefly as an officer in the military, but was involved mainly in clothing manufacturing. In 1919 he became the owner of several shipping companies and soon purchased 22 steamships as World War I surplus. But things went bad the following year, and twelve of the ships were seized by the U.S. government for non-payment. Fox was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, and by 1922 the company had gone bankrupt. Fox once stated that from 1922 to 1935 he was a consultant for shipping and exporting companies. However, in November 1929 Fox was indicted for mail fraud and for a “sell and switch” stock scheme. The outcomes of these two indictments are unknown. According to Fox, he became a publisher in 1935, but as far as is known his first magazines didn’t appear until 1937. In the summer of 1938, Fox learned through his visits to his distributor, Independent News (also the distributor for DC Comics), the sales figures for DC’s Action Comics and immediately moved into the comic book business. In February 1939 Fox moved his publications from Independent News to Kable News, and in March the first Fox comic appeared: Wonder Comics #1, cover-dated May 1939. Fox didn’t produce his own comic books at first. Instead he hired Will Eisner and S. M. Iger to produce comics for him. He told them what he wanted, and even told them that he wanted a superhero just like Superman, to be called Wonderman. DC sued for copyright infringement on March 16, 1939, and Fox eventually lost. Fox soon began producing comics in-house, and in 1941 he started his own distribution company. In early 1942 the distribution division went bankrupt, taking the whole Fox empire down with it. Fox was not out entirely though, and the comics and magazine lines emerged from bankruptcy in early 1944 with Fox promising to pay one third of what was owed. In 1945 Fox bought a printing company in order to print his own comics. It became evident that the superhero market was stagnating, so Fox began a huge humor comics line. From there until the end, Fox kept searching for the next big trend, be it jungle comics or “good girl art” or crime comics. In 1947, to circumvent post-war paper shortages, Fox bought his own paper mill, but two years later the mill went bankrupt. Finally, in July 1950 Fox Publications and his printing company declared bankruptcy, with Victor Fox himself declaring bankruptcy on May 29, 1952. It is rumored that Fox later invested in casinos in the Bahamas and Cuba, but little is actually known of his life after comics. He died in Connecticut on July 3, 1957. 46

PART ONE

“Camilla” splash panel from Jungle Comics #100.

Baker or Not Baker? A Critical Intermezzo In the better Phantom Lady, “Sky Girl,” and “Tiger Girl” stories, one can find the hallmarks of Baker’s definitive style: his women have prominent cheekbones, his men have broad faces—and the eyes are always drawn rather far apart. The style Baker came up with was, and still remains, unique. Whereas most of the comic-book artists belonging to Baker’s generation were clearly inspired by such syndicated-strip masters as Alex Raymond, Harold Foster, or Milton Caniff, this did not seem to be the case with Baker. His way of drawing was unmistakable and would prove inimitable. Considering the aforementioned distinctive features, it should be quite easy to pinpoint Baker’s work during his Iger Studio years, yet Baker continues being associated to series, stories, and characters he never or hardly ever drew. This is probably due to the fact that in the late 1940s the leading pencilers at Iger’s (i.e., Baker, Kamen, and Webb) were being imitated by other studio staffers. Also, as we have previously observed, different pencilers would sometimes work on the same story, and the same inker would work over different pencilers, thus making their styles look similar. When compiling the checklist which follows the present essay, Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. and I have obviously corrected previous listings, trying to check as many comic books as possible. Although there are still several doubtful spots, it has been ascertained that Baker never did any original art for titles published by Artful (the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide has “Bakerish art” in Confessions of Love), Avon/Realistic, or Our/Toytown (Overstreet has “3-page Baker story” in Love Diary #16, which is easily attributable to C. F. Miller, who inked Baker at St. John).

Matt Baker was quite photogenic and had several professional photos taken, such as the one to the left taken by fashion photographer Peter Perri. Photo on right courtesy of Fred Robinson and Matt D. Baker and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker. Photo may not be reproduced in any form.

As regards Baker’s output for Fox, “Phantom Lady” seems to be the only strip that Baker certainly contributed to. (A story in My Past Thrilling Confessions might be by Baker too, although it was published in August 1949.) And although of all the strips Baker drew for the Iger Studio “Phantom Lady” was probably the one which he has been getting most recognition for, Baker probably didn’t actually draw all that has been hitherto attributed to him. According to Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., Baker drew the “Phantom Lady” stories in All-Top Comics #9–13 (1948) with considerable help from other Iger Studio staffers such as John Forte and Jack Kamen. Likewise, Jim thinks that Baker only contributed to Phantom Lady #13–17 (1948), and doubts if the stories in the subsequent issues of All-Top Comics (#14, 16, and 17) and Phantom Lady (#18–20) have any Baker art at all, or if they were rather simply drawn by other artists swiping Baker. “The very few panels that appear to be by him,” Jim observes, “are most likely swipes and are far outweighed by the poorly drawn and crudely constructed art that predominates the stories. Nor did Baker draw any of the ‘Rulah’ or ‘Jo-Jo’ stories which are usually attributed to him. Iger’s intention was to deceive Victor Fox into thinking that he was getting Matt Baker artwork.”3 It must be noticed that Baker left Iger to freelance toward the end of 1947, hence the last comics he did at the studio would have a March or April 1948 cover date. His prime customer then became Fiction House, where he drew “Camilla”

(in Jungle Comics starting with #100 dated April 1948) and “Mysta of the Moon” in Planet Comics #53 (March 1948), both of which display a very different inking style than all of his previous strips at Fiction House through Iger, which became the product of clones and imitators. Baker faded out of the “Tiger Girl” and “Kayo Kirby” strips in Fight Comics in May 1948 and the “Sky Girl” strips in Jumbo Comics in April 1948 as Kamen, Forte, and company began swiping his figures and faces to force a sense of continuity. If Baker did some Fox work after this date, it was not at Iger but as a freelancer through Iger. Consequently most of the Baker-Iger credits in 1948 and later are probably bogus. The Artist, the Man The year was 1948, and Baker was in bloom. He was, undoubtedly, the most successful African-American comicbook artist of his time (a veritable rare bird in that field during the latter Golden Age). Still in his mid-twenties, Baker was a tall (5' 10"), handsome man who would drive many a woman crazy. Ever à la page, he would spend a good deal of his income on clothes. Ray Osrin (1928–2001), who was Baker’s main inker from 1944–49 besides being a good friend of his, remembered that “a lot of Matt’s clothing was bought in Browning King—a then high-fashion men’s store [in New York City].”4 (Actually, Ray Osrin seems to be mistaken here, as Browning King went out of business in 1934). MEET MATT BAKER

It is evident that Baker wanted to enjoy life as much as pos- If he’d been on staff, he’d have been a star of the pen. He didn’t sible, perhaps sensing that his heart condition wouldn’t accord need that environment though, and he was a hit with the him a long time on this Earth. He had a reputation for being ladies. Handsome, to go with all the rest of his attributes.”5 late at meeting deadlines, and he would blame his bad heart for After leaving Iger, though, Baker’s main accounts came that, yet backbiters would say that it was just an excuse for his from Archer St. John, who published a variety of comic books laziness. Those who knew Baker well, though, said that he was and magazines. a real gentleman, as well as a hard worker. He would often burn the midnight oil at the drawing board, listening to jazz music King of Romance and smoking—which certainly did not help his heart condiThe earliest art Baker did for St. John appeared in Northwest tion. He was also a generous man, who supported his mother Mounties #1 (October 1948), featuring a fearless Alaskan advenback in Pittsburgh. turess called “Rose o’ the Yu Fully aware of being able kon.” The same date appeared to stand on his own two feet, on the first cover Baker drew late in 1947 Matt Baker left for St. John, the one for Crime the Iger Studio staff, going Reporter #2, where a magfreelance. On the strength of nificent blonde is shot from his talent, he managed to keep behind by a bespectacled hood. working for Fiction House. This was also the first cover During 1948–49, he was the Baker put his signature on sixth artist to work on “Mysta (only his surname, actually). of the Moon” (“by Ross GalAnother lingering Overstreet lun”), whose sci-fi adventures Comic Book Price Guide erappeared in Planet Comics. ror is the 1944 date for the And he went back to drawSt. John one-shot True Crime ing “Camilla,” whom he had Cases from Official Police Files, barely touched in 1945, conwhich has Baker cover art and tinuing to draw her jungle contains reprints of 1950s adventures until the July 1949 material, but has no actual date in the indicia. issue of Jungle, although it Although Baker would looks like he only did pencil tackle different genres for St. layouts or part of the drawing (above) Splash panel from Teen-Age Romances #1. John, his ability at drawing on her latter stories. (below) Detail from Diary Secrets #17. Bob Lubbers, who was the female figure was mostly the art director at Fiction House in those years, remembers exploited in romance comics. Teen-Age Romances was the first that “[Baker] was one of the guys whose freelance work we title he contributed to, starting with #1 (January 1949), for always checked out. He never disappointed. His girls were which he drew the cover as well as an eight-page story entitled sexy and beautifully drawn and rendered. One of the paceset- “They Called Me a Wayward Girl.” Baker soon became the unters, an inspiration to all of us. A natty dresser. Always turned disputed master of the genre—at least, as regards the pre-Code to the nines. Friendly and a good era—drawing covers and stories for a variety of sense of humor. titles including Teen-Age Temptations,

PART ONE

ST. JOHN PUBLISHING by Ken Quattro With the end of WWII, like many potential entrepreneurs drawn by the sudden availability of paper and a cheap entry into publishing, Archer St. John published Comics Revue #1. Although undated, it is speculated that this debuted sometime in 1947 and was comprised of reprinted Ella Cinder comic strips. Several strip reprint comics followed until the publication of Mighty Mouse #5, with a cover date of August 1947. Acquiring the Terrytoons license and numbering from Timely resulted in St. John’s first comic containing new material. While moonlighting animators from Terrytoons supplied the artwork for those properties, it was evident that he would also need his own artists to expand his line further. Along with the team of Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer, Matt Baker would soon form part of a potent creative triumvirate for St. John. In early 1950, St. John purchased Magazine (above and below) Illustrations from Manhunt #1. Digest as the publisher sought to expand his company beyond comic books. St. John was attempting to move who was stuck with a warehouse filled with unusable paper, was his publications onto the more adult portion of the newsstand. financially devastated. But he wasn’t done yet. St. John was already taking his publishLike so many of his business decisions, though, this plan failed. By 1953 the meteoric 3-D movie fad had captured the atten- ing company in a lucrative new direction. The digest-sized crime tion of the American public. Inspired and hoping to jump on the magazine, Manhunt debuted with a January 1953 cover date, and bandwagon, Joe Kubert, Norman Maurer, and Norman’s brother, the sole artist of each text illustration was Matt Baker. This was Leon, developed a process by which they could add an appar- a new Baker: looser lines, more realistic. And more adult. Baker’s ent third dimension to normal comic artwork. Archer St. John artwork was growing up and out of comic books. Comic books formed a partnership with Kubert and the Maurers to license would still be part of St. John, but a smaller part. St. John was the process to other publishers and poured considerable mon- transitioning into a magazine publisher. Manhunt spawned several other detective and Western diey into purchasing the special paper required for its printing. The first issue was officially entitled Three Dimension Comics, gests, but none approached the success of the first title. Then but was essentially just another Mighty Mouse comic. Priced came the scandal magazine, Secret Life, a tepid effort in an overat 25 cents, it sold over 1,200,000 copies. Overjoyed, St. John crowded field. The final step and likeliest biggest financial gamble ordered that his entire comic line be converted to 3-D, but it came when St. John premiered the men’s magazine Nugget, covvery quickly became obvious that the success of the first comic er-dated November 1955. A clone of the phenomenally popular Playboy, Nugget’s premiere issue contained several Baker illustrawouldn’t be duplicated. A number of other publishers had rushed their own 3-D com- tions, including a full page of nudes. His dream of becoming an ics onto the stands, diluting the novelty of the original. Then, Wil- illustrator was finally achieved, but fate was about to deal him a liam Gaines of EC Publishing instigated a copyright infringement bad hand. On August 13, 1955, Archer St. John was found dead in the lawsuit against St. John and all other publishers of 3-D comics. It seems Gaines had purchased the rights to an old copyright apartment of a female friend, apparently from an overdose of that was similar to St. John’s 3-D process. Even though Gaines’ sleeping pills. The company was now in the hands of St. John’s suit was apparently dismissed, the damage was done. St. John, young son, Michael, and most of the decisions were turned over to others. Under the guidance of general manager Richard E. Decker, the company acquired the use of Alfred Hitchcock’s name in 1956 and published the director’s eponymous mystery magazine for a year before Decker bought the title from St. John and published it himself. Meanwhile, the comic book division became a shadow of its former self, with most of the content consisting of reprinted material or the pedestrian product of Al Fago’s shop. It was a weak and quiet end when St. John ceased publishing comic books late in 1957. MEET MATT BAKER

49 49

Page 2 of “I Outgrew My First Love” from Teen-Age Romances #17, inked by Ray Osrin.

PART ONE

Pictorial Romances, Diary Secrets, Wartime Romances, True Love Pictorial, and Cinderella Love, a good deal of which were written by Dana Dutch. Now sporting an utterly realistic style devoid of any caricatural residue, Baker drew an incomparable collection of believable lovestruck beauties. And after years of drawing more flesh than garment, he was now able to visualize his passion for clothing in almost every panel. It must be said that his covers would generally look better than his interior art, as he would usually ink them himself. Once again, some inkers would make his drawing look rather stiff here and there, and the heavier-handed ones amongst them would even “hide” his pencils (see the story in Authentic Police Cases #18, possibly inked by Edd Ashe). Once again, Ray Osrin was the inker who best “interpreted” Baker’s pencils. One time they even managed to sneak their names into a story. In the second panel of the second page of “Fast Company” (Teen-Age Temptations #9, July 1953) one can find “Matt’s Bar” and “Ray’s Rugs” written above two shop windows in the background. The two of them were very close friends, and in 1949 Osrin (who had just left Iger to go freelance) asked Baker to be best man at his marriage, “but it just wasn’t acceptable yet,” he recalled, “and I think knowing my father’s South African heritage, he begged off.”5 Anyway, Baker would be godfather to Osrin’s first-born the following year. Besides Osrin, another inker of Baker’s A page from It Rhymes with Lust illustrating the seductive powers of Rust Masson. romance stories for St. John was Charles F. (Chuck) Miller, who also drew several of those stories him- with fellow novelist Les Waller under the collective pseudself, doing his best—as others yet did—to imitate Baker’s in- onym “Drake Waller”). This has been said to have been the imitable style. Not only at St. John. When drawing his first first graphic novel ever (the first realistic one, to be precise), few stories starring “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” for Dell/ though the point is debatable. Western in 1951–52, Italian artist Alberto Giolitti swiped By the way, the year 1950 was very prolific in this respect, many a panel from Baker’s elegant depiction of “Northwest as St. John itself issued a similar hybrid between a paperback Mounties” (1949). and a comic book (The Case of the Winking Buddha, written by old acquaintance Manning Lee Stokes and drawn by Milt The First Graphic Novel? Caniff alumnus Charles Raab), and there were also a couple Romance was one of the main ingredients of what was of comic-book-style titles in the Dell Told in Pictures digest probably the best effort from the Baker-Osrin team. In 1950, series—Twice Loved and Four Frightened Women, the latter St. John issued a digest-sized, 128-page comic entitled It written by George Harmon Coxe with art by Rick Fletcher. Rhymes with Lust. Carrying a “Picture Novels” heading, this First graphic novel or not, It Rhymes with Lust offered 126 squarebound paperback was in fact a one-shot which marked pages of gorgeous Baker-Osrin art executed on Craftint’s the debut of Arnold Drake as a comics writer (teaming up Doubletone paper, which enabled them to create great shading MEET MATT BAKER

ELIZABETH WALLER ON IT RHYMES WITH LUST Interviewed by Shaun Clancy Leslie Waller and Arnold Drake, co-authors of It Rhymes with Lust, passed away on March 29, 2007, and March 12, 2007, respectively, both at the age of 83. Shaun Clancy spoke with Leslie Waller’s daughter on November 20, 2010. SHAUN CLANCY: Your father and Arnold Drake worked on a comic book called It Rhymes with Lust in 1950. Did your dad ever talk about that book and how he became involved with it? ELIZABETH WALLER: Both of them were in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and they were both in the Intelligence Services. Their primary job was to put out a camp newspaper, and they noticed that the people they were serving the newspaper with were mostly young guys in their 20s. What they decided at some point was when these young guys joined the Army, they were reading comic books, but by the time they got out, they were expected to read what my father referred to as “book books.” Arnie and dad concocted the idea that they should create some type of transition book, a “picture novel.” Something that would look like a comic book but would read like a book book. SC: Did they ever talk about any other books that may have been around that gave them that idea? EW: No. I have heard it argued that, in a way, It Rhymes with Lust was one of the first graphic novels. SC: How did St. John Publications come into the picture, and was Arnold Drake the business side of the relationship with your dad? EW: I honestly don’t know. All I know is that Arnie and my dad were lifelong friends. They continued to see each other and socialize together for many, many more years, but they never wrote anything together ever again. SC: The other two people involved were Matt Baker and Ray Osrin. Were they discussed at all? EW: I believe that was set up by the publisher. SC: You don’t think they ever met the authors? EW: Not so far as I know, and dad never mentioned it.

(above and below) Panels from It Rhymes with Lust with hapless newsman Hal Weber torn between two women. SC: Are there any names in It Rhymes with Lust that might have been reference to real life people? EW: No, Dad didn’t really do that. I think he was quite pleased when he found the name of a woman, Rust, that he could rhyme something sexy with because that was kind of his thing. If you read any of his other novels, he very much liked to bring in sex scenes and stuff like that. He pushed the envelope on that. SC: Do you see more of your dad’s writing in the book or Arnold’s? EW: There are lines in that book that my dad for sure wrote. For example, when they refer to someone being “crazy as a waltzing mouse,” that’s something I grew up with. My dad use to say that about people all the time. It was one of his sayings. I don’t think Arnie wrote any of it. SC: Then what might you think Arnold’s involvement was? EW: He was the one that pushed Dark Horse to do the reprint, and I suspect Arnie was also the one who originally brought it to St. John Publishing and made the deals.

effects on backgrounds. The anti-heroine of the comic, provocatively looking at readers on the cover, was a voluptuous red-headed femme fatale named Rust Masson (yes, it was her first name that rhymed with “lust”), owner of Masson Mines, Inc. in Copper Town. The male protagonist was a handsome journalist called Hal Weber, caught between Rust’s ambiguous charms and the crystal-clear love of Audrey Masson, Rust’s lovely stepdaughter. Somewhat reminiscent of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (as regards the wicked stepmother’s jealousy of her stepdaughter), this intriguing yarn offered hints which were later to be found in Billy Wilder’s 1951 movie Ace in the Hole (the cynical, drunken journalist interpreted by Kirk Douglas seems to have something in common with Hal Weber), as well as in David Lynch’s 1990–91 TV series Twin Peaks (with its morbid depiction of a Northwest town whose main resource is the Packard Sawmill, run by a woman). Again, Baker’s 52

PART ONE

Daily strips #11 and #12 of Flamingo. These and strip #13 were part of the promotional package Iger sent to the syndicates.

(and Osrin’s) art is simply wonderful, with every single panel oozing sensuality without ever being vulgar. A digest-sized masterpiece, that is, which is made even more precious by its extreme rarity. Less than a hundred copies are known to exist. Luckily enough, the book was finally reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in 2007. Baker Gets Syndicated Besides packaging and publishing comic-book stories, Jerry Iger had been producing newspaper strips. As early as 1936, he and Will Eisner had established Universal Phoenix Features Syndicate (a.k.a. Phoenix Features, Inc.), producing over twenty different weekly strips at the request of Eduardo Cardenas, head of publications at Joshua B. Powers’ Editors Press Service. Between 1937 and the early 1940s, these strips were distributed by Editors Press Service to such non-American publications as the British/Australian/New Zealand Wags (beginning with issue #16, dated April 16, 1937), as well as the French Bilboquet and Hurrah!, the Mexican Paquin, and the Argentinian Pif-Paf, among others. There were adventure strips like “Hawks of the Seas” by “Willis Rensie” (a.k.a. Will Eisner) and “Sheena” by “W. Morgan Thomas” (written by Iger, drawn by Mort Meskin and later by Bob Powell), funnyanimal strips like “Peter Pupp” by Bob Kane, and classic strip adaptations like “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Dick Briefer and “The Count of Monte Cristo” by “Jack Curtiss” (a.k.a. Jack Kirby) and later by “Jack Cortez” (Lou Fine). As of September 1938, all of these strips, and others yet, were being “recycled” for U.S. publication in Fiction House’s

Jumbo Comics (although “Hawks of the Seas” had previously appeared in Everett M. Arnold’s Feature Funnies). After Eisner dissolved his partnership with him in late 1939, Iger continued his newspaper-strip operation through the mid-1940s, although in a more limited fashion. It was in 1947, apparently, that Iger started releasing original daily-strip versions of pre-existing comic-book series, this time allowing the respective artists (including himself ) to sign them. These strips appeared in a very limited number of U.S. papers, whereas they could count on a much wider distribution overseas. The first one to be released, from late 1947 or early 1948 until 1950, was South Sea Girl, written by “Thorne Stevenson” (a pen-name for Manning Lee Stokes) and drawn by Matt Baker during the first few weeks. Later on the strip, signed “J. R. Forte,” was drawn by John Forte and the Iger Shop. During the same period there also was an Inspector Dayton daily strip attributed—like its comic-book counterpart —to “George Thatcher” (yet another of Jerry Iger’s pennames) and very well drawn by Jack Kamen. After a one-year hiatus, Phoenix Features was back in early 1952 with no less than four strips: The Hawk by “Rod Maxwell” (written by Ruth Roche, drawn by Bob Webb), Jerry Iger’s own Bobby and Pee Wee (the latter being a panel), and Flamingo by Ruth Roche and Matt Baker. In 1953–54, Phoenix Features also distributed Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, written by Spillane himself, Joe Gill, and Ed Robbins and drawn by Robbins. The strip appeared in both a daily and Sunday version. With the exception of Mike Hammer, all of these strips and panels bore numbers besides dates, the latter being removed as they MEET MATT BAKER

were periodically re-offered (and sometimes re-released) through the mid-1980s. Flamingo marked Baker’s official debut in syndicated strips (he had not signed his South Sea Girl strips), as well as the start of his second stint with Iger—this time, though, as a freelancer. Promoted in the December 15, 1951, issue of Editor & Publisher, Flamingo first appeared in very few U.S. papers in February 1952. It was a very unusual strip, in that the titular character was a gorgeous gypsy dancer. Writer Ruth Ann Roche declared that she had done much research on gypsies for the strip to be as accurate as possible. In fact, Flamingo offered a good mixture of adventure, mystery, and romance (often seasoned with Cold War undertones), but one wonders how such a strip could have been successful in 1952 America. Perhaps it might have had a better chance overseas, although no European paper is known to have run it. Anyway, the first strip (released on February 11, 1952—a Monday) introduced the main characters: the beautiful gypsy Flamingo and her grandfather Pepo, “mask-maker and

(above) Page 5 of the original eight-page Flamingo story told in the standard comic book format. (left) This Flamingo model drawing was one of several included in the syndication packet.

age-wise ruler of the Romany tribe.” The initial continuity, which began on February 11, was set in Dorset, England, and saw Flamingo unmask “Josef Petrow of the People’s Army,” an impostor who had pretended to be the late Sir Ludwell Syms in order to steal a secret formula from Lady Sharon’s mansion. Cornered by Flamingo and by her “gypsy dogs” (which looked very much like Camilla’s Fang), Petrow ended up dying in the quicksand. Before the story ended on March 22, 1952 (strip #37), there was some romance between Flamingo and Lady Sharon’s son, Clifford, but the gypsy girl and her people had to leave for Paris. As a matter of fact, Flamingo did not originate as a newspaper strip. Years before, Roche and Baker had produced an eight-page story entitled, “The Face in the Golden Comb,” which was an early, alternative version of the very first daily continuity. The opening caption to this story informs us that Flamingo “spat on swastikas, burrowed with the underground 54

PART ONE

Three consecutive Flamingo dailies from the second storyline of the strip.

to become professional at killing Nazis, and now, war-weary, she returns to the tranquil downs of Dorset…,” which means that it was presumably drawn in 1946—as the style of drawing would seem to confirm. This story, though, never appeared in comic books until 1984, when Jerry Iger and his current partner Lee Caplin unearthed the proof sheets and allowed Pacific Comics to publish it in Jerry Iger’s Famous Features #1. It must be noted that a comic-book character named Flamingo had appeared in Holyoke’s Contact Comics during 1944–45, yet this was a strange colorful airman who had nothing to do with “our” Flamingo—or the Iger Studio, or Matt Baker. Flamingo’s second continuity (March 24–May 1, 1952, strips #38–71) had the gypsies on their way to Paris, and near the village of Burgoyne they made the acquaintance of Michael, former horse-trainer for Countess Marila, whose diamond necklace he’d been accused of stealing. Michael said that the real thief was a new stable hand called Latso, and the gypsies believed him. Pepo made a mask for him, and Michael went back to the Countess as M’sieur Boni. Flamingo

and Michael had a plan to catch Latso (and his curvaceous accomplice Grischa) red-handed during the Grape Festival in Burgoyne. The plan worked, and the story ended with the marriage between Michael and his beloved Countess. The third continuity (May 1–July 11, 1952, strips #71–132) is the most interesting among those Matt Baker drew. On the road again, Flamingo saw a coach going out of control. Falling off it was Mona, a blind girl who not only recovered but got her sight back thanks to the shock. Looking after her were the gypsies and Lester Stevens, a handsome hiker who happened to pass by. Out of gratitude, Mona painted a portrait of Flamingo (she was, in fact, the noted paintress Cécile Ledoux, thought to be dead), but as the party reached Paris a strong wind blew the canvas away. Flamingo then looked for it everywhere and finally thought it might have ended up in the sewers. So down she went, only to witness two guys drown a man. The murderers were the dishonest wine merchants Paul and Louis Marcel, who had decided to snuff their former partner. Flamingo tried to escape, but was caught and locked in a secret wine vault. Pretending to have MEET MATT BAKER

One of three Flamingo Sunday strips known to exist, this one appears to have been drawn by John Thornton.

lost her memory, Flamingo was then taken into a flat, guarded by Emma the housekeeper and turned by Paul (who fell in love with her) into M’mselle Pom Pom, who was to dance at Monsieur Zole’s café. Mona and Lester managed to find out that Pom Pom was in fact Flamingo. Louis wanted to kill the girl because she knew too much, but he shot Emma instead, and was then shot by his brother Paul. The ending of the continuity had Flamingo with her people again, while Mona and Lester were kissing under the moonlight. While this continuity was running, there was a change in the drawing style—for the better. Up to that point, the strip had been largely an Iger Studio product, with Baker’s pencils being probably inked by David Heames, and lettering provided by Louis Goldklang. As of June 23, 1952, Baker seemed to be both pencilling and inking the strip, and the lettering style also changed. Baker, however, would not stay with the strip much longer. He just drew the first week of the following continuity, his last daily probably being that for July 19, 1952. He was succeeded by John Thornton, who drew the strip until its demise on March 21, 1953, in a down-to-earth Iger Shop style that couldn’t hold a candle to Baker’s masterful line. A Flamingo Sunday page also apparently started in June or August 1952. Three original pages are known, the first of which was undoubtedly drawn by Matt Baker, although it 56

PART ONE

is bylined “Ruth Roche and John Thornton.” This first (?) Flamingo Sunday page was evidently produced during the transition from Baker to John Thornton, who actually drew the other two known pages. As reported by Thornton’s daughter Julia6, Thornton lived in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1951–53. Since Baker, too, was often in Mexico during that period, it is possible that the two artists met there and talked about the Flamingo strip. Why Matt Baker left the strip after only six months is not known. One may presume that meeting the daily deadline was too much for him, or that the promised circulation (and resultant income) failed to materialize, and Matt had better paying options. In fact, while drawing Flamingo he kept pencilling comic-book stories on a regular basis for St. John, often doing entire issues of Teen-Age Romances or Wartime Romances. And back to St. John for good he went, after abandoning the gorgeous gypsy to her own fate (in fact, the strip had a happy ending, with the heroine’s marriage to a handsome American man named Joe). In April 1988, Blackthorne Publishing issued Planet Comics #1, which included a brand-new “Flamingo” story set in contemporary Mexico, written by Bruce Jones and drawn by Rico Rival. Although it was a far cry from the original strip by Roche and Baker, it was nice to see the gorgeous gypsy girl again driving men mad with her sensuous dance.

The Cover Years It is a matter of debate whether, from mid-1952 to early 1954, Matt Baker had office space as an art director at St. John Publishing, on the eighth floor of a building located at 545 Fifth Avenue, checking other people’s artwork as well as producing covers and stories on Archer St. John’s payroll. Artist Pete Morisi, for one, remembered that “I did a couple of stories for a small publisher [St. John] whose editor was Matt Baker.”7 Other artists who were freelancing for St. John during those years have no memory of ever seeing him in the office. Whichever the truth, although Baker had already drawn over 90 covers for St. John, he now became their definitive cover artist, reaching a total of 219 by mid-1955, more than half of which bear his signature (at Iger’s, he had only drawn 16 covers). Although a good percentage of this output graced such romance titles as Blue Ribbon Comics/Teen-Age Diary Secrets/ Diary Secrets (1949–55), Teen-Age Romances (1949–55), Pictorial Confessions/Pictorial Romances (1949–54), Wartime Romances (1951–53), True Love Pictorial (1953–54), and Cinderella Love (1954–55), Baker also drew several covers in other genres: the gun molls he modeled for Authentic Police Cases (1949–55) were memorable, as were his depictions of male and female gunslingers (The Texan, 1949–51; The Hawk, 1954–55) and of war scenes (Fightin’ Marines, 1951–53). He also did some outstanding cover art for Nightmare, which later became Amazing Ghost Stories. Of particular note is his underwater drawing for Nightmare #13 (August 1954), which depicts a diver surrounded by strange, greenish sea-plant girls. A unique combination of weirdness and sensuality. Naturally, Baker did not limit himself to drawing covers. In addition to that, he produced his regular output of romance, crime, and western stories for the St. John titles, graphically

(top) An unpublished Canteen Kate illustration. Courtesy of Fred Robinson and Matt D. Baker and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker. Image may not be reproduced in any form. (above) The cover of The Texan #5. MEET MATT BAKER

Page 11 of “Lassie and the Island of Adventure” from MGM’s Lassie #22, inked by Ray Osrin. 58

PART ONE

(left) The cover of Teen-Age Temptations #2, and (right) page 17 of Four Color Comics #588, adapting King Richard and the Crusaders.

creating some new characters. The most important one was “Canteen Kate,” another redhead bombshell whose humorous army adventures were featured in Fightin’ Marines (1951–52), Canteen Kate (1952), and Anchors Andrews (1953). Although earthbound and short-haired, Kate was but a modified version of the Ginger Maguire (a.k.a. “Sky Girl”) Baker had drawn during the previous decade, but she was cute all the same, dressed in the unbuttoned shirt and shorts which made up her scanty U.S.M.C. uniform. Back to Freelancing Baker stopped drawing stories for St. John’s comic titles in early 1954. By then, the company had drastically downsized its comic-book line, mainly due to the collapse of its 3-D titles, so that their surviving comics now carried mostly reprints. Baker’s last romance stories appeared in Teen-Age Temptations #8 and True- Love Pictorial #11, both coverdated June 1954. Baker continued to draw covers for St. John for another year, although on a freelance basis. (Curiously enough, Baker’s last cover for St. John appeared in February, 1958—the final month that St. John published comics—in Secrets of True Love #1, although it had obviously been drawn back in 1954 or 1955.) Once-prosperous publishers like Fiction House had gone out of business after the introduction of the Comics Code, and it was no longer easy for Baker to get

the assignments he was used to getting. He had to adapt to new genres, showing that he was great on anything he drew. From mid- to late 1954, he drew three consecutive issues of MGM’s Lassie (#20–22) for Western Printing (then publishing under the Dell imprint), which came out between January and May 1955. During this phase, the Dell comic paired up the famous Collie dog with a trio made up of a blond young man named Rocky, a pretty brunette called Gerry, and the native boy Timbu. Each of the three issues Baker drew contained three adventures (although Baker only drew two of those in #22), set mostly in the forests of South America. As usual, although the female element was secondary here, Baker did an excellent job, aided once again by Ray Osrin. Business-wise, the two artists had parted in 1949, when Osrin had decided to temporarily leave comics, but they had continued being close friends and seeing each other quite often. Osrin remembered that “as I was leaving Pittsburgh with my tail within my legs, [Baker] had me help him on Lassie comics for Dell.”8 This was, in fact, their last collaboration. From 1954-57, Baker would be using other inkers—one of whom was possibly Lou Morales. Baker did another book for Dell/Western, a beautiful 34-page adaptation of the 1954 movie King Richard and the Crusaders, starring Rex Harrison and Virginia Mayo, which appeared in October that year as #588 in the one-shot Four Color series. MEET MATT BAKER

(above) The opening page of “The Vengeance of Wes Harder!” from Western Outlaws #13, written by Stan Lee. (right) A page from “Nobody’s Sweetheart” from First Love Illustrated #89, inked by Angelo Torres.

The bulk of Baker’s artwork during the latter half of the 1950s was done for Atlas/Marvel, Quality, and Harvey. Marvel mogul Stan Lee had Baker draw, among others, a few western stories (mostly written by Lee himself ) in such titles as Gunsmoke Western and Quick-Trigger Western. Among these stories, those that Baker apparently penciled and inked, like “The Vengeance of Wes Harder!” (a six-pager in Western Outlaws #13, February 1956), are little masterpieces in their own right. For Everett “Busy” Arnold’s Quality Publications, Baker mainly drew romance stories and covers during 1954– 56 (Love Confessions, Love Secrets, Brides Romances, et al.). A nice exception were a few stories for Robin Hood Tales in 1956. These stories did not star or feature “Robin Hood,” though, but were rather tales set in the Middle East of the Crusades. For Harvey Comics, from late 1957 until mid-1958, Baker drew quite a few romance stories for such titles as First Love Illustrated, Hi-School Romance, Romance Stories of True Love, and True Bride-to-Be Romances, but he also pencilled one fivepage mystery yarn, “Half Man… Half What?” for Alarming Tales #5 (September 1958), which was inked by Al Williamson. Angelo Torres inked three of the stories Baker drew for Harvey. Two of them were published in First Love Illustrated and in Romance Stories of True Love during 1958. A third 60

PART ONE

story inked by Torres and another one Baker penciled were almost certainly drawn in 1958, yet they were shelved when First Love was temporarily cancelled and were only published when the title was briefly revived in 1962–63. Magazine and book illustrator Baker’s ability at drawing women and the human figure in general was confirmed when he tried his talented hand at magazine illustration. While still working for St. John, Baker produced several line illustrations, either in black-and-white or with a single-colored background, for the digest-sized mystery magazine Manhunt, issued by Flying Eagle Publishing (in fact an alternative name for St. John). Apparently, Baker did most of the drawing for the first nine issues, cover-dated January to September 1953, including the illustrations which accompanied a serialized story entitled “Everybody’s Watching Me,” written by none other than Mickey Spillane. Still for St.John/Flying Eagle, in 1955 Baker had a chance to do some outstanding female nudes for Nugget magazine (an early Playboy imitation) illustrating Ray Russell’s story, “Starkin Saga.” When Quality Comics folded in 1956, selling its titles to DC Comics, “Busy” Arnold ventured into the men’s adventure magazine business as Arnold Magazines, and during 1956–

57 Matt Baker did several halftone illustrations for Rage for Men, Courage: Man’s Daring Adventures, Man’s Exploits, and Gusto: He-Man Adventures. Another artist contributing to these short-lived magazines published by Arnold and edited by Al Grenet was former Quality Comics stalwart Bill Ward, who would often sign his spicy cartoons “McCartney.” Rage for Men’s last issue was apparently #8 (February 1958), after the Post Office Department in Washington had found it non-mailable as second class printed matter on account of its containing obscene material. The accusation did not actually concern Baker’s illustrations, but the stories he illustrated, as well as the several articles in the magazine which were illustrated with photographs of half-naked girls. While he was freelancing western comic-book stories for Atlas/Marvel in 1956– 59, Baker had a chance to do a beautiful western line illustration for the story “The Fight at Renegade Basin,” which appeared in February 1957 in 3-Book Western, a magazine published by Martin Goodman with an Atlas News Company imprint. Baker’s last stint as an illustrator was, apparently, for F. M. Charlton’s Picture World Encyclopedia. Published in 1959, this ten-volume effort included illustrations by several comic-book artists, including Gene Fawcette (who was also the art director), Rafael Astarita, Sy Barry, Nick Cardy, John Celardo, Ric Estrada, André LeBlanc, Bob Powell, and Jack Sparling. The Charlton Cover “Mystery” During the mid- to late 1950s, Charlton Comics of Derby, Connecticut, added several titles to its comic-book line by purchasing them from other publishers. Among these there was St. John, whose Fightin’ Marines was taken over by Charlton as of #14 (May 1955) after a two-year hiatus and apparently skipping #13. Although #14, 15, and 17 had either a Baker cover or an interior “Canteen Kate” story, these were just reprints from the previous St. John series. It is, thus, very unlikely that at this stage Baker was doing original artwork for Charlton—as he in fact would be doing a few years later. Border illustration from Nugget #1.

MEET MATT BAKER

Another title Charlton bought out was Negro Romance, previously published by Fawcett. Differently from Fightin’ Marines, which would continue until 1984, Charlton’s run of Negro Romance only lasted one issue (#4, May 1955), its contents being reprinted from Fawcett’s #2. Its cover, though, must have been newly drawn, as all of the Fawcett issues had photo covers. This cover shows three young African-Americans—two men and a pretty girl. One man, nattily dressed, is at the wheel of a yellow convertible car. The dialogue balloon pointing at him reads, “Fill ’er up, buddy… Is there a hotel in this town? I like the scenery around here!” This is what he says to the other guy, a filling station attendant who looks irritated. Next to him, in fact, stands the pretty girl who, smiling at the driver, thinks, “My, he’s handsome… Comes from the big city, too!” Matt Baker did not draw this cover—his art at Charlton would not emerge until 1959, whereas the only work he had apparently done for Fawcett had been a story in Don Winslow #64 back in 1948. Nevertheless, I like to think that the artist (probably Vince Colletta) took Matt Baker as a model to depict the guy in the car—a sparkling, elegant, big town guy driving a yellow convertible. In fact, Baker actually owned a canary yellow 1949 Oldsmobile convertible with a red leather interior.

