34
“Stan Was the Prince…”—
“Stan Was The Prince...” Gil Kane on Timely Comics The Golden/Silver Age Artist Talks about Marvel Before It Was Marvel! Interview Conducted & Edited by Roy Thomas Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson [INTERVIEWER/EDITOR’S NOTE: Ever since his keynote speech at a Phil Seuling comics convention in New York and his first major interview, in the pages Early 1940s Timely logo. of Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #10, both in the late 1960s, artist Gil Kane has been widely recognized as one of the most outspoken and articulate of comic book professionals. Recently Ye Editor, who has been proud to call him both collaborator and friend for some thirty years and counting, suggested to Gil that they conduct a series of interview/conversations, each
focusing on a different specific subject, Late ’40s logo (used spottily). company, or period, which would give him a chance to reminisce about his experiences in different areas over the years. [Gil graciously concurred with this plan, and this past Summer we spoke by phone for over an hour on the ostensible topic of “Timely in the 1940s.” To no one’s great surprise (least of all ours), the actual subjects discussed ranged far and wide, and occasionally were only dragged back to the topic at hand with great difficulty. Conversation relating to nonTimely topics, which ran the gamut from All-American Comics to Ziff-Davis, will see print in the near future, most likely with additional material added. For the purpose of this issue’s coverage of Marvel Comics #1, mostly it’s the parts of the conversation dealing with Timely that have been retained—but even there, other comments have often been kept to give the piece context. [Since Gil—like myself, as questioner—was acting from memory, I later checked a few facts out with A/E’s ever-generous founder, Jerry G. Bails, afterward often referred to by his initials “JGB.” I’ve presented that information in italicized notes between brackets, where appropriate. Now, awaaay we go… and I hope you have as much fun reading this interview as I had doing it with Gil.—R.T.] ROY THOMAS: For a couple of years there, Gil—’43, ’44—you worked for Timely. GIL KANE: Yes. Mostly, I was hired by Don Rico. Norman Podhoretz worked there too. I think his son is an editor at the New York Post now. [The son] started out as a liberal, and later he and this guy Bill Kristol became the leaders of neo-conservatism. At that time Stan was the editor, but it was Rico who was the line manager, handed out assignments, made criticism and everything else, and just provided stuff. RT: Stan didn’t go into the Service until ’44 or so, did he, because he was, after all, still pretty young. KANE: He must’ve gone in around ’43. Stan is three years older than I am, so he would have been in the available range, and I know he went overseas to England. Vince Fago took over as editor. The thing is, in those days they used to hand out pages at such volume! Not compared to nowadays, but they were equipped for what they had to do. So they used to hand us two or three pages at a time for inking or penciling. Somehow or another, they sequenced it all in. A mid-’40s house ad for Marvel Mystery Comics—though that’s not 100% clear from the copy. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]