Roy Thomas' Ship-To-Shores Comics Fanzine
BRACE YOURSELF YOURSELF BRACE FOR A A STAR-SPANGLED STAR-SPANGLED FOR
SYD SHORES SALUTE! SALUTE!
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No. 167 January 2021
82658 00421
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TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
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AND FRIENDS!
Vol. 3, No. 167 / January 2021 Editor
Roy Thomas
Associate Editor Jim Amash
Design & Layout
Christopher Day
Consulting Editor John Morrow
FCA Editor
P.C. Hamerlinck J.T. Go (Assoc. Editor)
Comic Crypt Editor
Michael T. Gilbert
Editorial Honor Roll
Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich, Bill Schelly
Proofreaders
Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding
Cover Artist Syd Shores
Cover Colorist
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Contents
Writer/Editorial: “Syd The Kid”?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Syd Shores: A Daughter Remembers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Richard Arndt interviews Nancy Shores Karlebach about her talented father.
Unidentified
With Special Thanks to: Doug Abramson Heidi Amash Richard J. Arndt Bob Bailey Rod Beck Roz Bellman Ricky Terry Brisacque Bernie Bubnis David Burd Nick Caputo John Cimino Shaun Clancy Comic Book Plus (website) Pierre Comtois Chet Cox Dial B for Blog (website) Shane Foley Joe Frank Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database (website) Dan Hagen Dennis Haycock
Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions!
Tom Hegeman Eric Jansen Alex Jay Nancy Shores Karlebach James Kealy Douglas R. Kelly Mark Lewis Art Lortie John Lustig Glenn MacKay Doug Martin Mike Mikulovsky MinuteMenDarthScanner (website) Mike Nielsen Barry Pearl Philip (a.k.a. Bluelark) David Saunders Jeff Taylor Dann Thomas Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Geoff Willmetts
This issue is dedicated to the memory of
Syd Shores, Chu Hing, & Allen Bellman
“Syd Is Really Unrecognized For The Contributions He Brought To Comics” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Fellow Golden Age Timely artist Allen Bellman on his friend and colleague, Syd Shores.
“Doc V” On The Life & Legacy Of Syd Shores . . . . . . . . . . . 27 A comics historian’s view of one of the 1940s’ most prominent artists.
The Voice Of The [Green] Turtle Is Heard In The Land . . . . 41 The life and tough times of Chinese-American artist Chu Hing, by Alex Jay.
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! The Superman Behind Superman (Part 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Michael T. Gilbert presents Sam Moskowitz’s account of DC editor Mort Weisinger.
The Family Car(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Part XIV of Golden/Silver Age writer John Broome’s “offbeat autobio.”
A Tribute To Allen Bellman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 64 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #226 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
P.C. Hamerlinck showcases Shaun Clancy on Golden Age Fawcett staffer Harvey Janes.
On Our Cover: When World War II ended, Captain America was basically out of a job—at least until the Cold War began. So editor Stan Lee decided Steve Rogers should trade in his shield and Army fatigues for the suit and tie of a high school teacher! While he didn’t draw the related story in Captain America Comics #59 (Nov. 1946), Syd Shores penciled and inked this memorable cover—one of many featuring Cap, The Human Torch, or Sub-Mariner that he produced during the 1940s. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo and Jim Lustig. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: Maybe you virtually never got much of a look at the masked face of the wartime Asian super-hero “The Green Turtle,” but he sure had a beautifully flowing cape, didn’t he? Art (and perhaps script) by Chu Hing, from Rural Home Publishing’s Blazing Comics #4 (Feb. 1945). Thanks to Comic Book Plus website, your one-stop shopping for public-domain Golden Age comics. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] Alter Ego TM is published 6 times a year 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. Six-issue subscriptions: $67 US, $101 Elsewhere, $27 Digital Only. 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 China. ISSN: 1932-6890. FIRST PRINTING.
A Star-Spangled Salute to SYD SHORES – Part I
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SYD SHORES: A Daughter Remembers
An Interview With NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt
Nancy Shores Karlebach & Stan Goldberg at a New York comics convention in October 2010. Nancy Shores was born in 1948. Stan G. colored many of Shores’ covers in the ’40s and ’50s; sadly, the beloved colorist and “Millie the Model”/”Archie” artist passed on in 2014. Photo courtesy of Dr. Michael J. Vassallo.
Syd Shores A studio-portrait photo of the artist as a middle-aged man. Courtesy of Nancy Shores Karlebach and Shaun Clancy.
From Golden Age To Red Wolf Syd Shores’ dramatic cover for Captain America Comics #21 (Dec. 1942)—and one of his last covers for Marvel Comics: Red Wolf #6 (March 1973). John Romita reportedly did a touch-up or two on the latter. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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An Interview With Nancy Shores Karlebach
I
NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Syd Shores was born in 1913 and passed away on June 3, 1973. He began his career in comics as an art assistant for Mac Raboy while working in the shop run by Harry “A” Chesler. While there, he was also partnered with fellow artist Phil Sturm. He soon became an inker on Joe Simon & Jack Kirby’s Captain America Comics. When they left Timely Comics for National (DC) Comics, Shores was one of the artists chosen to replace them on “Captain America” stories. He soon also became Timely’s unofficial art director. After an interruption in his career for military service in World War II, he returned to draw Captain America. He also co-created and drew “The Blonde Phantom.” After Martin Goodman directed Stan Lee to fire the Timely bullpen staff in 1949, Shores also did work for comics publishers Avon and Orbit Publications, perhaps also for Lev Gleason’s Crime Does Not Pay. During the late 1940s and early ’50s, Shores moved from super-hero comics to Western, war, and jungle comics. When assignments in the field dried up from the effects of the Comics Code and Atlas’ distributor woes, he moved into illustrating men’s-adventure magazines for about eight years. In 1967 he returned to Goodman’s comics line, now called Marvel Comics, as an inker on Gene Colan’s Daredevil and Jack Kirby’s Captain America, among other titles. He also worked on Marvel’s war and mystery comics, as well as drawing non-Code horror stories for Warren, Skywald, and Major’s black-&-white magazine titles. When Marvel began publishing its own b&w horror magazines in the early 1970s, Shores was clearly poised to become a major part of that line. However, his work there was interrupted by a fatal heart attack at the age of 59. This interview took place on July 12, 2018. RICHARD ARNDT: We’re welcoming Nancy Shores Karlebach, Syd Shores’ daughter, to talk about her dad. Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Nancy. What can you tell us about him? NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH: His full name when he was born was Sidney Lawrence Schwartz. He changed it when he became an artist. RA: Was that change the same reason that so many other Jewish writers and artists changed their names? To have a name that sounded less ethnic? KARLEBACH: That could have been, but I think he just wanted a name with a little more of a ring to it. Schwartz was a common name in the area he grew up in, but an awful lot of people, not just Jewish people but immigrants in general, wanted an Americansounding name and changed their names or the spellings of their name to achieve that. And in comics, a lot of that was happening— Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Gil Kane—these men and a lot of others changed their names. I can’t say for certain why he changed it, but I know that he wanted it to stand out. RA: Sure, if you’re going to pick a new name for business reasons, you’d want to pick one that stands out. That makes perfect sense. Do you know where he got his education, particularly his art education? KARLEBACH: Dad went to Pratt. RA: That would be the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn? KARLEBACH: That would be correct. The Pratt Institute of Fine & Applied Art. He went to night classes there and graduated. He attended classes there for some time, perhaps as long as seven years before finishing up his coursework and receiving his certificate. He also had an art display at the Brooklyn Museum when he was a teenager. He had won an art contest and that was the prize. He also won an art contest sponsored by a dog food company, that may have been the first publication of any of his art. He drew a poster dealing with the mistreatment of puppies. I should tell you that while we talk I’m looking at a folder I have about him. My children never met him because he passed
