Writer/Editorial: “Syd The Kid”??

2 writer/editorial

“Syd The Kid”??

I’ve got to admit it: when Smilin’ Stan Lee was writing the Bullpen Bulletins page for the Marvel issues cover-dated Yet, when he returned in 1967, he seemed to become pigeonholed almost at once as an inker, and not as the penciler he’d January 1968, and he wanted to mention Syd Shores’ return always been. Oh, he was given the “Red Wolf” feature—but, by to active comics duty, he didn’t exactly do himself proud in then, the Western genre was fading. And he was given “mystery” coming up with one of his usual “nutty nicknames” for him. stories to pencil and ink, in such titles as Tower of Shadows—but almost every artist got a shot at doing some of those.Sure, it was amusing to call Syd “a new Marvel oldtimer—or an old Marvel newcomer, if you prefer”… or to say he’d drawn No, it really does seem there was some sort of missed cue top Golden Age strips like “Captain America, The Black Rider, The between Stan and Syd this time around (i.e., from 1967-73). Did Stan

Blonde Phantom” (95% of Marvel’s readers had no idea who the at some stage give Syd a shot at penciling one of the all-important latter two were). super-hero features, then find the results disappointing? Possibly— But then Stan decided to refer to him as—“SYD (The Kid) it’s always seemed to me as if Stan instantly assigned him to

SHORES”! ink Jack Kirby’s Captain America pencils—then Gene Colan’s on

“The Kid”?? Daredevil—and since Syd comported himself so well on those, Stan turned his mind to other problems.

Maybe he was being ironic… since, as he well knew, Syd Shores had worked for Timely Comics before the name “Stan Lee” was a gleam in the mental eye of Stanley Martin Lieber. Syd, after all, seems to have contributed to Captain America Comics #1 in late 1940, helping to ink either the cover or an interior story—or both. Stan didn’t arrive till a few weeks later. Like Richard, Allen, and Doc V., I like to think that, given a bit more time, Syd would’ve found his rightful place in the Bullpen as a penciler, having served a creditable second “apprenticeship” on Red Wolf. Sadly, however, his unexpected passing in 1973 prevented that from ever happening.

Still, if Stan’s choice of a nickname for Syd wasn’t his finest hour, I know he respected his talent and was glad to see him back. Even so, Syd leaves behind a rich legacy of Golden Age work— of 1950s horror and adventure illustration—of Red Wolf and all those fine inking jobs on Captain America and Daredevil. And I’m

As Richard Arndt, Nancy Shores Karlebach, Allen Bellman, and only sorry it’s taken 167 issues to get around to giving him at least

Dr. Michael J. Vassallo discuss in this issue, Syd never quite found a little bit of his due, thanks to the efforts of the above gents—and the place he probably deserved on the Marvel roster. And, though I particularly those of his daughter, Nancy Shores Karlebach. was around at the time, I’m at a loss as to how that happened. After all, Syd’s 1940s work on the three action features Stan mentioned above was exemplary, as was his 1950s horror and Western work. Let’s just make certain that, from this day forward, no one can ever refer to Syd Shores as “the forgotten Marvel artist”!

Many ’40s staffers considered him Timely’s “art director” (even Because very few guys deserve to be so richly remembered! though editor Stan officially held that title)… he’s listed on at least one inside cover as “art associate”… and he’s the guy Stan chose to Bestest, execute three sheets of drawing guides for the rest of the bullpen (see p. 38). but I don’t recall ever knowing about such an assignment. Rather,

COMING IN FEBRUARY

#168

Twin Spotlights On PAUL NORRIS & WILLIE ITO!

• Aquaman cover art by the Sea-King’s co-creator PAUL NORRIS!

• Two very different life stories to have come out of World War II! REED NORRIS talks to RICHARD ARNDT about his father, PAUL NORRIS, & the wartime exploits of Aquaman, Sandman and Sandy—and of “The Secret WWII Comic from Military Intelligence” that saved American and Japanese lives— • —while WILLIE ITO tells of life in the early-’40s Japanese-American internment centers, and of his later career doing animation for Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera—and comic art featuring Pogo, Winnie the Pooh, Beany and Cecil, etc.! • Plus: FCA showcases Fawcett’s Jackie Robinson Comics—MICHAEL T. GILBERT and “The Raiders of the Lost Art!”—JOHN BROOME on fellow Golden/Silver Age DC writer [Aquaman & comics pages TM & © DC Comics] DAVID V. REED—& whatever else we can squeeze between two glossy covers!

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