Alter Ego #178 Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

$10.95 In the USA No. 178 November2022Rhapsody In Four Colors! MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT PROUDLY PRESENTS: Gershwin’sEmil Roy Thomas' Star-Gazing Comics Fanzine Comics.DC©&TMSmasherSpy&artStarman MICHAEL T. GILBERT PETER NORMANTON & The FCA Salute A Great Golden Age Artist! HEH! THIS ISSUE FEATURE...WE AND MORE!!! TM TM 1 8 2 6 5 8 0 0 4 7 1 2

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Alter Ego, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. 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: $68 US, $103 Elsewhere, $29 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. FIRST PRINTING. & P.C. (founder) #237 71 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Brian Cremins on Gershwin’s Spy Smasher #4— & Citizen Kane! Our Cover: Michael T. Gilbert assembled this issue’s montage cover, composed of classic images by our featured creator, artist Emil Gershwin. Its ultimate sources: the “Starman” splash panel from DC’s Adventure Comics #100 (Oct.-Nov. 1945), the Astral Avenger’s third-from-last solo appearance, from a script by Joe Samachson. Also seen is a Gershwin panel from Fawcett’s Spy Smasher #4 (April 22, 1942)… and a distinctively devilish-looking vampire from ACG’s Adventures into the Unknown #20 (June 1951). Curiously, Michael T. chose to “flop” both the Starman and vampire pics—i.e., utilizing a “mirror image” of them. [Starman art & Spy Smasher TM & © DC Comics; other art © the respective copyright holders.]

MarkHamerlinckLewis(Cover Coordinator) Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails

Layout Christopher Day Consulting Editor John Morrow FCA Editor

Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich, Bill Schelly Proofreader William J. Dowlding Cover Artist Emil Gershwin Cover Colorists Unknown With Special Thanks to: Heidi LindseyBobRichardAmashArndtBaileyBaird, Jr. Alberto Becattini Jerry J.T.JanetNancyJeanJoeShaneBrianComicChetPierreShaunJohnMarkNickMitchellChristopherDannyBeck&CarolBierschwalBoykoBrownCaputoCarlson-GhostCiminoClancyComtoisCoxBookPlus(website)CreminsFoleyFrankFriedrichGershwinGilbertGo Frances Goulart Grand &Dr.JimSteveJeanDannRandyJimBobRickBarryThePeterBryanJimRobertBeverlyGeorge(website)DatabaseComicsHagenauerHahsHiggersonKealyMcMillanNormantonPaulNorrisFamilyPearlL.PhillipsRozakisSalicrupSargentThomasThomasThompsonVadeboncoeur,Jr.MichaelJ.VassallothelateHamesWare This issue is dedicated to the memory of Emil Gershwin, Lee Goldsmith, Mel Keefer, Ron Goulart, & Albert DeGuzman Contents Writer/Editorial: Emil Who?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mr . Monster’s Comic Crypt! Emil Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Four Colors (Parts 1-4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Michael T. Gilbert & daughter Nancy Gershwin salute a great but almost forgotten comicbook artist. From The Tomb: The Horror Of Emil Gershwin . . . . . . . . . . 48 Peter Normanton on the vintage terror-tales concocted by this Golden Age talent. re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . 55 Tributes To Lee Goldsmith, Ron Goulart, Albert DeGuzman, & Mel Keefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Vol. 3, No. 178 November 2022 Editor Roy Thomas Associate Editor Jim Amash Design

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Alter Ego TM issue 178, November 2022 (ISSN 1932-6890) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC.

Above: This “Spy Smasher” splash page, likewise attributed to Emil Gershwin, although with a bit less certainty than the cover drawings, is from Whiz Comics #38 (Dec. 25, 1942). Gershwin’s art on the “Spy Smasher” series strongly resembled that of its previous series artist, Mac Raboy, but Raboy apparently didn’t draw this one. Scripter unknown. [Spy Smasher TM & © DC Comics.]

3 (Above:) Gershwin’s “The All Night Diner!” from Adventures Into The Unknown #77 (Oct. 1956). [© the respective copyright holders.] Emil Gershwin.