away before I was even married. For years I’ve been thinking of writing up a whole book of stories about him and his life. I didn’t really follow his work when I was a kid because he was just my dad. [laughs] I knew what he did and so on, but I never followed the details of comics. In fact, my father discouraged my sister and I from reading comics because he felt books were better for The Shores Of Tripoli? (Or Maybe France?) our education, Although he may have contributed inking and not because comics perhaps even some penciling to previous Captain were bad but America Comics covers, this is the first one that is because we were definitively his: for issue #20 (Sept. 1942). [TM & © girls and I guess Marvel Characters, Inc.] he didn’t think there were many prospects for girls reading comics. So I thought I would write about his life for my children. Then I thought that, if it sounded OK, maybe it could be turned into a book, because a lot of artists have had books written about them in the last few years. So that’s on my to-do list. That why I’ve put material together in a folder. RA: That’s not a bad idea. Now, I know that before he entered comics he worked for his uncle in a whiskey-bottling place. KARLEBACH: Yes, that’s correct. I don’t know the exact name of that business, however. When he entered into comics, he was working for my mother, Selma’s ...well, she was his wife-to-be at the time... cousin, Phil Sturm. It was with Phil that he worked on his own debut story, “Introducing The Terror,” which appeared in Timely’s Mystic Comics #5 [cover-dated Mar. 1941]. I don’t know if “The Terror” became a regular feature or not. I think that Phil wrote the story and my father did the artwork. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: George Klein is credited with inking that story.] I always have a little hesitation when talking about this sort of thing, because I feel I should know all this stuff, but this happened, of course, before I was born. My father was the third person hired on staff for Timely. Joe Simon was his editor. This was working for Simon and Kirby, under Martin Goodman. My father was working as an inker on Captain America fairly early on. First over Kirby’s pencils in All Winners Comics #1 [Summer 1941], and then on the cover of the regular Captain America title, starting in #5 [Aug. 1941]. RA: He continued on Captain America for quite some time after that point, as I recall.
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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.
Syd Shores: A Daughter Remembers
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Splashing Ink Kirby & Shores, together again in the pages of Captain America #101 (May 1968)—and Colan & Shores, united in this splash from Daredevil #74 (March ’71). Scripts by Stan Lee and Gerry Conway, respectively. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
about 3½ years after that. My connection to all the people I’d met through my father was really gone by that time. Mother probably kept up with some of the people, but when you’re young, if you don’t see them every day, you just lose track. I wish that hadn’t happened. Even when Google—the Internet— came out, it didn’t really occur to me to search his name.
Stan Lee
Then one day I typed in his name, and I couldn’t believe all the references to him. [giggles] All kinds of information! It was at that time that I found the online tribute from Gene Colan. That was interesting, reading about their early history, which I knew nothing about, and then about his later work, inking Gene. was, of course, the guy who assigned Syd to ink Kirby, Colan, and others during the Marvel Age of Comics. This photo probably dates from the late 1960s, around the time Shores came back to work for Marvel.
Gerry Conway & Gene Colan (left to right) from various sources.
You know, when I was young, I didn’t read comics all that much. I remember Archie—those kinds of comics, but most of the work that Dad did was for boys. Dad didn’t encourage us girls to read comics. He much preferred that we read books. That’s why I know so little about the comicbooks and have to do the research on them. When I was a child, at a certain age, children were really discouraged from reading comics but, nowadays, educators realize that they’re really a great way to learn how to read.
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An Interview With Nancy Shores Karlebach
RA: I found a note here, sitting underneath other research material, that says it took four years for, I guess Stan Lee, to convince Syd Shores to come back to comics. That Stan Lee had asked him the first time to come back in 1963. KARLEBACH: Well, that makes sense, since he came back in 1967. RA: Your dad also did a number of Marvel’s mystery tales, including an adaptation of a Harlan Ellison story [“Delusion for a Dragon Slayer”’ in Chamber of Chills #1 (Nov. 1972)]. He was also drawing stories for the Warren black-&-white books, as well as stories for Major’s Web of Horror and the Skywald black-&-white and color titles. In fact, the very first interview that I ever did was with Al Hewetson, the second editor of the Skywald books, just a few weeks before Hewetson himself died, and one of the things he was anxious to get into the interview was the story of his friendship with your dad. Al had worked a little while at Marvel, and his first published story was illustrated by your dad. He told me that before he became editor of the Skywald magazines, but while he was working as a writer for them, Syd had agreed to do horror stories for the company. The story he penciled actually appeared in one of Al’s first edited magazines, but Syd was very angry about the inking (by Dan Adkins) on the story, describing it to Al as a “vindictive ink job,” and refused to work for Skywald any longer. Al told me that he worked for two years to get Syd to agree to doing more work for Skywald and that Syd finally agreed to do more stories. However, before he could do any stories for them, he passed away. Al mentioned his sorrow in not having his friend work for him, and then Syd’s death, just when it looked like
Satan’s Inkwell? (Above:) As Richard Arndt relates on this page, Syd evidently hated Dan Adkins’ inking of the story “Satan’s Graveyard” from Skywald’s Nightmare #8 (Aug. 1972) so much that he not only insisted his credit be changed to the pseudonymous “Jim Elder” but also refused to do any further work for Skywald. Not to quarrel with Syd’s judgment, but does it really look all that terrible? Script by Al Hewetson. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. (Center of page:) Still, that didn’t stop Nightmare #13 (June ’73) from running this enhanced photo of Syd, long before he passed away. Courtesy of Jim Kealy. [Both images TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
that was going to turn around, was going to work out, was a great blow to Al.
