Alter Ego #14 Preview

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In the the USA USA In

No. 14 April 2002

Art ©2002 James Cavenaugh; JSA TM & ©2002 DC Comics

Roy Roy T Thomas homas’ All-St All-Star ar Comics anzine Comics F F anzine

Vol. 3, No. 14 / April 2002 Editor

™

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors

Bill Schelly, Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comics Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover Artists Mike Nasser & Steve Leialoha Michael T. Gilbert

Cover Colorists Tom Ziuko & Michael T. Gilbert

Mailing Crew

Russ Garwood, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker, Loston Wallace

And Special Thanks to: Pedro Angosto Jeff Bailey Brian H. Bailie Bill Black Ray Bottorff Jr. Jerry K. Boyd Jack Burnley Glen Cadigan James Cavenaugh Gerry Conway Mike Cruden Mike Curtis Ray A. Cuthbert Fred W. DeBoom Craig & David Delich Al Dellinges Jay Disbrow Ric Estrada Mark Evanier Ryan Farnsworth Stephen Fishler Creig Flessel Keif Fromm Keith Giffen David G. Hamilton Paul Handler Irwin Hasen Mark & Stephanie Heike Carmine Infantino Fred Jandt Jim Korkis Thomas Lammers Jim Lee Paul Levitz Russ Maheras Scott McAdam

Christopher McGlothlin Ralph Ellis Miley/ New Creation Al Milgrom Sheldon Moldoff Matt Moring Mart & Carrie Nodell Michelle Nolan Eric NolenWeathington Jerry Ordway Bob Overstreet Carlos Pacheco Chris Pedrin Ian Penman Peter C. Phillips Ginny Provisiero Charlie Roberts Ethan Roberts Julius Schwartz Dez Skinn Robin Snyder Joe & Hilarie Staton Marc Swayze Joel Thingvall Dann Thomas Alex Toth Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Nikki Vrtis Hames Ware Len Wein Marv Wolfman Ed Zeno Mike Zeno

In Memoriam:Chase Craig & Dan DeCarlo

Contents Writer/Editorial: ...And Justice Society for All! . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 All the Stars There Are in (Super-hero) Heaven! . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The 1970s JSA revival—a guided tour by Conway, Levitz, Estrada, Giffen, Milgrom, & Staton.

Inking Comics the ORDway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Pardon the bad pun! Jerry Ordway on inking/embellishing the early All-Star Squadron.

Welcome to Fandomland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Bill Schelly tells how comic fandom changed his life in the 1960s.

re: [a letter of response from veteran artist Carmine Infantino] . . . 35 Tributes to Craig Chase and Dan DeCarlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #73 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze, C.C. Beck—& Jay Disbrow.

All-Star Comics in the 1940s––plus Fox and Elias. . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: In 1977 Craig Delich assembled (and his brother David published) The All-Star Comics Revue, an 88-page celebration of the JSA up to that point. It sported a gorgeous cover penciled by Mike Nasser (now Mike Netzer) and inked by Steve Leialoha, which all associated with it have given us their blessing to use as one of this issue’s covers— including copyright owner James Cavenaugh. Thanks, guys! We figured it was high time this nice piece of art was seen in color again! [Art ©2002 James Cavenaugh; JSA © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Above: Everybody’s present and accounted for but Superman, in this Joe Staton/Bob Layton panel from the JSA’s first-ever origin in 1977’s DC Special #29. Reproduced from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Brian H. Bailie. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092.

Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10.00 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Eight-issue subscriptions: $40 US, $80 Canada, $88 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

4

All The Stars There Are In (Super-Hero) Heaven!

There Are In Super-Hero Heaven!

by Roy Thomas

The 1970s Justice Society Revival—All-Starring the Original Cast!

Special thanks to Michelle Nolan, Eric Nolen-Weathington, and Ray Bottorff Jr. for providing the All-Star and Adventure covers.

I was there for the conception—but that’s just about it.

In 1975 Gerry Conway, scripter of several of Marvel Comics’ major titles, left that company and became a writer/editor for DC. Gerry and I had already been friends for over half a decade, so it was only natural that, one evening early that year, at his apartment on Manhattan’s West Side, we started kicking around some ideas for new projects he could initiate at DC. Gerry had plenty of his own concepts, of course—but, on a whim, I suggested a revival of All-Star Comics.

printed on the revived All-Star’s first letters page; I figured that wouldn’t ruffle too many feathers back at Marvel. All-Star Comics #58 hit the newsstands in autumn of 1975, and became a reasonably popular if not best-selling title.

In February 1976 Stan Lee asked me to become Marvel’s editor-inchief again—the post I’d held from 1972-74. I agreed, but (after a week’s vacation in sunny L.A. convinced me I’d rather move to California instead) I soon reneged, and suggested to Stan that he offer Gerry the job. He did, and Gerry very briefly became Marvel’s editor-in-chief in between Marv Wolfman and Archie Goodwin... and, even when he decided the job was not to his liking after all, he continued to write exclusively for Marvel for some months.

In those days, the fabled Justice Society appeared only in annual guest-shots in Justice League of America, and were assumed to dwell on “Earth-Two,” an other-dimensional world that existed parallel to that of the JLA. I reasoned, why not give the JSA their own title again, tapping into that exposure? (Of course, what I really wanted, as a fan of All-Star Comics from 1945 through the end in 1950, was just to see the guys return in their own mag instead of in one story a year.)

With Gerry’s departure from DC in early ’76, Paul Levitz, his assistant editor who had already dialogued a bit of JSA material, became All-Star’s new writer. He continued as scripter for the remainder of AllStar’s ’70s run, which culminated with #74 (Sept.-Oct. 1978)—and included the Justice Society’s never-before-told origin, unveiled in DC Special #29 in 1977—and which then continued in Adventure Comics #461-466 in 1979, at which point the JSA “died” with the decade that had seen its revival.

Gerry sparked to the idea and, for good or ill, from that point on I had no more to do with it. (How could I? I was under exclusive contract to Marvel, and probably shouldn’t even have suggested the idea in the first place!) Well, actually, I did send, at Gerry’s request, comments to be

The following is a brief overview of the JSA’s career during the Gerry Ford and Jimmy Carter years, punctuated by short interviews given by both of the series’ writers and by all three of its surviving pencilers. (The great Wally Wood, alas, died in 1981.) We greatly appreciate the time

The Justice Society returned after a twelve-year hiatus in The Flash #137 (June 1963). Two months later they guest-starred in Justice League of America #21, the first of many annual JLA-JSA team-ups—which led eventually to a full-scale All-Star revival in 1975-76! Repro’d from photocopies of the original Infantino/Giella art, courtesy of Jerry Bails. [©2002 DC Comics.]

The 1970s Justice Society Revival these five gents spent with us via e-mail and telephone; and while their comments have been edited slightly for space, we’ve made every effort not to put words into their mouths—or to take too many out.

What we have, I believe, is both a bird’s-eye and microscopic viewpoint of two dozen 1970s comics which are more fondly remembered, and which have left a more lasting legacy, than 90% of what was published during that era and since...

I. The All-Star Issues (and an Awesome Secret Origin) All-Star Comics #58 (Jan-Feb. 1976) “All Star Super Squad” – 18 pp.

Cover: Mike Grell Writer: Gerry Conway Artists: Ric Estrada & Wally Wood [see Estrada interview]

5

NOTES: (a) Brainwave (Brain Wave in 1940s All-Stars) has a new body and look. (b) Though Star-Spangled Kid says he “belong(s) in the 1950s,” his original stories actually ran from 1941-48; he’d returned in 1972, with the rest of The Seven Soldiers of Victory, in Justice League of America #100-102. (d) Though listed in the roll call, SSK and Power Girl are not JSAers in this issue; indeed, this is Power Girl’s debut. (e) SSK henceforth uses Starman’s Cosmic Rod, borrowed from Ted Knight; (f) The issue’s “All-Star Comments” letters page includes pre-solicited missives from longtime JSA fans Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails. (g) From #58-65 All-Star covers feature a smallish “Justice Society” logo plus a larger “Super Squad” one, plus the main All-Star Comics logo; “SuperSquad” was usually hyphenated in the stories. (h) The splash-page logo from #58-65 will read “The All Star Super Squad,” with no interior JSA logo. (i) This is the first All-Star cover ever to feature a Justice Society logo of any kind. (j) All-Star #58-59 were reprinted in the DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest, Vol. 1, #3 (July-August 1980).

All-Star Comics #59 (March-April 1976)

JSAers Participating: Flash, Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Wildcat, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Robin (plus Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl)

“Brainwave Blows Up!” – 18 pp.

Cover: Ernie Chan (as “Ernie Chua”) Writer: Gerry Conway (“with an assist from Paul Levitz”) Artists: Ric Estrada (“designer”) & Wally Wood (“artist”)

THE STORY: Brainwave tries to destroy Seattle, Capetown, and Peking (Beijing) to gain revenge on the JSA, who are joined by Robin, Star-Spangled Kid, and newcomer Power Girl (Superman’s cousin) as a younger “Super-Squad.”

JSAers Participating: Same as in preceding issue THE STORY: The JSA prevents Brainwave and his ally Per Degaton from pulling the Earth from its orbit.

[©2002 DC Comics.]

NOTES: (a) Degaton, with a new look and hair color, is treated as the “greatest [scientific] genius of all time,” a trait not consistent with his 1940s persona. (b) At story’s end, Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl are accepted into the JSA as [©2002 DC Comics.] a youthful “Super-Squad” adjunct which includes Robin—though the Boy Wonder will not appear again until issue #67, as he is featured in a new Teen Titans comic.

