Alter Ego #42 Preview

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1994--2004

November 2004

No. 42

Art Š2004 Steve Fastner & Rich Larson; heroes TM & Š2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Vol. 3, No.42/November 2004 Editor

™

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

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

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists

“SILVER-AGERS ASSEMBLE!” Section

Contents

Writer/Editorial: A Sunset in Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Don Heck: A Class Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Nick Caputo asks: how did artist Dashin’ Donnie go from “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man?

Steve Fastner & Rich Larson Ernie Schroeder

InFromDefense of Paul Reinman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The X-Men to The Mighty Crusaders, by Nick C.

And Special Thanks to:

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Nick C. and Werner’s son Gavin discuss a talented master of his craft.

Heidi Amash Michael Ambrose Ger Apeldoorn Bob Bailey Mike W. Barr Michael Baulderstone Mark Beazley Jack Bender John Benson Jon Berk Mike Burkey Nick Caputo R. Dewey Cassell Bob Cherry Steve Cohen Mike Costa Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt Terry Doyle Michael Dunne Peter Duxbury Steve Fastner Shane Foley Janet Gilbert Bob Greenberger George Hagenauer Jennifer Hamerlinck Keith Hammond Mark & Stephanie Heike Dave Herring Steve Herring

Richard Howell Shirleen King Rich Larson Marv Levy Wally & Rosemary Littman Sam Maronie Richard Martines Brian K. Morris Frank Motler Tom Palmer Jens Robinson Jerry Robinson Herb Rogoff Gavin Roth Peter Sanzone Ernie & Constance Schroeder Cory Seidlmeier David Siegel Gerry Sorek Aaron Sultan Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Bob Thoms Anthony Tollin Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware Tom Wimbish Mike Zeno

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Jackson Beck & John Cullen Murphy

Alex Toth on a Handful of Quality Comics Greats. . . . . . . . . 26 ComicCrypt:MichaelT.GilbertGoes for the Gold(&Silver)! . 29 Rare art by Mr. Monster’s master—from 1979 to 2004.

Tales Calculated to Drive You... ODD! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Bill Schelly interviews Steve & Dave Herring, editors of a great 1960s humor fanzine.

Tributes to Jackson Beck & John Cullen Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . 40 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 A Whole Heap of Hillman & Ziff-Davis!. . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Some months ago, collector Aaron Sultan sent us a scan of this unpublished Avengers illustration by artists Steve Fastner and Rich Larson. Aaron writes: “The art duo of Steve Fastner and Rich Larson has been creating amazing comic and fantasy images for over 25 years. In the early 1980s, Fastner and Larson created a series of portfolio pin-ups for Marvel Comics, including The Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, and the old and new X-Men teams. On the drawing table also was a portfolio for an Avengers series that was never published. ‘Return of a Legend’ [the piece used as the cover of this issue of A/E] was the first and only art created for this series.” So we’re doubly—nay, make that triply—thankful to you, Aaron—and to Steve and Rich for granting permission to print this great illo for the first time ever! [Art ©2004 Steve Fastner & Rich Larson; Avengers TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: Iron Man was the first of the new breed of Marvel super-heroes introduced in the 1960s that wasn’t first drawn by either Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko. That plum of an assignment fell to Don Heck, who both penciled and inked the future Armored Avenger’s origin in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)—and it’s a tribute to Don’s skills that most readers didn’t notice the difference! Story by Stan Lee; script by Larry Lieber. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344.

Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, 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 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 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.

Marvel’s Unsung Silver Age Artists: A Tryptich

part one

DON HECK –A Class Act

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How Did “Dashin’ Donnie” Go From Star Artist Of “Iron Man” & The Avengers To Forgotten Man?

by Nick Caputo (First in a Series – Collect Them All!)

(Top left:) Circa 1970 or so, Marvel Comics actually merchandised a package of professionally-taken photos of its “Bullpenners”—including this one of Don Heck, which we’ve sandwiched in between two fine illos. Thanks to R. Dewey Cassell.

(Center left:) The kind of western art Don loved to draw. Nick Caputo says it accompanied a prose tale in the mostly-comics Adventure Illustrated #1 (Winter 1981), published by Richard Howell’s New Media. Steven Cohen adds that this illo of a scene from The Virginian was “produced much earlier for a movie theatre chain’s premium to go with the movie of that title.” (The 1946 remake starring Gary Cooper?)

(Above:) Don did full art on “Ant-Man” in Tales to Astonish #42 (April 1963); plot by Stan Lee, script by Larry Lieber. Thanks to Bob Bailey for a photocopy of the original art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

My introduction to Don Heck’s art occurred in the mid-1960s, when he was known primarily as a “Marvel artist” on features such as “Iron Man,” “Ant-Man,” The Avengers, The X-Men, and Captain Marvel, to name a few. Thanks to reprints in Fantasy Masterpieces, I gained an awareness of the artist’s earlier work in another genre. His tenure on the early issues of Tales of Suspense (which, for a time, featured the dramatic sub-title: “The Power of Iron Man”) impressed me greatly, with his later run on The Avengers a close second (in particular issues #32-37, which he inked as well).

Heck had a sharp, clean line inspired by Milton Caniff, and his Iron Man stories were attractively designed; his placement of black ink was particularly adept. He brought out the character not only of Tony Stark, but of the supporting players Happy Hogan (a stoic-looking fellow whose appearance may have been influenced by stone-faced silent era (Left:) Tony Stark’s right-hand man Happy Hogan and his female foil Pepper Potts, in a nice Don Heck/Dick Ayers page from the Iron Man/Captain America cross-over in Tales of Suspense #58 (Oct. 1964). Script by Stan Lee, who else? Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, thanks to Mike Burkey. (Incidentally, Jim Amash reminds us that the Cap figure was re-penciled by Jack Kirby.) [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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From Star Artist of “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man

Don Heck as Triple-Threat!

(Above:) He was a more-than-capable inker for Jack Kirby’s “Ant-Man,” as per this sequence from Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963). Plot by Stan Lee; script by H.E. Huntley.

(Right:) Don’s penciling filled the bill on many an “Iron Man,” such as this page from Tales of Suspense #58, in which Shellhead found himself “In Mortal Combat with Captain America!” Inks by Dick Ayers; script by Stan Lee. (Below:) Nor was he any slouch at handling full-art chores, either, as shown by the cover of The Avengers #31 (Aug. 1967)!

Ant-Man & Iron Man art repro’d from photocopies of original art, courtesy respectively of Terry Doyle and Mike Burkey. The Avengers art is on view in the black-&-white Essential Avengers, Vol. 2, and in full color in the new 4th Avengers Marvel Masterworks volume. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

comedian Buster Keaton) and Pepper Potts (initially a plain-looking girl who was given a makeover and became glamorous overnight, at Stan Lee’s request). Heck gave the strip a slick quality and populated the stories with a bevy of beautiful women. Stark was the epitome of the rich playboy image, and Heck provided him with a sophisticated look.

Heck appeared to be enjoying himself on the strip, and it showed on the printed page.

Particular favorites include: “The Mad Pharaoh” (misspelled “Pharoah” in Tales of Suspense #44), where his line showed a distinct Alex Toth influence; a well-rendered two-parter featuring The Mandarin (TOS #54-55) that opens with one of Heck’s finest interpretations of Iron Man hovering above the city streets (topped off with a 5-page “All about Iron Man” feature, one of those little treats that made the early Marvels so charming—Heck’s pencils are especially attractive); and the introduction of The Unicorn (TOS # 56), wherein Heck placed special emphasis on the villain’s features and unusual headgear. All the early Heckpenciled and -inked “Iron Man” stories are exciting: while Lee may have asked for Kirby’s dynamics, Heck successfully merged

it with his own indelible style, turning out some of his very best work in the genre.

When Stan needed more production from Heck (as he did with his other pencilers), Don would only sporadically ink his own work. It was a noticeable difference, as, with few exceptions (such as Frank Giacoia, who inked many of Heck’s Avengers stories as “Frankie Ray”), Heck looked best inked by Heck. While Heck did not have the overwhelming power of a Jack Kirby (few did!), he had an appealing, expressive style, as epitomized by his work on Avengers. His stories consisted of a small cast of characters including Captain America, Hawkeye, Goliath, The Wasp, and occasional appearances by Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, Heck noted in interviews that he found the strip more entertaining with only a handful of characters to focus on, and he drew them all well. After issue #37, George Roussos began inking the strip, and the results were less than inspiring.

As the years wore on, Heck became Marvel’s resident handyman, laying out stories for others (such as Werner Roth) or finishing layouts (over Romita’s Spider-

Don Heck–-–A Class Act

5 Illustrated, where he drew a number of large-size illustrations for a western prose story. One can trace a line directly from that job to Don Heck’s prime work in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Don Heck began penciling comics in 1952 at Comic Media on Weird Terror, Horrific, and Danger.

Focusing on crime and horror, he created simple, striking covers and interesting interior work. Early on, Heck showed he was adept at portraying everyday people, and his ability to illustrate attractive women was noticeable almost from the start.

One memorable early Heck job appeared in

(Left:) We can’t fool you, can we? These are Gene Colan’s pencils from a page in the mid-1970s Tomb of Dracula #41, sent to us by Bob Thoms.

Gene the Dean set the standards for the Count in comics, right from issue #1.

(Right:) But, as Nick Caputo says, this page penciled by Don Heck and inked

by Frank Springer is a “nice page,” with a “nice Drac” and a “great camera ‘eye.’” It’s from Giant-Size Dracula #3 (Dec. 1974), with thanks to Nick’s godson Peter Sanzone. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Man), weakening his own individual qualities. Occasionally, Heck would be given an interesting job: Captain Marvel, Captain Savage, a mystery story in Tower of Shadows or Chamber of Darkness. Also, a few inkers turned out some acceptable results (Tuska, Shores, even the occasional Colletta job). Yet Heck’s work seemed to fall out of favor, for the most part, and he was rarely given any choice assignments.