The Magical Mystery Tour (Above left:) The first page of the Shores-drawn adaptation of science-fiction author Harlan Ellison’s short story “Delusion for a Dragon Slayer” from Chamber of Chills #1 (Nov. 1972), one of Marvel’s late four-color entries into the “mystery/horror” sweepstakes. On the following page, the nebbish hero wakes up in a Conanesque body and situation. Script by Gerry Conway. [Art © Marvel Characters, Inc.; original story © Estate of Harlan Ellison.] (Above right:) Terry Bisson scripted this Shores-illustrated tale for Major Magazines’ Web of Horror #1 (Dec. 1969) during the brief time it was going head to head with James Warren’s Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. [© the respective copyright holders.]
KARLEBACH: I think that I knew Al Hewetson. I believe he was from Canada but he came to New York. I remember he once stayed at our house while he and Dad were working together on something. Maybe it was that story for Marvel that you mentioned. I even tried my hand at writing. Worked up some scripts
A Star-Spangled Salute to SYD SHORES – Part II
“Syd Is Really Unrecognized For The Contributions He Brought To Comics” I
NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Allen Bellman began his comics career in October 1942 when he answered an ad that led to a job at Timely Comics. He worked in the Timely bullpen as both inker and penciler-inker until 1949, when he became a freelancer. He continued working as such with Timely/Atlas and also began taking assignments from Lev Gleason Publications in 1950. He left the comics industry in 1953. Most comics historians believed him to be the last of the Timely (non-humor) artists from the early 1940s alive. He was also the author of Timely Confidential: When the Golden Age of Comics Was Young (2017). Allen Bellman passed away on March 9, 2020. This interview was conducted July 16, 2018.
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ALLEN BELLMAN On His Friend & Colleague, Syd Shores Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt
RICHARD ARNDT: We’re welcoming Allen Bellman, one of the last surviving 1940s artists to have worked on the original Captain America comic, to reminisce about his old friend, Syd Shores. Welcome, Allen! What can you tell us about Syd?
Allen Bellman Sadly, we don’t have a photo of the late artist Allen Bellman with his Golden Age colleague, Syd Shores— but here’s one of Allen with Syd’s daughter, Nancy Karlebach—flanked by images drawn by both men. (Left:) Shores’ cover for Captain America Comics #32 (Nov. 1943) depicts the hero rescuing his young ally Bucky, who’s strapped to a plummeting bomb. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. (Right:) Besides later working unheralded on various “Captain America” stories, Allen drew the Cap-derived “Patriot” for Marvel Mystery Comics #62 (March 1945). Scripter unknown. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
ALLEN BELLMAN: When I came there, to Marvel, he was already working on Captain America, penciling the lead story and other work as time permitted. He was inked by a gentleman named Vince Alascia. RA: Alascia used to do a lot of work for Charlton in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, usually inking Charles Nicholas. He also worked on Jack Kirby’s pencils in the 1940s and 1950s. But we should probably start with when you first met Syd.
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Allen Bellman On His Friend & Colleague, Syd Shores
BELLMAN: OK. I was hired in 1942 at Timely. The reason was because Jack Kirby and Joe Simon had left Timely and absconded over to National, DC Comics. Timely put out an ad for artists and I went over there and got the job. I was hired by Don Rico. I was to report in the following Monday, so I came in and Rico introduced me to the people on the staff, including Syd Shores. I had the sense of something not right going on in that office. Syd really had [artist & writer] Don Rico on his back. You could really feel it in the air. A jealousy thing. Now that I look back, I think that Don Rico was jealous that Syd Shores had got the lead assignment on penciling Captain America. That’s my own opinion. There were other freelance artists penciling him too, but Syd was the lead one. I was just hired to be in the bullpen. RA: You mentioned that Don Rico hired you. Would that mean he was the art director of Timely at that time? BELLMAN: No! I never actually knew who the art director was at the time. Years later I found that Vince Fago was considered the art director in 1942, but I never saw him when I was hired. I met him later but had no idea that he was the art director. [NOTE: Apparently Fago served as the interim art director (as well as the comics line’s editor) from Dec. 1942 until 1945 for Timely when Stan Lee was in the service. After 1945, Lee again held that title through the early 1970s when he became publisher and president—and even then, he didn’t officially relinquish it to anyone else for several years.]
Don Rico & Vince Fago (Left:) Writer/artist Don Rico, circa 1942. Both he and Bellman were highlighted back in Alter Ego #114, which see! A detail from the famed “Bambi” photo. (Right:) Vince Fago was also a writer and artist, primarily of humorous comics—and in late 1942 became Timely’s editor when Stan Lee joined the Army. This photo was taken in 1948.