Charlton Comics By Michael Ambrose Charlton Comics had its origins in the song-lyric magazines that flourished in the 1930s and ’40s, the heyday of radio entertainment. Printed on the cheapest possible paper and with a massive audience, these magazines printed the lyrics, without music, to popular radio and movie songs of the day. Leading the way was Hit Parader, published by Charlton Press of Derby, Connecticut. Charlton founders John Santangelo, an immigrant bricklayer from Sicily, and Ed Levy, a Connecticut attorney, met while serving county jail sentences for, apparently, illegal acts connected with local construction contract bidding. (It’s always been widely believed that Charlton Press had “mob” connections, though this has never been proved by actual evidence.) Charlton maintained total production under one roof, from editorial to printing to trucking. Over the years Charlton added dozens of magazine titles to its line, and in 1944 expanded into comic book publishing, mainly as a way to keep its presses running on three shifts. Charlton’s output for its first decade was limited and inconsequential, but with the advent of the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and the folding of dozens of other comics publishers—especially Fawcett—Charlton began acquiring more titles, content, and talent. By the late 1950s, it was publishing hundreds of issues per year of scores of titles in all genres. Charlton paid little, but they paid on time, and they weren’t particular about what they printed. Artists and writers enjoyed great freedom from editorial control, within Code boundaries. In the 1970s Charlton was a solid second-tier comics publisher, specializing in ghost, war, and romance anthology titles as well as licensed properties. But an aging plant, rising energy costs, and falling sales led to the crash of its entire comics program in 1977. From then on it limped along with a handful of reprint comics, the venerable Hit Parader, and a few other magazines, but by 1986 Chartlton was out of the publishing business for good except as a regional distributor of others’ product. By 1991 the company had ceased to exist, having sold off its remaining titles and equipment and even, ultimately, its real estate.

PART ONE

Was the cover of Negro Romances #4 based on Matt Baker? It may as well have been.

Shelved Baker, Refried Baker Let us take a step back. In the late 1940s, Baker had been producing artwork for D.S. Publishing, an outfit owned by Dick Davis which was also active on the Canadian market as P.L. Publishing. For D.S./P.L., Matt Baker had drawn a total of five stories, which had appeared during 1948 in Outlaws #2, Select Detective #1 and #2, and Whodunit? #1. The fifth story, entitled “The SheWolf Killer,” was instead published in Weird Adventures #1, which had a May–June 1951 cover date. This story had most likely been shelved and was finally published years after it had been actually drawn. The same thing happened with another two mystery stories, respectively entitled “Preview of Chaos!” and “Was He Death-Proof?” which were first published in Journey into Fear #1 (May 1951). According to Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., the original artwork for the latter story “is signed by Matt Baker and blacked out. … Although this story has rough layouts by Baker, all inking and background art is Iger staff work, probably with finished pencils by Alex Blum and inks by David Heames. It is quite likely that the story was an unfinished piece that Iger decided belatedly to have completed or even reworked.”9 Its drawing style, anyway, looks like 1946, early 1947 at the latest.

The 1947 South Sea Girl story, “Echoes of an A-Bomb!” from Seven Seas Comics #6 was reworked in 1955 as a Vooda story in Vooda #20.

Journey into Fear, by the way, was one of the titles published by another Canadian/American outfit, Superior Publications. Based in Toronto, Ontario, and headed by William Zimmerman, from 1947–56 Superior (a.k.a. Dynamic) reprinted American comics for Canadian distribution while exporting its own titles to the USA. Superior’s line of original comic books (mostly made up of horror and romance titles) was supervised by Robert Farrell and Jerry Iger, whose studio provided the scripts and artwork. In 1944, Farrell had started his own publishing house, Ajax/Farrell Publications (a.k.a. Excellent, Four Star, Steinway, and America’s Best), with financial help from S. Lichtenbert. In the mid-1950s, Farrell decided to revive a few 1940s heroes such as The Flame, Samson, and Phantom Lady, with Jerry Iger and Ruth Roche now being respectively listed as art editor and editor in the Ajax titles indicia. None of the four Ajax/Farrell Phantom Lady issues had art by Matt Baker, although the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide still lists Vol. 1, #5 [#1, December–January 1954–55] as drawn by Baker. In fact an anonymous Iger Studio artist (Ken Battefield?) did his best—without great success, it must be said—to imitate Baker’s style. So far, so good. The story gets kind of odd with Voodoo, of which Farrell published 19 issues in 1952–55. Like the other Ajax titles, this horror comic alternated new stories with reprints. Among the latter there were some of the “South Sea

Girl” stories that Matt Baker had drawn years before for Seven Seas Comics. Some of these stories showed slight changes in dialogue and artwork, whereas others were heavily altered. By #2, which reprinted Baker’s story from Seven Seas #2, the heroine’s name had been changed from Alani into El’nee. That was not all. With #20 (April 1955), the title became Vooda, and during its three-issue run it starred a gorgeous light-skinned jungle princess who fought against wild beasts and protected the native tribes of Congo. Wait a minute. That sari, those flowers in her hair… Vooda was but a refried version of South Sea Girl! Whereas the first story in each issue was new, the second was a reprint from Seven Seas Comics, with dialogue re-writing (including all the “Alanis” changed into “Voodas”) and some alterations in Baker’s art. Vooda gave up the ghost in August 1955, but the “refried” “South Sea Girl” stories were to be seen again. Between 1966 and 1978, Eerie Publications published several black-and-white horror magazines which offered gruesome stories drawn by U.S. and South American artists as well as reprinting Iger Studio material from the 1940s and 1950s. This comes as no surprise because Eerie was started out by Robert Farrell together with former artist Myron Fass. The Iger Studio reprints included some Baker stories, like “He Rose from the Grave,” a modified version of a “South MEET MATT BAKER

Sea Girl” story which, over a decade after having been reprinted in Voodoo, reappeared in sharp black-and-white in Weird Worlds Vol. 2, #1 (February 1969) and in Tales from the Tomb Vol. 1, #6 (July 1969). The same mediocre artist who had drawn a new splash panel for this eight-page yarn also apparently altered the features of the giant brute (called “the beast-man” in the story) that Baker had originally drawn, making him look very much like the Frankenstein monster. As noted before, the dialogues were partly rewritten by Ruth Roche, and Alani’s name was always re-lettered (possibly by Iger-Studio calligrapher David Glazer) as El’nee.

Nearing the End As previously observed, by mid-1955 Baker was penciling several stories for the Atlas/Marvel titles, his longest run being that with My Own Romance (1955–59). Vince Colletta was a prolific freelance inker for Marvel—the most prolific of all time, in fact, as regards the romance genre. There was one problem, though. Most of what Colletta inked looked like it had been drawn by Colletta himself, whoever the penciler. Also because Colletta had a bad reputation for taking out a lot of details to speed up things. As it was Colletta who inked most of the stories Baker drew from 1958 onwards, it is often very hard to detect Baker’s pencils underneath this sort of India-ink steamroller that made everything look the same. This was, by the way, one of the reasons why comic fans and scholars long thought that Baker had died in the mid-1950s, his art having virtually disappeared from the comic pages during those years. In fact, by the end of 1957 the so-called “Atlas implosion” had taken place, so that his biggest employer was no longer buying anything from Baker, who was now working in the studio Colletta had at 22 Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey. A very young Jim Steranko also worked in the studio for a while when Baker was there, and it looks like other artists were penciling for Colletta at the same time Baker did, such as Joe Sinnott, Maurice Whitman, and Dick Giordano, who drew a lot of the stories Colletta inked for Charlton Publications from 1959–63. In fact, besides Atlas/Marvel, Charlton was the other main account Colletta had, and Matt Baker drew several stories which appeared in such Charlton titles as Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds (the story in #12, cover-dated April 1959, was curiously signed “Bakerino”—possibly a nod to Phil Silvers’ Sgt. Bilko, who added “-ino” to many phrases in the popular TV show), Out of This World, Outer Space, and Sweetheart Diary. The result, it must be said, was in most cases a far cry from Baker’s one-time A page from the “He Rose from the Grave,” which was altered from a South Sea Girl story masterpieces. Again, Colletta may in Seven Seas Comics #2. 64

PART ONE

have been largely responsible for butchering Baker’s pencils, yet it seems that at this point Baker was only doing a routine job, without much attention to detail, possibly on account of his ill health as well as of the meager wages that Colletta was paying him. Until recently, some reseachers have believed that Baker’s art appeared in Charlton titles as late as 1962 or even 1964. The present writer, for one, thought that Baker had penciled the story for Reptisaurus Vol. 2, #4 (April 1962), a veritable paper schlock starring a gigantic flying snake. Reptisaurus took over from Reptilicus, which was based on a 1962 B-movie, so that story had to have been drawn in 1962. And it seemed quite safe to credit the penciling to Baker, as at one time Colletta stated that Baker died in 1962 The opening splash panel of “The Charm Bracelet” from Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #12. (as reported in Ron Goulart’s The “Bakerino” signature is likely a play on Phil Silvers’ TV portrayal of Sgt. Bilko. The Great Comic Book Artists, St. Martin’s Press, 1986). Well, this has since been proven not to be the case, as Baker’s relatives have revealed that he actually unpublished material culled from the Iger archives, like the already-mentioned “Flamingo” story in Pacific’s Jerry Iger’s died in 1959. His last published work at Charlton, then, was a Colletta- Famous Features #1 (1984). inked eight-pager in Strange Suspense Stories #47 (May 1960). Regarding reprints, though, it is a pity that whereas some A few months before, Baker had succumbed to a sudden, fatal stories have had multiple reissues in the space of but a few heart attack. His was an untimely, unjust death. When he years, many others remain unreprinted. In this respect, John Benson’s gorgeous compilation of St. John romance comics, passed away, he was only 37. Romance Without Tears (Fantagraphics Books, 2003) has been a veritable godsend for us Baker buffs. But I—like many Baker the Collectible During his best years—from 1947–56, in my humble others, I’m sure—am still expecting a book collecting all of opinion—Matt Baker was undoubtedly one of the greatest Baker’s Flamingo strips. I do hope that somebody is listening stylists in the comic-book field. Although he had had some out there, for this would be the ultimate homage to Matt formal art training, he was always a natural at drawing—one Baker, the unforgotten master of Good Girl Art. of those talented draftsmen who are able to project mental NOTES pictures onto a white sheet of paper and draw the human figure from scratch, with no basic construction. True, his 1. Jerry Iger, in Jerry Iger’s Famous Features #1, Pacific Comics, July “swan song” at Charlton was a far cry from his earlier ef- 1984. forts, but this was just a minor flaw in a much-too-brief yet 2. Al Feldstein, e-mail to Alberto Becattini, September 18, 1994. intense career during which he produced a huge amount 3. Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., e-mail to Alberto Becattini, March 2010. of outstanding art. Today, collectors are eagerly searching 4. Ray Osrin, mail interview with Shaun Clancy. for Baker’s stories, and those who cannot afford buying 5. Bob Lubbers, e-mail to Alberto Becattini, October 19, 1993. the original comics can enjoy reading them thanks to such 6. Julia Thornton, e-mail with Shaun Clancy, July 2010. publishers as Pacific, Blackthorne, AC Comics, and A List 7. Pete Morisi, interview with Shaun Clancy, March 25, 1999. who have, during the last 20 years or so, contributed to re- 8. Ray Osrin, mail interview with Shaun Clancy. vive the interest this great artist certainly deserves. In some 9. Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., in Seduction of the Innocent! 3-D #2, cases, then, readers have even been able to see previously- Eclipse Comics, April 1986. MEET MATT BAKER

The Mystery of “Ace Baker” AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE A MATTER OF CREDIT By Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. For forty-plus years, I have happily gathered up obscure comic books from obscure publishing companies. An important impetus was gathering artist credits for the original fourvolume version of the Who’s Who of American Comic Books. One of those companies was Ace, and two of those artists were Matt Baker and Lou Cameron. Through the auspices of my friend, Hames Ware, I was able to correspond with Cameron, who, along with being one of the most talented artists ever to work in comic books, provided the Who’s Who with the names of many of his Ace co-workers. It was through him that never-signing top artists like Jim McLaughlin (more widely seen later at Dell drawing Gunsmoke) and Ken Rice, an excellent artist prolific at Ace but seen virtually nowhere else, would be known. That information was all input into the mid-’70s Who’s Who. In the early ’90s, when I was introduced to Cameron, he agreed to review a bunch of Ace comics and to try to attribute various unsigned art to additional artists whom he might recall. It was great. Lou happily went through the comics, identifying and/or confirming artists like Valerie Barclay, the polished cover and interior art of Alice Kirkpatrick, Mario Rizzi, et al. One of the first things we hoped to learn from Lou was who he thought was responsible for an art style that appeared at Ace for a couple of years and bore a superficial resemblance to Matt Baker’s work. We had long ago declared that the art simply was too lacking in Baker’s unmistakable panache and competency to be him, so we dubbed him “Ace Baker.” But “Matt Baker” is the way Lou pegged those pages. When I wrote Lou back, pointing out all the aforementioned anomalies and insisting that it just couldn’t be Matt Baker, Lou declared that he knew Matt Baker the person, and that he “had met Matt Baker at Ace.” For Lou, case closed, but for me, and Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington and Alberto Becattini, the Mystery of “Ace Baker” would continue right into this book you are holding in your hands. “Ace Baker” work appears at Ace from late 1949 until the end, late 1956. That’s one of the benefits of owning nearly every Ace comic book published after 1948: you get to make statements like that. 66

PART ONE

Page 2 of “The Werewolf Strikes!” from Ace’s The Beyond #1 (November 1950). It’s possible Baker laid out this story as well.

When cross-referencing Matt’s work for the index in this book, I discovered that almost everything “Ace Baker” did after 1952 was a reprint. His original interior work extends from Love Experiences #1 (October 1949) to several stories concurrent with Complete Love Vol. 26, #5 (December 1951). After that date, the only work is a few covers, culminating with what I tentatively identified as the cover for Hand of Fate #16 (February 1953).

Concurrent with this research, I also was assisting with an index of—wait for it—Lou Cameron’s art. Do you know what I found (remember, I own all the comics)? Lou Cameron didn’t start working at Ace until, at the very earliest, December of 1951, in a story entitled, “The Revolt of the Heads,” and primarily drawn by Rocke Mastroserio. Enter Frank Giusto. Enter “Ace Baker.” Frank Giusto is still alive and was recently interviewed. He claims to have been “freelancing with Matt [Baker]” in 1947 and that Matt got him a job at Ace Comics. He got married in 1951 and spent his honeymoon traveling around the country mailing stories to Ace and getting his checks mailed to his father. He left comics afterwards, never to return. Now, he still owns one piece of art from that time in his life and it just happens to be: the cover to Hand of Fate #16. He assisted Matt Baker in the 1940s. He got a job at Ace through Baker’s auspices, which may have included penciling the first few stories that he turned in. There isn’t another artist at Ace who at all resembles Baker, and Giusto conveniently can’t say one way or the other if the “Ace Baker” stories are his work, and the interviewer makes no attempt to pin down that fairly basic piece of information. So we might think that we’re still left guessing. I’m not. Over the decades that serious comic book research has been conducted, via several interviews with family, friends, and co-workers of Matt Baker, two people emerged in Matt’s life who were mentioned as aspirers to doing comic book art themselves, and thus in our eyes became contenders for the “Ace Baker” role: Matt’s brother John, who at least one source said had, with Matt’s help, worked some in comics; and Matt’s friend and sometime co-worker Frank Giusto, who, as it turns out, did indeed work with Matt at the Iger Shop. The John Baker connection has been pretty much disproved. Matt’s brother Fred remembers Matt and John working together, and some have extrapolated that into much more than it actually conveys. Giusto remembers John hanging around, but not actually doing any comic stories. Giusto got a job in comics at Ace through Matt. This does not seem to me to indicate that he was helping Matt at Ace, but rather that he was doing comics at Ace solo (perhaps with a bit of help early on from Baker). He says he “freelanced with Matt for a year and a half,” and that he “worked in comics for five years.” If you count the “five years” from 1947, you end up at 1952. If you count the “year and a half ” from 1947, you end up with Giusto starting solo in 1949 (and, indeed, some Baker attributions in that year could bear reexamination). And, for certain, if he got married in 1951 and was traveling the country, he certainly wasn’t working with Matt. I’ve always maintained that it was a pseudo-Baker and not the real thing at Ace. I believe that now that Giusto is vindicating my contentions completely. It is not surprising that he doesn’t want to cop to the wholesale appropriation of his “friend’s” style. Who would?

Ace COMICS by Steven Rowe The company that we now know as Ace started in 1928 because of a need for pulp fiction magazines for distributor Kable News, who had recently lost the rights to distribute a major pulp fiction line. Supervised by Harold Hersey, the company quickly put out a large list of fiction magazines, with subject matter ranging from aviation to firefighters. Hersey left the company after a year, and Aaron A. Wyn (nee Weinstein) took over control. Their pulp fiction magazines included Secret Agent X, Flying Aces, Complete Love, Ten Detective Aces, and Western Aces. In 1944, Ace began publishing Flying Models, a magazine for model airplane enthusiasts, and while Ace sold the magazine in 1969, Flying Models is still airborne at the time of this writing. In 1940 Wyn and co-publisher and co-owner Warren Angel joined the flourishing comic book industry. Using Fred Gardener as their managing editor, and like most other publishers of the time, they started with superhero comics, and then went with whatever trend was popular. Their mid-1940s comics contain rare examples of Mad magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman drawing superhero comics, as well as early work by Reed Crandall, L. B. Cole, Al Feldstein, and Frank Frazetta. By 1950, Wyn and Gardener began to concentrate on horror, crime, and romance. Some of their comics were used as negative examples by the New York State Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Publication of Comics, as well as the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on Juvenile Delinquency, all of which led to the formation of The Comics Code in late 1954, and essentially led to diminishing sales and the cancellation of Ace’s comics line. Their paperback division, Ace Books, was founded in 1952 and published a wide variety of genre fiction. Sciencefiction publishing, under the leadership of editor Donald A. Wollheim, became its major emphasis by the mid-1950s, and it excelled in that field. A. A. Wyn died in 1967, and the company was sold the next year. It exists in 2012 as a division of Penguin Books.

I’m extremely pleased to offer a slew of credits to the world for Frank Giusto, a.k.a. “Ace Baker.” And happier still to remove Matt’s name from this derivitive work.

MEET MATT BAKER

The Matt Baker Checklist AN ANNOTATED INDEX OF MATT BAKER’S PROFESSIONAL WORK by Alberto Becattini and Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr.

1 (10/1952) “Love or Money” (10) [R TeenAge Romances #27]

[AUTHORS’ NOTE: Although in compiling this index we have tried to leave out all the stories we have found out not to have been drawn by Matt Baker, there still are a few question marks and, we’re sure, some blanks. Nevertheless, the present list is the most complete so far, thanks mostly to Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. and to his unparalleled expertise. Thanks, also, to the late great Jerry Bails, to Ger Apeldoorn, John Benson, the Grand Comics Database, Bill Black, Shaun Clancy, Phil Stephensen-Payne, the Mad Peck, Joanna van Ritbergen, Antonio Vianovi, and Hames Ware who have, in different ways, made it possible — A.B., J.V.]

All-Top Comics (Fox Features) 9 (1/1948) Phantom Lady: “The Killer Clown!” (7) [with John Forte and Iger Shop] 10 (3/1948) Phantom Lady: “The Television Spies” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] 11 (5/1948) Phantom Lady: “The Case of the Swindling Eye” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] 12 (7/1948) Phantom Lady: “The Subway Slayer!” (7) [with Jack Kamen and Iger Shop] 13 (9/1948) Phantom Lady: “The Fire Fiend!” (7) 14 (11/1948) Phantom Lady: “The CopyCat Killers” (9) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] 16 (3/1949) Phantom Lady: “The Man Who Lost His Stuff” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] 17 (5/1949) Phantom Lady: “The Mystery of the Monkey Cult” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop]

A) COMIC BOOKS AND COMIC MAGAZINES — ORIGINAL EDITIONS AND REPRINTS [R] Note: Although a good deal of the stories Baker drew were not inked by him, inkers are only listed when known to have worked on specific series or issues. Alarming Tales (Harvey) 5 (9/1958) “Half Man--Half What?” (5) [inks: Al Williamson] All-Famous Police Cases (Star Publications) 6 (2/1952) [Title?] [pencils only] 7 (4/1952) “Death Is Its Only Reward” (6) [pencils only] All-Picture Adventure (St. John) [NOTE: This is a 100-page rebound collection of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents vary] 1 (10/1952) Cover; [Titles?] [R Fightin’ Marines] 68

PART ONE

All-Picture Adventures (St. John) [NOTE: This is a 100-page rebound collection of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents vary] 2 (11/1952) [Titles?] [R] All-Picture All-True Love Story (St. John) [NOTE: These are 100-page rebound collections of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents vary] 1 (10/1952) Cover; Canteen Kate [Titles?] [R Canteen Kate] 2 (11/1952) Cover; “Off Duty and Out of Bounds” (9) [R Wartime Romances #2]; “No Rules for Me” (7) [R Wartime Romances #2]; “I Had to Pay the Piper” (8) [R Wartime Romances #2]; “I Was a Medal Chaser” (8) [R Wartime Romances #2] All-Picture Comedy Carnival (St. John) [NOTE: These are 100-page rebound collections of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents vary]

All-True All Picture Police Cases (St. John) 1 (10/1952) [Titles?] [R Authentic Police Cases] 2 (11/1952) Cover; [Titles?] [R Authentic Police Cases] Almanac of Crime (Fox Features) nn [1] (1948) Phantom Lady: “Wine, Women and Sudden Death!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #19]; Phantom Lady: “The Case of the Murderous Model!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #19] Alter Ego (TwoMorrows) V3#21 (2/2003) Cover R [Seven Seas Comics #5]; Selected comic-book pages and panels [R Jerry Iger’s Famous Features #1, Vooda #22]; Two Flamingo promotional drawings

(left) Amazing Ghost Stories #16 cover. (above) Opening splash panel of “The Trail of the Human Tarantula” from Authentic Police Cases #13.

V3#47 (4/2005) Cover [R Phantom Lady, Sky Girl and Tiger Girl panels]; Cover R Authentic Police Cases #6, 8, 15, 23; Cinderella Love #25; Diary Secrets #nn, 14; Fightin’ Marines #5; Giant Comics Editions #12; Going Steady #10; Jo-Jo Congo King #23; Nightmare #13; Phantom Lady #13, 15, 23; Pictorial Romances #12; Picture Novels #nn; Seven Seas Comics #6; Teen-Age Romances #1; Telpic Book of Cartoons; The Texan #4, 14; Wartime Romances #1, 17; Selected comic-book pages and panels [R Jumbo Comics #81, 104, 111; Seven Seas Comics #3, 5, 6; Fight Comics #39; Planet Comics #53, 57; Movie Comics #4; Classic Comics #32; Crown Comics #5; Atomic Comics #3, 4; Phantom Lady #13, 16, 18–20; Jungle Comics #105; Northwest Mounties #1; Teen-Age Temptations #9; Authentic Police Cases #18; Picture Novels #nn; Fightin’ Marines #3; MGM’s Lassie #20; Western Outlaws #13; Vooda #20; Voodoo #1; Tales to Astonish #2; My Own Romance #65; Unusual Tales #20; Pictorial Confessions #1; Teen-Age Romances #6; Diary Secrets #6; Pictorial Romances #19; All Love #32; Telpic Book of Cartoons #nn; Journey into

Mystery #50]; Flamingo [R May 23 and June 27, 1952, daily strips]; Magazine illustrations [R Rage for Men V1#2, 7; Gusto #2] et al., possibly unpublished V3#56 (2/2006) Phantom Lady #16 [splash page only]; Flamingo: May 21, 1952, daily strip V3#77 (5/2008) Covers [R Approved Comics #6; Authentic Police Cases #18; Canteen Kate #1; Cinderella Love #25; Crime Reporter #2; Midget Comics #1; Teen-Age Romances #1, 43; Wartime Romances #5]; Magazine illustrations [R Manhunt V1#3, 7, 9] V3#92 (3/2010) Cover [R Authentic Police Cases #35] Amazing Ghost Stories (St. John) 14 (10/1954) Cover 16 (2/1955) Cover America’s Greatest Comics (AC Comics) 1 (2002) Phantom Lady: “The Red Rain!” (7) [mostly Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #15] 14 (2006) Tiger Girl: [“The jungle air was heavy with a nameless…”] (8) [R Fight Comics #50]

15 (2006) Glory Forbes: [“M’deah, Mrs. Plush Bilt’s ball is positively…”] (6) [R Rangers Comics #37] Anchors Andrews (St. John) 1 (1/1953) Canteen Kate: “Kate! Run! North Koreans comin’ over ridge!” (1) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “The Old Ball Game” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin] Approved Comics (St. John) 6 [Daring Adventures] (4/1954) Cover 9 [Western Bandit Trails] (6/1954) Cover; “Gingham Fury Rides the Range” (8) [R Western Bandit Trails #3] 11 [Fightin’ Marines] (7/1954) Cover; Canteen Kate: “Call to Arms” (6) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Fightin’ Marines #3] 12 [Northwest Mounties] (8/1954) Cover; Northwest Mounties: “Dangerous Duty” (2) [R Northwest Mounties #4] Atomic Comics (Green) 2 (3/1946) Inspector Dayton: “But, gentlemen, I’m doing the best I can!” (7); Kid Kane: “Youse is in the red for two hundred berries, palsy!” (5) [with Jack Kamen?] MEET MATT BAKER

16 (12/1951) Cover [signed]; “Cover Up for Murder” (8) [inks: Edd Ashe?] 17 (2/1952) Cover [signed] 18 (4/1952) Cover; “Murder in Mink” (8) [inks: Edd Ashe] 19 (6/1952) Cover 20 (8/1952) Cover 22 (10/1952) Cover 23 (11/1952) Cover 24 (12/1952) Cover 27 (5/1953) Cover 28 (7/1953) Cover 29 (9/1953) Cover 31 (1/1954) Cover [signed] 32 (3/1954) Cover 33 (5/1954) Cover 34 (7/1954) Cover 35 (9/1954) Cover [signed]; “Midwest Cops Smash the Crimson Gang!” (8); “The Case of the Red Bearded Rogue” (7) [R Authentic Police Cases #10] 36 (11/1954) Cover; “Rookie Cop Traps the Kingpin of Crime” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin? – R Authentic Police Cases #11]; “Police Valor Defies the Bulletproof Bandits” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin? – R Authentic Police Cases #11] 37 (1/1955) Cover 38 (3/1955) Cover; “Murder in Mink” (8) [inks: Edd Ashe; R Authentic Police Cases #18] The Best of the Golden Age Sheena (Devil’s Due Publishing) 2 (1/2009) Sky Girl: [“Ginge really has trouble”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #99]

3 (5/1946) Cover; Inspector Dayton: “The Case of Measles and Murder!” (8); Kid Kane: “Hey, Slugsy, your kid ain’t gonna win the club” (5) 4 (7/1946) Kid Kane: “That was a swell exhibition you put on last night, Kid.” (5) Authentic Police Cases (St. John) 6 (11/1949) Cover [signed] 7 (4/1950) Cover 8 (8/1950) Cover 9 (10/1950) Cover 10 (12/1950) Cover; “Midwest Cops Smash the Crimson Gang!” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin?]; “The Case of the Red Bearded Rogue” (7) [signed – inks: Ray Osrin?] 70

PART ONE

11 (2/1951) Cover; “Rookie Cop Traps the Kingpin of Crime” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin?]; “Police Valor Defies the Bulletproof Bandits” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin?] 12 (4/1951) Cover [signed]; “Army Crime Busters Corner Black Market Racketeer” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin?]; “Police Dragnet Traps the Phantom Fingerman” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin?] 13 (5/1951) Cover [signed]; “The Trail of the Human Tarantula” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin?] 14 (8/1951) Cover [signed]; A True Crime Case: “Diamonds, C.O.D. (Care of Death)” (8) 15 (10/1951) Cover; “Racketeering in Drugs” (8)

Big Girl Adventures (AC Comics) 1 (2002) Phantom Lady: “Condemned Venus!” [mostly R. H. Webb and Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #14]; Sky Girl [“Raw courage was plentiful…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #111]; Camilla [“Come you to the festival of B’togi, Camilla”] [R Jungle Comics #100] Blue Ribbon Comics (St. John) 2 [Diary Secrets] (4/1949) Cover 4 [Teen-Age Diary Secrets] (6/1949) Cover; “I Set a Trap for a Wolf—But Snared Myself, Instead!” (8) [inks: Chuck Miller?]; “I Should Have Played Hard-to-Get” (7) 5 [Teen-Age Diary Secrets] (8/1949) “I Tried to Make Love Pay Dividends” (8½); “I Was a Broadway Casualty” (7) Bomber Comics (Elliot) 4 (1945) Wonder Boy: “The Amazing Plot of the Corpse That Never Died!” (10) [with Al Feldstein?]

Brides in Love (Charlton Comics) 23 (3/1961) “To the End of Time” (8) [Baker and/or Vince Colletta?] Brides Romances (Quality Comics) 7 (11/1954) Cover [pencils only] 15 (12/1955) [Title?] [pencils only] 18 (3/1956) “I Couldn’t Tell Him the Truth” (5) [pencils only] 21 (7/1956) “My Fickle Boyfriend” (7) [pencils only] 23 (12/1956) Cover; “How Can I Compete with Her?” (5?) Canteen Kate (St. John) 1 (6/1952) Cover [signed]; Canteen Kate: “Fifty Million Frenchmen” (2) [text story]; “Yokohama Melodrama” (6); “Sleepy Time Girl” (7); “Tanks for the Memories” (7); “Male Call” (1); “Calamity Cake” (6) 2 (8/1952) Cover [signed]; Canteen Kate: “Rugged Rug-Cutters” (8) [inks: ?]; Canteen Kate: “Scuttlebutt” (2); Canteen Kate: “Bring ’Em Back Alive” (6); Canteen Kate: “Much Ado about Mushrooms” (9) 3 (11/1952) Cover [signed]; Canteen Kate: “Trouble in Major Key” (8); “Party Line” (5); “Power of the Press” (8) [NOTE: Most stories inked by Ray Osrin] Cinderella Love (St. John) 14 (6/1954) “Caught Between Two Loves” (9) 15 (8/1954) Cover 25 (12/1954) Cover 26 (2/1955) Cover 27 (4/1955) Cover 28 (6/1955) Cover; “From Waitress to Model” (9) [R Teen-Age Romances #24] 29 (10/1955) Cover Classic Comics (Gilberton) 32 (12/1946) Cover; Lorna Doone (46) Classics Illustrated (Gilberton) 32 [HRN 53/64] (12/1948) Cover; Lorna Doone (38) [R Classic Comics #32 with 8 pages deleted] 32 [HRN 85] (1951) Cover [R Classic Comics #32]; Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 118] (1954) Cover [R Classic Comics #32]; Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 138] (1957) Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 150] (1959) Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 156] (1960) Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 167] (1/1964) Lorna Doone (46)

[R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 167] (11/1965) Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] 32 [HRN 166] (1968) Lorna Doone (46) [R Classic Comics #32] Comic Book Marketplace (Gemstone Publishing) 25 (7/1995) Interior covers [R Phantom Lady #17, 18] 66 (1/1999) Interior Cover [R Jo-Jo Congo King #25 – Baker?] 73 (11/1999) Interior Cover [R Diary Secrets #nn] Comic Book Marketplace Special Edition (Gemstone Publishing) 3 (Spr 2000) Interior Covers [R Phantom Lady #16–18] The Comics Journal (Fantagraphics) 277 (7/2006) “It Rhymes with Lust” (126) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Picture Novels #nn] Confessions, Romances, Secrets, and Temptations (Fantagraphics Books) nn (4/2007) Cover [R Teen-Age Romances #14]; Interior Covers [R Amazing Ghost Stories #14, Fightin’ Marines #5, Giant Comics Editions #15, Romantic Marriage #24, Secrets of True Love #1, Teen-Age Romances #13, 36, Teen-Age Temptations #4; Wartime Romances #18]; 10 Illustrations [R Manhunt #2]; “Thrill Seekers’ Weekend” (6) [inks: Ray Osrin – R TeenAge Romances #37]

Cowboy Action (Atlas/Marvel) 11 (3/1956) “Billy the Kid” (4) Cowgirl Romances (Fiction House) 10 (6/1952) Mitzi of the Movies (8) [R Movie Comics #4 with all-new dialogue] Crime Reporter (St. John) 2 (9/1948) Cover [signed] 3 (10/1948) Cover [signed] Crown Comics (Golfing/McCombs) 3 (Fall 1945) Clue Kelly: [“Isn’t it wonderful here, Clue?”] (6) [with Alex Blum?]; Voodah: “Ha! That Got Him!” (6) 4 (Win 1945) Cover [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Ace of the Newsreels: [“Ace Williams, crack cameraman, and Foggy, queen of hearts, appear in comics for the first time…”] (9) [inks: Al Feldstein?] 5 (5/1946) Cover [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Ace of the Newsreels: [“Cameraman smashes atom ring”] (9) [with Jack Kamen?] 6 (8/1946) Cover [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Ace of the Newsreels: “Very clever, Ling Ti” (8) 7 (11/1946) Cover [initialed “M.B.” in lower right corner]; Ace of the Newsreels: [“Wow! This fuel is really something!”] (7) [inks: Al Feldstein?] 8 (2/1947) Ace of the Newsreels: [“For years scientists associated the scarab…”] (7) [inks: Al Feldstein?] Daring Adventures (Super/IW Comics) 8 (1963) Kayo Kirby: [“Monterrey, Tampico, Panama, Caracas, Santiago, Buenos Aires… a…”] (6) [with Jack Kamen? – R Fight Comics #53] MEET MATT BAKER

Original art for page 1 of “Ace of the Newsreels” from Crown Comics #5. The top of the page is torn off, but at least the artwork wasn’t destroyed. 12 (1964) Phantom Lady: “Scoundrels and Scandals” (8) [inks: Al Feldstein/Jack Kamen? – R Phantom Lady #14]; Phantom Lady: “Condemned Venus” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches – R Phantom Lady #14]; Phantom Lady: “A Shroud for the Bride” (10) [mostly Iger Shop with some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #14] Diary Secrets (St. John) [NOTE: 100-page rebound collection of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents vary] nn (1950?) Cover; “I was Torn within Two Loves” (10) [Splash only by Baker? Rest by Chuck Miller? – R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #8]; “Second-Hand Sweetheart” (8) [Baker? – R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #8] Diary Secrets (St. John) 10 (2/1952) Cover [signed]; “They Called Me a Wayward Girl” (8) [R Teen-Age Romances #1] 11 (4/1952) “I Didn’t Want a Stepfather” 72

PART ONE

(6) [R Teen-Age Romances #3]; “I Was Afraid to Fall in Love” (8) [R Teen-Age Romances #3]; “I Tried to Be a Hollywood Glamour Girl” (10) [R Pictorial Confessions #2]; “Stand-in for Scandal” (2) [text story – R Teen-Age Romances #3]; “Spitework Was My Folly” (6) [R Teen-Age Romances #3] 12 (6/1952) Cover; “I Played Kiss and Run” (8) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #6]; “My Wrong Approach for Romance” (8) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #6] 13 (8/1952) Cover; “I Couldn’t Give up My Secret Love” (10) [R Teen-Age Romances #4]; “Bad Behavior” (10) [R “I Was a Hollywood Cinderella” from Teen-Age Romances #5 with title change]; “Love Is Born” (3) [R Teen-Age Romances #5]; “My One Little Mistake” (9) [R Teen-Age Romances #5] 14 (10/1952) Cover; “Love Challenge” (8) [R “Was I a Fool to Go on Loving Him?” from Teen-Age Romances #6 with title change]; “Breaking All the Rules” (8) [R “Rx for a Broken Heart” from Teen-Age

Romances #6 with title change] 15 (12/1952) Cover; “On My Own at Seventeen” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin? – R “I Ran Away from Home” from Teen-Age Romances #7 with title change] 16 (2/1953) Cover; “Railroaded into Romance” (13) [inks: Chuck Miller? – R Teen-Age Romances #8]; “I Was LoveShy” (7) [R Teen-Age Romances #8]; “Don’t Cry, Baby!” (2) [Text Story – R Teen-Age Romances #8]; “I Tried to Lead a Double Life” (8) [R Teen-Age Romances #8] 17 (4/1953) Cover; “Love or Pride?” (7) [R Teen-Age Romances #9]; “The Temptation I Couldn’t Resist” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #9]; “A Date with a Wolf ” (2 ½) [Text Story – R Teen-Age Romances #9] 18 (6/1953) Cover; “I Dated Too Free-andEasy” (6) [originally made for digest size – R “Reckless Love Almost Ruined My Reputation” from Teen-Age Romances #10]; “I Was Cheating My Heart” (6) [Baker layouts? – R “I Gave Romance the Run-Around” from Teen-Age Romances #10 with title changed and 2 panels dropped] 19 (8/1953) Cover; “Temptation Was My Weakness” (5) [R “How Could I Fight Temptation?” from Teen-Age Romances #2 with title change]; “Phony Glamour Led to Tears” (10) [R “I Tried to Be a Hollywood Glamour Girl” from Pictorial Confessions #2 with title change]; “My Rx Love” (7) [R “I Dared to Kiss and Tell” from Teen-Age Romances #2 with title change] 20 (9/1953) Cover 21 (12/1953) Cover 22 (2/1954) Cover 23 (5/1954) Cover 24 (7/1954) Cover; “Glamour Was My Weakness” (7) [R Pictorial Romances #4] 25 (9/1954) Cover; “Lovelife of an Army Nurse” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Wartime Romances #1]; “I Tried to Burn the Candle at Both Ends!” (7) [R “I Should Have Played Hard-to-Get” from Blue Ribbon #4 with title change]; “Make-Believe Marriage” (9) [R Wartime Romances #1] 26 (12/1954) Cover 27 (1/1955) Cover [signed] 28 (3/1955) Cover 29 (6/1955) Cover 30 (9/1955) Cover; “I Couldn’t Give up My Secret Love” (10) [R Teen-Age Romances #4]; “Love Is Born (3) [text story – R Teen-Age Romances #5]; “My One Little Mistake” (9) [R Teen-Age Romances #5]

Don Winslow of the Navy (Fawcett Publications) 64 (12/1948) Don Winslow of the Navy [Title Unknown] [Baker?] Dynamic Adventures (IW/Super Comics) 8 (1958) Kayo Kirby: [“Monterrey, Tampico, Panama, Caracas, Santiago, Buenos Aires… a…”] (6) [with Jack Kamen? – R Fight Comics #53] Exotic Romances (Quality Comics) 27 (3/1956) Cover; [Title?] 28 (4/1956) “My Bashful Boyfriend” (9) [pencils only] 30 (7/1956) “I Wanted a Second Chance” (9) [pencils only] 31 (11/1956) Cover; “Was He Ashamed of Me?” (6) [pencils only] Fantastic Adventures (IW/Super Comics) 17 (1964) South Sea Girl: “Echoes of an ABomb” (7) [R Seven Seas Comics #6] Femforce (AC Comics) 10 (1987) Camilla [“Thy lands are cursed!