Don Heck worked for other publishers as well in the 1960s. At Gold Key he penciled The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery; for the short-lived King line he drew Mandrake the Magician. In the 1970s he bounced back and forth from DC—where he produced many attractive “Batgirl” stories in the back of Detective Comics, as well as non-series mystery and romance stories—to Marvel, where he showed off his storytelling skills on Giant-Size Dracula and Giant-Size Defenders. But, in this period, he was relegated mainly to inking others’ pencils, usually with a very scratchy, loose line, devoid of the solid black inking that typified his earlier work. (Heck’s inking over Kirby early on, and, especially, John Buscema in Tower of Shadows #1 and Our Love Story #3 is notable.)

In later years Heck was given the opportunity to ink his own work again, including a run on The Flash and some Justice League of America stories at DC, although one of his best (and perhaps leastknown) jobs was for the black-&-white magazine Adventure Don Heck’s powerful cover for Comic Media’s Danger #7 (Feb. 1954) shows it wasn’t just westerns and love comics at which he excelled. [©2004 the respective copyright owners.]

Marvel’s Unsung Silver Age Artists: A Tryptich

part two

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In Defense Of PAUL REINMAN From The X-Men To The Mighty Crusaders

by Nicholas Caputo

Photos of artist Paul Reinman are rare—but one did appear in a special photo section of the 1969 Fantastic Four Annual, by which time he was listed only as a “Cavortin’ Colorist.” His super-hero art in the “Marvel Age” was limited to inking—most prominently the early Kirby-penciled issues of The X-Men, such as this splash from #2 (Nov. 1963). Later, he became famously/infamously identified with “Mighty Crusaders” stories for the Archie folks, such as the splash at right from Super Heroes Versus Super Villains #1 (1966); comic supplied by Jim Amash. Since the cover credits read “By: Dick – Vic – Bob and Paul,” the “Fly Man” story was probably written by Bob Bernstein, who had scripted a few mid-’60s Marvel stories as “R. Burns.” Thanks to Mike Costa and Peter Duxbury. [X-Men art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Fly Man art ©2004 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Okay, I see you out there with a smirk on your face. It’s not the first time. I have suffered the slings and arrows of outraged fans in the past.

I’ve been derided and threatened with eviction from the Comic Book Community for my brutal honesty. Please refrain from thrusting that rotten tomato in my direction for a moment. After the defense rests, perhaps you’ll take another look at what I sincerely feel is the unjustly maligned work of Paul Reinman.

A little back-history is in order concerning Reinman. He began his career in the 1940s, working primarily for DC and MLJ on features such as “Green Lantern,” “Wildcat,” “Sargon the Sorcerer,” “The Hangman,” Reinman’s heyday at DC came circa 1945-47, when he drew numerous “Green Lantern” stories and covers.

The previouslyunpublished tier at right, now owned by longtime comics colorist Anthony Tollin, was once earmarked for AllAmerican Comics #88 (Aug. 1947); but the “GL” cover and story that issue were

by Irwin Hasen. [©2004 DC Comics.]

and “Roy the Super-Boy.” From what I’ve seen of his work in this period, Reinman had a loose, sketchy style, but he had a powerful sense of design and drew distinctive covers on All-American Comics and Green Lantern.

In the 1950s he worked for editor Stan Lee at Atlas, in genres such as war, western, crime, horror, and romance. He worked at ACG, as well, into the 1960s. His work tightened up, and he produced many moody pages, filled with interesting layouts, innovative angle shots and impressive, detailed backgrounds. Two examples are “Eyes of the Cat” in Mystery Tales #26 (Feb. 1955) and the excellent “Valley Forge” from

In Defense of Paul Reinman Nick Caputo sent this “effective splash page” from Mystery Tales #26 (Feb. 1955). [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

War Comics #26 (July 1954). (Examine that one closely and tell me Reinman was a no-talent!)

In the 1960s he continued to produce fantasy and western stories for Stan Lee. While his style became less defined and sloppy at times, it still had its moments. By the time Marvel moved into the super-hero field, Lee used Reinman primarily as an inker over Kirby and others. By late 1964, though, he would be enticed to return to familiar territory.

Over the years, MLJ had transformed into Archie Comics, named after their best-selling teenage humor strip. They took another stab at superheroes in the late 1950s: The Adventures of The Fly (created by and initially produced by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby—with Paul Reinman hired to draw some of the early stories) and The Adventures of The Jaguar survived.

As Marvel Comics, under the auspices of Lee, Kirby, and Ditko, continued to gain popularity in the 1960s, other publishers took notice and attempted to capitalize on its success. Enlisting veteran Paul Reinman to pencil their titles, starting with a new, super-hero version of The Shadow, these books (which were initially labeled “Archie Adventure Group” on the covers and “Radio Comics” in the indicia) soon re-christened themselves “The Mighty Comics Group,” complete with a cover symbol that echoed Marvel’s. It’s amazing Martin Goodman didn’t sue! In all likelihood, Reinman was requested to copy Jack Kirby’s brand of dynamics. The result was a quirky hodgepodge of comics that bore only a surface resemblance to the Marvel line. Even to my young eyes, I was aware these were not Marvel Comics.

The tiny Mighty Comics line was produced virtually by two men: Jerry Siegel, writer (yes, the cocreator of Superman) and artist Paul Reinman. In the pages of Fly-Man, The Mighty Crusaders, and

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Mighty Comics Presents, some of the most bizarre images and characters appeared. Desperately attempting to copy Stan Lee’s witty dialogue, sense of humor, and flair for drama, Siegel instead turned the books into an indescribable mixture of bad puns, awful villains, “camp” situations, and other travesties far removed from the Marvel style. The books acquired an offbeat charm that could be compared to an Ed Wood movie. To further the analogy, Siegel’s career had similarities to that of Bela Lugosi, a screen personality who had fallen on hard times and worked for Ed Wood because nothing else was available. Reinman, too, had a definite B-movie character-actor flavor: professional, a solid performer, but rarely in the limelight.

His work on the Mighty heroes was—at the very least—entertaining. The Mighty Crusaders was Archie’s answer to The Avengers, and starred all the company’s featured heroes. One issue in particular, with a story entitled “Too Many Super-Heroes,” must have given Reinman nightmares. The story revived practically every Golden Age character Siegel could remember or research. The Shadow, who had first appeared in pulp magazines and as a radio drama in the 1930s, was given the super-hero treatment. A lousy idea, combined with an ugly green-and-blue costume that left much to be desired. Before that, however, Reinman’s cover to the first issue spotlighted the traditional Shadow in cape and hat, proving he could still turn out atmospheric work; the cover logo was impressive, as well.

While playing upon the “heroes with problems” theme for which Marvel was known, the Mighty heroes’ anxieties were given a more tongue-in-cheek twist. The Shield was one of the earliest patriotic characters in comics; the new version was the son of the original. In his civilian identity, though, he was less than competent in retaining steady employment. Each issue Bill Higgins would attempt to get a job as a barber, dishwasher, etc, and inevitably lose said job when a call to costumed duty arose.

It was an innovative idea that added genuine humor to the strip (unlike many of the painfully forced jokes), and Reinman’s art captured the antics admirably. The Web’s troubles revolved around a desire to revive his super-hero career while juggling his responsibilities as a husband. His wife Rosie was aware of his costumed identity, but she was more interested in his taking out the garbage than in stopping crime. The Black Hood and Steel Sterling were two other Golden Age characters brought back for another try: Steel Sterling was downright dull, but The Black Hood had some potential, although his identity as a cop was somewhat superfluous.

Nick dares anyone to look close at the Reinmandrawn “Valley Forge” from War Comics #26 (July 1954) and still say Paul was a “no-talent”—and we strongly concur! Wish we could print more than the first page of this 6-page minor classic, which storywise partly echoes an earlier Harvey Kurtzman EC war tale but has its own strengths in both story and art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel’s Unsung Silver Age Artists: A Tryptich

WERNER ROTH: When “X” Marked The Spot!

part three

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A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres

by Nicholas Caputo A mystery wrapped inside an enigma: information on 1950s-60s Marvel artist Werner Roth is minimal. Scouring through yellowing pages of old fanzines; searching feverishly through my collection of comics history books; calling and e-mailing contemporary Atlas/Marvel artists and other fans/historians—I’ve discovered the jarring fact that Werner Roth is an artist who, if recalled at all, is remembered solely for his work on the original X-Men. The company history book Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics by Les Daniels has only one mention of Roth, a brief bit of copy next to two of his unpublished X-Men covers. Categorized by peers such as Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, and John Romita as a solid artist, with a style more subdued than the explosive work of his contemporaries— especially in the area of super-heroes—Roth’s best work was in fields other than the long-underwear hero.

His earlier work reveals his true strengths in a variety of genres.

Werner Roth is an artist who has gone under the radar for a number of reasons, due not to lack of talent, but mainly to his inability to become a big name in the world of Silver Age super-heroes. Foraging through his years in comics reveals what a truly talented artist he was.

According to information from Robin Snyder, Roth was born on Jan 21, 1921; this coincides with information culled from the Ancestry.com website. His career in comics began in 1950, working for Timely under editor Stan Lee on a variety of assignments including crime, horror,

We’re sorry that Werner Roth’s son Gavin, who shares his thoughts with us in a sidebar later in this article, wasn’t able to supply us with a photo of the artist.

But you may recognize this splash by “Jay Gavin” for The X-Men #18 (March 1966)—Werner’s first outing as the mag’s full penciler after working over Jack Kirby breakdowns for several classic issues.

Above is a true rarity—a pencil sketch drawn by Werner, in this case of The Beast. Thanks to Aaron Sultan, who showed Roy T. this little gem at the 2004 Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. [X-Men splash ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; sketch ©2004 Estate of Werner Roth; Beast TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

romance, war, western, science-fiction, and jungle comics.

An early example of his work appears in Man Comics #5 (Dec. 1950), one of Timely’s 52-page titles featuring longer crime/thriller stories. Roth drew the 13-page story “The Human Sacrifice,” a tale of two brothers, one good, the other not so good. His splash page is a montage of different scenes, and it is by far the best page in the story.

Roth packs a lot into each panel and already shows signs of his later strengths: good characterization, layout, and body language. His only drawback is an overabundance of long shots: dramatic close-ups are few and far between. Nevertheless, it’s a solid early effort, one that would prepare the reader for the type of stories Roth would master best: downto-Earth stories featuring ordinary people.