EMIL

RhapsodyGERSHWIN’SInFourColors(Part1)

by Michael T. Gilbert first discovered Emil Gershwin in an old issue of Adventures into the Unknown, which seems fitting, as the cartoonist was virtually unknown even to his fans. Gershwin rarely signed his work, so even diehard aficionados were hard-pressed to name the man whose crisp, clean style they admired. Alex Toth was one of these. That cartooning legend shared his admiration for Emil with the latter’s daughter, TV and film producer Nancy Gershwin. She writes: “After he [Emil] passed away in 1999, we were contacted by a number of people who wanted to know more about his life and work. One of those people was legendary comicbook artist and animation designer Two By Gershwin (Above:) A double-page splash drawn by Emil Gershwin for Fawcett Publications’ Spy Smasher #4 (April 22, 1942). Scripter unknown. [Spy Smasher TM & © DC Comics.]

4 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

(Right:) A few months before this “Starman” splash from Adventure Comics #91 (April-May 1944), the artist had switched from Fawcett to its rival, National/DC. Though he penciled this story, it’s uncertain if he inked it as well. Script by Don Cameron. [TM & © DC Comics.] I

5Emil Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Four Colors

Alex Toth. A few years before he himself passed away [in 2006], we spoke at length, and he followed up our conversation with a long letter about my dad, whom he called comics’ ‘Mystery Man’—both because he was prolific in the crime and mystery genres and because he often preferred to ghost or draw under pseudonym.“ Toth’s expressive letter was written in his unique stream-ofconsciousness style: Toth Talks Gershwin! “Gershwin was Gershwin! He knew how to draw! Very well! Faces, figures! Didn’t need tricky stylized-embroideries to do convincing jobs of it—He was subtle, quiet, sure, and correct in articulating them convincingly—attractively, honestly—his way! His crime comics for the ‘Hillman’/ ‘Prize’ comics folks raised the bar of quality up quite a few notches—then, again, I lost sight of “Emilhim!Gershwin drew starkly-simple and strong, faces/figure,dramatically-well/cross-lit/and—bygum!—setpieces, props, background!!! Full-bodied and—very lively, animated, articulated, gesturallyexpressive, bouncy, upbeat, playfullyinventive artwork—for love stories! Mystery! Suspense! Horror! Too—so prolific was he there—obviously! Again showing his deft “Sadface Charlie” (Above:) Drawn by Emil Gershwin, for All Funny Comics #4 (Fall 1944). Scripter unknown. [TM & © DC Comics.]

17 (Above:) George Gershwin stars in True Comics #46 (Winter 1945). (Right:) George and Ira. [© the respective copyright holders.]

18 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Kith & Cousin (Above:) Nancy Gershwin writes that this is “a rather formal autographed photo my father had requested because his friends didn’t believe George was his cousin.” Emil was ten at the time. The inscription reads: “For my cousin, Emil — Every good wish, George Gershwin May 17, 1932.” [© 2022 Nancy Gershwin.]

(Above:) Standard/Nedor/Pine’s Real Life Comics #47 (Feb. 1949) featured a lovely four-page George Gershwin biography. Writer & artist uncertain. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Emil RhapsodyGershwin’sinFourColors(Part2)

omics pioneer Emil Gershwin had a very impressive cartooning career. But his world-famous cousins, George and Ira Gershwin, had a bit of comicbook fameOh,themselves.sure,we know them as one of the most famous musical songwriting teams of all time. Early on, composer George had worked with lyricist Buddy DeSylva on a series of revues, George White’s Scandals, while older brother Ira (a lyricist) enjoyed success with composer Vincent Youmans on Two Little Girls in Blue But from 1924, when the two collaborated on the Broadway hit Lady Be Good, the brothers wrote almost exclusively together, composing over two dozen scores for Broadway shows and Hollywood musicals. Their classic hits included Pulitzer Prize winner Of Thee I Sing and Porgy and Bess, among others. George attained great success in the concert arena as a piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer of such celebrated works as Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and Concerto in F. Their partnership lasted until George’s sudden death from a brain tumor in July 11th, 1937, at age 38. After a three-year hiatus, Ira continued on with a very successful career, collaborating with composers Jerome Kern (Cover Girl); Kurt Weill (Where Do We Go from Here? and Lady in the Dark); and Harold Arlen (Life Begins at 8:40 and the 1954 Judy Garland film A Star Is Born). Ira died at age 86 on August 17, 1983. But who cares about any of that old stuff? We wanna know about their comicbook careers! “Strike Up The Band!”