All-Star Comics #60 (May-June 1976) “Vulcan: Son of Fire!” – 17 pp.

Cover: Ernie Chan (as “Ernie Chua”) Writer: Gerry Conway Artists: Keith Giffen & Wally Wood [see Giffen interview] JSAers Participating: Power Girl, Flash, Wildcat, Star-Spangled Kid, Green Lantern, Dr. Fate THE STORY: The destruction of Vulcan Probe One, a 200-day mission to orbit the sun, turns astronaut Christopher Pike into a cosmic-axewielding super-villain who menaces the Earth.

Ye Editor confesses he winced when he saw that the cover of All-Star #58, the very first revival issue, showed four JSAers sprawling, defeated, while three upstart youngsters rush to save them—but it was lovely Mike Grell art!

Original art repro’d from a black-&-white copy in Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May 1975). [©2002 DC Comics.]

NOTES: (a) Alan (GL) Scott is revealed to be having economic problems as head of Gotham Broadcasting. (b) Layout penciler Ric Estrada, replaced by newcomer Keith Giffen, is announced as having moved on “to new heights in Blackhawk.”

Main text continued on p. 9

[©2002 DC Comics.]

6

All The Stars There Are In (Super-Hero) Heaven!

GERRY CONWAY (Writer/editor, All-Star Comics #58-62) GERRY CONWAY: My recollection of events from the mid-’70s is a bit vague, at least when it comes to the details of why I did things a certain way in a certain issue. At the time I was writing and editing half a dozen magazines a Gerry Conway in the 1970s. month, with a part-time assistant, in an editorial regime that, in many ways, was the bureaucratic opposite of the system in place at Marvel, where I’d been for the previous five years. In contrast, today’s comic book editors handle about four titles a month, under the direction of “group editors” and with a full-time assistant. My position at DC was somewhat difficult and unique: I was trying to do comics the way I’d done them at Marvel, and that put me up against a pretty entrenched creative structure.

It was a hectic, exciting, frustrating, and rewarding time—and I was only 23 years old! I couldn’t have accomplished anything at all (to the degree that I did) without the support and encouragement of Carmine Infantino, Paul Levitz, and Joe Orlando... not to mention your very helpful kibitzing.

ROY THOMAS: Which of course was very much off the record, since at the time I was under contract to Marvel! Do you recall, one night in 1975, our talking over possible new projects you might initiate at DC, and my suggesting the revival of All-Star and a full-blown Superman-Captain Marvel fight? Not that I want to claim any credit for what you did with the concepts... I’m just curious.

CONWAY: I don’t recall the specific conversation, but I know we talked about it. Your interest in an All-Star revival certainly put me on the path to championing it at DC. Obviously, because of my age at the time, I was only familiar with the “Earth-Two” version of the JSA, as per the annual JLA-JSA team-ups, so I think it was your enthusiasm for the team’s potential that inspired me, more than anything else.

RT: Later you offered me a chance to ghost-write an issue or so of AllStar. But I preferred not to, since it would have had to be anonymous... and I wanted any JSA story I wrote to have my name on it. How did Ric Estrada and Wally become the art team?

CONWAY: I didn’t have access to the so-called “good” artists—and I’m not sure I would have agreed with that designation at DC then anyway!

Most of the artists I worked with then were people the other editors wouldn’t use, because they were either brand new (Keith Giffen) or were perceived as being “burned out” (Steve Ditko, Wally Wood) or just not “good enough” for the traditional DC super-hero book (Ric Estrada, Ernie Chan, Dick Ayers, Chic Stone). But I’d seen Ric’s pencils on some books Joe Orlando was doing (I think), and thought he had a great storytelling/design sense.

Wally Wood, of course, was a master of long standing—though his stock had fallen somewhat among other editors at that time—but I’d never felt his storytelling was his strong suit. I had this (probably crackpot) theory that one could combine artists with different strengths and that the whole would be greater than the parts. I thought the teaming of Ric’s pencils and Wally’s inks would be exciting, and I was right (I’d like to think).

RT: Was Paul Levitz your assistant editor from the beginning?

CONWAY: If not from the beginning, very soon afterward. I believe I also worked with Alan Asherman. An anecdote: shortly after I started working at DC as an editor, the powers-that-be decided to eliminate all

The first two splashes for the revived All-Star, by Estrada and Wood. Boy, had The Brain Wave changed since his last previous appearance, in 1947’s All-Star #37, as drawn (at right) by Irwin Hasen! [©2002 DC Comics.]

All-Star Squadron Chronicles Part IV

Chronicles

Part IV

27

Inking Comics The ORDway

An Interview with JERRY ORDWAY on the Early Days of All-Star Squadron Conducted by Roy Thomas As Monty Python didn’t say: “And now for something just a wee bit different...”

The three preceding installments of these Chronicles of the creation and roots of the All-Star Squadron series I conceived and wrote for DC Comics during the 1980s were all first-person accounts by Yours Truly, albeit with a few welcome comments here and there from editor Len Wein, penciler Rich Buckler, and even almost-editor Dick Giordano.

This issue, with no time for fanfare (especially since our coverage of the 1970s JSA revival grew to quasi-gargantuan proportions), we’re pleased to present a short interview with Jerry Ordway, whose first ongoing professional comic art job was on DC’s retroactive-continuity super-group. We appreciate his taking a break from his current Marvel work to answer a whole passel of Roy’s questions via e-mail on January

3, 2002. Many of his comments will see print later in this series; here we’re concerned only with those that deal with AllStar Squadron #1-5 (and the mag’s 16-page Preview in Justice League of America #193), when Rich and Jerry were the art team.

Jerry Ordway renewed his fannish roots when he attended the 1997 Fandom Reunion Luncheon put together in Chicago by Bill Schelly, et al. Left to right: cartoonist Jim Engel, Jerry, and comics researcher Bob Beerbohm. (Roy T., Jerry Bails, Maggie Thompson, Tony Isabella, and a dozen or so others were there, too—and we all had a blast!!) Photo courtesy of Russ Maheras.

As related two issues ago, Rich and I had slight trepidations in 1980 when Len assigned an untried newcomer to ink the new title we were preparing...

ROY THOMAS: How did you get the assignment to ink All-Star Squadron? Were you trying to get work as a penciler as well as inker?

JERRY ORDWAY: Well, starting in the summer of 1980, I had done a few jobs for DC, as an inker, while still working full-time at a commercial art studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. DC was obviously pleased with my work, and first offered me The New Teen Titans to ink, but I passed, as I wasn’t ready to quit my day job.

Later, in December of that year, I made a trip to New York City to attend an illustration seminar held by Bob Peak, Mark English, Bernie Fuchs, and Fred Otnes, top illustrators of their time. In between art workshops, I went to see [DC editors] Len Wein and Karen Berger, my contacts at DC. They convinced me to try comics full-time, which I agreed to, providing I could eventually get penciling assignments instead of inking. Working with you, Roy, was a big factor in taking on AllStar Squadron, as I was a huge fan of your Since Dick Giordano inked the “interior cover” of the 16-page Preview in JLA #193 (Sept. 1981), its “Page 1” was the first the waiting world saw of the Buckler-Ordway team.

On that single page—and on vellum over “poor photocopies,” to boot—Jerry had to “embellish” a shadowed FDR, his aide Harry Hopkins, an empty JSA-HQ, Johnny (Quick) Chambers and his pal Tubby—plus a Wonder Woman/Flash/Green Lantern charity race inspired by the cover of Comic Cavalcade #1, which would go on sale in fall of 1942.

(Incidentally, that 15¢ anthology’s back cover continued the front scene, revealing that Wildcat and other heroes from CC #1 were also in the race, but well behind the star trio!)

Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, in Roy’s collection. For the Buckler-Ordway version of the race’s photo finish, see A/E #12. [©2002 DC Comics.]

28

Inking Comics The ORDway

Avengers work.

color my own covers.

RT: But of course you’d have made a mint in royalties if you’d signed on earlier on Titans. Were you familiar with Rich Buckler’s work before you inked him on Squadron (as I’ll call the book to differentiate it from the original All-Star without abbreviating it!).

RT: You had a bit of a Wally Wood-influenced flare in places, like on The Shining Knight. Was that conscious?

ORDWAY: Oh, sure. I saw everything Rich had done, starting with a story he did for a slick fanzine called Phase. I preferred the Marvel work he did, prior to his “Neal Adams”-looking DC work, though. Deathlok was just great stuff, as well as the issues of Avengers he did.

RT: Were you told why Dick Giordano inked both the “interior cover” on the AllStar Squadron Preview in Justice League of America #193 and the cover of Squadron #1?

ORDWAY: I wasn’t privy to any of that. I assumed that Dick did it because he’d inked most of Rich’s DC work to date, rather nicely at that.

As penciled by Rich Buckler on the final story page of the Preview, this panel’s background depicted the statue of the 1945 Iwo Jima flagraising, based on the famous photo— and thus a patent impossibility in a tale set on the night of December 6, 1941. Regretfully, as Rich had clearly put a lot of work into penciling even that small image of the statue, Roy had Jerry redraw it as a well-known obelisk that dates back to the Civil War. (Oh, and the guy in the hat and coat is Robotman, though the reader wouldn’t know that till he picked up All-Star Squadron #1 a few weeks later.) [©2002 DC Comics.]