Roth’s first character book, discovered by historian Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr, was the fantasy series Venus. The earliest story that appears to have Roth art (possibly inked by other hands) appears in Venus #9 (May 1950), as detailed in Alter Ego #29. Roth’s work is clearly evident in Venus #10-12, as well (Nov. 1950-Feb. 1951); faces and figures all point to Roth, who probably inked issue #11 and perhaps

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A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres (Top &!Bottom Left:) If these un-used X-Men covers look familiar, it’s because Les Daniels included them in his excellent 1991 Marvel history. The former was intended for #25 (Oct. 1966), the latter for #33 (May 1967). Both those issues were ones on which Werner, by that time working under his own name, collaborated with A/E’s editor. Inker uncertain, though Dick Ayers embellished the interiors. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Splash of the Roth-drawn story from Man Comics #5 (Dec. 1950), which is discussed by Nick Caputo on the previous page. Thanks to Doc Vassallo for the scan. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot!

19 panel and producing interesting scenes. While nothing jumps out at the reader, it is an overall attractive job, and the good Martian turns out to be a pleasant fellow as Roth draws him.

Surprisingly, this feature was never reprinted— not even during the 1970s, when a great many forgotten strips saw the light of day.

Roth became skilled early on at drawing pretty women, a talent that would contribute greatly to his success in the romance genre. More importantly, he had the ability to portray women with a natural beauty, avoiding the overly glamorous look with which others imbued them. “I’ll Wait Forever” (Girl Confessions #20, Nov.

Dr. Michael J. Vassallo supplied these two splashes from Venus #10—one primarily a romance story, the other science-fiction. He identifies Roth as the penciler of both, but feels that, back in A/E #29’s coverage of that most schizophrenic of comic books, only two pieces of art we showed (on pp. 7 & 9, if you wanna check) were actually Roth’s—and even on the “Son of Satan” splash on p. 7 he feels the heroine’s face was inked by Chris Rule. It’s tough, even for experts like Doc V. and Jim Vadeboncoeur, to identify artists’ styles under Timely/Atlas’ system of the 1940s50s, when the same page was often worked on by several Bullpenners—not just inking but even penciling! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

issue #12. These stories are suited to Roth, who displays an ability to draw attractive women. The title character, Venus, goddess of love, donned a mortal guise and became involved in fantastic situations, such as issue #11’s “The End of The World!” Not the most aggressive of super-heroines, she usually sought assistance from the gods of Mount Olympus. Venus #12 featured an appearance by Thor and Loki in an uneasy alliance to help her out (nobody can refuse this gal!)! These stories pre-date the artist most associated with the character, the incredible Bill Everett, who would immediately follow Roth and embroil her in more horror-oriented fare, adding his own distinctive signature to the strip.

Another early feature on which Roth cut his teeth was “Jet Dixon,” a strip that appeared in the short-lived Space Squadron. While George Tuska drew the first issue, Roth worked on at least two and possibly three issues (according to Timely/Atlas historian Michael J. Vassallo, the second issue is possibly a very “primitive” Roth). Roth’s style is more definitely in evidence in issues #3-4. The character of Captain Jet Dixon is a typical ray-gun-toting space hero of the period, and Roth draws him in a suitable heroic mode. In “The Menace of the Martians” (Space Squadron #4, Dec. ’51), Roth does a good job with the material, showing his continuing growth, moving the reader’s eye from panel to Roth did pencil this lead story for Space Squadron #4 (Dec. 1951), Doc Vassallo confirms— and it shows that, a decade and a half before he drew The X-Men, the artist could handle drama and action. For more about Space Squadron, see A/E #32’s interview with another of the series’ artists, Allen Bellman. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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“Each One Was Unique, Creating Fine Comic Art!” ALEX TOTH On A Handful Of Quality Comics Greats

[Art ©2004 Alex Toth.]

[NOTE: Since we’re (belatedly) getting around to printing comments on Alter Ego #34’s coverage of several key personnel of Everett “Busy” Arnold’s Quality Comics, this seemed like the time and place to print an early-2004 communication from Golden/Silver/Bronze Age artist Alex Toth—who, we’re told, once drew a “Blackhawk” story himself (for DC)! Here’s Alex on a few talents not mentioned (or at least not prominently) in that issue’s interviews with Dick Arnold, Alex Kotzky, Chuck Cuidera, and Al Grenet. —Roy.]

In early issues of Quality’s top title, Military Comics, which cover-featured Blackhawk, Al McWilliams drew the ongoing feature “Secret War News,” which told of alleged combat the public didn’t know about yet. Each story opened with a simulated newspaper front page, complete with headline and a single “photo.”

(Left center:) In Military #2 (Sept. 1941), the first of the series, behind the headline/title “BRITISH MYSTERY SQUAD LANDS ON INVASION COAST IN SECRET MISSION,” England turned back a (fictitious but then-feared) Nazi invasion of the British Isles on June 20, 1940, in this penultimate page of war-action panels.

(Left:) This McWilliams-drawn splash from Military #13 (Nov. 1942), non-PC language and all, celebrated the crucial (and very real) U.S. naval victory in the Battle of Midway in June of that year. Thanks to Bob Bailey for both these images. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

This comparison of the Golden and Silver Age Daredevils was drawn for FantaCo’s Daredevil Chronicles in 1982, shortly after Frank Miller reinvented the title. The facts in my cartoon are correct, with one notable exception. I inadvertently pulled the “six million” sales number from another Lev Gleason title, Crime Does Not Pay. A 1948 issue had “More than 6,000,000 readers monthly!” splashed on the cover (and that number was surely exaggerated!)

I don’t know the exact circulation of Biro’s Daredevil, but at its height the title probably sold over a million copies an issue. And even a blind man can see that’s pretty impressive! [Art ©2004 Michael T. Gilbert; Marvel Daredevil TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Golden Age Daredevil TM & ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Title Comic Fandom Archive

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Tales Calculated To Drive You….

ODD!

An Interview Of Sorts With STEVE & DAVE HERRING Editors Of Odd, Fandom’s Foremost Humor Publication In The 1960s

by Bill Schelly Introduction Amid the growing numbers of comics fanzines devoted to articles, artwork, amateur strips, and advertisements in the 1960s, one fanzine was quite different: Odd magazine, a humor publication that lasted twelve issues, published between 1961 and 1965, and edited by Steve and Dave Herring, two New York natives who were transplanted to Massachusetts by the time they set about their publishing endeavors.

Inspired by Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad, Odd’s main features were comic strip parodies of popular super-heroes and related subjects, as well as single-page gags and other features. Most issues were printed via a machine called a “spirit duplicator” (which generally reproduced pages in purple), though the later numbers sported photo-offset covers. Then came their masterpiece, the fullyoffset Odd #12, which proved to be their swan song in zine-pubbing.

Although I first got in touch with the Bros. Herring several years ago, and reprinted the “Lost in Space” parody from Odd #12 in Fandom’s Finest Comics Vol. 1 (which is still available from Hamster Press), it was only recently that it occurred to me how little I really knew about them. To remedy that situation, I made up a list of questions, which Steve and Dave (who still live in fairly close proximity) got together to answer—and here’s the result! Their tape was made on April 3rd, 2004, and was transcribed by the equally odd Brian K. Morris.

DAVID HERRING: One, two, three. I guess we’re recording. I think we’re recording now.

Actually, I can’t tell with these headphones, but I hope it’s recording. Okay, let’s just go.

(Above:) Steve & Dave Herring in the latter 1950s, reading Harvey Kurtzman’s Humbug—and (below) the brothers today—plus Dave’s cover for their fanzine Odd #8, which parodied more super-heroes than you could shake a veeblefetzer at! That’s Steve on the left and Dave on the right, in both photos. All photos and Herring artifacts printed with this piece were provided by the lads themselves. [©2004 Steve & Dave Herring.]

STEVE HERRING: Okay. Hi, Bill. Steve Herring speaking now. You’ll probably be able to tell our voices apart fairly easily. It’s Saturday, April 3rd, and we’re at Dave’s home in Ashland, Massachusetts.

DAVE: Hi Bill.

STEVE: We’ll just get right into your questions. The first: “Can you tell us a little about your family, what your dad and your mom did for a living, where you lived, kind of neighborhoods, etc., when each of you were born—do you have any other siblings?” I’ll answer first. We grew up in a nice working-class neighborhood of Queens, New York, called Howard Beach, which now has its own website. I was born in Queens, but Dave was born in Brooklyn. After that, our folks gave up all hope of having normal kids, so we are it. Dad worked for the New York Telephone Company at their substation near Coney Island in Brooklyn. He was a native Brooklynite, complete with the accent. Mom was mainly a housewife, but worked part-time here and there over the years to supplement the income. She was a college graduate from Connecticut, and attempted to bring some refinement to the Herring household. She failed dismally.

Anything to add, Dave?

36

An Interview with Steve & Dave Herring DAVE: We lived in Howard Beach until I graduated from high school, and that’s where Odd got its birth. During my senior year, we published the first couple of issues of Odd. Right after that, we moved to Natick, Massachusetts, and that’s where we continued publishing Odd for a few more years.

STEVE: Ashland, where we are right now, is right next to Natick. I’m currently living in Framingham, which is also next to Natick and just north of Ashland. So we’re not too far from where it all happened. Next question: “What are the earliest comics you remember reading before Mad?” Well, our mother gave us subscriptions to a couple of comics, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories and Little Lulu. I’m not sure if this was actually before Mad or done more as an antidote to Mad when we were getting into that.

DAVE: Yeah, I do remember getting Little Lulu. I think Mother used to read it to us at one time, and the Disney comics, too. Also, I’m pretty sure we bought Superman and some of the other comic books of the time. But we really didn’t get excited or passionate about comics until we discovered Mad. STEVE: The next question: “Obviously, your discovery of Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad comic book was a key formative influence. How did you discover Mad?” Well, my own memory is very vague on the actual discovery. I know we didn’t find it immediately upon the publication of the first issue, but I do remember buying them fresh off the presses at candy stores, whatever candy store was brave enough to carry them.

There was no finer feeling than visiting the local candy store and discovering a fresh new issue there on the rack, waiting for us.