Jackals shall become giants…”] (8) [R Jungle Comics #102] Fight Comics (Fiction House) 36 (2/1945) Tiger Girl: [“Evil pervades the jungle when the insane cruelty…”] (8) [assists/inks over Alex Blum] 37 (4/1945) Tiger Girl: [“In the Khanu village: many yimes now have…”] (8) [assists/inks over Alex Blum] 38 (6/1945) Tiger Girl: [“Tiger Girl and her friends, the loyal Abdola…”] (10) [assists/inks over Alex Blum] 39 (8/1945) Tiger Girl: [“Out of the murky past they came…”] (10) [signed] 40 (10/1945) Tiger Girl: [“Aieee! Wailed the jungle folk. What will become…”] (10) [assists/inks over Alex Blum] 41 (12/1945) Tiger Girl: [“The jungle was hushed. Natives and animals alike…”] (5) [assists/inks over Alex Blum] 42 (2/1946) Tiger Girl: [“Tiger Girl--I will take these two for a run…”] (6) 43 (4/1946) Kayo Kirby: [“Pamamqua, South America, where tempers flare easily, and…”] (6) [with Alex Blum?]; Tiger Girl: [“The jungle drums were throbbing out a sinister…”] (10) [signed]

44 (6/1946) Kayo Kirby: [“Kayo Kirby they called him, clean-cut king of…”] (7) [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Tiger Girl: [“Tiger Girl decrees that peace be the jungle…”] (6) 45 (8/1946) Tiger Girl: [“From the dark continent’s treacherous heart comes a safari…”] (10) 46 (10/1946) Kayo Kirby: [“If you ask me, Lavendar, yer going overboard”] (6) [inks: Al Feldstein]; Tiger Girl: [“Deep in the treacherous jungle the mysterious creature dwelt…”] (10) 47 (12/1946) Tiger Girl: [“A new force invaded Tiger Girl’s jungle… A…”] (10); Kayo Kirby: [“A foe that blinded with a single blow!”] (6) [pencils only] 48 (2/1947) Kayo Kirby: [“Kayo Kirby has fought them all. Boxer and…”] (6) [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Tiger Girl: [“Jungle Drums boomed the message with pulsing, measured…”] (8) 49 (4/1947) Kayo Kirby: [“Kayo Kirby… A name that rates foremost in…”] (6) [touch-ups over Alex Blum]; Tiger Girl: [“Slaver! One cursed word that spread terror through…”] (8) 50 (6/1947) Tiger Girl: [“The jungle air was heavy with a nameless…”] (8); Kayo MEET MATT BAKER

(above) Fightin’ Marines #3 cover. (right) Splash panel from “A Love for a Life” from First Love Illustrated #90 from the original art.

Kirby: [“It was just a routine drill. Kayo Kirby wasn’t…”] (6) [inks: Al Feldstein?] 51 (8/1947) Tiger Girl: [“Through tense jungle air hurtled a menace from…”] (10) 52 (10/1947) Tiger Girl: “The Winged Demons of Doom” (10); Kayo Kirby: [“The Kansas killer”] (8) 53 (12/1947) Tiger Girl: “Shadowland Shrine” (10); Kayo Kirby: [“Monterrey, Tampico, Panama, Caracas, Santiago, Buenos Aires… a…”] (6) [with Jack Kamen?] 54 (2/1948) Tiger Girl: “Flee the Cobra Fury!” (10); Kayo Kirby: [“In Socko’s tradition, Manny is out to prove…”] (6) [with Jack Kamen?]

8 (10/1952) Cover; Canteen Kate: “Say It with Flour” (6) [Baker?] 9 (12/1952) Cover [signed] 10 (2/1953) Cover [NOTE: All inks probably by Ray Osrin]

Fightin’ Marines (St. John) 15 [#1] (8/1951) Cover; Leatherneck Jack (8) 2 (10/1951) Cover [small Canteen Kate picture only]; Canteen Kate: “The Big Freeze” (5½) 3 (12/1951) Cover; Canteen Kate in “Call to Arms” (6) 4 (2/1952) Cover [small Canteen Kate picture only]; Canteen Kate: “Tailor Maid” (6) 5 (4/1952) Cover [signed]; Canteen Kate: “Candid Cutie” (6) 6 (6/1952) Cover; Canteen Kate in “Ready… Aim… Fire!” (6) [inks: Ray Osrin] 7 (8/1952) Cover; Canteen Kate: “Foxhole Floozie” (6)

First Kiss (Charlton) 6 (12/1958) Cover [inks: Vince Colletta] 7 (2/1959) Cover [inks: Vince Colletta]

PART ONE

Fightin’ Marines (Charlton Comics) 14 (5/1955) Canteen Kate: “The Big Freeze” (5½) [R Fightin’ Marines #2] 15 (7/1955) Cover [signed – R Fightin’ Marines #5]; Canteen Kate: “Candid Cutie” (6) [R Fightin’ Marines #5] 16 (9/1955) Cover [R Fightin’ Marines #6]; Canteen Kate in “Ready… Aim… Fire!” (6) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Fightin’ Marines #6]

First Love Illustrated (Harvey) 86 (3/1958) “Big Time” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 87 (9/1958) “Pick up the Pieces” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] 88 (11/1958) “If We Should Ever Meet” (6) [inks: Angelo Torres] 89 (11/1962) “Nobody’s Sweetheart” (6) [inks: Angelo Torres] 90 (2/1963) “A Love for a Life” (6) [pencils only]

Flamingo (A-List) 1 (3/1998) Flamingo (10) [R Reformatted 2/11–3/22/1952 daily strips]; Flamingo (9) [R Reformatted 3/23–4/28/1952 daily strips]; Flamingo: “The Face in the Golden Comb!” (8) [R Jerry Iger’s Famous Features #1] Four Color Comics (Dell) 588 (10/1954) King Richard and the Crusaders (34) [pencils only] Fox Giants (Fox Features) nn [Secret Love Stories] (1949) “I Thought It Was Love” (10) [Baker? – R My Past Thrilling Confessions #7] Frontier Western (Atlas/Marvel) 5 (10/1956) “A Man with a Gun” (6) 9 (6/1957) “Mystery on Calamity Trail!” (5) 10 (8/1957) “Dangerous Game” (5) Fugitives from Justice (St. John) 2 (1952) Northwest Mounties: “Mounties Crack the Mystery of the Bullet Proof Blonde” (8) [pencils only – R Northwest Mounties #2] Giant Comics Editions (St. John) [NOTE: These are 100-page rebound collections of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents may vary]

5 [Police Case Book] (4/1949) Cover [signed] 6 [Western Picture Stories] (7/1949) Cover; Northwest Mounties: “Mounties Crack the Mystery of the Bullet Proof Blonde” (8) [pencils only – R Northwest Mounties #2] 9 [Romance and Confession Stories] (1949) “I Was Tired of Being Good” (8) [R TeenAge Diary Secrets #4] 11 [Western Picture Stories] (1949) Cover; “Gingham’s Fury” (6) [R Western Bandit Trails #3] 12 [Diary Secrets] (1949) Cover; [Titles?] [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets] 13 (1950) Cover [part – from existing comic panels, three of which are by Baker]; “I Took the Road to Stardom Via Love” (10) [R Hollywood Pictorial #3]; “Glamour Was My Weakness” (7) [R Pictorial Romances #4] 15 [Romances] (1950) Cover Girls in Love (Quality Publications) 57 (12/1956) Cover [pencils only]; [Title?] Girls’ Love Stories (DC/National Comics) 31 (9–10/1954) “Tomorrow Means Goodbye!” (6) 58 (11–12/1958) “Almost Sweethearts” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] Girls’ Romances (DC/National) 28 (8-9/1954) “Belated Love!” (6) Going Steady (St. John) 10 (12/1954) Cover; “Trouble’s Daughter” (8) [Baker? – R True Love Pictorial #3] 11 (2/1955) Cover 12 (4/1955) Cover; “I Learned My Lesson” (1) [R Teen-Age Romances #24] 13 (6/1955) Cover; “I Was a Willy-Nilly Filly” (8) [R Teen-Age Romances #26] 14 (10/1955) Cover; “Love Isn’t for Deceivers” (8) [Baker? – R “Deceitful!” from Teen-Age Romances #18 with title change]; “Unfair to My Boy Friend” (7) [R “I Betrayed My Sweetheart” from Teen-Age Romances #19 with title change]; “The Runaround” (2) [R “I Played Hard-to-Get” from Teen-Age Romances #18 with title change]; “Love’s Worst Enemy–Suspicion!” (8) [R “Pitfalls of Jealousy” from Teen-Age Romances #21 with title change] Golden-Age Greats (AC Comics) 2 (1994) Interior Covers [R Phantom Lady #13, 15]; Phantom Lady: “The Beauty and the Brain (18½) [mainly Alex Blum and Iger Shop with some Baker touches – Reformatted R Phantom Lady #13]; Phantom Lady: “Scoundrels and Scan-

Original art for the Flamingo comic book. dals” (13) [inks: Al Feldstein/Jack Kamen? – Reformatted R Phantom Lady #14]; Phantom Lady: “Army of the Walking Dead!” (17) [inks: Jack Kamen? – Reformatted R Phantom Lady #15 with title change]; Phantom Lady: “Horrors of the Red Rain!” (10) [mostly Iger Shop – Reformatted R Phantom Lady #15 with title change] 6 (1995) Phantom Lady: “Wine, Women and Sudden Death!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #19] 8 (1996) Phantom Lady: “The World’s Meanest Crook!” (10) [mostly Iger Shop with some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #15] 9 (1996) Tiger Girl: [“Tiger Girl--I will

take these two for a run…”] (6) [R Fight Comics #42]; Sky Girl: [“It’s long been Ginge’s ambition…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #101] 12 (1996) Mysta of the Moon: [“That mighty bulwark – The science council…”] (8) [R Planet Comics #54] Golden-Age Greats Spotlight (AC Comics) 1 (2003/2007) Cover [R Phantom Lady #15]; Phantom Lady: “Knight of the Crooked Cross (8) [pencils only – R “An evil tree bears bitter fruit…” from Phantom Lady #13 with title added]; Phantom Lady: “The Avenging Skulls” (10) [mostly Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #16]; Phantom MEET MATT BAKER

Lady: “Ace of Spades” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #20]; Phantom Lady: “Wine, Women and Sudden Death!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #19]; Phantom Lady: “The Copy-Cat Killers” (9) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #14]; Phantom Lady: “The World’s Meanest Crook” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #15]; Phantom Lady: “A Shroud for the Bride” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #14]

Golden-Age Men of Mystery (AC Comics) 6 (1998) Phantom Lady: “Bullets for Ballots!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #20] Good Girl Art Quarterly/ Good Girl Comics (AC Comics) 1 (Sum 1990) Sky Girl: [“Ginge really has trouble”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #99] 2 (Fall 1990) Inside Covers [R Phantom Lady #16–20]; Phantom Lady: “A Shroud for the Bride!” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and

Page 1 of “Across the Badlands” from Gunsmoke Western #34, written by Stan Lee. 76

PART ONE

swipes – R Phantom Lady #14] 3 (Win 1991) Camilla [“A crash of brush shatters the stillness…”] (8) [R Jungle Comics #105]; Sky Girl: [“Fun for all! Cash for some!…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #100] 4 (Spr 1991) Sky Girl: [“Raw courage was plentiful in these dear dim days…] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #111] 5 (Sum 1991) Sky Girl: [Po’ Ginge… She tries so desperately…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #104] 6 (Fall 1991) Sky Girl: [“Thanks for the hitch over Burma, Jeff!”] (5) [R Jumbo Comics #81] 7 (Win 1992) Sky Girl [“Hey! What gives? A guy after Ginge…”] (5 1/2) [R Jumbo Comics]; Phantom Lady: “The Fire Fiend!” (7) [R All-Top Comics #13] 8 (Spr 1992) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl [“Ginger Maguire stumbles into a simply awful situation…”] (5) [R Jumbo Comics #83] 9 (Sum 1992) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl [“Crunchy corn for the strength of a caveman”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #110]; Tiger Girl: [“A Land of racing waters…”] [R Fight Comics]; Phantom Lady: “The Copy-Cat Killers!” [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #14] 10 (Fall 1992) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl [“Poor Ginge! She dreams of flying high…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #105] 11 (Win 1993) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl [“International Airlines has decided upon a beauty contest…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #91]; Phantom Lady: “The Case of the Murderous Model!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #19] 12 (Sum 1993) Mitzi in Hollywood (6) [R Movie Comics #4] 13 (Fall 1993) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl [“What’s buzzin’? The airport, naturally…”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics]; Phantom Lady: “Ghosts, Galleons and Gold” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #18] 14 (Win 1993) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl [“Wow! Poor Ginge is really in trouble”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics] 15 (Spr 1994) Phantom Lady: “The Television Spies!” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #10]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: [“The Invisible Spy”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics] 16 (Sum 1994) Phantom Lady: “The Fat Connoisseur!” (9) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #18]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: [“Once again Ginge is riding high!”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #97] 17 (Fall 1994) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: [“Ginge wants to fly”] (6) [R Jumbo

Comics]; Phantom Lady: “The Killer Clown” (7) [with John Forte and Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #9] 18 (1995) Tiger Girl: [“There was but one thought in the weary native’s mind…”] (5) [R Fight Comics with title change]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: [“What if the McCoy mob was broken up?”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics] 19 (2001) Sky Girl: [“Seeking the perfect mate?”] (6) [R Jumbo Comics #112] Great Action Comics (IW/Super Comics) 8 (1958) Phantom Lady: “An Army of Walking Dead” (11) [inks: Jack Kamen? – R Phantom Lady #15]; Phantom Lady: “The World’s Meanest Crook” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #15]; Phantom Lady: “The Red Rain (7) [mostly Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #15] Gunsmoke Western (Atlas/Marvel) 32 (12/1955) “Showdown at Sunup” (5) 34 (4/1956) “Across the Badlands!” (4) 55 (11/1959) “Gun-Fight at Grogan’s Gap” (5) 56 (1/1960) “The Fastest Gun!” (5) The Hawk (St. John) 8 (9/1954) Cover [signed] 9 (11/1954) Cover; Buckskin Belle: [“Behind the Slinking Shadows That Made Every Thicket a Deadly Ambush…”] (8) [R The Texan #4] 10 (1/1955) Cover; Buckskin Belle: “Peril on the Prairie” (9) 11 (3/1955) Cover 12 (5/1955) Cover The Hawk 3-D (St. John) 1 (1953) Cover Heart Throbs (Quality Comics) 30 (9/1954) Cover 45 (10/1956) “Not Ready for Marriage” (6) [pencils only] 46 (12/1956) Cover [pencils only]; “The Face of My Dreams” (6) [pencils only] Hi-School Romance (Harvey) 75 (11/1958) “Second Best Beau” (6) [pencils only] Hi-School Romance Datebook (Harvey) 2 (1/1963) “Second Best Beau” (6) [pencils only – R Hi-School Romance #75]

Opening splash panel of “Second Best Beau” from Hi-School Romance #75. Hollywood Pictorial, a.k.a Hollywood Romances Pictorial (St. John) 3 (1/1950) “I Took the Road to Stardom Via Love” (10) Horror Tales (Eerie Publications) V4#1 (1/1972) “The Shelf of Skulls” (8) [pencils only – R Voodoo #1] Indians on the Warpath (St. John) nn (1950) Cover It Rhymes with Lust (Dark Horse Books) nn (3/2007) Cover [inks: Ray Osrin – R Picture Novels #nn]; “It Rhymes with Lust” (126) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Picture Novels #nn]; Back Cover [inks: Ray Osrin – R Picture Novels #nn] Jerry Iger’s Famous Features (Pacific Comics) 1 (7/1984) Flamingo: “The Face in the Golden Comb!” (8) [unpublished 1946 story]; Ace of the Newsreels: [“Very clever, Ling Ti”] (8) [R Crown Comics #6]; Wonder Boy: “The Amazing Plot of the Corpse That Never Died!” (10) [with Al Feldstein? – R Bomber Comics #4]

Jerry Iger’s Golden Features (Blackthorne) 1 (1986) Flamingo (10) [R Reformatted 2/11–3/22/1952 daily strips]; Flamingo (9) [Reformatted 3/23–4/28/1952 daily strips]; Ace of the Newsreels: Cameraman smashes atom bomb ring” (9) [with Jack Kamen? – R Crown Comics #5] 3 (6/1986) South Sea Girl: “The Thirsty Blade!” (7) [inks: David Heames? – R Seven Seas Comics #5] Jo-Jo Congo King (Fox Features) 25 (3/1949) Cover [Baker?] [NOTE: Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. thinks that this is not Baker but an Iger Studio artist swiping him] Journey Into Fear (Superior Publishers Ltd.) 1 (5/1951) “Preview of Chaos!” (9); “Was He Death-Proof?” (6) [Baker layouts with Alex Blum and David Heames finishes] Journey Into Mystery (Atlas/Marvel) 43 (2/1957) “The Invisible Woman” (4) 50 (1/1959) “The Green Fog!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] MEET MATT BAKER

Page 1 of “The Green Fog” from Marvel’s Journey into Mystery #50. Jumbo Comics (Fiction House) 69 (11/1944) Sheena: [“Queen Sheena has met and conquered many beasts…”] (12) [minor assists for Alex Blum and R. H. Webb]; Sky Girl: [“A cargo plane lands at Pacific Island…”] (6) [pencils only]; The Ghost Gallery: [“We Meet here at Miss White’s grave every…”] (9) [minor assists for Alex Blum] 70 (12/1944) Sky Girl [“Catches a Jap prisoner”] (6) 71 (1/1945) Sheena: [“The Serpent god speaks”] (12) [minor assists for R. H. Webb and Alex Blum]; Sky Girl: [“Ta ta, lieutenant! It was a perfect date…”] (6) 78

PART ONE

73 (3/1945) Sheena: [“Bob, I know you have many things to…”] (12) [minor assists for R. H. Webb]; Sky Girl: [“Travel posters have nothing on this palm fringed…”] (6) [pencils only] 74 (4/1945) Sky Girl: [“My laundry’s back after only four months! All…”] (6) [pencils only] 75 (5/1945) Sky Girl: [“So you were a make-up man in Hollywood?”] (6) 76 (6/1945) Sky Girl: [“Cheesecake and dogfights”] (6) 77 (7/1945) Sky Girl (6) 78 (8/1945) Sky Girl (6) 80 (10/1945) Sky Girl: “Ginger’s post-war plan” (6)

81 (11/1945) Sky Girl: [“Thanks for the hitch over Burma, Jeff!”] (6) 82 (12/1945) Sky Girl: [“The rescue of Mike Mahon”] (5) 83 (1/1946) Sky Girl: [“Ginger Maguire stumbles into a simply awful situation…”] (5) [pencils only] 84 (2/1946) Sky Girl (6) 85 (3/1946) Sky Girl: [“See the pretty dragon?…”] (7) [pencils only] 86 (4/1946) Sky Girl: [“Fighting the Japs left its mark…”] (6) 87 (5/1946) Sky Girl (6) [with Jack Kamen?] 88 (6/1946) Sky Girl: [“Hi, dream boy!”] (6) 89 (7/1946) Sky Girl: [“Yeah, glamour gal, Ace of Spades is comin’…”] (6) 90 (8/1946) Sky Girl: [“Once there was a kid who wanted to fly…”] (6) 91 (9/1946) Sky Girl: [“International Airlines has decided upon a beauty contest…] (6) 92 (10/1946) Sky Girl: [“Why does everything happen to Ginger?”] (6) 93 (11/1946) Sky Girl: [“Hey, guys, I have an afternoon free…”] (6) [pencils only] 94 (12/1946) Sky Girl: [“Ginge married! We don’t know how it will work…”] (6) 96 (2/1947) Sky Girl: [“The gasoline substitute”] (6) 97 (3/1947) Sky Girl: [“Once again, Ginge is riding high!”] (6) 98 (4/1947) Sky Girl (6) 99 (5/1947) Sky Girl: [“Ginge really has trouble”] (6) 100 (6/1947) Sky Girl: [“Fun for all! Cash for Some!”] (6) [inks: Al Feldstein?] 101 (7/1947) Sky Girl: [“Ginge wants to fly…”] (6) 102 (8/1947) Sky Girl: [“It’s long been Ginge’s ambition…”] (6) [pencils only] 103 (9/1947) Sky Girl: [“The moose mess”] (6) 104 (10/1947) Sky Girl: [“Po’ Ginge… She tries so desperately…”] (6) 105 (11/1947) Sky Girl: [“Poor Ginge! She dreams of flying high…”] (6) [inks: Al Feldstein?] 106 (12/1947) Sky Girl: [“Waitress who waits!”] (6) 107 (1/1948) Sky Girl: [“The parrot and the sky pirates”] (6) 108 (2/1948) Sky Girl: [“The adventure of J. Wellington Whiffenpoof ”] (6) 109 (3/1948) Sky Girl: [“Blood on the typewriter, by Etaoin Shrdlu”] (6) [with Jack Kamen?] 110 (4/1948) Sky Girl: [“Crunchy corn for the strength of a caveman”] (6) 111 (5/1948) Sky Girl: [“Raw courage was plentiful in these dear dim days…”] (6)

Pages 5 and 6 of “Camilla” from Jungle Comics #101. 112 (6/1948) Sky Girl: [“Seeking the perfect man?”] (6) 113 (7/1948) Sky Girl: [“Kitty Hawk?”] (6) 114 (8/1948) Sky Girl: [“The Milky Way is coming to Super City!”] (6) Jungle Adventures (Super) 14 (1964) Tiger Girl: “For the Life of a Tiger” (5) [R Fight Comics #36] Jungle Comics (Fiction House) 64 (4/1945) Wambi the Jungle Boy: [“Today I will look at my supplies… I…”] (8) [possible assists for Alex Blum] 65 (5/1945) Wambi the Jungle Boy: [“A terrible storm rips through the jungle…”] (8) [assists for R. H. Webb] 69 (9/1945) Camilla: [“Ho, what means this? The very ground…”] (6) 100 (4/1948) Camilla: [“Come you to the festival of B’togi, Camilla…”] (8) 101 (5/1948) Camilla: [“The attack had been swift, and N’Koli spears…”] (8) 102 (6/1948) Camilla: [“Thy lands are cursed! Jackals shall become giants…”] (8) 103 (7/1948) Camilla: [“The cave of Camilla

lay well-hidden, far below…”] (8) [pencils only] 104 (8/1948) Camilla: [“I’ll kill you, Camilla!”] (8) [pencils only] 105 (9/1948) Camilla: [“A crash of brush shatters the stillness of…”] (8) [pencils only] 106 (10/1948) Camilla: [“The crocodile rules the river – Once a terror…”] (8) [pencils only] 107 (11/1948) Camilla: “To the bloodcurdling shouts of the Masai, to the…”] (8) [pencils only] 108 (12/1948) Camilla: [“The gold shall bring thieves and killers to..”] (8) [pencils only] 109 (1/1949) Camilla: [“Strange was the brooding silence of the vast jungle…”] (8) [pencils only] 110 (2/1949) Camilla: [“Leave Not Your Village Gates Unguarded! The Jungle…”] (8) [pencils only] 111 (3/1949) Camilla: [“Many are the secrets locked within the towering jungle walls…”] (8) [pencils only] 112 (4/1949) Camilla: [“To Camilla’s jungle come many hunters – Some to…”] (8) [pencils only]

113 (5/1949) Camilla: [“Camilla, be so good as to guide my…”] (8) [layouts only] 115 (7/1949) Camilla: [“War! Jungle war! It was in the rustling..”] (8) [first four pages only are possibly by Baker] 159 (Sum 1953) Tiger Girl: [“She was the pale queen of a hidden temple...“] (5) [R Fight Comics] Jungle Comics (A-List) 2 (Fall 1997) South Sea Girl: “The Thirsty Blade!” (7) [inks: David Heames? – R Seven Seas Comics #5] Jungle Girls [Wild Side] (AC Comics) 4 (1992) Tiger Girl: (6) [R Fight Comics] 5 (1992) Tiger Girl: [“The twinkling light…” – Part One] (5 2/3) [Part R Fight Comics #105 with new splash page by Bill Black] 6 (1992) Camilla Wild Girl of the Congo!: [“Strange was the brooding silence of the vast jungle…”] (8) [pencils only – R Jungle Comics #109]; Tiger Girl [“A crash of brush shatters the stillness…” – Part MEET MATT BAKER

as I Am” (9) [pencils only]; “He Was Never Serious” (6) [pencils only]; “My Ideal Sweetheart” (7) [pencils only]; “Heartsick Engagement” (6) [pencils only] Love Letters (Quality Comics) 48 (6/1956) “No Room in His Heart for Me” (6) [pencils only] 49 (8/1956) “No Boy Could Date Me” (7) [pencils only] 50 (10/1956) “The Right Ring for Me” (7) [pencils only] 51 (12/1956) Cover [pencils only]

Opening splash panel of “A Daydream Romance” from Love Confessions #39. Two] (5) [R Fight Comics #105]; Tiger Girl: “Flee the Cobra Fury!” (10) [R Fight Comics #54] 7 (1992) Tiger Girl: [“Out of the murky past they came…”] (10) [R Fight Comics #39]; Camilla Wild Girl of the Congo!: [“Come you to the festival of B’togi, Camilla…”] (8) [R Jungle Comics #100 with new splash panel by Bill Black] 9 (1992) Camilla aka Wild Girl of the Congo [“A slime-smeared figure staggered…”] (8) [R Jungle Comics] 12 (1992) Tiger Girl: [“‘Loot! Loot!’ Boomed the battle din…”] (10) [R Fight Comics #58] 13 (1993) Tiger Girl: [“Talking drums pulsed an ominous message…”] (10) [R Fight Comics] 14 (1993) Camilla Wild Girl of the Congo! [“The gold shall bring thieves and killers to your village…”] (8) [pencils only – R Jungle Comics #108] Jungle Girls Retro Comics (AC Comics) 4 (1997) Camilla: “The Cursed Land!” (8) [R Jungle Comics #102] Kaänga Jungle King (Fiction House) 15 (Sum 1953) Camilla [“The crocodile 80

PART ONE

rules the river–Once a terror…”] (8) [R Jungle Comics # 106] Kid Cowboy (Ziff-Davis) 5 (Fall 1951) “The Lost Dutchman” (1) Lady Crime (AC Comics) 1 (1992) Cover [R Authentic Police Cases #33] Lassie (Golden Press) 11193 (1978) “Lassie and the Fiery Mountain” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin – R MGM’s Lassie #20]; “Lassie and the Concrete Jungle” (10) [inks: Ray Osrin – R MGM’s Lassie #20]; “Lassie and Down to Sea” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin – R MGM’s Lassie #20]; “Lassie Marooned” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin – R MGM’s Lassie #21]; Lassie “The Man Who Vanished” (10) [inks: Ray Osrin – R MGM’s Lassie #21]; Lassie “Treasure of Orinoco” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin – R MGM’s Lassie #21] Love Confessions (Quality Comics) 39 (10/1954) “A Daydream Romance” (7) [pencils only] 51 (5/1956) “My Secret Rival” (7) [pencils only] 53 (10/1956) “He Kept Me on the String” (6) [pencils only] 54 (12/1956) Cover [pencils only]; “Love Me

Love Romances (Atlas/Marvel) 45 (12/1954) “Heart and Soul” (5) 57 (4-5/1956) “You Belong to Me” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 72 (11/1957) “No Time for Love” (5) 75 (5/1958) “He’s Rough, but I Love Him!” (5) 77 (9/1958) “I Left My Heart on the Other Side of the Tracks! (5); “He was Here All the Time!” (4) 78 (11/1958) Cover [pencils only]; “First Date!” (5); “And One Was Beautiful!” (5) 79 (1/1959) “The Man for Me!” (7) 80 (3/1959) “When I Meet My Dream Man” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]; The Kind of Girl He’ll Marry!” (5) [Baker and/or Vince Colletta?] 82 (7/1959) Cover [pencils only]; “Better Late Than Never!” (5) [pencils only]; “His Lips… or None!” (5) [pencils only] 83 (9/1959) “Don’t Let Me Be an Old Maid!” (5); “Don’t Try to Tame Me!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 84 (11/1959) “We Both Loved Tony!” (5); “I Loved and Lost!” (5) 85 (1/1960) “The Man I Love!” (5) [Baker and/or Vince Colletta?] 90 (11/1960) “Happily Ever After” (1) [Splash page only – Baker and/or Dick Giordano?] 92 (3/1961) “I’ll Be Waiting” (2) [text story] 94 (7/1961) Cover [Baker pencils only?] Lovers (Atlas/Marvel) 65 (1/1955) “Falling in Love” (5) 71 (10/1955) “Paris in the Spring” (5) 73 (12/1955) “Too Loyal for Love” (5) 81 (10/1956) “My One and Only” (5) 85 (6/1957) “Last One Is an Old Maid” (4); “Going Steady” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 86 (8/1957) “High School Crush!” (5) Love Secrets (Quality Comics) 40 (9/1954) Cover 46 (10/1955) [Title?] 55 (10/1956) “Whom Shall I Marry?” (9) [pencils only] 56 (12/1956) Cover [pencils only]

March of Crime (Fox Features) nn (1949) Phantom Lady: “The Mystery of the Monkey Cult” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #17]; Phantom Lady [R Phantom Lady #20] Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel) 1 (2006) “I Fell to the Center of the Earth!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta – R Tales to Astonish #2] Men of Mystery Comics (AC Comics) 20 (2000) Cover [R Phantom Lady #18]; Phantom Lady: “The Subway Slayer!” (7) [with Jack Kamen and Iger Shop – R AllTop Comics #12]; Phantom Lady: “The Mystery of the Monkey Cult!” (7) [Baker and/or Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #17] 27 (2000) Phantom Lady: “A Shroud for the Bride!” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #14] 52 (2005) Mysta of the Moon: “Revolt on Planet Xanthia!” (8) [R Planet Comics #59] 82 (6/2010) Cover [R Phantom Lady #19]; Sky Girl: [“International Airlines has decided upon a beauty contest…] (6) [RJumbo Comics #91] 85 (2011) Cover [R Phantom Lady #13 – Inks: Al Feldstein?]; Sky Girl: [“It’s long been Ginge’s ambition…”] (6) [pencils only – R- Jumbo Comics #102]; Tiger Girl: “Flee the Cobra Fury!” (10) [RFight Comics #54] MGM’s Lassie (Dell Comics) 20 (1–2/1955) “Lassie and the Fiery Mountain” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Lassie and the Concrete Jungle” (10) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Lassie and Down to Sea” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin] 21 (3–4/1955) “Lassie Marooned” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin]; Lassie “The Man Who Vanished” (10) [inks: Ray Osrin]; Lassie “Treasure of Orinoco” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin] 22 (5–6/1955) Lassie: “The Flying Wolf ” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Lassie and the Isle of Adventure” (12) [inks: Ray Osrin]

Page 1 of “The Right Ring for Me” from Love Letters #50.

Midget Comics (St. John) 1 [Fighting Indian Stories] (1950) Cover

Movie Comics (Fiction House) 1 (12/1946) “A Man’s Pastime” (1) [Back cover] 2 (2/1947) Mitzi of the Movies: [“Yes, they write some fine stories in this fantastic…”] (9) [inks: Al Feldstein?] 3 (6/1947) Mitzi of the Movies: [“Movies, bah! How feeble are their piffling dramas…”] (8) [pencils only] 4 (10/1947) Mitzi in Hollywood (6) [pencils only]; “Slave Girl” (12) [pencils only]

Mopsy (St. John) ? (1952?) “Fighting Fire with Fire” (1) [text illustration] [NOTE: I have this in a coverless Mopsy issue–A.B.]

My Love (Marvel) 12 (7/1971) “Better Late Than Never!” (5) [R Love Romances #82] 26 (11/1973) “His Lips… or None!” (5) [R Love Romances #82]

My Love Story (Atlas/Marvel) 2 (6/1956) “Can’t Help Loving That Man” (4) 3 (8/1956) “A Kiss in the Dark” (4) 7 (4/1957) “When He Meets My Family” (5) My Own Romance (Atlas/Marvel) 47 (10/1955) “My Dearly Beloved” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 49 (12/1955) “Home Girl” (5) 56 (2–3/1957) “Another Girl’s Man” (4) 57 (4–5/1957) “The Man Who Can’t Be Mine!” (5) 59 (8–9/1957) “Two Different Worlds” (5) 60 (10–11/1957) “At My Age!” (5) 65 (8–9/1958) “I Met My Love Again!” (5) [Baker and/or Vince Colletta?] 66 (10–11/1958) “The Problem of Pamela Nelson!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] MEET MATT BAKER

(left) A panel from “Lassie and the Fiery Mountain” from MGM’s Lassie #20. (right) A text illustration from Mopsy. 67 (12/1958–1/1959) Cover [Baker? Pencils only?]; “When You Came Along” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]; “When a Dream Comes True!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 68 (2–3/1959) “She Walks in Beauty” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]; “I’ll Know Him When He Comes Along” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 69 (4–5/1959) “The Man for Mary Collins” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]; “Can a Shy Girl Find Romance?” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 70 (6–7/1959) “This Was My Honeymoon!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]; “Those Lonely Nights” (4) [inks: Vince Colletta]; “If Love Is Blind” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 71 (8–9/1959) “Don’t Ask Me to Marry You!” (5); “But… Do You Love Me?” (5) 72 (10–11/1959) “Don’t Break My Heart Again” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]; “Can’t You See I Love You!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 73 (1/1960) “I Gave up the Man I Love!” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] My Past Thrilling Confessions (Fox Features) 7 (8/1949) “I Thought It Was Love” (10) [Baker?] Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds (Charlton Comics) 12 (3/1959) “The Charm Bracelet” (5) [signed “Bakerino”, inks: Vince Colletta?] 14 (8/1959) “No. 9 Swanson St.” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] 15 (10/1959) “The Man Who Couldn’t Miss” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] Nightmare (St. John) 13 (8/1954) Cover 82

PART ONE

Northwest Mounties (Jubilee/St. John) 1 (10/1948) Rose o’ the Yukon (6) 2 (2/1949) Northwest Mounties: “Mounties Crack the Mystery of the Bullet Proof Blonde” (8) [pencils only] 3 (4/1949) “The Case of the Red Bearded Rogue” (7) [signed] 4 (7/1949) Cover [signed]; Northwest Mounties: “Dangerous Duty” (2) Our Love Story (Marvel) 12 (8/1971) “His Lips… or None!” (5) [R Love Romances #82] 14 (12/1971) “But… Do You Love Me?” (5) [R My Own Romance #71] 26 (12/1973) “Better Late Than Never!” (5) [R Love Romances #82] 29 (8/1974) “Don’t Ask Me to Marry You!” (5) [R My Own Romance #71] Outer Space (Charlton Comics) 21 (3/1959) “Blueprint for Survival” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] Outlaws – Western Crime Stories (D.S. Publishing) 2 (4–5/1948) “Men of the Badlands” (5) Out of This World (Charlton Comics) 14 (7/1959) “The Spymaster” (7) 15 (10/1959) “Xondu the Eternal” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] Phantom Lady (Fox Features) 13 (8/1947) Cover [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Phantom Lady: “The Beauty and the Brain” (12) [Alex Blum and Iger Shop with a few Baker touches]; Phantom Lady: [“An evil tree bears bitter fruit…”] (8) [pencils only – signed]

14 (10/1947) Phantom Lady: “Scoundrels and Scandal” (9) [inks: Al Feldstein/ Jack Kamen?]; Phantom Lady: “Condemned Venus” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches]; Phantom Lady: “A Shroud for the Bride” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes] 15 (12/1947) Cover [pencils only]; Phantom Lady: “An Army of Walking Dead” (12) [inks: Jack Kamen?]; Phantom Lady: “The World’s Meanest Crook” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes]; Phantom Lady: “The Red Rain” (7) [mostly Iger Shop] 16 (2/1948) Cover [Phantom Lady cameo insert only]; Phantom Lady: “The Avenging Skulls” (10) [mostly Iger Shop]; Phantom Lady: “The Monster in the Pool!” (11) [mostly R. H. Webb, John Forte, and Iger Shop] 17 (4/1948) Cover [inks: Al Feldstein?]; Phantom Lady: “The Soda Mint Killer” (10) [pencils only] 18 (6/1948) Cover; Phantom Lady: “Ghosts, Galleons and Gold” (10) [Baker and/ or Iger Shop]; Phantom Lady: “The Fat Connoisseur” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] 19 (8/1948) Cover; Phantom Lady: “Wine, Women and Sudden Death!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop]; Phantom Lady: “The Case of the Murderous Model!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] 20 (10/1948) Cover [Baker?]; Phantom Lady: “Bullets for Ballots!” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop]; Phantom Lady: “Ace of Spades” (10) [Baker and/or Iger Shop] [NOTE: According to Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., there is little or no Matt Baker art in

Phantom Lady #18–20. The very few panels that appear to be by him are most likely paste-ups or swipes by other Iger Studio artists] Phantom Lady (Verotik) nn (1994) Phantom Lady: “A Shroud for the Bride!” (10) [mostly R. H. Webb with Iger Shop and some Baker touches and swipes – R Phantom Lady #14]; Phantom Lady: “Condemned Venus” (10) [inks: Jack Kamen? – R Phantom Lady #14]; Phantom Lady: “The Red Rain” (7) [mostly Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #15]; Phantom Lady: “The Monster in the Pool!” (11) [mostly R. H. Webb, John Forte, and Iger Shop – R Phantom Lady #16]; Phantom Lady: “The Killer Clown!” (7) [with John Forte and Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #9]; Phantom Lady: “The Subway Slayer!” (7) [with Jack Kamen and Iger Shop – R All-Top Comics #12] The Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books (Gerber Publishing Co.) 1 (1989) Interior Covers [R All-Picture Adventure #1; All-Picture All-True Love Stories #1; All-True All-Picture Police Cases #1; Approved Comics #6, 9, 11, 12; Authentic Police Cases #6–20, 22–24, 27–29, 21–38; Canteen Kate #1–3; Cinderella Love #25, 29; Classic Comics #32; Crime Reporter #2, 3; Crown Comics #4–7; Fightin’ Marines #1–9; Giant Comics Editions #5, 6, 11, 12, 15; Indians on the Warpath #1; Jo-Jo Congo King #25 [Baker?] 2 (1990) Interior Covers [R Amazing Ghost Stories #13–16; Diary Secrets #10–13; Going Steady #10–13; Northwest Mounties #4; Phantom Lady #15–19; Pictorial Confessions #1; Pictorial Love Stories #1; Pictorial Romances #5, 6, 8–17, 19; Picture Novels #nn; Romance and Confession Stories #1; Seven Seas Comics #3–6; TeenAge Romances #1–3, 9, 10, 12–25, 32– 37, 42; Teen-Age Temptations #1–9; The Texan #3–11; 3-D The Hawk #1; True Love Pictorial #2–11; Wartime Romances #1–18; Wild Boy of the Congo #12, 15; Zoot Comics #24 [Baker?]; Zago Jungle Prince #4 [Baker?]] Pictorial Confessions (St. John) 1 (9/1949) Cover; “I Threw My Reputation on a Worthless Love” (9½) [inks: Chuck Miller]; “I Talked Myself into Love Troubles” (6); “Two-Timing Taught Me to Love” (7½)

Page 1 of “The Avenging Skulls” from Phantom Lady #16. 2 (10/1949) “I Tried to Be a Hollywood Glamour Girl” (10); “My Strange Complex” (9) [inks: Chuck Miller]; “Hope Chest Calamity” (4) [NOTE: Variant edition with contents of Hollywood Confessions #1 known to exist] 3 (11/1949) Cover [part]; “They Caught Me Cheating at Love” (7); “I Played at Love” (8) [NOTE: Continued as Pictorial Romances] Pictorial Love Stories (St. John) 1 (10/1952) Cover; “A New Routine” (8) [Baker?] Pictorial Romances (St. John) 4 (1/1950) “Glamour Was My Weakness” (7)