All three titles specialized in various celebrity true-life stories. They’re the kind of comics young Michael T. hated as a kid. However, I assume there were those who loved them—or at least their parents hoped so!

19Emil Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Four Colors

The Reign In Spain The Spanish magazine Vidas Ilustres #135 (April 1966) devoted a special 36-page issue to the life of George Gershwin. This edition was also translated into English. Written by Alfredo Gursa and drawn by Eduardo Martinez. [© Ediciones Recreativas, S. A.]

The Comic Connection? In addition to their musical triumphs, the Gershwin boys enjoyed a few brushes with comicbook fame. George had at least three four-color biographies: one in Nedor’s Real Life Comics, another in Parents Magazine’s True Comics, and a third in the Spanish magazine Vidas Ilustres. We’ve provided samples of each.

A Life Lived In Five Pages (Left & right:) The Gershwin boys debut the operatic Porgy and Bess and George begins to feel the effects of a soon-to-be fatal brain tumor, in True Comics #46 (Winter 1945). And all in less than half a dozen pages! Artist & writer unknown. [© the respective copyright holders.]

23 (Above:) Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. (Right:) Hames Ware.

24 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Emil RhapsodyGershwin’sInFourColors(Part3)“TheGreatUnknowns”

The Great Unknowns: Emil Gershwin! by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., and Hames Ware hen asked to name some of his artistic influences, Alex Toth responded with a short and pithy list: “Emil Gershwin, Mort

The “Merlin the Magician” splash page from the Quality group’s National Comics #11 (May 1941). Jim Vadeboncoeur says it’s the earliest Gershwin-drawn strip he can identify with any degree of certainty. Lovely stuff! Scripted by Toni Blum as “Lance Blackwood.” [© the respective copyright holders.]

J W

Unfurlin’ “Merlin”

Meskin, Jerry Robinson, and Lou Fine.” Almost everyone who read the names stumbled over the first one. Who on Earth is “Emil Gershwin”? What did he do? When? If Toth thinks so highly of him, why haven’t I heard of Well,him?nobody really knows much about him. He was credited on some Hillman work back in 1941. There was a “Private Parker” strip in Victory Comics #1 (Aug. 1941) and “Sergeant Flagg” strips “Handcuffs of Doom” in Victory #2 (Sept. 1941) and “Ordeal by Fire” in #3 (Nov. 1941). His early material is influenced by Alex Raymond, as were many of the artists of the day. These early Hillman books appear to have originated, at least partially, in Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., shop,

Introduction by Michael T. Gilbert im Vadeboncoeur Jr. and Carlton Hames Ware remain two of the most respected analysts of comicbook art in the field. Hames (who succumbed to cancer in 2018 at age 75) was Jerry Bails’ co-editor in their groundbreaking Who’s Who In American Comic Books, published in magazine/book form during the 1970s. A professional voice artist by trade, Hames also assisted William B. Jones, Jr., on his seminal book, Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History Jim V. has had many careers, book publishing being his most recent. Jim also co-wrote (with Hames) several installments of “The Great Unknowns” for Alter Ego years ago, turning the spotlight on little known masters of the comicbook field. In 2010 Jim and Hames decided to explore cartoonist Emil Gershwin’s career. It was no easy task, as most of Gershwin’s art was unsigned. Making things harder was the fact that, ten years ago, the comicbook digital revolution was still in its infancy. Today we have thousands of rare Golden and Silver Age comics available for downloading and research. That wasn’t true then. Despite those obstacles, Jim and Hames did an amazing job tracking down and categorizing Emil Gershwin’s career. Better yet, their article gives us an excuse to run some extremely rare art by one of the unsung masters of the form. Jim, citing health reasons, has chosen not to update this article for this printing. Nonetheless, the information they gathered is still solid. Happily, some questions about Gershwin’s personal life have subsequently been answered and can be found elsewhere in this issue. And now, let us explore…