ORDWAY: Oh, sure! I was and still am a huge fan of Wood’s work. He always used to render the chain-mail shirt on Captain America a certain way, and that influenced me to do it, as well. I used Wood as a model, too, in inking Squadron, because the book was set in the 1940s and seemed to need a classic look. I also was resistant to inking the book to look like the Neal Adams work that Buckler had referenced, preferring to give it its own identity.

RT: Did you have to do much redrawing at the start? I remember the Iwo Jima flag-raising panel, but did Len or I really have you doing that many corrections as you inked?

ORDWAY: Yes. I did a fair amount of changing a male head to a female head, or even redrawing figures as you requested. I remember you used to cut and tape tiers of pages together at times, when Rich’s storytelling didn’t match what you wanted, and invariably there would be a panel or two that required redrawing. Len Wein knew he could rely on me to do it on deadline, so I assumed that’s why they never sent that stuff back to Rich, as he was drawing other features for DC concurrently.

RT: Were there any special problems about inking Rich’s work? Were the pencils pretty tight? (I seem to recall they were.)

ORDWAY: Well, I was hired and paid as a finisher, though the pencils were fairly complete.

I figured I earned that fee because of the high volume of art corrections you requested in the margins of the pages. I routinely fixed cars, planes, fashions, and hairstyles to match the 1940s.

My biggest problem with inking Rich was on issue #1, where the first 14 or so pages were lost by FedEx, and I was given poor photocopies to ink over, on vellum (a thicker version of tracing paper), without any of your margin notes, where you called for specific changes.

That was a nightmare.

RT: Funny, I don’t recall that... not even hearing about it, though I’m sure I did at the time. I seem to remember that you used some zip-atone or other kind of artificial shading in the Preview... like on Page 4, the final panel, where Grundy slugs Wonder Woman. But you soon abandoned that, and your work got a bit slicker.

ORDWAY: I believe I continued to use a fair amount of shading film throughout my run on the book. The early ’80s were not a great time for printing in comics, as the newsprint paper they were printed on was almost grey, and thin as tissue, but guys like Tom Palmer and Klaus Janson, whom I admired, used zips in combination with color to great effect. My biggest battle was that Carl Gafford consistently colored my zip with pale blue, where I wanted a regular fleshtone. I don’t blame Carl, because I think production had some inflexible rules about color at the time. I took to putting tracing paper guides on panels where I wanted a specific look, something I did on all my covers, as well, until the late ’80s, on Superman, when I was finally allowed to “officially”

The Shining Knight makes his entrance in All-Star Squadron #1, drawn by Buckler and Ordway. Good thing it was Danette Reilly and not Marvel’s Thor who popped up on the next page, or nobody would’ve been able to understand what the heck they were saying in Archaic-speak! Repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Jerry Bails. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Title Comic Fandom Archive

31

Welcome to Fandomland How a Life-changing Odyssey Began with My Discovery of Comic Fandom in the Fall of 1964

by Bill Schelly Introduction: I’m sure regular readers of Alter Ego (and my various Hamster Press tomes) won’t be surprised when I say that the moment I first became aware of the fledgling comic fandom movement in the early 1960s ranks as one of the most important days of my life—along with the birth of my children. Here’s the story of how it happened, and how I came to publish my first fanzine, excerpted from a chapter in Sense of Wonder: A Life in Comic Fandom, my recent book from TwoMorrows Publishing.

A good part of the fun of any hobby is sharing it with others of like mind. I’d been a comics fan from the moment I first laid eyes on Superman Annual #1 in 1960, and by 1964 had amassed a nice stack of back issues—mainly DCs and Marvels, with a sprinkling of Gold Key, Charlton, and ACG comics for the sake of variety. My imagination had been seized by the colorful four-color adventures that adorned their pages, and I had tried my hand at drawing them, too.

My frustration, at this point, was the lack of anyone with whom to share my enthusiasm. I was basically alone with my hobby.

A few neighbor kids (usually younger) had stacks of comics, and we would occasionally swap mags, but their attitude about comics was far more casual than mine. For me they were more than mere entertainment; they were a medium where I could experience a sense of wonder that was available nowhere else to me, not even at the movies.

back. (Seeing the cover of Superman #1, reproduced on the back cover of that first annual, was like viewing the Holy Grail.)

I had no way to get in touch with other fans in my vicinity. I did notice that some DC Comics (Flash, Justice League of America, Green Lantern) were printing full addresses in the letter columns. Editor Julius Schwartz made this unobtrusive change to facilitate contacts between fans, but the erudite commentators in those columns seemed far too imposing for me—a mere twelve-year-old—to befriend. The same was true of the people who had letters published in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four Fan Page.” I couldn’t have held my own in a correspondence with them, and there was no hint that they could help me in my goal of filling in back issues. Besides, none of them seemed to live in Pittsburgh.

Then, fortune smiled upon me, and I was off to Fandomland.

No, it wasn’t a White Rabbit with comics tucked under one arm who led me to that magical new world; it was through a lanky, freckled-faced blond boy that I got my direction. One fateful day, while perusing the extensive shelves full of comics at my favorite drugstore, I noticed another set of hands pulling issues. When I checked out their owner, I was surprised to see a fellow from school named Richard Shields.

I recognized him at once. We were the same age and had some of the same classes, but he ran in different circles than I did, and I had no idea he collected comics, too—until we encountered each other in that drugstore, sometime in the spring of 1964. I watched as he assembled a huge stack of Marvel, DC, and Gold Key comics. I think my opening line was, “I guess you like comics, too.” Not too

I wanted more of them, and I wanted to Covers of the 1964 Rocket’s Blast Special. [©2002 the try my hand at drawing them. I’d already respective copyright holders. Human Torch, Captain America, done so, creating my own heroes and and Sub-Mariner © & TM 2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.] villains, but none of the neighborhood kids seemed to share my fanaticism. Also, I desperately wanted to find back original, but it broke the ice. issues of my favorite comics. I hadn’t started buying Amazing SpiderMan until #7, and Fantastic Four with #21, and I wanted the earlier Richard had no qualms about buying and liking comics. “My older issues badly. I quickly got what I could from the neighborhood kids, but brother read ’em, and I do, too.” We began commenting on our selecwhere to find more of them? Sometimes a school bazaar would have a tions, and before I knew it I had a friend who shared my hobby. It table with some back issues, and I was able to score some earlier turned out Shields had amassed what to my eyes was a huge collection Batman, World’s Finest, and Detective Comics. of comics. He was mature for his age, and had a paper route that gave him plenty of spending money—making him the envy of other kids, By the early 1960s comics weren’t the same sort of mass medium including me. (My parents wouldn’t let me have a paper route; they they’d been in the 1940s, when just about every kid read them. didn’t want the neighbors thinking we needed the money!) He and I Television had made major inroads. Also, they were considered to be began getting together on a regular basis to discuss comics, negotiate reading for pre-adolescents; one tended to be secretive about liking them trades, and occasionally check out a far-flung newsstand on our bikes. once a guy got into his teens. How could I ever fill in the back issues of Marvel Comics that I had missed? It was a frustrating dilemma.

After our friendship was a few months old, late in the summer of 1964, Shields pointed out a curious item in Justice League of America Nor was there any way for me to learn about comics of the past. #30: editor Schwartz had inserted a plug for some sort of magazine There weren’t any books or magazines about the history of comics. I about collecting comic books. It didn’t mention the price, but merely was solely dependent on the comic book letter columns that occasionally gave an address where those interested could send for information. We included factual tidbits about the comics published during World War II, both immediately sent away to an organization in Miami, Florida, with or the DC annuals with reproductions of old covers in color on the the cryptic name “The SFCA” to find out about something called The

32 Rocket’s Blast-Comicollector.

I’ll always remember that day the envelope from the SFCA arrived at my house. Mom hadn’t noticed that it was addressed to me, since the only mail I ever got was greeting cards from relatives on my birthday and holidays, and had opened it by mistake. She came into my room with a quizzical expression on her face.

“Bill, you got something odd in the mail,” she said, handing the torn envelope and the contents to me.

“What is it?” She stood there waiting for my reply.

Welcome to Fandomland “I don’t know, but a lot of the other old stuff is only three or four bucks. I think I’ll get some of ’em, if I can figure out which ones are the best.”

“That’s too much for me, but here’s a copy of Spider-Man #1 for a buck-fifty. I think I’ll send for that.”

Although the ads for much-sought-after back issues were fascinating, I was equally interested in the fanzines that promised information about comics of the past. Just the idea that you could buy a bunch of different magazines about comics excited me. What a momentous, mind-boggling development this was! My joy knew no bounds!

I could hardly contain my excitement. It was three sheets with advertising. The first was for the magazine (called, I learned, a “fanzine”) Rocket’s BlastComicollector (RB-CC for short). The second was “Yours truly in 7th grade, about the Without hesitation, I ordered several of the most time I discovered comic fandom.” for the RB-CC Special #1, featuring a long article on promising fanzines, carefully taping quarters, Timely Comics of the 1940s by someone named nickels, and dimes to pieces of notebook paper and stuffing them into Raymond Miller. The third, which I found particularly intriguing, was envelopes. The first ones I received, in addition to RB-CC, were Yancy for Fighting Hero Comics #10, starring a weird super-hero called The Street Journal (devoted solely to Marvel comics), Batmania (dedicated Eye, Underworld Executioner, with a huge eyeball for a head. The to the Dynamic Duo), and Fighting Hero Comics (featuring a changing SFCA, I discovered, stood for the Science Fiction and Comic roster of amateur heroes such as the aforementioned Eye, but also other Association. intriguing characters with names like Dimension Man and The Demon).