5 (1/1951) Cover; “Glamour Was My Weakness” (7) [R Pictorial Romances #4] 6 (3/1951) Cover [signed]; “Men Offered Me Stardom—If I Would Pay Their Price” (7) [R “I Was a Broadway Casualty” from Blue Ribbon Comics #5 with title change] 7 (5/1951) Cover [signed]; “Fast Company” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “I Tempted the Wrong Boy” (8) [inks: Chuck Miller? – R “I Set a Trap for a Wolf—But Snared Myself Instead” from Blue Ribbon Comics #4 with title change] 8 (7/1951) Cover; “I Made a Sinful Bargain” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “I Stole Boyfriends” (7½) [inks: Chuck Miller? – R “Breaking Hearts Was My Hobby” from Teen-Age Diary Secrets #4 with title change] MEET MATT BAKER

9 (9/1951) Cover [signed]; “Dishonest Love” (8); Double-Purpose Date” (1); “The Road to Ruin” (9½) [R “I Threw Away My Reputation on a Worthless Love” from Pictorial Confessions #1 with title change] 10 (11/1951) Cover [signed]; “I Was ‘The Other Woman’” (9); “I Bought Favors with Kisses” (10) [R “I Took the Road to Stardom Via Love” from Hollywood Confessions #2 with title change]; “Dishonest Maid of Honor” (4) [R “Hope Chest Calamity” from Pictorial Confessions #2 with title change]; “I Wanted New Experiences” (7½) [R “Two-Timing Taught Me to Love” from Pictorial Confessions #1 with title change] 11 (1/1952) Cover [signed]; “The Worst Mistake a Wife Can Make” (11); “Crazy for Love” (6) [R “I Liked Older Men” from Teen-Age Diary Secrets #5 with title change]; “Playgirl at Work” (7) [R “They Caught Me Cheating at Love” from Pictorial Confessions #3 with title change] 12 (3/1952) Cover [signed]; “Love Urchin” (8); “Turbulent Love” (10) [Splash page only by Baker, rest by Chuck Miller?]; “Party Wife” (6) 13 (5/1952) Cover; “Truant Wife” (8) [pen84

PART ONE

cils only]; “They Said I Was a Bad Influence” (7) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7 – Originally in digest size, relaid out for standard page size] 14 (7/1952) Cover; “Decoy Girl” (7) [Baker?] 15 (9/1952) Cover; “Twice Guilty” (9) 16 (11/1952) Cover; “Love Me… Love My Boss” (7); “Too Impatient for Love” (5) [inks: “Tal”?]; “Coal Town Girl” (5) 17 (1/1953) Cover; “Sharecropper’s Daughter” (8); “Strange Relationship” (8); “Love Demon” (7); “They Caught Me Cheating at Love” (7) [R Pictorial Confessions #3]; “I Played at Love” (8) [R Pictorial Confessions #3]; “Black-Balled” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin] 18 (3/1953) Cover; “My Hidden Past” (17); “A Will of My Own” (8); “I Loved a Goddess” (8) 19 (5/1953) Cover; “Elopement Hid Our Sins” (16) [inks: Mike Peppe?]; “I Was a Toy of Love” (12) [NOTE: Variant edition with contents of Wartime Romances #10, 11 and Pictorial Romances #10 exists] 20 (7/1953) Cover; “Roadhouse Sparrow” (16) [Baker and/or Ric Estrada?] 21 (9/1953) Cover; “A Lesson for Bored Wives” (7)

22 (11/1953) Cover; “What My Husband Didn’t Know” (10) 23 (1/1954) Cover; “Menace to Marriage” (16) [inks: Mike Peppe?]; “Love-Starved” [text story with Baker illustrations] 24 (3/1954) Cover; “I Hired a Gigolo” (8) Picture Novels (St. John) nn (1950) Cover [inks: Ray Osrin]; “It Rhymes with Lust” (126) [inks: Ray Osrin]; Back Cover [inks: Ray Osrin] Planet Comics (Fiction House) 53 (3/1948) Mysta of the Moon: [Alone in the Mist-Shrouded Moon Lab, Bron Heard…”] (8) 54 (5/1948) Mysta of the Moon: [“That Mighty Bulwark – the Science Council…”] (8) 55 (7/1948) Mysta of the Moon: [“Shakeup in the Safety Council! Rip Out the…”] (8) 56 (9/1948) Mysta of the Moon: [“Warning! Safety Council Take Heed! Mysterious Blips…”] (5) 57 (11/1948) Mysta of the Moon: [“Notice! Changeling Mutants from Planets of Outer Void”] (7½)

58 (1/1949) Mysta of the Moon: [“Paldnor—Prison Planet of the Universe— Was a…”] (8) 59 (3/1949) Mysta of the Moon: “Revolt on Planet Xanthia” (8) [NOTE: inks by Ray Osrin et al.] Planet Comics (A-List) 5 (1998) Kid Kane: “Youse is in the red for two hundred berries, palsy!” (5) [with Jack Kamen? – R Atomic Comics #2] Pulp Fiction (A-List) 2 (Sum 1997) Inspector Dayton: “The Case of Measles and Murder!” (8) [R Atomic Comics #3]; Flamingo (7) [R Reformatted 5/6–5/29/1952 daily strips] 3 (Win 1997) Flamingo: “The Face in the Golden Comb!” (8) [R Jerry Iger’s Famous Features #1] 6 (1998) Tugboat Tessie: [“Slap that paint on faster, Melody…”] (6) [minor assists on Alex Blum – R Seven Seas Comics #1] Quick-Trigger Western (Atlas/Marvel) 12 (5/1956) “The Man Who Wouldn’t Fight” (6) 13 (7/1956) “The Wild One” (5) 18 (7/1957) “Trail of the Owlhoot!” (5) Rangers Comics (Fiction House) 36 (8/1947) Glory Forbes: [“You don’t think mink coats have a seamy…”] (6) [pencils only] 37 (10/1947) Glory Forbes: [“M’deah, Mrs. Plush Bilt’s ball is positively…”] (6) [pencils only] 43 (10/1948) Glory Forbes: “Miss Glory Forbes – Deeply concerned by…”] (6) [Baker and/or John Forte pencils?] 45 (2/1949) Glory Forbes: The Pan-American Games (6) [Baker and/or John Forte pencils?; inks: Ray Osrin?]

Page 5 of “The Man Who Wouldn’t Fight” from Quick-Trigger Western #12.

Record Book of Famous Police Cases (St. John) nn (1949) Cover

4 (8/1956) “Sir Guy’s Worst Fate” (4) [pencils only] 5 (10/1956) “The Miser’s Secret” (4) [pencils only] 6 (12/1956) “Sir Darton’s Deal with Doom” (4) [pencils only] [NOTE: These are not Robin Hood stories, but a series of filler stories]

Romance Stories of True Love (Harvey Publications) 50 (3/1958) “Roving Eyes” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta et al] 51 (9/1958) “His Face Before Me” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] 52 (11/1958) “Walk Out Smiling” (5) [inks: Angelo Torres]

Robin Hood Tales (Quality Comics) 2 (4/1956) “Saracen Ambush” (4) [pencils only] 3 (6/1956) “The Rescue of King Richard” (4) [pencils only]

Romance and Confession Stories (St. John) [Note: 100-page rebound collection of three coverless regular 10¢ comics. Contents vary] 1 (c.1949) Cover; [Titles?]

Romance Without Tears (Fantagraphics Books) nn (11/2003) Cover [R Teen-Age Temptations #9]; “I Set a Trap for a Wolf—But Snared Myself Instead!” (8) [inks: Chuck Miller? – R Blue Ribbon Comics #4]; “Allergic to

Real Life Comics (Standard) 45 (8/1948) “Hardscrabble, Cal. – How It Got Its Name” (1)

MEET MATT BAKER

Love” (1) [R Teen-Age Romances #22]; “I Played Kiss and Run” (8) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #6]; “I Tried to Buy Love—with Kisses” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin – Teen-Age Romances #16]; “Love Is Born” (3) [text story – R Teen-Age Romances #5]; Interior Covers [R Cinderella Love #25, 26; TeenAge Romances #10, 14, 25, 31, 33, 34, 37, 38, 42, 43; True Love Pictorial #5, 7; Diary Secrets #11, 13–15, 18, 21, 24; Teen-Age Temptations #2, 4; Pictorial Romances #18, 21, 22; Wartime Romances #10; All-Picture All-True Love Story #1; Romantic Marriage

#23; Going Steady #10]; “Tourist Cabin Escapade” (8) [R Teen-Age Temptations #1]; “Thrill Seekers’ Weekend” (6) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #37]; “Elopement Hid Our Sins” (16) [inks: Mike Peppe? – R Pictorial Romances #19]; “Afraid to Be Married” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin – R True Love Pictorial #10]; “Masquerade Marriage” (9) [R Teen-Age Temptations #8] Romantic Marriage (St. John) 23 (7/1954) Cover 24 (9/1954) Cover

Romantic Secrets (Charlton) 19 (1/1959) Cover [inks: Vince Colletta] Rulah Jungle Goddess (Fox Features) 24 (3/1949) Cover [Baker?] [NOTE: Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. thinks that this is not Baker but an Iger Studio artist swiping him] Secrets of Young Brides (Charlton Comics) 13 (4/1959) “End of the Story” (10) [inks: Vince Colletta] Secrets of True Love (St. John) 1 (2/1958) Cover [inventory, probably drawn in 1954] Secret Story Romances (Atlas/Marvel) 19 (1/1956) “When Mother Says No!” (4) 20 (2/1955) “My Own True Love!” (5) Seduction of the Innocent 3-D (Eclipse) 2 (4/1986) “Was He Death-Proof?” (6) [Baker layouts with Alex Blum and David Heames finishes – R Journey into Fear #1] Select Detective (D.S. Publishing) 1 (8-9/1948) “Don Stancy… Detective” (8) 2 (10-11/1948) “Murder on the Air” (6) Seven Seas Comics (Universal Phoenix Features/Leader Enterprises) 1 (4/1946) Tugboat Tessie: [“Slap that paint on faster, Melody…”] (6) [minor assists on Alex Blum]; South Sea Girl: [“Above a volcano floor…”] (9) 2 (6/1946) South Sea Girl: [“What stranger place to have a wedding than in the musty corridors of Wandsworth Museum…”] (8) 3 (8/1946) Cover; South Sea Girl: [“It is the time of the equinox…”] (6) 4 (10/1946) Cover; South Sea Girl: “Murder Goes Native” (7) 5 (1947) Cover [Baker?]; South Sea Girl: “The Thirsty Blade!” (7) [inks: David Heames?] 6 (1947) Cover [Baker?]; South Sea Girl: “Echoes of an A-Bomb!” (7)

Original art from “His Face before Me” from Romance Stories of True Love #51. 86

PART ONE

Sky Gal (AC Comics) 1 (1993) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Blood on the Typewriter!” (6) [with Jack Kamen? – R Jumbo Comics #109]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Indian Nut in the Air!” (6) [R Jumbo Comics]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl:

“The Sheik of Air-O-Bee!” (6) [R Jumbo Comics #99] 2 (1994) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Antlers in the Air!” (6) [R Jumbo Comics]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Monkey Shines!” (5) [R Jumbo Comics #82]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Hot Air Heroine!” (6) [R Jumbo Comics #93]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Who’s Lion Now?” (6) [R Jumbo Comics #105] 3 (1994) Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “The Kidnap Kaper!” (6) [R Jumbo Comics #115]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “Bombs over Burma!” (5) [R Jumbo Comics #83]; Sky Gal a.k.a. Sky Girl: “The Hapless Heiress!” (6) [R Jumbo Comics] Space War Classics (ACG) 1 (1998) “Abandon Spaceship” [inks: Vince Colletta – R from unknown Charlton comic] Spicy Tales (Eternity Comics) 2 (4/1989) South Sea Girl: “Echoes of an A-Bomb!” (7) [R Seven Seas Comics #6] Stories of Romance (Atlas/Marvel) 5 (2-3/1956) “Secret Love!” (4) 11 (3-4/1957) “I’m Sorry, My Darling” (5) [pencils only] 13 (7-8/1957) “They Called Me… Boy Stealer” (5) Strange Fantasy (Ajax/Farrell) 2 [1] (8/1952) “Captain Who Wouldn’t Die” (?) Strange Mysteries (Superior/Dynamic) 19 (1954) “Preview of Chaos!” (9) [R Journey into Fear #1]; “Was He Death-Proof?” (6) [Baker layouts with Alex Blum and David Heames finishes – R Journey into Fear #1] Strange Suspense Stories (Charlton Comics) 45 (1/1960) “Batu’s Treasure” (9) [inks: Vince Colletta] 47 (5/1960) “Redemption by Robots” (8) [inks: Vince Colletta] Strange Tales (Atlas/Marvel) 58 (5/1957) “The Secret of the Black Tube” (4) Suspense (Atlas/Marvel) 1 (12/1949) “The Graveyard Ghouls” (8) Sweetheart Diary (Charlton Comics) 49 (11/1959) “Without Warning” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta]

Page 7 of “Redemption by Robots” from Strange Suspense Stories #47. Tales from the Tomb (Eerie) V1#6 (1969) Pulah (8) [R South Sea Girl story from Seven Seas Comics, with new splash panel and altered dialogues. Same as Weird Worlds V2#1] Tales of Justice (Atlas/Marvel) 66 (6/1957) “Aftermath!” (5) Tales of the Mysterious Traveler (Charlton Comics) 12(4/1959) “Satisfied Customers” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta] 13 (6/1959) “Time Waits for No Man” (8) [Signed “Matt Bakerino” – inks: Vince

Colletta?] Tales of Voodoo (Eerie Publications) V2#2 (5/1969) “Drums of Doom” (7) [R Seven Seas Comics #?] Tales to Astonish (Atlas/Marvel) 2 (3/1959) “I Fell to the Center of the Earth!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] Teen-Age Diary Secrets (St. John) 4 (9/1949) “I Was Tired of Being Good” (8); “Breaking Hearts Was My Hobby” (7½) nn [5] (9/1949) “I Liked Older Men” (6) MEET MATT BAKER

The opening splash page of “Asking for Trouble” from Teen-Age Romances #34. 6 (10/1949) “I Played Kiss and Run” (8); “My Wrong Approach for Romance” (8) 7 (11/1949) “They Said I Was a Bad Influence” (14); “My Secret Romance” (11) [with Chuck Miller?]; “Too Busy for Kisses” (6); “Pride Made Me Love Blind” (16); “I Tried the ‘Easy Way’” (14) 8 (2/1950) “I Was Torn within Two Loves” (10) [Splash only by Baker? Rest by Chuck Miller?]; “Second-Hand Sweetheart” (8) [Baker?] 9 (8/1950) Cover [blow-up of interior panel]“They Said I Was a Bad Influence” (14) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7]; “My Secret Romance” (11) [with Chuck Mill88

PART ONE

er? – R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7]; “Too Busy for Kisses” (6) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7]; “Pride Made Me Love Blind” (16) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7]; “I Tried the ‘Easy Way’” (14) [R Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7] [NOTE: #7 is digest-sized; continued as Diary Secrets] Teen-Age Romances (St. John) 1 (1/1949) Cover; “They Called Me a Wayward Girl” (8) 2 (4/1949) Cover; “I Dared to Kiss and Tell” (7); “How Could I Fight Temptation?” (5); “I Took the Wrong Road to Romance” (8)

3 (7/1949) Cover; “I Didn’t Want a Stepfather” (6); “I Was Afraid to Fall in Love” (8); “Stand-in for Scandal” (2) [text story]; “Spitework Was My Folly” (6) 4 (8/1949) “They Called Me a Love Thief ” (7½) [inks: Lily Renée?]; “Phony Love Affair” (2) [text story]; “”I Couldn’t Give Up My Secret Love” (10) 5 (9/1949) “I was a Hollywood Cinderella” (10); “My One Little Mistake” (9); “Love Is Born” (3) [inks: Chuck Miller? – text story] 6 (10/1949) “Rx for a Broken Heart” (8); “Was I a Fool to Go On Loving Him?” (8) 7 (11/1949) “I Ran Away from Home” (8) 8 (2/1950) “Railroaded into Romance” (13) [inks: Chuck Miller?]; “I Was Love-Shy” (7); “Don’t Cry, Baby!” (2) [Text Story]; “I Tried to Lead a Double Life” (8) 9 (4/1950) Cover; “Love or Pride?” (7); “The Temptation I Couldn’t Resist” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “A Date with a Wolf ” (2) [Text Story] 10 (6/1950) Cover; “Hobbles on My Heart” (2) [Text Story]; “Reckless Love Almost Ruined” (6) 11 (8/1950) Cover; “Could I Live Down My Past?” (5) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “I Had a Love Debt” (7); “Our First Date Became a Campus Scandal” (2) [Text Story] 12 (10/1950) Cover; “Wild Desires Made Me Love Blind” (9); “I Was Fooled by First Love” (8) [R “I Took the Wrong Road to Romance” from Teen-Age Romances #2 with title and characters’ names changed] 13 (12/1950) Cover; “I Was Too ‘Fast’ for Love” (9); “I Wanted Too Much Love” (7); “I Played with Fire” (9) [inks: Chuck Miller – R “My Strange Complex” from Pictorial Romances” #2 with title change]; “My First Mistake” (7) 14 (2/1951) Cover; “I Tried to Win Love with Lies” (8); “Caught!” (7); “My Blind Date Wanted Thrills” (3) [inks: Ray Osrin] 15 (4/1951) Cover; “I Was an Army Camp Pick-Up” (8); “I Ran Away From Shame” (8); “I Made a Game of Love” (8) [R “I Played at Love” from Pictorial Romances #3 with title change]; “Spitefulness Robbed Me of Romance” (8) 16 (6/1951) Cover; “How I Found Romance” (2) [Text Story]; “I Was Scared by Love!” (6); “I Was a Cheat” (8); “What Is Love?” (3); “I Tried to Buy Love–with Kisses” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Forbidden Fruit” (8) 17 (6/1951) Cover; “My Dates Were Phony” (6); “I Deserted My Ideals for an Easy

Life” (8½) [R “I Tried to Make Love Pay Dividends” from Blue Ribbon Comics #5 with title change]; “Secret Love Made Me an Exile” (7); “I Was Hurt by Love!” (3); “I Outgrew My First Love” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin] 18 (10/1951) Cover; “I Misbehaved” (8); “I Scorned Love” (6); “I Carried Things Too Far” (8) [R “I Was Tired of Being Good” from Teen-Age Diary Secrets #4 with title change]; “ I Played Hard-toGet” (2); “Deceitful!” (8) 19 (12/1951) Cover; “Jealousy Made Me a Liar!” (2); “I was Always ‘On the Make’” (7); “I Was an Opportunist” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “They Whispered ‘Shameless!’” (6); “Window Shopping for Love” (3); “I Betrayed My Sweetheart” (7) 20 (2/1952) Cover; “Confessions of a Farm Girl” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “I Was a Love Gypsy” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Too Many Sweethearts” (1½) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “My Dangerous Pastime” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin] 21 (4/1952) “Small-Town Bombshell” (7); “I Learned My Lesson… the Hard Way!” (6) [R “I Talked Myself into Love Troubles” from Pictorial Confessions #1 with title change]; “Not Strictly Business” (4½); “Tri-

al Romance” (6); “Pitfalls of Jealousy” (8) 22 (6/1952) Cover; “I Stole My Sister’s Boyfriend” (7); “Allergic to Love” (1); “I Went Wild in Paris” (8); “Wrong-Way Romance” (7½); “My Shameful Secret” (7) 23 (8/1952) Cover; “I Ran Away with a Truckdriver” (9); “Weekend Paradise” (7) 24 (8/15/1952) Cover; “From Waitress to Model” (9); “I Learned My Lesson” (1) 25 (9/1952) Cover; “I Was a Child Bride” (8); “Caught in a Triangle at a Resort Hotel” (3) [R “Too Busy for Kisses” from Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7 with title and layout changes] 26 (10/1952) Cover; “I Spread Rumors” (1); “I Was a Willy-Nilly Filly” (8) [R “Pride Made Me Love Blind” from TeenAge Diary Secrets #7 with title and layout changes]; “Man Crazy” (6) 27 (11/1952) Cover; “Love or Money” (10) 31 (5/1953) Cover 32 (7/1953) Cover 33 (9/1953) Cover; “Forced to Marry Me” (9) 34 (11/1953) Cover; “Asking for Trouble” (14) [inks: Mike Peppe?]; “Let the Stars Guide You” (1) [ad page illustration] 35 (1/1954) Cover; “Good-Bye Innocence” (16) [inks: Mike Peppe?]

36 (3/1954) Cover; “Never Trust a Stranger” (7) [with Bill Ely?]; “Love’s Bad Girl” (7) 37 (5/1954) Cover; “Thrill Seekers’ Weekend” (6) [inks: Brownell?]; “Wrong Side of the Tracks” (8); “Batchelor Girl’s Secret” (6); “His Kiss Was Sweet Poison” (7) 38 (7/1954) Cover; “I Threw Away My Reputation on a Worthless Love” (9½) [R Pictorial Confessions #1]; “I Talked Myself into Love Troubles” (6) [R Pictorial Confessions #1]; “Two-Timing Taught Me to Love” (7½) [R Pictorial Confessions #1] 39 (9/1954) Cover; “I Made a Sinful Bargain” (8) [R Pictorial Romances #8]; “I Stole Boyfriends” (7½) [R “Breaking Hearts Was My Hobby” from Teen-Age Diary Secrets #4 with title change] 40 (11/1954) Cover; “I Was a Toy of Love” (12) [R Pictorial Romances #19] 41 (1/1955) Cover 42 (3/1955) Cover 43 (5/1955) Cover; “Love Challenge” (8) [R “Was I a Fool to Go on Loving Him?” from Teen-Age Romances #6 with title change]; “Breaking All the Rules” [R “Rx for a Broken Heart” from Teen-Age Romances #6 with title change] MEET MATT BAKER

a Trap for a Wolf—But Snared Myself Instead!” from Blue Ribbon Comics #4 with title change] [NOTE: Continued as Going Steady] Teen Angst – A Treasury of ’50s Romance (Malibu Graphics) 1 (1990) “I Was a Love Gypsy” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #20]; “Fast Company” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Temptations #9]; “Lovelife of an Army Nurse” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Wartime Romances #1]; “MakeBelieve Marriage” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Wartime Romances #1]; “Confessions of a Farm Girl” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #20] Telpic Book of Cartoons (Tel-Pic Sales, Inc.) nn (1945) Cover; Ato McBomb (?) [text/ illustration story] [NOTE: This comic was probably never published] Terror Tales (Eerie Publications) V1#8 (1969) “The Shelf of Skulls” (8) [pencils only – R Voodoo #1]

44 (8/1955) Cover; “I Had to Live and Learn” (8) [R “I Was a Child Bride” from Teen-Age Romances #25 with title change]; “Caught in a Triangle at a Resort Hotel” (3) [R “Too Busy for Kisses” from Teen-Age Diary Secrets #7 with title and layout changes] 45 (12/1955) Cover; “Love Me… Love My Boss” (7) [R Pictorial Romances #16]; “I Scorned Love” (6) [R Teen-Age Romances #18]; “I Played Hard-to-Get” (2) [R Teen-Age Romances #18]; “Coal Town Girl” (5) [R Pictorial Romances #16] Teen-Age Temptations (St. John) 1 (10/1952) Cover [signed]; “Tourist Cabin Escapade” (8) 90

PART ONE

2 (6/1953) Cover 3 (8/1953) Cover; “Without a Conscience” (8) 4 (10/1953) Cover; “Beware, My Heart!” (6) [Baker?] 5 (12/1953) Cover; “Love Can’t Be Dishonest” (1) 6 (2/1954) Cover; “My Name Was Caroline Gray” (8) 7 (4/1954) Cover; “I Married a Bigamist” (9); “No Hiding Place” (9) 8 (6/1954) Cover; “Fool’s Paradise” (9); “Masquerade Marriage” (9); “The Price of Sinful Dates” (7) [Baker? Inks: Edd Ashe?] 9 (8/1954) Cover; “Fast Company” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “I Tempted the Wrong Boy!” (8) [inks: Chuck Miller? – R “I Set

The Texan (St. John) 4 (5/1949) Cover; Buckskin Belle: [“Behind the slinking shadows that made every thicket a deadly ambush…”] (8) [pencils only] 5 (8/1949) Cover; Buckskin Belle: “Peril on the Prairie” (9) [pencils only] 6 (11/1949) Cover 7 (4/1950) Cover; Spotted Bear: “Comanche Justice Strikes at Midnight” (10) [inks: Ray Osrin] 8 (6/1950) Cover [signed]; “Scalp Hunters Hide Their Tracks” (10) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “The Renegades’ Last Raid” (6) [pencils only] 9 (8/1950) Cover 11 (12/1950) Cover; Hawk Knife: “Bad Blood Brews a Massacre” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin]; The Texan: [“The Texas sunlight was blood-stained…”] (8); Cheyenne Joe: “The Ruse of the Snake River Raiders” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin] 12 (3/1951) “Hawk Knife: “Scalp Fever Strikes the Sioux” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin]; Cheyenne Joe: [“Grim reports of midnight massacres reached Fort Bison”] (8); Prairie Guns: “Trail of the Longhorns” (12) 13 (5/1951) Cover; Hawk Knife: “Thunder Drowns the War Drums” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Curse of the Thunder God” (2);

Prairie Guns: “The Bar-O Outfit” (6); Prairie Guns: “Abilene–City of Sin” (8) 14 (7/1951) Cover; Hawk Knife: “Ambush at Buffalo Trail” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “Comanche Courage Strikes Back” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin]; Prairie Guns: “Death’s Roundup” (16) 15 (10/1951) Cover; Hawk Knife: “Twirling Blades Tame Treachery” (8½) [NOTE: Upsize art on all installments of “Prairie Guns.” This was probably supposed to be a digest-sized graphic novel like It Rhymes with Lust] Thrilling Planet Tales (Paragon Publications) 1 (1991) Mysta of the Moon: [“Alone in the mist-shrouded Moon lab…”] (8) [R Planet Comics #53] Thrilling Science Fiction (Paragon Publications) 1 (1998) Mysta of the Moon: [“Alone in the mist-shrouded Moon lab…”] (8) [R Planet Comics #53] Torrid Affairs (Eternity Comics) 1 (12/1988) “I Was a Love Gypsy” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #20]; “Fast Company” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Temptations #9] 2 (2/1989) “My Dangerous Pastime” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #20]; “I Tempted the Wrong Boy!” (8) [R Teen-Age Temptations #9]; “Too Many Sweethearts” (1½) [R Teen-Age Romances #20] 3 (5/1989) “I Tried to Burn the Candle at Both Ends!” (7) [R Wartime Romances #1]; “Lovelife of an Army Nurse” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Wartime Romances #1]; “Confessions of a Farm Girl” (8) [inks: Ray Osrin – R Teen-Age Romances #20] 4 (7/1989) “Make-Believe Marriage” (9) [R Wartime Romances #1] 5 (8/1989) “I Learned the Secret of Love” (6½) [R Wartime Romances #1] True Bride-to-Be Romances (Harvey) 29 (9/1958) “Too Late to Marry” (6) [Baker pencils only on intro. page]; “Sweet Young Thing” (5) [inks: Fred Kida?] 30 (11/1958) “Forget Me Not” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] True Crime Cases [From Official Police Files] (St. John) nn (1954) Cover [NOTE: This comic is mistakenly dated 1944]

Page 1 of “Sweet Young Thing” from True Bride-to-Be Romances #29. True Love Pictorial (St. John) 2 (2/1953) Cover; “Giant City Versus Elaine Trent” (6); “Girl of Deceit” (1) [Baker?] 3 (4/1953) Cover; “The Sisters” (10); “Romance by Blackmail” (8); “Trouble’s Daughter” (8) 4 (6/1953) Cover; “Rough Road to Happiness” (10); “The Love I Wanted Always” (12); “My Jealousy Went Too Far” (9); “Glamor Preferred” (10) 5 (8/1953) Cover; “Party Girl” (11) 6 (10/1953) Cover; “My Husband Asked

for a Divorce” (7) 7 (12/1953) Cover; “Third Finger Left Hand” (9) 8 (2/1954) Cover; “Prescription for Hope!” (7) [inks: Mike Peppe?] 9 (3/1954) Cover 10 (6/1954) Cover; “Afraid to Be Married” (7) [inks: Ray Osrin] 11 (8/1954) Cover; “Men Offered Me Stardom—If I Would Pay Their Price” (7) [R “I Was a Broadway Casualty” from Blue Ribbon Comics #5 with title change] MEET MATT BAKER

Opening splash panel of “The Guilty Greenbacks” from Whodunit? #1. True Secrets Comics (Atlas/Marvel) 34 (11/1955) “The Man I Love!” (5) 36 (1/1956) “No Date for the Dance” (5) 37 (3/1956) “I’ll Always Love You!” (6) 38 (5/1956) “Worth Waiting for” (5) True Tales of Love (Atlas/Marvel) 22 (4/1956) “No Regrets” (4) Two-Gun Kid (Atlas/Marvel) 47 (1959) Two-Gun Kid: “The Sheriff Had a Son!” (7); “The End of the Two-Gun Kid!” (7); “Draw! Or Turn Tail!” (4) Two-Gun Western (Atlas/Marvel) 6 (9/1956) “His Father’s Son” (5) Unusual Tales (Charlton Comics) 20 (1/1960) “The Incredible Advice” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta] Vooda (Ajax/Farrell) 20 (4/1955) Vooda Jungle Princess: “Echoes of an A-Bomb!” (7) [R South Sea Girl from Seven Seas Comics #6 with dialogue changes] 21 (1955) Vooda Jungle Princess: [R South Sea Girl from Seven Seas Comics #4 with dialogue changes] 22 (1955) Vooda Jungle Princess: “The Sun 92

PART ONE

Blew Away” (6) [R South Sea Girl: “It Is the time of the equinox…” from Seven Seas Comics #3 with dialogue changes] [NOTE: All three of these “Vooda” a.k.a. “South Seas Girl” reprints also have major reworks to the art to see print under the Comics Code. Weapons are removed or changed, dresses extended and midriffs covered. There is even a gender change from a woman to a man of the villain in #22.] Voodoo (Ajax/Farrell) 1 (4/1952) “The Shelf of Skulls” (8) [pencils only] 2 (7/1952) South Sea Girl: “Horror in the Hills” (8) [R “What stranger place to have a wedding…” from Seven Seas Comics #2 with title change] 4 (11/1952) South Sea Girl: “Drums of Doom” (7) [mostly Iger Shop Baker clones] Wartime Romances (St. John) 1 (7/1951) Cover; “Lovelife of an Army Nurse” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin]; “I Tried to Burn the Candle at Both Ends!” (7) [R “I Should Have Played Hard-to-Get” from Blue Ribbon Comics #4 with title change]; “Make-Believe Marriage” (9) [inks: Ray Osrin]

2 (9/1951) Cover; “Off Duty and Out of Bounds” (9); “No Rules for Me” (7); “I Was a Medal Chaser” (8) 3 (11/1951) Cover; “One Lonely Evening… And the Trouble Started” (8); “Disloyal Love” (9); “One Love Too Many” (7); “I Was Soldier-Bait!” (8) 4 (1/1952) Cover; “The True Love of a War Correspondent” (8); “Road to Disgrace” (6); “I Was the Roving Kind” (7); “I Made False Promises” (2½); “I Plunged Into Trouble” (8) 5 (3/1952) Cover; “Missing in Action” (1); “I Was a Soldier’s Pickup” (8); Whirlwind Romance” (6); “Anything for Money” (7½) 6 (5/1952) Cover; “Escapades of a Navy Life” (9); “Camouflaged Heart” (7½); “Engagement for Profit” (7) 7 (7/1952) Cover; “Sweethearts for Convenience” (8) [inks: John Baker?]; “Deserter Wife” (6); “Love Diary of a G-Girl Overseas” (8) 8 (8/1952) Cover; “Confessions of an Army Wife” (9); “No One Wanted Me” (2) [Baker?] 9 (9/1952) Cover; “I Tumbled into Temptation” (2) 10 (10/1952) Cover 11 (11/1952) Cover; “Love Pirate” (7) 12 (12/1952) Cover; “Guilty Secrets” (10) 13 (1/1953) Cover 14 (3/1953) Cover 15 (5/1953) Cover 16 (7/1953) Cover; “We Married in Haste” (10) 17 (9/1953) Cover 18 (11/1953) Cover; “My Secret Guilt” (7) Wedding Bells (Quality Comics) 16 (3/1956) Cover; “The Man in My Past” (5) [pencils only] 18 (7/1956) “The One I Couldn’t Have” (7) [pencils only] 19 (11/1956) “Why Did He Stand Me Up?” (6) [pencils only] Weird (Eerie Publications) V4#6 (1970) “The Shelf of Skulls” (8) [pencils only – R Voodoo #1] Weird Adventures (P.L. Publishing) 1 (5–6/1951) “The… She-Wolf Killer (6) Weird Worlds (Eerie Publications) V2#1 (1971) “HE Rose from the Grave” (8) [R South Sea Girl story from Seven Seas Comics, with new splash panel and altered dialogues. Same as Tales from the Tomb V1#6, with halftones added]

Western Bandit Trails (St. John) 1 (1/1949) Cover 2 (4/1949) Cover 3 (7/1949) Cover; “Gingham’s Fury Rides the Range” (6) Western Outlaws (Atlas/Marvel) 13 (2/1956) “The Vengeance of Wes Harder!” (6) Whodunit? (D.S. Publishing) V1#1 (8–9/1948) “The Guilty Greenbacks” (9) [pencils only] Wild Boy of the Congo (St. John) 11 (10/1953) Cover 12 (12/1953) Cover 13 (2/1954) Cover 14 (4/1954) Cover 15 (6/1954) Cover Wild Western (Atlas/Marvel) 56 (7/1957) “Left to Die” (4) Wings Comics (Fiction House) 52 (12/1944) Skull Squad: [“Somewhere in England: Have y’ heard about the mess…”] (6) [with Alex Blum?] 53 (1/1945) Skull Squad: “Robot Death Over Manhattan” (6) 54 (2/1945) Skull Squad: [“Somewhere in England: Th’ field’s buzzing that something’s…”] (6) 55 (3/1945) Skull Squad: [“In the mystery that is the Far East…”] (6) [with R. H. Webb?] 57 (5/1945) Skull Squad: [“Hey fellas, how’s this for a slice a’…”] (6) [with Alex Blum?] 58 (6/1945) Skull Squad: [“Gee… I feel like first cousin to an…”] (6) [with Lee Ames?] 59 (7/1945) Skull Squad: [“You… Skull Squad!!! May your ancestors be cursed!!!”] (6) [with Lee Ames?] 60 (8/1945) Skull Squad: [“There’s the place! 80 yanks holed up on…”] (6)

Illustration for “The Best Motive,” a Shell Scott story from Manhunt #1. Young Romance (Feature/Prize) V13#5 (8-9/1960) “What’s Wrong with Me?” (6) [pencils only]

Classic Comics #32, this 46-page story was serialized in 3 sections in the Catholic newspaper Twin Circle

Zago Jungle Prince (Fox Features) 4 (3/1949) Cover [Baker?] [NOTE: Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. thinks this is not Baker but an Iger Studio artist swiping him]

South Sea Girl (Phoenix Features) Daily strips 1947? (strips #1–?) [inks: David Heames?] [NOTE: Matt Baker drew at least the first week of strips. The first three are reproduced in a Universal Phoenix Syndicate promotional booklet. Subsequent strips were drawn by John Forte. According to Allan Holtz’s American Newspaper Comics Encylopedia, these strips were never released in U.S. newspapers]

B) NEWSPAPER STRIPS Flamingo (Phoenix Features) Daily strips Sequence 1: February 11–March 22, 1952 (strips #1–37) [inks: David Heames?] Sequence 2: March 23–May 1, 1952 (strips #38–71) [inks: David Heames?] Sequence 3: May 2–July 11, 1952 (strips #72–132) [inks: David Heames? until June 21, then Baker pencils and inks] Sequence 4: July 12–19, 1952 [NOTE: As of July 12, 1952 (a Saturday), strips are no longer numbered. John Thornton’s first known strip is dated July 21, 1952 (a Monday)]

World of Fantasy (Atlas/Marvel) 17 (4/1959) “The Brain Picker!” (5) [inks: Vince Colletta]

Sunday pages June–August [?] 1952 – Possibly unreleased. Three Sunday page originals are known; the first was drawn by Matt Baker (although by-line reads “Ruth Roche and John Thornton”), the others by John Thornton. According to Allan Holtz’s American Newspaper Comics Encyclopedia, the page started in August 1952, although the May 3, 1952, issue of Editor & Publisher reported that the start was slated for June. If that were true, Baker would have drawn the first few pages.

Young Love (Feature/Prize) V4#2 (8-9/1960) “No Secrets” (6) [inks: Vince Colletta]

Lorna Doone (Frawley Corporation) Weekly sections April 28–May 19,1968 – Reprinted from

Wings Comics (A-List) 4 (6/1998) Wonder Boy: “The Amazing Plot of the Corpse That Never Died!” (10) [with Al Feldstein? – R Bomber Comics #4]

C) MAGAZINE AND BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS Courage – Man’s Daring Adventures (Arnold Magazines) V1#1 (11/1957) “When the Grave Was Opened” [by Don MacClure]; “Inside a Desert Harem” [by Jeff Dunbar – signed] Gusto – He-Man Adventures (Arnold Magazines) 1 (10/1957) “Sin for the Gods” [by Kimble Stevens – signed] 2 (12/1957) “Night I Went to Hell” [by John A. Keel]; “Murder at Saltash Tavern” [by Sergeant Oliver Bascombe as told to Paul Brock] 3 (2/1958) “I Was Accused of RAPE” Manhunt (Flying Eagle Publishing) [NOTE: With few exceptions, it has been impossible to ascertain which stories Baker has actually illustrated. We have then included all the titles of those stories whose illustrators have not been otherwise identified, with “Baker?” following the author’s name] V1#1 (1/1953) “Everybody’s Watching Me” [Part 1 – by Mickey Spillane]; “Die Hard” [by Evan Hunter]; “I’ll Make the MEET MATT BAKER

“The Ripper” [by Richard Ellington – Baker?]; “Still Life” [by Evan Hunter – Baker?]; “Throwback” [by Donald Hamilton – Baker?]; “The Crime of My Wife” [by Robert Turner – Baker?]; “Kayo” [by Roy Carroll – Baker?]; “Less Perfect” [by Frances Carfi Matranga – Baker?]; ”The Innocent One” [by Richard Marsten – Baker?] V1#9 (9/1953) “Fair Game” [by Fletcher Flora]; “What Am I Doing?” [by William Vance – Baker?]; “Accident Report” [by Richard Marsten – Baker?]; “Bonus Cop” [by Richard Deming – Baker?]; “Chase by Night” [by Jack M. Bagby – Baker?]; “Life Can Be Horrible” [by Craig Rice – Baker?]; “The Scrapbook” [by Jonathan Craig – Baker?]