Target Comics, Vol. 2, #8 (Oct. 1941), featuring “The White Streak and The Red Seal,” for the Novelty comics group. Art by Gershwin; script by Ray Gill. [© the respective copyright holders.] Man” story at Fiction House (Fight Comics #14, August) and a couple of “White Streak” strips in Target Comics at Novelty. Here again, the attributed work far outstrips his actual contributions. GCD credits place him there with issue #15 (V2, #5) on a story that is almost certainly Carl Burgos. Vol. 2, #s 4 & 5, retain that Burgos look, and Vol. 2, #7, is most likely Ken Battefield pencils with some Funnies, Inc., inker. Gershwin appears only in Vol. 2, #s 8 & 9 (Oct. and Nov.).

The next place we encounter him is a rung up the comic prestige ladder in some Fawcett books, now under the “spell” of Mac Raboy as much as Raymond. Gershwin, later in the decade, eventually goes on to assist Raboy on the Flash Gordon newspaper strip, but here he’s an unindicted co-conspirator in many Fawcett strips that have been attributed solely to Raboy and/or to Gene Mac Donald—whose credits in the “Who’s Who” don’t begin until two years later.

Sadly, Vol. 2, #9, is the last issue with “White Streak.” This Novelty work implies a Funnies, Inc., connection, while the Fight and the National stories both hint at Iger.

In Whiz Comics #27-29 (Feb.-April 1942), we think he’s doing the “Spy Smasher” story. He seems to be doing three of the four “SS” strips in Spy Smasher #4 (April 1942) and #5 (June 1942) and all of them in #6 (Aug. 1942) and #7 (Oct. 1942), but it’s difficult to be positive. Fawcett seems to have had several Raboy-emulators at this time. Though Gershwin may have been the most adept, it’s hard to distinguish a unique style this early, especially when looking at microfiche. We can be pretty sure that his “Spy Smasher” work didn’t span much more than six or eight months. By Spy Smasher #8-10,

Give Us The Power, Man! “Rip Regan, the Power-Man” from Fiction House’s Fight Comics #14 (Aug. 1941). Scripter unknown. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Well, It Was A Better Name Than Yellow Streak!

25Emil Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Four Colors although no one has ever placed Gershwin there. And tracking down his early appearances is doubly difficult. For one, the books he worked on are incredibly scarce and expensive. We simply can’t even look at many of them. Secondly, the indications of his work are often off base. For instance, he’s been credited with the “Eagle” and “Marga” stories at Fox in early issues of Science Comics, yet none of the three issues we’ve seen actually feature his art. For the record: “The Eagle” in #2 is probably by Arnold Hicks, #4 is a “?,” and #5 is August Froehlich—yet all three are listed as Gershwin in the Grand Comics Database. It’s unlikely that these would have been his work, as we’ve yet to conclusively document anything by him in 1940. The earliest we’ve been able to place him with much confidence is at National Comics #11 (Quality, May 1941) on the “Merlin the Magician” strip. This would likely place him at the Iger Shop, but again with no corroborative evidence that puts him there. It’s informative to notice just how sophisticated his art is at this stage. He’s already producing first-rate work, which does imply that he’s had prior Theexperience.manseems to be everywhere that year. He draws a “Power-