DAVE: That’s right. We got into Mad when it was still being published as a comic book in the early ’50s. I think we saw a copy bought by someone else, and that’s how we found out about it. At the time, adults were very suspicious of it, and there was the feeling that this must be just trash, this awful trash that’s no good for anybody. My parents were a little concerned about it until they read one of them and saw that it was funny and it was just humor, so they allowed us to continue buying and reading them.

STEVE: Of course, Mad was published at the same time and by the same company—EC comics—who published Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and so on. Those did cause quite a stir, and I think Mad was tarred with that same brush. Next question: “What was it about Mad that especially appealed to you?” Well, of course, it was “humor in a jugular vein,” or at least that’s what it told us it was. For my

PLUS:

1

1994--2004

5.95

$$

In the the USA USA In

No. 42

November 2004

Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder; characters TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.

Vol. 3, No.42/November 2004 Editor

™

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

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

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists Ernie Schroeder Steve Fastner & Rich Larson

And Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Michael Ambrose Ger Apeldoorn Bob Bailey Mike W. Barr Michael Baulderstone Mark Beazley Jack Bender John Benson Jon Berk Mike Burkey Nick Caputo R. Dewey Cassell Bob Cherry Steve Cohen Mike Costa Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt Terry Doyle Michael Dunne Peter Duxbury Steve Fastner Shane Foley Janet Gilbert Bob Greenberger George Hagenauer Jennifer Hamerlinck Keith Hammond Mark & Stephanie Heike Dave Herring Steve Herring

Richard Howell Shirleen King Rich Larson Marv Levy Wally & Rosemary Littman Sam Maronie Richard Martines Brian K. Morris Frank Motler Tom Palmer Jens Robinson Jerry Robinson Herb Rogoff Gavin Roth Peter Sanzone Ernie & Constance Schroeder Cory Seidlmeier David Siegel Gerry Sorek Aaron Sultan Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Bob Thoms Anthony Tollin Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware Tom Wimbish Mike Zeno

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Jackson Beck & John Cullen Murphy

A WHOLE HEAP OF HILLMAN & ZIFF-DAVIS! Section

Contents

Writer/Editorial: From Air Fighters to Space Busters! . . . . . . . . . 2 Glory Days at Hillman and Ziff-Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Golden Age editor Herb Rogoff talks to Jim Amash about two fabled comics companies.

The Good “Heap” Artist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 An in-depth interview with Ernie Schroeder, the ultimate illustrator of Airboy Comics.

“We’d Sit Around and Come Up with Situations!” . . . . . . . . . 39 A talk with Hillman artist/cartoonist Wally Littman.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 P.C. Hamerlinck spotlights Marc Swayze & Frank Motler’s “Fawcett/Charlton Connection” finale.

Silver-Agers Assemble!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: When, through the good offices of Herb Rogoff, A/E associate editor Jim Amash first contacted Golden Age great Ernie Schroeder about an interview, he inquired if the artist might just happen to have any left-over original art lying around the house Alter Ego could use as a cover. He didn’t—so, to Jim’s shock, Ernie sat down and painted a new scene of Airboy and The Heap, two great heroes he illustrated during their latter days. Only, Ernie wasn’t that wild about the end result—so he destroyed the painting! Fortunately, by then he had mailed a good copy of it to Jim, who did some fast (and apparently skillful) talking to convince him to let us print it. It’s amazingly good, sez we—especially considering at that time Ernie hadn’t drawn (or even thought much about) Airboy and The Heap for nearly half a century! [Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder; Airboy & Heap TM & © the respective copyright holders.]

Above: A powerful and well-rendered panel from the “Heap” story in Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #6 (July 1952), as drawn (and probably written) by the aforementioned Ernie Schroeder.

Repro’d from a 1950s English boys’ annual, with thanks to Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344.

Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, 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 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 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

Glory Days At Hillman And Ziff-Davis Golden Age Editor HERB ROGOFF Plays Compare-and-Contrast With Two Vintage Companies Conducted by Jim Amash Transcribed by Jim Amash & Tom Wimbish [INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Herb Rogoff is a man I’d always wanted to talk to. As an assistant editor for Hillman Publications and editor for Ziff-Davis, I figured he could enrich our knowledge of comics history.

Herb didn’t let me down, relating the inner workings of the companies he worked for and discussing the men who freelanced for him. From the beginning until now, Herb’s career is a fascinating example of the twists and turns one’s life can take. I enjoyed telephonically traveling down that road with him, and now you’ll get to appreciate Herb’s insightful observations, too. Writer, artist, editor, publisher, salesman, teacher, raconteur... and... well, see for yourself... —Jim.]

Herb Rogoff—juxtaposed with Dan Zolnerowich’s dramatic cover for Airboy Comics, Vol. 7, #7 (August 1950), one of the many comics Rogoff edited during his career in the field. Photo courtesy of H.R.; thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for the loan of the comic. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

been an assistant to [famed illustrator] Dean Cornwell. James Bama [later paperback cover artist, including the classic Doc Savage of the 1960s] was also in our class. Frank Reilly would walk around the room and look at what we did. When the model took breaks, I’d start drawing sports cartoons in the margins of my paper, and Reilly would correct them.

“Drawing Was All I Wanted To Do”

“I Started Working For MLJ While Still In High School”

JIM AMASH: I’d like to get some background information on you, so let’s start at the beginning.

Professionally, I started working for MLJ while still in high school, as a summer apprentice. Harry Shorten was the editor. I went up there one day, showed my samples, and got a job as a letterer. I was left-handed, which made it hard to letter. One of the owners, Louis Silberkleit, saw me lettering, and said, “You can’t be a left-handed letterer. You have to do it right-handed or you’ll smear everything you letter.” He told Harry, who came and talked to me about it, so I taught myself to letter with my right hand.

HERB ROGOFF: I was born in Brooklyn, New York, May 12, 1927. I started drawing when I was very young. Drawing was all I wanted to do. I copied the artists from the newspaper strips. My older brother Leonard was an extremely gifted artist. We discovered that he had a rheumatic heart when he was ten years old. He went into high school at age ten and graduated at age 14. He died at age 18; I was 11 at the time.

He was absolutely fantastic and a very bright guy. If we’d had sulfa drugs back then, he’d have had a much longer life. He was one of my biggest influences.

I went to the High School of Music and Art in New York City, graduating in 1944. Norman Maurer and Joe Kubert also went to the school, simultaneously drawing comics for various companies. I didn’t know them while in school, though I did get to meet Joe years later when he worked at Ziff-Davis. Everett Raymond Kinstler also went to school there. After school, I went to the Art Students League until 1945, when I was drafted into the Marine Corps.

My anatomy instructor at the Art Students League, Frank Reilly, had

JA: How in the world did you learn to do that?

ROGOFF: Well, my father had changed me from a left-hander to a right-hander in my writing, but never in my drawing. It was easy for me to change over. In fact, I still letter with my right hand.

This was 1943, so I was 16 at the time. I was hired as a letterer, but I kept making some mistakes, so I started doing minor jobs, like filling up ink bottles. What a demotion! [laughter] They had staff artists like Carl Hubbell, which, as you know, was also the name of a famous baseball pitcher. Hubbell drew a feature called “Sergeant Boyle.” Carl was tall and gangly; he seemed liked a farmboy. I don’t know where he was from and never saw him again after that summer.

4

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

(Left:) Besides “Sgt. Boyle,” Carl Hubbel also drew the humorous “Marco Loco,” as per this splash from MLJ’s Pep Comics #46 (Feb. 1944). Thanks to Michael J. Gilbert. (Center:) In this 1992 photo, Irv Novick contemplates a copy of Pep Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), in which he drew “The Shield,” the first-ever redwhite-and-blue comic book super-hero. Novick’s early “Shield” stories have recently been reprinted in a trade paperback. Photo courtesy of David Siegel.

(Right:) Bob Montana, Archie’s creator or co-creator, drew this character page for Archie Comics #1 (Winter 1942). [Art ©2004 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Irv Novick was also there, which is funny, considering that we sort-of switched roles years later. Irv worked for me at Ziff-Davis, and I started out being an office assistant for him and Carl.

I ought to belt you in the ass,” but he kept me on. I was afraid of him.

Later on, when I was an editor, I used to see him at certain functions. He always remembered those days when I worked for him.

Among other things, I inked panel borders for them, using a metal TSquare and ruling pen. One time, my ink got under the T-Square and smeared the entire page. I was in a panic! I had ruined Carl’s page. I took white paint and foolishly started painting out the black ink. Carl Hubbell came over and said, “What are you doing, kid? Jesus, let me paste in a new panel.” He redrew the panel and pasted it in. That’s one way of learning from your mistakes.

JA: Tell me about the MLJ offices.

I also met Bob Montana, who worked in New Hampshire and mailed his work in. Montana’s “Archie” stories were the funniest I ever read.

They were funny, funny comics. In fact, the biggest mistake I ever made was not taking the job as his assistant. When I got out of the service, I went back to Harry Shorten, who said, “Do you want a good job? Bob Montana needs an assistant up in New Hampshire.” I didn’t go up there.

My wife at the time didn’t want to move up there. I’ve since divorced her. [Jim laughs] No... not for that! [mutual laughter] JA: You knew what I was going to say, didn’t you? Now, what else do you remember about Irv Novick?

ROGOFF: He was drawing “The Shield,” and I admired his artwork.

During my lunch hour, I would work on a comic strip called “The Louse,” about a character on roller skates. It was a Superman parody.

Novick would come over to my table, correct my drawings, and teach me composition. He was a very helpful guy.

JA: Did Harry Shorten have an assistant editor?

ROGOFF: I don’t recall. The one thing about Harry Shorten was that he was a tough, pugnacious guy... oh boy, was he combative! Foulmouthed, but a very nice guy. He had been a boxer and had a bashed-in nose. I liked Harry quite a bit, though I don’t think a lot of others did.

People either liked him or they didn’t.

Once, he yelled at me and said, “You told me that you were a letterer.

ROGOFF: They were located in the Canal Street area. Every morning, I’d get out of the subway and the smell of coffee from a nearby roasting plant would hit me. What a glorious aroma that was! There was a telephone company building nearby, too.

Right before I worked for MLJ, when I was 15, I did drawings for the Brooklyn Dodgers. They had a house organ called Line Drives from the Dodgers. I worked with their traveling secretary, Harold Parrot. I hated the Dodgers, because I was a Yankee fan in Brooklyn, of all things.