Illustrations for “Backfire” from Manhunt #1. Arrest” [by Charles Beckman, Jr.]; “The Best Motive” [by Richard S. Prather]; “Shock Treatment” [by Kenneth Millar]; “Backfire” [by Floyd Mahannah] V1#2 (2/1953) “The Imaginary Blonde” [by John Ross MacDonald]; “Sex Murder in Cameron” [by Michael Fessier]; “Dirge for a Nude” [by Jonathan Craig]; “Stabbing in the Streets [by Eleazer Lipsky – Baker?]; “Carrera’s Woman” [by Richard Marsten]; “Attack” [by Hunt Collins]; “Everybody’s Watching Me” [Part 2 – by Mickey Spillane]; “”So Dark for April” [by John Evans]; “The Lesser Evil” [by Richard Deming – Baker?]; “As I Lie Dead” [by Fletcher Flora] V1#3 (3/1953) “The Sleeper Caper” [by Richard S. Prather – Baker?]; “Dead Men Don’t Dream” [by Evan Hunter – Baker?]; “Stop Him!” [by Bruno Fischer – Baker?]; “Triple-Cross” [by Robert Patrick Wilmot – Baker?]; “The Loaded Tourist” [by Leslie Charteris – Baker?]; “Payoff” [by Frank Kane – Baker?]; “The Tears of Evil” [by Craig Rice – Baker?]; “The Mourning After” [by Harold Q. Masur – Baker?]; “Everybody’s Watching Me” [Part 3 – by Mickey Spillane]; “Teaser” [by William Lindsay Gresham – Baker?]; “Prognosis Negative” [by Floyd Mahannah – Baker?]; “Against the Middle” [by Richard Marsten – Baker?] V1#4 (4/1953) “One Little Bullet” [by Henry Kane – Baker?]; “Big Talk” [by Kris Neville – Baker?]; “Be My Guest” [by Robert Turner – Baker?]; “Fan Club” [by Richard Ellington – Baker?]; “Shakedown” [by 94

PART ONE

Roy Carroll – Baker?]; “The G-Notes” [by Robert Patrick Wilmot – Baker?]; “Mugger Murder” [by Richard Deming – Baker?]; “Kid Kill” [by Evan Hunter – Baker?]; “The Blue Sweetheart” [by David Goodis – Baker?]; “Everybody’s Watching Me” [Part 4 – by Mickey Spillane] V1#5 (5/1953) “The Guilty Ones” [by John Ross MacDonald – Baker?]; “Service Rendered” [by Jonathan Craig – Baker?]; “Stakeout” [by Robert Patrick Wilmot – Baker?]; “Graveyard Shift” [by Steve Frazee – Baker?]; “Now Die in It” [by Evan Hunter – Baker?]; “Cigarette Girl” [by James Cain – Baker?]; “Nice Bunch of Guys” [by Michael Fessier – Baker?]; “Old Willie” [by William P. McGivern – Baker?]; “Build Another Coffin” [by Harold Q. Masur – Baker?]; “Don’t Go Near…” [by Craig Rice – Baker?]; “Assault” [by Grant Colby – Baker?] V1#6 (6/1953) “Far Cry” [by Henry Kane – Baker?]; “Hot-Rock Rumble” [by Richard S. Prather – Baker?]; “Ybor City” [by Charles Beckman, Jr. – Baker?]; “The Loyal One” [by Richard Deming – Baker?]; “The Faceless Man” [by Michael Fessier – Baker?]; “The Double Frame” [by Harold Q. Masur – Baker?]; “Hot-Rock Rumble” by Richard S. Prather – Baker?] V1#7 (7/1953) “Day’s Work” [by Jonathan Lord – Baker?]; “The Double Take” [by Richard S. Prather – Baker?]; “Heirloom” [by Arnold Marmor] V1#8 (8/1953) “The Collector Comes After Payday” [by Fletcher Flora – Baker?]; “The Little Lamb” [by Fredrick Brown – Baker?];

Man’s Exploits (Arnold Magazines) 2 (8/1957) “Human Monster” [by H. B. Von Block] 4 (1/1958) “The Bawdiest Joint in Paris” [by Mike James – signed]; “Scorpion at Twelve O’Clock” [by Don Wood] Nugget (Flying Eagle Publishing) V1#1 (11/1955) “Starkin Saga” [by Ray Russell]; “Swamp Fever” [by Helen French]; Bed Time Stories [by Various] The Picture World Encyclopedia (F. M. Charlton Company) Vol. X (1959) “Siegfried” [page 46]; “Sign Language” [page 48]; “Skating” [page 52] Rage for Men (Arnold Magazines) 1 (12/1956) “The Burlesque Queen Murder Craze” [?] 2 (2/1957) “The Queer Triangle of Murder” [by Edward D. Radin; initialed “M.B.”]; “I Run a Girlie-Show Racket…” [by Stu Wagner/Edwin Corley; initialed “M.B.”] 3 (4/1957) “How Girl Gangs Fight and Love” [by Harlan Ellison]; “I Was Flogged by Red Sadists” [by Angelo Distranega] 4 (6/1957) “China’s Cut Throat Pirate Queen” [by Cyrus W. Bell] 5 (8/1957) “They Ate Human Flesh” [by Capt. Gendry S. Hale]; “I Was a Living Sacrifice” [by Carl Nolan as told to George H. Dammann] 6 (10/1957) “Where Is This Man?” [by Jay Harvey; one-panel illustration] 7 (12/1957) “My Escape from the Isle of Death” [by Emil Zubryn]; “I Saw Sex Drugs Work” [by Elton Haynes] 8 (2/1958) “The Lesbian Who Dueled Her Way to Infamy” [by Cyrus W. Bell]; “I Was Captured By Human Leopards” [by Jerome Gage]

(above) An illustration from 3-Book Western #1. (right) A detail from “The Man from My Past” from Ace’s Real Love #34. Once thought to possibly be a Baker figure, we feel this is actually the work of Frank Giusto. 3-Book Western (Atlas News Company) 1 (2/1957) “The Fight at Renegade Basin” [by Will Cook; signed “M. Baker”] Tiny Tales Book (Steinway Hall) (1946) Cinderella [with Alex Blum; Writer: Ruth A. Roche] [NOTE: This version of the famous fairy tale was adapted by Ruth Roche for the Iger Studio; Baker is credited for art along with Alex Blum] True: The Man’s Magazine (Fawcett Publications) nn (10/1950) Cover nn (10/1951) Cover D) “ACE BAKER” – ACE PERIODICALS [NOTE: The following entries, published by Ace Periodicals and identified by Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. as the work of “Ace Baker,” were once thought to have possibly been laid out by Matt Baker. We now believe them to be solely the work of Frank Giusto, with no input from Matt Baker at all.] All Love 32 (5/1950) “Because I Was Second Choice” (7) Baffling Mysteries 19 (1/1954) “The Werewolf Strikes” (7) [R The Beyond #1] The Beyond 1 (11/1950) “The Werewolf Strikes” (7)

Challenge of the Unknown 6 (9/1950) “High Priestess of the Snake People” (7) Complete Love V29#4 (8/1953) “I Loved a Woman-Hater” (8) [R Real Secrets #4] V31#1 (3/1955) “High-Pressure Romance” (8) [R Glamorous Romances #50] V31#2 (5/1955) “The Man from My Past” (8) [R Real Love #34] Glamorous Romances 50 (2/1951) “High-Pressure Romance” (8) Hand of Fate 19 (8/1953) “High Priestess of the Snake People” (7) [R Challenge of the Unknown #6] Indian Braves 1 (3/1951) “Blood of the Ravaged Land” (7) Love at First Sight 5 (6-7/1950) “My Man-Snatching Sister” (8) Love Experiences 28 (11/1954) “Too Eager to Marry” (7) [R Revealing Romances #4]; “Because I Was Second Choice” (7) [R All Love #32]

61 (5/1954) “I Had to Choose” (8) [R Revealing Romances #3]

Men Against Crime 7 (10/1951) “Double-Crosser’s Reward” (7)

Real Secrets 3 (1/1950) “Borrowed Sweetheart” (7) 4 (3/1950) “I Loved a Woman-Hater” (8)

Real Love (Ace Periodicals) 29 (12/1949) “Hired Wife” (8) 34 (11/1950) “The Man from My Past” (8)

Revealing Romances 3 (1/1950) “I Had to Choose” (8) 4 (3/1950) “Too Eager to Marry (7) MEET MATT BAKER

PART TWO:

Family

The Talent Runs Deep

AN INTERVIEW WITH MATT D. BAKER AND FRED ROBINSON Interview conducted in 2004 by Jim Amash Transcribed by Tom Wimbish The Matt Baker story has always been a short and sweet one, but that was due to the lack of biographical information and not because of the material that he created. Matt Baker was a prodigious worker who was almost always at the top of his game, and while his countless admirers (pros and fans alike) may have been frustrated at the lack of insight into his life, they have rarely been disappointed by the quality of his work. Matt Baker is one of the most historically important comic book artists ever—not just because he was one of the earliest African-Americans to break through into the comic book industry, though that was a significant achievement, considering the times in which he worked. Baker is just as important because of his drawing style. He didn’t just illustrate a story—he kept the action moving at a brisk pace with varying camera angles, compelling compositions, and expressive body positioning. And he drew the sexiest women in comics! “The Matt Baker Girl,” once seen, is not easily forgotten, as evidenced by the many reprintings of his Phantom Lady covers, among other examples—and not just by Dr. Frederic Wertham. It is my pleasure and honor to present an interview with Matt Baker’s half-brother Fred Robinson, and Matt’s nephew Matt D. Baker, which originally ran in Alter Ego Vol. 3, #47. Between the two of them, we get a good look into not just Matt Baker, but the Baker/Robinson family itself. Strong, proud, and successful people, raised by their remarkable mother Ethel, the family history of the Baker/Robinson sons makes a compelling story. All photos accompanying this article are ©2005 Fred Robinson and/or Matthew D. Baker and may not be reproduced in any form. —Jim. JIM AMASH: Matt, since you have your grandmother’s family Bible with you, let’s start out with some information about your family. MATT D. BAKER: My Uncle Matt Baker, whose full name was Clarence Matthew Baker, was born on December 10, 1921, in Forsyth County, North Carolina, and died on August 11, 1959, in New York City. My Uncle John Franklin Baker [Matt’s older brother] was born in Forsyth County on November 16, 1919, and died in 1980. My dad, Charles Robert Baker 96

PART TWO

Matt Baker’s mother, Ethel, in the early 1950s, and his father, Clarence, who died in 1925, four years after Matt was born. Photos may not be reproduced in any form.

[Matt’s younger brother], was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 29, 1924, and died on April 17, 2003. Their mother, Ethel, was born in Kernersville, N.C., on March 15, 1896; she passed away on February 14, 1968. Their father was Clarence Matthew Baker. He went by the name “Clarence,” and was born in Abbott’s Creek, N.C., on December 5, 1895. He died on December 15, 1925. FRED ROBINSON: Matt Baker and I had the same mother; her maiden name was Ethel Viola Lash. I don’t know what year she married Matt’s father Clarence, who was also known as “Mac.” After Clarence died, I believe she married my father in 1930. I was born June 23, 1938, and I was really a big sur-

(clockwise from left) The Baker boys: John, Robert, and Matt; their half-brother, Fred Robinson; and Matt’s nephew—Robert’s son—Matt D. Baker. Photos may not be reproduced in any form.

prise, needless to say. My full name is Fredrick Leander Robinson. My father, Matthew Porterfield Robinson, was born in Newberry, South Carolina. When I was a child, he worked in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. He died in 1948. I was the only child that my parents had together. My father already had a family from a previous marriage when I was born, and they were all much older. There were six boys and one girl that were all living at the time. There was also an older sister to Matt and the brothers, but she died very early, maybe before Matt was born. MB: That’s right. The sister was named Ethel Viola, and she was born in 1918, and died in 1922. FR: We lived in Pittsburgh, and grew up in the HomewoodBrushton area in the eastern part of the city. The reason we call it that is because those were two main streets—Homewood Avenue and Brushton Avenue—and we lived in between them. They were several blocks apart, but people referred to the area as Homewood-Brushton. JA: Matt was named after his father, Clarence, but he never went by his first name, did he? FR: He never used the name Clarence; he always used the initial, “C.” JA: I understand that Matt had rheumatic fever as a child.

FR: Yes, he did. As far as I know, that caused the heart problems he had throughout his life. JA: Fred, what do you remember about Matt, John, and Robert from your childhood? FR: Robert and his future wife Cynthia were, for all intents and purposes, together from their youth. You couldn’t call it dating; they were only teenagers. I don’t think they were even in high school yet, but they called themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. Cynthia lived maybe two houses down from my family. The story goes that when I was born, I kept Cynthia from getting a very bad spanking. She was late coming home from school, and her mother was just getting ready to really light into her for it when she told her mother that she’d better get up to the house because Mrs. Robinson was having her baby. She was lying about that—she had no way of knowing—but it just so happened that it was true. I’ve always said that I spared her a beating because I arrived on time. The boys were young when Mac died, and my mother virtually raised them herself. I don’t know when she met my father, but they knew each other for a while before they married. I have no idea how they met. She supported the boys by working as a seamstress. She made and altered clothes, and she was very good at it. She had a little grocery store in Pittsburgh at one time too, and I think she FAMILY

might have still had it when she met my father. I don’t think she worked for anybody else until after my father died. When I was a teenager, she took a job for a while in a laundry that cleaned and altered uniforms. JA: Did anyone help her to raise the children? FR: Yes. I had a Great-Aunt Mamie. She helped my mother with me until I was six, which was when she died. There were a few other relatives that helped out, but basically, my mother was pretty much self-supporting. She was a very resourceful, strong woman. A true matriarch. JA: What was the economic status of your family at the time you were born? FR: It seemed like everybody back then was below middleclass. Even though my father was working at the steel mill when I was born, my mother was still taking in sewing. We were like any other family: my father worked, and my mother worked inside the home. It was the same for everybody else in the neighborhood. We never had a car; matter of fact, I don’t even know if my father ever learned to drive. There was no money for a car. The only time there was a car in the family, Robert brought it in. He was the first in the family to learn how to drive, because that was his interest; he was a mechanic. Matt learned to drive later in life, but John didn’t. JA: How many people were living in the house back then? FR: By the time I came along, it was my mother, my father, my sister Anna, and myself, plus Matt, John, and Robert, who were still teenagers. I think Robert quit school and joined the Army when he was 16 or 17. I don’t know if Matt had moved to Washington, D.C., at that time or not. I’m pretty sure that the three brothers left Pittsburgh shortly after they got out of high school. 98

PART TWO

(far left) Matt Baker’s mother, Ethel; Matt; and Matt’s future sister-in-law, Elva in Washington, D.C., on February 9, 1940. (left) Ethel Baker holding one of her grandchildren. (above) Matt Baker relaxing in a park. Photos may not be reproduced in any form.

JA: That would have been around 1940. Why did Matt move to Washington, D.C.? FR: There were a lot of government jobs down there then. Of course, Matt was draft-exempt because of his heart condition. John was also classified 4-F because he had a busted eardrum. Robert was the only one healthy enough to join the Army, but he didn’t wait to be drafted; he volunteered. He served until the war was over, for five years. It wasn’t like today, when you can serve a couple of years and then leave while a conflict is still going on. Matt and John and Aunt Elva (John’s wifeto-be) were all down there at the same time. Washington was a big party town, and they were young. JA: Was Robert in the service by the time Pearl Harbor happened? FR: I would think he joined up afterward, but I’ve never given it any thought. JA: What else can you tell me about him? FR: He was close to the rest of the family, but he was kind of a wild man. MB: My father was the renegade. He was the type of person who didn’t take any guff from anyone. He would often get into trouble because he would just go on and do whatever he wanted to do. My grandmother was constantly on him, always reining him in. My father was the sort of person that, if you said something to him that he didn’t like, he would tell you to go

to hell and quit the job. He did that for quite a few years until we moved out to California, and then he started to settle down, and actually... I don’t want to say he’d accept whatever was going on, but he wouldn’t fly off the handle as fast as before. Over the years, I saw him mellow out quite a bit, and one of the things I was quite proud of was that he came to look at a job as something that he needed to hold onto for retirement, and he made sure that there was a retirement for him. He was never a person to not have a job; he’d have ten jobs in ten weeks if that’s what it took. I always thought I was one of the richest kids in the neighborhood because I’d have 15 or 16 cap pistols, but he was working in a junkyard where he’d find pieces of guns, and he’d bring them home and put them together. He was always a provider, but he wasn’t a person who would swallow his pride and walk away. If you were looking for a fight, you would find one with my father, but he was a very kind and gentle person to the people he loved. FR: He was very giving to those he liked or loved. JA: Matt seems to have been that way too. FR: Yes, he was, almost to a fault of the person he was giving it to. He and Robert had that relationship going for a long time, until Matt told Robert “no” when he wanted something. That caused a rift between them for a while, but eventually Robert realized Page 8 of “Ace of the Newsreels” from Crown Comics #6 (September 1946). that it was the best thing Matt could Matt and John inspired me. I wanted to be like my big have done for him, so he wrote Matt a long letter thanking brothers; I wanted to draw. I didn’t want to be a mechanic him for saying “no” at that particular time. like Robert because I wasn’t mechanically inclined, but I was JA: Do you know anything about what inspired Matt to always fascinated with him. I considered him to be the John Wayne type because he was in the Army. For a long time, he draw? FR: I think it’s just that he did it all his life. Both he and was the only one who had cars and drove me around in them. Matt got his first car in 1949. It was a canary yellow 1949 John were more or less born with pencils in their hands. They always drew, from the time that they were little boys right Oldsmobile 88 convertible with a red leather interior. I reup until their deaths. I did pretty much the same thing. My member it well, because I got to drive it. When I was about memories of them living in the house are vague; my clearest 11, he would take me out, sit me on a telephone book behind memories were of when they would come home for visits. the wheel, and let me drive. The biggest thrill was driving They would come home a lot, so I have memories of them down the street past all my friends. We always played ball at the end of this street. I drove down the street and blew the playing with me, things like that. FAMILY

horn—they all had to move aside, and they were just freaked because I was driving this car. It was a brand new car, because that was a year when comic book sales were at their highest. Matt was doing quite well, so he was able to afford a brand new car. JA: According to Jerry Bails, Matt Baker seems to have started as an inker at Jerry Iger’s shop in 1942, but I think 1944 is probably more accurate, partly because we know he signed his first story then.

FR: That’s possible. I don’t know what year he left Washington and went to New York, but it’s quite possible that it was in the early ’40s. I don’t know who got him into comics; it might have been Jerry Iger. I remember that name. JA: I wonder what made him want to get into comics. FR: Probably money. I think he was working for one of the government agencies in D.C. Tons of blacks moved to Washington, because World War II created plenty of government jobs. That’s the reason that today there are more women in Washington than men: black women in Washington could get jobs, and didn’t have to work as domestics. If they knew how to type or file, they could get government jobs. They were lower-echelon jobs, but at least they were able to work. JA: Do you have any idea if comic books were the first art jobs that Matt had? FR: My guess would be yes, because I can’t think of any other commercial art that he would have gone into. It definitely wasn’t advertising—like I did— and it wasn’t illustrating for magazines or other art directors, because that didn’t happen until the late stages of his career, which wasn’t a particularly good time for him. My guess would be that the comic books needed guys who could draw quickly, because they were literally cranking them out. I can remember that even during the year that I lived with him, comics were on the decline, but he would still get three or four stories at a time to draw. I’m sure that he got even more comics work back in the ’40s, probably as much as he had time to do. He was able to turn the things out so fast that he was in big demand.

Page 4 of “Tugboat Tessie” from Seven Seas Comics #1 (April 1946). Scanned from the original art courtesy of Jeff Singh. 100

PART TWO

JA: Where did Matt go to school? FR: He went to the Cooper Union School of Engineering, Art, and Design in New York City. I graduated from there too. Matt went there for a short time, and so did John. I don’t know what years they went there, or for how long, but I don’t think it was very long. I don’t think it was prior to World War II, because they were living in Washington, and they wouldn’t have known about Cooper Union until they moved to New York.

These illustrations from Matt Baker’s portfolio show his versatility, with one version done in pen-and-ink and the other done with an ink wash finish. Presumably, they were done during the time Baker was seeking out magazine illustration work in the 1950s. Artwork courtesy of Matt D. Baker and ©2012 Estate of Matt Baker. Images may not be reproduced in any form.

FAMILY

101

(left) This photo of John (left, in the buggy) and Matt (right, on the horse) was taken at Coney Island sometime in the 1940s after they had both moved to New York. Photo may not be reproduced in any form.

(below) Fred Robinson’s billboard art for Drake University won several advertising awards both locally and nationally.

They probably went to the school at night, as I did. The school was set up so that the people who had jobs during the day could attend night classes. The people who went during the day were full-time students who took academic courses like English and art history in addition to the art and engineering courses. I attended Cooper Union from 1958 until 1964, and I was a night student the whole time. I worked during the day. I started as a page at the New York Public Library. A page works in the main reading room, gets books for people, and re-stacks books on the shelves. Then I worked in a tie factory, filling orders; I was what was called a “tie picker.” That lasted for a month or so, and then I got a job at the Pace Advertising Agency. I started as a messenger, stayed there for about two years, and by the time I left, I was a key-line artist. I did finished art and made it camera-ready. There was also a period after the ad agency—it was the turning point of my whole career—when I worked for Dance Magazine and Ballroom Dance. They’re still in business. My instructor at Cooper Union worked there, and he hired me as his assistant. All my jobs were short-term until I left New York, returned to Pittsburgh, and started working for big advertising agencies there. JA: Tell me more about your career after 1960. FR: When I graduated from Cooper Union and moved back to Pittsburgh in 1964, I started working as an art director for BBD&O. That was my first art director job. I worked there for three or four years, something like that. At the time, 60% of their billing was generated by one account: U.S. Steel, and they lost the account. Then I went to work for Ketcham, MacLeod, and Grove, again as an art director, and I stayed there for seven years. Then I went to work for a smaller local agency that merged with a larger agency named Marstellar. Then Marstellar was bought out by a New York agency, and 102

PART TWO

they let everybody go. That’s when I began to work as a freelance art director, for about two years. A lot went on in the market, and I ended up here in Iowa in 1984. I came here to an agency called CMF&Z. I worked for them for two years, then I freelanced for a year. Then I went to work for an agency called Zimmerman, Laurent, & Richardson. I retired from there four years ago, in 2001. Now I work for the schools out here, in the food services program. JA: Were your parents in Pittsburgh while you were in New York? FR: My mother was, but my father died when I was ten years old. My mother raised two families as a single parent. While she was married to my father, she ran the house. He went to work, made his money, came home, and she took care of everything else. She was a Christian woman who believed in God, but she was not a church-going woman. My father was the one who went to church. They were of two different faiths: he was Baptist, and she was Methodist. My mother had a sense of humor, and used to tell a few stories. My father was more of a storyteller and prankster than she was, though. My mother was a forceful, stern woman. I’ll tell you one of her sayings: “You don’t take any tea for the fever.” What that means is that when you’re sick and have a fever, they give you tea, but if you’re a really strong person, you don’t need it.

Two pen-and-ink illustrations from Baker’s portfolio. The illustration of the child has a simplified approach as one might find in a children’s book or magazine, while the illustration of the old woman shows a looser, more expressionistic style. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker. Images may not be reproduced in any form.

She definitely believed that sparing the rod would spoil the child. I was not spoiled, nor were my brothers. She gave us a strong sense of what was right and wrong. The police never ever had to come into her house to talk to her about her boys. She always encouraged her sons to follow what they wanted to do. Robert ran off and joined the Army, and once you join, you’ve joined, and that’s it. John and Matt went to D.C. for whatever reasons. Our mother wanted us to understand that after we finished high school or became 18, we had to get out and get jobs of some kind; it didn’t matter what. We were not going to stay around the house and sponge off of her. Because of that, the whole time I was growing up, I had this dread of graduating from high school, because I knew that when I did I was going to have to leave home. I didn’t know if I wanted to leave, or would be ready to leave, but it was on my mind. As it happened, after I graduated I stayed home for one year, but I worked the whole time. I had a couple of different jobs. I worked for a contractor, but I was working towards leaving and getting my own career going. The other thing that she insisted upon was that we go and get more education. She told us that she would get us through the first twelve years of school, through high school, but if we wanted more, we had to get it on our own. Whatever we decided to do, though, we had to get our butts out of the

house and work. Nobody was going to sit around and become one of those guys who lives with his mama for 40 years. She prepared us for everything. It was remarkable that she raised not only two families, but four boys at the same time. And when she married my father, he had a couple of sons and a daughter—my sister Anna— still with him, so they lived with us too. Anna was a child with special needs. As she grew up, her mental development never became that of an adult; it stopped at a certain level. The thing is, my mother never let her become an invalid who would have to be taken care of. She made her very self-sufficient. She taught her how to clean and iron, so that she was able to get a job to support herself. My sister always worked as a domestic; she worked for one particular family for years, taking care of their kids. She lived with them, but she would come home every Thursday. I don’t know how far she went in school, but she was able to support herself. There was another of my father’s sons who was probably about Robert’s age. His name was Ned, and Robert used to tell me about all the trouble that he and Ned would get into. Just mischievous trouble that he always got a beating for; he never got away with anything. That’s what I meant when I said that my mother was a disciplinarian; nobody could put anything over on her. FAMILY

103

JA: What do you know about your mother’s parents and family? FR: I knew nothing about her parents. I knew her aunt, because she lived with us, and lots and lots of cousins, because they were always moving in and out of our lives. My brothers, being older, were always telling me how hard they had it. They were always saying, “When I was twelve, Mama made me do this, and Mama made me do that.” They were really riding me about it one day, and my mother was sitting in her rocking chair and sewing, and they were saying what Mama had made them do, and I said, “Well, you all were poor then,” and I have never seen my mother laugh so hard. I had no idea; I didn’t think I was poor. That was a big laugh for her, because she was still struggling to take care of everything. I thought we were rich. We weren’t a middle-class family. I never thought about what class we were, because I had everything I needed. As I look back at all the families of my friends, none of us were 104

PART TWO

middle-class, but everybody just worked hard. Everybody tried to survive. But we had everything we needed; if we asked for something, we got it. We really weren’t overly spoiled, though. Holidays were always great. Matt and the brothers would always try to come home, if not for Thanksgiving, then at least for Christmas. Sometimes they would get home for Thanksgiving, and I can remember my mother cooking a big dinner. It was always a waste for me, because I didn’t like turkey or some of the other Thanksgiving foods. While everyone else was having this big feast, I’d have a bowl of Cheerios. [Jim laughs] The only things that I liked were Cheerios and pork chops. My meat was pork chops, and I didn’t like any vegetables—I would eat some peas, occasionally—but for me it was pork chops and potatoes, and Cheerios, Cheerios, Cheerios. JA: Outside the holidays, how often would you hear from Matt and John?

FR: Matt would come home any time he could; it didn’t have to be for a special occasion. The rest of the time, John was a letter-writer, and Matt would make phone calls. John was a prolific letter-writer; he loved to write, and wrote very well. Matt would telephone, especially while they were living in New York. He was doing quite well, so what the heck—he’d pick up the phone and call. We had a phone, because Matt provided a lot of the things we had. We rented our house for I don’t know how many years, and then Matt purchased the house and sold it to my mother for a dollar. Once he was doing well, he literally became a provider. When I was growing up, a lot of the help for me came from Matt. JA: Since Matt and John were artists, would they look at your work and critique it? How did that work in your family? FR: My brother John was more or less the teacher, and tried to expose me to the more advanced forms of fine art. Matt didn’t, but he would look at something I had drawn occasionally, or show me how to do something. If there was some glaring thing that I was having a problem with, he would say, “Now, this is the way you draw a nose.” Most of the time, though, my early art education was going through their portfolios, pulling out pieces of work, and copying them. Not tracing, but trying to copy. That’s how I began to really learn how to draw. Every imaginable type of drawing was in those portfolios. There were comical drawings of things that amused them, some comic book pages, some nudes from their art classes, sketches of hands, noses, and eyes. It was literally like going through an art book on how to draw. I also got all the copies of their comics that I wanted. Sometimes they would give them to me, and sometimes I would see them in the store and just buy them. JA: Did it bother you that Matt seldom signed his work? FR: I never thought anything about it. I never looked for his signature because I could recognize his work without a signature. JA: Did people know that your brothers drew comics? Did you brag about them? FR: I don’t think I did. When I would trade comics with my friends... if I traded a Sheena of the Jungle, I might say that it was my brother’s book. And they’d say, “Oh, wow, is it?” That’s the extent of my bragging about my brothers’ work. JA: When Matt worked in the Iger studio, he would sometimes not do full stories. Sometimes he would pencil, and somebody else inked it. There was another guy working for Iger named Bob Webb, and sometimes on Bob Webb’s pages, all the girls would be drawn by Matt Baker. I was wondering how aware you were of all that. FR: I was aware that a lot of times he would do the pencils and somebody else would ink it. I didn’t know how much of any particular panel he might have drawn; whether he just drew the girls, or everything else. Every time I saw him work,

One of Matt Baker’s first jobs in comics was assisting Bob Webb and/or Alex Blum on “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,” such as on this story from Jumbo Comics #71.

he was doing the whole job. I don’t know how he worked when he was living in New York in the mid-’40s; I was still in Pittsburgh. He didn’t work when he came home to visit, so I never got to see the originals during that time. JA: I’ve seen a few stories where somebody else drew everything, but the women are Matt Baker’s. Matt’s women are unmistakable. While Matt was doing comics between the end of World War II and the early ’50s, what was John doing? FR: I’m not sure. He did comics for a while, but he didn’t have the temperament for them. He was far more of a perfectionist, and the publishers wanted him to crank the work out. He considered that to be selling himself short and doing slop work. The perfectionism created all kinds of hassles about deadlines. That’s why he never made it. He had the ability and talent; he just didn’t have the temperament. The whole time, he just did other jobs to make a living. I don’t know what other jobs he did. When he did comics, he was both penciling and inking. I remember seeing him do some stories in the mid-’40s, when my mother and I would visit him and Matt in New FAMILY

105

The illustrated storybook, Ato McBomb, appears to have never made it into mass production. It would have been one of Baker’s first published jobs, but all that could be found is this uncorrected proof copy. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker.

York. They were sharing an apartment at 104 East 116th Street. It was a six-story apartment, and the elevator only worked part time. JA: When John was in the comic book business, did he work with Matt, or did he work alone? MB: I remember talking to my Aunt Elva, John’s wife, and she said that she remembered Uncle John helping Uncle Matt. It was probably with the inking, of course, and I remember her saying that he used to get very frustrated because he wasn’t as fast as Uncle Matt was. He was trying to knock the stuff out, but he was more of a perfectionist. He would labor over his work a lot longer. By the way, Aunt Elva’s maiden name was White. JA: Didn’t John work at St. John Publications with Matt? FR: He may have helped Matt at St. John, but I don’t know whether he officially worked for St. John. He did some work for them, though, if my memory serves me correctly. I’m not sure whether it was penciling, inking, or both. I’m also not sure whether he was on staff or freelancing. 106

PART TWO

JA: Some romance comics were published by a company called Ace that appear to have pencils—or maybe just breakdowns—by Matt Baker. The inking is definitely not by Matt, but we know that he had inkers from time to time. Hames Ware, who researched these stories, has wondered if these might have been John Baker stories on which Matt assisted John. What do you think? FR: It’s possible, but I wouldn’t have known about it. JA: I wonder if maybe Matt was penciling and John was inking, so that they could increase their mutual output. FR: I think that the difference in their speed was that John was more self-critical and meticulous. I don’t know if that would have been a problem when he was inking over Matt. You have to understand that I was just a kid, so to me they were just drawing, whether it was inking or penciling. There were times when I saw John working from a comic script, but I don’t recall whether he was penciling or inking, and I don’t know whether he was working for himself or for Matt.

Cover art for Authentic Police Cases #35 scanned from the original art found in Baker’s files, and Baker in the mid-’50s. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker. Photo may not be reproduced in any form.

JA: It must have been tough on John, because there was only one Matt Baker. FR: John’s work was every bit as good as Matt’s. The only difference was that he labored over his work, and he never knew when to let it go. Matt would just do it and say, “Here it is, bring on the next piece.” If Matt wasn’t satisfied, he would try to do better on the next piece, but he wasn’t going to belabor one thing. JA: Who got into comics first? FR: Matt did. I don’t know when John got into comics. I have a feeling it was more or less, “Hey, I’m doing this, and it pays well. You can do it too.” JA: Do you know if John was working for the Iger shop, or if he was just working with Matt? FR: I don’t know. When Matt worked for Iger, he was very young. My awareness of John’s comics work starts when he was working for St. John. That was around 1949, when I was about ten years old. JA: At some point, you moved to New York and lived with Matt for about a year. How did that come about? FR: I left Pittsburgh and went to New York to attend Cooper Union, and I lived with Matt. I went there in 1958, and St. John Publications was dead by then. Matt was freelancing, and worked at home. He was still doing some comics, but he was also doing illustrations. MB: If I could interject something... I found one piece that looks like a storyboard or broadsheet, and it’s called “Joe Alumnus.” It says, “Joe Alumnus goes to work, and learns about the right clothes for business.” It’s actually laid out in a comic book format, and essentially, it’s an advertisement. JA: I know he did some illustrations for the Picture World Encyclopedia in 1959. FR: I remember that.

JA: Fred, can you describe Matt’s drawing method? FR: He would rough it out in pencil, lightly, with maybe a 2H lead. Then he would maybe come back and tighten it up a little bit. Then he would start inking, if inking was required. He might have done several roughs before illustrating an advertisement, but probably only if an art director had asked to see a couple of versions. If he had a script or something, he’d just put down what he felt it called for. He didn’t thumbnail his comic pages. He’d just rough it in right in the panel. MB: [impressed] Whoa! JA: He sent in the penciled pages to be lettered before he inked them, didn’t he? FR: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes he would even do his own lettering, if a job required it. In order to find the area for a balloon or caption, he would rough that in, and he might even rough in the dialogue in pencil. Sometimes he roughed in the lettering, inked everything else, and then sent the pages to be lettered. When I’d visit him on vacation, I’d sometimes see him lettering his work, but by the time I lived with him, he wasn’t doing that anymore. JA: Do you remember if Matt relied on reference material very often? FR: Oh, yeah, he had a tremendous swipe file, and he was a voracious collector of reference material. He would go through magazines and cut or tear out pages, and he really had quite an extensive file of it, categorized and everything. If he needed reference, all he had to do was open up his file, and he could go right to it. He was very organized in that way. I kept his file for quite a while after he died, but I finally got rid of it. JA: Matt was known for drawing the most beautiful women. Did he ever use models? FR: No, other than when he was in art school. I used to go through his portfolio sometimes, just looking at the figures. FAMILY

107

A 1940s charcoal portrait Matt did of his brother John, and an undated pastel self-portrait from around the same time period. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker. Images may not be reprinted in any form.

He could draw men and women equally well. I don’t know if he had reference or art books that he might refer to when he was drawing the anatomy. Both he and John could literally sit down and draw the human form in any position whatsoever, without having a model there in front of them. JA: Did Matt ever express how he felt about doing comic books? FR: No. Knowing his personality, he probably thought it was just a job that paid well. He wasn’t a frustrated fine artist who was prostituting himself just to make a living. He had the same feeling about doing comics as I did about working in advertising. I was never a frustrated fine artist doing advertising because nobody was buying my paintings. It was a job that paid well, and it came very easily to me. Comics came easily to him, and paid him very well. His attitude about doing illustrations was the same: it was a job. JA: Did he ever do any paintings, or have any thoughts about trying to do fine art? FR: I never saw any. Did you, Matt? MB: I have one piece here that he did of Uncle John. It’s a charcoal, or a pastel. Do you remember that one, Fred? FR: Yeah. He’d definitely do portraits in charcoal, pastel, or pencil, but he never painted them. He did one of me when I was a 108

PART TWO

kid. We were sitting on the front porch, and he did one of me in about an hour or less. I have no idea what happened to it. MB: I’ve got a couple of portraits here. One is a self-portrait that he did in 1944, done in pen and ink. It’s an interesting piece. I don’t think it was one of his best pieces, but it definitely looks like Uncle Matt. FR: Do you have one that John did of him in charcoal, too? MB: I have one of Uncle John that Matt did in charcoal, and the pen-and-ink self-portrait of Matt from ’44, and I have one that you did of Dad [Robert]. FR: When I was coming up, I was trying so hard to be like them, and I would do portraits. I would do self-portraits, which are really hard to do. It’s hard to look in a mirror and draw yourself; it never works out because you’re drawing the reverse image of yourself. MB: Jim, you asked about paintings, and I wanted to mention that he did some gouache paintings that look like they’re illustrations for magazine covers. FR: When you referred to paintings, Jim, I was thinking of fine arts. Matt did a lot of painted illustrations. JA: Fred, considering the age difference between you and Matt, what was it like to live with him for a year? FR: I was probably 19 or 20 when I lived with him, and I would call that my coming of age. It was really great to live

with him, because he had always been my idol. It was really educational for me. He talked to me about the way I dressed, and changed the way I expressed myself. I began to talk more like an adult, not like a kid. He really changed my Pittsburgh habits, and made them more New York. He was also very helpful with my classwork at Cooper Union. The way the school was set up at the time, it was totally an endowment school, and anybody who went to it was on a full scholarship. We didn’t have to pay any tuition, but we had to maintain a very high level of work in order to stay there. He was fascinated with what I was doing, because he had attended there for a while, years before. It was an opportunity for him to relive an era that had passed for him. When I took an architecture class, he was very helpful and fascinated, because I had to build these models that I designed. We would build those together, and he would come up with materials that I could use. That was kind of interesting. While I stayed with him, we helped one another out financially. Since Matt was a freelance illustrator, the work wasn’t always there. A lot of times, if things got just a little bit tight, he would help me out, or I would pay for my food that week. I did help Matt out on one story. He was showing me how to ink with a brush. I don’t recall how much work I did on that story, but I don’t think it was a whole lot. JA: During this time, where was John, and what was he doing? FR: John was in Brooklyn. He was working for an art supply warehouse called Bainbridge. The only drawing he was doing was evenings and weekends, drawing for his own pleasure. He may have done an art job here or there, but he was mostly out of the business. JA: What was John like? MB: I didn’t know Uncle John well until he came out to California much later. Uncle John always reminded me of a person who had a whole lot of culture, but didn’t have a way to express it. He loved to express it, but didn’t have an outlet for it. You could tell that he was well-read, and that he loved what I call foreign things, especially the Spanish language, and things like that. He picked up on things like that very easily, and reveled in them. My mother and father and Uncle John and Aunt Elva went down to Mexico one time, and you could see in his face that it was one of the greatest trips that he ever took. I remember hearing about him and his children going to the museums and galleries in New York. New York was perfect for Uncle John. I don’t think my father would have fit in in New York at all —it just wasn’t his style— but for Uncle John, it was quite beneficial to his way of living and thinking. He had a lot of respect for himself, and he expected it from other people. FR: That describes him pretty well. He had a very high opinion of himself, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

109

Another magazine style illustration from Baker’s portfolio, though this one looks to be not quite finished. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker. Image may not be reproduced in any form. 110

PART TWO

He was very well-read, and he was into the classics. He loved all types of music, including classical music. He was into Latin American culture quite a bit; he spoke pretty good Spanish, but I don’t think he ever studied it. He was able to speak it, read it, and translate it, and I can remember him helping his daughter Keris with her high school Spanish lessons. JA: How many children did John have? FR: Three. He had a son named David Fredrick Baker, his older daughter was named Sidney, and Keris was his younger daughter. JA: Fred, when you lived with Matt, comics work was not as plentiful as before. How did he feel about the industry at that time? FR: He didn’t particularly like illustrating for art directors, because they were always making changes that were very subjective. A lot of times, art directors make changes just because they’re art directors, and they do it whenever a job comes back. They never accept it the first time. As an art director, I can say that honestly. [laughter] MB: That’s the other side of the coin. JA: Do you think Matt had a love for the comic book business? FR: Oh, I think so. During the heyday, he and other comic book artists probably weren’t as into the comics as people like you who are researching it now. Now it’s something out Page 1 of “Mysta of the Moon,” from Planet Comics #57, scanned from a photostat of the of the past, and there’s nostalgia original art. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker. about it. The people living it at the JA: Since comics is a storytelling medium, unlike single iltime probably didn’t realize how great or important it was. MB: Looking at what he did, I think he was more in love with lustrations, I think he must have enjoyed the art of telling the art of the comics than he was in drawing comic books. I the story too. think doing comic books was a way for him to make a living, MB: Some of the panels that I see here, he was very creative but doing the art—drawing and inking—were the things that in the way he put them together. I would agree with you that he had a certain amount of affection for that. he loved. FR: It was a job that came very easy for him, and it was some- FR: He had a very good sense of spatial design: how to arthing he really enjoyed doing. He loved to draw. He and range illustrations within a space. When to make it larger John both loved it. That’s why we have so much of their work or smaller, to control the space. That’s where the talent comes in. around: they were drawing all the time. FAMILY

111

(left to right) Matt and ladyfriend May in Central Park in the 1940s, Matt and Olga—possibly a relative—relaxing in North Carolina, and Baker’s cover of Giant Comics Editions #15. Photos my not be reproduced in any form.