After I started at Timely I became very good friends with Syd. I was doing the backgrounds on his pages for Captain America. Syd and his wife were a huge help to me when I got divorced from my first wife. That was a dark period in my life. They were great people and treated me great. RA: Al Avison preceded Syd on Captain America, is that correct? BELLMAN: Avison was a freelancer. Syd was in the bullpen, but, yeah, I think Al did the lead stories for Captain America before Syd took over. I never saw him. Never saw Jack Kirby or Joe Simon, either. They were both gone before I got there. Syd was the main Captain America artist all the time I was there, right up to the end of the comic in 1949. RA: How many people were in the bullpen at that time? BELLMAN: We had an animators’ department, which I never had too much to do with, and then the guys working on the super-hero and adventure books. That’s where Syd and I were. Maybe 20, 25 people. It’s hard going back to 1942 and figuring how many people might have been working in the bullpen then. I’m 94 and I’m lucky some days to remember what I had for breakfast. RA: You and me both. [laughs] What else, if anything, was Syd also working on at Timely during this period? BELLMAN: Captain America probably kept him pretty busy, but I’m sure they gave him other assignments when they could. If they didn’t have a Cap story available, they’d give “We’ll Always Have Paris!” him something else. He In drawing many of the World War was a good artist. They II-era covers of Captain America Comics, weren’t going to waste such as this one for #29 (Aug. 1943), Shores was following the lead of Alex him! Schomburg, who delineated most of the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Marvel Mystery Comics covers of that era—with a horde of people and paraphernalia crowding the canvas, many of them labeled for clarity. The signs and strewnabout papers in this one reveal that Cap and Bucky are coming to the rescue of members of the anti-Nazi French underground. The GCD suggests that perhaps Syd had an inking assist—by an unidentified artist—on it. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
RA: I probably should remind modern-day readers of this interview that, in those days, comics were 64 pages long, not 32 pages as they generally are today, and there weren’t that many advertisements included. There were probably more than 50 pages of content at the time. [NOTE: In fact,
A Star-Spangled Salute to SYD SHORES – Part III
“DOC V” On The Life & Legacy Of SYD SHORES
27
A Comics Historian’s View Conducted & Transcribed By Richard J. Arndt
I
NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, better known to comic fans as “Doc V,” is one of the primary authorities on the company that started out as Timely, became Atlas, and ended up as Marvel Entertainment. His website timely-atlascomics.blogspot.com is an excellent place to gain more information on all things related to that company. At Nancy Shores Karlebach’s suggestion, we contacted Doc V for his take on Nancy’s father—Syd Shores. This interview took place July 27, 2018.
RICHARD ARNDT: Michael, it’s nice to finally talk to you. I’ve admired your work for quite some time. It’s been invaluable to comic historians. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO: Thank you. RA: I guess we should start out on how you got acquainted with Syd Shores. VASSALLO: I remember seeing his work, back in the early 1970s,
Syd Shores In The Marvel Age Of Comics Doc V reports he first encountered Syd Shores’ work as inker of Jack Kirby’s Captain America (as per above splash from #107, Nov. 1968), with script by Stan Lee—but his first glimpse of what Syd himself looked like was most likely his self-portrait that accompanied his full-art job in Tower of Shadows #5 (May 1970), scripted by Gerry Conway. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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A Comics Historian’s View
on sort of secondary features at Marvel, and elsewhere as a penciler. I also remember his inking Jack Kirby on Captain America. This would have been the 1960s revival, which started off with #100, taking up the numbering from Tales of Suspense, which Syd also inked for a bit. I also remember the little blurb stating he’d passed away. Those two events bookended roughly five or six years’ time. However, when I started getting involved with the history of Atlas and Timely, I realized that this guy was all over the place, and, man, was he good! That pretty much opened my eyes to Syd Shores. RA: One of the things I’ve noticed about his early work was that a lot of 1940s artwork can appear to be rather static to modern eyes. Syd’s 1940s work is anything but! It’s quite dynamic. It may not be quite as kinetic as Jack Kirby’s was at the time, but it wasn’t far behind. VASSALLO: No, it is not. His work is extremely dynamic. I know from talking to Nancy that Syd was somewhat upset that he wasn’t really able to break in at Marvel as a penciler when he came back to comics in the latter part of the 1960s. Stan Lee was seemingly hesitant to put him on any top features. RA: That’s always seemed a little odd to me. If nothing else, his 1960s art style would have seemed perfect for Iron Man. VASSALLO: I agree totally. I don’t think he was given the chance. Years ago, Mark Evanier mentioned, I think it was on the old, old, old Kirby list from the mid-1990s, that folks were complaining to Marvel, and so pretty much directly, to Stan Lee, that Shores’ inking looked very old-fashioned. It was being called muddy, which may have referred to the way it looked when printed. The original artwork is actually quite crisp. Mark suspected that may have happened due to the way Syd inked. He didn’t use a bottle of ink. Mind you, I’m completely ignorant of the tools used in inking, but from my remembrance of what Mark said, Syd used a solid ink block, which had to be repeatedly dipped with or in water. That sounds crazy to me. I don’t really know anything about it, but that type of inking apparently made the reproduction extremely muddy and that was the main reason that he was soon taken off inking Kirby. RA: You’re right in saying that really makes no sense, as I’ve seen original pages of Kirby/Shores work for that time period and the inking looks just fine. He was also inking Gene Colan’s work on Daredevil at the time, and the type of production problems you’ve mentioned should also have been appearing there, but I recall those pages as being quite nice. [NOTE: For the record, I’ve looked at both the Epic (color) and Essential (black & white) Captain America reprint volumes for those issues, and Syd’s pages are indeed much darker (muddier, if you will) than the preceding issues inked by either Frank Giacoia or Joe Sinnott, or the issues directly after inked by Dan Adkins and George Tuska. The reproduction, even in black-&-white, is not as clear. Syd also appears to have routinely reworked Cap’s head on the interior pages on a regular basis, causing it to appear to be a Syd Shores head and not a Jack Kirby one, and also completely redrew The Red Skull’s head whenever he appeared on covers—this, at least, apparently in an effort to appease the Comic Code requirements.] VASSALLO: True enough. Well, it was a Mark Evanier story that described Stan’s complaining about Syd Shores’ inking around 1968-1969 or so. RA: It’s hard to believe there would have been that many complaints from readers about any artist at Marvel at that time, when they were still running strong with fans. Still, who knows? VASSALLO: Exactly. Who knows? Mark might have some inside information on that situation, since later he was Jack’s assistant, but who knows?