26 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Smashing Spies For Fun & Profit (Above:) Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., speculates that Gershwin may have worked on this story from Fawcett Publications’ Spy Smasher #6 (Aug. 26, 1942). Scripter unknown. You’ll see a lot more of Fawcett’s aviator hero in this issue’s FCA section, beginning on p. 71. [Spy Smasher is now a trademarked character of DC Comics.] most of the attributions belong to Alex Blum—the others we can’t place, but we feel certain they are not Gershwin.Other Fawcett work on “Captain Marvel Jr.” (and supposedly the Big Red Cheese himself) is indicated and may never be isolated from the Raboy and Beck Studio efforts of which he was a part. [The “Who’s Who” lists 1942 credits at True Comics, but we reviewed every issue and failed to find his work. There is also a “Who’s Who” entry for 1940s Heroic Comics at Eastern that was based on tentative IDs that we made 25 years ago. It should be removed if the “Who’s Who” ever gets updated.] In February 1943, with issue #83 of Adventure Comics, Gershwin begins a years’ long run on the “Starman” strip. DC has reprinted these in The Golden Age Starman Archives, Vol. 2. Check it out and watch the development of a major talent. Other work for DC in the mid-1940s was the “Sadface Charlie” strip in All Funny Comics. Both this and the “Starman” efforts ceased in early 1946. That year was also the “Poor Little Rich Girl” Heiress Barbara Hutton and one-time husband Cary Grant appeared in this story drawn by Emil Gershwin for Lafayette Street Corp.’s Picture News #1 (Jan. 1946). Scripter unknown. This mag, which lasted a mere ten issues, was an unsuccessful attempt to do comicbook versions of recent news stories. Just what kids were waiting for, for sure! [© the respective copyright holders.]

33 (Above:) Janet Gershwin and husband Emil relax while visiting daughter Nancy at sleepaway camp in the mid-1960s. [© Nancy Gershwin]

SC: Do you know the publication he was drawing these cartoons for? Stars and Stripes? Yank? Any of those?

GERSHWIN: Was he able to tell you anything? SC: Well, that’s the part... See, I talk to so many people I have notes in this phone book that sometimes I forget! I wrote down that he was in Danbury, Connecticut. I wrote down that he ghosted Tarzan. He was terminally ill at that time according to his wife, Janet.

SC: In fact, I think I did it the old-fashioned way, through the White Pages. You know, I had corresponded with Alex Toth and he had mentioned your dad to me once, but never mentioned him again.

GERSHWIN: It was weird, because he just seemed to disappear altogether—like, literally disappear! I hope he’s okay. We had a three-way phone conference with Alex, and Alex went on and on and on and on.... [Shaun laughs] I mean, really! He was saying at the time that he didn’t go out very much and that he really didn’t want to. He was a widower at that point. It sounded like this was really exciting for him. He sent me some doodles of his along with a long letter from which I took the excerpts for the web page you saw. It was nice. My father, as you can guess at this point, was pretty private about most things, so I didn’t know a ton of stuff. A lot of what I know I just put on that page on my website… and I put a few links at the bottom.

SC: I have a friend who has a couple DeWitt Clinton yearbooks, but [your dad] wasn’t in those. So if he was born in ’22, then he was probably at the Art Students League around 1940? That would have been right around the war. So, did he go into the war?

Conducted by Shaun Clancy SHAUN CLANCY: Hi, Nancy. I’m really glad we finally get to talk. As I mentioned, I’ve been working with Alter Ego and Roy Thomas for about 16 or 17 years now. The magazine’s been around [off and on] since ’61! We try to specialize in people who haven’t been covered in the past before at length. I actually tried contacting your dad in ’96 or ’97.

GERSHWIN: Oh, he had cancer. SC: I had him born in 1922 and I also wrote that he worked on The Spirit backgrounds with Will Eisner. His middle initial was “J.”?

GERSHWIN: It was probably a two-hour conversation. I think he was just one of those people who doesn’t like to talk on the phone until there’s something he wants to talk about. There was somebody who wanted to do something on my father. Did you know Jack Elmy? This was before 2001.

On The Wings Of A Bat Emil drew this spooky scene for Adventures into the Unknown #20 (June 1951). [© the respective copyright holders.]

SC: No, I don’t know that person.

GERSHWIN: Yeah, it’s funny, isn’t it? If you Google him now it gets you a lot of pages, but in ’97 nobody really Googled.

NANCY INTERVIEWGERSHWIN8-21-13

GERSHWIN: Yes, he did. He drew comics in the war. He was stationed in this country. I have a picture of him in his uniform.

34 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Introduction

lter Ego is pleased to present Shaun Clancy’s interview with Emil Gershwin’s daughter Nancy, as transcribed by Steve Thompson and edited by yours truly. We think you’ll find their discussion fun and informative. —Michael T. Gilbert.