JA: I know that Matt and John went to Cooper Union, but did they ever attend the Art Students League or anything like that? FR: Not that I know of. They may have, but I don’t know about it. I was the only brother who graduated from Cooper Union. Uncle John came to my graduation, and he told me how proud he was that I was the first and only of my mother’s children to graduate from college. I don’t know what their impressions were of Cooper Union. I didn’t even know that Matt had gone there until John told me. Matt was the one who told me about the school before I applied there, but I don’t know what their feeling was about the school. JA: Was Matt a night person, or a morning person? FR: Matt was a night person, but he would switch. Sometimes, for a couple of weeks, he would work all night long, then get a couple of hours of sleep, and then start working again. This was when he was getting as much work as he could handle. Then the fatigue would catch up with him, and he would go into periods where he would sleep all the time. His body would just refuse to go any longer. He would work a couple of hours, and then he would just sleep. He would want to work, but he couldn’t. He was a heavy smoker, but he only drank socially. I only saw him drink at parties. JA: But Matt knew he had a bad heart, didn’t he? FR: Yes, but he didn’t baby himself because of it. MB: I don’t know how many people in those days really did that, anyway. FR: Right. He didn’t worry about his heart. As a matter of fact, we were out together one time, and he was having palpitations 112

PART TWO

and had to take some digitalis right away. It was a little bit scary. I remember him having me apply pressure to his eyeballs; he said that helped. I asked him if he wanted to go to the doctor or hospital, but he said he would be all right. JA: So he was aware that he had problems. FR: Yeah. That’s what he died from. He had a sudden heart attack in his sleep. I was the one that found him. I had the key to the apartment, because I worked close by and would come by for lunch a couple of times a week. This particular day, I stopped by, came into the apartment, and the shades were still drawn. He would usually have been up by that time of day. I went into the bedroom and found him. He may have had heart attacks prior to that, but I wouldn’t have known about it. He didn’t talk much about his health. He didn’t talk much about his feelings, either. He was pretty carefree and happy-go-lucky; you never knew if anything was bothering him. We only had a few tough days when money got kind of tight, but even then, it wasn’t a big worry thing. JA: Matt never married, right? FR: Right. His theory was: “Why make one woman miserable when you can make so many happy?” [laughter] He was quite the ladies’ man. He was very good-looking, and he had a couple of very close women friends that I knew. I don’t know exactly how close they were, but they were obviously very close. He knew them for years. He was happy most of the time. We were all joke-tellers. He and John sometimes used to talk and joke with each other in these dialects, and it was absolutely hilarious. It’s hard to say what kind of dialect it was; it was kind of Southern, rural, and

uneducated. John’s character was “Bubba,” and if Matt felt like getting into it, he would say to me, “Ask your Uncle Bubba.” I would say, “Who’s Uncle Bubba?” and John would start talking in this dialect. Matt would answer him in the same dialect. To somebody who was only 17 or 18 years old, it was absolutely hysterical; I would just be on the floor, rolling around laughing. JA: Would you say he was a life of the party type, or just one of the guys? FR: Oh no, he was the life of a party. MB: He could easily take center stage if he wanted to. JA: Did Matt do a lot of reading when he had time? FR: I don’t recall. He may have done some reading. John was a big reader, but I don’t recall Matt reading that much. He would listen to music while he was working. He liked blues music. He also liked Mexican music. He would sit and listen to rock and roll, but he didn’t seek it out. After he died, I got all of his blues records. When I lived with him, we would also watch Jack Paar on the Tonight Show. We were able to do that and work at the same time because the TV was between our drawing boards. JA: Did he have any hobbies? FR: His hobby was drawing. In his free time, he would draw. MB: If I could ask you something, Fred, it seems like John and Matt were very close. I’m wondering if they were really ever separated. FR: Well, they were close, and they enjoyed a lot of things together, but they argued quite a An illustration from Baker’s portfolio. Courtesy of Fred Robinson and ©2005 lot. They would get upset, and would go after Estate of Matt Baker. Image may not be reproduced in any form. one another verbally. FR: He was a lot like her too. He absolutely adored her. He MB: I know neither one of them would mince words. doted on her, and anything and everything she wanted, if it JA: I imagine that the family took Matt’s death hard, was in his power to get it or make it happen, he did. especially since he was so young. How did everybody cope JA: Living during those times—which were hardly the with it? FR: Well, you know how strong our mother was. To her, this most enlightened—I’m wondering how Matt dealt with was just part of life. John took it very hard. When I called out society’s prejudices. to Brooklyn to tell him, he just went to pieces. I had to wait FR: He pretty much dealt with them the way I did: we pretty at the apartment for him to get there. I handled it pretty well, much ignored them, unless confronted with them. If that but I’m a lot like my mother in that way. It’s just something happened, we just had to deal with it. The fact that we were black didn’t hold us back or make us feel that we couldn’t acyou have to deal with. complish something. That was for other people. He went into JA: You say you were a lot like your mother. What would an industry that was all white, and made it work for him. I did the same thing. you say about Matt in that regard? FAMILY

113

JA: Did he experience a lot of prejudice when he was young? FR: Probably no more than I did. I don’t know all the neighborhoods he grew up in, and I don’t know how long they stayed in North Carolina, but growing up in Pittsburgh, we were in an ethnically mixed community where everybody was fine and we all got along with one another. They actually helped one another and looked out for one another. I never felt the prejudice when I was growing up. Even in high school, where the racial mix was 50-50, everybody there got along. I don’t recall Matt being confronted directly with it. He did have a temper. He probably would have gotten angry

if confronted with it, in much the same way that I probably would, and did. I’ll give you another story of how crazy he was sometimes. Elva told us this story. They were on a bus in Washington, and at that time, D.C. was still the deep South. Even though there were a lot of blacks there, things were still not equal by any means. They didn’t have to ride in the back of the bus or anything, but Jim Crow was still there. But my brother was just... crazy. He was riding on the bus, and he was standing up, holding onto a strap, and he started singing, “Oh, I’m tired of rubbing asses with white people.” [everybody laughs] The people on the bus didn’t know what the hell to say. They thought he was crazy, so they just began to move away from him. He would just do things like that. JA: Was he blowing off steam, or was he being rebellious? Why did he do that? FR: Because he was crazy. MB: Jim, it’s like thinking, “Gee wouldn’t it be fun to do suchand-such.” It sounds like Uncle Matt would just go ahead and do it. Uncle Matt was probably one of those people who didn’t allow people an opportunity to get to him. I’m reminded of a sign a teacher had on her door that said, “The only way somebody can get the better of you is if you let them.” He was the type of person that made sure that nobody could get to him easily. They were going to have to think about it, and after they thought about it, they would think twice about trying. FR: He—and all of us—were blessed with the gift of being very quick-witted, and if you got into banter or an exchange of insults with us, you would probably lose.

The original art of an illustration for “I Saw Sex Drugs Work” in Rage for Men #7. Courtesy of Matt D. Baker. 114

PART TWO

JA: Was Matt athletic? FR: He would have been if he hadn’t had the rheumatic heart. He was athletically built, and he could really run fast. I recall one time when I was a teenager, I did something to him and then took off running, and he took off after

me. I was always very fast, but he literally ran me down. When we got back to the house, my mother was just livid, because he wasn’t supposed to be running. At the time, I didn’t know he had a bad heart. But he knew, so she just lit into him. He never worried about it. I don’t think our mother was overprotective, but she didn’t believe in letting your insufficiencies become handicaps. JA: Was Matt a sports fan? You guys lived through the time of Jackie Robinson, who was one of my favorite baseball players.... FR: I don’t recall him being an avid sports fan, no. He was aware of Jackie Robinson, and rooting for his success, but not to the point that he was listening to every game or anything. JA: Matt died at the time that the civil rights movement was really starting up. Did he talk much about it? FR: Not while I was around. I don’t think he was very politically minded. I don’t remember him getting into any political discussions. JA: Given the social climate in which Matt was working, I think he would have had to be pretty strong then. He must have had to deal with some prejudice in the business. Maybe I shouldn’t make that assumption, but it’s an easy one to make.

FR: It’s an easy one to make because it’s one that’s always true. I think all of us have experienced that in one form or another, either overtly or covertly. I know that I have, and a couple of times it was blatant, but other times it was very undercover. The reason that Matt got so much work wasn’t because he was black or white; he got it because he was good. It’s as simple as that. If you’re good, and you have what people want, they’re going to use you. You get hired. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier mainly because he was good; he could play ball better than anyone else. He just happened to be black, and was given a hard time because of that, but the fact remains that he was still good, and rose above all of that. JA: And Matt would be just as appreciated for his work, no matter what his color. You can’t look at his work and tell the color of his skin. FR: That’s right. Other artists’ women were like mannequins: they were all perfect and smooth, but they had no soul to them. But the women that Matt did created a fire within you, within your imagination. He did the same thing with his girls that Hugh Hefner did with his Playmates; he played upon the reader’s imagination. I think the “Matt Baker woman” struck such a responsive chord because she was beautiful and strong. That was the type of woman Matt liked and spent time with, and it showed in his work. I would compare them to Angelina Jolie. FAMILY

115

A photo of two of Matt Bakers’s best friends, Ray Osrin and Frank Giusto, and a photo of Osrin and Baker. Photos may not be reproduced in any form.

JA: It seems to me that he was an open guy, but only up to a point. Did he keep his feelings behind a wall? FR: Yeah. Here again, though, consider the age difference. There were just some things that I didn’t need to know. That’s the way it was right up until he died: I was always the little brother.

dressed, dark hair... the sort of character that Joe Pesci would play, but he was better-looking than Joe Pesci. Whenever I see Joe Pesci—with the accent and everything—I’m reminded of Vinnie Colletta. There were some things about him that my brother didn’t like. I don’t know what specifically, but I remember a certain feeling he had about him.

JA: Did you know any of Matt’s friends? Were they artists? FR: There was one named Frank Giusto who was an artist. Frank was one of my brother’s oldest friends. I have a picture of the two of them together. I hope I still have it. The picture had to have been taken in the ’40s. I think he and Matt worked on some things together, but I don’t know if they originally met through work or not. There was another guy named Vinnie. He was also Italian, but I can’t remember his name.

JA: Vinnie used to get jobs, and get people to pencil for him. Then he would pay them out of his pocket, and he probably took a cut of that. [Fred agrees] I’m curious about how someone with the talent of Matt Baker would feel about ghosting like that. FR: At that point the business was falling off. Everything was on the down slide, and it was money coming in. There might have been a little resentment there about ghosting for Vinnie, but theirs was a business relationship. On the other hand, Matt and Frank were friends. Frank got married and moved to Connecticut, and we went to his place for dinner one time. I was visiting during a vacation from high school, and Matt, John, and I went up in that ’49 Oldsmobile. MB: The yellow one? [Fred agrees] My father took that car out to California. I was hoping that was going to be my first car, but it didn’t make it that far. I’d give anything for it right now.

JA: It was probably Vinnie Colletta. We know that sometime in the late ’50s, Matt ghost-penciled for him. What do you remember about him? FR: Right. Vinnie Colletta was from New Jersey, and he was right off The Sopranos: the way he dressed, the way he talked, and everything. He was a little short guy; probably even shorter than I am, and I’m only 5' 8". He was really short, and he had that complex about being short, so he’d try to overcome it by the way he dressed and talked. He and Matt got along okay. I wouldn’t say they were tight friends. I was a teenager when I met Vinnie, because Matt worked with Vinnie in the latter part of his career. Looking back, he was right out of a B-movie: a typical Italian wise guy. Always very nattily 116

PART TWO

JA: Since Matt was a good dresser and a handsome ladies’ man, would you consider him to be flashy? FR: In a very tasteful way. He put together very nice outfits, and he looked good in them. He didn’t go for loud colors or patterns, or anything like that. And he made friends easily.

JA: He was a “people-person,” though, right? FR: All my brothers were, except John. John was a people-person when he wanted to be, but not normally. MB: That’s interesting, because it always seemed like Uncle John and Aunt Elva had friends over at their house. They lived close to my family for a few years, and I can’t remember ever going over to Uncle John’s and Aunt Elva’s place without a whole crowd being there. FR: That’s the way it always was. Your Aunt Elva was the people-person; your Uncle John could be when he wanted to be, but he was usually a very moody person. Matt was really outgoing. Men liked him; women liked him; he was just a likable guy. If a person is very good-looking, but can still be down-to-earth and friendly with everybody, it’s easy for people to like them. Of course, there are good-looking people who are SOBs, and there are unattractive people who are SOBs. I can’t remember ever seeing Matt truly angry. He may have been angry about an argument he had with someone, but I never saw him really angry. He was never angry or cross with me; I was always his baby brother. Matt bore a strong resemblance to Lawrence Olivier, when Olivier was young. If you look at pictures of Olivier and my brother when they were both young men, I think you’ll be able to see the resemblance. He used to have professional portraits taken of himself. There would be his vanity, right there. He would get these Hollywood-type photos taken. He was definitely vain; I have no trouble saying that. It runs in our family. JA: I would brag about my vanity, but Page 2 of “His Face before Me” from Romance Stories of True Love, penciled by modesty forbids.... Matt Baker and inked by Vince “Vinnie” Colletta. FR: I don’t have that kind of modesty; I know I’m vain, and my brother was the same way. As Little Richard along with it. He was his own worst critic, to his detriment. used to say, “I’m not conceited; I’m convinced.” That vanity It’s one thing to be very critical of your own work, but if it has helped us over the years. In an all-white world, it helps stops you from working, what good is it doing you? A lot of you to get over sometimes. If you have a low opinion of your- great artists were like that; they were never pleased with what self, you’re unable to accomplish anything. You have to stand they did, yet history regards them as geniuses. I think that one of John’s daughters has a lot of his sketches, if he didn’t up for yourself, and not let people put you down. destroy them all. JA: Considering the high esteem in which he is held, Matt MB: I’m very pleased to find out how respected and loved Uncle Matt’s work is, and that we’re able to do this biography would be amused by all this attention, wouldn’t he? FR: Yeah, he would. I’m amazed and pleased by it, and a little of him. I just wish we’d have come forward sooner, when my father was still alive, so he could have talked about all this. bit amused by it too. I was also pleased to tie my brother John into this, because But at least we’ve spoken for the record now, and can share he was equally gifted. He didn’t have the personality to go what we know about Matt and John with your readers. FAMILY

117

Further Ruminations

AN INTERVIEW WITH MATT BAKER’S BROTHER FRED ROBINSON Interview conducted October 19, 2009 by Joanna van Ritbergen Joanna van Ritbergen: From what I understand, Matt was born in North Carolina then moved to Pittsburgh. Why did the family move to Pittsburgh? Fred Robinson: Why did anybody who was born in the South move north? I don’t know. I never went there or to my mother’s home. I didn’t even know my relatives were in the South. I was born in Pittsburgh, and from there I went to New York. I went there to go to school. JVR: That must have been a big change for you going to the “big city” from Pittsburgh? FR: No, [Matt and John] had lived in New York for quite awhile; he and our oldest brother, John, were living there. So, I made quite a few trips there when I was growing up. My mother would go and visit them, and I would go with her, of course. So, New York was almost like a second home to me. By the time I got there, I pretty much felt very at home there. JVR: Did Matt always live in the same place in New York City? FR: I can remember basically two places. He lived on 104 E. 116th Street. Then, when I went to New York and lived with him for a year, he was living on 45th Street right down in the heart of Manhattan. I stayed with him for my first year of school when I was going to Cooper Union, which is where he went for a short time also. JVR: Did he live in a one-bedroom apartment? FR: Yes, one-bedroom apartment, and I slept on the couch for a whole year. It was great because he was still freelancing and, of course, by that time the era of the comic book was over. So, he was doing illustrations for different folks. As a matter of fact, there was one he illustrated: It Rhymes with Lust. I remember quite well when he was working on that. As I look at some of the pictures, I can remember when he was drawing them, and it made it nice because we had drawing boards that faced each other. I was doing my homework when he was sometimes working on this or some other piece of work. 118

PART TWO

Matt Baker and Archer St. John in front of Grauman’s—now Mann’s—Chinese Restaurant in Hollywood in the mid-’50s. Courtesy of Fred Robinson and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker. Photo may not be reproduced in any form.

JVR: When he was working on It Rhymes with Lust, did he have a script, and was he coming up with all the illustrations himself? FR: I’m pretty sure he had a script, and he would pencil them out and then send it in, and then sometimes he did some of the inking and sometimes his friend Ray Osrin [did the inking]. JVR: Did you talk about anything as he was going through the script?

FR: We didn’t talk about what he was working on with the script at all. It was mainly about our life together and growing up, and, like I said, there was such a big difference in our age, and he was just filling me in on things that I had missed that the other two brothers had gone through. It was really just filling me in on the history of our family. A lot of times we would go to movies together, and I was of course emulating him as much as I could. I was going to be just like him. I remember when he worked for [Archer] St. John, and I did meet him one time when I went to New York as a kid. St. John told me that when I graduated from high-school to come and see him, and he would give me a job. He died before that happened. JVR: What was their relationship like… Matt and St. John? FR: They had a very close relationship. I don’t know exactly what it was. JVR: It seems like they had a friendship that went beyond the doors of work. FR: Yes, I believe they did. I know one time they went to California, because one of the pictures I have is in front of [Grauman’s—now Mann’s—Chinese Theatre] and St. John [and Matt are posing with] somebody’s footprint in the sidewalk. JVR: Do you know the source of inspiration for some of his covers? For instance, Cinderella Love #25, considered the “holy grail” of romance books, Cover art for St. John’s Cinderella Love #25 (December 1954). has this beautiful, exotic woman on the front, and in the background is a carnival. Do you know looked sultry. My brother would make a lot of his women who he could have modeled this woman after? Were you look really sultry. That’s why I say a lot of them he would creaware of any particular muses? ate right out of his head. FR: No, they usually just came out of his head. He didn’t have a movie star in mind; I don’t think he modeled them after JVR: Could you tell me what a typical day would have anyone [in particular]. I would just sit and watch him draw been like for Matt when you were living with him? a woman, and whatever position, whether she was laying FR: It depended. When he was working, he would virtually down, running, standing, sitting, whatever, he could do that. work all night sometimes, and then all of the sudden it would catch up with him, and then he would sleep for a week. Sit up JVR: It was also his great ability to give them “life,” to and go back to bed. Get up and maybe have dinner and work make them their own individual. a little bit, but he would be just too tired, and he’d go back to FR: I’m looking at that cover of Cinderella Love, and there’s a bed. Then this would pass, and he would start all over again brunette on the cover who reminds me of Dorothy Lamour. where he could go 24 hours. There is another one down here that looks more like Madonna than a Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe to me never JVR: What kinds of things would he draw for fun? FAMILY

119

FR: Anything you can think of. He did one which has disappeared. Of all the things he did, that’s one I wish I had. There’s a song called “Long Tall Sally.” I’m trying to remember the verse. “I saw Uncle Tom with Long Tall Sally. He saw Mary comin’, and he ducked back in the alley.” He drew the picture of Mary coming home from doing a day’s work, and Tom was trying to hide from her behind this fence. That was right out of the song, and it was very funny. I have no idea what happened to it. That is the one I would really like to have. I was walking around singing it, and he sat down and drew it. And then he did it in ink. He was very, very fast. He could do these characters—just create them right out of his head. JVR: There was a time when things were tight with money after the comic book industry had taken its downturn. FR: That was the year I lived with him. Things were really tight. I would say [this was] ’57, ’58. My daughter was born in ’59, and he died in ’59. My daughter was six months old when he died. JVR: Did he ever mention doing the pencil work for Vince Colletta?

Page 1 of “Xondu the Eternal,” from Out of This World #15, inked by Vince Colletta. 120

PART TWO

FR: No, I don’t think he cared for Colletta that much. That was definitely a necessity thing. JVR: Were you aware of Matt working at Colletta’s offices in New Jersey? FR: No, more often than not Colletta would come over. A lot of times I wasn’t there when he came over. I didn’t know exactly what their relationship was other than I know that my brother didn’t care that much for him or have that much respect for him. He used to make derogatory remarks about him. JVR: Can you describe just generally what it was like during that year you were living with him? FR: It was pretty tight. Of course, he never let me know how bad it really was, but I think he was pawning things to have enough money to tide us over. I remember one time we were looking out the back window in the apartment, and there was a roof of some buildings below us, and we could see some money down there. So I ran out of the building and ran around the corner and climbed up on the roof, and sure enough there was a $20 bill, and you would have thought that I found $200. That’s how tight things were. Another example: my first year at Cooper, which worked out fine because at that time Cooper was an endowment school, and it was free. All you had to do was pass the test to get in and pay the registration fee, which was only five dollars. There was one year I did not have the five dollars, and he didn’t have it either. I was going to go to class that night and beg them to let me bring it in the following week. I was working at the New York Public Library as a page, and I was walking down the hall—they were marble halls; everything was very smooth. I tripped and almost fell, and I thought, “What in the world could I have tripped on?” because there were no cracks in the floor. I turned and looked, and there was a five-dollar bill lying on the floor. The Lord was looking out for me. I had my tuition for the night. I went to class, and I think I had enough money to go to the vending machine and get a bag of potato chips, and that was my dinner. That’s how tight things got sometimes. JVR: Did Matt ever speak to you about his work after St. John? FR: After St. John passed, when I was living with him, that’s when the whole comic industry was over, and a lot of the artists were switching over to doing illustrations for advertising, for art directors, and that was a hard time for him because art directors are always making revisions, and there were none of them who could draw anything like him. It was like somebody who could do half of what you could do trying to tell you what you were doing and what you’re best at. And I should know because that was what my career was. I became an art director in advertising. But, whenever I worked with an illustrator, I remembered that and always tried to give them…. There was just no way I could do what they were doing. I was a pretty good artist, but I never had the patience to do what they did.

A black-and-white illustration for Rage for Men #2 (February 1957), one of the pulp magazines Baker did work for during the time Fred Robinson was living with him in New York.

And if I did something like that, I never wanted anybody to tell me, “Can you change this? Can you change that?” just so they could feel like they were making a contribution.

things as “black” and “white” just as long as you treated us right. Yeah, when were alone we definitely talked about it then. Just as I’m sure white people made reference when they were alone.

JVR: Was Matt happy to move over to illustration, or was he kind of sad he was leaving the comic industry? FR: It was just something that had to be done. He was an illustrator, but he was not a commercial illustrator.

JVR: Did he ever consider a career outside of illustrating? FR: If it would have been anything, it would have probably been in theater. He would have probably been a good actor. He and my brother John were good at doing dialects. I think if it would have been anything, it would have been theater or going to Hollywood and being in the movies.

JVR: Do you think racism might have played a part in Matt not getting a consistent flow of work after St. John? FR: I’m sure it did. Race played a part in it when I came along. My whole career, everywhere I worked I was the only black working there, and the people I worked with I never had a problem with. Sometimes some of my clients didn’t like the fact that I was black, but we never let that sort of thing bother us. Matt, both he and I, had huge egos. We always thought we were better looking and more talented than everyone else. JVR: [laughs] Well, his talent was undeniable. FR: And our looks were undeniable. Neither one of us let race play that big of a part in the decisions we made. JVR: It seems to me looking back that he didn’t look at people being “black” and “white,” that he looked at people as being individuals, because he also had best friends who were white. FR: Yeah, but you have to remember now, we didn’t look at

JVR: Did he ever speak of dying young? FR: I don’t know if he thought about dying young, but he hated the thought he was getting old. At 37 he talked about how his hair was thinning, and he didn’t like that prospect at all. JVR: He accomplished so much in the short time of his career. He never thought that what he accomplished was outside of the ordinary? FR: I don’t think he did. A lot of times you have a job, and you do your job, and if you’re blessed and gifted enough where it’s easy to do that job, you don’t really think that you’re working on anything for posterity. I feel the same way about things I accomplished in my career. I really didn’t realize until after I retired that I was pretty talented in my own right. I’m pretty sure it was that way for Matt too, as well as John, although John didn’t make a living at it. FAMILY

121

PART THREE:

Friends & Colleagues

A Great Friendship

AN INTERVIEW WITH FRIEND AND ARTIST FRANK GIUSTO Interview conducted in February 2011 by Shaun Clancy Shaun Clancy: Can you tell me how you got into comics? Frank Giusto: My first job before I went into the Navy was at Jerry Iger’s studio, and there was a guy there by the name of Matt Baker. He was a terrific illustrator at the time. I lost track of all those guys, but we had great friendship. When I got out of the service, I looked up Matt. I used to go up to his apartment on 116th Street in Manhattan. We worked together at his apartment for a couple of years actually. He and I were very good friends. In fact, I had asked him to be my best man when I got married. This was in 1951. He turned me down. He was no dummy. He was really sharp. He tells me, “No, as much as I’d love to....” He thought that the relatives and the people that would be coming to the wedding would look down on the fact that he was black. He didn’t want to start any animosity, so reluctantly I accepted his turndown. He came to the wedding, of course, and so did his brother and his friend Connie. I got back into comics [because of ] an illustrator by the name of Jo Kotula. He did the covers for Model Airplane News, which was a magazine, for about 15 years. He was the aviation illustrator and did some fantastic covers. When I got out of the service in 1946, I went up to see him because I had done a cover for a magazine called Air Trails. I’ve always loved airplanes and drawing planes. I managed to get a cover done one time, and I brought it up to his studio in the city. He was so tired of drawing just airplanes, and this guy was really well known. All the agencies at that time that had anything to do with [aircraft] advertising, like Cessna, used his illustrations for their ads and their catalogs. What really impressed me about him was that he took me to a part of his studio and said, “I want you to take a look at this.” It was just a beach scene with a couple walking down the beach, and he says, “I’ve been trying to do this work for the last five years and every time I go to an agency and tell them, ‘I’m Jo Kotula,’ they always say, ‘Oh, you’re the aviation artist.’” [laughter] In other words, he was pigeon-holed. As much as he wanted to do illustrations, the only reason he was making a living was because he was an aviation artist. Anyway, he said, “You’re good at drawing planes, but you have to learn how to draw 122

PART THREE

Frank Giusto hard at work in Baker’s apartment in 1948. Courtesy of Frank Giusto.

clouds, people, trees, and cars. If I were you, I would get into comics.” [laughs] SC: At Iger’s Matt was doing stuff like “Sky Girl,” “Tiger Girl”... Jerry Iger said that Matt didn’t start at Jerry’s studio until 1945 or 1946, but you’re telling me you met Matt before World War II? You went into the war late if you were only in it for two years. FG: Oh yeah. I graduated from high school in 1944, and then that summer I got a job at Jerry Iger’s and Matt was already there. SC: Was he going by Clarence when you met him? FG: Oh no. It was strictly Matt. He didn’t like Clarence so much.

While Giusto was away in the Navy, he and Baker would correspond with one another. Baker’s letters always came with illustrations on the envelopes and inside as evidenced by these letters from March 1945 (left) and October 1944 (below). Courtesy of Frank Giusto. Images ©2012 Estate of Matt Baker.

SC: Ruth Roche was the editor and writer at Jerry Iger’s and a partner. Do you remember Ruth at all? FG: No, not really. I graduated in June, and I worked there from July to September. Then I went into the Navy for two years. When I came out, I of course looked up Matt. I freelanced with Matt for about a year and a half to two years. With Matt’s help, I got a job doing comics for Ace Publishing. At that time I was able to do my own drawing. I always could draw, but I learned how to draw and ink with Matt. I was doing freelance comics myself, but I don’t remember the titles. SC: Were you Matt’s inker? FG: I used to help him draw some of the panels. We worked together at the apartment. When I got married, I was working for Ace Publishing, and I asked the editor [Al Sulman]... I always wanted to travel, so when I got married in 1951 in June, I planned a trip around the country. My bride and myself went and took a Pontiac I had at the time, took off, and I was on the road. The first stop I made was in Chicago. I figured I’d go to Chicago because if we had an argument while we were on the road it wouldn’t be too far to turn back. [laughter] I saw every National Park west of the Mississippi. Every big city. Up in the mountains, down in the desert, and every place. I’d park my butt anywhere along the way and sit down and do a whole story. Pencil it, letter it, ink it, wrap it up, and send it to Ace Publications. Then Ace Publications would send a check to my father in Corona, New York. He would get a bank check, and I’d inform him on where I was going to be on my next stop, and he would mail me FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

123

PART THREE

a bank check rather than a personal check, because personal checks would have trouble being cashed. At any rate, I was able to go around the whole country. That was an unbelievable experience. I added up how much it cost me at that time in 1951. The whole trip, which was ten months out on the road with gas and everything, even developing my black-andwhite photographs, came to about three and a half thousand dollars. I don’t think you could do a trip like that for less than three hundred thousand today. [laughter] The people at Ace were really, really terrific and cooperative, sending me scripts wherever I went. I’d stay a week or two weeks in Reno or Las Vegas, San Francisco, L.A., etc. No matter where I was, I’d sit down, draw, letter, and ink a whole story in maybe a week, then spend another week sightseeing the area. SC: When you got out of the military, you didn’t try to get your job back at Iger’s even though he was required by law to rehire you? FG: No, because I was more interested in going into commercial art. At that time, I had no idea comics would become my thing. I had a job at Becker Studios and they did catalog work for Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, etc. All these people were putting out huge catalogs at this time. We were knocking out pages for all the fashions, neck ties, shoes, etc. They had a shoe department there that you wouldn’t believe. They had guys that could just put a shoe in front of them and draw the outline of the shoe. Then another guy would lay a preliminary wash of that shoe. Then another guy would start putting the details on the leather. They had a guy just doing shoe laces. [laughter] These shoe drawings were better than any photograph! I had just come from a photography studio called Adams Studios. They were top-notch food photographers. They would set up a table with the food, put a little glistening on this or that to make it shine a little. They were doing work for advertising ads that had to do with foods. They were working for all the top agencies in the city. I worked there for a month and left. I wanted to learn photography, but all I was doing for $18 a week was just being a gofer. I would deliver their photos to the big agencies, go out and get their lunch, etc. One of the brothers would go up and take just one, two, and maybe at the most, three shots of this elaborate table setting. Coming from that environment and going to a place like Becker Studios where they would take 20, 25 or even 30 photographs of the same dress was a shock. I couldn’t believe it. I never thought photography was that intense catalog work. I worked for them for ten months and was getting $35 a week as a layout man. I’d go to the Veterans Administration Offices to get my other $15 so that I could make $50 a week. After about two months, I’m doing twice as many layouts than [another layout man] was doing, and yet he was making about $75 week, so I asked the personnel manager for a raise. They wanted time to think about it. They thought about it

Frank Giusto’s cover art for Ace’s Hand of Fate #16.

for months, and finally when the tenth month came around I quit, and that’s when I started working with Matt again. When I started with Matt, I was helping him getting a swipe file together and started doing a little bit of inking. By 1951 I was already doing work with Ace. I managed to get good enough to show some work to them and they hired me on a freelance basis. SC: How did you know Ace was hiring? FG: I don’t really remember, but there weren’t that many places around that you could go to, to get comic book work. SC: Do you recall the title of the comic you were submitting at Ace Publications? Was it Hand of Fate or Baffling Mysteries? FG: One was the Hand of Fate, because they had one blackand-white drawing of a pair of ghost hands coming out of a grave strangling some bimbo. I have several drawings Matt made for me. When I was in the Navy, he sent me letters, and I’d write to him. He’d have one of those bimbos on the front cover of the envelope, and every time I got a letter guys would run over to me and say, “You’ve got a letter! You’ve got a letter!” [laughs] He gave FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

125

me a cartoon illustration of a song called “Frankie Was a Sailor.” It told the exploits that Frankie did in the Navy, which was hot stuff. It had about four scenes, in watercolor, of me [as Frankie]. One of them was in a boiling pot with black natives with their breasts hanging down cooking me for dinner. [laughter] SC: The woman you drew on the cover to Hand of Fate #16, was there anyone specific you used for reference to draw her? FG: No, not at all. When Matt and I were working together, we developed a technique that I used my entire comic career. We wouldn’t spend more than 15 minutes on a panel. In other words, if the page had seven panels, we had a regular clock in front of us, and as soon as you started working on a panel and you went past 15 minutes, you would drop that panel and go to the next panel. SC: Do you recall any other covers you may have done for Ace besides Hand of Fate #16? FG: No, I can’t remember. I didn’t do that many covers, mostly stories. SC: Ace was known for very horrific comics. Did you draw yours extra-violent? FG: No, I never got into the hardcore violence. I did work more in line with the Hand of Fate cover. I also did love stories for them and a couple of G.I. things. In those days we got about $35 a page to pencil, ink, and letter it. I do remember letterers were getting $2 a page. I can’t remember how it broke down between pencilers and inkers, but I believe inkers got between $12–14 a page. That was pretty good money back then. SC: Why didn’t you sign your work at Ace? FG: At that time, no one was signing their work. We weren’t really allowed to put our names on it, especially on the covers. Very few covers had names of the artists. Sometimes they had stories where they would put the writer’s name on it, but you didn’t see any pages with the artist’s signature on it because several people might have been working on them. SC: Do you think Matt ever worked at Ace Publishing? FG: I don’t think so. All the art around that time was all starting to look the same because everyone was copying Matt’s figures.

PART THREE

SC: Did Matt ever tell you how he got the job at Jerry Iger’s? FG: Not really. He was there only a little while before me. A guy I remember there who’s name I just recalled was Jack Kamen. I definitely remember him.

(above) Another letter to Giusto from Baker, and a 1948 photo of Baker with girlfriend Connie taken in Baker’s apartment. (below) A 1944 self-portrait drawn on the envelope of one of Baker’s letters to Giusto. Envelope art courtesy of Frank Giusto. Images ©2012 Estate of Matt Baker.

SC: Yes... he’s another person that drew similarly to Matt. FG: They all kind of followed the same pattern. When you’re working in a studio, everybody looks at everybody else’s work, and then everything starts to look the same. It was difficult to know who was doing what, because two or three people were working on the same thing all the time. When I started there, all I was doing was erasing pages and cleaning up the pencils. Little by little, I then started to put in trees and backgrounds. SC: Were there more than a dozen people who were working at the Iger shop when you were there? FG: I don’t think there were that many while I was there. Maybe five or six at the most. I was in a place that was uptown. In the Ray Osrin interview, he said he was downtown by Canal Street with a store front where everybody could see what you were doing. I believe Ray was at Iger’s after I was. I think it said he was there in 1945 and I was already in the Service. I left in the middle of September 1944, and by the 25th I was in the Navy already. SC: He did recall meeting you, and he never went into the Service, so maybe he took your old job? If I recall, he stated he went to St. John in 1948 with Matt, so he was at

Iger’s for three years which would explain his description of the Iger studio at a different place than you remember. FG: That makes sense. SC: After Ace, were you still involved in comics? FG: No. After I was in comics for about five years, I got a job offer from another friend of mine, Bob Dinsmore, who was the art director for Men’s Wear magazine. SC: I have a few pictures of Matt with female friends and one of them identifies the woman as May. Did you know a girlfriend of his by the name of May? FG: He had a girlfriend called Connie. She was always around. She was after his butt all the time. SC: Matt loved cameras. Do you have any pictures of Matt or yourself from the comic book days? FG: I have a great photograph of Matt that was taken by a professional portrait photographer. It’s a face shot of Matt on about 8" x 10" with no inscription. It’s a fantastic shot. I also have a shot of him down in Acapulco. SC: I’m glad you brought that up. John Thornton was doing the Flamingo daily strip, which was a daily strip that FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

127

Postcard photos from Baker’s extended trip to Mexico. Courtesy of Frank Giusto.