“It’s some stuff I sent away for,” I explained. “For comic book I quickly ascertained that the one called Alter Ego looked especially collectors. You can order a magazine about comic books!” interesting. I ordered the seventh issue of A/E, which introduced me to “How much does it cost?” the Marvel Family (Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and the rest). I had never heard of Captain Marvel until I saw A/E. I “Hmm, let’s see. Looks like a sample copy costs fifty cents.” read Roy Thomas’ article “One Man’s Family” and a long letter from Marvel Family scripter Otto Binder over and over, and yearned to Her eyebrows raised. “That much? It sounds too expensive.” peruse the adventures of the Marvel Family myself.

“I’ve got the money! I have over six dollars saved up.”

Soon I understood the basic make-up and origins of comic fandom. It was a grass-roots movement started mainly by people who had read and She paused, then shrugged. “I guess it’s all right. Let me see it when it loved comics in the 1940s, and who were enthused to see the new wave comes. I want to make sure it isn’t something dirty.” of heroes emerging in the not-yet-named Silver Age. Fanzines like Alter “Mom!!”

Ego, Comic Art, and The Rocket’s Blast-Comicollector had gotten the ball rolling, and by 1964 there were dozens of fanzines being published.

I hopped on my bike and pedaled like mad over to Shields’ house, Fans and collectors from all walks of life came out of the woodwork to where I discovered that he had not only received the three pages of share their appreciation for the medium. information, but also a copy of RB-CC which he had ordered right off the bat. (He had boldly included a dollar with his letter of inquiry.

I got a copy of Who’s Who in Comic Fandom, published early in Shields was always rolling in dough.)

1964 by Alter Ego’s founder, Jerry Bails. In it, he listed the names and addresses of some sixteen hundred active fans. And these weren’t a “What’s this?” I asked Richard, pointing to the sheet with The Eye bunch of pre-adolescents. Most were in their mid-teens or in college. A character. “Some kind of comic book?” significant number (like Bails, who was a college professor) were adults in their twenties and thirties. Some had loyally followed comics for years “Yeah.” on their own, having only linked up with other collectors after hearing “Where do you buy it? I’ve never seen this character on the racks.” I about fandom in 1961. wondered if there were regional comic book companies that didn’t I was at first surprised, then thrilled that (supposedly) sober and distribute their wares in Pittsburgh. intelligent adults openly expressed their enthusiasm for comics. It gave “Idiot!” he said, laughing. “It’s not like a regular comic book. You me a strong message of validation. For the first time, I envisioned myself have to send away for it. It’s probably printed like Rocket’s Blast-Comicollector.”

We looked through the copy of RB-CC, which was duplicated by the same printing method our school teachers used for pop quizzes and worksheets. I didn’t know the name of the process, but the print was purple. We were captivated by page after page of advertisements for old comic books, many dating back to the 1940s. Shields let out a long whistle. “Look at this! Someone wants fifteen bucks for Captain America #1!”

“That’s nuts!” I replied, shaking my head. “Who would pay that much?”

An ad from an early-1964 issue of RB-CC. 75¢ for Amazing Fantasy #15! Just imagine!

40

Marc Swayze There was one other situation involving collaboration that took place around the close of the ’40s. In the daily mail there was an occasional brief, courteous letter that usually ended with the suggestion that the writer and I pool our efforts toward a syndicate venture. I never met Jerry Siegel face to face and, although this was several years after his connection with Superman, I was a bit awed by attention from the co-creator of the first, as far as I knew, super-hero of comic book, radio, and movie fame.

By

mds& (c) [Art

logo ©2002 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2002 DC Comics]

[FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics. The very first Mary Marvel sketches came from his drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including her origin story; but he was primarily hired to illustrate “Captain Marvel” stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many “Captain Marvel” scripts, continuing to do so while in the military during World War II. After the war he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and story for “The Phantom Eagle” in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze drew for Fawcett’s romance comics, and eventually ended his comics career with Charlton Publications. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Continuing from last issue, Marc reflects further on his several attempts to sell a syndicated comic strip… and sparking the interest of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

The correspondence continued until Jerry was convinced of my aim to do my own writing.

Much of that writing is found in the stack of notes and sketches left from the syndicate tries. The majority of it had been typed somewhat formally, but some was apparently conceived along with the initial drawings. One of those, a feature almost forgotten, was Louis LeBone.

Louis was a Cajun, a member of a family living in a contemporary community of fun-loving Americans, descendants of the Acadians who had settled in a section of the deep South before the Revolution.

The strip was intended to be funny, and, by the standards of the day,

by George, it was funny! Looking over the drawings in the cold light of today, however, one can see Louis as a Cajun Li’l Abner. Really... too much so. Perhaps that realization was why the work was carried no further than two weeks of partially-completed daily strips.

Notwithstanding, I liked Louis. It would have been a pleasure telling the world about those people who clung so loyally to the traditions and dialect of their ancestors.

Come to think of it, Louis LeBone might be more acceptable to the syndicates now, fifty years after his time, where funny funnies once again dominate the newspaper page.

The idea of combining music, art, and writing in some way had lurked in the back of my mind since I left the milk route. Neal Valentine was the eventual response to that urge.

The thoughts, however, of writing and drawing something that was meant to be heard was a stymie for a Marc Swayze in a 1950s photo. while. Neal, a piano-playing Courtesy of the artist. songwriter with a penchant for detective work, was the answer to that. Then there was the question of whether the music game would provide story ideas for the long haul.

That took considerable thought. Since college days I had performed in combos and bands in environments ranging from roadhouses to ballrooms. I had composed, arranged, and copyrighted songs that could be worked into the stories. I had known and worked with many musicians. The conclusion… I could do it.

“Syndicate tries” makes it all sound so simple… like the work of maybe two or three weeks. In actuality they were all done during the same periods I was working on “The Phantom Eagle,” the Fawcett romances, Flyin’ Jenny, “Captain Marvel,” and “Mary Marvel.”

Completing one required weeks… months… even years. None was considered lightly. They were work!

Previously unpublished Mary Marvel sketch by Marc Swayze, who designed the character in 1942 and drew her first few stories in Captain Marvel Adventures and Wow Comics. [Art ©2002 Marc Swayze; Mary Marvel © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

I completed two weeks of Neal Valentine strips and five weeks of typed continuity… and made the rounds.

Gentle Giant

43

Gentle Giant A Golden Age Comic Book Artist Remembers a Well-respected Fawcett Editor

by Jay Disbrow As most Captain Marvel fans are aware, Fawcett Publications had their editorial offices in the Paramount Building at Broadway and 43rd Street in mid-Manhattan—New York City.

This same building, however, also Longtime comics pro Jay Disbrow— housed the plush offices of the a self-portrait, with special thanks legendary Adolph Zukor, who in to Ralph Ellis Miley/New Creation. partnership with Jessey Lasky and [Art ©2002 Jay Disbrow.]

Cecil B. DeMille founded the Paramount Motion Picture Studios back in 1915.

I first discovered Captain Marvel in the fall of 1940, when I was still a kid. At that time the character failed to impress me, because for years I had been a Flash Gordon fan. Alex Raymond’s magnificent art had worked its magic upon me.

Then, in the summer of 1941, The Adventures of Captain Marvel motion picture serial from Republic Pictures was released, and that changed everything. I became an instant Captain Marvel fan. Nothing like this production had ever been seen before. The special effects and the flying sequences were astonishing, and the musical score left a haunting memory in the viewer’s mind from week to week.

Of course, Tom Tyler looked nothing like Captain Marvel. But then again, neither Ralph Byrd nor Warren Beatty looked anything like Dick Tracy. But Tyler brought great dignity to the role of Captain Marvel, despite his weak diction and grating voice. Even to this day I enjoy dropping my Captain Marvel tape into the VCR and watching those glorious moments of 1941. I realize that the late C.C. Beck had nothing but contempt for this cinematic production, but in this case I must disagree with him.

The fact that I had chosen the comics as a career is mute testimony to the influences of a host of comic creators who had preceded me. While I never sold a comic book story to Fawcett Publications, I am proud to say that Wendell Crowley, editor of Captain Marvel Adventures, Captain Marvel Jr., The Marvel Family, and others, was a friend of mine.

“Tyler brought great dignity to the role.”

Stuntman (and future Mummy) Tom Tyler in the 1941 Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel. [Captain Marvel © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

I first met Wendell at his office in the fall of 1946.

He was one of the tallest men I had ever seen. While I was by no means short, he towered above me, and above all the people on the Fawcett staff. He had the potential of being very intimidating, but he also had a way of putting

people at ease. He was a very gracious individual. He examined my woefully amateurish pages of comic art, and with great diplomacy explained that I was not ready for the world of comics publication. He knew that all I had going for me at that time was an unbridled enthusiasm for a career in this medium. He encouraged me to keep at it and come back when I had progressed further.

Of course I did come back, again and again… not only to Fawcett Publications, but also to many other comic publishers. In those days, fondly remembered as the “Golden Age” of comics, there were a host of comic book publishers, nearly all of whom were located in mid-town Manhattan. Wendell Crowley always took the time to examine my art pages carefully. He even corrected the spelling and syntax errors in my stories. He frequently would place my pages side by side with the Fawcett comics pages he was currently editing so I could see the differences. Such comparisons can be devastating to one’s ego, but it is obvious that he did it for my own personal development.