Syd Was A Real Sport! But this wasn’t a sports-oriented comic mag in which he depicted a flawlessly drawn boxing match—it was the crime comic Tales of Justice #57 (Dec. 1955)—so you can bet there was some skullduggery involved before too many more panels. Scripter unknown. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
RA: That kind of complaint didn’t make it into the letters pages in any great detail, since that would have been memorable. VASSALLO: You’re right. It didn’t. RA: I actually admired his work inking Gene Colan on Daredevil quite a bit. VASSALLO: I do, too, and Gene was a huge admirer of Syd Shores. Every time I talked to Gene, he would rave about how much Syd helped him on that title, how great an artist he was—on and on. In fact, with most of the Timely/Atlas/Marvel artists that I’ve talked to over the years, Syd’s name always comes up. I believe that he, in an unofficial position, was acting as the art director at the Timely and Atlas bullpen. He was a mentor to every new artist who was trying to break in on staff. They all went to him with their problems. How to flesh out a scene, how to do pacing, how to do this or that. Syd apparently always took the time to help everybody who needed it. He was also usually older than everybody else, too. RA: Not that much older than everybody, was he? VASSALLO: Yeah, he was in his late twenties when he got into comics and would have been in his thirties or older during the postwar Timely years. Only Christopher Rule, I suppose, would have been older than Syd. Syd died young, at age 58 or 59, but
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The Voice Of The [Green] Turtle Is Heard In The Land The Life & Tough Times of Chinese-American Artist CHU HING
A/E
by Alex Jay
EDITOR’S NOTE: Alter Ego #162 featured Mark Carlson-Ghost’s illuminating article on several fly-by-night, often quasi-legal (at best) comicbook publishers of the late World War II years, 1944-45. One of the most memorable super-heroes to emerge from those days was “The Green Turtle,” drawn and quite possibly written by Chu Hing, for Rural Home Publications’ Blazing Comics #1-4. At that time, Alex Jay provided us with scans of interior art from those issues, and— even more welcome—with a photo of Chu Hing as a young man. Alex had also scribed a biographical article about the artist for his online blog http:// chimericaneyes.blogspot.com/2014/01/aboutartist-chu-f-hing.html. Although it is written in a somewhat more formal and bare-bones style than the usual A/E entry, we found the piece fascinating, as it illustrates yet again how much thorough research is being done concerning comics and their creators, and we’re delighted that Alex permitted us to reprint it here, only slightly edited—mainly by omitting lengthy “http” and other references, which interested readers can obtain by logging onto the original online article….
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hu Fook Hing was born on January 17, 1897, in the city of Kapaa on the Kauai island of Hawaii.1 His father was Chu Kin, and his mother was Chong Shee (Miss Chong).2 Chu was the family name; it is customary in Chinese culture to state the family name first. From China, Chu Kin arrived in Hawaii in 1882.3 Chong Shee arrived ten years later and they married that year.4 Chu Kin was a dry goods merchant.5 Hing was the second of 15 children.6 Around 1909 the Chu family moved from Kapaa to Hilo, Hawaii.7 Nothing is known of Hing’s Hawaiian art education, but there was evidence of his enthusiasm. A Minnesota newspaper, the Duluth News Tribune, published an article on October 13, 1912, about how its fifth- and sixth-grade students studied geography. The fifth-graders mailed picture postcards and letters about Duluth to fifth-graders in Arizona, Hawaii and other states. Soon, hundreds of cards arrived. The most prolific correspondents of the Duluth schoolchildren seem to be the fifth-graders of Hilo. In addition to dozens of cards from Chu Fook Hing, Chu Fook Tang, and Dora Conradt, there are
Chu Hing in 1919, the only known photo of him—plus two of his later comicbook covers: (Left:) His masked-aviator hero “The Green Turtle” starred inside and on the covers of the first four issues of Rural Home Publications’ Blazing Comics. Seen here is that of #2 (July 1944), co-featuring his sidekick Burma Boy. The other three “Green Turtle” covers of Blazing were depicted in A/E #162. Surprisingly, this is virtually the only time the hero’s face, even though masked, was seen straight on in the entire series; usually, it was turned away from the reader, for reasons speculated on three issues back. (Below:) Other features’ heroes had taken over the cover spot from the former superhero Blue Bolt some time before Vol. 4, #5 (Dec. 1943) of that Novelty comic. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database & Alex Jay for the cover scans. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
many letters careful and conventional in both English and punctuation, and containing such quaint bits of information as “Hilo is a rainy place and is called in sport the ‘Rainy City,’” “The chief industries of Hawaii are sugar-cane and coffee,” and “Each gulch has ever-running streams.”8 Hing’s brother, Tang, was a year older than he.9 Hing continued making art in junior high and high school. He was 21 years old when he filled out his military registration card on July 31, 1918.10 Apparently he did not serve in the military. World
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The Life & Tough Times Of Chinese-American Artist Chu Hing
War I ended 3½ months later. The coming year would be one of new opportunities for some of the Chu children. In 1919, with financial support from his father, Hing decided to go to Chicago for professional training at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Some of his siblings decided to leave, too. His younger brother, Ngu, was the first to depart for Chicago; he boarded a freighter on July 14. Steaming through the Panama Canal, Ngu landed in Philadelphia on September 1. From there he went to New York, where he stayed for 2½ days and then continued on to Chicago.11 Next to leave was Hing, who boarded the S.S. Niagara at Honolulu on September 23; he landed at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on September 29.12 After a week in Vancouver, he departed aboard the S.S. Princess Victoria on October 7 and arrived in Seattle the next day.13 His younger brother, Fong, followed in December.14 His sister, Mew Kee, arrived in Chicago in September 1920.15
A. January 17, 1896. [His World War I draft card said 1897.]
Complying with Chinese Exclusion Act regulations, Hing went to the Seattle immigration office and applied for admission; a case file was opened. He answered, in English, questions by the Examining Inspector of the Immigration Service. Below is his October 8, 1919, testimony:
Q. Where was she born?
Q. You were born where? A. Kaapa, Hawaii. Q. Your father’s name? A. Chu Kin. Q. What does he do? A. Tailor Q. Is he Chinese born or Hawaiian? A. Chinese. Q. Your mother’s name? A. Chong Shee. A. China. Q. Are you a full blooded Chinese? A. Yes.
Q. What is your name?
Q. Ever been in China?
A. Chu Fook Hing.
A. No, I have never been there.
Q. Give me the date of your birth.
Q. What is your father’s financial standing? A. I don’t know. Q. You have how many brothers and sisters? A. 14. Q. Has your father had more than one wife? A. Only one. Q. How many of your brothers and sisters are in the United States? A. One. Q. What is his name? A. Chu Fook Ng You [sic]. Q. How old is he? A. Between 17 and 18. Q. When did he come to the mainland? A. Reached Chicago September 8th this year. Q. How does it come you didn’t come together? A. Couldn’t get a boat; traffic all tied up at San Francisco; he went by way of the Panama Canal and worked his way up through Philadelphia. Q. What is your brother doing here? A. He is studying automobile business. Q. And you are going to do what? A. Study art; I am going to study at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Q. Who will support you? A. My father (presents Certificate of Identity 2012 issued at Honolulu January 12, 1909 to Chu Fook Hing, aged 13, height 4’ 4”; scar on first finger of left hand).
So Where’s His Brother Hopalong? The 1951 Butch Cassidy [and the Wild Bunch] #1-and-only from Avon Comics contained a backup feature on the Pony Express, drawn by Chu Hing. Scripter unknown. With thanks to Alex Jay. [© the respective copyright holders.]