Matt Baker had worked on with Ruth Roche and Jerry Iger. Matt Baker did it for only six months, and then John Thornton took it over. John Thornton was living in Mexico and my guess is that Matt went down there to visit him, or do you think he went down there to live? FG: He didn’t go down there to live. When I took the trip around the country, he went down to Mexico for about three or four months. He was doing his work there and sending it up to St. John. SC: This would have been late 1951, early 1952 wouldn’t it? FG: Yes, that’s about right. I have a photo with him and three friends of his. You knew Matt was gay, right? He and I were very, very close, but not sexually at all. A lot of times in his apartment house he probably had the hots for me, so to speak, and he would just get up and walk out and come back in an hour or two. One time I told him, “Maybe you should see a psychiatrist or something like that, and they might help?” Eventually I got him to go see a psychiatrist, and when he came back that day I asked him how he had made out, and he says, “The guy is queerer than I am.” [laughter] 128

PART THREE

SC: How did you find out [he was gay]? FG: Like I said, there was a girl by the name of Connie who was also black and part Indian. She was always after him, and he’d wind up giving her a shirt or presents. He really didn’t get involved sexually or anything like that. I knew he was gay because of some of the people he hung around with and the parties he went to; he’d tell me about this one or that one or whatever. Then every once in a while he’d get ripped off by some total idiot that happened to be in New York, and he had no place to stay, and so he would stay with Matt. Matt was gracious enough to let the guy sleep over for a couple of nights or a week or whatever until the guy got on his feet. They’d rip him off. They’d take some of his clothes and disappear. He was that kind of a guy. He was a nice enough guy to take people in, and then people would take advantage of him. Matt was never one to flaunt his sexuality. Some guys walk down the street and put on a show, but Matt was never like that. We were in a bar one night in Greenwich Village having a drink and a guy walked up to him and patted him on the ass. Matt turned around and said, “Watch it! That’ll cost you money.” [laughter]

A couple of times he made some advances, but I turned him down. It wasn’t that type of a relationship. I just wanted him as a really good friend, and that’s where it ended. I had no desire to go down that road. SC: Right now, we are thinking [the work Matt was doing in Mexico] would have been the Flamingo strip for Jerry Iger in late 1951, as the strip debuted on February 2, 1952, which he worked on for about three or four months [before] John Thornton, who was also in Mexico, took it over. FG: Matt was down there later than 1951. I’m not sure exactly when. SC: Baker’s last Flamingo strip is dated July 18, 1952, which was also the last time he worked with Jerry. He was working at St. John at the same time, so maybe he was doing both from Mexico. What makes you recall that Matt was doing St. John stuff from Mexico? FG: I know I heard it from him when he got back from Mexico or from someone we both knew. I know he was penciling stuff in Mexico for St. John exclusively. It wasn’t just a pleasure vacation where he went down there and stayed a couple of months and then came back. He was actually doing work down there. SC: Do you know why he chose Mexico to go to of all places? FG: Well, that’s kind of of difficult to say. At one time, Mexico was loaded with gays. This I know: A lot of wealthy Texans used to go to Mexico to pick up young boys. Matt told me that most cops down there were gay. One guy would recommend another guy and his friend would join the force. The actress, Merle Oberon, was supposed to be the queen of Acapulco at the time. Matt told me about some of the parties that he used to go to that she threw. She was a very well known party giver. SC: Matt had come on hard times in the late 1950s. Did you keep in touch at all towards the end? FG: Not really. I was in touch with him all the time, but then one summer I was up in Maine—I had two kids at that time—we were up there on vacation for a couple of weeks. When I got back, I heard that Matt had passed away and I didn’t know anything else about it.

Promotional artwork for the Flamingo newspaper strip.

FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

129

(above) Matt Baker’s 1940 high school yearbook photo and John Baker’s 1937 high school yearbook photo. (right) These panels from Teen-Age Romances #17 feature a student sporting a Westinghouse High School sweater, the school the Bakers attended while growing up in Pittsburgh.

SC: He died of a heart attack in his apartment. He was working for Vince Colletta, who had a studio that paid really poorly. Did you ever see Matt’s canary yellow convertible Oldsmobile? FG: We drove out to Pittsburgh in that car. [laughter] I’ll tell you a funny story. We were walking down Broadway in Manhattan and there was this Hudson dealer. We walk into this agency, and we’re looking at the cars, and the salesman comes up and says, “I don’t think this car is for you.” In other words, we were in our sports jackets and didn’t look like the type that could afford the car, so we walked out. Two days later, Matt buys a yellow Oldsmobile convertible... and we drove out to visit his mom in Pittsburgh. He was some kind of a guy. SC: I’ve been told that Matt would always bring Pittsburgh up in conversation as if it was Nirvana. Was that your experience too? FG: He loved Pittsburgh. I don’t know how many times he got back there, but he always spoke of his family and his mother. 130

PART THREE

SC: John Baker was deaf in one ear. Do you recall that at all? FG: Not that I noticed so much, but I didn’t pay too much attention. He was always around the apartment, always nattily attired and had to have a clean white shirt on every single day even though he wasn’t working and didn’t have a job. [laughter] He was a character himself. SC: He was the older brother, so my guess is that he was in New York first and worked in comics before Matt, and Matt came to live with John? Is that probably true? FG: I never saw any of John’s artwork. I had no idea that he was any kind of an artist or anything like that. I know he was always going to parties. Always well dressed. I don’t know what he did or what he didn’t do. He was always over at Matt’s for about a year and a half. SC: Did you meet his younger brother, Robert? FG: No. He spoke about him, but I never met his younger brother.

SC: While you were visiting his family, did you just hang around the house, or did you actually visit places with him in Pittsburgh? FG: No, not really. We just hung around the house mostly and joked with his mom. She was a character herself. She was a sharp cookie and a very nice lady. SC: Were you roommates with Matt? FG: We weren’t roommates, but I’d be going to his apartment to work with him and collect swipes and stuff like that. We used to collect Alex Raymond’s stuff and use it for swipes once in awhile. I’d help him on some of the panels that I could do, but not the figures and not the girls. The backgrounds is what I helped him out with. Matt was basically a penciler. I mean he penciled a lot of stories. A lot of people jumped on it and inked it, including myself. Every once in awhile, when we were together in his apartment, I would do some inking. SC: I was told that he would use Andrew Loomis’ book. FG: Drawing for All It’s Worth was the name of the book. I have one still. [laughs] I’ve used that book on occasion. Matt was really good with the female figures. SC: Do you recall any specific women that you or Matt may have used for reference while Opening splash page of “Flee the Cobra Fury!” from Fight Comics #54, one of Baker’s last jobs drawing women in comics? for the Iger shop. Color corrected scan courtesy of Joanna van Ritbergen. FG: Not really. I never knew exactly who Matt was using when he was drawing women. We and military stuff. Not that expansive, but enough so that you never had any live models. He’d probably see something in a wouldn’t need to run out and get a magazine or run out to the magazine and adapt that into comics. Something like a hair public library for references. That would take a lot of time, so if style or fashion. you had the swipes you could avoid all that. Even today I have a swipe file. SC: Did the swipe file you help create have a bunch of women in it, or more along the lines of artifacts, tanks, SC: Do you recall seeing any painting or pictures hanging around Matt’s apartment? or cars? FG: It was mostly swipes from different cartoonists like Alex FG: Not a one. He didn’t have anything like that hanging on Raymond or Milton Caniff. There were also swipes on animals the walls. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

131

Vince Colletta and Matt Baker Vince Colletta’s son, Frank, via email with Shaun Clancy I wish that I had some anecdotes for you. My dad did speak of Matt from time to time. Given time to do proper inking jobs, Vinnie inked each penciler differently, also altering his inking techniques according to the subject matter (see Thor). He pointed out that his inking of Matt Baker romance stories was similar to how he inked Dick Giordano’s romance stories—with simple, smooth pens, and brushes, rather than the freehand (often called scratchy) inking he did on his own romance stuff. I think he knew their art looked uniquely great and didn’t attempt to change much of it.

SC: Did he smoke when you knew him? FG: Yeah. He smoked, but not heavily. I can’t remember what he smoked. We’d go down to Greenwich Village and hang out. I can’t remember how many times we walked from downtown all the way up to 116th Street late at night. That’s about four or five miles. We’d just tell stories, and, before you’d know it, we’d be up to 34th Street, and then we’d be up to 57th Street, and then we’d be up to Central Park, and then, before you’d know it, we’d be up to 116th Street. This would be like twelve or one o’clock in the morning. Like I’ve said, he was like a brother. Very few people I ever really thought of as a close friend, even though I never got into his way of life. SC: Was he a practical joker? FG: He had a great sense of humor. He was just a regular nice guy. He had the one slow eye, as you know, and that made him very attractive and sexy. He was a very good-looking guy. A beautiful looking guy. SC: Was there anybody out there that Matt didn’t like in the industry? FG: I think you dwell on the fact that he didn’t care for Vinnie Colletta. One thing you might not know is that I went to his wedding actually. Vinnie’s wife and my wife were in grammar school together, and they were pretty good friends, so we were invited to his wedding when he got married in Jersey. If I remember correctly, I got him into comics. I steered him to a couple of places, and he started to go around and eventually started picking up work, but I didn’t have anything to do with him basically. The only other thing I remember about him later on was that he got involved with some trade shows and was trying to get involved in selling some of the actual storyboards that people had done. He got into the business end of the thing. SC: He once had an art studio/shop. 132

PART THREE

Baker did work for Bomber Comics #4. Did he also draw this unpublished cover? Frank Giusto says no.

FG: One of the guys that worked for him actually came over to my studio. I had opened up a studio in the city. I wanted to be more into advertising art. I had a design studio and designed annual reports, brochures, and ads for a lot of people like Metropolitan Life, IBM, and agencies that were in the city. We later went into retouching. Retouching was a big thing at that time. I had twelve people working in the place and had a good business going called Rainbow Graphic. In 1995 I retired. SC: Did Matt ever mention or did you ever witness any racial issues? FG: Not at all. Everywhere we went he was a very likable type of guy. He never looked for trouble. We never looked for trouble. I used to go to a couple of bars in Harlem with him once in awhile, and people would turn around to look at me because I was white. Being from New York and growing up the way I did, there weren’t too many black kids in my neighborhood. I was really shocked when I got into the Navy and they sent me down to Virginia to catch a ship; I had to take a ferry from across Chesapeake Bay to Newport News, Virginia, and on that ferry for the first time I saw a sign for “coloreds only” and for “whites only.” I was shocked! I’m a New York kid, and I couldn’t believe that.

SC: How would Matt identify himself if the need ever came up? Would he call himself an African-American? FG: He never mentioned anything like that. He never even mentioned the word “black” or whatever. We’d joke around and tell jokes, but it just slid off our backs. We never got involved in that racial type of thing. SC: Were you ever embarrassed to do comics? FG: No, not really. I think I learned a lot of drawing from comics that helped me in advertising. I was just looking at the Bomber Comics cover you sent me a copy of and that thing is so bad. [laughs] It is absolutely horrendous. I don’t think that Matt had anything to do with it. SC: I also believe Matt had nothing to do with it, but the owner of that cover thinks it’s by Matt. It’s an unpublished cover. FG: I think this thing should be burned. [laughter] I’ve never seen anything so bad. The legs look very feminine, but the head is much too small for the body and it’s not at the right angle. The doorway in the background is so poorly done and bad. I wouldn’t consider that as anything that Matt would do. SC: Did you see the Seven Seas Comics #4 cover scan I sent you? Did you do the inking or penciling on that cover? FG: I really couldn’t tell you. I did a lot of work and did a lot of inking, but I couldn’t honestly say if I did the inking or not.

The cover of Seven Seas Comics #4 (October 1946).

SC: Can you give me your opinion of the Charlton Negro Romances #4 cover? It’s accredited as being a Matt Baker cover and potentially a self portrait at that, with the canary yellow convertible and all. I have my doubts as to it being a Baker cover. What are your thoughts? FG: I’m not sure. The girl looks like a Milton Caniff gal and the two guys... I think it could be by Matt. SC: The reason I have my doubts would be that I don’t recall him ever doing work for Charlton. I would imagine if it was a Baker cover that it would have had to have been done through Vince Colletta.

FG: I don’t recall Matt saying he was working at Charlton either. SC: Did Matt have friends outside the industry? FG: I believe he had a lot of friends, especially his brother John. John was always going to parties. Even down in Mexico, Matt went to a lot of parties in Acapulco. He would always say what a good time he was having down there. SC: Did Matt like to eat at restaurants a lot? FG: I don’t really know. A lot of times we’d go bouncing down to Greenwich Village [or] 52nd Street and have a few drinks and listen to jazz music. 52nd Street was known as Jazz Alley. There was a place on Broadway called Birdland that was very good for FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

133

SC: Did he ever talk about how much he was making? FG: He was making about $35–40 a page, but I think it was $35 a page. I’m not sure. We never really got into that so much, or if we did I can’t honestly recall. SC: Was he getting paid from the publishers and then paying you from that because you were his assistant? FG: I think there was that type of arrangement, but I’m not 100% sure. I know when I was working for Ace, I was working for them for four or five years at the most and I was getting $35 a page, but that was with lettering, penciling, and inking included. SC: Did either you or Matt ever write a script? FG: No. Never! SC: Did Matt ever get any fan mail or compliments from his peers? FG: Not that I recall. Just the fact that he could get work anytime he needed was a testimony of his ability. SC: I noticed from the original Baker art that I own that Matt used a lot of White Out. FG: We used Pro White. It came in a small glass jar and was water soluble. White Out wasn’t around in those days. A 1950 Matt Baker portrait of Frank Giusto. Courtesy of Frank Giusto. Image ©2012 Estate of Matt Baker.

jazz groups. One of the things we really loved was Billie Holiday records. She was one of the biggest singers in the 1940s. We’d listen to her records while working. [Note: Billie Holiday died on July 18, 1959, at the age of 44 of heart failure three weeks before Matt.] He loved her singing voice and he loved her sad songs. SC: How about radio shows? FG: Not so much radio shows. There was a guy by the name of Symphony Sid. He was the jazz radio guy and disc jockey. He’d come on at midnight. When I was doing comics at home and not at Matt’s place, I would sit down at ten o’clock at night and work through till four in the morning because it was so quiet and no distractions. I was living with my folks, and I got into that routine. I’m still a night person. I don’t go to sleep until one or two o’clock in the morning. SC: Did Matt ever discuss what he wanted to do with his future? Did he want to be an illustrator? FG: No, not really. Not in the time that we were together. After I got married, we only saw each other occasionally. I was more interested in going into advertising, illustration, and design. I wound up doing a lot of design work like annual reports and folders. That was my forté, and I went into that. At the same time, occasionally I would do an illustration here or there for places like Argosy magazine or a plane cover for Air World magazine. 134

PART THREE

SC: I’ve also seen paste-ons over his original art to move or hide a figure he had originally drawn. Do you think he would do that often? FG: I never saw Matt do that, so maybe it was the editor. SC: Was Matt critical of his own work? Meaning, if he didn’t like the way a drawing was going, he’d crumble it up and throw it away? FG: I never saw him do that. [laughs] Everything was pristine and everything went out. With penciling it’s not too bad, because you could always erase. The inker could also correct some of the pencils. SC: Matt had heart trouble. Did you witness that? FG: Oh, yeah. He had a congenital heart trouble. SC: Did you ever see him taking any pills? FG: Not taking pills so much. It’s unfortunate, because he lived in a five-story building on 116th Street in Manhattan, and when the elevator was out he climbed the five stories. I always used to say, “Can’t you find something a little lower than five floors?” but that was the way it was. SC: Did Matt ever talk about his own mortality because of his heart issues? Something along the lines of dying young? FG: No. It never entered his mind. He brushed it aside and did what he had to do. He was good that way. He never dwelled on the fact that he had a bad heart. He was never looking for sympathy.

SC: Was he winded easily? How about walking up five stories to his apartment? Was his heart issue something that you might not have known about unless he told you? FG: We had an elevator in the building that he was in, and occasionally the elevator would be out of service so we’d have to walk up the flights of stairs, which didn’t really do his heart any good. He wasn’t to the point where he was really exhausted from that walking. He managed pretty well. SC: How did the bond with Matt form so quickly? What drew you and Matt together? FG: It’s very difficult to say, but we talked at the same kind of level, and there are some people that you get attached to or attracted to because they’re nice people. They don’t put on a front or anything like that. He was a very open guy, and I myself was very open. On the track team we had one or two black kids, and even on the basketball team we had there were several really good black kids there that I got along with even though the teams were predominantly white. Color was never a question as far as getting along with other people. When I went into the Service he started writing me letters while I was at boot camp, just a month after I left Iger’s. I respected him and liked him very much as a person. Sooner or later we started drifting away. After I got back from my [honeymoon] trip we’d see each other every once in awhile as he’d come up to my studio in the 1950s and go out and have lunch, but I didn’t really know that much about what he was doing. He worked for St. John, which was a fairly big outfit and a respected outfit. SC: Do you know how Matt got the job at St. John? FG: Everybody in the industry more or less knew who was doing what and where. When the opportunity came around, and I don’t know who contacted who, but he did start to work at St. John, and one or two others at that time too. I was really surprised that, according to Ray, he was having a real hard time in the 1950s when comics started sliding down.

SC: Archer St. John died in 1955, and that’s when Matt’s career started to tumble down. In 1957 and ’58 especially, where he was trying to get work wherever he could. He worked for Atlas comics, Dell Comics, and even worked at Vince Colletta’s studio, which I’m sure was... FG: ...bottom of the barrel. SC: I was surprised his career went down so fast, but I’m sure it was due to a lot of comic companies closing up and/ or dropping their amount of publishing after 1956, which in turn had all these comic talents looking for work at the same time. FG: That might have been a big part of the reason on his passing: The depressing situation he might have found himself in. When things start going south, then the money isn’t there like it used to be, and you have to lower yourself to do things you don’t like to do or want to do. That might have contributed a lot to his health. Matt had moved from his apartment to downtown and I had never been to his new apartment when he moved. At that time, I was pretty involved in advertising type work. SC: Besides you, do you know of any other assistants Matt had? FG: Not that I know of. When he was doing all that work for St. John, he did just pencils and had inkers like Ray Osrin. SC: I figured that but thought that since he had you as an assistant that there might be a chance he had someone else do that after you left. FG: As far as I know, I was the only assistant he had. We hit it off at Iger’s right away and liked each other a lot.

135

The Best Man for the Job INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH RAY OSRIN by Shaun Clancy I first called Ray at his home in Florida in late 1997 and wish I could recall what we talked about, but unfortunately I was new at this sort of thing, so I never took notes. I did switch from phone calls to letter writing and created a 20-question sheet that I also mailed to Jack Kamen, Lee Ames, Bob Lubbers, Art Saaf, etc. Ray’s health declined rapidly, which slowed down our correspondence and eventually stopped it entirely in January, 2001. Ray passed away in April of 2001 and had affected me in ways I could not describe. Even writing this piece on Ray brings back sad memories, and in 2001 I completely shut down from corresponding with other great comic talents, but did help others from the sidelines. I followed Alter Ego’s monthly articles on these great talents and was in awe when Jim Amash (co-editor of this book) came forth with the Matt Baker biography via the remaining relatives in 2005. It wasn’t until Joanna van Ritbergen called me in January of 2010 about Matt Baker that I finally started to try and reconnect with people in comics. I now present you with what I have collected over the past 15 years. We’ll start off with excerpts from Dan O’Brien’s 1992 interview with Ray Osrin for the Youngstown State University Oral History Program, as it covers Ray’s career in comics very well. The original interview ventured into Ray’s political cartooning career, which has been edited out for the purposes of this book. Dan O’Brian is a political cartoonist himself, and has allowed us to reprint this never before published interview. Interview with Ray Osrin Conducted on March 4, 1992, by Dan O’Brien Dan O’Brien: You can just... Ray Osrin: Well, it all began in Brooklyn, New York, on October 5, 1928. I was working in comic books while I was still in high school at 17, 17½. I dropped out of high school because I got a permanent job in the comic book business. DO: Which comic books were you doing? RO: What it was, was a studio that was like an art service, so it did books for many publishing houses. But the biggest publishing house at that time was Fiction House, and they 136

PART THREE

John Ridd and Lorna Doone say adieu in this panel from Classic Comics #32’s adaptation of Lorna Doone by Baker and Osrin.

did things like Wings; Kaänga... The shop was [owned and] run by a guy named Jerry Iger. He provided a service. We also did the artwork for a lot of Classics [Illustrated]. I worked on Lorna Doone, and was it—I never remember—20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Two Years before the Mast. I sometimes get those backwards. Treasure Island and stuff like that. I was primarily an inker. I learned how to do inking, and I think I became a good inker. Inking today is one of my favorite parts of drawing. Anyway, I was in the comic book business and was doing rather well for the times. Considering we are talking about a period from 1945—I graduated in 1945—through 1949, I worked for Jerry Iger in his shop. Met a fantastic man there named Matt Baker. I identify him as being black only because this was very uncommon in 1949, number one, for there to be a really top notch, black cartoonist in New York; I mean a really good one of the illustrative style.

The original art for page 24 of Classic Comics #32, one of the first pairings of Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

137

DO: Where was this at in New York? RO: Well, he was from Pittsburgh, and he had come to New York to make his way in comic books. We met in the studio that Jerry Iger ran. DO: Was it like... the big Madison Avenue type, or was it just back streets? RO: No, these kinds of places were warehouse buildings with elevators that went up to the 42nd floor. They looked like factories. No, it was not glamorous at all. In fact, I can’t remember where the first office building was. It was down near the river, in a very low rent district; but Jerry Iger then moved near Canal Street. That is about as famous as I can get for a street name. Canal is not a glamorous street, but it’s a famous street in New York. The shop moved to Canal Street and had a very unique thing about it…. You’re too young to remember the first Dave Garroway shows on television, I suppose?

DO: Today shows you mean? RO: They used to come from on the street, a glass window, and the people walking by could look in the glass window and watch the show in progress, watch Dave Garroway and all the people. Well, our cartoon shop was on Canal Street, on the street with big glass windows, and guys lined up sitting at drawing boards, and people could walk up and down the street and watch comic books being made. They would hang around for hours watching a guy finish inking a page or something like that. I met Matt Baker there, which was a big break in my life, because he taught me a lot. Matt and I became close friends. Then we decided to become partners, because he was basically a penciler and I was an inker. We could do a lot of freelance work and keep production flowing more smoothly that way. Inkers got paid less than pencilers, so it was more profitable for him to keep on penciling and do as many pencil pages as he could, and then I would do the inking. We actually were a team from 1949 to 1957, when I left New York, because the bottom dropped out of the comic book business due to a doctor who wrote a book, which I understand is being reissued today. Dr. Fredric Wertham wrote The Seduction of the Innocent. DO: That killed Tales from the Crypt. The artwork was absolutely beautiful. RO: That was the zenith, as far as I am concerned, for comic book art…. Yes, that book killed it all. It got to the point... I had little children, two and three years old, and we lived on Long Island. It reached the point where some little kid on the block had said, “What does your daddy do for a living?” My little girl said, “He draws comic books.” The parents wouldn’t let their kids play with my kids. So I said, “I guess it’s time to get out of the business.” They also appointed a judge to oversee comic books. It got ridiculous. They blamed all the evils of society on comic books.

Another panel from Classic Comics #32. 138

PART THREE

DO: The stamp, what was the... not Gold Key but…. RO: No. I worked for Gold Key, by the way, now that you mention it. I forgot the words of the stamp, but the stamp signified that this was a healthy and clean comic book. What it meant was that if you saw a guy holding a gun in a panel, you couldn’t show the bullet of the smoke coming out of the gun. You could see “Bang.” You just couldn’t show the old, you know, comic book way of the smoke and the bullet’s trajectory…. You mentioned Gold Key. After I left New York, I moved to Pittsburgh and went to work for an industrial motion picture company, the ad for which I found in The New York Times. Loved the job! I was learning television animation and was doing station I.D.s and beer commercials—Iron City, Duquesne Beer—when the Eisenhower/Hoover recession hit. That was the last big recession… I think the worst one since this one… 1957, 1958. Certainly in Pittsburgh, which was really a depressed area because of the steel mills, the business folded, and I was unemployed for four months collecting

Pages 5 and 6 of “Lassie and the Concrete Jungle” from MGM’s Lassie #20, penciled by Baker and inked by Osrin.

unemployment checks. So, as I started to say, it was there in Pittsburgh that I had to do a lot of freelance work, because I now had two children and, I think, a third one coming…. One of the things I did was for Gold Key Comics. I did about five editions of a thing called Super Car. I don’t know if you remember it now. It was a British property that was on television with puppets…. If I could have made a steady, good living at it, I would have loved to have [stayed] in the comic book business, because you’re a freelancer and your time is your own. I didn’t mind working from after dinner until four or five in the morning and sleeping for a few hours. It was the summertime, going to the beach all day, and Putt-Putt, so that was great. But you mentioned Gold Key, and that reminded me of that…. That was really the end of my comic book work until… well, about the same time. My chronology is getting screwed up, but I know there were some hard times in there and that Matt Baker, my old friend from comics, was now doing Lassie for Dell. He had reached the big time. That was considered a real plum. DO: Lassie was? RO: Well, it was the movie property, and they did actual movie scripts in comic book form. As Matt said, “I’m so sick of drawing that f*cking dog every which way.” This was a

guy who specialized in drawing beautiful women. That was his forté. You asked me what characters we did back in those days, and there were no characters. It was a period where they had romance comics. There were no set characters. The characters changed with every story. The big superheroes had died for a period of seven or eight years. They came back strong now—Superman and Batman—but they were all dead. One of the things that happened after that period with Dr. Fredric Wertham was that a lot of seedy characters came into the business for a fast buck… two guys… their names were [Ed] Levy and [John] Santangelo. They met in prison, literally. One had made a fortune with the song sheets. Do you remember in the old days how they published song sheets with the lyrics to all the popular songs? He made a fortune with that. When they got out, they formed the Charlton Publishing Company. The Charlton Publishing Company’s theory was, for comic books, why give people quality artwork? [Why not] hire kids who can barely draw; pay them $75 a week, not per page; and have them grind out [comics] for you on a studio basis and produce crap? That is another reason I got out of the business… Charlton was a disgrace to the business. By the same token, they kept a lot of starving cartoonists at least working during a period when there wasn’t much work in the comic book business. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

139

(top) Ray Osrin at his board in the late ’60s. Courtesy of Lea Osrin. (above) An Osrin doodle of himself from one of his letters to Shaun Clancy. ©2012 Estate of Ray Osrin. (right) Baker penciled this story for Charlton’s Tales of the Mysterious Traveller #13.

I was invited by [Charlton] to go up to Derby, Connecticut…. The deal was that they would pay me $75 a week, and I would work five days a week in the studio for them grinding out pages. It was just like the old company store with the coal mines. If I wanted to buy a house, they would help me get the mortgage, but I would work it off. Anything you wanted like that, they would do, but they owned you. So, I said no, and I decided to quit the business. But, a lot of guys did it, and a lot of guys kept on working. Maybe eventually, they made a little bit more money, got raises or something from Charlton. I don’t know what finally happened, but Charlton just seemed to fade and go out of business. I don’t know whether they died or what. I noticed, after I was long gone out of the business, that quality was coming back, and good drawing. I was happy to see that inkers get credit; inkers got no credit in my day. It was only the artist. Now it says, “inked by,” “penciled by,” “lettered by,” 140

PART THREE

“written by,” and you at least have credits. That is all good. I still yearn. If I had an opportunity to do freelance inking for some comic book publisher today, I would grab it. I would love it. ••• The following are excerpts from my correspondence with Ray Osrin, which always came with drawings on the envelopes covering Ray’s declining health. I was initially going to edit these letters into a narrative story, but later changed my mind so that the reader can get the same personalized insight I did when I first received these little gems. LETTER from Ray Osrin, March 6, 1998 …WOW! Thanks for the package. I appreciate it. The Baker sketch is fascinating and sadly nostalgic. We all thought

we’d live forever. My health is very poor. I’m 69, but I walk like I’m 85… even as I write this my hand cramps and I have to stop, hoping the spasm passes…. …I joined Jerry Iger and became an apprentice, running errands, getting the guys lunch, cleaning up finished pages, etc. I once had to walk up to the office 14 floors during an elevator operators strike. Met Matt Baker there and was off on an inking career. A lot with Matt, a lot with Gene Colan, and also Al Fago. The editor, of course, was Jerry Iger. The only originals I have are my political cartoons which covered a span of 30 years. The great body of that work is in the archives of the L.B.J. Library, Ohio State University Archives, and Cleveland State University. ••• INTERVIEW WITH RAY OSRIN Conducted in January 1999 via mail by Shaun Clancy Shaun Clancy: How did you get the job at the Iger shop, and what was your first work? Ray Osrin: Ad in The New York Times. Clean-up and gofer. SC: Did you do penciling and inking? RO: Inking only. SC: How was the atmosphere at the Iger shop? Did anyone ever pal around after work or during lunch? RO: Seldom. SC: The Iger shop was one of the few shops that employed women…. Was this due to the unavailability of men because of the war? Did this have any effect or influence on anyone’s work or make it uncomfortable to be drawing “good girl” artwork? RO: I would assume they worked for less. SC: Were you specifically told to draw women in a sexy way? RO: No. SC: What effect did the Comics Code Authority have on your work? RO: Drove me out of the business. SC: Do you recall the page rate you received? RO: $12–14 a page inking.

Baker sketched this shapely figure (left) for another Iger studio artist, Lee Ames. On the back, Baker sketched a quick portrait of Ames’ wife (above). Courtesy of Lee Ames. and ©2005 Estate of Matt Baker.

SC: What was one of your fondest memories of your days in comics, and what was your favorite assignment? RO: Meeting Matt Baker [and] inking for him. SC: Was the fact that he was a black man ever public knowledge, and was this fact purposely kept hidden? RO: Yes [to the first] and no [to the second]. SC: Do you know his artistic background and his schooling? RO: [Andrew] Loomis’ book of anatomy [Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth]. SC: What type of man was he? Did he go out of his way to help people on their deadlines? RO: Fine fellow. Classy. Good friend. Had trouble with his own deadlines. SC: Do you have any personal anecdotes relating to him? RO: Matt taught me most of what I know about penciling and inking. He was godfather to my oldest child. Those were great days! FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

141

(left) The opening splash panel from “Lassie and Down to the Sea” from MGM’s Lassie #20, inked by Ray Osrin. (below) One of the many studio photos Baker had taken of himself, this one from 1951 was personalized to Ray Osrin. Courtesy of William Bush.

••• LETTER from Ray Osrin, February 13, 1999 …I’ll do what I can about remembering those wonderful days, but the old brain is not working so well. About Matt Baker, this may not be as difficult as you think. Get a Brooklyn phone book and look up John Baker. If you luck out on this one he can fill in all the gaps, and please say hello for me. Matt had a sister-in-law and a younger brother, but I don’t know their first names. If John Baker is alive now, he’d have to be in his 80s…. …I don’t think I inked that Seven Seas #4 cover. By the time I got there Bob Webb was drawing it and a little creep by the name of Dave [Heames]…? ••• LETTER from Ray Osrin, October 27, 1999 …I was primarily an inker and inked until I became a political cartoonist and did it all. I was not drafted and was too young for World War II. I received my draft status of 3A for the Korean War because my wife was seven months pregnant with our first child. I decided to leave comics and part with Matt Baker. We remained close friends, and I couldn’t stand what the new laws were doing to the comic book business…. …I mentioned two other guys who worked with Matt: Frank Guisto and Lou Morales, but since I may be the last living to know much about him, here goes: Matt Baker was extremely good looking. I envied the way he wore clothes. He was kind, generous, and loyal. He was godfather to my first born. It was always a pleasure to be around him, and we burned up telephone lines while burning the midnight oil. Slowly, when I moved to Pittsburgh we grew apart, but always kept in touch. 142

PART THREE

There was talk of him being gay. I can’t say one way or the other. I never thought so. He had a flare for the dramatic as many New York people do. He had a bad heart, which I can vouch for. I had always heard he died of a heart attack until some yo-yo came forward that Matt died in a knife fight in a Harlem dance hall. Matt had the epitome of taste and class in clothing, theatre, and everything. He would come out to Long Island, where I lived, and take me, my wife, and child for a spin in his canary yellow convertible Oldsmobile. It was always a highlight of our dull days… what a joy! I had no car then. I recall a lot of

Matt’s clothing was bought in Browning King… a then-high-fashioned men’s store. He was my idol and my confidant, and his style had a great influence on my clothes, etc. As I was leaving Pittsburgh with my tail between my legs, he had me help him on Lassie for Dell. We ate in the automat, which we both loved, and he introduced me to foods I’d never eaten. I had asked Matt to be best man at my wedding in 1949… but it just wasn’t acceptable yet, and, I think knowing my father’s South African heritage, he begged off. I don’t even recall if he was at the wedding. I still miss him. I hope he’s in heaven sitting at his drawing board, smoking Camels, and listening to all-night music shows on the radio. Those were the good ol’ days. I hope if I ever get up there with him, he’ll have a tough deadline and ask me to help him…. ••• LETTER from Ray Osrin, November 27, 1999 …Thank you for those covers from Seven Seas comics and Northwest Mounties. I doubt that I would have inked those covers. I was a rookie, and either Matt inked his own covers or [David] Heames, who was by seniority the number one inker. No, we never bounced ideas off each other, Matt and I. We had a writer named Ruth Roche who did all the writing and editing. Cover art for St. John’s Northwest Mounties #4. I did ink much of Jack Kamen’s work, and he was a good friend. He lives here in Boca Raton, and loathed by everyone. I thought comics would never reand I visited him once. He struck it rich through his two sons. cover from the harm they caused. I also inked a little for Al While still in college they invented a pump of some kind for Capps’ brother Elliott. A bigger bastard never lived, but I infants, and they all made a fortune. I never worked for Fox, wish that I was back in the comic book business as it is now. I enjoyed my years in comics 1945–1957 and feel fortunate to and I can’t recall Matt ever having done so. I did not know that Matt spent his last days with Vince have know Matt Baker…. Colletta. I thought his last days were with Lassie at, I think, ••• Dell Publishing? Matt’s work does change drastically from one [job] to the next, i.e., the Northwest Mounties cover was a LETTER from Ray Osrin, December 24, 1999 good one. I never really worked for anyone but the St. John Publishing Company and Marion McDermott, the editor. Briefly I did some inking for Jack Sparling, and a bit for a …I was a happier in comic books than with anything I’ve guy named Al Fago. Al Fago lived in Great Neck Long Island done before or since. In the summer time, I would work all as I recall. I did some inking for Charlton who was despised night and next day go to the beach. It was to me, delightful. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

143

Every night there was the phone conversation with Matt Baker, usually about race issues. Then there was the radio I would enjoy all night long. Next morning I would drop the pages off at the publishers and head for the beach…. …I’m surprised now that I look on Matt Baker’s work. I see inconsistency, but I suspect that was the result of all the 144

PART THREE

inkers having a hand in one story. Sheena, Queen of the Jungle was done mostly by Bob Webb. Matt might have done a couple of issues…. •••

St. John’s 1950 (not 1947) Christmas party with Baker and Osrin front and center. Courtesy of Stephanie Osrin.

LETTER from Ray Osrin, December 13, 2000 …I always get nostalgic about now. New York is wonderful during Christmas, and Matt and I used to walk the streets and look at the windows. FAO Schwartz was something else, and, oh, those chestnuts roasting on an open fire... six for 25 cents. Light up a cigarette and into the automat for a great cup of coffee. Subway ride home, me to Brooklyn, Matt to Manhattan. I wish the world could have stayed like that… 1947. ••• In January 2010, I contacted Ray Osrin’s widow, Stephanie Osrin in Florida, whom to my surprise was actually Ray’s second wife, having married in the mid-1970s. Stephanie gave me contact information for Ray’s first wife, Lea, who had never remarried. I conducted my interview with Lea in several phone conversations over the course of many months. Her memory of those days was spot on. She met Ray at a very young age in 1947. Lea and Ray were married in 1949, had three children, and were together 27 years.

INTERVIEW with LEA OSRIN Conducted on January 21, 2010, by Shaun Clancy Shaun Clancy: While married to Ray, did you meet Matt Baker? Lea Osrin: Oh yes. He use to come over to the house with work for Ray to ink and would sometimes stay and draw in Ray’s office so that Ray could ink them right away if they were late with a job. SC: Did they listen to radio while working? LO: They loved to listen to the radio as they worked, and one of their favorite shows was Bob and Ray. SC: They were definitely ahead of their time. LO: As usual with most brilliant people. I adored them and they were truly brilliant and intelligent guys. SC: I had read in a previous article that Matt liked to listen to jazz. Is that true, and did Ray also like jazz? FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

145

Photos from Ray and Lea Osrin’s 1949 honeymoon. Courtesy of Lea Osrin.

LO: Yes, they both loved jazz. SC: Did either of them play an instrument or dance? LO: Ray was definitely not a dancer, and Matt could have been, but I don’t know. He carried himself very well and was one snappy guy. Matt was elegant but not old-fashioned. He wore those two-tone brown shoes from the 1920s… but I forget what they are called. He would dress with that kind of a flair. Like the Fred Astaire flair. SC: Did you ever see Matt with a camera? LO: No. That type of question would imply that we socialized with him on a daily basis. The only times we would go out of the house with Matt was when he wanted to take us for a ride in his car. That was it, so he didn’t come with cameras. He’d sit and talk and chew the rags, and that was it. A lot of the times, they would go into Ray’s work room, and Ray would draw, and Matt would be in there with him. They would be talking, and I wouldn’t be in there with them because I could care less. I knew about Matt’s brother John and his wife, Elma, and their kids, but no other family. SC: When Matt did come by your house, did he come alone? Maybe with John? LO: He was always alone, never with a girlfriend or anyone else. I never met Matt’s family, but I would occasionally hear Matt talk about them. SC: Did you ever witness or hear of any race issues about 146

PART THREE

Matt from anyone? Maybe your neighbors may have said something when he came over? LO: No! Never. SC: When Matt left your home, what type of person was he? Was he a hand shaker or a hugger? LO: You know, I think a hug. Yeah, he was a very open, sweet person. A likeable guy. You could not dislike him. There was something about him that was very charming and very sweet. I think self-assured is a good word because he oozed talent, and that talent…. When you know you’re special, you don’t have to have everybody else reinforce it, because you’re comfortable in your own skin. I think that’s the best way to describe Matt. I think he was very comfortable in his own skin. SC: You mentioned before I started recording that when Matt Baker would come over and sit on the couch he occasionally mentioned what great legs you had. Did he say this in front of Ray? LO: Oh, yeah. Ray would just laugh. I was so flattered because Matt was the top of the line artist, and he noticed my legs? I was very young, and Matt had to be a lot older than me. Matt was seven years older than Ray. SC: So that would mean Matt was 28 years old then. How come your parents let you get married so young? LO: My dad died when I was young, and in those days education was not encouraged and you either got married or you went to work.

SC: Did you and Ray get married in a church? LO: We got married in a temple with a Rabbi. SC: Did Matt help in any way when you got married? LO: No. SC: He was asked to attend wasn’t he? LO: Yes, absolutely. We begged him. I begged him. Ray begged him, “Please be our best man.” SC: What was the reason he gave you for saying no? LO: He never really said to us, and he may have said something different to Ray, but he never said it to me. I remember saying to Ray, “I’m devastated. I wanted him here so badly.” I loved him and I considered him a close friend. I never looked at the color of anybody’s skin, and I still don’t. It was just a shock that he didn’t come, so we had Ray’s other friend that he knew as our best man, but we wanted [Matt] to be the best Panels from “Fast Company” from Pictorial Romance #22, inked by Ray Osrin. In the second panel, man. Ray’s best man was not Baker and Osrin cleverly snuck in their names as “Matt’s Bakery” and “Ray’s Rings.” someone from comics. He was someone Ray knew as a kid. This was really sad. [Matt] not the spouses. Archer was a really decent, elegant, and classy felt he’d be a distraction. Can you understand that? I’m trying man. His Christmas parties were the highlight of the year. to put it in those terms and not make it ugly. Remember, to SC: Do you recall some of the names of people Ray and be the only dark face—and he wasn’t dark. He was the color Matt worked with? of a Milano similar to the Obama color. In those days they LO: Yes... Jack Kamen. never used the term black. They used Negro, but Matt never SC: I talked with Jack Kamen ten years ago, and he retalked about himself in any of those terms. membered Ray fondly and wrote, “Tell Ray that I give him SC: Did Ray ever go over to Matt’s house? my ‘special’ regards! He was my inker along with some LO: That’s a good question. I don’t recall Ray ever going to others. The reason I say ‘special’ is because I tried to be a Matt’s. ‘special’ influence to get him beyond comic books. He was a beginner then, which makes me a lot older than he.” Ray SC: During Ray’s days at St. John Publishing, did they ex- passed away before I could mention it to him. Jack Kamen and Matt Baker had similar styles, and, change Christmas gifts or get bonuses? LO: I remember exchanging gifts, but not bonuses. Maybe when you look at the two styles, it’s sometimes hard to when Ray went to The Plain Dealer, but I’m not sure. If decipher who did what. I bet it’s due to Ray inking both they did give out bonuses, then it was nickels and dimes and their work. not worth mentioning. I remember Archer St. John having LO: Jack probably said that about Ray because Ray probably Christmas parties and that all the artists would go there but made his work look a lot better. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

147

SC: Towards the end of Ray’s comic book career, he was working with Matt Baker on Lassie. Do you recall anything about that? LO: No, nothing at all, except that Ray was waiting for the art to come and bitching Matt was always late. SC: Did you see a lot of Matt’s rough pencils before Ray inked them? LO: Yes. SC: Would you say Ray did a majority of the artwork? I mean, were there any backgrounds done? Were the figures done in stick figures?