Wendell Crowley (1921-1970) edited Captain Marvel Adventures, Marvel Family, and other Fawcett comics from 1944 through the end in 1953—including the legendary MF #1 (Dec. 1945), below, with its one-andonly Golden Age Black Adam story.

Art by C.C. Beck. Photo courtesy Ginny Provisiero. [Art ©2002 DC Comics.]

During that three-year period I came to Wendell’s office many times, but he never once gave me short shrift. By 1949 the quality of my artwork took a quantum leap forward, and Wendell recognized this. I

46

C.C. Beck

Real Facts...

About an Unreal Character

by C.C. Beck Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck [EDITOR’S NOTE: FCA presents another previously unpublished early-’80s essay from the FCA archives by the original Captain Marvel’s chief artist, C.C. Beck. Special thanks to Sam George.

—PCH.]

Part I “Comic as in Comic Strip” The real secret behind the success of Captain Marvel, which few people recognized, was that Billy Batson told about Captain Marvel’s exploits over his radio and television programs. In the very first story in Whiz Comics, written by Bill Parker, Billy never revealed anything about Captain Marvel to Sterling Morris and instead said, “Boy, oh boy!

Here’s where we go to town! Me and—” “You and who else, son?” Mr. Morris asked.

A 1977 Beck sketch of Captain Marvel, done for our publisher, John Morrow, in Montgomery, Alabama. [Art ©2002 estate of C.C. Beck; Captain Marvel © & TM DC Comics.]

“Oddly, they [the three other Billy Batsons] knew Billy was Captain Marvel and acted as if it were common knowledge. This was an incongruity in the early Marvel tales. Sometimes few people knew, sometimes everyone seemed to know.”

A little farther into his introduction Bridwell wrote: “Again [there was] that note of unreality—mentioning that the action was occurring in comic books.”

Of course it was! It was all fantasy and imagination and good-natured hokum, never intended to be taken seriously!

“—er, nobody, sir. Just me and the microphone. That’s all, sir—just me and ’Mike!’”

Billy said. As far as anyone ever knew, Billy may have made up the stories he told over the air.

I won’t bother to list all the ways in which Captain Marvel and his stories were different from the super-hero comic books of the time; admirers of the character are probably more aware of them than I am. One big difference was that Captain Marvel was comic, not sobersided and stuffy.

The stories were actually made up by Otto Binder and some other very talented writers.

They knew that children, and for that matter most adults, are far more interested in fantasy, magic, and outrageous fiction than in reality and facts, which are generally dull.

Fawcett Publications knew this, too, but they were always trying to hide the fact that they were publishing fiction in magazines such as True Confessions. The True Confessions type of stories were written by hard-bitten male writers, not by innocent young women who had lost their virginities.

The photo illustrations in True Confessions and similar magazines were all taken in Fawcett’s photo studio and heavily retouched in Fawcett’s art department.

By comic I mean as in comic strip—cartoonstyle artwork drawn in the style more like Mutt and Jeff or Bringing Up Father than in the heavy-handed, realistic-style artwork. Bridwell, however, didn’t understand the difference between drawing comic and being comic. Most people don’t. He wrote: “As far as anyone ever knew, Billy may have made up the stories he told.” Billy Batson, from the first issue of Whiz Comics. Art by C.C. Beck, words

by Bill Parker. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Even E. Nelson Bridwell, who wrote some of the better “Captain Marvel” stories for DC after they revived the character, never quite grasped the fact that Captain Marvel wasn’t supposed to be real. Here’s what Bridwell wrote in his introduction to the book, Shazam from the ’40s to the ’70s:

“…Fun! Everyone I’ve talked to who ever had a hand in the Big Red Cheese has used that word to describe it. Cap was a different kind of hero, though originally conceived as another Superman imitator. His creators and the writers and artists who followed them put a peculiar magic into their work.”

Bridwell and others don’t know that it’s not at all comical simply to put funny words into a script. “Big Red Cheese” is not funny by itself… only when spoken by a comical character like Dr. Sivana, who was a burlesque character—short, big-nosed, round-shouldered, and wearing Coke-bottle-lensed eyeglasses. The magic of Captain Marvel was fun

Real Facts...

47 of men and women just as interesting as these, but as nobody has ever written about them nobody will ever know about them.

Behind every great character in comics there is also a writer, or two or three or a dozen. These writers come in all shapes and sizes and have varying amounts of talent. Some of them can sit down at a typewriter and bang out, like machines, so many words per minute at so many cents a word. They start when an editor tells them to and stop when the editor cries, “Enough!” These writers seldom give a publisher any trouble, as they are dependable and will furnish whatever kind of stories the publisher or his editors want.

“Invasion of the Salad Men” (Shazam! #10, Feb. 1974) was the story that was the final straw for Beck, causing him to leave DC and comics for good. It was then drawn by Bob Oksner and Vince Colletta. [©2002 DC Comics.]

magic, not frightening, gooseflesh-producing magic or evil, demonic magic. It was the kind of magic a kid could produce—if given the power, as Billy Batson was, by a benevolent old wizard with a long white beard who looked like Moses.

The story that caused me to stop illustrating new “Captain Marvel” stories for DC was an impossible pile of garbage about some talking vegetables that had to land on Earth when their little flying saucer ran out of fuel. Captain Marvel had to do such idiotic things as carry them around in a grocery shopping bag and, to avoid suspicion, pretend that he was catching a cold when one of the vegetables in the bag sneezed loudly.

I laid out the story as written but then suggested a change in the copy to have Billy telling the story over the air, just narrating it, as it were. I showed some kids watching television and wondering whether the story was real. “Of course not, it’s just a TV program,” their father assured his children. Then the kids went out in their backyard and saw something—a flying saucer?—taking off in the distance.

There are some writers, however, who write what they want, not what some publisher tells them to. Such a writer was Bill Parker. He was told by the upper management at Fawcett Publications to “create a comic character just like Superman.” Parker, after looking at a Superman comic, sat down at his typewriter and wrote “Captain Marvel” instead. Fawcett was not very happy with the new character Parker came up with, but they decided to publish it anyway.

Captain Marvel was a big hit right from the beginning. Readers loved this huge, red-suited character… who was really only the boy, Billy Batson, magically grown up. They could identify with Billy, a kid like themselves, much more than they could with Clark Kent, a sort of ordinary, middle-aged commuter type.

Parker went into the armed services when World War II began, and other writers took over the writing chores for The World’s Mightiest Mortal. Among these writers was the very talented Otto Binder, who concealed, beneath a blandlooking exterior and a cheerful face, the fact that he had the soul of a Jonathan Swift.

Binder wrote biting satire and sardonic humor, disguised as jolly little adventure stories. He knew that without villains there could be no heroes. A super-hero must have supervillains to battle, and Binder knew that without some human touches in their make-ups both heroes and villains become mere cardboard figures, dancing like puppets at the ends of strings pulled by invisible manipulators. Binder’s characters moved and acted on their own, which is what makes a story come to life and keep the reader asking, “Now what will our hero do?” instead of muttering, “Oh, no, how stupid this story is!”

I felt it was that touch of unreality that attributed to Captain Marvel’s success in the Golden Age. But Julius Schwartz, chief editor at DC, was furious.

“You can’t do that to our scripts!” he roared at me when I met him in New York, where I had gone as a guest of honor at one of Phil Seuling’s comic conventions. “We’ve put another artist on the story!”

Part II How To Write (Or Not Write) Comic Stories Behind every great person in history there has been a writer. Who would ever have heard of Adam, Eve, or Moses if someone had not written about them? There might have been thousands

As suggested by this illo done in 1982, Beck modeled the old wizard Shazam after none other than Moses, years before Charlton Heston came along. [Art ©2002 estate of C.C. Beck; Shazam © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Other writers followed

Roy Roy T Thomas homas’ All-St All-Star ar Comics anzine Comics F F anzine

5.95

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In the the USA USA In

NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN ART FROM A LONG-LOST GOLDEN AGE JSA TALE!

ADAMS ANDERSON • BECK BLACK • BROOKS BRUNNER•BUCKLER BURNLEY • DILLIN DISBROW • ELIAS ESTRADA FLESSEL • FOX GALLAGHER GILBERT • GIFFEN GONZALES GREENE • GRELL HASEN • HIBBARD INFANTINO KANE (Bob & Gil) KAYANAN • KIRBY KUBERT • LEIALOHA MANNING MILGROM MOLDOFF •NASSER NAYDEL • NODELL ORDWAY•PACHECO PEDDY • PETER REINMAN • ROSS SCHAFFENBERGER SEKOWSKY SHERMAN•SHUSTER SIMON • STATON SWAN • SWAYZE TOTH • WOOD

April 2002

“The Will of William Wilson!”