The Dodgers gave me $5 a drawing and all the free passes I wanted.

There were two ways to get tickets. If I went to Gate 19, I had to pay tax on the passes, but not if I went to the Press Box. By the way, I just read a book that Harold Parrot wrote—he’s dead now, but his kids reissued it—and I learned that Gate 19 was set up by Dodgers’ president and general manager Larry MacPhail to charge tax for those free tickets, but MacPhail never turned the tax money in. That’s why they always insisted that I go to Gate 19, but I always managed to get to the Press Box instead.

One thing I found very interesting. A few years later, someone was printing napkins with the Dodgers players’ faces on them. I remember showing Jackie Robinson my drawing of him. He looked at it and said, “Please thin out my lips and nose.” I had drawn him realistically—I certainly didn’t exaggerate his features—but Robinson wanted to be less ethnic-looking.

In July 1945, I was drafted into the Marines and stayed about 16 months. I went in two months after the war in Europe ended. At Parris Island, they asked me what I did in civilian life and I told them I was a cartoonist. The Classifications Officer looked at me and said, “You can’t kill a Jap with a pen,” and stamped my orders “FMF.” I asked what that meant and he said, “Fleet Marine Force.” That meant the infantry, the

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

5

bered that Hillman Publications was located there. I went in and showed the three pages I had to editor Ed Cronin. Ed said, “I like the way you write. I’ll give you $35 apiece.” Then he asked me if I wanted a job. I said I did, and he said he’d get in touch with me. This was in 1949.

JA: Before we get into Hillman, I’d like to ask you a little more about Magazine Management. Did you work with anyone else besides Artie Goodman?

ROGOFF: Yes. Mel Blum worked in the pulp department, but I really dealt with Artie, who was a nice guy: a big fellow with a nice face and blonde hair. I also did some lettering for Stan Lee in the comic book department while I was waiting for Ed to get back in touch with me.

That only lasted three weeks, because I got a letter from Ed, asking me to come to work for him. I started out at either $35 or $45 a week as associate editor. Tex Blaisdell was already an associate editor there, but he left a month after I started, to freelance. Tex was about six foot seven; a good guy whom I liked very much.

Herb couldn’t come up with any of the gag cartoons he sold the magazine division of Timely/Marvel back in ’48, but here is one of his favorites among the cartoons he did years later. He says he still doesn’t understand why he was never able to sell it. Neither do we. We love it! [©2004 Herb Rogoff.]

guys who stormed the beaches. Had the Atomic Bomb not forced Japan’s surrender, I may have hit one of those beaches, maybe Japan itself.

JA: That officer had it in for you, didn’t he?

ROGOFF: Yeah, but when I got my orders right after boot camp, I was assigned to the Camp Lejeune Globe. I asked myself, “What kind of ship is that?” [laughter] It turned out to be the camp newspaper. I was a staff artist on that newspaper the entire time I was in the service. I had a chance to go to Washington to work on Leatherneck magazine, and become a sergeant. I should have taken it, but I was a homesick 19-yearold kid. I told them I wanted to go to school, so they said they wouldn’t stand in my way.

When I got out of the service, I went to the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, which was run by Burne Hogarth and Si Rhodes.

“Alex Hillman Was A Fat, Cigar-Smoking Tightwad” JA: How did you get back into comic books?

ROGOFF: Before I went into the service, I worked for a newspaper called Sports Week. I went there as a cartoonist, but worked as a copyboy. When I came out of the service, I got a job there as a sports cartoonist, but the newspaper folded in the fall of 1948. I quit a few months before that happened, because I was getting married. I got married and didn’t have a job.

Alex Hillman was a fat, cigar-smoking tightwad. He was around sixty years old; Ed was around 50. Comics were only one part of Hillman’s publishing company. They had Pageant magazine, which was losing $10,000 a month, but it was their prestige magazine. They were taking money from the profitable comic book division to keep Pageant afloat.

And the people who worked on Pageant were snobs—they looked down their noses at us, like we were the poor relations! And we were supporting them! [laughter] It always seems like I’m in the basement part of an operation, but it’s been the basement parts that have been the most successful for me.

The comics department was in the back of a big office. Ed, Tex, and I were all in one room. It was a fairly decent-sized room, with desks and cabinets to hold the artwork. There was a drawing board there, where Ed lettered the covers. He was a good letterer. We did all the production work: art and lettering corrections, paste-ups, etc. We had two letterers: Ben Oda, who was the best there ever was, and a Chinese woman named Dusty Mohler. She wasn’t around there long. There was another guy named Jim Wroten, who did Leroy lettering. I didn’t see the advantage of that boring, sterile, sexless lettering. Jim said that you could give a story to four people, and with Leroy lettering it’d come out looking like it was done by one person. But we had to put in our own balloons and rule panel borders. Ben Oda could do all of that, plus clean up the pages in half the time it took the Leroy letterers to do what they did.

“[Ben Oda] Was Knocking Pages Off In Wholesale Lots Each And Every Night” JA: Tell me about Ben Oda. Did you know him very well?

ROGOFF: The first week that I worked at Hillman, I saw this little guy come in every day with a big leather portfolio, and everybody mumbled greetings to him.

He unzippered his bag, emptied the contents, replaced them with a new batch of pages, and quietly left.

After a few days of this same activity, I asked Tex, “Who does he work for?” Tex said he worked for himself. “Doing what?” I asked. “He does practically all of our lettering,” Tex replied. “He’s Ben Oda.”

I went to work for Martin Goodman’s company, Magazine Management, that published comics and magazines. The division that produced the pulp magazines was run by Martin’s brother Artie. Artie paid me $15 a page for cartoon fillers for his sports pulps. I called him one day to tell him I was coming When I had left Stan Lee to join Hillman, he had over with some pages, and he said, “We’re cutting back, asked me if I was interested in doing freelance lettering so I don’t really need them, but I’ll take them for two bucks for him. I think I did one story and it took me a a page.” I told him I couldn’t give them up for so long time to do. It was very heavy in copy and at $2 Letterer extraordinaire Ben Oda, in a little money. a page it wasn’t worth it to stay up most of the I was passing by 520 Fifth Avenue and remem-

scene taken at the Joe Simon & Jack Kirby shop circa 1949. That’s the King’s hand on Oda’s shoulder.

night, getting little sleep before going to work the next morning. Ben was earning $2.50 a page and was

28

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist” An In-Depth Interview (At Last!) With

ERNIE SCHROEDER –––The Ultimate Illustrator (and Writer!)

Of “Airboy,” Et Al. Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash A photo of Ernie Schroeder taken December 2003—and a drawing of Airboy and The Heap that he did around the same time as a surprise gift for interviewer Jim Amash. It’s as if Airboy Comics wasn’t ever canceled half a century ago! Photo courtesy of Ernie & Constance Schroeder. [Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder; Airboy & The Heap TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

[INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Ernie Schroeder was simply known as “The Good Artist,” because he never signed his name to his comic book work. One day, Hames Ware happened upon a pulp magazine filled with drawings by “The Good Artist,” and saw the credit “Illustrations by Ernest Schroeder.” At last, comic book historians were able to put a name to the mystery artist! However, very little information about Ernie surfaced, until now. Thanks to Herb Rogoff, it’s my personal pleasure to peel back the Wizard’s curtain and show off one of most unsung artists in comic book history: Ernie Schroeder, the great “Airboy” and “Heap” artist who delighted a generation of fans. A humble, fun, and delightful man, Ernie isn’t as convinced as we are that he was—and still is— terrific, but he’s going to have to get used to it! Sit back and enjoy the praise Ernie: you deserve it! —Jim.]

“I Always Always Able To Draw Pretty Well” JIM AMASH: Tell me where and when you were born—and about your family history.

ERNIE SCHROEDER: January 9, 1916, Brooklyn, New York. My father was a graduate of West Point who fought in the Spanish-American War. He went to the Philippine Islands and stayed there for twenty years. On one of his trips to the states, he met my mother at an amusement park that her father owned and ran. She was one of nine children and each one worked in the park. My father married her and wisked her away to the Phillipine Islands and they were out there for eight years. She worked in a hospital out there and became a damn good nurse.

They came back to the States because I was on the way and so was World War I. When they got back, my father was decorated with all kinds of medals, and he went a little crazy and everyone went crazy over him. First of all, he worked with D.W. Griffith on The Birth of a Nation... on a white horse as a Confederate soldier. He might have played General Sheridan... I’m not sure. The whole thing turned his head and he started a company called Noxon, that made silver polish. He did this with an old German chemist on the east side of New York. The company was a howling success and he got a contract from the Ford Motor Company to sell trucks in Brooklyn. The ladies were all over him and he just sort-of slipped away from my mother.

He went off and she was sort-of stuck with my little presence. She gave me to my grandmother and I lived with her for a while. In the

meantime, my mother took a nursing job with a friend of hers who wanted to go on a weekend date. My mother met old man Ricks, who was the president of Union Carbide and we moved into his estate. In one week, I had gone from the Brooklyn cockroach slums—which gave me asthma as a frail little kid—to having servants wait on me. Talk about rags to riches!

There were three other boys living in the house who were older than me. Naturally, they gave me “the works.” Once, I was on top of the garage roof... we had Cadillacs and Lincolns there... and everybody was jumping off the roof. I was scared. My mother came out—and I get all choked up thinking about her—and said, “If you don’t jump off of that roof, I’m going to give you the beating of your life.” [laughter] So I jumped off, and from then on, I kept jumping until I was strong enough to do chin-ups with one arm. I copied Teddy Roosevelt, who was anemic. “He’s so frail.” But I got stronger by playing in the woods; there were a hundred and ten acres on the estate.

I read all the time and started drawing at an early age. I was interested in nature and drew pictures of all the butterflies and bugs on the estate.

And we’d go into New York, driven by a chauffeur, to the Bronx Zoo, and see the guy in charge of the reptiles. Because we had money, we were given special treatment. They really liked us. We’d go to Tiffany’s and got to hold the Hope Diamond in our hands. I went from being a

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist” Brooklyn tenement kid to King of the World! [laughter] Sam Wanamaker’s was a big department store in New York. They ran art contests in the public school system, and I won, handily, a couple of years in a row. I also won second and third place the other times. It was an incentive to keep drawing, and my mother’s Uncle Phil used to paint frescoes in the movie theatres, so I had plenty of encouragement. Along with a few other guys, he painted the elevated trains in Brooklyn, too.