Q. It will be necessary for you to bring to this office a photograph for identification purpose. A. Yes.16
The Voice Of The [Green] Turtle Is Heard In The Land
47
Society website. In the early 1950s, Hing’s comicbook work ended.74 Apparently the couple had not been able to get their kites, doll, and toys produced. With limited finances, they eventually moved out of New York. By 1966, but probably earlier, Hing and Helga were in Honolulu, Hawaii, living on their Social Security checks.75 On May 6 of that year, Helga wrote a letter to Mrs. Elizabeth Paepcke, who was married to Walter Paul Paepcke, the founder of the Container Corporation of America. (“With Walter, Elizabeth became an important figure in the cultural and social life of Chicago. She was involved in the Art Institute, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera and numerous other organizations.”76) Dear Mrs. Paepcke, Please listen to my prayer. I am Helga Chu. I would ask you because I know how generous and sympathetic you are. Hing is going blind. The doctors here, Dr. Fouljner and others, have given him 3 more months and the last light will be going out forever.77 In her letter Helga laments that the local art academy was not
l Love Desi This biographical feature from Eastern Color’s Juke Box Comics #1 (1949) told the story of musician Desi Arnaz up to that time—including the rise of his popular dance band and his 1940 marriage to then-minor movie star Lucille Ball. Little could the anonymous scripter, let alone artist Chu Hing, have guessed what lay in store for the talented Cuban and his comic genius wife in the next few years, as their TV series I Love Lucy became one of the most popular and influential shows ever. And Arnaz’s technical innovations (three-camera comedy, filming TV shows, the concept of syndicated re-runs, etc.) were if anything even more important. Thanks to Alex Jay. [© the respective copyright holders.]
interested in exhibiting Hing’s art. She also revealed the tension between them and Hing’s family: We are both very depressed. Hing’s family does not care if we live or die. To them I have never been more than a Polack [sic] as his sisters call me or an old hag.78 Helga still had hope of returning to Chicago and she shared her idea with Mrs. Paepcke: Hing and I were 69 years of age on January 17. We are receiving Social Security of 180 dollars a month and from July doctors and hospitals are free. We have a life insurance of 2 tousand [sic] dollars... We can borrow 1000 dollars and come to Chicago... I am sure I can find a nice little studio in Chicago and we will live there.79 How Mrs. Paepcke responded is not known. Helga and Hing remained in Honolulu. Fourteen months later Hing passed away August 1967.80 Fourteen years later Helga passed away in July 1981.81
“It’s All Greek To Me!” The title of the Avon comic was Police Lineup (#1, Aug. 1951)… but that issue’s “Truth Not Fancy” filler, drawn by Chu Hing, illustrated the timeline of military-technological development from the famous “Greek fire” of ancient times to its modern descendant, the flamethrower, introduced during World War I and coming into its own in WWII. Scripter unknown. Thanks to Alex Jay. By the way, our heading is a not-100%-accurate Shakespearean quotation from Julius Caesar, but hopefully close enough for a comics fanzine. [© the respective copyright holders.]
Special thanks to the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library for permission to use Helga Chu’s letter from the Elizabeth H. Paepcke Papers. For further reading on Chu Hing, see Comic Book Marketplace #109 (Dec. 2003); AC Comics’ Men of Mystery #25 (2000); Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton (Taylor Publishing, 1992); Chinese Historic Sites and Pioneer Families of Kauai; A Local History Project of the Hawaii Chinese History Center
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(Above:) A reworked version of the 1985 booklet, Fifty Who Made DC Great. Art by Curt Swan & Murphy Anderson. [© DC Comics.]
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Mr. Monster’s Comics Crypt!
Mort Weisinger: The Superman Behind Superman (Part 2)
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Sci-Fi Profile: Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane?
No, It’s The Superman Behind Superman—Mort Weisinger (Part 2)
by Michael T. Gilbert
ast issue we reprinted part one of science-fiction fan/historian Sam Moskowitz’s fascinating profile of SF fan, agent, writer, and editor Mort Weisinger, which originally appeared in Ziff-Davis’ Amazing Stories, Vol. 38, #8 (Aug. 1964). This time Sam explores Mort’s comicbook career. Though Moskowitz didn’t know it at the time, Weisinger (who began editing for DC in March 1941) was nearing the end of his run at DC. By 1970, as sales for the Superman-starring comics fell, he admitted he was no longer in touch with his readers and retired to write articles for various non-comic publications. For many fans, it signaled the end of the Silver Age. Reading Moskowitz’s article, we see short shrift given to the later years of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of DC’s most lucrative character. That’s not too surprising, as the duo had tried to wrest control of their character from DC with a lawsuit in 1947, and failed. They received a one-time payment of $94,013.16—almost a million bucks in today’s money—which (after lawyer fees) they quickly ran through. Not surprisingly, DC refused them any further work. Joe continued in comics for a few more years, before fading eyesight forced him from the field. Jerry fell on hard times, too, and he left comics for a steady job as a mailroom typist for the post office. In 1959 he returned to DC, hat in hand. After years of near poverty, Siegel once again found himself a work-for-hire cog laboring for Mort on a multi-million-dollar character he and Shuster had created. True to form, Weisinger treated Jerry poorly. Siegel’s work for Weisinger ended in 1966 when DC learned he was once again planning to sue the company. This occurred a year later, when the 28 years of Superman’s initial copyright was ending. The lawsuit failed and Jerry Siegel was once more persona non grata at DC. It’s possible that Moskowitz’s article, unintentionally diminishing Siegel’s contributions to DC (by crediting Mort rather than Jerry and the other writers with innovations such as the Phantom Zone, time travel, “imaginary” stories, and such), fueled the fire of Siegel’s resentment.