Emil Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Four Colors (Part

GERSHWIN: Yes, [his middle name was] J-A-Y. SC: He worked on “Kid Eternity,” “Spy Smasher,” and “Starman.” In fact, “Starman” was the reason I called him at that time. There’s a lot of people wanting to cover his career. [laughs]

GERSHWIN: He [Toth] had called me and we had a long talk. SC: He didn’t like to talk on the phone. How did that conversation go?

GERSHWIN: Yes. [NOTE: Emil Gershwin passed away on July 18, 1999.] SC: So, at that time he didn’t want to really talk. What did he have that was terminal?

SC: Do you remember where your dad got his art schooling?

GERSHWIN: Art Students League. The interesting thing about it is, he went to DeWitt Clinton High School, but we’re not sure when he went there. I know he left school when he was around 14 years old and he was born in 1922, so maybe 1936 or 37?

GERSHWIN: It’s why George Gershwin chose music. [Shaun laughs] I don’t think you choose it. I think it chooses you, basically. Some of us could work doing art and we could get good, but Father & Grandfather Nancy Gershwin says: “The photo is [my father] Emil Gershwin, on the right, with his father Aaron Gershwin at left. Aaron was George and Ira Gershwin’s uncle. My father was George and Ira’s first cousin. At the time this photo was taken, he was probably already at work as a comicbook artist, having graduated from DeWitt Clinton High at 14 or 15, before he studied at New York’s Art Students League. Also musically gifted, he could play the piano by ear, loved tennis, boating, animals, and listening to people tell their stories. The particular words that come to mind… brilliant, funny, wise... and, missed, every day.” [Photo © Nancy Gershwin.]

Gazing At The Stars, Man A particularly elegant Gershwin “Starman” splash page from Adventure Comics #84 (March 1943). Script by Gardner Fox. [TM & © DC Comics.] Alex Toth self-portrait, from the Billy Ireland Museum archives. As mentioned earlier, Toth was a huge Emil Gershwin fan. [© Estate of Alex Toth.] he liked to sketch when he was around 14 and it was museum quality. It was just not anything he had to put any effort into. I think he regretted not putting more effort in, but it was kind of like that movie The Natural. I mean, Churchill had to overcome a speech impediment so he worked really, really hard and became a great orator. With my father, he’d just do what came naturally, pretty much. He wasn’t used to studying and trying to get to whatever level. I do think he had issues with perfectionism. His vision of what was good was really high.

GERSHWIN: Rembrandt. I don’t know in terms of cartoonists. I mean, he could do all mediums. He just chose illustration and it really took off. SC: What would be on the walls of his home?

GERSHWIN: Yeah, he did that. There’s one that I have somewhere. I wish I had a picture of it. It’s probably in storage. It’s more in line with the Dutch Masters kind of thing, although it was chalk. He did work in chalk.

GERSHWIN: No, but it was for the government. He was in the [Army] Air Force, and I’d be interested if you find anything on that. SC: Do you know why he chose drawing as a career?

SC: Did he venture into other types of artistic areas?

SC: What kind of artist did he admire?

GERSHWIN: A lot of his artwork. SC: Still life, scenery?

35Emil Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Four Colors

48 ancy Gershwin, as detailed earlier in this issue, remembers her father Emil with great affection. While she can readily recall a man who was private in his ways, to her he was first and foremost a warm and loving father. So how did such an affable chap become lured into the nightmare comics of the early 1950s?