I was always able to draw pretty well. One time, a traveling salesman came to the estate and all of us boys met with him. He had a blackboard with a roller on it that he wanted to sell. We were asked to draw railroad tracks, and the other boys drew them like ladders. I drew mine in perspective with the telegraph poles, and the salesman told my mother, “This boy is artistic and has a good eye. You should buy this blackboard.” My mother didn’t buy it and I didn’t want it anyway. She said to me, “I guess you’re going to be ruined by that art crap, like everyone else in the family.” [laughs] She was cynical about art, which I guess I am a little now. I don’t paint anymore.

Carl Sandburg came to the estate one time. Old man Ricks invited Sandburg... well, millionaires don’t invite—they command, and writers and artists have to kiss their fannies. Anyway, Carl Sandburg played the guitar and sang a song that went like this: “Away from the US, the home of the free. The home of the bedbug and the cockroach and flea. I’ll sing you its praises and talk of its fame, while starving to death on my government claim.”

It was true. People went out West and didn’t have anything. They made houses out of sod. Sandburg told this story about a father who found a plank of wood and put it over his fireplace. The guy’s wife brought out a peacock feather and laid it on that board. Their neighbors would come out every Sunday to see that peacock feather. Can you imagine how dull that was? The people who built this country worked so hard under difficult conditions, finding joy and entertainment any way they could, and now they’re all for cars and guns. I just don’t know what’s going to happen to all of us.

“I Studied Anatomy Under Bridgman” JA: Our culture seems to be changing from day to day, so who knows what will happen next? By the way, I understand you studied art with George Bridgman and George Grosz.

SCHROEDER: I started playing hooky from school in my sophomore year of high year, and my mother used to fight the truant officer while I went to the Art Students League. I studied anatomy under Bridgman, and met George Grosz and other German refugees, who were running from Hitler.

Bridgman looked like Santa Claus, without the beard. He always wanted to be a muralist, but he stunk at it. He had two models, one of which was a Norwegian carpenter. He was so emaciated from working so hard, that when he posed under the spotlight, he looked like a skeleton. The other model was a woman, Rosie, who was Rubenesque.

If you were a good student, Bridgman would invite you out to lunch with him and the carpenter. I was invited on two separate occasions, which was quite an honor. Now, Bridgman and I were rebuilding garages at the time, so all we talked about was carpentry. I went to the school for a couple of months or so.

Grosz had fought in the trenches for the Germans in World War One, so he was a tough guy. He commuted into New York and read The Wall Street Journal upside down. He was always spoiling for a fight with a commuter; he was a bad-ass. I told him to go up to Cape Cod because the sand dunes look like naked women and the sea grass looks like pubic hair. I told him that he’d make out. He went up there and his

29

stuff got into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I knew he’d make it!

I’ll tell you a very interesting story, both for your edification and my wanting to pass it along. I was working as a textile designer when I first got married and making $21 a week. This was after my stint in the Merchant Marines. We had just had our first child and I had to get a job right away, so I became a textile designer. The boss (his name was Bob) took off on his honeymoon with one of the women who had worked there, so we didn’t get our paycheck that week. I borrowed some money from my mother, and in the meantime I asked one of the salesmen, “What happened to Bob? Is he ever going to come back?” This guy was a Frenchman and he said, “I don’t know.” He didn’t give a damn.

Ernie at age 12, circa 1928.

I said, “Look, we got men and women Watch it, Ernie—that hedge here who need to get paid.” He said, “I’ll behind you might be The tell you something. I use an old barn in the Heap in disguise! woods. I fill it with paint and canvas and brushes and put a bunch of artists in there who like to draw... no food, no water... nothing! I come back in a week, and they’re all dead, but I have some beautiful pictures.” I took this story to heart. I was in a trade where your ego was involved and you’re competitive, but someone’s always going to take you for a ride. So I was always careful about getting paid for my work. Most artists are like actors: if they’re in a prison, they’ll get up and do an act just before they’re electrocuted! [mutual laughter] They’re all weird people! I have this weirdness in me and I try to curb it.

JA: This happened in the late 1930s?

SCHROEDER: Yes, just before World War II. I went into the Merchant Marines in 1936. After two voyages, I quit. I could have been a Fourth Officer, but I wanted to stay ashore. That’s when I got married, and took that job I mentioned.

“We Had Trouble With The Nazis” JA: You told me an amazing story about your time in the Merchant Marines, which I’d like to share with our readers.

SCHROEDER: Okay. In 1936, I was a cadet officer. We had trouble with the Nazis in Germany. This was the time when Jesse Owens beat the hell out of the German runners and Hitler was chewing the carpet in disgust. He was plenty pissed off. Of course, we loved it!

I used to go on shore leave in Hamburg by myself and wander around. I wanted to see the battle site of Jutland, so I took a train trip there. I could speak a little German, so when I got out there, I asked a hotel operator where the Battle of Jutland site was. I was told that I’d need a guide. I went to bed, and in the morning met a very young, tall guy and a little fat fart, both wearing Nazi uniforms. I asked if they wanted breakfast, and the tall guy said, “We Germans drink beer.” In other words, no breakfast, so I said, “Well, have some beer then.” I didn’t care for this guy and the fat one didn’t speak any English at all.

We went out there and saw the site. I had a map of the battle with me and had read up on the battle before going out there. The British had lost an awful lot of tonnage there because their magazine was near their engine, and whenever they got hit, they suffered quite a bit of damage.

The British lost, but the Germans never came out. I made a comment to

30

An In-Depth Interview with Ernie Schroeder

the tall Nazi that the German fleet never came out. That started us off on the wrong foot.

Afterwards, we went to a big crystal restaurant for lunch... it had a dome glass ceiling. There were about two hundred people in there, eating and drinking beer.

Hitler came on the radio and everybody stood up, but me. I was eighteen years old, cocky as hell.

Somebody said something to the tall Nazi who was with me, but I didn’t catch what was said. I sat there in protest.

Later, I asked him what he said to the guy and the Nazi replied, “I told him you were a cripple.” [laughter] He wanted to save me, because they were going to get a free night on the town with me.

The tall Nazi then took me to his mother’s house to tell her that we were going to the Reeperbahn to drink and visit the whores. I didn’t want to go and we had a big “We had trouble with the Nazis!” And with the Japanese, too, during the little skirmish known as World War II. In a “Great argument. I pushed the big guy Unknowns” article in A/E #29, Hames Ware and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., identified this Captain Freedom/Black Cat cover of and he fell back onto the little guy.

Speed Comics #37 (May 1945) as being drawn by Ernie Schroeder—and Jim feels the same about the “Captain Freedom” page I took off running like a deer and at right (with Cap out of uniform at the moment) from Speed Comics #43 (May-June 1946). Ernie himself isn’t certain he ran up a hill, where I saw a nice drew them, so we’ll take another look. Thanks to Jim V. for the scans. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] little house, so I headed there. A little guy came out and I asked him where the railroad station was. He pointed me in the right direction and then saw those two Nazis running towards us. He ran back in the JA: Once you were back home, you went back to doing art, didn’t house, as I ran to the railroad station. you?

The Nazis were after me, but they couldn’t run too fast because they SCHROEDER: Yes. I got an honorable mention for a sculpture in the were drunk. I got to the station and the train was underground, so I had World’s Fair of 1939. They gave out contracts for the top three winners to get my ticket, run down the stairs, past Nazi guards, who were posted and I was number four, so I didn’t get any money—which we could all over the station. I had my ticket and was pacing up and down the have used. I didn’t want to live with my mother, so my wife and I and platform, because I knew those guys were going to show up soon. The the baby lived in a little shack in the woods. We had a lot of fun, and train finally came in. The station master blew a little whistle and the then World War II came along. Even with a baby, I figured I had to Nazi guards blew a whistle, and I got on just as the train was pulling enlist. I had a silver dollar and decided to flip it. If it came up “heads” I out. I got into a compartment, grabbed the leather straps, and lowered would enlist in the Merchant Marines and get killed. I lost two boyhood the window into the door, leaned out, and thumbed my nose at those friends of mine from school, who were killed right outside of Long two bastards [mutual laughter] as the train roared away.

Island. The Germans were waiting for them.

There was an old gentleman and a beautiful granddaughter sitting But the coin landed “tails up,” so I didn’t go to war. I was good with there. I sat down and shared the ride with them. He was anti-Nazi. I got my hands so I went to work in a machine shop, making tools for the back to the ship and never told anybody what happened, because we had PTB... a Grumman bomber. I did that for a while, but I was getting fed had real serious trouble with the Nazis. We had lost three guys to the up with defense work. There were all kinds of abuses there. A whole lot Nazis already. of guys—with kids in the Army—were in the bathroom, smoking and JA: What happened? goofing off. We were working seven days a week, and I was so fed up that I quit and decided to let the military draft me.

SCHROEDER: On my last excursion from the boat, which was a fourday leave, I was sitting having coffee and there was a little Norwegian I had started doing comic books with Bob Powell. I had met him at a kid sitting there crying. I asked the cook what had happened and he said dance and we got together afterwards. He showed me the comic books the kid’s best friend had been killed on shore leave that night. he was drawing and I figured I could make a lot of money drawing them. That way, I could take care of my wife and get the hell out of that What had happened was that there was a rally of Nazis who were machine shop. I was working 12 hours a day there and the only day we pretending to be anti-Hitler. They were putting Hitler down and at one got off early was Saturday. point, everybody applauded. These two Norwegian kids cheered and when the crowd dispersed, the one kid found his friend lying on the A month after I quit the shop, I was drafted into the infantry. I ended pavement, stabbed to death. It was all a set-up to find out who didn’t up at Camp Blanding in Florida. When we were training in the woods, like Hitler.