by Sam Moskowitz
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eisinger was not primarily interested in becoming a fiction writer, though he qualified for the American Fiction Guild, where eligibility required the sale of 100,000 words of fiction, and became its secretary. One evening, at a meeting, he heard that one of the editors at Standard Magazines had quit. The editorial director at Standard was a remarkable man named Leo Margulies, who guided the destiny of between 40 and 50 pulp magazines. Weisinger had previously entered a contest sponsored by Popular Detective, one of Margulies’s brood, which paid five cents a word for each word short of 1000 in which a good “whodunit” could be written. He made a good impression on Margulies by compressing a salesworthy plot into 500 words for a story called “Rope Enough.” When he approached Margulies at a meeting and asked for the job, he got it, at $15 a week. At the age of 20, Mort Weisinger was on his way! Now fate played a hand. Hugo Gernsback’s Wonder Stories, which had survived six years of the worst depression in the nation’s history, could no longer pay its way. Standard Magazines purchased it early in 1936. Weisinger was the logical man to edit the publication, except that Standard Magazines had a policy that every story had to be approved by three editors. A limited pool of harried and overworked men were cumulatively editing over 40 magazines and none of them knew anything of science-fiction except Weisinger. They tended to “OK” anything he wanted without even giving it a reading. Thereby he “beat the system” and became editor of the magazine in fact as well as theory. Because of tough competition in adult sciencefiction from Astounding Stories, Margulies and publisher Ned Pines decided to aim for the teenage market. They changed the title to Thrilling Wonder Stories (Standard Magazines were trademarked as the “Thrilling” group) and established a policy of action covers, preferably with a monster involved. So frequent and varied were the monsters on Thrilling Wonder Stories covers, and so bulging their eyes, that the term Bug Eyed Monster (BEM) originated and was fostered in that publication.
Jerry, a long-time sci-fi fan, almost certainly read this article. Once the star of the show, he’d become a poorly paid bit player while Weisinger reaped fame and fortune. Though we’ll never know for sure, “The Superman behind Superman“ may have been a contributing factor in Siegel’s decision to sue DC a second time. And now… Play it again, Sam!
Sam Moskowitz Portrait of the fan and author, drawn in 1957 by legendary sci-fi artist Frank R. Paul for the cover of Sam Moskowitz: A Bibliography and Guide. [© the respective holders.]
Despite the raucousness of the covers and the juvenile slant, Weisinger, through his knowledge of the field, managed to retain the magazine’s readers by securing authors of considerable appeal. From the pages of [his fanzine] Science Fiction Digest he reprinted two A. Merritt stories that had never previously appeared in a professional magazine. He secured original stories from Otis Adelbert Kline, who had achieved a substantial following
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The Family Car(s)
Part XIV Of JOHN BROOME’s My Life In Little Pieces
A/E
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last issue’s installment of the esteemed Golden/Silver Age comicbook writer’s 1998 “Offbeat Autobio” detailed several anecdotes relating to his wife Peggy, who had a way with a phrase herself. We continue that accounting this time around, with a sideways look at the family unit’s colorful automobiles over the years, courtesy of their daughter Ricky Terry Brisacque. The text is, as always, © the Estate of Irving Bernard “John” Broome….
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eggy’s penchant for giving fanciful names to our household articles extended to the automobiles we owned at various times, starting with a Model A Ford, a two-seater coupe that had served as a chicken coop in the previous owner’s backyard for some years. We had to clean out the feathers and the chicken doo-doo to use it. Obviously, it didn’t look like much, but it was cheap—this was in the depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s and $15 was what we paid for it. However, would it work? We got hold of a battery, attached it, and cranked. After a few tries, the old flivver exploded with a roar, shaking off chicken feathers and doo-doo to all sides like a dog coming out of a lake. In spite of this spectacular demonstration of the vitality of American industry, Peggy named the Ford “Dying Capitalism”—in those days, all the young people we knew were communists. But in time, we learned better, I’m glad to say. Our next car was a yellow Cadillac convertible with a golf club compartment, if you please, in the rear—no one had money to buy gasoline for such a huge car which did gallons to the mile almost, so we got it for a song, for $50, and Peggy, still loyal to her ideals, named it “Comrade Cadillac.” After that came a boxy but economical Chevrolet that brought us home safe and sound, and dry, more than once through thunderstorms in upstate New York where after the War we had begun to live. Water seemed the natural element of that old Chevy—it became the “Santa Maria.” It was followed by a big gray Nash Ambassador, a car with a “powerful warhorse of an engine” that we kept for years, but which finally succumbed when a possibly overworked grease monkey left off the screw-on cap after checking the transmission oil level. It was with much regret, some months later, that we conducted the Old Gray Mare, emitting an increasingly loud wheeze of protest, to her final resting place, a Mad Max-type junkyard in nearby Poughkeepsie. Our last car didn’t need a nickname: a four-seater blue convertible, it came equipped with its own: the Minx, dainty and spunky as an English lass: imported, yes, because Detroit had
John, Peggy, & Ricky Broome in 1956. (We ran this photo three years ago, but it’s one of the few we have of Mrs. Broome, so thanks again to Ricky Terry Brisacque for the picture.) (Right:) Although John speaks this issue of some of the clunkers the Broome family owned at one time or another, at least he got to write about one of the supreme automobiles of popular fiction—the Batmobile, as per this page from Detective Comics #331 (Sept. 1964), as penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Giella for editor Julius Schwartz’s “New Look Batman.” Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © DC Comics.]
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“There Was Always A Party In The Comics Department On Payday!” The Thrilling True Story of HARVEY JANES & Fawcett Publications Interview Conducted by Shaun Clancy Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck
Harvey B. Janes in the backyard of his Salt Point, NY, residence in March 2012, with one of his rescued racetrack dogs. Photo courtesy of Shaun Clancy. (Above left:) Harvey Janes wrote the cover story “Science Creates a Monster”—a behind-the-scenes article on the Universal horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon—for the May 1954 issue of Fawcett’s Mechanix Illustrated. Janes later became the magazine’s Science & Auto Editor. (Above right:) The masthead of Fawcett’s Jackie Robinson #6 (1952) listed Janes as editor. The 32-page story centered around the baseball star’s most famous plays and was scripted by Charles Dexter, with art by Clem Weisbecker. Fawcett Publications led the way, among mainstream comics companies, in comics featuring African-Americans… in this case, the first “Negro” player in Major League Baseball. [TM & © the respective copyright holders.]
“There Was Always A Party In The Comics Department On Payday!”
FCA
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: You may be asking yourself, “Who’s Harvey Janes?” In 2010, Golden Age comics fan-collector-historian Shaun Clancy had managed to locate Chris Lieberson, son of 1950s Fawcett managing editor Will Lieberson. Chris was still living in the same New York City apartment Will had lived in back in the day. During one of their conversations, the name “Harvey Janes” popped up. Harvey was just 19 years old when he began working in the comics department at Fawcett, and became a close friend of Will and his family. Shaun was able to track down Harvey, and a series of phone calls, beginning in January of 2012, revealed a vivid memory filled with fascinating stories from the former Fawcett employee. In March of 2012, during a road trip from Seattle to Boston, Shaun stopped by to visit Harvey at his house in Salt Point, NY. Reminiscing with Shaun of days gone by was at the forefront of Harvey’s mind, as he had just survived a bout with cancer and was quietly taking care of two rescued greyhound race track dogs. Sadly, Harvey B. Janes passed away on June 17th, 2014. —P.C. Hamerlinck SHAUN CLANCY: Let’s begin with some background information. When and where were you born? HARVEY JANES: I was born December 12, 1930, in the Bronx at a place called Webb’s Sanatorium. One of my father’s older brothers was a doctor there, as well as the co-owner of it. SC: Any siblings? JANES: No.
