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Alan Jim Hanley: The Story Of A Good Guy I
by John Pierce
Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck
NTRODUCTION: FCA is proud to present John Pierce’s reverent review of the often-overlooked work of late fan artist Alan Jim Hanley, whose cheerful comic strips graced various fanzines—including his own Comic Book—throughout the 1960s and ’70s. Hanley’s original, Golden Age-inspired stories contained a genuine, warm, and humanistic feel—combined with a dry, gentle sense of humor.
I had corresponded with Hanley a couple of times before finally meeting him in person at a 1979 Minneapolis comic convention. As we exchanged bright ideas at his table (okay, it was mostly just me listening to his corny jokes!), he sat there with his ever-present pipe in mouth and sketched out a version of me—an awkward teenager at the time—as Captain Marvel Jr. As he belted out this masterpiece while we talked, I felt as if I were talking to that clean-living superhero himself, “Goodguy,” Hanley’s humble Captain Marvel-like creation. Even if you never had the opportunity to meet the amiable Mr. Hanley, but had read an issue of his Comic Book or any “Goodguy” adventure, then in a way you did indeed know the man, because his humor, opinions, and love for comics always shone through his work. Commercial publishers had no need for him, even though Hanley aspired to see his work appear one day in “major league” comics. But he was in a league of his own, and most likely wouldn’t have been very content illustrating another writer’s script or having to depict things he truly felt were bad for comic books. The exception would have been a shot at drawing his admired hero from childhood, the Big Red Cheese, Captain Marvel. C.C. Beck himself suggested Hanley as the artist to succeed him on DC’s Shazam! comic after Beck quit the book. But drawing Captain Marvel for DC never materialized for Hanley, who held great disdain for the company’s handling of the character. He told John Pierce in June, 1980: “Let’s face it: the vision, the personality, and the luck that created the original Captain Marvel just ain’t there! A certain verve, independence of spirit, spunk, and a certain educated romantic mind—and maybe a few other highly individualistic qualities—are required to pull a guy like Captain Marvel together and put him over the top. Do I have enough of the above to do it? Looking over my past stuff in an increasing distant retrospect, I think it is obvious that I do. … It would have been nice to have had the opportunity to work with a good, knowledgeable editor on Captain Marvel.” Even though Hanley didn’t “officially” contribute to the mythos of The World’s Mightiest Mortal, it certainly doesn’t diminish the enduring quality of the numerous creative contributions he gave to the world of comic fandom …work that was definitely in the same spirit as the original Captain Marvel. In addition, there would be no FCA in existence today had Hanley and Bernie McCarty not convened that one Sunday afternoon over 35 years ago at Hanley’s suburban Chicago apartment to discuss a way to revive the old Captain Marvel Club of their youth … a planted seed which McCarty would eventually develop into the Fawcett Collectors of America newsletter. —P.C. Hamerlinck.
The first page of A.J. Hanley’s Comic Book #4. The artist drew himself wearing a badge saying “America’s No. 1 Starving Artist.” [All art reproduced with this article is ©2005 Estate of Alan Jim Hanley; all characters are TM & ©2005 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
Captain Marvel has had many devoted fans over the years. Some, such as E. Nelson Bridwell, Don Newton, Jerry Ordway, and Alex Ross, have even had the opportunity to work on one version or other of the character. But no one else took his enthusiasm for Captain Marvel in particular, and comics in general, in the direction followed by one singular, creative fan: Alan Jim Hanley. When Jim (as he was generally called) died an untimely death at the age of 41, on December 24th of 1980, he left behind an impressive body of work. But with the exception of some text illustrations for Charlton Publications, and a few for Crazy magazine, none of it appeared in professional comics. Instead, his work was seen in numerous fanzines of