I’d slip away and take my shirt off, because it was hot there. I’d clear a

“I Was Drafted Into The Infantry”

39

“We’d Sit Around And Come Up With Situations” A Talk With Hillman Artist WALLY LITTMAN Interview Conducted by Jim Amash Transcribed by Tom Wimbish

Wally Littman and wife Rosemary at Florida’s Senior Olympics (they won two gold medals for basketball). Below this recent photo are (below) an example of the monthly gag panel Life in Paradise that Wally does for Lifetime magazine, a publication of the Bergen [NJ] Record, and (bottom) a filler cartoon he did for Ziff-Davis’ G.I. Joe comic in the early 1950s.

Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for the Ziff-Davis scan.

[Comic book art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; “Life in Paradise” cartoon ©2004 Wally Littman.]

[INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Wally Littman’s career in comics wasn’t long, but it was fruitful. His time at Hillman Publications, as an associate art editor and cartoonist, carried him through Ziff-Davis (where he drew humor fillers for Baseball Thrills and Crime Comics), and into a long and varied career in television, working with celebrities such as Bob Hope. Wally has fond memories of his time in comics and certainly adds to the known history of Hillman. Now retired from television, Wally still works as a gag cartoonist. I guess he just can’t help making people laugh! Thanks for the info and fun chats, Wally! —Jim.]

“Ed Cronin Hired Me” JIM AMASH: I’m going to start off with a question that’s probably haunted you for years: when and where were you born?

Comics #2, 3, and 4? Wow, do you know what that’s worth?”

I also had an opportunity when working at Hillman to help myself to the original art, had I wanted.

WALLY LITTMAN: Ahhh! I was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 16, 1931. My father was a kosher butcher, so we never starved, but we ate meat that he couldn’t sell. [mutual laughter] I grew up in the Depression, and we had very few toys, and very little money, so a neighbor of mine—we lived in a fourth-floor cold-water flat in Jersey City—a kid from the ground floor and I used to exchange comics. And during the war, just to pass time, we would draw Japanese Zeros crashing into the ground, and German Luftwaffe planes also crashing, going down in flames. And we would exchange comics—we drew them and wrote them ourselves—and it was basically an entertainment. We didn’t have television... my father had a radio, which he kept to himself, and he listened to WEVD, which was a Yiddish station.

JA: Herb Rogoff and Ed Cronin were the only two editors at Hillman, right?

So that’s how I got into it. I used to save comics... in fact, I had some early issues of Action Comics. I had a collection that I really kept in pristine condition, and when I went off to the service, my mother gave the books to my niece and nephew, and when I returned home from the Army, they were in shreds. So you look back, and you say, “Action

LITTMAN: Yes, and publisher Alex Hillman was the tyrant. He was really a bastard. He terrified poor Ed Cronin. Cronin was somewhat insecure, and one day he sent out a comic book that was short pages, and it had to come back, which cost Mr. Hillman some additional money. Hillman reamed him to no end, which created a situation where

JA: Why didn’t you?

LITTMAN: Because I’m a jerk. I was an 18-year-old kid who knew nothing about the value of art. And I was concerned about going into the service then, and dying for my country, which I almost did. I can’t even remember how much I got paid, but it was a wonderful opportunity.

JA: So your first professional work was at Hillman.

How did you get that job?

LITTMAN: Ed Cronin hired me. I was 18, I showed him a portfolio, and he liked it, and I became an associate art editor. My assignment was to letter and correct some of the balloons, to patch over some of the errors. Also, they were 32-page books, and if we came up a page short, I’d write and draw a humor filler page.

40

A Talk With Artist Wally Littman

Cronin, before a book was sent out, would start with the 32 pages, and he would count them, “One, one, one, two, two, two, three, three, three,” meanwhile feeling each page. And then he’d start all over again! I mean, it was almost like a comedy sketch, but the poor guy was terrified of Alex Hillman, and wanted to keep his job.

Ed Cronin was a saint; he was really a lovely, lovely man, and very talented, I thought. He was a terrific editor, and you never see his name mentioned. He discovered illustrators and used them to the best of their advantage. He got the best work from them because he gave them, not free rein, but he let them do what they did best. Ernie Schroeder is a good example of that.

John Prentice did the western stuff, and he did a lot of the covers. Ed was a kind, easy-going guy, except when it came to sending books out to the printer. Then it was, “One, one, one, two, two, two, three, three, three...”

Wally owns black-&-white photostats of these two Hillman covers, and sent us photocopies—so this seemed like the right place to share ‘em with you. At left is one possibly by Mike Suchorsky for Frogman Comics #2 (May-June 1952)—at right is one by Ernie Schroeder Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #4 (May 1952—but it was “real number” 99!). Looks like Hillman Periodicals was big on water scenes that month, huh? Interestingly, the “1952” dates seem to have been hand-lettered onto the covers before printing. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

As for Hillman, I only dealt with him once, because I saw what happened to Ed. I was really the young kid in the office, and he sort-of looked over my head, although I’m 6'4", so it was hard for him to do.

“I Learned An Awful Lot” JA: What did Alex Hillman look like?

LITTMAN: He was about 5'4", he was stocky, he was balding, he always dressed to the nines, tie and shirt and jacket and all that; he looked like a banker. And he had horns. [mutual laughter] JA: This business with the counting of the pages, did Ed start doing that before you were there?

LITTMAN: Yes, thanks to Alex Hillman. I understand not wanting to lose money, but to really make a poor guy so insecure is incredible.

JA: Was that the only reason you think Ed was insecure?

LITTMAN: No, I think he also had a drinking problem. He liked to nip periodically, but how much of a problem that was, who knows? We all liked to nip periodically. I didn’t know much about his home life, truly.

He sort of kept it separate. I knew he lived up in Darien, Connecticut, and never invited us to his house. It was primarily a business relationship, and it was very positive, I thought.

JA: What did Ed Cronin look like?

LITTMAN: Well, he was balding, he had a salt-and-pepper mustache, he wore a jacket with a tie, but the tie was undone and the shirt was open.

He was a sport-jacket kind of guy who periodically wore a v-neck sweater. You know, he was... not a slob; you couldn’t be if you lived in Darien.

JA: What do you remember about Herb from those times?

LITTMAN: Herb was so energetic, and so positive. He was also a good

artist, a fast thinker, and a good letterer. I only have positive things to say about him. I didn’t get to know the freelancers, because we were so busy, but one I talked to and liked was Jules Feiffer, who did filler pages.

JA: Herb told me that there was no real comic book staff there.

LITTMAN: That’s right, just Herb, Ed, and me. We’d all sit around and come up with situations for the covers, which was kind of fun. I was an 18-year-old kid; I didn’t know squat. I was there to learn, and I learned an awful lot. I was there about 2 years, from ’49 to ’51.

JA: Who colored the books?

LITTMAN: Ed did. He indicated color to the printer. He also did all the cover lettering. He was very good. He also wrote a lot of the stuff. The only artist who wrote his own stories was Ernie. Now that I think about it, John Prentice wrote a couple, but by and large, the artists were given full scripts.

JA: Did Ed have story conferences with the writers?

LITTMAN: I don’t think so. I think that what they did was submit stories, and if Ed liked them, then they would start discussing them.

Perhaps they talked to Ed on the phone about a plot, and if he said, “OK, go ahead and do it,” then they’d write it, and they’d submit it to him.

JA: Herb remembered Ed Cronin rewriting dialog on the pages...

LITTMAN: Oh, absolutely, and the rewrites were pasted on by Herb and myself. Ben Oda lettered for us. Absolutely fast, great, on time. He was a little guy, little Oriental fellow, and a charming man. He would carry this huge portfolio, because he worked for DC... he worked for everybody. He was a very nice fellow. You gave him a script and the pages, and the very next day, he would come in with the finished stuff.

Overnight. And he was not only fast... I saw him work: lettering was like handwriting to him. He’s gone now—let’s hope he’s lettering in the sky. And there was a woman named Kelly who also lettered for us, but she wasn’t as good as Ben Oda.

[Art Š2004 Marc Swayze.]

44 private detective, may have been on the drawing board, perhaps waving goodbye, when Wow folded in 1948 and Mickey Malone in the Cometplane took off for his final flight.

By

[Art & logo ©2004 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2004 DC Comics]

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (CMA #18, Dec. 1942); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he soon made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them 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 produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-1950s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last time, Marc discussed drawing the female figure… namely, the famous heroine he originally designed, Mary Marvel.

In this issue, Marc takes us back to his attempts to sell a syndicated strip, meeting artist Walt Kelly in the process, and providing stunning samples of the strip that never was…

Marty Guy, Private Detective—The Great Guy. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

A major objective as I began sketches of a main character was that he not look like a detective ... especially one in a comic strip. Rather, I thought, that he look like just a plain anybody ... someone who might be delivering your pizza, or ... hey ... your milk! Marty’s likeness was not based on any particular living individual, although in looking over the old originals I see the possibility of my drawing hand having been influenced by the open, honest face of a popular leading man of the day, Robert Montgomery.

I had called on those syndicates before ... with hopeful ideas. I knew as I prepared the first Great Guy strips that I was inviting a familiar criticism heard from feature editors ... a remark that had to do with the timing ... “It moves too slowly!” The general idea seemed to have been that a lot of things had to happen to the characters in the first day’s strip ... and then through the first week ... and on and on ... hurry, hurry ... keep it moving!

My opinion was otherwise. A new day was at hand. Sentimentality was overtaking fast action in the comics in the papers and in the books. I saw that as a preference of the readers. Would the syndicate people?

With The Great Guy I took my chances.

I don’t recall who suggested The New York Star as a must-see. It was most likely Rod Reed or Mac Raboy, both already syndicate-affiliated and both my friends and supporters. At the Star I asked to see the feature editor, not knowing if they even had one. The fellow to emerge didn’t look the part ... about my age, rolled sleeves and open collar ... obviously intent upon convincing me that he didn’t have time for me. My story was an old one ... I had come a long way with an original comic strip idea and wanted to show it to someone.

As he turned to the work I had brought with me, the conversation revealed that he was my age, within one month, and he was the feature editor, or in that capacity at whatever title they had for it.