Art ©2002 Michael T. Gilbert; JSA TM & ©2002 DC Comics

Plus Rare Art and Artifacts by:

No. 14

Vol. 3, No. 14 / April 2002

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors

Bill Schelly, Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comics Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover Artists Michael T. Gilbert Mike Nasser & Steve Leialoha

Cover Colorists

Michael T. Gilbert & Tom Ziuko

Mailing Crew

Russ Garwood, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker, Loston Wallace

And Special Thanks to: Pedro Angosto Jeff Bailey Brian H. Bailie Bill Black Ray Bottorff Jr. Jerry K. Boyd Jack Burnley Glen Cadigan James Cavenaugh Gerry Conway Mike Cruden Mike Curtis Ray A. Cuthbert Fred W. DeBoom Craig & David Delich Al Dellinges Jay Disbrow Ric Estrada Mark Evanier Ryan Farnsworth Stephen Fishler Creig Flessel Keif Fromm Keith Giffen David G. Hamilton Paul Handler Irwin Hasen Mark & Stephanie Heike Carmine Infantino Fred Jandt Jim Korkis Thomas Lammers Jim Lee Paul Levitz Russ Maheras Scott McAdam

Christopher McGlothlin Ralph Ellis Miley/ New Creation Al Milgrom Sheldon Moldoff Matt Moring Mart & Carrie Nodell Michelle Nolan Eric NolenWeathington Jerry Ordway Bob Overstreet Carlos Pacheco Chris Pedrin Ian Penman Peter C. Phillips Ginny Provisiero Charlie Roberts Ethan Roberts Julius Schwartz Dez Skinn Robin Snyder Joe & Hilarie Staton Marc Swayze Joel Thingvall Dann Thomas Alex Toth Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Nikki Vrtis Hames Ware Len Wein Marv Wolfman Ed Zeno Mike Zeno

In Memoriam:Chase Craig & Dan DeCarlo

Contents Writer/Editorial: “Impossible Things” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The All-Star Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A page-by-page survey of the original 18 JSAers—with some pretty fantastic artwork!

Where There’s a Will. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 More mystery-solving art from that fabled “lost” 1945 issue of All-Star Comics!

The Gardner Fox Scrapbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Michael T. Gilbert walks us through stories and scripts of a Golden Age master!

“Who the Hell Hasn’t Copied from Somebody?” . . . . . . . . . . . 43 A 1970 interview with Lee Elias, 1940s artist of Flash, Sub-Mariner, and Black Cat.

The 1970s Justice Society Revival––Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: In The All-Star Companion we printed Michael T. Gilbert’s own version of a 1944 All-Star Comics cover—so when we were blessed to discover five additional pages of a never-published 1940s JSA story, we invited him to create the cover it probably never had. Michael gave it his own sardonic spin, as one would expect from the writer/artist who’s given us “Mr. Monster”—and we’re pleased as punch to feature it as one of this issue’s colorful covers! [Art ©2002 Michael T. Gilbert; JSA © & TM DC Comics.]

Above: The 1948 All-Star story “The Invasion from Fairyland!”—with its nice Irwin Hasen art and John Broome script—has never yet been reprinted; but this pair of panels sets the scene for the meeting of two worlds in this issue of A/E: the Justice Society of the 1940s, and the fans who’ve waited more than half a century to see a “lost” JSA adventure—whether they knew it or not! [©2002 DC Comics.]

Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092.

Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $8 ($10.00 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Eight-issue subscriptions: $40 US, $80 Canada, $88 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

3 Art by Rafael Kayanan (pencils) & Alfredo Alcala (inks), from America vs. the Justice Society #1 (Jan. 1985), as per a b-&-w poster released at the time. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Call it the “Justice Society of America”— shorten it to the “Justice Society”—or slice it down to the bare bones as the “JSA.” By any name, it remains the ultimate, the essential, the first super-hero group of all time.

And so, before we present more newlysurfaced art to the 1945 All-Star Comics saga titled “The Will of William Wilson,” let’s take a full-page look at each and every one of the eighteen stalwarts who, between 1940 and 1950-51, passed through the hallowed headquarters of the Justice Society, as members and/or honored guests.

Not counting the two full-group illustrations on this page, we’ll take ’em in alphabetical order—which means that we begin on the very next page with—

The Justice Society will probably be with us for a long, long time, if the past few decades are any clue (Vol. 8 of the All Star Archives, featuring the classic issues #3438, will be on sale this summer). Still, Avengers Forever artist Carlos Pacheco had fun a few years back drawing our heroes as the “Over-the-Hill Gang” in a Spanish “super-heroes special” called Humor a Tope, published by Tountain. Thanks to Pedro Angosto for pointing it out to us! (For a more dramatic rendition by Carlos of the JSA, see TwoMorrows’ The All-Star Companion! [Art ©2002 the respective copyright holder; JSA © & TM DC Comics.]

Never reprinted—but wait till next year (we hope, we hope!)—is All-Star #39 (Feb.-March 1948), “The Invasion from Fairyland!,” whose Irwin Hasen-drawn splash depicts all seven JSAers, plus future member Black Canary. [©2002 DC Comics.]

The All-Star Companions

4

the Atom

In this tier (row) of panels drawn by Joe Gallagher for an unpublished (?) story drawn circa 1943, The Atom relies on his wits, half a decade before he converted to nuclear power. Thanks to Len Wein. [Atom © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

The Atom displayed a newfound “atomic strength” in a handful of tales before donning a more Atomic Ageoriented costume. This climactic panel from Comic Cavalcade #28 (Aug.-Sept. 1948) looks for all the world like Irwin Hasen pencils, inked (with lots of black) by Frank Giacoia... but don’t quote us on that. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Irwin Hasen, still drawing at 83, is a popular guest at comics conventions, where he does illos like this one of The Atom in his second set of threads—in a pose from Irwin’s cover for All-Star Comics #43. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Zeno. [Art ©2002 Irwin Hasen; Atom © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

The Justice Society of America Revisited

5

Batman

In 1939 artist Bob Kane, working with writer Bill Finger, created “The Batman”—and in 1978, as a guest of the San Diego Comic-Con, drew this illo for their program book. Thanks to Jerry K. Boyd. [Art ©2002 the estate of Bob Kane; Batman © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Jerry Ordway, who drew a great Batman in All-Star Squadron in the early ’80s, rendered this sketch for collector Keif Fromm several years back, in honor of Jerry Robinson’s legendary version of the Dark Knight. Thanks, Keif. [Art ©2002 Jerry Ordway; Batman © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Sheldon Moldoff was briefly one of Kane’s first assistants on “Batman”—and returned in 1953 to become his principal “ghost” for the next decade and a half. This commission drawing courtesy of Scott McAdam, via Jerry K. Boyd; repro’d from a photocopy of the original art.

[Art ©2002 Sheldon Moldoff; Batman & Robin © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

“The Will of William Wilson”

23

Where There s A Will...

Installment No.

Still More Long-lost Art from “The Will of William Wilson”— The Legendary Never-published 1940s Issue of All-Star Comics!

Part III

by Roy Thomas Now, as I was saying back in the Writer/Editorial on Page 2, before I rudely interrupted myself to run 19 pages of scrumptious Justice Society-related art: In The All-Star Companion (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2000) we reproduced well over a dozen pages’ worth of art from the “lost” 1945 story “The Will of William Wilson,” much of which had been for years in the collection of the late Mark Hanerfeld before he sold it to me—all of which I held onto until the middle 1990s, and some of which I still own.

I was truly thrilled to reproduce most of the extant art from “Will” for the first time anywhere, partly because of my firm conviction that only the 55 “Justice Society” stories that appeared from All-Star Comics #3 through #57 are truly “authentic.” Though I enjoyed much of the 1970s All-Star revival and loved writing my own All-Star Squadron in the ’80s, to uncover such a sizable portion of a never-published story was, to me, absolutely the only way that there could ever really be a 56th authentic JSA adventure.

And now we had it—more or less!

[Continued on next page]

Chances are no cover was ever drawn for the unprinted JSA story “The Will of William Wilson” back in the mid-’40s, so Roy Thomas and Michael T. Gilbert put their heads together, and Michael decided to draw one—in his own tongue-incheek style! Since you couldn’t see all the details (or the logos and other info at the top of the art) on this issue’s cover, we’re printing it again here. Enjoy! [Art ©2002 Michael T. Gilbert; JSA © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

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Where There’s A Will...

You’ve read the comics—now play the game!

The JSA Sourcebook, on sale now, is a supplement to the DC Universe Roleplaying Game, with emphasis on today’s JSA and, gratifyingly, yesterday’s Justice Society, Seven Soldiers of Victory—and even All-Star Squadron/Young All-Stars and Infinity, Inc. Behind this great cover by Tom Grummet and Rick Magyar, it sports art by Joe Staton, Tom Grindberg, Steve Lightle, Marshall Rogers, Paul Ryan, Steve Sadowsky, et al.

Thanks to Christopher McGlothlin and Nikki Vrtis. [©2002 DC Comics.]

In the Companion, extrapolating from information given in the 44 (at most, 47) tiers of panels we had of “Will,” I summarized what we could figure out about the missing parts of that story from what we had of it—and I theorized about several things we couldn’t tell.

There’s no space to go into detail here (or any need, since many A/E readers own a copy of the Companion and can easily refer to it—and, truth to tell, they’ll need to, to get the most out of what follows). But, in brief: The JSA were “summoned,” I assumed, by attorney Harvey Davis and asked to try to fulfill the terms of the “peculiar will” of one William Wilson. In order to gain his unspecified inheritance for “the poor and the orphans,” the six JSA men must accomplish half a dozen “impossible feats.” They must obtain a goblet/cup made by Cellini, the signature of a man named Abel Northrup, a certain Near-Eastern jewel, and the sword of Genghis Khan. Existing art in the JSA and solo chapters showed that Green Lantern, Dr. MidNite, Atom, and Flash, respectively, managed to obtain those items.

