6
An Interview With Nancy Shores Karlebach
KARLEBACH: Yes, he did. It was only a short time later that both Jack Kirby and Joe Simon left the book and my father, along with an artist named Al Avison, drew or inked Captain America for most of the rest of the 1940s. I know that I met Al Avison when I was in my early twenties, but I didn’t really know him at all. I used to go to the comicbook conventions with my father when they first started—the ones that Phil Seuling ran [in New York City]—and my father would get his sticker and wander the convention. It was basically one big room, not like it is today. I did meet a number of the artists at that time, but I didn’t really know them. RA: Did you know Vince Alascia? KARLEBACH: He inked a lot of the “Captain America” stories of the 1940s, and I did meet him. I have a good recollection of what he looked like, but again, I didn’t really know him. A person you should perhaps talk to about specific artists who may have worked with my father is Michael Vassallo. [NOTE: No sooner said than done. See pp. 27-40 in this issue.] Do you know him? He’s actually a dentist by trade, but he knows a great deal about comicbook artists and is something of the authority on Marvel Comics.
Vince Alascia is seen here in a detail from the famous 1942 “Bambi” photo (see other issues for details on the detail!)—and a Syd Shores-penciled splash page that Alascia inked for Captain America Comics #40 (July 1944). Thanks to Jim Kealy for the art scan. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
I came to know Michael by way of Allen Bellman, who worked alongside my father early on at Timely, including work together on Captain America. Allen is still alive. He was 93 at his last birthday, I think. [NOTE: Sadly, Allen passed away on March 9, 2020, at the age of 95… after writing his memories of Syd Shores for this issue.] He still goes to all the comic cons. Allen introduced me to Michael Vassallo, who lives in New York, and he’s been very nice in getting information about my father. Michael is a collector and seems to know practically everything about everything comics-related. Anyway, you should talk to both of those gentlemen. RA: Your dad was in the army during World War II. Do you know anything about his service?
KARLEBACH: He was in the service for two years. He was wounded December 16, 1944, and received the Purple Heart. He gave an interview once where he mentioned he was in the same division or regiment as Jack Kirby but that they never actually met each other at that time. I knew he was an admirer of Kirby’s work and collected it. I’m looking through my papers and—here it is. He was in the Third Army. RA: That would have been General Patton’s command, which Kirby was also in, so that lines up. By the date of his wounding, I would guess that he was wounded in the initial hours of the Battle of the Bulge.
KARLEBACH: I believe he worked for the rest of the ’40s on that title. At least until it was canceled. He was still the art director as well, although I don’t know if he ever actually had that title. I think his official title was associate editor. He also drew “The Blonde Phantom” in her comic series. That was my Dad’s. He created her. Well, he created her along with Stan Lee or whoever wrote that first story. [NOTE: For the record, the creator of The Blonde Phantom is in dispute. It was either Stan Lee with Syd Shores, or it was Al Sulman, who claims to have created her when he was the script editor at Timely. She debuted in All Select Comics #11 (Fall 1946), a title which transformed into Blonde Phantom Comics with #12 and ran for another ten issues through 1949.
KARLEBACH: I know he was wounded near Mitz, France. [NOTE: There was also a long siege of Mitz, which had ended only a few days before Syd was wounded, so there may be some sort of overlap between the Mitz siege and the Battle of the Bulge.] Then they flew him to England to recover and he was there for several You’re In The Army Now! months. RA: Following his World War II service, he returned to Marvel, or Timely, as it was still known at that point. He worked again on Captain America.
And Syd Shores was, just in time for the Battle of the Bulge a week or two before Christmas of 1944. Thank the heavens he survived his war wound—and even got a Purple Heart! Thanks to Nancy Karlebach.