Emil’s name isn’t automatically associated with this dark epoch, yet like so many others he played his part in the terror so wilfully spawned during this period. As referenced elsewhere, he by Peter Normanton was one of the trailblazers of the Golden Age, the precision in his line on Fawcett’s “Spy Smasher” arousing the interest of many of his aspirant colleagues as well as the teenage Al Williamson, ahead of making his mark on “Starman” in the pages of Adventure Comics at DC/National. Soon after being picked up by the American Comics Group, initially drafted into their romance titles, he was offered work embellishing their tomes of terror. Long after these tales were first published in the pages of Adventures into the Unknown and Forbidden Worlds, I came upon Emil’s artwork in the contents of the black-&-white post-Code reprints released N

Having spent a little over two years at the drawing board in the then fledgling world of comicbooks, Emil turned his hand to the macabre in a surprising turn for the lead story to Spy Smasher #5, dated 24 June 1942. Regular readers of this title would have been aghast at the nefarious scenes depicted in the opening pages to “Death over Washington,” maybe thinking there had been some terrible mistake, since this was horror of the foulest kind, not the super-heroing fare to which they had become accustomed. This sadistic portrayal of the netherworld was one of the most shocking of this or any other period in comicbook publishing, his rendition evocative of Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell. During Shaun Clancy’s conversation with Emil’s daughter Nancy in August of 2013, she alluded to her father’s natural ability as an artist, his meticulous attention to detail in these pages bearing testimony to her words. While an element of his styling was reminiscent of the work of both Canadian-born newspaper strip artist Hal Foster and Flash Gordon co-creator Alex Raymond, for whom he had such admiration, his visualisation of this fiery netherworld was manifest in its unrelenting arrayal of depravity. As this monstrous glimpse of hell gradually unfolded, Spy Smasher fell to the machinations of the merciless figure of Death, aided and abetted by Satan himself, who proved unusually adept behind the wheel of an automobile. After being secured as their prisoner, Spy Smasher was escorted into the depths of the Earth to face the damning torment of the inferno. There was an insane gusto evidenced in Emil’s brush strokes, their fervour unashamedly forging this hellish landscape, all the while their dexterous invention weaving an unholy tapestry of torturous debauchery so far unknown in the pages of a comicbook.

Spy Smasher The Spy Swatter (Left to right, from facing page:) The two opening pages from Emil Gershwin’s terrifying vision of the underworld, as presented in the pages of Spy Smasher #5 (24 June 1942). His depiction of the skeletal hand on the splash page of “The Ghost Squadron”in Spy Smasher #6 (26 Aug. 1942) was every bit as scary. The line work on show in these three pages is quite astonishing, so much so that it brought him to the attention of many of his peers. His surreal introduction to SS #7’s “The Terror in Exile” (28 Oct. 1942) alluded to a vampire weapon, but not one of that undead ilk was in evidence anywhere in this tale. [Spy Smasher TM & © DC Comics.]

The Horror Of Emil Gershwin

by Alan Class over here in the UK. As with so many stories from this period, they were unsigned, meaning it would be many years before I discovered the name of the man responsible for rendering these whimsical sojourns into comicbook fantasy.

If this abhorrent spectacle had been laid before America’s youth a decade later, it would have most certainly inflamed the vehemence of those at the core of the emerging anti-comics crusade. Thankfully, all was not quite as it seemed. With Spy Smasher’s fate seemingly sealed, this deathly domain was unearthed as a diabolical fabrication devised by the scions of Nazi Germany, intent on spreading their evil doctrine in the very heart of America’s capital. There were no doubt a few welcome sighs of relief at the denouement, the outcome stirring a spirited clarion call ensuring the unrelenting fight for global freedom could proudly continue on its valiant march. Fawcett had done their best to disguise this perturbing episode behind a cover true to the Nazi-bashing heroics of the day, but the malfeasance in these pages made it a horror story to rival any of those that would soon follow during the early 1950s. For an artist making a name amongst these lofty super-heroes, Emil appeared curiously at home with this demonic imagery. For those of you with a passion for their horror comics, these pages should be savoured, for Emil’s artistry would never again be consumed by such graphic ferocity, even a decade on when this gruesome tide had usurped the newsstands of North America. Whether any of the horror-comics publishers of this dark era were privy to these pages remains unknown, as do details

A 1960s reissue poster of director/actor/co-writer Orson Welles’ influential film Citizen Kane (1941)—juxtaposed with artist Emil Gershwin’s splash page for “The Man in the Iron Mask” from Spy Smasher #4 (April 1942); script by Otto Binder. [Spy Smasher TM & © DC Comics; movie poster © the respective copyright holders.]