Practically nothing, however, was known about the missions of Hawkman and Johnny Thunder, since no art has turned up from their solo chapters. Hawkman was seen, in the story’s full-group finale, holding what looked like either a sloppily-drawn sphere or a well-drawn egg, and Johnny was carrying a triangular chunk of something-or-other.

I theorized he “might have been sent after a piece of the green cheese out of which the moon is sometimes said to be made”—and that the Winged Wonder might have gone after either Nostradamus’ crystal ball—or “perhaps the egg of a mythical animal such as a roc—or of an extinct dinosaur or dodo.”

(Re the missing “Hawkman” solo chapter, Jerry Bails writes that “The Will of William Wilson” had originally been “scheduled between earlier stories in which ’Hawkman’ was drawn by Joe Kubert and later stories with ’Hawkman’ by Jon Chester Kozlak. The fact that the ’Hawkman’ chapter hasn’t surfaced suggests to me that it was a Kubert chapter. What a contrast that would’ve been—a dynamic ’Hawkman’ chapter by Kubert following this introduction by Naydel. It makes me wince all the more to see these pages.” Jerry, clearly, is no fan of the ’JSA’ art of Martin Naydel... nor am I, though it didn’t bother me when I first read the stories at ages five and six.)

I also referred in the Companion to an anomaly which the existing art suggested, to wit: All JSA stories from #20-39, covering a period from 1944 through 1948 (and Gardner’s records indicated he wrote “Will” “during September, 1945”) were either 38 or 39 pages long, with most solo chapters—except sometimes Hawkman’s—being five pages.

the new mysteries they in turn unveiled.

In this context, I wanted you to hear, not only from myself, but from two of the most knowledgeable JSA fans around, with their comments interwoven below with my own: Jerry Bails, who in 1962 published a 14-page fanzine, the first Authoritative Index to All-Star Comics, and who in ’65 had learned from Fox about the four supposedly “lost” JSA stories; and— Craig Delich, who in 1977 had edited the handsome, 88-page All-Star Comics Revue, which had greatly expanded on Jerry’s original.

Both publications had strongly influenced my own All-Star Companion, so it seemed only fitting that we jointly examine and annotate this new discovery. It was only later that I realized that we were also, in a sense, much like the fabled “three blind men,” all feeling up the same elephant!

I also sent photocopies to Julius Schwartz, who from 1944-50 was an editor of All-Star Comics, though Julie has never claimed to remember much about specific issues or stories.

We regret that we can’t begin our art-specific commentary on a page which faces Page “A” of that art—which begins three pages from now— but there’s just too damn much to say! Anyway, to begin: “What?” you exclaim, after eyeing the “William Wilson” splash on Page 27. “No JSAers on the splash page? Just black circles partly hiding rectangles inside which their names are lettered?”

You’re right—it’s an unusual page. During this period, the JSA nearly always appeared in the splash panel itself, not just in cameo shots in the margins. The only issue in which they were “marginalized” is All-Star #24 (Spring 1945). So, just for the heck of it, to the left of the “Will” splash, we’ve added the heads of the seven JSAers who appear in “Will,” lifted from #24’s splash and arranged so they all face right.

Moving across the top of the unlabeled Page “A”:

However, very strong circumstantial evidence in the surviving art pointed to each of the six solo chapters in “Will” as having six pages, and to the total story as having been at least 45 pages long. And that was if the missing JSA intro was only three pages long, not five or six like the finale! (For my full reasoning on this point, you’ll have to see the Companion.)

“Will,” as indicated by the notation “A.S.#31,” was at some point scheduled to appear in All-Star #31. It was supplanted, for unknown reasons, by a tale with a similarly alliterative title, “The Workshop of Willie Wonder.” (Either Gardner or editor Shelly Mayer sure liked “w’s”!) But, as detailed in The All-Star Companion, JSA stories were often published out of the order in which they had been written.

But, as detailed in our Writer/Editorial, we are now privileged to have access to the five-page JSA introductory chapter of “The Will of William Wilson,” thanks to Steve Fishler, and it’s time to show them to you—and to tie them in to what we knew (or suspected) before... while revealing

Actually, it’s the two notations which flank “A.S.#31” that are really fascinating.

First, there’s the circled “48PP”:

“The Will of William Wilson” This was a real revelation, because, as noted, all published JSA stories during this time were either 38 or 39 pages long. Never more, never less.

Yet “Will” was definitely slated to be 48!

You might argue that, in one sense, all DC/AA comics of that day had 48 pages—i.e., they contained 48 pages, excluding covers, which were printed separately. But that can’t be what is meant by “48PP”— because nine or ten of those 48 interior pages of All-Star (as well as other DC/AA mags) were always given over to a combination of paid ads, house ads, public service announcements, filler cartoons, and the two-page text story which every comic book had to have in order to keep its second-class mailing permit.

No, “48PP” can only mean that the JSA story itself was 48 pages long—which immediately suggested, to my mind, two likely possibilities.

25

Given what we know, the only page-count in the above list that isn’t an almost 100% dead certainty is the 7-page “Hawkman” chapter. That 48th story page of “Will” could have been given to some other JSAer’s solo chapter. However, during this period, Hawkman’s segments were sometimes a page longer than those of his fellow members. (Well, why not? Not only had he, like The Flash, been created by scripter Gardner Fox, but he was also the Justice Society’s permanent chairman. Surely rank has its privileges. Hawkman usually appeared in more panels and had more dialogue in the JSA intros and finales than the others, too— and “Will” would prove no exception.)

The other most likely reason for the story’s 48-page length was that “Will” was originally prepared for a one-shot comic, probably even thicker than World’s Finest and Comic Cavalcade. Here the template would have been the 128-page Big All-American Comic Book published in 1944, an anthology which had contained solo tales of every current JSAer except Dr. MidNite, plus other features.

The first and (to me) more intriguing is that the publisher— either M.C. Gaines, co-publisher of the All-American Comics group which was loosely allied with DC at this time; or else DC co-publishers Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, if they had bought Gaines out by then—had decided to expand All-Star Comics into a regularly-published Jerry Bails feels 15¢, 80-page comic this one-shot (84 counting covers). approach is “far This would have put it more likely” than in a class with World’s Among the Golden Age original art saved from the fire by Marv Wolfman circa 1967 were these panels from a a plan to increase Finest Comics, which late-’40s “Dr. Mid-Nite” story once scheduled for All-American Comics #109. That mag metamorphosed into the page count of All-American Western with #105, and the story was never used. Art by Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs. [Dr. starred Superman and All-Star on a Mid-Nite © & TM 2002 DC Comics.]

Batman, and Comic regular basis. He Cavalcade, which concurs with my spotlighted Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. Since All-Star view that “Will” might well have been “one of the last special projects was a successful title which showcased seven heroes, it would seem a Gaines had in mind [before selling his share of AA to Donenfeld and likely candidate for increased size, if any DC/AA comic was.

Liebowitz]. Maybe he was planning a second Big All-American a year Julie Schwartz, who began editing for All-American Comics (AA) in early 1944, has no recollection of such a size jump ever being considered... though he admits it’s not impossible. Understandably, he argued with my contention that “Will” had originally been a 48-page story, until I explained to him why it must have been. I showed him how the steel-tight evidence of the available art now suggested the story had been divided: JSA intro - 5 pp.

Hawkman - 7 pp.

Dr. Mid-Nite - 6 pp.

Atom - 6 pp.

Green Lantern - 6 pp.

Flash - 6 pp.

Johnny Thunder - 6 pp.

JSA finale - 6 pp.

For a grand total of 48 pages.

after the first, with the JSA featured. He seemed to like the idea of bigger packages. This may explain why Gardner couldn’t fit all the issue numbers into the sequences [in his February 1965 letter to Jerry, which first named the four ’lost’ stories]. One was for that giant.”

Jerry goes on: “The 48-page JSA story wouldn’t fill a second Big AllAmerican, but it could be the lead feature, with a bunch of other backup features. This second giant would’ve come a year after the first Big AA, and it would feature the one AA strip that wasn’t featured the first time around”—namely, the “Justice Society.”

As to the “A.S.#31” notation at the top of Page “A,” Jerry suggests: “Notice that ’A.S.#31’ was written in a different hand than the rest of the proofreading. I think it was scheduled to be #31 after the idea of the second Big AA was dropped (after Gaines sold out), but when the proofreader checked it out, he discovered it was 48 pages long, and made the notation and circled it three times. The proofreader was clearly

The “Write” Stuff!”

35

36

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

Introduction by Michael T. Gilbert

the method most often used by Gardner Fox.

There are no hard and fast rules to scripting a comic book story.

Every writer approaches the task in his or her own way.

Writer Gardner Fox (along with editor Julius Schwartz) was the hero of a story in Strange Adventures #140 (May 1962), as drawn by Sid Greene. [©002 DC Comics.]

Artist/writers such as Harvey Kurtzman, John Stanley, and Will Eisner generally favored visual scripts—even when their stories were illustrated by others. In these, the artist draws a rough comics page, often in miniature. Dialogue can be written directly on the roughly sketched pages, or indicated with numbers and typed separately for clarity.

Even this seemingly straightforward method isn’t quite as simple as it appears. Often a series of steps between writer and editor may be required before a script is approved. The editor may ask for a short story idea, usually only a paragraph or two. If the idea’s approved, the writer will generally type up a longer plot synopsis describing the major action throughout the story.

In Fox’s case, his editors would often discuss the storyline with him, and together they would work out the bugs before he went on to write the synopsis. Afterwards, if there were still flaws in the story, Fox and his editors would sit down and fix them. At that point, Fox would either be asked to rewrite the synopsis or to begin writing the actual script.