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JANES: Yes, I was an editor for the newspaper at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, along with Edward S. Feldman, who became a famous movie producer [Witness], and Bruce Jay Friedman, who became a famous novelist and screenwriter [Stir Crazy]. When I later got a job at Magazine Management editing a car magazine, there sat Bruce [laughs] editing one of their men’s magazines! What a small world. SC: Did you go to college? JANES: I attended the New School of Development and Research in New York City. SC: Was Fawcett Publications your first full-time employment out of school? JANES: No, my first full-time job was with a clipping bureau. One of the duties I had there was carrying large sacks of envelopes full of mailings from the post office a few blocks away. One day, I’m carrying these huge bags down the sidewalk when I was accosted by some guys. One of them pushed me and I fell over. At the time I happened to be a welter-weight boxer about to turn pro, and so I got up and beat the s*** out of him. I thought that the other guys would jump me, but they didn’t. I called up the next day and quit the job. I didn’t like the people there anyway and, for all I knew, those guys would’ve tried to gang up on me again. After that, I went looking for another job, and that’s how I wound up at Fawcett! [both laugh]
SC: Your father, J. George Janes, was a pulp artist. Did he want you to become an artist?
SC: How did you get the job at Fawcett? JANES: I got it through an employment agency. I was hired to be a clerk in the comics production department under Annette Packer.
JANES: My dad thought I was going to be an artist. My mom even kept some drawings I had done when I was 4 or 5 years old. My dad would’ve loved to have helped me, and I did study art, but I became more interested in writing. Because of my dad’s contacts, I was already selling articles to publishers when I was 16 and 17 years old, so I went in that direction instead of art.
SC: Was she the one who actually hired you at Fawcett? What year was this? JANES: Annette hired me in late 1949. After a week there I got my first paycheck and Annette called me and said, “You got a raise!” The reason I got a raise was because the minimum wage law had just changed. [both laugh]
SC: Were you on the high school newspaper?
Pulps & Pinups (Left to right:) Harvey B. Janes’ father, pulp artist J. George Janes, in 1927. For further information on the elder Janes’ career, compiled by David Saunders, visit https://www.pulpartists.com/Janes.html. J. George Janes’ cover for Secret Agent X (April 1934), published by A.A. Wyn’s Ace Magazines. Scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] In this March 2012 photo, Harvey proudly displays one of his father’s pinup paintings.
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Fawcett Collectors Of America
SC: It seemed like there was such a fun atmosphere at Fawcett. We’ve previously published photos of some of the get-togethers and parties, including editor Ginny Provisiero’s Fawcett 10-year anniversary party… JANES: Ginny and Edna Hagen were always man-crazy! Did Ginny ever marry? SC: No, she didn’t. In a big group photo from Will Lieberson’s 10-year anniversary party, those two ladies are the only ones sitting on men’s laps! JANES: They were always looking for men! [both laugh] SC: Do you remember the lawsuit between National (DC) and Fawcett? JANES: Oh boy, do I remember that! We were locked away for days ALTER EGO #167 Salute Golden & Silver Age artist SYDthat SHORES as he’s re- Marvel did trying to come upto with stuff to prove Captain membered by daughter NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH, fellow things beforeartist Superman didDR. them. WeJ. spent many hours looking ALLEN BELLMAN, MICHAEL VASSALLO, and interviewerand RICHARD ARNDT. Plus: mid-1940s “Green Turtle” artthrough comics materials. ist/creator CHU HING profiled by ALEX JAY, JOHN BROOME, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster on MORT WEISINGER
SC: Did Fawcett supply you with Superman and other comics so that Part Two, and more! you could compare them withFULL-COLOR the “Captain Marvel” (84-page magazine) $9.95 stories? (Digital Edition) $4.99
JANES: Oh, yes. We were given piles of comicbooks to find things https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=1553 that preceded “Superman.” SC: Were you successful in finding anything? JANES: Sure, we found a lot of examples. We found some things that came before a lot of the stuff that Superman was supposed to have originated. We thought we had a strong case and that it wasn’t plagiarism on Fawcett’s part. SC: Who else besides you were assigned to research material for the case? JANES: Edna, Ginny, Dagny [Weste], Wendell Crowley, Al Jetter, Otto Binder, and others. Will Lieberson asked us to do it. SC: Dagny later married Wendell. JANES: I remember the day in 1970 when Will told me Wendell had died. Dagny was Will’s secretary, so that’s how she and Wendell met each other. One time in the comics department we did a circus sideshow skit. Will was the ringleader. Wendell, at 6’8”, was, of course, the giant. Kay Woods was the fat lady; Edna Hagen was the skinny lady; the midget was Bruce Nichols. The strong-man was Roy Ald. Roy Ald used to do handstands during meetings. [both laugh] SC: Did you know that Wendell collected all of Fawcett’s comics while he was working there?
Annette Packer A pic of Fawcett’s comics production supervisor at Will Lieberson’s Fawcett 10-year anniversary party, held on July 11, 1952.
JANES: No, I didn’t, but I once had a collection of comics. I had a wooden chest that my father made for me when I was about 8 years old and, because of my father’s connections in the publishing world, he’d bring home all kinds of comicbooks, including early Superman issues. The chest was full of them! Shortly after I got married, my parents moved from the Bronx to Long Island and they wanted to use that chest, so they threw away all the comicbooks inside of it! [both laugh]
Super-Hero Circus To strengthen their case in the National (DC) vs. Fawcett lawsuit over whether or not Captain Marvel was infringing on Superman’s trademark and copyrights, Janes was among several people at Fawcett assigned to gather material for the defense. When it came to circus covers, at least, C.C. Beck’s for Whiz Comics #6 (July 1940) preceded Paul Cassidy’s for Action Comics #27 (Aug. 1940). [Action cover TM & © DC Comics; Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]