LO: No, not at all. Matt did the whole thing. Background and everything, but Ray enhanced it. He always made his stuff even more phenomenal. SC: Did Ray ever have to call Matt and get clarification on something? LO: Oh, I’m sure he did, but I can’t remember anything specific. If Ray thought he was overstepping a line, he would definitely get the okay from the artist. Matt and Ray had an agreement that Ray could do what he felt he should, so Matt never questioned him. He was always grateful for what he did and always told him that he made his stuff look even better. He always complimented Ray and told him what a phenomenal job he did. Always! SC: Were there any other artists that complained about Ray’s inking? LO: No, never. I can’t remember any of them complaining about his work. Ever! SC: Did you ever hear Ray complain about someone’s penciling? LO: Oh yes! If they were hacks that would be the first thing you’d hear. Absolutely. He’d say, “How the hell did he get the job?” SC: Matt became the art director at St. John and was then able to buy nice clothes and even a car. Was that yellow convertible the only car you saw him in? LO: Yes, that was the only car I remember him with. I do remember when we were living in Pittsburgh, and not too long in fact, that Ray got a call from Matt, and Matt needed money. Something happened, like him not getting paid or whatever, and of course Ray came to his aid. I’m sure Matt paid him back, because Ray trusted him implicitly. He said, “I know that if Matt has to resort to asking me, then it’s pretty bad.” He did lend him the money, and I’m sure he paid him back. SC: Do you know the circumstances around that situation? LO: No, but it must have been pretty bad.

Page 1 of “The Flying Wolf” from MGM’s Lassie #22, inked by Ray Osrin. 148

PART THREE

SC: When Matt and Ray smoked, did they smoke a lot?

Baker’s illustration for “China’s Cut Throat Pirate Queen” in Rage for Men #4.

LO: Yes, I wouldn’t call it chain smoking, but they were both heavy smokers. Ray always had a pipe, and Matt always with a cigarette. SC: Was Matt a polite guy, meaning he’d open the door for you, etc.? LO: Yes. Very polite and very gentlemanly. Ray and Matt never put each other down, not that I ever saw. SC: Do you recall any jokes they used to talk about to each other? LO: Oh sure... they used to talk about Jerry Iger all the time. He was the butt of most of their jokes. They always made fun of him and talked about whatever he said or whatever he did. They would even imitate him. He was the village idiot [laughter], but the village idiot that kept them eating. There were so many artists that are now gone that I can’t recall any other names. We would go down and meet at 30 Rock or an Irish steak house for dinner. SC: Do you recall some of their favorite foods? LO: Chicken à la King, pickled beets, and pie. Matt was not a big eater. He was very slim. SC: Would Matt come over for Thanksgiving and things like that?

LO: No, never anything like that. We would all just meet up for cold drinks. It was informal. He would even come over for coffee. I’d be on the couch, and he’d be on the chair talking in the living room. He’d stay usually for about two hours and rarely stayed longer. It was always during the day, never at night. He was quite reserved and a funny guy who was always in control. You wouldn’t see a side of him that he didn’t want you to see. He spoke perfect English and was never crude or vulgar. There were no four-letter words or swearing. He was a gentleman. I don’t ever recall him having dinner at our home, and I know I would have invited him. He was a Sagittarius, and they have two different personalities. He’d be a wild and crazy guy sometimes and then a loner at others. That’s really what he was. SC: Do you think Matt had any pets? LO: No. Absolutely not. He wasn’t that kind of guy, because he had enough trouble taking care of himself. He lived alone. I know you said his half-brother lived with him later, but when we moved to Pittsburgh, Ray and Matt still kept in touch, but it was a different connection. SC: When you moved to Pittsburgh, Matt’s mom still lived there. Did Matt ever come by and visit you when he went to see his mom? FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

149

Dick Booth on Pittsburgh by Shaun Clancy Dick Booth, a high school classmate of Matt Baker (though he didn’t know him well), had this to say about life in the area of Pittsburgh in which he and Matt grew up: “There is always some racial tension in a city, in my opinion, and there was in the 1940s. Consider, though, that the president of our 1940 Westinghouse graduation class was a black man, Louis Waller. There was some segregation in certain city swimming pools. There were strong ethnic groups in the city that did not get along. At times, blacks were not welcome at the Kennedy Amusement Park, especially at the dance pavilion. Westinghouse High School is located in the Homewood/ Brushton area of Pittsburgh. This Homewood/Brushton area had a large Irish population, and the St. Mary’s Catholic Church was very active…. In the areas close to Westinghouse High School there were only a few black families when I was growing up. Lots of Irish, Italian, southern European, German [families], and all got along reasonably well. There wasn’t much mixing of the different races. An illustration for Rage for Men #10.

LO: No, but it never occurred to me until you just mentioned it. I never thought of it, but maybe things were not the same anymore. Matt did not get back to Pittsburgh very often, and maybe at that point in his life he wasn’t doing very well. I don’t know. I remember him borrowing money when we were in Pittsburgh, but he died soon after that. We moved to Pittsburgh in 1957. Matt was a proud man, and maybe he didn’t want us to see him at his lowest. The sad fact is a lot of very talented men aren’t good businessmen, and I know for a fact that Matt wasn’t. It showed in his clothes and even in the fancy car—everything flash and show. And I always remember him talking about Pittsburgh. I could never figure it out. When we were all together, his longing to go back and visit home, that was the key or common thread in a conversation. There was always that thread of returning to Pittsburgh to his roots, to the place he loved, and I used to think, “What the heck is in Pittsburgh that he’s always got to be talking about it?” I understood it when we moved there. I learned that Pittsburgh grabs you and never lets you go. There is something there, but I can’t put my finger on it. There is something so tangible about the people and about the place that it just grabs you. SC: You’d always hear Matt comparing things to Pittsburgh? LO: Yes… right. Always. He always spoke of Pittsburgh as though it was Nirvana. SC: I’m sure the cost of living was higher in New York than in Pittsburgh. 150

PART THREE

LO: Oh yeah, but when you have a niche, it’s hard to make another niche. He had a niche at home and he felt welcomed. Remember he was a black man in a time when they didn’t fit in too easily, and wouldn’t you want to go back home to where you are accepted and loved? Wouldn’t you always have that longing to go back? You can’t even begin to understand that time because you’re just a kid. That’s the reality of the way people lived then. SC: How about religion? LO: Ray was an agnostic, and Matt I’m sure was religious in his beliefs. SC: Did you ever see Matt wear a cross? LO: Yes, he did wear a cross from time to time. Ray believed in a universal god. He did not believe in a formal religion that you have to go to a church or temple or God is gonna get you. One of his most famous sayings would be, “In the name of God, I’m gonna kill you.” Every war is a religious war and about money. War makes money. SC: Did Matt ever write letters to the two of you? LO: God, I wish he did. No... he only called. SC: Did you think Matt may have been gay? LO: There are men that act effeminate and who are not [gay]. So you don’t know. I would never say he was bisexual, and I would never say he was gay. Who knows what he was. That’s my answer.

FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

151

…On Matt Baker

A FEW WORDS FROM HIS PEERS AND COLLEAGUES The following excerpts come from interviews conducted by Jim Amash over many years of working for Alter Ego magazine, as well as some conducted specifically for this book, and from written correspondence to Hames Ware. First up is Burt Frohman, who started in comics as an inker, but soon switched to writing. Burt Frohman on Matt Baker From a December 19, 1981, letter to Hames Ware BURT FROHMAN: I don’t know what month I started with Iger… but it had to be 1944. A freelance artist named Mort Lawrence … sent me to Iger with the suggestion that it would be a good place to get some experience. … I became a background inker—no figures—that would take special brush handling. … Matt Baker had just started shortly before me, but hadn’t started doing his own drawing yet. After I had been at Iger’s for some months, Matt Baker was permitted to start “Tiger Girl” and did so well that he was on his way. His girls were shapely and sexy. A young Italian fellow named Frank [Giusto] became a very close buddy of Matt’s, and they became inseperable. I had been close with Matt… but not that close. In answer to your question about David Heames, you’d have to understand how Iger worked. He threw pages at you, and you inked them. Sure, he inked other than [Bob] Webb. He inked Alex Blum or maybe some of Matt Baker’s stuff or anything else that was in the house. ••• Lee Ames began his career in 1939 with Walt Disney Studios before moving on to comic books, advertising art, design, and illustration. He is best know for his Draw 50… book series. Lee Ames on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego #28 JIM AMASH: Matt Baker’s work has become very popular among collectors, and we know very little about him. LEE AMES: Matt was a handsome, charming, clever guy who had a heart condition. He was about 5' 10", tall, well152

PART THREE

Baker’s first work on “Tiger Girl” was assisting and inking Alex Blum on this story from Fight Comics #36 (February 1945).

built, and a light-skinned African-American. One time, while we were discussing the construction steps I use in my Draw 50… books, I asked him to show me how he went about constructing a figure. Matt put the pencil to the paper at a point and went from there to draw a finished eye, then to the other eye, nose, the whole face, and then went on detail to detail to a complete figure, with no basic construction. And it all fit neatly into the page instead of falling off. But he was one of those people who could start from

the get-go and finish up without construction other than what existed in his mind. He did beautiful stuff. When I introduced my wife to Matt and Burt [Frohman], they decided to greet her with a mock Brooklynese accent, like, “Pleased to meetcha, I’m sure.” Why she didn’t throw them at me, I don’t know. JA: What else can you tell me about Matt Baker? LA: Only that he was gay. JA: How do you know that? LA: There are some things you just know about people. It wasn’t a secret [to me]. ••• Jack Katz worked for a number of publishers and studios during the Golden Age of comics. But he is best known for his creator-owned work The First Kingdom, which began in 1974. Jack Katz on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego #91 JACK KATZ: In 1944 I worked for Jerry Iger on salary for about $30 a week in cash. There were a number of stories he was turning out. He took old stories… and they needed some details on the uniforms. I would put in the details. I did quite a bit of work there. I did some pencils. That’s when I met Matt Baker, Original art for “South Seas Girl” from Seven Seas Comics #3 (August 1946). and I really affiliated with him. Matt, I thought, was one of the most wonderful gentle- me. He told Jerry Iger about it, and Iger asked me, “Did you men—he reminded me of Nat “King” Cole. His voice was tell Matt to quit this job?” I said, “No, I said he didn’t have to very beautiful; he was a very good-looking man. He had a quit to do illustration.” He said, “Well, you’re fired.” Frankly, bad, bad heart. In fact, when we used to walk down the stairs I was about to go anyway. I was there six or seven months. to go to a place to eat, he had a difficult time breathing, and his eyes looked like they were popping out. He’d get tired JA: How did Iger treat you and the others? from walking too much, though it wasn’t that obvious. JK: You know how they used to make up these imitation The reason I got fired from Jerry Iger’s is that I looked at countries in the movies? Iger was like a sergeant in one of Baker’s stuff and said, “Your stuff is so beautiful. If you can those imitation countries; he was kind of a buffoon, and at just show your stuff to places like The Saturday Evening Post the same time you had to take him seriously. He would strut and some of these other places, you really should. You’re bet- around like he was somebody special. ter than the rest of us.” I figured Matt was afraid that if he were to jump into that he might not make it, and he knew the JA: Do you think Matt Baker was accepted there, considtension that was going on with the illustration market. They ering the prejudice of the times? were bringing more and more photography into the set. Un- JK: Matt was accepted, at least to his face. I don’t know what fortunately, a guy whom we were walking behind overheard all went on there, but, really, Matt and I got along beautifully. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

153

I used to just praise his stuff to the ceiling. I used to say, “I wish I could draw women like you.” He thanked me, and, in fact, Jerry caught me twice just taking a look while Matt was drawing women in the stories and told me to get back to my desk. Matt was older than me, of course. He won by way of his art, and he won in spades. Really, none of the others could draw half as well as he could. He was treated with respect. He was a very quiet man. He didn’t like to talk about his heart problems. Later on he said, “Look, Jack, I have a bad heart, and there’s no way I’m going to turn that around.” He was very, very straightforward, didn’t complain. He did his work. He was, in my opinion, one of the top illustrators and a good storyteller. I admired him as a person, and his skin color was

meaningless to me. With me around no one in the shop ever, in any way, disparaged him. Besides, Jerry Iger would walk around, strutting with his belly out, and he would look at you. Man, he would freeze everyone. ••• Al Feldstein distinguished himself as a writer and artist for EC Comics, and then guided pop culture as the editor of the iconic Mad magazine from 1956 to 1985. AL FELDSTEIN ON MATT BAKER Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego JIM AMASH: When were you discharged from the Service? AL FELDSTEIN: I was discharged in November of 1945. JA: When you came home, what did you do? AF: Well, I had the G.I. Bill, and so I said to myself, “Hey, I don’t have to go back to Brooklyn College. I can go to Columbia University now and continue with my Art Education courses.” Because I wanted to be a teacher. So I applied to Columbia under the G.I. Bill, and they said I had to wait for admission until after the semester was over. I came out of the Service married and with an apartment that my wife’s folks managed, on the same floor with them in an apartment house in Brooklyn. I realized I had to make some money, so I went back to Jerry. I said, “Do you want me to work for you for a while?” He said, “Sure, c’mon.” Now I was sitting next to Matt Baker. And Jack Kamen had returned from Service, and he was there. Between the two of them, I was learning how to draw sexy broads. [laughter] JA: Where was Iger located when you first worked for him? AF: I don’t remember the exact address. I know it was right next to the Third MUL. It might have been above the Third MUL, and I think it was 44th Street. I do remember there was a Horn & Hardart automat where I used to get an apple pie.

Page 1 of “Camilla” from Jungle Comics #102 (June 1948). 154

PART THREE

JA: When you went back to Iger after you were discharged, was he in the same location?

Pages 1 and 2 of “Ace of the Newsreels” from Crown Comics #7 (November 1946).

AF: No, no, he was now down on Hudson Street, way downtown. I went there every day, and the big problem that arose was he started to pay me more than a starting teacher.

The one down on Hudson Street was a little quieter. The only problem was there was no good place to eat. There was no Horn & Hardart automat. [laughs]

JA: How much was he paying you? AF: $75 a week.

JA: What were the Hudson Street offices like? AF: Basically the same. The room was a little longer and not as wide as the uptown office, but it housed 15 or so artists.

JA: Were you expected to turn out a certain number of pages? AF: I was supposed to work as hard as I could. No screwing around, short bathroom breaks—he would bawl you out if you took too long. [laughs] But it was a more congenial and a little less militarized atmosphere after the war. He was a little more dependent on the artists coming back, and I think they were a little more independent themselves having been in the Service. That’s when I met Mort Lawrence and Matt Baker and Jack Kamen. JA: Were the offices in a better neighborhood? AF: No, it was a commercial neighborhood. The uptown 44th Street offices were in a commercial neighborhood also, with newspaper office buildings and manufacturing buildings, stuff like that. It was more business than residential, but that was because it was next to the Third MUL, and people didn’t want to live next to the L.

JA: How did the artists working in the Iger shop get along with each other? AF: They were all kind of friendly. We kidded around, and some of us went to lunch together or bag lunched outside. Down on Hudson Street, it was more conducive to going outside and eating lunch rather than eating lunch at the board. JA: Was there any sense of competition between any of the artists? AF: I think there must have been. I mean, I was working with other artists that were excellent, and I was trying to see their level of professionalism. So there had to be some competition. JA: I’ve seen Bob Webb-drawn pages that looked like Matt Baker might have drawn the women on those pages. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

155

AF: I don’t remember Bob Webb being in the Hudson studio after the war, so I’d say that’s not correct. Bob Webb drew a good, sexy Sheena, in my opinion, by himself. And Matt Baker was not in the pre-war studio. I don’t know when Matt Baker joined Jerry, but he was there when I came back at the Hudson studio. JA: Did you feel like there were any cliques in the Iger shop? AF: I was not aware of any cliques. I was aware that Matt Baker was very stand-offish, that I had no real commerce with him. I think he was very aware that he was black in a white industry. He disappeared at lunch time—at least, I never had lunch with him. JA: So you never had any real conversations with Baker? AF: Only from board to board. I was right next to him. But I did learn a lot just by watching him inking his figures, penciling —I learned a lot about drawing the female figure. He was spectacular.

JA: Do you think Matt Baker inspired that? AF: Well, he showed me how to do it. [laughter] Because he also did those kind of folds. JA: Was Matt Baker considered one of the top guys at Hudson Street? AF: Yeah, I think so. JA: The Iger style sort of became Matt Baker-like. You were obviously influenced by him a little bit, and Jack Kamen was too. AF: Well, you know, when some prominent artist is working, everybody tends to gravitate to his style. I agree with you. I have been questioned by collectors about artwork that came out of the Iger shop as to whether it was my artwork, because it looked like my work, or a combination of me and Matt Baker, or me and Jack Kamen, or Jack Kamen and Matt Baker. Because our styles were very close together.

JA: Did Iger impose that, or was it just a natural deJA: I was once told that Iger always wanted his velopment? women to be big-breastAF: I’m not sure whether ed. Was anything ever Iger imposed it or it was said to you about that? a natural development. I AF: I don’t remember a didon’t remember him makrection or order to do it that ing a direct statement that way. And I don’t remember we should try and draw it even being obvious until like Matt Baker. Matt Baker and the stuff he was doing. I don’t know if JA: I have you as doing some backgrounds on he was directed to do it or if it just came naturally. I Phantom Lady. Page 1 of “An Army of Walking Dead” from Phantom Lady #15. AF: Oh yeah, I worked on think it came naturally to all of us. We were all horny guys. [laughter] And certain re- Phantom Lady. That was one of Jerry’s clients. Also “Busy” strictions, certain mores were changing after the war. That Arnold’s stuff. There was a lot of stuff where I did backgrounds was the beginning of the sexual revolution, so we were able to or just inking figures. do just a little bit more than we were in prior years. JA: The date on the Phantom Lady is 1947–48. I thought JA: Matt Baker was known as one of the first—they call that was kind of late for you to be doing backgrounds. AF: I was probably also inking the figures. That sounds like them “headlight” artists. AF: Yeah, I know. I was also known for that when I was doing Matt Baker’s pencils. I inked the backgrounds, and I may the teenage stuff for Fox. I’d have these big-breasted sweater have created the backgrounds and inked the figures he put in. girl types inspired by Lana Turner. I was doing the stretched wrinkles across the peaks of the breast, and things like that. I JA: What were Matt Baker’s pencils like? was doing sexy girls compared to Archie’s kind of sexless girls. AF: Beautiful. [laughs] They were clean and they were detailed. 156

PART THREE

This “Camilla” story from Jungle Comics #112 (March 1949) was one of Baker’s last comic book penciling jobs for Iger’s studio.

JA: Did you ink the covers, too? There was the one that is famous for the “headlights.” AF: Matt was famous for the “headlights.” I wouldn’t have been responsible for that anyway, because I never penciled Phantom Lady. I have no idea if I inked any of the covers. ••• Don Perlin began his career in comics as a penciler on Will Eisner’s The Spirit. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics in the 1970s on such titles as Ghost Rider and Werewolf by Night. Don Perlin on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego JIM AMASH: What were you doing at Iger’s when you met Matt Baker? DON PERLIN: I was the errand boy. I erased finished pages and ruled the panel borders. JA: This was 1949? DP: Yes, because I got out of high school in ’48.

JA: How did you meet Matt Baker? DP: I was sent to his apartment by Jerry Iger to pick up some pencil pages that Matt Baker had ready because Matt wasn’t feeling well. Iger told me then about Matt’s heart condition. When I got there I knocked on the door, the door opened, and this young fellow handed me an envelope with pages in it and then closed the door. He said he was sick or something. JA: Before you met him, what had you heard about him? DP: I had really heard nothing about him. All I knew was that he did romance stories for them. I just sat there and would make deliveries to Fiction House, the company that Iger’s place did the most work for. JA: Were you there every day? DP: Yes, for a while. I was out of high school and looking for work. I drew up my samples, and they decided to give me this job. I was there for about a three- to five-month period. JA: Tell me about seeing Baker in the offices. DP: I was sitting there erasing pages, and Matt walks in. They had a number of empty drawing tables, and he sat down and started drawing. He wasn’t very talkative. I think a lot of the FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

157

Daily strips for May 26, 1952, and June 16, 1952, from the third story arc of Flamingo.

people there were kind of in awe of him, because he was really good and actually had a lot of respect from Iger and his partner, Ruth Roche. Iger would always come up and tell jokes. One day he came up and said, “I’ve just come back from a wooden wedding.” Somebody said, “A wooden wedding?” and Iger said, “Yeah, two Poles got married.” Everybody started laughing except Matt Baker. Jerry looked at him, and Matt said, “I didn’t think that was funny, Jerry.” And nothing more was said. Matt finished whatever he was working on, got up, and walked out. JA: So, essentially, Matt Baker was the star. DP: I don’t know that he was the star there as far as they were concerned. I didn’t know much about Matt. I saw the stuff he was doing, and he had really excellent draftsmanship. JA: How many times did you see him in the offices? DP: Once. Just that one time. He did his stuff freelance, basically. JA: Do you remember anything about how he dressed? DP: I would say he looked similar to a young Harry Belafonte. JA: And he didn’t really talk to anybody? DP: No. Maybe it was one of those things where everybody around you is in awe of you and are afraid to talk to you. 158

PART THREE

You might be sitting there thinking, “Why don’t these people talk to me. There’s something wrong here.” Or maybe he just didn’t want to talk to anybody. I don’t know. JA: Do you know at the time about him having a bad heart? DP: That’s what I was told, that he was a sickly guy and there was not much they could do for him. Now I go back over his work, and he was one of the better artists at the time. It’s about time somebody wrote something about him. ••• Jay Disbrow is perhaps best known as an illustrator of horror comic in the 1950s. He is also the author of The Iger Comics Kingdom (1985) and the writer/artist of the web comic Aroc of Zenith, which ran weekly from 2000–2005. Jay Disbrow on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash JIM AMASH: How did you meet Matt Baker? JAY DISBROW: I worked at the Iger Studio. I went to work for Jerry Iger in January of 1950. I heard about Matt Baker while I was there, but it wasn’t until the Christmas party that Iger had in December 1950 that I met him. JA: Before you met him, what did you hear about him?

Daily strips for June 25, 1952, and July 30, 1952—both likely inked by Baker himself—from the third story arc of Flamingo.

JD: Well, Jerry Iger had a very high opinion of him. I think at the time that I was there, Matt Baker was working on a syndicated comic strip for Jerry Iger. JA: Flamingo. JD: Yes, that’s the one. JA: Did you know anything about him personally? JD: Not too much. I understand that he was a very silent type; he didn’t have too much to say. Because he was black, he might have felt that—back in those days, there were people who were unsympathetic towards blacks, and he might have felt he was being discriminated against. I can’t prove that. Of course, I don’t know. JA: Do you think Iger was the type to discriminate? JD: Not against Baker. Iger had a very high opinion of him. Iger had faults in other areas, [laughs] but that wasn’t one of them. JA: You said you met Matt Baker at a Christmas party. Did you talk to him? JD: Very briefly. I said hello, or whatever the case may be. The Iger Christmas parties had a tendency to be a bit raucous, and I didn’t hang around there for a great length of time. I was commuting to New York at that time. I lived in Neptune, New Jersey, and I took the train back and forth every day to the Iger Studio, which was on 53rd Street in Manhattan. I had to catch a train, so I left the party early.

JA: And that was the only time you met Matt Baker? JD: Yeah, he was working for Iger freelance, working at home. He was working for others, too—St. John Publishing —around the same time he was working for Iger. JA: Were you aware of his heart condition at the time? JD: No, I learned that later. ••• Nadine King worked for St. John Publications first as a secretary and eventually as an editor. Nadine King on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash JIM AMASH: You were an editor for a while as well as a secretary. Was Marion McDermott an editor before you? NADINE KING: Mary McDermott was an editor while I was there. She and St. John started having an affair. They decided to elope somewhere in the South, but they changed their minds and came back. JA: What was Archer St. John like? NK: I liked him very, very much. He was a quiet man. JA: He hired women to positions where they would have to do things rather than just be a secretary. In those days, FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

159

that wasn’t all that common. And the fact that he hired Matt Baker, an African-American, it makes me wonder how liberal he was. NK: It seems that he was very liberal. And he was a very kind man also. I was referred to him by a writer, Dana Dutch. I was doing some lettering at the time and not liking it. He said, “Archer St. John is looking for somebody. Why don’t you go over there?” And so I did, and he hired me. When I first went in I was a secretary, and I just wrote letters and that sort of thing—send out mail, answer mail. If something needed to

be done we would stay over, but it was really a nine-to-five job. And it was right there on 5th Avenue. JA: Was it a large office? NK: No, it was a small office. When I first went in, I think it was just Archer and myself. Archer had his own office, and then there were some other offices off that. JA: Did Archer St. John do much in editorial, or did he leave that to Marion McDermott and you? NK: He didn’t do much himself. I did partial editing. By that time we had taken on some other magazines. I would read scripts and recommend them. If I had a problem with a script I would pass it on and say, “This is blah, blah, blah. I don’t think so,” and somebody else would read it. JA: Did you ever deal with the artwork at all? NK: No, I didn’t. My husband [Warren King] was an artist. He and Leonard Starr started [working together as a team] at the romance comics [for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby]. JA: Did Mary work with Matt Baker on who the artists would be for the books? NK: She could have, but I don’t remember anything at all about Matt except that he came in. He didn’t talk very much. JA: Do you remember where Matt Baker would sit in the St. John offices? NK: I don’t remember, but it wouldn’t have been on a permanent basis. He could have come in and used a desk. JA: Were you there every day? NK: Yes.

Page 1 of Fightin’ Marines #3’s humorous Canteen Kate strip, “Call to Arms.” 160

PART THREE

JA: So Matt was not in every day? NK: No.

••• Cal Massey, and African-American artist, began working in comics in the early 1950s only to be forced to move into advertising and illustration art a few short years later when comics went into decline. He eventually found success as a fine artist. Cal Massey on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego #105 JIM AMASH: Was your editor at St. John Marion McDermott? CAL MASSEY: It could have been her. I’m not certain. Here is where I met Matt Baker. He was drawing for St. John and living in Brooklyn with his brother John. This was in July of 1951. I was not yet working at St. John. I asked the editor if there were other black artists in the business, and she told me about Matt Baker. She called him at home and asked if he would see me. She was having a very good time talking to him on the phone. He was taking a nap when she called around ten that morning. By the tone of the conversation, I could tell they knew each other very well. Matt said he would, and so I visited him at his apartment on the sixth floor of the building he lived in. Matt lived in a nice section of Brooklyn. Matt and John were both working, and since John was closest to the door when I knocked, Cover art for Teen-Age Romances #32 (July 1953). he answered. He was quite talkative. He talked about his earlier work, like “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.” He asked about my work, JA: Was John inking Matt’s work? CM: No, John was cooking. It was hot when I visited, and I and I told him I had drawn “Steve Duncan” for Cross, and remember Matt was shirtless. He was a very handsome man, that I had just done my first job for St. John, which was a romance story. I told Matt I was having trouble drawing pretty enough so that he could have been a model or an actor. There was another person there—a Caucasian—who was women, and he gave me some pointers on how to do that. He pulling materials out of Matt’s reference files. Matt was pen- had a happy disposition, laughed some, and reminded me of ciling a story, and I was amazed at his ability. He spent quite a my teachers at the art school. I was there for four hours and bit of time with me that day, discussing brushes, pens, how to left feeling very good about myself and the business. Matt put together reference files, other companies I could get work treated me like an equal, a fellow comic book artist. from, and basically talking to me about the pros and cons of ••• the business. FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

161

JA: You reported to St. John himself? JK: Oh yeah. And I don’t know of anybody who had to see anyone or show their work to anyone prior to showing it to St. John. He was publisher, editor, the whole schmear. JA: There was a woman there named Marion McDermott. JK: That was his secretary. JA: I was told she was his editor. JK: I can’t verify or deny that. I just don’t know. JA: Were there many people working at the St. John offices? JK: There were more people working in my set-up than there were for St. John because we were doing the 3-D stuff, and we had taken over a whole floor in the same building—it was 305 5th Avenue, if I’m not mistaken. JA: Were his offices very big? JK: They were substantial. They weren’t by any means tiny. It was a good address. It was right off 5th Avenue. I think it was about 45th or 46th Street. He had dedicated almost a whole floor in the building to what we were doing.

St. John published the first 3-D comic using a technique developed by Joe Kubert and Norman and Leonard Maurer. It proved popular enough that it led to many more, including 3-D Comics:The Hawk #1 for which Baker drew the cover.

Joe Kubert began his comic book career at the ripe age of 15, and would go on to become one of the greatest artists the medium has ever known. He is best known for his many years as an artist and editor of DC’s war comics, such as Sgt. Rock and “Enemy Ace”; as the creator, writer, and artist of Tor; as the founder of The Kubert School; and as the writer and artist of the awardwinning Fax from Sarajevo. Joe Kubert on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash JIM AMASH: Did you know Matt Baker? JOE KUBERT: I met him in passing, Jim, but just a couple of words passed. I did not know the guy, and I don’t think I spoke ten words to him. JA: Maybe you know this, since you worked for St. John. I’ve heard he was art director there. Do you know if that was true? JK: As far as I know, no. As far as I know, they had no art director. 162

JA: I get the impression that he wasn’t very hands-on with the material he was printing. JK: I don’t know how he was with other stuff. I think he was. You know, they had licensed Terry Toons—Mighty Mouse and all that stuff—which was the reason that Mighty Mouse was the first 3-D book. I think he was hands-on as far as negotiating those kinds of deals. I think he was with us too. I mean, we had a contract with him, and he was the one we submitted the contract to, and he was the one who signed it. I’m sure he looked at everything that was published, but I don’t remember any kind of criticism or any kind of negative remarks ever. JA: The fact that you didn’t perceive Matt Baker to have any kind of job there is interesting. JK: He’d float in, and I don’t think I even recognized him as an artist. I don’t think he was in every day or anywhere near it. I saw him very infrequently, and it looked to me like he came in more on a social basis than for work. JA: He did a lot of covers. There might have been some kind of editorial discussions there. Did you ever have to show St. John a cover rough? JK: No. It was a different kind of set-up and a different kind of world. ••• Tony Tallarico spent most of his comic book career working for Dell and Charlton. In the 1970s he began writing and illustrating children’s books, and now has more than 1,000 to his name.

The cover of Wartime Romances #2 and the opening panel of “Caught Between Two Loves,” from Cinderella Love #14 (scan and color correction courtesy of Joanna van Ritbergen), both published by St. John.

Tony Tallarico on Matt Baker Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego #106 JIM AMASH: Tell me about Matt Baker. TONY TALLARICO: The only time I remember meeting him and having a conversation with him was in the ’50s at a Society of Comic Book Illustrators meeting. A lot of people turned out, a lot of people. He sat next to me and we just started chatting. I’ll tell you the truth, I didn’t realize that he was black from looking at his work. You could usually tell. There was usually a certain look to it. I was surprised, but we chatted. He was very friendly, very nice. At that point he was just working for one company, St. John. JA: So this was before 1956, when St. John went out of business. I know there was a union that was getting started. TT: That’s right. Rocke Mastroserio and a lot of other people.

JA: So Matt Baker was at that union meeting? TT: He and maybe 200 others. It was a big crowd. Unfortunately, it came at the wrong time. You don’t organize when the business is just about to go down the tubes. At that point everybody was a little shaky. In fact, I remember some people who came to that meeting from shops, and they didn’t want anybody to know. JA: Matt Baker has always been described as quiet, but you said you talked with him a bit? TT: Yeah, we sat next to each other, and I struck up a conversation. He didn’t tell me to shut up, so… [laughter] He didn’t talk my ear off, but he was friendly. JA: How did he feel about the union? TT: Well, he was there, so obviously he was for it. We were all there to find out what was going on and perhaps join, which I did. I’m sure he did too. 163

164

•••

LOU CAMERON: Norman Maurer, no. Matt Baker was the art director, and of course I knew his work, so we hit it Lou Cameron began as a comic book artist in the 1950s. off right away. He was the art director after Latham, mostWhen the industry entered a downturn in the late ’50s, he moved ly for St. John’s regular magazines. They did a poor man’s into writing and illustrating for men’s adventure magazines, and Playboy [Nugget], and he got a rotten break. He looked like in 1960 kicked off a career as a prolific author of westerns and very much the impression that you got from Cab Calloway… mystery novels. a distinguished looking guy. The subject of color never came up, which is the best way. I worked with several blacks in the Lou Cameron on Matt Baker business.… From an August 1972 letter to Hames Ware Matt Baker was a very affable, very friendly guy, as well as a hell of an artist. But the screwing he got was that ArLOU CAMERON: I knew Matt Baker, though I had not cher St. John, the publisher—who was a bit of a character— heard he was dead. He was died in the apartment of his a fine artist and became art mistress, and that was not a happy scene. Archer St. director at St. John near the end of the era. He took an John’s wife put their son in charge, and the son proceedawful screwing when Archer St. John dropped dead in ed to get rid of everybody his mistress’ apartment. The that had known about his widow and her son, natufather and his father’s scanrally enough, were a bit andalous carrying on. I ran noyed about the scandal and into Matt after it happened, proceeded to clean house. outside of Bloomingdale’s Matt and everyone associDepartment Store, and he ated with the older St. John was really pissed. He said, were fired, and Junior took “You know, the hell of it is over. He ran the business I didn’t even know he had a into the ground trying to mistress. Why did they fire out-pioneer his father, who’d me because the old man was gone as far as one could screwing around?” He said this incompetent kid came without losing one’s shirt. Matt Baker had dreamed in and swept house, fired up Nugget, which was the aneverybody, and they went cestor to Playboy and all the under. Matt said the kid was others. Last time I saw him a nice kid but didn’t know he was pounding the pavehow to run a publishing ments outside DC. We had house. Matt had a very relaxed a drink together across from Bloomingdale’s, and that’s all way of talking; he talked man-to-man about publishshe wrote. He was in good Lou Cameron says that Baker not only was the art director of health the last time I saw Nugget magazine, but also came up with the concept. At the very ing, and that’s all we talked him, but very bitter and dis- least, he contributed to the first issue, pictured here. about. That one time that couraged. he was sore and told me I don’t know how many are aware that Matt was an Afro- about what had happened to him—that’s how I knew what American who could have given Harry Belafonte a run for his happened to him—but that’s the only personal thing I ever money in the handsome department. I mention this only as a heard from him. physical description. The race question never came up in any dealings with this fine artist and art director. Interview conducted by Jim Amash for Alter Ego #80 JIM AMASH: I have you working [at St. John in] 1952 and 1953. Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer were there editing books. Did you deal with them at all? 165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

186

187

188

189

190

191

OTHER BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

STAN LEE UNIVERSE The ultimate repository of interviews with and mementos about Marvel Comics’ fearless leader! (176-page trade paperback) $26.95 (192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95

SAL BUSCEMA

CARMINE INFANTINO

MARIE SEVERIN

COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

PENCILER, PUBLISHER, PROVOCATEUR

MIRTHFUL MISTRESS OF COMICS

Explores the life and career of one of Marvel Comics’ most recognizable and dependable artists!

Shines a light on the life and career of the artistic and publishing visionary of DC Comics!

Biography of the multi-talented artist, colorist, and humorist of EC Comics, Marvel Comics, and more!

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26.95

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $24.95

QUALITY COMPANION

BATCAVE COMPANION

MODERN MASTERS

AGE OF TV HEROES

The first dedicated book about the Golden Age publisher that spawned the modern-day “Freedom Fighters”, Plastic Man, and the Blackhawks!

Unlocks the secrets of Batman’s Silver and Bronze Ages, following the Dark Knight’s progression from 1960s camp to 1970s creature of the night!

25+ volumes with in-depth interviews, plus extensive galleries of rare and unseen art from the artist’s files!

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $31.95

(240-page trade paperback) $26.95

(120-page trade paperbacks with COLOR) $15.95

Examining the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes, featuring the in-depth stories of the shows’ actors and behind-the-scenes players!

THE AMERICAN COMIC

BOOK CHRONICLES:

MARVEL COMICS:

SPOTLIGHTING TODAY’S BEST

LOU SCHEIMER

VOLUMES ON THE 1960s & 1970s

CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION

First volume of an ambitious new series documenting every decade of comic book history!

Issue-by-issue field guides to the pop culture phenomenon of LEE, KIRBY, DITKO, and others, from the company’s fumbling beginnings to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity!

Biography of the co-founder of Filmation Studios, which for over 25 years brought the Archies, Shazam, Isis, He-Man, and others to TV and film!

(224-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVERS) $39.95

(224-page trade paperbacks) $27.95

1960-1964

(288-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29.95

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95

HOW TO CREATE COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

Shows step-by-step how to develop a new comic, from script and art, to printing and distribution! (108-page trade paperback with COLOR) $15.95

FOR A FREE COLOR CATALOG, CALL, WRITE, E-MAIL, OR LOG ONTO www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows—A New Day For Comics Fandom! 192

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: store@twomorrowspubs.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com

where Good Girl Art began… In the early 1940s, Matt Baker became of one the earliest African-American comic book artists. But it wasn’t the color of his skin which made him such a significant figure in the history of the medium—it was his innate ability to draw gorgeous, exciting women and handsome, dynamic men in a fluid, graceful style. Yet, few of today’s comic book fans know of the artist or his work, because he died in 1959 at the young age of 38, just as the Silver Age of Comics was blossoming and bringing in a new generation of readers. Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour presents an impressive career cut tragically short, featuring a wealth of essays, interviews with Baker’s friends, family, and co-workers, a complete checklist of his work, and a treasure trove of his finest artwork, including several complete stories, at last giving the wonderfully talented artist his full due.

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-032-8 ISBN-10: 1-60549-032-6 53995

9 781605 490328

$39.95 in the U.S.

ISBN: 978-1-60549-032-8