Finally, he might be required to rewrite all or part of the finished script if the editor found something amiss. Whew! With all those hurdles to overcome, it’s a miracle Fox was able to write so many memorable stories!

In the 1960s Stan Lee perfected the “Marvel method,” carried on by a host of other Marvel scripters.

Here, a short description of the story is given to the artist, who tells the story visually as he sees fit. Afterwards, the writer adds the actual dialogue and captions to the penciled art before it’s sent off for lettering and inking. Simple, huh?

Back in the Golden Age, things were a bit different.

Back then, DC and most of the major publishers required their writers to type panel-by-panel descriptions of the visual action, followed by the characters’ dialogue. This is

Step 1: Fox begins by submitting a few short plot ideas. As you can see, few details are worked out at this early stage. No sense doing too much work for a story that might be rejected!

To give you a clearer idea of what we mean, we’re reprinting a small sampling of Fox’s notes and script pages on the following pages. We hope this will give you an idea of what it takes to create a comic book story. While we weren’t able to find one single story that documented all the stages described above, there were numerous separate examples of each in the University of Oregon’s Gardner Fox collection. These scraps of comics history, mostly done for DC in the 1940s, have never been printed before. As such, they provide a rare glimpse of comic book history in the making.

We hope you enjoy them!

Though he doubtless didn’t know it in advance, Fox’s “Zatara” 1943 story “Bobby Meets a Brownie” would appear in World’s Finest Comics #12 (Winter). As per the next page, he seems to have been writing “Starman” and even “Sandman” scripts at the same time. [©2002 DC Comics.]

“Who The Hell Hasn’t”

41

“Who The Hell Hasn t Copied From Somebody?”

An Insightful 1970 Interview with Golden Age Artist LEE ELIAS PART I [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: In June 2000—I believe partly through the good offices of British editor Dez Skinn—I received a most welcome package and letter from fellow Britisher Ian Penman:] “Please find enclosed a (coverless) copy of the third issue of Armageddon, a fanzine I published close on thirty years ago (yikes!). I more than likely sent a copy to you at the time when you were at Marvel. The item that might be of interest is a long interview that my friends Mike Cruden and Peter C. Phillips and I conducted with Lee Elias in December of 1970, at his house in Warrington, just outside of Manchester, while Lee was resident in the UK.

[ASIDE FROM A/E EDITOR: Lee Elias (1920-1998) was a favorite artist of mine as a comics-reading kid back in the ’40s and ’50s, largely because of his work on “The Flash” for DC (including in AllStar Comics #34-36) and Black Cat for Harvey. So, when assembling this special JSA-oriented issue of Alter Ego, I wanted to include this artist interview. The entire piece was too long to fit in this issue, however, and will be completed a couple of issues from now, dealing in more detail with Elias’ work in the 1960s. The interview begins with the trio of Armageddon interviewers saying that, in the July 1970 edition of the DC comic The Unexpected (formerly Tales of ...), “there appeared a short biographical sketch of Lee Elias, one of the most respected comic artists of the last three decades. This potted life is reprinted below: “Born Manchester, England, May 21, 1920. Arrived in US 1926. Left again 1965. Reason?

As Harvey Kurtzman asked ’way back in 1954’s Mad #14: “Where has The Flash dashed to?”

A Lee Elias panel from the final super-hero issue of Comic Cavalcade (#29, Oct.-Nov. 1948). Photo of Lee Elias courtesy of Ray A. Cuthbert. [“Flash” panel ©2002 DC Comics.]

“Armageddon had only limited distribution in the US, so the interview would be new to 99% of your readers, if you’d like to use any of it. It was copy-edited by Lee Elias and myself. The final part of the interview was on the missing inside back cover, so I’ve included a photocopy of the final page.

“To fill in some background details: I tracked Lee down after a letters column had mentioned that he was now living in the UK, in the Manchester area (Elias wasn’t a very common last name!). I nervously rang him up, told him who I was, and he graciously invited us to his home in the suburbs, where he was living with his young English wife and daughter.

“Mike and I were twenty at the time, Pete a couple of years older. Lee was the first ever US professional that any of us had met, but he chatted freely, with great humour, putting us quickly at ease. I kept in contact with Lee for a while, and then lost touch. As I understand it, his marriage broke up sometime later and Lee returned to the US.”

Heaven only knows. Nostalgia? Dissatisfaction with the “good life”?

My wife’s nostalgia? I honestly can’t give any reason. Studied violin and viola. Studied art at Cooper Union and Art Students League.

Taught cartooning and illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York. Did the syndicated strip Black Cat and ghosted many others, then went on to Beyond Mars. Assisted on Steve Canyon and Li’l Abner.

“Did illustrations for slick magazines and advertising. Work exhibited at various state fairs and New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Comic book characters include The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Hornet, Tommy Tomorrow, Eclipso. Biographical data has appeared in Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in Music, Who’s Who in the East, and other Who’s Whos.”

At this point the Armageddon trio asked Lee to elaborate on how he first began in comics:]

42

Lee Elias

LEE ELIAS: My first job was with a trade paper, a liquor publication, in fact, in about 1934. Every once in a while, I’d get an idea for a funny gag cartoon and I’d get an extra $3 for this. I had always been drawing, from when I was old enough to hold a pencil and I realized there was a living in this, so I began to take an interest in comic strips and cartooning.

I had always loved Terry and the Pirates, and I began studying it to try to learn how it was done. My career in the comics field began via the plodding route, taking around samples that were pretty horrible.

I remember each one telling me, “Well, if you had some experience, we’d take you on.” So how do you get the experience if each one tells you that?

My first full-time professional job in comics was with the nowdefunct Fiction House. Largely it was just a matter of plugging away. I remember my guiding philosophy during all those years was, “Look at all these guys who can’t draw a damn coining it in, hand over fist, doing 10-15 pages a week while I struggle trying to make it perfect—but—I get a higher price per page than they do!” So it ended up with me taking about a week to do one page, and I got, say, $40, while these guys would be doing 15 pages at $20 a page. Work it out by simple arithmetic and you’ll see that these guys were doing a hell of a lot better financially than I was. But in the long run it paid off, because when the crunch came in about 1946, when things became real bad in the comic book publishing industry, these guys weren’t working—and I was.

ARMAGEDDON: This was in the early ’40s?

ELIAS: Yes, during the very beginning of World War II. A: Then you went on to Fiction House from there?

ELIAS: Yeah. At Fiction House my first assignment was a feature called “Clipper Kirk.”

A: Were there any difficulties with that? There were a lot of planes in it, weren’t there?

ELIAS: Oh, yeah, I knew every plane backwards and forwards.

In fact, I could have been a spotter for the Air Force, because you had to know all the details. The strip was read by servicemen and they used to look very carefully for mistakes.

You had to get the insignia right on them, and that sort of thing.

A: Fiction House went overboard for—er—naked ladies and sex in their stories.

What did you feel about doing those?

ELIAS: I wasn’t too happy about it. Not because I’m a prude, but because of the age bracket that might read this sort of thing and the impression that they would get. To my mind, it was misusing something which, seen by an artist, wasn’t dirty.

From my days in art school, the human body was something you wished you knew how to paint and was, indefinably, a very great creation. You tried repeatedly to interpret what you saw, and to translate the form and texture into paint on a flat surface. That was my attitude to the human body—but then to debase it—the way this publisher did.... His name was Thurman T. Scott, a reactionary white-supremacist, who grew pecan nuts on his plantation in Georgia. He wanted sex in the books.

Whenever other cartoonists asked me what rate of pay I was getting... I was then getting up to $100 per page... I didn’t mind A “Firehair” page by Lee Elias—complete with color markings which would have telling them. There was nothing disappeared when printed in the actual comic. Collector Paul Handler, who sent us personal between me and my photocopies of the original art, informs us it’s from Fiction House’s Firehair #2 publisher. He didn’t employ me (Winter 1949), reprinted in Rangers #59 (June 1951). No half-naked ladies, alas! for my looks or for my [©2002 the respective copyright holder.] friendship with him, but because I can remember one story I did good work. If another artist where I had to draw a bra and panties on a girl who was taking a bath in did equally good work, I couldn’t keep him from competing with me by a river. At first the editor, Malcolm Reiss, had said, “Make her naked, not revealing my page rate. But most of the guys in the business but cover her up with the water!” But after I did it, somebody wouldn’t tell anybody what they were making. The publishers used this complained—I don’t know who it was—they thought this was going too against them. When nobody knew what the next guy was getting, the far and I had to draw in the bra and panties, so she was taking a bath publishers kept cutting prices, and artists ended up making half of what with the bra and panties on—which seemed pretty ridiculous... but this they used to make when times were good. was the commercialism bit. I didn’t like it—never did.

The first thing I did was “The True Story of John Powers,” about an air ace in World War II who crashed his plane into a Japanese battleship.

It was, I think, a four-pager for a company called Western Lithographing and Printing. The editor was a guy named Oscar Le Beck—boy, I’ve got a better memory than I thought! I think I got $10 a page for it, and that was pretty low, even in those days, but I thought I was doing great.

In fact, I did horror comics, and there was a psychiatrist named Dr. Frederic Wertham who crusaded against them, and although I performed a farcical skit in which I imitated him, with a comic German accent, at an affair in the Hotel Pierre in New York, I really wasn’t so much in disagreement, afterward, as I thought. I had two kids of my own, and I’d