I liked the guy ... the way he talked. He was a seasoned pro ... had been with the Walt Disney Studios in Hollywood several years There were at least two occasions in my when I was still driving a milk wagon. And he efforts to nail a syndicated newspaper comic “Wow folded in 1948 and Mickey Malone in the had been around ... the syndicates and comic strip that I attached the word “Great” before the Cometplane took off for his final flight.” And book publishers. We had a lot in common to name of the title character. It wasn’t that I was indeed, this panel from Wow Comics #69 does talk about ... and did... that morning. When he enchanted by the expression ... but I must’ve indeed depict The Phantom Eagle’s final takeoff. told me his name was Walt Kelly I was thought it pretty cool. It might have been held Oddly, longtime Wow cover star (and Swayze unimpressed. I’d never heard it before. A lot of over from when I was a kid ... and there was a co-creation) Mary Marvel had departed from the people hadn’t in 1948. After he had gone Major League baseball player the sports writers comic some issues before, to appear thenceforth only in The Marvel Family. Art by Marc Swayze. through the two weeks of The Great Guy a dubbed “The Great Shires,” presumably due to [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] second time, I asked what he thought of the his frank opinions of his performance on the slow-paced story. He answered, “The snappy diamond ... great. Now, before we rush into dialogue between Marty and the gal carries it right along. Who wrote ugly criticism of that fine infielder of long ago, let’s be reminded that the it?” I was pleased to lay claim to the whole kaboodle. line between self-confidence and conceit ... if there is one ... is thin.

The experiences of an obscure private detective as the subject for a comic strip was not new. I knew that, but nevertheless had held the setting at ready for several years ... to the extent of a collection of notes and clipped news items that might suggest future plots. The assembling of that material was begun in earnest while I was doing “The Phantom Eagle” in Fawcett’s Wow Comics. Now that I think of it, Marty Guy,

Though not a regular reader of The New York Star, somehow I knew of its reputation as a liberal paper. I suppose that, and my natural sensitivity toward editorial criticism or command, contributed to the differences between me and the Star over the contract that was drawn up for The Great Guy. I don’t recall Walt Kelly being aware of any of it ... only that an agreement was never reached.

...It Was the Golden Age! Walt and I continued an exchange of friendly correspondence after that ... and then, as friendly correspondents often do, went our separate ways ... he to fame as author, lecturer, president of the National Cartoonists Society, and creator of the legendary syndicated comic strip Pogo.

45

And it may have been just as well. Some of the names made fun of by the characters in Pogo were favorites in our household.

Now, here are what were intended to be the first two weeks of daily strips of The Great Guy... most of them never before printed‌.

[Strips Š2004 Marc Swayze.]

48

…And Then There Were None!

Charlton and the Remnants of the Fawcett Comics Empire—Part III

by Frank “Derby” Motler the Senate Committee hearings of April 1954. William M. Friedman, Story’s co-owner, had also appeared as a witness at the proceedings.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Alter Ego #39-40 (FCA #98-99) featured Parts I & II of Frank Motler’s study of how, following Fawcett’s quitting the comic book business in 1953, both published and unpublished Fawcett material, as well as comic art and stories from other companies such as Comic Media, Fox Features, Toby Press, et al., came to be published by the new Charlton comics group, a.k.a. CDC (Capital Distribution Co.). This issue completes his textual study of this 1950s phenomenon. Next issue, we’ll feature Frank’s exhaustive checklist of the sources of much Charlton material from that period. —PCH.]

New Directions Around the time Charlton was printing the “Toby” issues of Gabby Hayes, plus Soldier and Marine, two late issues of Fight against the Guilty (Dec. 1954 & March 1955) were released by rival publisher Story Comics. This was a hasty re-titling of Fight against Crime, and both issues carried a basic “CDC” distributor code. By now, all regular Charltons bore its distinctive sniper-sight symbol. Quite why Story switched from its regular distributor, Leader News, remains a puzzle.

However, both Story and Leader had been subject to critical scrutiny at (Top:) With issue #86 (Aug. 1953), The Marvel Family was only three issues away from being crushed by the slow and certain glacier of cancellation, as Fawcett quit publishing comics in response to the lawsuit launched in 1941 by National/DC—but editor Wendell Crowley, writer Otto Binder, and artist Kurt Schaffenberger could still work their Shazamic magic, right up to the end!

(Center:) By 1954 Fawcett had sold most of its characters and inventory to Charlton, but in terms of super-heroes Charlton/CDC had to content itself with Blue Beetle reprints from Fox, starting in Space Adventures #13 (Oct.-Nov. 1954). The artist of this splash is uncertain—but it was probably added new for that issue, with the rest of the story being a reprinted 1940s tale.)

(Bottom:) By 1957 Space Adventures featured “Captain Atom” by the up-and-coming Steve Ditko. But the Big Red Cheese and company couldn’t be published by Charlton, or anybody else, without unsettling the 1953 legal settlement between Fawcett and DC. [Irony Dept.: Marvel Family, Blue Beetle, & Captain Atom TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

EC publisher and fellow attendee Bill Gaines claimed that the first issue of his company’s “New Direction” titles, Impact (April 1955), had been printed initially by Charlton. EC was also distributed by Leader during this period. Gaines claimed that the print quality was poor and that he had ordered the entire run destroyed. Yet, there remain in existence two distinct variants of it. The cover of the first carries a violet background with the title word “Impact” in white, whilst the second has a more mauve background, with yellow coloring for the title. I take the latter to be the Charlton version, as the interiors are mis-registered. There may well be other comic book

...And Then There Were None!

49

publishers of the time who used the CDC plant to print their wares; and, had events not taken an unexpected turn, Charlton might have been poised to take over printing and distribution of other publishers’ product, on a large scale.

Biblical Proportions!

On the 18th of August, 1955, the expansion at Charlton was dramatically halted when Hurricane Diane, the second such storm to strike the area in a week, caused the Derby, Connecticut, area to be flooded. The devastation cost the lives of 180 people in Connecticut alone. Its wake left the CDC plant under water, as was detailed in Comic Book Artist #9.

Paper was an immediate casualty, which included untold quantities of used and unused artwork from Comic Media, Fawcett, Fox, Toby, and the in-house staff. The scale of this loss may never be fully known.

Had it not been for this disaster, these stories would have been used or re-used in the following years.

The recovery was slow and took months too For Blue Bird, Charlton packaged the 1959 Maco Toys comic at left, with art by Tony Tallarico; achieve. Staff were put on reduced wages, and many Bold Detergent got its money’s worth in 1967 out of peacetime soldier Beetle Bailey, with titles failed to continue. There was also a gap, whilst the help of Charlton/CDC. [Maco Toys art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; production geared-up again and new titles were introBeetle Bailey ©2004 King Features Syndicate.] duced. Recently, the Derby site, where Charlton produced much of their product, has been subject to a today Charltons from all periods are among the scarcer items in the pollution assessment (site #115 on the New Haven County listing). This back-issue bins. was due to a number of toxins still traceable in the soil, a by-product of industrial process and less enlightened times.

A disadvantage for CDC was their remoteness from New York, where most of their contemporaries were located. Distribution also proved an enduring problem for Charlton. In America, periodicals were distributed by a number of independent haulers; and, from the mid1940s, these distributors’ initials started to appear on the covers of many, including comic books. Before that, they were often scribbled onto the cover by hand.

The initial annotated Charltons carried one of several different distribution marks. One was FDC, which had been in business since 1945, at least, and distributed several companies up to the end of 1947. Others include LCDC, FPI, and SDC. The initial letters of the latter two may have stood for Frank or Santangelo. There is also LNC, who distributed early issues of Charlton’s crime titles Lawbreakers and Crime and Justice. This company is currently being researched by Michael Feldman, who suspects it might have been a cooperative between distributor Leader News (LN) and Charlton. Some or all of the above may have been Charlton subsidiaries.

By 1951, Charlton had set up Capital Distributing Company (CDC), also based at the Derby site. It is worth noting that Charlton used both “Capital” (distributor) and “Capitol” (publishing company) as names.

However, not all titles were distributed by Capital. FPI, and LNC remained in operation until late 1953, when all comics switched to the CDC distribution symbol and the Charlton Comic Group imprint. This signified the end for a host of companies that Charlton had previously used for their comics. These include Capitol Stories, Inc.; Children’s Comics Publishers, Inc.; Law and Order Magazines; Outstanding Comics, Inc.; Romantic Love Stories, Inc.; and Song Hits, Inc. This was common practice in the publishing business, designed to prevent the failure of one title from bringing the company as a whole to a halt. The magazines, however, continued using subsidiaries for some time to come.

These practices did not entirely overcome the problem of getting the comic book product to the shelves. The result was patchy allocation, and

To Boldly Go!

In common with several shoe-store chains, the successful Blue Bird group liked to present its young customers with gifts. In the mid-1940s they reused coverless comics with plain-paper covers, promoting their wares. In 1959, they struck a deal with Charlton to package complete comics, promoting the Blue Bird brand. These featured amended covers, with the promoting store listed at the top, and the words “Blue Bird Comics” in a circle. They were released numerically but with several different editions bearing the same number. The series ran for several years, at least until 1965. Reprinted issues discussed here include Atomic Mouse, Li’l Genius, Masked Raider, Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds, Texas Rangers in Action, Wild Bill Hickok, and Wyatt Earp. At least one former Fawcett title exists in this promotional series: Blue Bird Comics #7 & #10, both Six-Gun Heroes.

During 1959, Blue Bird also produced Maco Toys Full Color Comics, which promoted the Brooklyn-based companies’ war toys.

Other giveaways from CDC include several Beetle Baileys (Armed Services, Bold Detergent, Cerebral Palsy, Red Cross, 1969-70), Hunting with Davy Crockett (1955), Quincy Looks into His Future (1973), and Popeye Bold Detergent (1969). The latter reprints regular issue #94, from February 1969. There was also a series of fifteen “Popeye Careers-Advice” giveaways, numbered E-1 to E-15, with a 4-pager to promote the series, Getting Better Grades. Another multi-part series was Comics Reading Library R-1 through R-16, but like the Blue Birds, several issues could bear the same number. These were designed to improve the reading skills of young readers. Among the better-known characters featured were Blondie, Felix the Cat, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, with Popeye and Beetle Bailey also pitching in. Both of these series bore the King symbol in the corner. King Features Syndicate was the owner of the various characters and newspaper strips. These were printed under license by CDC, from 1969 through 1977. In 1970 fast-food giant McDonald’s arranged for Charlton to produce several Ronald McDonald comic books. Although carrying