73 Emil Gershwin’s Spy Smasher—&

Or—How To Draw Comics The Gershwin Way!

n an interview with Michael William Kaluta for his 1989 book The Great Comic Book Artists, Volume 2, Ron Goulart asked that artist/author—already legendary for his atmospheric and innovative work on titles like The Shadow—about his influences.

Orson Welles!

by Brian Cremins

After mentioning inspirations ranging from Aubrey Beardsley and Edgar Rice Burroughs to Al Williamson and Philip K. Dick, Kaluta replied, “You cannot be a comicbook artist without seeing Citizen Kane.” In another nod to actor and director Orson Welles, Kaluta urged Goulart’s readers to pay close attention to the work of British filmmaker Carol Reed: “You can’t become a comicbook artist without seeing The Third Man,” the 1949 thriller featuring Welles and his fellow Mercury Theater performer Joseph Cotton. “You’ve just got to see it… [It’s] something that’s going to change your perspective” [Goulart 64].

The Man In The Iron Director’s Chair

74 Fawcett Collectors of America

The Third Man Orson Welles was a force not only in Citizen Kane, which he directed as well as starred in, but also as a major actor in director Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949), one of the great “film noir” outings. Welles is seen above left as Harry Lime in the big “reveal” scene… while the image above right captures the feel and mood of the movie, which is set in postwar Vienna. At right is a poster for the film. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

ALTER EGO #178 Golden Age great EMIL GERSHWIN, artist of Starman, Spy Smasher, and ACG horror—in a super-length special MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT by MICHAEL T. GILBERT—plus a Gershwin showcase in PETER NORMANTON’s From The Tomb—even a few tidbits about relatives GEORGE and IRA GERSHWIN to top it off! Also FCA (Fawcett Collectors of Amer ica), and other surprise features! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=1662$4.99

When I was asked to write a piece about Emil Gershwin’s work on Fawcett’s “Spy Smasher” feature in the early 1940s, I thought I’d focus on his elegant and dynamic line work, which reminds me so much of Lou Fine’s beautiful art on “The Flame” for Fox. But, as I did more research on Gershwin’s career, and as I studied “The Man in the Iron Mask,” written by Otto Binder and published in Spy Smasher #4 (April, 1942), I began to fixate on a panel from page 6 of the story, one that resembles closely Welles’ opening sequence from Citizen Kane, which was released in the U.S. in the early fall of 1941. While I can’t confirm whether or not Gershwin saw Kane on its first release, there’s no denying that his use of perspective— especially of bird’s-eye-view shots that establish the atmosphere of a scene—echoes some of the images in Welles’s first and most ground-breaking film. At the very least, Welles and Gershwin must have been fans of the same kinds of films, the German Expressionist classics that changed the nature of cinema in the 1920s before Hitler and the Nazis came to power and tried to destroy what those Expressionist painters and directors had created. Or maybe Gershwin, like Welles, simply understood that any two-dimensional medium requires some sleight-of-hand— the manipulation of anatomy, perspective, and composition—in order to move audiences., the reporter who’s trying to piece together Kane’s life visits his widow Susan, played by the resplendent actress Dorothy Comingore. Still reeling from her tumultuous relationship with Kane, Susan, now a heavy drinker, is working as a nightclub singer. To introduce her, Welles includes a shot in which the camera leads us over the roof of a club called the El Rancho, where she is performing. Through the building’s skylight, we soon see her sitting at a table and drinking. In his analysis of this innovative scene in The Magic World of Orson Welles, an essential book on the filmmaker, film scholar James Naremore describes the rain that covers the “garish, dripping poster” we first see of Susan, then the way that “the camera moves upward, sliding over the roof of the El Rancho and down through the skylight” [Naremore 61].

The reporter has asked to speak to Susan because he’s trying to solve the mystery of Kane’s final utterance. Of this scene, Naremore writes, “Here again we are made to feel that the search for ‘Rosebud’ is tawdry and sensational, notably so in a deep-focus shot that concludes [the reporter] Thompson’s abortive interview with Susan.” This first step in Thompson’s journey to discover Kane’s secrets is a failure, and, even at the end of the film, he is IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT!