Alter Ego #42

1

1994--2004

November 2004

No. 42

Art ©2004 Steve Fastner & Rich Larson; heroes TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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DICK GIORDANO through the 1960s—from freelance years and Charlton “Action-Heroes” to his first stint at DC! Art by DITKO, APARO, BOYETTE, MORISI, McLAUGHLIN, GIL KANE, and others, Dick’s final convention panel with STEVE SKEATES and ROY THOMAS, JIM AMASH interviews Charlton artist TONY TALLARICO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and ROY ALD, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, GIORDANO cover, and more!

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Interview with inker SCOTT WILLIAMS from his days at Marvel and Image to his work with JIM LEE, and PATRICK OLIFFE demos how he produces Spider-Girl, Mighty Samson, and digital comics. Also, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ “Comic Art Bootcamp”, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work by BOB McLEOD, art supply reviews by “Crusty Critic” JAMAR NICHOLAS, and more!

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LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!

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Vol. 3, No.42/November 2004

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists

“SILVER-AGERS ASSEMBLE!” Section

Contents

Writer/Editorial: A Sunset in Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Don Heck: A Class Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Nick Caputo asks: how did artist Dashin’ Donnie go from “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man?

Steve Fastner & Rich Larson Ernie Schroeder

InFromDefense of Paul Reinman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The X-Men to The Mighty Crusaders, by Nick C.

And Special Thanks to:

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Nick C. and Werner’s son Gavin discuss a talented master of his craft.

Heidi Amash Richard Howell Michael Ambrose Shirleen King Ger Apeldoorn Rich Larson Bob Bailey Marv Levy Mike W. Barr Wally & Rosemary Littman Michael Baulderstone Sam Maronie Mark Beazley Richard Martines Jack Bender Brian K. Morris John Benson Frank Motler Jon Berk Tom Palmer Mike Burkey Jens Robinson Nick Caputo Jerry Robinson R. Dewey Cassell Herb Rogoff Bob Cherry Gavin Roth Steve Cohen Peter Sanzone Mike Costa Ernie & Constance Schroeder Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt Cory Seidlmeier Terry Doyle David Siegel Michael Dunne Gerry Sorek Peter Duxbury Aaron Sultan Steve Fastner Marc Swayze Shane Foley Dann Thomas Janet Gilbert Bob Thoms Bob Greenberger Anthony Tollin George Hagenauer Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jennifer Hamerlinck Jr. Dr. Michael J. Keith Hammond Vassallo Mark & Stephanie Hames Ware Heike Tom Wimbish Dave Herring Mike Zeno Steve Herring

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Jackson Beck & John Cullen Murphy

Alex Toth on a Handful of Quality Comics Greats. . . . . . . . . 26 ComicCrypt:MichaelT.GilbertGoes for the Gold(&Silver)! . 29 Rare art by Mr. Monster’s master—from 1979 to 2004.

Tales Calculated to Drive You... ODD! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Bill Schelly interviews Steve & Dave Herring, editors of a great 1960s humor fanzine.

Tributes to Jackson Beck & John Cullen Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . 40 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 A Whole Heap of Hillman & Ziff-Davis!. . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: Some months ago, collector Aaron Sultan sent us a scan of this unpublished Avengers illustration by artists Steve Fastner and Rich Larson. Aaron writes: “The art duo of Steve Fastner and Rich Larson has been creating amazing comic and fantasy images for over 25 years. In the early 1980s, Fastner and Larson created a series of portfolio pin-ups for Marvel Comics, including The Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, and the old and new X-Men teams. On the drawing table also was a portfolio for an Avengers series that was never published. ‘Return of a Legend’ [the piece used as the cover of this issue of A/E] was the first and only art created for this series.” So we’re doubly—nay, make that triply—thankful to you, Aaron—and to Steve and Rich for granting permission to print this great illo for the first time ever! [Art ©2004 Steve Fastner & Rich Larson; Avengers TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: Iron Man was the first of the new breed of Marvel super-heroes introduced in the 1960s that wasn’t first drawn by either Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko. That plum of an assignment fell to Don Heck, who both penciled and inked the future Armored Avenger’s origin in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)—and it’s a tribute to Don’s skills that most readers didn’t notice the difference! Story by Stan Lee; script by Larry Lieber. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly 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. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. 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 Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

Title writer/editorial

2

A Sunset In Silver “Comics giveth, and comics taketh away!”

My friend Gil Kane was given to repeating that homily on various occasions, usually with a wry grimace. Of course, as the artist knew full well, “comics” don’t give or take anything. It’s people and situations and indifference and avarice and stupidity and occasionally just downright intentional cruelty that cause the artistic fortunes of talented folks in the comics industry to rise or fall.

Don Heck… Paul Reinman… Werner Roth.

Each of these artists contributed substantially to the comics field… yet, in the end, each of them left it (or saw it leave them). Nobody gave them retirement parties, a pension, or a gold watch. One year, they were making a decent living drawing… the next, they had somehow lost their footing, never quite to regain it. Even so, each of them had a decent, fairly long career in comics, and left behind an admirable legacy.

For my part, I’ve long wondered if, during those days, I could’ve done more to help Don and Paul and Werner. Since I, as much as anyone, was responsible for keeping John Buscema on The Avengers after Don had been taken off it in 1967 to draw an Avengers Annual, did I—and Marvel, of course—owe the artistic co-creator of Iron Man more than simply shuffling him thereafter from title to title, until eventually he slipped from our purview and wound up struggling to

stay in comics at all? When Paul Reinman was reduced to drawing the occasional mystery story for Marvel, could we have found more for him to do—especially since I was an admirer of his 1940s “Green Lantern” work? When Werner Roth’s X-Men didn’t seem to be selling as well as it should, could we have come up with more for him to do than a few back-up “Origins of The X-Men”—since, after all, I and others had been writing those selfsame X-Men issues?

In later years—when I had more time to think and reflect, rather than simply plunge ahead at the breakneck pace we all lived with in those days—I’ve often asked myself these questions, and never come up with totally satisfying answers.

Should the comic book field be what it has become—survival of the fittest, king of the hill—or is there room, even a need, for a “kinder, gentler” industry, one that strives to find a useful place and gainful employment for those who have served honorably, long, and well?

I don’t know the answers to those questions. I wish I did.

But I do know that, whatever they may eventually have felt about the comics business, Don Heck and Paul Reinman and Werner Roth all contributed to it with their blood, sweat, tears, and talent—and the least we can do, at this late stage, is honor them for it.

It is also, unfortunately, the most we can do now.

Bestest,

43

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SEASONS GREETINGS

—FROM NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE BORDER! Christmas Cards—Incredible Interviews— & Mexican Super-Hero Comics of the Silver Age!

e Stevens; ht holders ©2004 Dav e respective copyrig Santo art th TM 2004 Santo © &

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• X-Men color Christmas cover by GEORGE TUSKA—and Santo by DAVE STEVENS! • Happy holidays! A panorama of Yuletide art by GENE COLAN, FRANK BRUNNER, JOE SINNOTT, ALEX TOTH, NICK CARDY, DAVE ROSS, et al.!

• Candid conversations with Golden Age artist JOE GILL (Lone Ranger, The Owl) and MORRIS WEISS of the 1940s Timely Bullpen—conducted by JIM AMASH and lavishly illustrated by MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOE SHUSTER, BOB OKSNER, etc.

• “¡Supermen South!” Mexican comics heroes of the 1960s! The secret Silver Age life of JOE KUBERT’s Tor—the first Conan comics anywhere—dueling Blackhawks—plus Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago (Lightning), El Hombre Invisible, The Phantom Pilot, Supercharro, & Criollo the Invincible Horse! FRED PATTEN busts open a comic art piñata, with art by PABLO MARCOS and many others!

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Marvel’s Unsung Silver Age Artists: A Tryptich part one

DON HECK –A Class Act

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How Did “Dashin’ Donnie” Go From Star Artist Of “Iron Man” & The Avengers To Forgotten Man?

by Nick Caputo (First in a Series – Collect Them All!)

(Top left:) Circa 1970 or so, Marvel Comics actually merchandised a package of professionally-taken photos of its “Bullpenners”—including this one of Don Heck, which we’ve sandwiched in between two fine illos. Thanks to R. Dewey Cassell.

(Center left:) The kind of western art Don loved to draw. Nick Caputo says it accompanied a prose tale in the mostly-comics Adventure Illustrated #1 (Winter 1981), published by Richard Howell’s New Media. Steven Cohen adds that this illo of a scene from The Virginian was “produced much earlier for a movie theatre chain’s premium to go with the movie of that title.” (The 1946 remake starring Gary Cooper?)

(Above:) Don did full art on “Ant-Man” in Tales to Astonish #42 (April 1963); plot by Stan Lee, script by Larry Lieber. Thanks to Bob Bailey for a photocopy of the original art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

My introduction to Don Heck’s art occurred in the mid-1960s, when he was known primarily as a “Marvel artist” on features such as “Iron Man,” “Ant-Man,” The Avengers, The X-Men, and Captain Marvel, to name a few. Thanks to reprints in Fantasy Masterpieces, I gained an awareness of the artist’s earlier work in another genre. His tenure on the early issues of Tales of Suspense (which, for a time, featured the dramatic sub-title: “The Power of Iron Man”) impressed me greatly, with his later run on The Avengers a close second (in particular issues #32-37, which he inked as well).

Heck had a sharp, clean line inspired by Milton Caniff, and his Iron Man stories were attractively designed; his placement of black ink was particularly adept. He brought out the character not only of Tony Stark, but of the supporting players Happy Hogan (a stoic-looking fellow whose appearance may have been influenced by stone-faced silent era (Left:) Tony Stark’s right-hand man Happy Hogan and his female foil Pepper Potts, in a nice Don Heck/Dick Ayers page from the Iron Man/Captain America cross-over in Tales of Suspense #58 (Oct. 1964). Script by Stan Lee, who else? Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, thanks to Mike Burkey. (Incidentally, Jim Amash reminds us that the Cap figure was re-penciled by Jack Kirby.) [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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From Star Artist of “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man

Don Heck as Triple-Threat!

(Above:) He was a more-than-capable inker for Jack Kirby’s “Ant-Man,” as per this sequence from Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963). Plot by Stan Lee; script by H.E. Huntley.

(Right:) Don’s penciling filled the bill on many an “Iron Man,” such as this page from Tales of Suspense #58, in which Shellhead found himself “In Mortal Combat with Captain America!” Inks by Dick Ayers; script by Stan Lee. (Below:) Nor was he any slouch at handling full-art chores, either, as shown by the cover of The Avengers #31 (Aug. 1967)!

Ant-Man & Iron Man art repro’d from photocopies of original art, courtesy respectively of Terry Doyle and Mike Burkey. The Avengers art is on view in the black-&-white Essential Avengers, Vol. 2, and in full color in the new 4th Avengers Marvel Masterworks volume. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

comedian Buster Keaton) and Pepper Potts (initially a plain-looking girl who was given a makeover and became glamorous overnight, at Stan Lee’s request). Heck gave the strip a slick quality and populated the stories with a bevy of beautiful women. Stark was the epitome of the rich playboy image, and Heck provided him with a sophisticated look.

Heck appeared to be enjoying himself on the strip, and it showed on the printed page.

Particular favorites include: “The Mad Pharaoh” (misspelled “Pharoah” in Tales of Suspense #44), where his line showed a distinct Alex Toth influence; a well-rendered two-parter featuring The Mandarin (TOS #54-55) that opens with one of Heck’s finest interpretations of Iron Man hovering above the city streets (topped off with a 5-page “All about Iron Man” feature, one of those little treats that made the early Marvels so charming—Heck’s pencils are especially attractive); and the introduction of The Unicorn (TOS # 56), wherein Heck placed special emphasis on the villain’s features and unusual headgear. All the early Heckpenciled and -inked “Iron Man” stories are exciting: while Lee may have asked for Kirby’s dynamics, Heck successfully merged

it with his own indelible style, turning out some of his very best work in the genre.

When Stan needed more production from Heck (as he did with his other pencilers), Don would only sporadically ink his own work. It was a noticeable difference, as, with few exceptions (such as Frank Giacoia, who inked many of Heck’s Avengers stories as “Frankie Ray”), Heck looked best inked by Heck. While Heck did not have the overwhelming power of a Jack Kirby (few did!), he had an appealing, expressive style, as epitomized by his work on Avengers. His stories consisted of a small cast of characters including Captain America, Hawkeye, Goliath, The Wasp, and occasional appearances by Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, Heck noted in interviews that he found the strip more entertaining with only a handful of characters to focus on, and he drew them all well. After issue #37, George Roussos began inking the strip, and the results were less than inspiring.

As the years wore on, Heck became Marvel’s resident handyman, laying out stories for others (such as Werner Roth) or finishing layouts (over Romita’s Spider-

Don Heck–-–A Class Act

5 Illustrated, where he drew a number of large-size illustrations for a western prose story. One can trace a line directly from that job to Don Heck’s prime work in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Don Heck began penciling comics in 1952 at Comic Media on Weird Terror, Horrific, and Danger.

Focusing on crime and horror, he created simple, striking covers and interesting interior work. Early on, Heck showed he was adept at portraying everyday people, and his ability to illustrate attractive women was noticeable almost from the start.

One memorable early Heck job appeared in

(Left:) We can’t fool you, can we? These are Gene Colan’s pencils from a page in the mid-1970s Tomb of Dracula #41, sent to us by Bob Thoms.

Gene the Dean set the standards for the Count in comics, right from issue #1.

(Right:) But, as Nick Caputo says, this page penciled by Don Heck and inked

by Frank Springer is a “nice page,” with a “nice Drac” and a “great camera ‘eye.’” It’s from Giant-Size Dracula #3 (Dec. 1974), with thanks to Nick’s godson Peter Sanzone. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Man), weakening his own individual qualities. Occasionally, Heck would be given an interesting job: Captain Marvel, Captain Savage, a mystery story in Tower of Shadows or Chamber of Darkness. Also, a few inkers turned out some acceptable results (Tuska, Shores, even the occasional Colletta job). Yet Heck’s work seemed to fall out of favor, for the most part, and he was rarely given any choice assignments.

Don Heck worked for other publishers as well in the 1960s. At Gold Key he penciled The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery; for the short-lived King line he drew Mandrake the Magician. In the 1970s he bounced back and forth from DC—where he produced many attractive “Batgirl” stories in the back of Detective Comics, as well as non-series mystery and romance stories—to Marvel, where he showed off his storytelling skills on Giant-Size Dracula and Giant-Size Defenders. But, in this period, he was relegated mainly to inking others’ pencils, usually with a very scratchy, loose line, devoid of the solid black inking that typified his earlier work. (Heck’s inking over Kirby early on, and, especially, John Buscema in Tower of Shadows #1 and Our Love Story #3 is notable.)

In later years Heck was given the opportunity to ink his own work again, including a run on The Flash and some Justice League of America stories at DC, although one of his best (and perhaps leastknown) jobs was for the black-&-white magazine Adventure Don Heck’s powerful cover for Comic Media’s Danger #7 (Feb. 1954) shows it wasn’t just westerns and love comics at which he excelled. [©2004 the respective copyright owners.]

6

From Star Artist of “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man Romances #102 (Nov. 1962; it features a close-up of a troubled woman standing in the street.

(Above:) Don’s Timely/Marvel debut was on “Torpedo Tyler” in Navy Combat #1 (June 1955), seen at left. He drew that feature for several years, as witness the splash at right from issue #19 (Aug. 1958). Interestingly, says Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who sent us both scans, in #19 Don drew only this splash page; the rest of the story is by Joe Maneely. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Heck showed a flair for fantasy and space opera in titles such as Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish. He designed interesting space effects in “Rocket Ship X” (Strange Tales #71, June 1959). The splash page illustrates his eye for spotting blacks, and the story is intelligently composed throughout.

While Heck had a tendency to draw sillylooking aliens, he could also design robots and the occasional monster effectively (although Kirby excelled in that area). His western vignettes (appearing in Gunsmoke Western, Kid Colt Outlaw, Wyatt Earp, and Two-

Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion, adapted from a then-current TV series starring Buster Crabbe.

By 1954 Heck began a long association with Timely/Atlas/ Marvel. Stan Lee put him to work on westerns, war, horror, crime, jungle tales—you name it— and Heck did just about all of them well. He even worked on a continuing series, “Torpedo Tyler,” appearing in Navy Combat, a typical example of which can be seen in issue #11 (Feb. 1957). Heck was particularly strong in weaving atmosphere by using fog effects and heavy use of blacks throughout.

His visual dynamics were apparent in these tales of heroic adventure. He could switch gears easily, showing an eye for fashion, design, and, always, the female face and figure. A stellar example of the latter can be seen on the splash page of Love

(Left:) Stan Lee or Martin Goodman or somebody must’ve really loved this splash Don Heck drew for The Kid from Dodge City #1 (July 1957), ’cause they used it for that issue’s cover, to boot! (Right:) And we know that Stan the Man himself liked Don’s work on this western story, since he signed it for both of them. We’re not certain which comic it came from, though, since Michael Baulderstone sent it to us from a black-&-white Australian reprint. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Don Heck–-–A Class Act

Nick Caputo provided this “sensational Don Heck splash” from Caught #4 (Feb. 1957), one of Timely/Atlas’ crime comics. Thanks to both Nick C. and Doc V. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Heck page from Gold Key’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #5 (March 1966) shows Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin in action. Nick Caputo, who sent this photocopy, says the inker may be Mike Esposito. Thanks also to Peter Sanzone. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Glimpses of Don Heck’s original pencils are rare, but here are two samples. (Left:) We’re not sure what drawing problem Don was trying to solve here, but these sketches were on the back of the original art for an “Ant-Man” page owned by Terry Doyle, so—! (Right:) Richard Howell sent us these “Aquaman” panels by Don, both rough pencils and finished art.

[Sketch ©2004 Estate of Don Heck; Aquaman art ©2004 DC Comics.]

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8

From Star Artist of “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man

For a time in the late 1960s, Don was given the thankless task of finishing up John Romita’s rough pencils on The Amazing Spider-Man for Mike Esposito (as “Mickey Demeo”) to ink—but, nice as the end result was, his own style was totally lost in the crossfire. This splash is from #63 (Aug. 1968). At left is a 2000 pencil sketch by Romita of his “two-faced” hero, courtesy of Mike Zeno. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Gun Western) were attractive; a typical example can be seen in Gunsmoke Western #76 (May 1963), “The Rustlers of Red Gap!” The splash page focuses on a dynamic shot of a gang of outlaws surrounding the Native American protagonist. Heck imbues the characters, clothing, and scenery with a simple yet expressive line throughout. A finely choreographed story, featuring all the elements of the genre: not as detailed or authentic as a John Severin, but effective nevertheless.

An obscure one-shot that featured superior Heck art was Police Badge #479 (Sept 1955). He drew the two opening stories (the last was drawn by Joe Maneely, and Heck held his own in the company of one of Atlas’ finest); “Rookie Cop” introduces patrolman Jim Hudson in an interesting “origin” story. Heck’s clean style suits the material, and he succeeds in giving the red-headed rookie personality. The second story, “Night Rain,” shows his skill at pacing, particularly the final page, to great effect. Heck utilized all the necessary ingredients: good storytelling, dynamic layouts, a strong camera eye, and atmospheric inks.

Personally, I would have enjoyed seeing more of Patrolman Jim Hudson under Don Heck. [NOTE: We’ll feature art from these stories in a near-future issue. —Roy.] Heck’s style may not have set the comics world on fire; he didn’t possess the overwhelming dynamics and inventiveness of a Kirby, the passion of a Ditko, or the vision of a Wood, but his craftsmanship is apparent in many of the stories he drew in his 30-plus-year career. His line, although influenced by others, had an identity of its own. Unjustly denounced in his later years, Heck was deeply wounded by the cruel words that assaulted him in the fan press. He deserved more than becoming a punching bag for fans who used his name as the butt of jokes, and should be noted as a distinctive artist who produced some of his finest work in a variety of genres that would, in time, be cast adrift as a sea of costumed heroes took precedence. Even there, he flexed his muscles, especially in the early 1960s when Stan Lee brought him out to bat under trying circumstances (it should be noted that Heck had to Don Heck also did penciled Justice League of America at various times, including this page from issue #207 (Oct. 1982), as inked by Romeo Tanghal and scripted by Gerry Conway. Repro’d from photocopies of the original art, courtesy of Michael Dunne. [Both pages ©2004 DC Comics.]

Don Heck–-–A Class Act

9

In early 1967, Don Heck was taken off the monthly Avengers title to pencil what amounts to the first Avengers Annual—and was spelled by “newcomer” John Buscema, who had worked for Marvel in the late 1940s and had recently returned on “S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “Hulk” stories.

Above left is a real find—a never-before-published model sheet by Big John of the five male then-Avengers, almost certainly done to show editor Stan Lee how he would draw the group (for some reason, there’s no Scarlet Witch or Wasp). It was later inked by George Roussos—with a pencil note saying “George—No Rush— Friday is OK.” Richard Martines, who sent us this historic piece, says that under each hero someone had penciled the names of actors: “Steve Reeves” (Hercules), “Burt Lancaster” (Captain America), “Fred Astaire” (Quicksilver), “Anthony Quinn” (Hawkeye), and “Robert Culp” (Goliath). We suspect these notes—later erased—were written by J.B. himself to show Stan whom he’d had in mind when drawing the figures. Anyway, he got the job, starting with Avengers #41 (June 1967), and Don was given a different series to pencil, though he would return to The Avengers later from time to time.

At right, also repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, is the final page of the story from the 1967 Annual (officially King-Size Avengers #1), drawn by Heck and inked by Roussos. As an historical curiosity, we’ve reprinted all we could of various “border notes,” most of them scribbled by Marvel associate editor (and the story’s writer) Roy Thomas. Benefactor Steve Cohen, who owns the piece, says many of these have been mostly trimmed off. Those still readable ask either Roussos or a production person (a) to do something-or-other about a balloon pointer; (b) to add a “glass effect” to the spacecraft canopy; (c) if a “THE END” box should be added; (d) to alter some phrase in the final caption to “switched-on” (this “request” was made by editor Stan Lee); (e) to re-letter Cap’s first sentence in panel 2 as “Why so quiet, Wanda?”; (f) if production manager Sol Brodsky thinks Cap is “handsome” enough in the art as originally inked, since Stan Lee always wanted the Star-Spangled Avenger, even more than most Marvel heroes, to look glamorous; (g) if maybe Cap’s ear had been drawn a bit too low on his head. Sheesh! And we can’t even guess at the corrections trimmed off on the left! Well, this was both the first Avengers Annual and the longest Marvel story produced to that date, so everyone was determined to get it just right! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

learn to draw from a plot—the “Marvel method”—in the early 1960s, as well). He may not have been an MVP, but his stats were impressive, nonetheless. As an artist, Heck didn’t always get respect from the industry he labored in, but he proved himself over and over, and many of his peers—John Romita, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Jack Kirby— have spoken highly of his work. An impressive reference list, indeed. If one tracks down his pre-hero work (a fannish “technical” word meaning before the super-hero deluge unleashed by the debut of Fantastic Four), quite a bit of which has been reprinted in Marvel’s mid-1970s horror and western titles, or more recently his earliest super-hero work, seen in glorious black-&-white in Marvel’s Essentials volumes, you will get an

idea of this man’s true talents.

Don Heck, it turns out, really was one of the “good guys,” after all.

[For further info, visit the Don Heck list at Yahoo.com, and Nick’s thanks to all on the list for inspiration, information, and appreciation, particularly Timely/Atlas/Marvel expert Dr. Michael J. (Doc V.) Vassallo. ALSO—Will Murray just located a mostly-unpublished vintage Don Heck interview he did some years back, which was too big to be squeezed into this issue, but rest assured we'll be printing it very soon!]

From Star Artist of “Iron Man” to Forgotten Man

Avenging Artists Three!

(Top left:) Don’s strong cover for The Avengers #40 (May 1967), his last issue on that run before he was replaced by John Buscema. If a bit of linework has dropped out, it’s because we’ve repro’d it from the black&-white image in The Essential Avengers, Vol. 2—but Marvel’s “Essentials” are still a handy thing to have around. Roy Thomas wrote the story in #40, as part of his own 70-issue Avengers run from 1967-72.

(Above:) Sal Buscema’s final page for Avengers #71 (Dec. 1969); inked

by Sam Grainger. John Buscema’s little brother was one of several artists who ably followed in Don’s footsteps in the 1960s. This b&w page, as you can tell, is from a Spanish reprinting.

(Left:) John & Sal Buscema were followed for several issues by Neal Adams, who penciled and co-plotted key issues of the fabled KreeSkrull War, with awesome inks by Tom Palmer and scripting/co-plotting

by Roy Thomas. This splash from Avengers #96 (Feb. 1972) is repro’d from photostats of the original art, thanks to Tom Palmer.

[All art in this section ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Don Heck–-–A Class Act

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DON HECK Checklist [NOTE: The following is taken from information provided by Dr. Jerry G. Bails from his online Who’s Who of 20th-Century American Comic Books, which can be accessed at www.nostromo.no/whoswho . Additions and corrections are invited. The names of features which appeared both in their own titles and in other comics as well are not generally rendered in italics. Key: (a) = full art; (p) = pencils only; (i) = inks only; (w) = writer; (d) = daily comic strip; (wk) = weekly, i.e., Sunday.]

Name: Don Heck [1929-1995] (artist) Education: Brooklyn Community College, Brooklyn, NY. Influence: Milt Caniff Syndicated Credits (Newspaper Comic Strips): The Phantom [d/wk] – layouts 1972-78 COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US & UK): Blue Orbit Press/Hero Comics: covers (a) 1993 for Mr. Fixit

Danger (a) 1953-54; Death Valley (a) 1953-54; Duke Douglas (a) 1953; Dynamite (a) 1953-54; Harrigan’s Hat (a) (no date); Horrific (a) 1952-54; Johnny Danger (a) early 1950s; Johnny Dynamite (a) 1953; Old Scout (a) 194; Terrific (a) 1954; War Fury (a) 1952-53; Weird Terror (a) 195254 Hillman Periodicals: mystery/occult (a) 1952 King Comics, et al.: covers (a) 1966; Mandrake the Magician (a) 1966 Magazine Enterprises: mystery/occult (a) 1950s

Marvel Comics, et al.: Amazing Adventures (a) 1961; Amazing Spider-Man (p) 1968; AntMan (a) 1963; The Avengers (p/some i) 1964-68, 73-77, (i) 1974, 1989; Battleground (a) 1956; Battle (p) 1960; Black Goliath (i) 1976; Black Widow (p) 1971; Bushmaster (p) 1991; Captain America (i) 1966; Captain Marvel (p) 1968; Captain Savage (p) 1969; Chamber of Chills (p) 1969; The Champions (p) 1975-76; Cliff Millennium Publishing: Cthulhu (p) 1992 Mason (a) 1955-57; covers (a) 1959-79, 1990; Charlton Comics, et al.: covers (a) 1955; Daredevil (a) 1973-75; The Defenders (p) 1975; Danger (a) 1955; Death Valley (a) 1955; This Is Dr. Strange (p) 1971; Dracula (a) 1974-75; Ghost Suspense (a) 1955 Rider (i) 1975-77; Giant-Man (a) 1963-65; The Gladiator (p) 1990; Gunsmoke Western (a) DC Comics, et al.: [ghosted layouts for John 1960-63, Hawkeye (i) 19890-90, Hercules (p) Romita love stories, early 1960s] All-Star 1989; humor features (p) 1967; humor fillers (a) Squadron (p) 1982, 1987; Aquaman (a) 1979, 1992; The Invaders (p) 1978-79; Iron Man (a) 1981; Batgirl (a) 1971-72, 1978-79; Batman and 1963-65, 1970-71, 1975, 1991, (i) 1990; illustraRobin (p) 1977-78, 1980; Batgirl, Batwoman, tions (p) 1967; Jann of the Jungle (a) 1955, 1957; and Huntress (p) 1978; Batman (i) 1987; Blue Journey into Mystery (a) 1959-63, Ka-Zar (p) Beetle (p) 1988; Centurions (p) 1987; 1974-75, Kid from Dodge City (a) 1957; Le Checkmate! (p) 1988; covers (p/i) 1971-86; Peregrine (p) 1990; The Liberty Legion (p) 1976; Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love (a) 1972; Monsters on the Prowl (p) 1971; Morbius (a) DC Challenge (a) (1986); Dial H for Hero (a) 1975; Mystery Tales (a) 1955; misc. back-up 1981; Falling in Love (a) 1970; The Flash features (a) 1991 in Marvel Fanfare; misc. (p/some i) 1970, 1979-81; General Glory (i) western (a) 1960-62, 1966 in Rawhide Kid; 1992; Ghosts (p) 1980; Girls’ Love Stories (a) His name’s atop the art, so Heck likely drew this Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (a) 1966; Not 1970-73; Girls’ Romances (a) (no date); Gothic Girls’ Romances #157 cover (June 1961, Giordano Brand Echh (p) 1967; Overmind (p) 1990; (a) 1971-72; Green Lantern and Green Arrow inks). Repro’d from a photocopy of the original Police Badge #479 (a) 1955; Sunfire (p) 1989; (p) 1979; Green Lantern Corps (a) 1985; art, courtesy of Steve Cohen. [©2004 DC Comics.]

Swordsman (a) 1989; science-fantasy (a) 1961; Hawkman (i) 1986-86; Heart Throbs (a) 1971; Tales of Asgard (i) 1963-64; Tales to Astonish (a) 1959-63; Thing and House of Mystery (a) 1971; House of Secrets (a) 1970-71; The Huntress Tigra (i) 1976; Thor (a) 1963-64, (p) 1990-91; Torpedo Taylor (a) 1955(p) 1978, 1983; Jason Bard (a) 1972-73; Jimmy Olsen (p) 1979; Justice 58; Tower of Shadows (a) 1969-70; Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction League of America (p) 1981-83; The Making of a Knight (p) 1988; My (p) 1975; The Wasp (i) 1964; western (a) 1950s; The X-Men (a) 1967-70 Greatest Adventure (a) 1960; miscellaneous (a) 1972 in Adventure Comics; Nubia (a) 1973; Our Army at War (a) 1955; The Outsiders (a) Panic Publications: Panic (a) 1958 1986; Robin (1980); Rose and the Thorn (p/some I) 1972-73; romance (p) Quality Comics: mystery/occult (a) 1952 1963-64; Secret Hearts (p) 1965; Secret Origins (p) 1987-88; Spiral Zone (p) 1988; Star Spangled War Stories (a) 1955; Steel (p) 1978; Supergirl St. John, et al.: romance (a) 1950s (p) 1978-79, Superman (p) 1987; Superman and Batman (p) 1982; Superman and Flash (a) 1981; Superman and Harbinger, Lady Quark, Toby Press, et al.: Billy the Kid (a) 1950s; Captain Gallant (a) 1955 Pariah (i) 1986; science-fantasy (a) 1972; Teen Titans (p) 1977; The Unexpected (p) 1980; Weird War Tales (a) 1979; Who’s Who in the DC Topps Comics: Nightglider (a) 1993 Universe (a) 1985-87; The Witching Hour (a) 1971-72; Wonder Woman Western Publishing/Whitman/Gold Key: Believe It or Not (a) 1965; (p/some I) 1972-73, 1977, 1982-86; Young Love (p) 1963-65; Zatanna (a) Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery (a) 1963; The Lone Ranger (a) 1977; 1972-73 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (i) 1965, (p) c. 1965-67; Mighty Samson (a) 1978; On Stage (i) 1960s; Starstream (a) 1976 (imprint: Dell Publications, et al.: The Frogmen (a) c. 1963 Whitman); science-fantasy (a) 1977-78; The Twilight Zone (a) Harwell Publications/Comic Media, et al.: covers (a) 1952-54; 1964-65; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (i) 1965 Comic Media Publications (UK): Danger (p) 1953; Death Valley (p) 1953-54; Freddie Demon (p) 1954; Garry Ghoul (p) 1954; Horrific (p) 1953-54; text pieces (p) 1953 in Danger; Victor Vampire (p) 1953; Weird Terror (p) 1952-54; Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (a) – 1955 premium for Heinz Foods

Marvel’s Unsung Silver Age Artists: A Tryptich part two

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In Defense Of PAUL REINMAN From The X-Men To The Mighty Crusaders

by Nicholas Caputo

Photos of artist Paul Reinman are rare—but one did appear in a special photo section of the 1969 Fantastic Four Annual, by which time he was listed only as a “Cavortin’ Colorist.” His super-hero art in the “Marvel Age” was limited to inking—most prominently the early Kirby-penciled issues of The X-Men, such as this splash from #2 (Nov. 1963). Later, he became famously/infamously identified with “Mighty Crusaders” stories for the Archie folks, such as the splash at right from Super Heroes Versus Super Villains #1 (1966); comic supplied by Jim Amash. Since the cover credits read “By: Dick – Vic – Bob and Paul,” the “Fly Man” story was probably written by Bob Bernstein, who had scripted a few mid-’60s Marvel stories as “R. Burns.” Thanks to Mike Costa and Peter Duxbury. [X-Men art ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Fly Man art ©2004 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Okay, I see you out there with a smirk on your face. It’s not the first time. I have suffered the slings and arrows of outraged fans in the past.

I’ve been derided and threatened with eviction from the Comic Book Community for my brutal honesty. Please refrain from thrusting that rotten tomato in my direction for a moment. After the defense rests, perhaps you’ll take another look at what I sincerely feel is the unjustly maligned work of Paul Reinman.

A little back-history is in order concerning Reinman. He began his career in the 1940s, working primarily for DC and MLJ on features such as “Green Lantern,” “Wildcat,” “Sargon the Sorcerer,” “The Hangman,” Reinman’s heyday at DC came circa 1945-47, when he drew numerous “Green Lantern” stories and covers.

The previouslyunpublished tier at right, now owned by longtime comics colorist Anthony Tollin, was once earmarked for AllAmerican Comics #88 (Aug. 1947); but the “GL” cover and story that issue were

by Irwin Hasen. [©2004 DC Comics.]

and “Roy the Super-Boy.” From what I’ve seen of his work in this period, Reinman had a loose, sketchy style, but he had a powerful sense of design and drew distinctive covers on All-American Comics and Green Lantern.

In the 1950s he worked for editor Stan Lee at Atlas, in genres such as war, western, crime, horror, and romance. He worked at ACG, as well, into the 1960s. His work tightened up, and he produced many moody pages, filled with interesting layouts, innovative angle shots and impressive, detailed backgrounds. Two examples are “Eyes of the Cat” in Mystery Tales #26 (Feb. 1955) and the excellent “Valley Forge” from

In Defense of Paul Reinman Nick Caputo sent this “effective splash page” from Mystery Tales #26 (Feb. 1955). [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

War Comics #26 (July 1954). (Examine that one closely and tell me Reinman was a no-talent!)

In the 1960s he continued to produce fantasy and western stories for Stan Lee. While his style became less defined and sloppy at times, it still had its moments. By the time Marvel moved into the super-hero field, Lee used Reinman primarily as an inker over Kirby and others. By late 1964, though, he would be enticed to return to familiar territory.

Over the years, MLJ had transformed into Archie Comics, named after their best-selling teenage humor strip. They took another stab at superheroes in the late 1950s: The Adventures of The Fly (created by and initially produced by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby—with Paul Reinman hired to draw some of the early stories) and The Adventures of The Jaguar survived.

As Marvel Comics, under the auspices of Lee, Kirby, and Ditko, continued to gain popularity in the 1960s, other publishers took notice and attempted to capitalize on its success. Enlisting veteran Paul Reinman to pencil their titles, starting with a new, super-hero version of The Shadow, these books (which were initially labeled “Archie Adventure Group” on the covers and “Radio Comics” in the indicia) soon re-christened themselves “The Mighty Comics Group,” complete with a cover symbol that echoed Marvel’s. It’s amazing Martin Goodman didn’t sue! In all likelihood, Reinman was requested to copy Jack Kirby’s brand of dynamics. The result was a quirky hodgepodge of comics that bore only a surface resemblance to the Marvel line. Even to my young eyes, I was aware these were not Marvel Comics.

The tiny Mighty Comics line was produced virtually by two men: Jerry Siegel, writer (yes, the cocreator of Superman) and artist Paul Reinman. In the pages of Fly-Man, The Mighty Crusaders, and

13

Mighty Comics Presents, some of the most bizarre images and characters appeared. Desperately attempting to copy Stan Lee’s witty dialogue, sense of humor, and flair for drama, Siegel instead turned the books into an indescribable mixture of bad puns, awful villains, “camp” situations, and other travesties far removed from the Marvel style. The books acquired an offbeat charm that could be compared to an Ed Wood movie. To further the analogy, Siegel’s career had similarities to that of Bela Lugosi, a screen personality who had fallen on hard times and worked for Ed Wood because nothing else was available. Reinman, too, had a definite B-movie character-actor flavor: professional, a solid performer, but rarely in the limelight.

His work on the Mighty heroes was—at the very least—entertaining. The Mighty Crusaders was Archie’s answer to The Avengers, and starred all the company’s featured heroes. One issue in particular, with a story entitled “Too Many Super-Heroes,” must have given Reinman nightmares. The story revived practically every Golden Age character Siegel could remember or research. The Shadow, who had first appeared in pulp magazines and as a radio drama in the 1930s, was given the super-hero treatment. A lousy idea, combined with an ugly green-and-blue costume that left much to be desired. Before that, however, Reinman’s cover to the first issue spotlighted the traditional Shadow in cape and hat, proving he could still turn out atmospheric work; the cover logo was impressive, as well.

While playing upon the “heroes with problems” theme for which Marvel was known, the Mighty heroes’ anxieties were given a more tongue-in-cheek twist. The Shield was one of the earliest patriotic characters in comics; the new version was the son of the original. In his civilian identity, though, he was less than competent in retaining steady employment. Each issue Bill Higgins would attempt to get a job as a barber, dishwasher, etc, and inevitably lose said job when a call to costumed duty arose.

It was an innovative idea that added genuine humor to the strip (unlike many of the painfully forced jokes), and Reinman’s art captured the antics admirably. The Web’s troubles revolved around a desire to revive his super-hero career while juggling his responsibilities as a husband. His wife Rosie was aware of his costumed identity, but she was more interested in his taking out the garbage than in stopping crime. The Black Hood and Steel Sterling were two other Golden Age characters brought back for another try: Steel Sterling was downright dull, but The Black Hood had some potential, although his identity as a cop was somewhat superfluous.

Nick dares anyone to look close at the Reinmandrawn “Valley Forge” from War Comics #26 (July 1954) and still say Paul was a “no-talent”—and we strongly concur! Wish we could print more than the first page of this 6-page minor classic, which storywise partly echoes an earlier Harvey Kurtzman EC war tale but has its own strengths in both story and art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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From The X-Men to The Mighty Crusaders appeal. The characters, while derivative, had possibilities. With a little more thought put into the strips, perhaps they would have found an audience. The scripting was the main culprit—it was forced and insincere; Reinman’s art, in retrospect, fares better.

The Mighty Comics Group, like other companies at the time, was unable to find an audience. By 1967 only Mighty Comics Presents remained (continuing the numbering from the canceled Fly-Man), a showcase book for the company’s heroes, rotating two characters per issue, including Black Hood, The Web, The Hangman, Steel Sterling, and The Shield. The covers sported a distinctive new design, in which Reinman may have had a hand; the Marvel-style corner box was eliminated, replaced by an attractive black border design; three consecutive panels on the bottom featured the co-star, coupled with many attractive logos. But it was apparently too little, too late. Reinman turned in some of his best artwork on those final issues, particularly on The Hangman and The Black Hood. His line became finer, and his use of blacks was impressive. He experimented with larger panels and, overall, produced a nice package. The last issue of Mighty Comics Presents (#50, Oct. 1967) was a change of pace, featuring a plot that, while still somewhat forced, was less stereotypical and had a degree of characterization. It’s possible that new directions would have been attempted, but sales, apparently, did not warrant continuation.

Paul Reinman moved on, drawing a few stories for Tower Comics (“Dynamo,” “U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agents”) before heading back to Marvel, doing production work (coloring, art corrections) and the occasional pencil or ink job on mystery stories into the mid-1970s. The Mighty heroes resurfaced a few times—with notable work by Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, and Steve Ditko—but never made a big splash.

Archie Comics returned to what it did best, catering to the teen humor crowd.

More Reinman-over-Kirby—this time, the splash page of The Avengers #5 (May 1964). Paul inked issues #2-3 & #5, with George Roussos brought in (without credit) to ink Kirby’s pencils on the triumphant return of Captain America in issue #4. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

While Reinman valiantly attempted to emulate Kirby’s larger-thanlife style, his own quirky qualities took center stage. He certainly had his drawbacks (particularly his inability to draw attractive faces: more times than not, they were bland and uninteresting—those less courteous than I might categorize them as ugly). Yet he penciled many exciting covers, and his composition and backgrounds were noteworthy. His characters alternated between the weird and the outright goofy.

Producing practically all the art for Archie’s super-hero line (Mike Sekowsky did some uncredited penciling, as did inkers such as Frank Giacoia, Chic Stone, and Dick Ayers on occasion), he seemed to be having a good time in the spotlight. Certain characters stood out, particularly Fly-Man, The Shield, The Web, and The Black Hood. The letters pages were filled with missives of praise for his art. Oddly, the splash page credits featured made-up names such as “Jerry Ess” and “Paul Are,” but the letters section credited both Siegel and Reinman.

Toward the end of the books’ runs, Reinman occasionally was allowed to sign his stories.

Reviewing these titles today, I remained impressed by Reinman’s talents. As an example, Fly-Man #36 begins with an effective cover, followed by strong interior art. There is even a Kirbyesque panel of The Shield fighting off a group of thugs that Reinman pulls off nicely. His brushwork and use of blacks is strong, and the overall quality of the book is high. Reading these books as a kid, I found them entertaining (my older brother, John, long-time comic book aficionado, bought them off the stands and inevitably enjoyed them, as well, although he’d probably deny it today); and I have to admit they still have an oddball

Still, it was fun while it lasted. The 1960s produced worse material (see Dell’s super-hero take on Dracula and the Wolfman—I’m not kidding!) and plenty of substandard art (I won’t name names, but you know who you are!). Paul Reinman is largely forgotten these days. His work, spanning more than three decades, is rarely reprinted—an exception being DC’s All Star Archives, which features a number of his “Green Lantern” stories and a nice “Atom” chapter from All-Star Comics #35.

Those who do know Reinman often tend to place him in the stereotypical “worst artist” category. Some of his later work is sloppy, and his inking workmanlike, at best, but the big picture should be observed. His 1950s work alone rates a major examination.

Reinman was also tapped to pencil Archie’s super-hero version of The Shadow. Here’s the cover for issue #8 (Sept. 1965). Thanks to Jim Amash. [©2004 Archie Comic Publications.]

Like Don Heck, another fine artist attacked in the 1980s by people unaware of his earlier contributions to the field, Paul Reinman deserves a second look.

Maybe even a third.

In Defense of Paul Reinman

15

Three splash pages from Mighty Comics #44 (March 1967), all penciled by Reinman. Frank Giacoia inked the “Steel Sterling” art. Thanks to Jim Amash.

Oh, and to learn more about The Mighty Crusaders, try either Rik Offenberger’s website <www.mightycrusaders.net> or Archie Comics’ own <www.mightycrusaders.com>. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Another justly-celebrated Reinman-drawn war story for Timely/Atlas is “Atrocity Story,” which appeared in Battlefield #2 (June 1952), during the height—if that’s the correct word—of the Korean War, with a script by Hank Chapman. The splash page of this tale was seen in Alter Ego #35—here is the equally powerful second page. Scan supplied by both Dr. Michael J. Vassallo and Ger Apeldoorn. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Reinman’s splash for “The Monster” in Marvel Tales #106 (April 1952) appeared in our Halloween issue last month, but here’s another moody page from the story in which a re-filming of Frankenstein has an unexpected climax. Thanks to Doc Vassallo. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

From The X-Men to The Mighty Crusaders

16

PAUL REINMAN Checklist [NOTE: Same particulars and key as on preceding Don Heck Checklist.]

Name: Paul Reinman [1910-1988] (artist; colorist) Pen Name: Paul Are

D.S. Publishing Co., et al.: Circus (a) 1948; covers (a) 1948; crime (a) 1948-50; Exposed (a) 1949; Gangsters Can’t Win (a) 1948; Public Enemies (p) 1949

Influences: Alex Raymond, French impressionists

Eastern Color, et al.: Heroic Comics (a) 1948

Courtroom sketches: CBS [Miami] c. 1980

Feature Comics/Crestwood/Headline/Prize: Black Magic (a) 1960; crime (a) 1949; mystery (a) 1960; romance (a) 1958-60; Sick (a) 1963

Books: Harwyn’s World Encyclopedia Magazines: Wings 1941-42 Advertising: no specifics Painter/Artist: watercolors; mural for Cadence Industries cafeteria (all Marvel heroes); appeared in a TV commercial doing a watercolor; co-owner of an art gallery Teacher: Cartoonists & Illustrators School 1950 Honors: Forbes Industrial Award 1970; Travel award at Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit (NYC; no date) Syndicated Credits (Newspaper Comic Strips): Merrie Chase (a) 195051; Tarzan (d)(a) 1949-50

Harvey Comics, et al.: Alarming Adventures (a) 1962; Alarming Tales (a) 1958; Double-Dare Adventures (a) 1967; mystery (a) 1958, 1962; Race for the Moon (a) 1958; romance (p) 1958, 1962; science-fantasy (a) 1958 Hastings Associates: Eerie Tales (a) 1959 Hillman Periodicals: cars (a) 1952-53; crime (a) 1959-50, 1952-53; Flying Fool (a) 1959; The Heap (a) 1949; nonfiction (a) 1949; spy (p) 1952; war (p) 1952; western (a) 1949-52 Lev Gleason, et al.: crime (a) 1949 Major Magazines, et al.: Cracked (a) 1958

Marvel Comics, et al.: Amazing Adventures (a) 1961; Annie Oakley COMIC BOOK CREDITS Western Tales (p) 1955; Astonishing (Mainstream US): (p) 1954; The Avengers (i) 1963-64; American Comics Group: no specifics Battle (i) 1954, 1957-58; Battlefield (p) 1952; Battlefront (p) 1956-57; Captain Archie Comic Publications, MLJ, et Marvel (i) 1968; Chamber of Chills al.: Adventures of The Fly (i) 1959; (i) 1973; Commando Adventures (a) Bentley of Scotland Yard (a) 1945; Black 1957; cartoon/funny animals (a) 1950sHood (a) 1966-67; Boy Buddies (p) 60s; covers (i) 1971; crime (a) 1951, 1941-43; Captain Commando (i) early 1954-56, Doctor Droom (a) 1961; The 1940s; The Comet (a) 1966; The Mighty Falcon (a) 1940; Gunsmoke Western Crusaders (a) mid-1960s; Fireball (p) (a) 1961-63, Human Torch (p) 1945-46; One of Reinman’s last full-art assignments for Marvel was 1941; Fly Girl (a) 1966; Fly Man (a) horror (a) 1951-55; humor (a) 1950s“The Beast from the Bog,” in which he brought a proper mixture of 1965-66; The Fox (a) 1967; The 60s; The Incredible Hulk (i) 1962; quasi-horror and humor to Denny O’Neil’s story of aged vacationers Hangman (a) early 1940s; Inferno (p) Iron Man (i) 1964, 1975; Journey into from Cedar Falls who save the life of an alien—and are given the gift 1941; Kardak (p) 1941-42; The Miracle Mystery (a) 1960-63; Luke Cage – of restored youth for their troubles. This tale appeared in Chamber Man (p) 1940-43; Mr. Justice (a) 1967; of Darkness #5 (June 1970). [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Power Man (i) 1973; Man Comics (a) Red Reagan (p) 1941; Roy the Super 1952; Marvel Tales (a) 1956; Menace Boy (p) 1942-43; Scarlet Avenger (p) (a) 1954; Patriot (i) 1941, Rawhide Kid (p/I) 1964, 1968, 1973, (a) 19601941; The Shadow (a) 1964-65; The Shield (p) 1943; Steel Sterling (i) 62; Riot (a) 1954; religious (a) 1954; romance (a) 1951-56, 1959-61, 1943; The Web (a) 1966-67; The Wizard (p) 1941-44; Zambini (p) 1941 Spider-Man (a) 1973-74, (w/I) 1975; Strange Tales (p) 1951-61; sciencefantasy (a) 1961; Tales of Asgard (i) 1964; Tales of the watcher (i) 1964, Avon Periodicals, et al.: western (a) 1954 Thing and Human Torch (i) 1964, Thor (i) 1964, Two-Gun Kid (a) 1963, Candor Publishing Co.: Zany (a) 1959 War Action (a) 1952; War Adventures (a) 1952; War Comics (a) 1953, Werewolf by Night (i) 1973; Whizzer (p) 1941; The X-Men (i) 1963-64 Charlton Comics, et al.: Hot Rods and Racing Cars (a) 1958; Mysterious Traveler (a) 1958; mystery (a) 1958; Out of This World (a) Parents’ Magazine Press, et al.: True Comics (a) 1942 1959; Outer Space (a) 1958; science-fantasy (a) 1958-59; U.S. Air Force St. John, et al.: historical fiction (p) 1950 (a) 1959 DC Comics, et al.: The Atom 1947-49; Black Pirate (a) 1947; covers (a) 1943-47; The Flash (a) 1944; Green Lantern (a, some p) 1943-47—used inkers such as Sam Burlockoff at least on early work; Hawkman (a) 1946; The King (p) 1943-44; public service page with Green Lantern (a) 1944; Sargon the Sorcerer (a) 1947-49; Starman (p) 1943; Wildcat (p) 1943-44, 1946-47; Wonder Women of History (p) 1943-49

Tower Comics: Dynamo (a) 1967-68, (p) 1967-68; No-Man (a) 1968, (i) 1966, (p) 1968; U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agents (p/a) 1967 Western Publishing/Whitman/Gold Key: Grimm’s Ghost Stories (a) 1974

Marvel’s Unsung Silver Age Artists: A Tryptich part three

17

WERNER ROTH: When “X” Marked The Spot!

A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres

by Nicholas Caputo

A mystery wrapped inside an enigma: information on 1950s-60s Marvel artist Werner Roth is minimal. Scouring through yellowing pages of old fanzines; searching feverishly through my collection of comics history books; calling and e-mailing contemporary Atlas/Marvel artists and other fans/historians—I’ve discovered the jarring fact that Werner Roth is an artist who, if recalled at all, is remembered solely for his work on the original X-Men. The company history book Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics by Les Daniels has only one mention of Roth, a brief bit of copy next to two of his unpublished X-Men covers. Categorized by peers such as Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, and John Romita as a solid artist, with a style more subdued than the explosive work of his contemporaries— especially in the area of super-heroes—Roth’s best work was in fields other than the long-underwear hero.

His earlier work reveals his true strengths in a variety of genres.

Werner Roth is an artist who has gone under the radar for a number of reasons, due not to lack of talent, but mainly to his inability to become a big name in the world of Silver Age super-heroes. Foraging through his years in comics reveals what a truly talented artist he was.

According to information from Robin Snyder, Roth was born on Jan 21, 1921; this coincides with information culled from the Ancestry.com website. His career in comics began in 1950, working for Timely under editor Stan Lee on a variety of assignments including crime, horror,

We’re sorry that Werner Roth’s son Gavin, who shares his thoughts with us in a sidebar later in this article, wasn’t able to supply us with a photo of the artist.

But you may recognize this splash by “Jay Gavin” for The X-Men #18 (March 1966)—Werner’s first outing as the mag’s full penciler after working over Jack Kirby breakdowns for several classic issues.

Above is a true rarity—a pencil sketch drawn by Werner, in this case of The Beast. Thanks to Aaron Sultan, who showed Roy T. this little gem at the 2004 Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. [X-Men splash ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; sketch ©2004 Estate of Werner Roth; Beast TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

romance, war, western, science-fiction, and jungle comics.

An early example of his work appears in Man Comics #5 (Dec. 1950), one of Timely’s 52-page titles featuring longer crime/thriller stories. Roth drew the 13-page story “The Human Sacrifice,” a tale of two brothers, one good, the other not so good. His splash page is a montage of different scenes, and it is by far the best page in the story.

Roth packs a lot into each panel and already shows signs of his later strengths: good characterization, layout, and body language. His only drawback is an overabundance of long shots: dramatic close-ups are few and far between. Nevertheless, it’s a solid early effort, one that would prepare the reader for the type of stories Roth would master best: downto-Earth stories featuring ordinary people.

Roth’s first character book, discovered by historian Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr, was the fantasy series Venus. The earliest story that appears to have Roth art (possibly inked by other hands) appears in Venus #9 (May 1950), as detailed in Alter Ego #29. Roth’s work is clearly evident in Venus #10-12, as well (Nov. 1950-Feb. 1951); faces and figures all point to Roth, who probably inked issue #11 and perhaps

18

A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres (Top & Bottom Left:) If these un-used X-Men covers look familiar, it’s because Les Daniels included them in his excellent 1991 Marvel history. The former was intended for #25 (Oct. 1966), the latter for #33 (May 1967). Both those issues were ones on which Werner, by that time working under his own name, collaborated with A/E’s editor. Inker uncertain, though Dick Ayers embellished the interiors. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Splash of the Roth-drawn story from Man Comics #5 (Dec. 1950), which is discussed by Nick Caputo on the previous page. Thanks to Doc Vassallo for the scan. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot!

19 panel and producing interesting scenes. While nothing jumps out at the reader, it is an overall attractive job, and the good Martian turns out to be a pleasant fellow as Roth draws him.

Surprisingly, this feature was never reprinted— not even during the 1970s, when a great many forgotten strips saw the light of day.

Roth became skilled early on at drawing pretty women, a talent that would contribute greatly to his success in the romance genre. More importantly, he had the ability to portray women with a natural beauty, avoiding the overly glamorous look with which others imbued them. “I’ll Wait Forever” (Girl Confessions #20, Nov.

Dr. Michael J. Vassallo supplied these two splashes from Venus #10—one primarily a romance story, the other science-fiction. He identifies Roth as the penciler of both, but feels that, back in A/E #29’s coverage of that most schizophrenic of comic books, only two pieces of art we showed (on pp. 7 & 9, if you wanna check) were actually Roth’s—and even on the “Son of Satan” splash on p. 7 he feels the heroine’s face was inked by Chris Rule. It’s tough, even for experts like Doc V. and Jim Vadeboncoeur, to identify artists’ styles under Timely/Atlas’ system of the 1940s50s, when the same page was often worked on by several Bullpenners—not just inking but even penciling! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

issue #12. These stories are suited to Roth, who displays an ability to draw attractive women. The title character, Venus, goddess of love, donned a mortal guise and became involved in fantastic situations, such as issue #11’s “The End of The World!” Not the most aggressive of super-heroines, she usually sought assistance from the gods of Mount Olympus. Venus #12 featured an appearance by Thor and Loki in an uneasy alliance to help her out (nobody can refuse this gal!)! These stories pre-date the artist most associated with the character, the incredible Bill Everett, who would immediately follow Roth and embroil her in more horror-oriented fare, adding his own distinctive signature to the strip.

Another early feature on which Roth cut his teeth was “Jet Dixon,” a strip that appeared in the short-lived Space Squadron. While George Tuska drew the first issue, Roth worked on at least two and possibly three issues (according to Timely/Atlas historian Michael J. Vassallo, the second issue is possibly a very “primitive” Roth). Roth’s style is more definitely in evidence in issues #3-4. The character of Captain Jet Dixon is a typical ray-gun-toting space hero of the period, and Roth draws him in a suitable heroic mode. In “The Menace of the Martians” (Space Squadron #4, Dec. ’51), Roth does a good job with the material, showing his continuing growth, moving the reader’s eye from panel to Roth did pencil this lead story for Space Squadron #4 (Dec. 1951), Doc Vassallo confirms— and it shows that, a decade and a half before he drew The X-Men, the artist could handle drama and action. For more about Space Squadron, see A/E #32’s interview with another of the series’ artists, Allen Bellman. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

20

A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres

1952) showcases the artist’s ability to give visual flair to typical people in normal settings. Roth composed a page with a cinematic eye: he had a good sense of where to place long, medium, and close-up shots.

Additionally, the characters had an expressive use of body language.

These attributes would continue to serve him in the years ahead; his comfort in drawing heroes in their civilian identities is apparent throughout his X-Men run. An example of how well Roth manipulated dramatic situations is seen on page 7 of the aforementioned romance story: he skillfully weaves together images of falling rain, trees, and leaves rustling in the background, coupled with the use of silhouettes and heavy shadows—leading up to the final panel of the lovers embracing. A fine example of a page crafted with attention to detail.

Originally drawn by John Buscema, followed by Joe Maneely, The Apache Kid was a Native American who disguised himself as a white man to aid the cause of peace and justice between the races. A typical example of Roth’s superior work on the strip can be seen in “Flaming Arrows” (Apache Kid #15 (Aug. 1955), reprinted in Western Gunfighters #22 (May 1974). The story opens with a powerfully drawn splash page of (what else?) a flaming arrow shooting towards an Indian totem, The Apache Kid and his fellow natives staring towards the approaching danger. Roth’s use of expressions and shadows is effective.

The story’s nocturnal setting gave Roth an excuse to lavish the page with sharp black inks throughout.

Roth’s clear, clean storytelling comes through on the printed page. His characters and settings are interesting, and his eye for camera placement from panel to panel is strong.

Roth was versatile, as well, mastering mood and tension in the horror genre, as illustrated in “The Machine!” (Suspense #15, March Matt Slade, Gunfighter (later 1952). Criminal Carl Grogan is on the changed to Kid Slade) had a good run from the police, and Roth uses run with Roth in the artist’s seat. the character’s fearful expressions, as Following the prolific Joe Maneely, well as varying angles, to great effect. who originally designed and drew Page 2 is a particularly good example: the character, Roth imbued the an open panel focuses on the figure of typical cowboy with atmosphere and Nope, it’s not Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. The Angel—but a Werner Grogan perched against a brick wall; a solid sense of design. In common Roth-drawn flying man seven years before Lee & Kirby launched The Xanother has him clutching his coat, with other Roth characters, the hero Men. “Sammy’s Secret,” from Mystery Tales #40 (April 1956), may owe hidden in the shadows—the reader’s has a likeable quality. One can something to science-fantasy writer Edmond Hamilton’s classic tale “He eye follows Grogan around. While the observe Roth’s style as it continues That Hath Wings,” which Gil Kane adapted in a 1970s issue of Worlds story has a standard time machine to progress in “Ambush” (Matt Unknown. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] “twist ending,” with the killer getting Slade #3, Sept. 1956). The splash his just rewards, Roth’s use of sharp blacks throughout adds a film noirpage is a nicely composed shot of Slade surrounded by Indians; page 2 ish quality that raises it to a higher level. varies the angles from panel to panel, emphasizing the characters’ emotions. Roth’s work is slightly reminiscent of John Romita, probably His tenure on the adventure strip Lorna, the Jungle Girl is notable. due to both artists’ admiration of cartoonist Milton Caniff, whose clean “Inspired” by the success of Fiction House’s “Sheena” series in Jumbo style and sharp brushwork on Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon Comics, Martin Goodman decided to try similar characters. Werner inspired many in the field, including fellow Atlas artist Don Heck.

Roth drew a very attractive heroine who also gained a likeable personality with his use of expressions. He experimented with page layouts, In 1957 Roth, along with many other artists, lost his job at Atlas adding many panels to a page, using panels without borders, varying when Lee was forced to fire his freelancers and work from inventory. layouts and filling the page with activity. Claustrophobic at times, but it The artist spent a number of years at DC, where he found a niche in the suited the jungle environment. Roth appeared to enjoy this strip for both romance genre, drawing stories for Secret Hearts, Young Love, Falling the jungle locale, including many animals drawn with attention to detail, in Love, and Young Romance. Along with Atlas alumni Gene Colan and Lorna’s curvaceous figure, particularly her ample cleavage (at least and John Romita, he would draw many romance stories in the years until the Comics Code arrived—at which point Lorna’s bust was ahead. Either bored or running out of assignments, in 1965 he turned to reduced and her leotard lengthened considerably). A splash page that Marvel once again for work, where, according to Mark Evanier: exemplifies both appears in “Wildfire” (Lorna the Jungle Girl #6, March 1954). The heroine is swinging towards the reader with a variety “Sol Brodsky politely discouraged him because he knew Roth’s quiet of animals in silhouette seen fleeing in the background. One panel style was exactly what Stan didn’t want. Nevertheless, a day or two later, focuses on a lion’s expressive face. Throughout his years on the strip, Roth came in to try to get work and Stan gave him The X-Men because Roth paid attention to drawing wildlife. While Lorna would never be (A) he was desperate at the moment, and (B) he liked Werner too much mistaken for great literature, Roth gave the strip a sense of charm. to say no to him.”

“The Apache Kid” was the longest on-going character Roth penciled, beginning in Two-Gun Western #7, 1951. The hero also appeared in Wild Western and gained his own title, which continued until 1956.

Using the pseudonym “Jay Gavin” (to keep DC from learning he was moonlighting for the rising competition) and initially working over layouts by Jack Kirby (beginning in X-Men # 13, Sept. 1965), Roth learned to adapt fairly well to the new Marvel method, with scripts first

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot!

21

returned to a familiar environment, the western genre, penciling Kid Colt Outlaw. Unfortunately, this gig lasted only two issues (#138-139, Jan. and March 1967) before the title was cancelled. Inventory “Kid Colt” stories by Roth appeared later in the year in Rawhide Kid #64 and #67, as well as Kid Colt #140 when the title was revived again—in reprint form only—almost two years later. On the westerns, Roth did some of his best pencil work since his Atlas days, clearly enjoying himself, producing exciting covers and interior work, complimented by superior inking from newcomer Herb Trimpe. “The End of an Outlaw!”

(Kid Colt #138) features a dynamic full-page montage of the Kid, but it came at a time when the western genre was barely hanging on. Werner Roth would have to return to the costumed heroes.

Roth worked for other companies, as well, in the 1960s. He drew a few Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories at Gold Key, as well as Mandrake the Magician for the short-lived King Comics. He would return to The X-Men after a seven-issue hiatus with issue #44, now aided by Don Heck, who laid out the strip and was apparently brought on to punch up the art. Roth would continue until X-Men #55, when Neal Adams replaced him and Heck. Roth is also credited on the second Avengers King-Size Special (Sept. 1968) along with Don Heck, although it appears to my eye that Heck drew the majority of the book and Roth either finished some pages over Heck layouts or drew some pages solo.

Some possible Heck-Roth or all-Roth pages include 9, 12, 21-27, 34, 3639, 43. Roth is also listed as an assistant on Leonard Starr’s comic strip On Stage (according to information in Jerry Bails’ Who’s Who), although it’s uncertain exactly when or even if this occurred.

This 1950s human-interest 3-pager drawn by Werner Roth was sent to us by Doc V.—we think!—but somehow we lost all info on precisely when and where this Timely/Atlas/Marvel tale appeared. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

by Stan Lee and soon Roy Thomas. Roth’s style, however, had a more subdued and “quiet” look; while he mimicked the explosive Jack Kirby style as best he could, his pages featuring the mutant teenagers in their civilian identities always had a stronger resonance. This aspect of the strip surely appealed to his sensibilities. Roth’s run on The X-Men had its moments; he designed some interesting characters, such as The Banshee, and Jean Gray became one of the more attractive heroines of the period. Roth had an impressive two-year run on The X-Men, and, aside from fill-ins by Jack Sparling and Dan Adkins, drew every issue up to #35. Although he didn’t ink his own work (Mark Evanier notes that Roth was: “a very slow artist.. slow at pencils, even slower at inking…which was a shame, since he was an artist who put most of his personality into his work when he inked”), Roth’s storytelling skills, under a variety of inkers including Dick Ayers and John Tartaglione, were commendable.

Around this time it appears Roth was being moved off The X-Men, although he would still be active on the “Origins of the X-Men” backups. He was tried on other Marvel features. He would team up with Roy Thomas again, drawing two “Sub-Mariner” stories, with nice inking by Dan Adkins (Tales to Astonish #97-98, Nov.-Dec. 1967). Roth then In X-Men #13 (Sept. 1965), Roth penciled over Kirby breakdowns and Joe Sinnott inked. The end result was one of the best-remembered early issues, in which the merry mutants fought Juggernaut for the first time. From the note at the top of the photocopy of original art from which this art was reproduced, it looks as if writer/editor Stan Lee had to have the spelling of “mastodon” corrected in panel 1. Werner was also the finishing penciler on the classic Sentinels saga #14-16. Thanks to Mike Burkey for photocopies of the original art. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres

SIDEBAR by GAVIN ROTH

An E-Mail From The Son Of Werner Roth To Nick Caputo Hi, Nick, Sorry to have not responded earlier, but I haven’t been involved in fandom for a long, long time. Most of your questions I don’t have answers to. I was a kid for the most part of my father’s career. I simply took what he did as a given. He had a studio at home that he drew in. I knew he drew comics, but I never really made a correlation with other comics. He was my dad; he drew comics. It was as simple as that.

I’ve run into people throughout my life who have this great hate for their parents, over insignificant things, and I’ve never been able to relate to that. I never pestered my dad with questions like “Did you like Stan Lee,” or “Did you like super-heroes more than westerns?” I didn’t stick my nose into his business.

Right off the bat I can give you an answer to a question you didn’t ask: my dad was born in Zwickau, Germany, on January 17, 1921, and passed away on Long Island on June 28, 1973.

finished. This work ethic, along with the demands of the “Marvel method,” is most likely the source of his being referred to as a “slow” artist. Marvel Comics were very popular at that time, and Jack Kirby had the bulk of the workload. Marvel needed more artists and looked to the people they knew in the past: Gene Colan, John Romita, my dad, and others. Yes, there was pressure on the artists to work like Kirby, but that was because Kirby was so much a part of Marvel. Marvel work had to be produced at a great pace. Stan could mention that he thought surfboards were happening, and Kirby would turn around and draw up a saga involving gods and messengers and heroics and sacrifice, and Stan could just fill in the dialog in a snappy way. (This is an exaggeration and not meant to be taken as fact, so please don’t.)

After always working from a script, Dad was supposed to somehow emulate Kirby, and I would suppose that was hard on him. He put a lot of work into it and would sometimes be disappointed with the final result—too many word balloons or a rushed ink job—but he didn’t denigrate anybody’s involvement, just a little saddened. The Yankees don’t win every game. When he worked on shorter stories that left time for proper inking, his work appeared very strong.

Herb Trimpe and John Verpoorten complemented his work very well. The “X-Men Origins” stories and the westerns were very nice, evocative of the penciled page. I would have liked to see him ink his own work.

I remember when he announced at the dinner table that he’d gone to see Stan at Marvel and was going to take over The X-Men. I would have been twelve at the time. I was amazed that he was going to work on a comic that I had heard of. He told me he’d originally been hired by Stan Lee back in 1949 and was going to be working with him again.

This brought up Lorna, Venus, and The Apache Kid. We never had a deep He became ill with cancer in 1970 and conversation about his work in comics passed away in 1973. He worked until prior to The X-Men because I was a the end. Besides his work at Marvel, and kid. I lived in the moment. Of course, as his work at DC and Dell, he drew for a time goes by, I’ve wondered about his British war digest whose name I don’t old Atlas years, but mostly what I Roth drew—or at least penciled—this Korean War story for know. He never worked on On Stage. gathered was the sense of the various Battle #46 (1957) [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] He tried out for Flash Gordon but artists being regular people, with lives didn’t get the job, but he “ghostand families, making a living. He was well-trained in art, and would penciled” the Batman newspaper strip for Joe Giella. I don’t know that point out various things that he was doing to make the page work. He he had aspirations to do his own strip, as he was an artist and not a appreciated other artists’ work, and would comment on how he liked writer. His first published work was a four-page story about an orca what they had done, and why it worked as a piece of comic art. I never [killer whale] in the old Sub-Mariner. Look it up and compare it to his heard him say anything bad about anyone. He wasn’t like that. [later] work on “The Sub-Mariner” and you can clearly see it’s him.

I remember showing him an old Atlas comic that had a Joe Maneely His last work was an unfinished “Iron Man” story that, for all I cover and asking him if he knew him, and he sadly told me how he’d know, never saw print. Aside from that, whenever I see his work, I’m died in the subway. [NOTE: Here Gavin may slightly misremember reminded of my youth and my family. That’s what I know. his father’s words, since Joe Maneely fell to his death from a commuter train, not a subway, in 1958. —Roy.] I do know that he Yours, liked Stan Lee. I know he was astounded by how Jack Kirby could just Gavin Roth sit down with a blank page and start drawing in the upper left-hand corner, and just draw down to the bottom of the page, on the fly, and it [If the name “Gavin” seems familiar to the reader of this article, it is would all be correct. In no time at all. probably because, for several issues of The X-Men in the mid-1960s, Dad’s training was more meticulous, starting with plotting the pages out, finding necessary references, roughing out the art, tightening it up, and finally finished pencils. When I say finished pencils, I mean that you could look at the page and the artwork sparkled. It had life; it was

Werner Roth used the name of his sons Jay and Gavin as his own pseudonym, to prevent possessive DC editors from learning he was also working for Marvel. We very much appreciate Gavin’s comments.]

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot!

23 final ongoing series.

He took another turn at Marvel, penciling Werewolf by Night # 8 (Aug. 1973). According to a news item in Jim Steranko’s magazine Comixscene (issue #3), Roth was slated to take over the strip, but it was not to be. His final appearance on an adventure strip would occur two months later, a “Ka-Zar” story in Astonishing Tales #20 (Oct. ’73). The credits, however, list “Marie Severin and Werner Roth” as artists, with inking by Frank Giacoia. Very little of the final product is Roth, as Marie Severin has confirmed to me that she extensively redrew much of the book to keep it in line with the “Kirby dynamics” the editors requested. Marie categorizes Roth as a “good penciler and storyteller” and suspects she was asked to make the changes only because she was on staff and could make them quickly.

The first two pages of Werner Roth’s “Gunhawk” story from Western Gunfighters #5 (June 1971) shows him with a nice feel for dramatic action. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

His work appeared sporadically at Marvel in the 1970s. A new cowboy strip appeared in the anthology title Western Gunfighters #1 (Aug. 1970), a 25-center that mixed new stories with Atlas-Marvel reprints. “Gunhawk” was an attempt at a grittier character, a change from Marvel’s earlier pure cowboys: dressed in black and decorated with a scar on his face, the hired gun still turned out to be more hero than villain. The initial story was written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and well inked by Sal Buscema (the splash page was apparently drawn

by Herb Trimpe). Roth illustrated two more “Gunhawk” stories (Western Gunfighters #5 and 6, June and August 1971), both written by Allyn Brodsky and inked by Dick Ayers and Bill Everett. While the stories are standard fare, Roth’s work makes them worthy of attention.

This was Roth’s last stand at the western genre, although many of his “Apache Kid” and “Matt Slade” stories would be reprinted throughout the 1970s. These reprints, as well as the “Lorna” stories in the 1970s reprint title Jungle Action, before it switched to new “Black Panther” fare, are worth seeking out to see Roth at his finest.

In the early 1970s, Roth migrated back to DC, drawing short stories in their mystery line (The Unexpected, House of Secrets), some with superior inking by Frank Giacoia, as well as a respectable run penciling Lois Lane (#106, Nov. 1970, to #121, April 1972). Quite a few of the “Lois Lane” stories were scripted by veteran Robert Kanigher, and even though the strip was firmly rooted in fantasy (Superman, of course, played a major role in every issue, and there were tie-ins with the storyline then appearing in Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen title, including appearances by Darkseid), Roth did get to return to familiar territory, drawing an attractive woman in a lead role. He was occasionally able to focus on his strengths—characterization and normal settings and people. He was coupled throughout his run with Vince Colletta, an erratic inker whose earlier romance roots served him well on this series. Roth did some very nice work on the strip, which, unfortunately, would turn out to be his This “Lorna” splash wasn’t printed in the first four 1972-73 issues of Jungle Action that Nick Caputo mentions, but Doc V. identifies it, too, as Roth’s work—from Lorna, the Jungle Girl #6 (March 1954). It’s repro’d from a black-&-white Australian reprint sent to us by the ever-vigilant Shane Foley. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

This was to be Roth’s last (posthumous) job for Marvel—although not his final published work.

I recently discovered an inventory

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A Talented Master of Sadly Vanished Genres Surely Werner Roth’s finest visual creation was the mutant Banshee, which he and Roy Thomas co-created in The X-Men #28 (Jan. 1967) and brought back in #35 (Aug. ’67). Writer R.T. came up with the initial idea—although the hero/villain had to be a male rather than a female à la banshees of legend, by edict of Stan Lee—but Roy doesn’t recall giving Werner any instructions on what he should look like, only that he was Irish. The Banshee has endured for over a third of a century—and his daughter Siryn finally fulfilled Roy and Werner’s original concept of a female mutant. (P.S.: Werner also did a fine job with Spider-Man in #35, in the first story featuring the teenage arachnid not scripted by Stan Lee.) [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

If there is any truth to the adage that artists portray a bit of themselves in their work, then I suspect Werner Roth was a nice guy.

[With thanks to Mark Evanier for his behind-the-scenes stories—to Jerry Bails and Robin Snyder for their biographical information—to Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, Flo Steinberg, John Romita, and Roy Thomas for their time, patience, and, above all, ongoing enthusiasm they display for their profession—to comics historian Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for discovering those “Venus” stories I’d never have known about otherwise—and special thanks to that walking encyclopedia of Timely/Atlas history, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (better known as Doc. V.) for allowing me access to his binders full of art samples, his photocopies of Roth-drawn stories (including those unknown “Venus” tales), and, most importantly, his dedication to the preservation of the rich, ongoing history of the medium.]

story for DC, inked by Jack Abel: “The Girl Who Wanted to Say... Yes!” which appeared in Young Romance #121, cover-dated Oct 1976. Other inventory stories presumably exist. Roth died in June 1973, at the age of 52.

Werner Roth is not a name that set the comics world on fire, yet his work is worthy of attention. His art was clean and attractive; he had strong storytelling skills, including varying layouts and designing expressive characters. His work was quiet but by no means dull or static.

Researching this article has given me a greater appreciation of the artist’s skills, and I’ve come to admire his work more than I ever imagined.

Even in his day he was overlooked: searching through many news/fanzines of the period, including the usually thorough Comic Reader, it appears even that fanzine failed to note Roth’s passing. At the time of this writing, I was unable to confirm if Marvel had an obituary notice for Roth, even though both Bill Everett and Syd Shores were eulogized that year. Roth appeared to vanish completely from the comics’ pages—much like the genres in which he once excelled.

While super-stars such as Eisner, Kirby, Wood, and Ditko are regularly discussed and dissected—and rightfully so—critical attention should also be paid to many of the unsung “B” talents and their contributions to the field, as is regularly done in film, music, and television.

They played an important part in the evolution of the field and, in many ways, were the backbone of the industry. Artists such as Roth give us a sense of the true history of comics, a history that included many genres and countless writers, artists, inkers, letterers, and colorists.

We’ll probably never know what Werner Roth thought of his work, or of the field in which he made his living. We have only the drawings he produced for a period of 23 years: an impressive body of work in any field.

This Roth romance page from Lovers #80 circa 1956-57 was provided by Ger Apeldoorn—all the way from The Netherlands. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Werner Roth: When “X” Marked the Spot!

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WERNER ROTH Checklist [NOTE: For additional information and the key to abbreviations used on this page, see the preceding Don Heck Checklist.]

Name: Werner Roth [1921-73] (artist) Pen Name: Jay Gavin COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream U.S.): DC Comics, et al.: covers (p) 1971; Falling in Love (p) 1963-64, 1971; Girls’ Love Stories (p) 1971; Girls’ Romances (a) 1960s; Heart Throbs (p) 1971; House of Secrets (a) 1969; Lois Lane (p) 197-72; Love Stories (p) 1972-73; Melba Manton (p) 1973; Secret Hearts (p) 1964-68, 1970; The Unexpected (p) 1969-70, 1972; Young Love (p) 1963-65; Young Romance (p) 1965, 1969-74

Marvel Comics, et al.: All-True Crime (a) 1950; Apache Kid (a) 1951, 1955-56; The Avengers (i) 1968; adventure (a) 1950; Black Fury (a) 1950; Space Squadron (a) 1951; Clark Mason (a) 1952; Gunhawk (p) 1970-71, Ka-Zar (p) 1973, Kid Colt Outlaw (p) 1967-69; Kid Slade (a) 1957; Lorna, the Jungle Girl (a) 1953-55; Matt Slade (a) 1956-57; Rawhide Kid (p) 1968, 1970; Ringo Kid (a) 1957; romance (a) 19052, 1954-56; Strange Tales (a) 1952-53, 1955-56, 1958; Sub-Mariner (a) 1967; Venus (a) 1950-51; Werewolf by Night (a) 1973; Western Kid (a) 1954; war (a) 1950s; The X-Men (p) 1965-69 Western Publishing/ Whitman/Gold Key: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (p) 1966

Dell Publications, et al.: Ghost Stories (p) 1966 King Comics, et al.: Mandrake the Magician (a) 1967

(Left:) Werner Roth gave out very few interviews, but to accompany a brief one in the late-’60s fanzine Yancy Street Gazette (#21, no date), he drew this Marvel Girl illo, though we’re not certain if he or a fan-artist inked it. In the interview, Werner speaks of his preference for doing “outdoor” stories, and of working at Marvel as opposed to then-DC, and closes by saying: “Comics are a lot of fun, although it’s a rat race because there is a very strong demand on turning the stuff out. Nobody makes an easy life of it—there’s no such thing as a five-day week.”

(Right:) The cover art for the just-out X-Men Masterworks, Vol. 4, reprinting issues #32-42 in full color, is by George Tuska, but, like the credits say, most of the art inside was penciled by this issue’s subjects, Werner Roth or Don Heck. Ye Ed was privileged to write a few behind-the-scenes comments to go with his stories, as well, both there and in the equally new Avengers Masterworks, Vol. 4. Thanks to Mark Beazley & Cory Seidlmeir.

[Art ©2004 Estate of Werner Roth; Marvel Girl & X-Men Masterworks cover TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Submit Something To Alter Ego! Alter Ego is on the lookout for items that can be utilized in upcoming issues: • Convention Sketches and Program Books • Unpublished Artwork • Original Scripts (the older the better!)

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“Each One Was Unique, Creating Fine Comic Art!” ALEX TOTH On A Handful Of Quality Comics Greats

[Art ©2004 Alex Toth.]

[NOTE: Since we’re (belatedly) getting around to printing comments on Alter Ego #34’s coverage of several key personnel of Everett “Busy” Arnold’s Quality Comics, this seemed like the time and place to print an early-2004 communication from Golden/Silver/Bronze Age artist Alex Toth—who, we’re told, once drew a “Blackhawk” story himself (for DC)! Here’s Alex on a few talents not mentioned (or at least not prominently) in that issue’s interviews with Dick Arnold, Alex Kotzky, Chuck Cuidera, and Al Grenet. —Roy.]

In early issues of Quality’s top title, Military Comics, which cover-featured Blackhawk, Al McWilliams drew the ongoing feature “Secret War News,” which told of alleged combat the public didn’t know about yet. Each story opened with a simulated newspaper front page, complete with headline and a single “photo.”

(Left center:) In Military #2 (Sept. 1941), the first of the series, behind the headline/title “BRITISH MYSTERY SQUAD LANDS ON INVASION COAST IN SECRET MISSION,” England turned back a (fictitious but then-feared) Nazi invasion of the British Isles on June 20, 1940, in this penultimate page of war-action panels.

(Left:) This McWilliams-drawn splash from Military #13 (Nov. 1942), non-PC language and all, celebrated the crucial (and very real) U.S. naval victory in the Battle of Midway in June of that year. Thanks to Bob Bailey for both these images. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Alex Toth on a Handful of Quality Comics Greats (Left & below:) Fred Guardineer, who drew “Zatara the Master Magician” and several covers (even one featuring Superman) for 1938-39 issues of DC’s Action Comics, hit his stride with his “Blue Tracer” feature which began in Military Comics #1. Thanks to Bob Bailey for these scans from #2 (Sept. 1941) and & #13 (Nov. 1942). The real star of that series was the “Blue Tracer” vehicle itself. We hope soon to print a long-delayed in-depth interview with Guardineer. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

(Left & below:) “Illustrator-to-be Wm. Arthur (Bill) Smith” drew both “Yankee Eagle” and “The Phantom Clipper” in early issues of Military. This art appeared in issue #1 (Aug. 1941). [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Sorry we didn’t get a chance this time to showcase art, as well, by the fourth talent Alex mentions—the late André Le Blanc—though we did print a sketch of The Phantom by that artist some issues back.

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30

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

This comparison of the Golden and Silver Age Daredevils was drawn for FantaCo’s Daredevil Chronicles in 1982, shortly after Frank Miller reinvented the title. The facts in my cartoon are correct, with one notable exception. I inadvertently pulled the “six million” sales number from another Lev Gleason title, Crime Does Not Pay. A 1948 issue had “More than 6,000,000 readers monthly!” splashed on the cover (and that number was surely exaggerated!)

I don’t know the exact circulation of Biro’s Daredevil, but at its height the title probably sold over a million copies an issue. And even a blind man can see that’s pretty impressive! [Art ©2004 Michael T. Gilbert; Marvel Daredevil TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Golden Age Daredevil TM & ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Some of the Greatest Heroes of the Golden and Silver Ages

I always had a soft spot in my heart for DC’s second-string super-hero J’onn J’onzz. This previously-unpublished Martian Manhunter drawing was done for fun in late 1979. Just don’t ask me what that floating tentacled thingy is! [Art ©2004 Michael T. Gilbert; Martian Manhunter TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

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32

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

I drew this Flash Gordon pin-up in August 2004 at the request of comic-maven Ray Cuthbert. If you’d like to see an even better scan of the original art, check out Ray’s website at: www.comicartfans.com/ GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=13030&Gcat=0&Ucat=0. [Art ©2004 Michael T. Gilbert; Flash Gordon TM & ©2004 King Features Syndicate.]

Some of the Greatest Heroes of the Golden and Silver Ages

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This piece was commissioned by Rob Stolzer and completed on August 2004. Rob’s fond of buggy heroes and villains, so I offered to draw a Ditkoesque Blue Beetle battling Simon & Kirby’s Spider Spry, as The Fly himself looks on. The evil Spry made his debut in 1959 in Archie’s The Adventures of The Fly #1. Too bad we didn’t have room in the picture for Spider-Man and The Green Hornet! By the way, check out Rob’s own art at: www.robstolzer.com. [Art ©2004 Michael T. Gilbert; The Fly & Spider Spry TM & ©2004 Joe Simon; Blue Beetle TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt My first Mr. Monster drawing appeared in 1984 in an ad for Doc’s first story. Twenty years later collector James McCormick asked me to re-create that drawing. It was fun returning to it and making a few improvements. In 1984 I couldn’t quite figure out how to draw Doc’s feet properly—so I hid ’em with a Mr. Monster logo! What a sneak!

Luckily, by 2004 I’d figured out how to draw Doc’s boots….

At left is the original 1984 ad. Feel free to compare this version to this issue’s intro page—the 2004 version. Hmmm! Looks like we snuck in a “Twice Told Tale” piece, after all!

That’s it for this issue. Next: We’ll pay a visit to National Cartoonists Society member Dwight D. Eisenhower!

Till next time,

[©2004 Michael T. Gilbert.]

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Missing a Back Issue?

Got a hole in your Mr. Monster collection? We’ll gladly e-mail you a free Mr. Monster EEEK-Mail Catalog! Just Contact Michael T. Gilbert at:

mgilbert00@comcast.net

For a printed version, send one dollar to Michael T. Gilbert, P.O. Box 11421, Eugene OR 97440

Title Comic Fandom Archive

35

Tales Calculated To Drive You….

ODD!

An Interview Of Sorts With STEVE & DAVE HERRING Editors Of Odd, Fandom’s Foremost Humor Publication In The 1960s

by Bill Schelly Introduction Amid the growing numbers of comics fanzines devoted to articles, artwork, amateur strips, and advertisements in the 1960s, one fanzine was quite different: Odd magazine, a humor publication that lasted twelve issues, published between 1961 and 1965, and edited by Steve and Dave Herring, two New York natives who were transplanted to Massachusetts by the time they set about their publishing endeavors.

Inspired by Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad, Odd’s main features were comic strip parodies of popular super-heroes and related subjects, as well as single-page gags and other features. Most issues were printed via a machine called a “spirit duplicator” (which generally reproduced pages in purple), though the later numbers sported photo-offset covers. Then came their masterpiece, the fullyoffset Odd #12, which proved to be their swan song in zine-pubbing.

Although I first got in touch with the Bros. Herring several years ago, and reprinted the “Lost in Space” parody from Odd #12 in Fandom’s Finest Comics Vol. 1 (which is still available from Hamster Press), it was only recently that it occurred to me how little I really knew about them. To remedy that situation, I made up a list of questions, which Steve and Dave (who still live in fairly close proximity) got together to answer—and here’s the result! Their tape was made on April 3rd, 2004, and was transcribed by the equally odd Brian K. Morris.

DAVID HERRING: One, two, three. I guess we’re recording. I think we’re recording now.

Actually, I can’t tell with these headphones, but I hope it’s recording. Okay, let’s just go.

(Above:) Steve & Dave Herring in the latter 1950s, reading Harvey Kurtzman’s Humbug—and (below) the brothers today—plus Dave’s cover for their fanzine Odd #8, which parodied more super-heroes than you could shake a veeblefetzer at! That’s Steve on the left and Dave on the right, in both photos. All photos and Herring artifacts printed with this piece were provided by the lads themselves. [©2004 Steve & Dave Herring.]

STEVE HERRING: Okay. Hi, Bill. Steve Herring speaking now. You’ll probably be able to tell our voices apart fairly easily. It’s Saturday, April 3rd, and we’re at Dave’s home in Ashland, Massachusetts.

DAVE: Hi Bill.

STEVE: We’ll just get right into your questions. The first: “Can you tell us a little about your family, what your dad and your mom did for a living, where you lived, kind of neighborhoods, etc., when each of you were born—do you have any other siblings?” I’ll answer first. We grew up in a nice working-class neighborhood of Queens, New York, called Howard Beach, which now has its own website. I was born in Queens, but Dave was born in Brooklyn. After that, our folks gave up all hope of having normal kids, so we are it. Dad worked for the New York Telephone Company at their substation near Coney Island in Brooklyn. He was a native Brooklynite, complete with the accent. Mom was mainly a housewife, but worked part-time here and there over the years to supplement the income. She was a college graduate from Connecticut, and attempted to bring some refinement to the Herring household. She failed dismally.

Anything to add, Dave?

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An Interview with Steve & Dave Herring DAVE: We lived in Howard Beach until I graduated from high school, and that’s where Odd got its birth. During my senior year, we published the first couple of issues of Odd. Right after that, we moved to Natick, Massachusetts, and that’s where we continued publishing Odd for a few more years.

STEVE: Ashland, where we are right now, is right next to Natick. I’m currently living in Framingham, which is also next to Natick and just north of Ashland. So we’re not too far from where it all happened. Next question: “What are the earliest comics you remember reading before Mad?” Well, our mother gave us subscriptions to a couple of comics, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories and Little Lulu. I’m not sure if this was actually before Mad or done more as an antidote to Mad when we were getting into that.

DAVE: Yeah, I do remember getting Little Lulu. I think Mother used to read it to us at one time, and the Disney comics, too. Also, I’m pretty sure we bought Superman and some of the other comic books of the time. But we really didn’t get excited or passionate about comics until we discovered Mad. STEVE: The next question: “Obviously, your discovery of Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad comic book was a key formative influence. How did you discover Mad?” Well, my own memory is very vague on the actual discovery. I know we didn’t find it immediately upon the publication of the first issue, but I do remember buying them fresh off the presses at candy stores, whatever candy store was brave enough to carry them.

There was no finer feeling than visiting the local candy store and discovering a fresh new issue there on the rack, waiting for us.

DAVE: That’s right. We got into Mad when it was still being published as a comic book in the early ’50s. I think we saw a copy bought by someone else, and that’s how we found out about it. At the time, adults were very suspicious of it, and there was the feeling that this must be just trash, this awful trash that’s no good for anybody. My parents were a little concerned about it until they read one of them and saw that it was funny and it was just humor, so they allowed us to continue buying and reading them.

STEVE: Of course, Mad was published at the same time and by the same company—EC comics—who published Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and so on. Those did cause quite a stir, and I think Mad was tarred with that same brush. Next question: “What was it about Mad that especially appealed to you?” Well, of course, it was “humor in a jugular vein,” or at least that’s what it told us it was. For my

Tales Calculated to Drive You... ODD! money, it was irreverent, outlandish, frowned upon by adults, clever, sardonic, and perfectly targeted to impressionable kids of our age. That’s what appealed to me.

DAVE: Yes, it was the humor, the fact that it was funny. It parodied things like other comic books and comic strips, movies, TV—things we knew about. It made fun of them in a way that we could understand.

And it was witty, intelligent, and we loved it!

STEVE: “Did either of you have a favorite Mad artist?” I think we both held Will Elder in the highest regard of all the artists. His panels were full of little extras, little gags and little graphical things or words that added extra humor and were seen as more like little bonuses. His characters could be particularly grotesque, and to illustrate this, I need go no further than to refer you to his story “Mole.” Dave?

DAVE: Yes, Elder was also my favorite at times, and especially still today. Well, he signed his name different ways. It was often “Bill Elder” and then sometimes, “Billy Elder” and I think he’s perhaps better known now as “Will Elder.” His style was a little grotesque, but he was also excellent at copying the style of other cartoonists, because he often did parodies, take-offs of other comic strips, like ”Poopeye,” “Mickey Rodent,” “The Katchandhammer Kids,” “Starchie,” and “Gasoline Valley.” That’s just a short list of some of the comic strips he lampooned that looked like they were done by the original artist. So, yeah, he was my favorite, but I also did like two other artists that were very good, Wally Wood and Jack Davis. Those three artists, to me, had the real Mad feeling for humor. And I think that, in addition to being funny, the way everything was drawn was equally important.

STEVE: The next question: “Being a super-hero-oriented magazine, Alter Ego would like to know your reactions to the great super-hero parodies of Mad.” And Bill has listed “Woman Wonder,” “Black and Blue Hawks,” “Superduperman,” and “Shadow!” As I see it, what Mad did with most of these characters was reveal that, deep down, they were neurotic jerks, and that was funny. And of this list, as far as just going back in my own memory, the only thing I remember is the ending of “Superduperman,” where the voluptuous Lois Lane finds out Clark Kent is Superman and still considers him a “creep.”

DAVE: [laughs] Yes. Let me just comment on some of these strips.

“Woman Wonder.” Bill Elder did that one, very good, [chuckles] enjoyable. Often, Elder strips would have these underground tunnels and caves and things, and I think there was some of that in “Woman Wonder.” And “Black and Blue Hawks”—I wasn’t that familiar with that original comic strip. That was a Wally Wood strip. The “Superduperman,” of course, was one of our favorites. That was Wally Wood again. The Tarzan parody “Melvin of the Apes” was done by John Severin. He was one of the original artists in the comic book that I never really cared for that much. He’s a perfectly competent artist, but he just didn’t have the feeling that Elder, Davis, and Wood had. And Kurtzman himself did a number of little comic strips in Mad, a very simple kind of crude style, but it really had that same feeling of humor.

I also made some notes about my favorite parodies that were not necessarily comic strips or super-heroes. “Frank N. Stein” by Elder: in this strip, he introduced—well, he didn’t introduce them, but there were two characters that were used in another strip called “Ganefs!” in Mad #1. There was this big, stupid assistant named “Bumble,” and the boss was this little, tiny guy with a big nose. In the “Frank N. Stein” strip he (This page & previous:) A montage of panels parodying Golden Age superheroes from Kurtzman’s color Mad. [Counterclockwise from top left:] Wood’s Superduperman (challenging Captain Marbles) and Shadowskeedeeboomboom (a.k.a. Shadow’) from #4—Wood’s Black and Blue Hawks and the oft-overlooked Heap (by Elder) from #5—Wood’s Bat Boy and Rubin from #8—Elder’s Woman Wonder from #9—and Russ Heath’s Plastic Sam from #14. Of course, there were also parodies of related heroes such as Tarzan and Flash Gordon. Repro’d from the Russ Cochran hardcover reprints. [©2004 E.C. Publications, Inc.]

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38

An Interview with Steve & Dave Herring mystery writing, so I’m sure there’s some deep, dark psychological subconscious connection with Sherlock Holmes in all of that.

This might be a good time to mention that we certainly wanted the back issues of Mad that we had missed, and we actually went down to the Mad offices on Lafayette Avenue to buy back issues. Some of my strongest memories of this whole era involve visiting those offices, and meeting people. We met Wally Wood, and of course [publisher] William Gaines. We remember this little windowless room in the corner with stacks and stacks and stacks of unsold Mad comics, which we could obtain for a very reasonable price.

Then later, with Humbug, we would go to those offices as well and pester them. That’s where we met Harvey Kurtzman and, I think, Bill Elder, and became somewhat of a pest to them. We had a character we used in our fanzine called Hymie Dooshenbacher, and somehow that stuck with them. When they saw us coming into the office, they’d say, “Oh, here come the Hymie Dooshenbacher kids again!” Do you remember that, Dave?

DAVE: Oh, yes. That was a big deal. We would take the subway into Manhattan and visit the EC offices. Later we’d go over to the Humbug offices. Harvey Kurtzman was very nice to us, and gave us autographed copies of Humbug. It was always fun to visit there. On one visit to the Humbug office, we saw some artwork that children weren’t supposed to see. It was something Elder had done that was for adults only. [laughter] STEVE: Next question: “What about the Mad imitators? Did you have any of those, and did you like them?” We did pick up just about anything that was of that vein, whether it be jugular or not. And I do

(Above:) Bumble and his boss from a Bill Elder-drawn story in Mad #1—and (at bottom right) the final page of the story “The Count” in Odd #12. Script

by Steve Herring, art by Dave Herring. [©2004 E.C. Publications, Inc.]

was Dr. Frankenstein, I guess, and in “Ganefs!” he was a mobster of some sort, but it was the inspiration for one of the first strips in Odd. Odd #1 had a strip called “The Mobsters” that was basically kind of a rip-off of “Ganufs!” It had a big, stupid assistant that I called “Stumble” instead of “Bumble,” and had a little boss. There was also a strip based on “Frank N. Stein,” called “Frank and Stein,” in Odd #2.

Some other favorite Mad parodies were “Shermlock Sholmes,” an Elder strip. And that, I think, inspired my art for the strip called “Castle” in Odd #4. Steve wrote the script. It wasn’t really a Sherlock Holmes parody, but it was about British characters in England in a spooky house, and I think that was inspired by “Shermlock Sholmes and the Hound of the Basketballs.”

As far as Wallace Wood, one of his best strips was “Flesh Garden.”

Of course, Wood was especially good at strips that involved outer space, spaceships, spacecraft, and that sort of thing. Another Wood strip that was really good was the parody of Batman called “Bat Boy and Rubin.”

I haven’t mentioned Jack Davis yet. One of my favorite strips he did was a take-off of Captain Video called “Captain TVideo.” Normally, the strips in the comic book are in color. But in this case, they made it black&-white. They put horizontal lines on the screen and little round corners so you got the feeling that you were watching a TV show. Those are some of my favorite parodies from the old Mad days.

STEVE: Oddly enough, when I was noting some of my favorite parodies, I think I came up with Dave’s top two as well: “Frank N. Stein”—we liked the horror take-offs and that was probably my inspiration for “The Count” in Odd #12—and “Shermlock Sholmes.” Since then, I’ve become a big Sherlock Holmes fan and have done some

Tales Calculated to Drive You... ODD!

39 STEVE: As are most artists. [laughs] Let’s see, where are we? “When did you get the idea for publishing your own version of Mad? In an article about the origins of Odd, you talked about doing the early issues mainly for yourselves, using carbon paper.” Would you like us to trace the history on carbon paper? Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and this was our way of showing how much we enjoyed the comic—by imitating it. We did make attempts earlier than the long-running fanzine series that most people know. I think we had a crayon-based Odd in, maybe, 1957, which had a full print run of two. I’ll let Dave fill you in on the rest of the history.

DAVE: There were two early incarnations of Odd, one in 1957 and another a couple years later. I think the ’59 version was a little better, but still, it was just using a pencil with crayons and just making one copy. At one point, we actually got some mimeograph stencils and used the mimeograph machine in our church to print some copies, but it just was crude and messy, and didn’t work too well. It wasn’t until I found out about comic fandom and learned about ditto duplication that we published for a mass audience.

We’re getting a bit out of order here, but since Dave mentions sending copies of Odd #12 to various pros and companies, here are its cover and the splash to “The Count” inside. Art by Dave Herring; script by Steve Herring. [©2004 Steve & Dave Herring.]

remember many rip-offs at the time. I think there was one comic book called Bughouse and maybe one called Madhouse. One that was very similar in style and content to Mad was its sister publication Panic, which ran a Basil Wolverton cover that I really liked.

DAVE: Yes, I do remember those early imitators of Mad. We bought some, thinking, “Oh, this is going to be like Mad.” But they were usually very poorly drawn and not well-written. One of the imitators of Mad magazine was Cracked. I nearly worked for them. After Odd #12 was published, I sent copies to various publications and comic book companies, mostly in New York City, in an attempt to find employment.

I went down to Manhattan, I think it was in January of ’67. Why I went in January, when it was freezing, I have no idea.

Anyway, I had interviews with a number of companies and one of them was Cracked. They actually did pay me to do some parodies ….I think they were advertising parodies. I did a couple for them and they paid me. I doubt they saw publication; I think they were just taking pity on me. But they did have an opening for a layout artist or a paste-up artist, and I was going to take the job there, but I chickened out at the last minute and came home with my tail between my legs. [laughs] That was my experience of trying to get a job in New York. Besides, I just wasn’t that good, let’s face it. That’s my story of working for a competitor to Mad magazine.

I was in high school—a senior at the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Marv Wolfman was also a senior at that time, and we were in some of the same classes together, including a cartooning class. I wouldn’t say we were close friends, but we’d have lunch sitting at the same table in the cafeteria. One day, he brought in a bunch of fanzines and was showing them to everybody at the table. I think Rocket BlastComicollector was one of them, and possibly Alter-Ego. Some of them had amateur comic strips in them, and it impressed me that they had color highlights. With the ditto process, you can have green and blue and red and, instead of black, they had that awful purple. It’s a very crude technology by today’s standards, but at the time, it was very impressive and I wanted to do it.

I had to do it, but didn’t get a ditto machine right away. Instead I got a hectograph, which is kind of a crude version of a ditto machine: just a slab of gelatin that you would put the master on, and the ink would be transferred onto the gelatin. You’d peel that off and then you would put one sheet of paper at a time on top of that, peel it off, and some of the ink would be transferred onto the paper. It was a laborious process. On Odd #1, I may have printed only twelve copies or so, because it was just too hard. And Odd #2 started that way, too. But suddenly, halfway through Odd #2, we went out and got a ditto machine so we could produce more than a dozen or so. It was much easier than hectograph.

STEVE: So that’s why 1 and 2 are in the scarce, rare category, right?

DAVE: Right.

STEVE: Did Cracked have any of the Mad artists?

DAVE: John Severin comes to mind, but otherwise, I don’t think so—not on a regular basis, anyway. They might have wanted to use them as contributors, but their rates were probably too low. I do remember the publisher describing Will Elder in a negative way.

Something to the effect that he was a very difficult person to work with.

STEVE: They’d sell for big bucks on eBay, if anyone actually had one!

The cover of the Herrings’ Odd #1, drawn by Dave. [©2004 Steve & Dave Herring.]

[You can check out books currently available from Hamster Press at www.billschelly.com.

Also, Dave Herring has a few leftover copies of Odd #11 and #12, for sale to the first comers. Highly recommended! His website is www.artbyherring.com.]

40

In Memoriam

John Cullen Murphy (1919-2004)

He Posed For Norman Rockwell–––And Took Over For Hal Foster

by Roy Thomas When John Cullen Murphy died in July at age 85, he was generally hailed as the “Artist of Prince Valiant.” And of course that’s true, as far as it goes. But that was only the culmination of the career of this skilled artist.

Murphy was born on May 3, 1919, in New York City, but was raised largely in Chicago and New Rochelle, NY. In 1934, to quote an obituary/tribute written by Wolfgang Saxon, “as he was playing baseball, a neighbor, Norman Rockwell, asked him to keep still so he could be drawn for a Saturday Evening Post cover. The experience thrilled the boy so much that he decided to become an illustrator.”

Even at age 17, while studying at the Phoenix Art Institute in New York and later studying with anatomist George Bridgman at the Art Students League, Murphy sold illustrations of boxers for advertisements, as well as sports cartoons. By 1940 he had sold a cover to the popular magazine Liberty.

During World War II, again per Saxon, he “served in infantry and anti-aircraft units in the Pacific, rose to the rank of major, and won a Bronze Star.” Some of his postwar sketches of Japanese life were published in the Chicago Tribune.

John Cullen Murphy, in a photo supplied by Michael T. Gilbert—plus an illustration JCM drew for Boy’s Life magazine for August 1957 (thanks to Ger Apeldoorn)—and the Big Ben Bolt daily for May 15, 1968, as seen in Jerry Robinson’s 1974 book The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art. Ye Editor, Roy Thomas, recalls how once, circa 1970-71, while visiting Al Williamson on the New York-Pennsylvania border, he learned that Al had someone—probably Australian artist Stanley Pitt—ghosting Al’s strip Secret Agent Corrigan. When asked why, Al said it was because he himself was ghosting Murphy’s Big Ben Bolt—so that Murphy could draw Prince Valiant for Hal Foster. And so it went, up the comic strip food chain… but John Cullen Murphy could hold his own with the best. [Boy’s Life art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; Big Ben Bolt art ©2004 King Features Syndicate.]

In 1949, after having worked for a time as illustrator and cover artist for such mainstream magazines as Esquire, Holiday, Look, Sport, and Collier’s, he and writer Elliot Caplin of King Features Syndicate created the newspaper comic strip Big Ben Bolt, whose star was a young boxer. The strip ran for nearly a quarter of a century.

In 1970-71, as Harold R. Foster eased himself into retirement from his own legendary strip Prince Valiant, he groomed Murphy to be his successor. Murphy drew the Sundays-only strip for 34 years, until a few

months before his death, with his son as writer since 1979 and his daughter as letterer and colorist for the past decade. Prince Valiant is now drawn by his own choice of successor, Gary Gianni.

[Much of the above information was gleaned from the obituary by Wolfgang Saxon and from Ron Goulart’s 1990 book The Encyclopedia of American Comics.]

In Memoriam

41

Jackson Beck (1912-2004) “It’s Nice To Be Part Of A Legend!”

by Anthony Tollin Jackson Beck died at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 28, 2004, in Manhattan.

One of radio’s greatest adventure narrators, Beck’s voice introduced such programs as The Adventures of Superman, Mark Trail, Man behind the Gun, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.

The son of silent film actor Max Beck impersonated world leaders on the March of Time radio series and enacted the titles roles on radio’s Cisco Kid and Philo Vance. He provided the voice for Bluto in nearly 300 Popeye cartoons, and has been heard on hundreds of TV commercials for Little Caesar’s Pizza, Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes, Brawny Paper Towels, Thompson’s Water Seal, Combat Roach Killer, Pepsi Cola, and other products. His voice was also frequently heard on NBC sports shows, TV’s Saturday Night Live, and the National Lampoon radio broadcasts.

Jackson Beck was incredibly versatile, and frequently doubled and even tripled in the radio shows he narrated. On radio, he portrayed both the erudite Philo Vance and the romantic, Mexican-accented Cisco

Kid… both the teenage Beany Martin and Batman’s butler Alfred Pennyworth on The Adventures of Superman. He also impersonated a variety of world leaders, including Joseph Stalin on The March of Time (enacting the week’s news from the pages of Time magazine). He also narrated the Woody Allen film Take the Money and Run. “Still,” he said, “it’s my work on Superman that I’m most remembered for, and I’m still often asked to re-create the famous opening today when I go for auditions. It’s nice to be part of a legend.”

He was one of the busiest voice-over performers in the business well into his eighties, and was also the most frequent guest for two decades at the annual Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention, where it was my pleasure to direct him in The Shadow, Quick as a Flash, The Cisco Kid, and more than a dozen other radio re-creations. Jackson truly could play any role, and did, on radio and television for two-thirds of a century.

Jackson Beck was a founding member of AFRA/AFTRA, and was rumored to hold membership card #2 in the original American Federation of Radio Artists.

[Anthony Tollin, a veteran comic book colorist and one of the fabled DC “Woodchucks” of the 1970s, has written the program books for countless re-packagings of vintage radio shows, including the Smithsonian Historical Performances such as Superman on Radio and Superman with Batman and Robin on Radio.]

The above photo of Jackson Beck in the 1940s, supplied by Anthony Tollin, shows him dressed for the part of a radio character. Also seen is the packaging for one of the Smithsonian Institution’s re-issuing of broadcasts from The Adventures of Superman, at the opening of which Beck was the one who shouted the famous “It’s SU-perman!” The art, from the cover of World’s Finest Comics #3, is by Fred Ray. [Art ©2004 DC Comics.]

42

re:

LAST-MINUTE NOTICE: Now it can be told!

Coming in February 2005 from Heroic Publishing—Alter Ego, the 1986 4-issue comic book series by Roy Thomas & artist Ron Harris, with new cover by Ron and new intro

by Roy! 128 pages, plus covers, in full color, for $17.95—distributed through Diamond Comics Distributors and FM International. See preview on the Heroic website at <www.heroicpub.com/alterego>. Don't miss it!

Neither interviewer Jim Amash nor Roy had interpreted Jerry’s remarks in that way, but since it was Jerry who had made the reference to “previous regimes,” we asked him if he would clarify the matter both for our readers and for Carmine, whom he has known for many years.

After a discussion with Jerry Robinson, Jim Amash sent me the following statement: “A clarification: When Jerry Robinson made the comment in my interview with him in Alter Ego #39, that the ‘previous regimes’ mistreated Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he was referring specifically to the people who signed Jerry and Joe to their original contract and fought to deny Siegel and Shuster any rights to their creations.”

Roy here again: Since the contract Jerry R. mentions was signed circa 1938, when Siegel and Shuster sold their first “Superman” story to what became DC Comics for Action Comics #1, it should be clear that Carmine Infantino was not being referred to disparagingly in any way, shape, or form. After all, Jerry was dealing with Jay Emmett in 1975, who was clearly part of the same “regime” as Carmine, and not a “previous” one. We sincerely hope this clears up the matter, and Roy offers his personal apologies for not taking the initiative to clarify it in A/E #39 itself.

One of the “Wizards of Oz” has come through—again!

You might’ve noticed we’ve been kinda hinting in recent issues that we’d dearly love to get any pro (or just pro-quality) drawings of this magazine’s “maskots” for use in “re:” sections or elsewhere—either of the super-hero christened Alter Ego (with or without his other self, Rob Lindsay), who had his own comics mini-series in 1986, or of Alter and Captain Ego, who were created in 1964 by the late Biljo White for A/E [Vol. 1] #7.

So we were doubly delighted when Australian fan/collector Shane Foley (half of the dynamic duo that designed all those great pseudo-Silver Age Marvel covers for A/E #27) sent a number of illos of both sets of heroes, which you’ll be enjoying in the months to come! And, since this issue’s truncated letters section deals largely with A/E #34’s “Quality Time” coverage, what better one to start off with than his artful homage to the fabulous Lou Fine’s cover figure from Hit Comics #1 (July 1940). Thanks, Shane! Hey, we’ll bet Alter Ego would’ve been a bigger “hit” than The Red Bee ever was!

[Art ©2004 Shane Foley; Alter Ego TM & ©2004 Roy & Dann Thomas.]

That said and done, before we print comments on issue #34, we come to a decidedly less pleasant task… but it’s one we must do, and one we want to do.

Three issues ago, in A/E #39, interview subject and early “Batman” artist Jerry Robinson spoke at length about his and others’ involvement with the 1975 settlement between Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, and DC Comics, in the person of Warner Communications executive Jay Emmett.

We regret to report that, while his name did not appear in the section that dealt with Siegel and Shuster, our artist friend and esteemed colleague Carmine Infantino took exception to the final paragraph of that section, which appears on p. 25 of #39’s flip side. As the publisher and editorial director of DC Comics in 1975, Carmine felt it was implied that it was he who was meant when Jerry R. said the “previous regimes” at DC (i.e., the “regimes” before those since 1976 of first Jenette Kahn, now Paul Levitz, who are mentioned by name) had “mistreated” Siegel and Shuster.

And now, on to a few comments in our regularly-scheduled letters column, which is already running two or three issues behind: On p. 16 of the first “Quality Time” section of issue #34, we printed a photocopy of the original art to the cover of Blackhawk #40 (May 1951), which artist Chuck Cuidera and AC Comics stalwart Mark Heike were discussing when Ye Editor ran into them at an Orlando, Florida, MegaCon a few years ago. That cover has often been credited to Reed Crandall, but Mark says that when he asked Chuck about that, Cuidera replied: “No—I did the whole job. After inking Reed for a while, I got where I could pencil like him, too, when I wanted to.” Mark’s wife and AC colleague Stephanie Heike sent this added information about that gorgeously restored cover: Hi, Roy, The Quality covers that Chuck had hand-colored were two T-Man covers. The Blackhawk #40 (still in black-&-white) original art was missing the logo, and Chop-Chop had been cut out from the illustration board (presumably for some other piece of art, sadly enough!). A lot of the art was chipped. Mark and I did line touch-ups, filled in blacks, restored the Blackhawk logo (and a distribution symbol next to it, as well, that was on the cover of the printed book), and re-added ChopChop to a copy. Otherwise, that’s Chuck’s original art.

Stephanie Heike We’ll take what we can get, Steph—and it was great work that you and Mark did. Thanks for filling us in on the story behind its restoration.

By the way, Steph’s a fine comic book artist in her own right. Look for the recent color comic 21st Centurions #0, published by Centurior Premiere (Hoodoo Graphics). Inks by Mark Heike, and written/penciled/lettered/colored by Stephanie Sanderson Heike. Steph says to send them an e-mail at msheike@hotmail.com to order this full color comic, or to complain about the $7.95 price tag.

re:

43 Bill— A very nice article on the 40th anniversary of the Alley Talley. Yep, that was me in that photo, all right. At last! Real proof that I actually attended that (turned-out-to-be-historic-though-we-didn’t-knowit-at-the-time) get-together. Everything would have been perfect if my name hadn’t morphed into “Larry” Sorek in the text below. Maybe my atoms got scrambled in the Zeta-beam and mixed up with “Jerry” Raybourne’s, later in the paragraph. Oh, well, I was still delighted to see the event being commemorated in your usual entertaining style, enhanced by all the photos and illos.

Gerry Sorek You can probably blame that on Roy, Gerry, who had to retype part of Bill’s piece while editing it. At least everybody had the right name at least once in the article—including Larry Raybourne!

Surely Keith Hammond is correct when he suggests that the cover Dick Arnold says he had Reed Crandall trace for a later issue must’ve been that of Blackhawk #19 (June 1948), which was virtually repeated, with even the same background color (red), on #47 (Dec. 1951). Ye Editor got confused because Dick referred to going over sales figures “after the war,” so we figured the cover in question either came out during World War II or the Korean War—while 1948, of course, fell between those conflicts. [Blackhawk ©2004 DC Comics.]

Next, a mini-revelation from reader Keith Hammond: Hi, Roy, As always, I really enjoyed the latest Alter Ego, as my interest in comics without super-heroes has grown… and one of the books I have enjoyed collecting over the last five years is Blackhawk. I really like the Quality stuff, especially with Reed Crandall. You collected a great bunch of interviews. Great job!

One thing from page 9 caught my eye. The pictures of Blackhawk #59 and #97 back-to-back made me notice how alike those covers are.

However, when I read Mr. Arnold’s comments about a cover Reed Crandall had redrawn for a later issue, I assumed he meant Blackhawk #19 and #47. They seem to have the same figure of Blackhawk, as well as a bright red background. As you noted on page 9, Blackhawk #97 was drawn by Dick Dillin and Chuck Cuidera. I think both Blackhawk #19 and #47 were by Crandall (at least, they look to be by him to my untrained eye), which would fit Mr. Arnold’s description of Reed Crandall drawing both covers. Just a thought.

By the way, do you know if there’s any chance that DC will publish a 2nd DC Archives volume of Blackhawk? It would have five more early Reed Crandall stories, plus some of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen.

Keith Hammond 1621 Citadel Place Cincinnati, OH 45255 Your guess is as good as ours, Keith. We’d love to see it ourselves, but we kinda suspect that, although we felt both the stories and the Cuidera and Crandall artwork in Vol. 1 exemplary, it probably didn’t set hearts beating as fast as some other things DC has reprinted. Well, at least we’ve had six Plastic Man volumes to date, right?

Bill Schelly, who of course puts together a “Comic Fandom Archive” section for most issues of A/E, forwarded this letter from early fan Gerry Sorek from among several he received about his “Alley Talley” article in #34:

More Additions And Corrections: Comics expert Hames Ware, who back in the 1970s co-edited the original edition of Who’s Who of American Comic Books with Jerry Bails, dropped us a line to inform us that the “Arizona Raines” art on p. 29 in #34 was indeed penciled by Paul Gustavson, as we ID’d, but was inked by Bill Ward. He adds: “I was so glad to finally have my longtime hunch confirmed that Al Grenet did art for Quality!”

Jon Berk, who says he especially enjoyed the Dick Arnold and Chuck Cuidera interviews, says it “just cannot be so” that Cuidera created The Blue Beetle for Fox: “He [Cuidera] says he was hired out of Pratt [Institute] by art director Joe Simon. Simon came on board because Eisner had had it with Fox over the ‘Wonder Man’ debacle. The last Fine/Eisner work for Fox was out in late 1939. Ads were placed for artists to replace the [departing] Eisner shop. In my article [in Comic Book Marketplace #107], those ads started in December 1939. Simon in his book [The Comic Book Makers] says he was ‘Mr. Roberts.’ Be that as it may, Mystery Men #1 is cover-dated August 1939, meaning it was on the stands late June/July 1939. The math just doesn’t work.” And there we’ll have to let it stand for the present, Jon—but thanks for the cogent analysis.

Jack Bender, current artist and co-writer of the Alley Oop newspaper comic strip, says of the photo he supplied to A/E #34 of an early-1960s Alley Award statuette: “We got that great image of the Alley award from eBay on the Internet. This was the Alley owned by Julius Schwartz and purchased on auction last May (or late April) by the number one Alley Oop collector, Ray Snodgrass, who lives in California.”

John Benson points out that, contrary to a caption accompanying Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt” section about a March 1949 drawing there sporting “probably” the first example of Harvey Kurtzman’s distinctive signature—“Kurtz” followed by a stick-figure image of a “man”—H.K. was actually using that signature regularly on his “Hey Look!” one-pagers for Timely as early as August 1948. Roy wrote that caption, John—could be he misinterpreted Ger Apeldoorn’s phrasing and Ger didn’t mean that was the trademark signature’s first use, but thanks for straightening us out.

John also says he “wouldn’t discount [an Elliot] Caplin connection to Varsity [magazine],” since “it was just at this time, 1949-50, that Kurtzman was referring to when he gave credit to Caplin because he ‘just gave me work on the basis of knowing that I was desperate.’”

John goes on to say that he thinks Roy’s “speculation in the caption on page 30 [of the Grenet interview] is wrong. Waldman’s Super Comics

44

re:

Here, from the Julius Schwartz Collection, is a 1960s photo of the late great DC editor with, in all probability, the same Alley statuette whose image was more clearly seen back in A/E #34. We’re not sure what year the award was for—or whether it was for “Best Editor” (a category that didn’t even exist for the first year of the awards—but Julie won it in 1962) or for something else—and anyway, real honest-to-plaster-of-Paris Alleys were only made for a year or two. But Julie certainly deserved his!

At right, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, is a key page from The Flash #123 (Sept. 16), with art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella, script by Gardner Fox, and editing by Julie. In the 1961 Alleys, that single issue won “Best Cover,” “Best Single Issue of a Comic-Book,” and “Best Story”—while Carmine won “Best Artist (Pencil or Ink).” Fans recognized the greatness of “Flash of Two Worlds!” right from the start. Thanks to Mike W. Barr. [Comic art ©2004 DC Comics.]

didn’t go through the [Comics] Code since they were sold nonreturnable to discount retail stores, not newsstands.” Still, something led Waldman to change one word in the title from “Fiend” to the far weaker “Crook”—a change carried over into the English boys’ annuals from which we got our b&w photocopies. Any notions out there?

Well, that’ll pretty much kick it in the head for this go-round. Send any cards and letters and e-mails to: Roy Thomas

Fax: (803) 826-6501

32 Bluebird Trail

E-mail: roydann@ntinet.com

St. Matthews, SC 29135 Next issue, it’s Christmas card time, plus interviews with Tom Gill and others, not to mention a big fat section on the Silver Age of Mexican super-hero comics!

P.S.: Veteran comics artist (and grandparent) Don Perlin has informed us that it’s that time of year again—time for the Cavalcade of Comics, on behalf of the Tourette Syndrome Association. Numerous artists have generously donated their work to help a good cause, and you can view it and learn more about the Cavalcade of Comics at www.tourettesbenefit.com. Give it a holler!

Monthly! The Original First-Person History– published by Robin Snyder

Write to: Robin Snyder, 3745 Canterbury Lane #81, Bellingham, WA 98225-1186

BACK ISSUE OF THE ISSUE! Move it, mutant-lover! If this issue’s spotlight on Roth, Reinman, and Heck has whetted your appetite for more about THE X-MEN, you can’t do better than order a copy of ALTER EGO #24, in which DAVE COCKRUM, CHRIS CLAREMONT, LEN WEIN, ROY THOMAS, and others tell all about the triumphal 1976 return of Marvel’s merry mutants! See TwoMorrows’ ad on an inside front cover!

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In the the USA USA In

No. 42

November 2004

Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder; characters TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.

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Vol. 3, No.42/November 2004

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Production Assistant

Eric Nolen-Weathington

Cover Artists Ernie Schroeder Steve Fastner & Rich Larson

And Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Richard Howell Michael Ambrose Shirleen King Ger Apeldoorn Rich Larson Bob Bailey Marv Levy Mike W. Barr Wally & Rosemary Littman Michael Baulderstone Sam Maronie Mark Beazley Richard Martines Jack Bender Brian K. Morris John Benson Frank Motler Jon Berk Tom Palmer Mike Burkey Jens Robinson Nick Caputo Jerry Robinson R. Dewey Cassell Herb Rogoff Bob Cherry Gavin Roth Steve Cohen Peter Sanzone Mike Costa Ernie & Constance Schroeder Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt Cory Seidlmeier Terry Doyle David Siegel Michael Dunne Gerry Sorek Peter Duxbury Aaron Sultan Steve Fastner Marc Swayze Shane Foley Dann Thomas Janet Gilbert Bob Thoms Bob Greenberger Anthony Tollin George Hagenauer Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jennifer Hamerlinck Jr. Dr. Michael J. Keith Hammond Vassallo Mark & Stephanie Hames Ware Heike Tom Wimbish Dave Herring Mike Zeno Steve Herring

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Jackson Beck & John Cullen Murphy

A WHOLE HEAP OF HILLMAN & ZIFF-DAVIS! Section

Contents

Writer/Editorial: From Air Fighters to Space Busters! . . . . . . . . . 2 Glory Days at Hillman and Ziff-Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Golden Age editor Herb Rogoff talks to Jim Amash about two fabled comics companies.

The Good “Heap” Artist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 An in-depth interview with Ernie Schroeder, the ultimate illustrator of Airboy Comics.

“We’d Sit Around and Come Up with Situations!” . . . . . . . . . 39 A talk with Hillman artist/cartoonist Wally Littman.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 P.C. Hamerlinck spotlights Marc Swayze & Frank Motler’s “Fawcett/Charlton Connection” finale.

Silver-Agers Assemble!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover: When, through the good offices of Herb Rogoff, A/E associate editor Jim Amash first contacted Golden Age great Ernie Schroeder about an interview, he inquired if the artist might just happen to have any left-over original art lying around the house Alter Ego could use as a cover. He didn’t—so, to Jim’s shock, Ernie sat down and painted a new scene of Airboy and The Heap, two great heroes he illustrated during their latter days. Only, Ernie wasn’t that wild about the end result—so he destroyed the painting! Fortunately, by then he had mailed a good copy of it to Jim, who did some fast (and apparently skillful) talking to convince him to let us print it. It’s amazingly good, sez we—especially considering at that time Ernie hadn’t drawn (or even thought much about) Airboy and The Heap for nearly half a century! [Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder; Airboy & Heap TM & © the respective copyright holders.]

Above: A powerful and well-rendered panel from the “Heap” story in Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #6 (July 1952), as drawn (and probably written) by the aforementioned Ernie Schroeder.

Repro’d from a 1950s English boys’ annual, with thanks to Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Alter EgoTM is published monthly 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. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. 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 Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

Title writer/editorial

2

From Air Fighters To Space Busters!

One of the major pluses of putting together Alter Ego is the thrill of discovery.

While I know considerably more than the average joe knows (or wants to know) about comic books—at least those of a few decades ago, since I have little interest in work produced since the mid-1970s—each and every month I learn numerous facts that I didn’t know before. Most of these are less than earth-shaking—a new factoid about the Superman/ Captain Marvel lawsuit or that long-lost Golden Age “Justice Society” story, or why Mike Sekowsky and George Klein had a falling-out in the late 1940s—but sometimes, and not so rarely as you might imagine, a whole new vista suddenly opens to me. And I figure if I haven’t heard of some aspect of Golden or Silver Age comics, then most A/E readers probably haven’t, either, so I’m eager to share it.

This time, it’s information about two smallish but important players on the comic book stage in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s: Hillman Periodicals and Ziff-Davis. Jim Amash was fortunate enough to track down Herb Rogoff, who was an editor first at one, then at the other, and so can give insights about these two quite disparate comics companies.

Mr. R. (I don’t feel familiar enough to call him by his first name) was forthcoming not just with memories, but even with materials—as when I opened a mail package recently and found inside, sent on loan for the purposes of illustrating his interview, a thick bound volume containing a dozen-plus 1952 Ziff-Davis comics, one of each title they published during the first half of that year.

In addition, Herb R. put Jim in touch with two artists. Wally Littman drew clever cartoons for Hillman, and could provide additional insights

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on the writers and artists of the day. And, most amazingly of all, Mr. R. put Jim in contact with Ernie Schroeder, the artist (and often writer) of the “Airboy” and “Heap” features in later issues of Airboy Comics, as well as other material. Only 2-3 years ago, in A/E #18, I printed a page from a “Heap” tale by an artist I couldn’t identify by name. By issue #29, comics researchers Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., and Hames Ware had put a name with that scratchily illustrative artwork: Ernie Schroeder. And now, thanks to Herb Rogoff and Jim Amash, you and I and all of us can read an entire interview with Ernie Schroeder, behind a color painting of Airboy and The Heap that he did especially for Alter Ego—and both Jim and I have been the surprised and overjoyed recipients of drawings of that classic pair by Ernie.

And some folks wonder why we knock ourselves out every month putting out Alter Ego…!

Bestest,

P.S.: Got to admit up front, though, re a statement made by Wally Littman on page 41, that I for one don’t think Stan Lee and/or Jack Kirby swiped the concept of The Heap for The Hulk. But I myself did shamelessly borrow from it for The Glob and Man-Thing—and then suggested to Sol Brodsky circa 1970 that Skywald publish its own “Heap,” which it did. I really love the Heapster—and he had become an abandoned trademark.

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3

Glory Days At Hillman And Ziff-Davis Golden Age Editor HERB ROGOFF Plays Compare-and-Contrast With Two Vintage Companies Conducted by Jim Amash Transcribed by Jim Amash & Tom Wimbish [INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Herb Rogoff is a man I’d always wanted to talk to. As an assistant editor for Hillman Publications and editor for Ziff-Davis, I figured he could enrich our knowledge of comics history.

Herb didn’t let me down, relating the inner workings of the companies he worked for and discussing the men who freelanced for him. From the beginning until now, Herb’s career is a fascinating example of the twists and turns one’s life can take. I enjoyed telephonically traveling down that road with him, and now you’ll get to appreciate Herb’s insightful observations, too. Writer, artist, editor, publisher, salesman, teacher, raconteur... and... well, see for yourself... —Jim.]

been an assistant to [famed illustrator] Dean Cornwell. James Bama [later paperback cover artist, including the classic Doc Savage of the 1960s] was also in our class. Frank Reilly would walk around the room and look at what we did. When the model took breaks, I’d start drawing sports cartoons in the margins of my paper, and Reilly would correct them.

“Drawing Was All I Wanted To Do”

“I Started Working For MLJ While Still In High School”

JIM AMASH: I’d like to get some background information on you, so let’s start at the beginning.

Professionally, I started working for MLJ while still in high school, as a summer apprentice. Harry Shorten was the editor. I went up there one day, showed my samples, and got a job as a letterer. I was left-handed, which made it hard to letter. One of the owners, Louis Silberkleit, saw me lettering, and said, “You can’t be a left-handed letterer. You have to do it right-handed or you’ll smear everything you letter.” He told Harry, who came and talked to me about it, so I taught myself to letter with my right hand.

HERB ROGOFF: I was born in Brooklyn, New York, May 12, 1927. I started drawing when I was very young. Drawing was all I wanted to do. I copied the artists from the newspaper strips. My older brother Leonard was an extremely gifted artist. We discovered that he had a rheumatic heart when he was ten years old. He went into high school at age ten and graduated at age 14. He died at age 18; I was 11 at the time.

He was absolutely fantastic and a very bright guy. If we’d had sulfa drugs back then, he’d have had a much longer life. He was one of my biggest influences.

I went to the High School of Music and Art in New York City, graduating in 1944. Norman Maurer and Joe Kubert also went to the school, simultaneously drawing comics for various companies. I didn’t know them while in school, though I did get to meet Joe years later when he worked at Ziff-Davis. Everett Raymond Kinstler also went to school there. After school, I went to the Art Students League until 1945, when I was drafted into the Marine Corps.

My anatomy instructor at the Art Students League, Frank Reilly, had

Herb Rogoff—juxtaposed with Dan Zolnerowich’s dramatic cover for Airboy Comics, Vol. 7, #7 (August 1950), one of the many comics Rogoff edited during his career in the field. Photo courtesy of H.R.; thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for the loan of the comic. [Art ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: How in the world did you learn to do that?

ROGOFF: Well, my father had changed me from a left-hander to a right-hander in my writing, but never in my drawing. It was easy for me to change over. In fact, I still letter with my right hand.

This was 1943, so I was 16 at the time. I was hired as a letterer, but I kept making some mistakes, so I started doing minor jobs, like filling up ink bottles. What a demotion! [laughter] They had staff artists like Carl Hubbell, which, as you know, was also the name of a famous baseball pitcher. Hubbell drew a feature called “Sergeant Boyle.” Carl was tall and gangly; he seemed liked a farmboy. I don’t know where he was from and never saw him again after that summer.

4

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

(Left:) Besides “Sgt. Boyle,” Carl Hubbel also drew the humorous “Marco Loco,” as per this splash from MLJ’s Pep Comics #46 (Feb. 1944). Thanks to Michael J. Gilbert. (Center:) In this 1992 photo, Irv Novick contemplates a copy of Pep Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), in which he drew “The Shield,” the first-ever redwhite-and-blue comic book super-hero. Novick’s early “Shield” stories have recently been reprinted in a trade paperback. Photo courtesy of David Siegel.

(Right:) Bob Montana, Archie’s creator or co-creator, drew this character page for Archie Comics #1 (Winter 1942). [Art ©2004 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Irv Novick was also there, which is funny, considering that we sort-of switched roles years later. Irv worked for me at Ziff-Davis, and I started out being an office assistant for him and Carl.

I ought to belt you in the ass,” but he kept me on. I was afraid of him.

Later on, when I was an editor, I used to see him at certain functions. He always remembered those days when I worked for him.

Among other things, I inked panel borders for them, using a metal TSquare and ruling pen. One time, my ink got under the T-Square and smeared the entire page. I was in a panic! I had ruined Carl’s page. I took white paint and foolishly started painting out the black ink. Carl Hubbell came over and said, “What are you doing, kid? Jesus, let me paste in a new panel.” He redrew the panel and pasted it in. That’s one way of learning from your mistakes.

JA: Tell me about the MLJ offices.

I also met Bob Montana, who worked in New Hampshire and mailed his work in. Montana’s “Archie” stories were the funniest I ever read.

They were funny, funny comics. In fact, the biggest mistake I ever made was not taking the job as his assistant. When I got out of the service, I went back to Harry Shorten, who said, “Do you want a good job? Bob Montana needs an assistant up in New Hampshire.” I didn’t go up there.

My wife at the time didn’t want to move up there. I’ve since divorced her. [Jim laughs] No... not for that! [mutual laughter] JA: You knew what I was going to say, didn’t you? Now, what else do you remember about Irv Novick?

ROGOFF: He was drawing “The Shield,” and I admired his artwork.

During my lunch hour, I would work on a comic strip called “The Louse,” about a character on roller skates. It was a Superman parody.

Novick would come over to my table, correct my drawings, and teach me composition. He was a very helpful guy.

JA: Did Harry Shorten have an assistant editor?

ROGOFF: I don’t recall. The one thing about Harry Shorten was that he was a tough, pugnacious guy... oh boy, was he combative! Foulmouthed, but a very nice guy. He had been a boxer and had a bashed-in nose. I liked Harry quite a bit, though I don’t think a lot of others did.

People either liked him or they didn’t.

Once, he yelled at me and said, “You told me that you were a letterer.

ROGOFF: They were located in the Canal Street area. Every morning, I’d get out of the subway and the smell of coffee from a nearby roasting plant would hit me. What a glorious aroma that was! There was a telephone company building nearby, too.

Right before I worked for MLJ, when I was 15, I did drawings for the Brooklyn Dodgers. They had a house organ called Line Drives from the Dodgers. I worked with their traveling secretary, Harold Parrot. I hated the Dodgers, because I was a Yankee fan in Brooklyn, of all things.

The Dodgers gave me $5 a drawing and all the free passes I wanted.

There were two ways to get tickets. If I went to Gate 19, I had to pay tax on the passes, but not if I went to the Press Box. By the way, I just read a book that Harold Parrot wrote—he’s dead now, but his kids reissued it—and I learned that Gate 19 was set up by Dodgers’ president and general manager Larry MacPhail to charge tax for those free tickets, but MacPhail never turned the tax money in. That’s why they always insisted that I go to Gate 19, but I always managed to get to the Press Box instead.

One thing I found very interesting. A few years later, someone was printing napkins with the Dodgers players’ faces on them. I remember showing Jackie Robinson my drawing of him. He looked at it and said, “Please thin out my lips and nose.” I had drawn him realistically—I certainly didn’t exaggerate his features—but Robinson wanted to be less ethnic-looking.

In July 1945, I was drafted into the Marines and stayed about 16 months. I went in two months after the war in Europe ended. At Parris Island, they asked me what I did in civilian life and I told them I was a cartoonist. The Classifications Officer looked at me and said, “You can’t kill a Jap with a pen,” and stamped my orders “FMF.” I asked what that meant and he said, “Fleet Marine Force.” That meant the infantry, the

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

5

bered that Hillman Publications was located there. I went in and showed the three pages I had to editor Ed Cronin. Ed said, “I like the way you write. I’ll give you $35 apiece.” Then he asked me if I wanted a job. I said I did, and he said he’d get in touch with me. This was in 1949.

JA: Before we get into Hillman, I’d like to ask you a little more about Magazine Management. Did you work with anyone else besides Artie Goodman?

ROGOFF: Yes. Mel Blum worked in the pulp department, but I really dealt with Artie, who was a nice guy: a big fellow with a nice face and blonde hair. I also did some lettering for Stan Lee in the comic book department while I was waiting for Ed to get back in touch with me.

That only lasted three weeks, because I got a letter from Ed, asking me to come to work for him. I started out at either $35 or $45 a week as associate editor. Tex Blaisdell was already an associate editor there, but he left a month after I started, to freelance. Tex was about six foot seven; a good guy whom I liked very much.

Herb couldn’t come up with any of the gag cartoons he sold the magazine division of Timely/Marvel back in ’48, but here is one of his favorites among the cartoons he did years later. He says he still doesn’t understand why he was never able to sell it. Neither do we. We love it! [©2004 Herb Rogoff.]

guys who stormed the beaches. Had the Atomic Bomb not forced Japan’s surrender, I may have hit one of those beaches, maybe Japan itself.

JA: That officer had it in for you, didn’t he?

ROGOFF: Yeah, but when I got my orders right after boot camp, I was assigned to the Camp Lejeune Globe. I asked myself, “What kind of ship is that?” [laughter] It turned out to be the camp newspaper. I was a staff artist on that newspaper the entire time I was in the service. I had a chance to go to Washington to work on Leatherneck magazine, and become a sergeant. I should have taken it, but I was a homesick 19-yearold kid. I told them I wanted to go to school, so they said they wouldn’t stand in my way.

When I got out of the service, I went to the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, which was run by Burne Hogarth and Si Rhodes.

“Alex Hillman Was A Fat, Cigar-Smoking Tightwad” JA: How did you get back into comic books?

ROGOFF: Before I went into the service, I worked for a newspaper called Sports Week. I went there as a cartoonist, but worked as a copyboy. When I came out of the service, I got a job there as a sports cartoonist, but the newspaper folded in the fall of 1948. I quit a few months before that happened, because I was getting married. I got married and didn’t have a job.

Alex Hillman was a fat, cigar-smoking tightwad. He was around sixty years old; Ed was around 50. Comics were only one part of Hillman’s publishing company. They had Pageant magazine, which was losing $10,000 a month, but it was their prestige magazine. They were taking money from the profitable comic book division to keep Pageant afloat.

And the people who worked on Pageant were snobs—they looked down their noses at us, like we were the poor relations! And we were supporting them! [laughter] It always seems like I’m in the basement part of an operation, but it’s been the basement parts that have been the most successful for me.

The comics department was in the back of a big office. Ed, Tex, and I were all in one room. It was a fairly decent-sized room, with desks and cabinets to hold the artwork. There was a drawing board there, where Ed lettered the covers. He was a good letterer. We did all the production work: art and lettering corrections, paste-ups, etc. We had two letterers: Ben Oda, who was the best there ever was, and a Chinese woman named Dusty Mohler. She wasn’t around there long. There was another guy named Jim Wroten, who did Leroy lettering. I didn’t see the advantage of that boring, sterile, sexless lettering. Jim said that you could give a story to four people, and with Leroy lettering it’d come out looking like it was done by one person. But we had to put in our own balloons and rule panel borders. Ben Oda could do all of that, plus clean up the pages in half the time it took the Leroy letterers to do what they did.

“[Ben Oda] Was Knocking Pages Off In Wholesale Lots Each And Every Night” JA: Tell me about Ben Oda. Did you know him very well?

ROGOFF: The first week that I worked at Hillman, I saw this little guy come in every day with a big leather portfolio, and everybody mumbled greetings to him.

He unzippered his bag, emptied the contents, replaced them with a new batch of pages, and quietly left.

After a few days of this same activity, I asked Tex, “Who does he work for?” Tex said he worked for himself. “Doing what?” I asked. “He does practically all of our lettering,” Tex replied. “He’s Ben Oda.”

I went to work for Martin Goodman’s company, Magazine Management, that published comics and magazines. The division that produced the pulp magazines was run by Martin’s brother Artie. Artie paid me $15 a page for cartoon fillers for his sports pulps. I called him one day to tell him I was coming When I had left Stan Lee to join Hillman, he had over with some pages, and he said, “We’re cutting back, asked me if I was interested in doing freelance lettering so I don’t really need them, but I’ll take them for two bucks for him. I think I did one story and it took me a a page.” I told him I couldn’t give them up for so long time to do. It was very heavy in copy and at $2 Letterer extraordinaire Ben Oda, in a little money. a page it wasn’t worth it to stay up most of the I was passing by 520 Fifth Avenue and remem-

scene taken at the Joe Simon & Jack Kirby shop circa 1949. That’s the King’s hand on Oda’s shoulder.

night, getting little sleep before going to work the next morning. Ben was earning $2.50 a page and was

6

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

knocking pages off in wholesale lots each and every night. So, I can safely say that Ben Oda ended my career as a comic book letterer. I later found out that Ben’s wife lettered exactly the same way he did and helped him by taking pages of each story. Even though this helped him very much, it didn’t detract from the “Iron Man” image he had carved out for himself in the industry.

He was a fascinating guy. He was Japanese, a member of the American army regiment of Niseis who fought in Europe: the “Go for Broke” outfit they made a movie about. Van Johnson starred as the commanding officer of this all-Japanese-American group. They called each other Buddha-heads. I read somewhere that they won more battle decorations than any other regiment in the war.

Ben lettered for a lot of comic book companies and also lettered a lot of newspaper strips. If you were an artist who was putting together a new strip for possible syndication, Ben would letter it for free. The only thing he asked was that, if the feature sold, he would be your letterer.

Ben did a lot of free lettering for people; he was quite a guy.

Later on, he moved out my way to Jackson Heights, and had a lovely apartment. I had him letter some freelance work for me, which I paid him for. I would stay up until 2 or 3 a.m., and he’d come by to pick up and drop off stuff. He worked all kinds of late hours. When Ben died, I wrote an article about him for Robin Snyder’s The Comics!, which is quite a good newsletter.

“Ed [Cronin] Was Terrified Of Alex Hillman” JA: I always felt that Ed Cronin was an important editor in early comics history and he’s been neglected. Tell me more about him.

ROGOFF: Ed has been neglected. Ed was a nice-looking guy with a white mustache, and white hair, which was always in a crew-cut. He wore wire-framed glasses, and collars so starched that they were almost celluloid. He dressed in Brooks Brothers suits—very conservativelooking. He was a fascinating individual; a devout Catholic who followed the philosophy of St. Thomas, quoting him several times over the course of a day. Before he did comic books, Ed worked as an assistant to Ham Fisher on Joe Palooka.

JA: And after that, he was an editor at Quality Comics, leaving them to work for Hillman.

ROGOFF: I didn’t know that. I knew that he was doing Buster Brown Comics on the side while at Hillman. Ed kept that under his cap, because he didn’t want the people at Hillman to know what he was doing, even though he was doing it on his own time. He never discussed that work with us and never used any of Hillman’s own personnel.

JA: Well, he did use Dan and Sy Barry, who had done some work for Hillman.

ROGOFF: I didn’t know that, but I don’t believe he made a habit of that. I don’t think he used Ernie Schroeder, whom I knew very well, and was our best artist.

JA: Everyone tells me that Cronin was a very nervous person. [Herb agrees] Why do you think he was like that?

ROGOFF: I don’t know. Ed was very absent-minded. Once, we were going to lunch and were discussing an “Airboy” story. We were in the men’s room and Ed went up to a tall trash can, unzipped his pants, and was going to relieve himself in the can, instead of the urinals, which were right behind him. He stopped and said, “Oh my goodness! Look what I almost did! Oh my goodness... oh, oh, oh, oh... oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” He would do things like that.

We would proofread the books before sending them out to the engraver. I dreaded proofreading with him. Let’s say we were proofreading Crime Detective. The cover title was always photostatted. Ed would say, “Crime. Crime. Crime. C-R... Crime... right, Herb? Crime, Crime, Crime...” I said, “Ed, it’s a photostat. It’s the same as last month’s title, and months before that.” He said, “Can’t take a chance.

Things happen, things happen.” He’d read the cover date, “May, May...

M, A, Y, right? Ten cents... ten cents... One, Zero, cents sign, right?”

Then we’d proofread the word balloons on the cover. Ed would go through every letter, every word, in the same way as I just described. It was terrible and shook me up. Before I met Ed, whenever I’d put mail in the mailbox, I would just drop it in and walk away. Ed made me jiggle the mailbox, because that’s what he did. I found myself jiggling and jiggling the lid of the mailbox whenever I put mail in, to make sure, I guess, that the contents would not in some crazy way—impossible way—jump out.

Some of the best early “Airboy” stories were drawn by the great Fred Kida.

Here’s a 1946 page featuring Airboy and his recurring foe Misery, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, courtesy of George Hagenauer. It also appeared in Jerry Bails & Hames Ware’s 1970s Who’s Who of American Comic Books. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

It wasn’t only when proofing that he drove me crazy. When we’d leave the office for the night, he’d check, double-check, and triple-check the door to make sure it was locked. One time he asked me, “Is the door locked?” I assured him it was, but he said, “No, let’s go inside and check again.” I said, “How could it be locked if we go in?” He looked at me with a blank stare that belied his extreme intelligence.

And he’d always count comic pages three times. “One, one one... two, two, two... three, three, three...,” and so forth. He was obsessivecompulsive, and sensitive to criticism.

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis JA: It sounds like he was sensitive about everything.

ROGOFF: He was, but I don’t know why. I didn’t know his wife or his family situation. Ernie Schroeder knew Ed’s family and said Ed’s wife Helen was a very lovely, bright woman. I only knew Ed at the office.

Ed was terrified of Alex Hillman. In fact, Hillman was one of the reasons I left the company. I was making $65 a week, and I asked Ed for a raise. He talked to Hillman and when he came back, he said, “Mr. Hillman said he can’t raise your salary any higher. You’ve already received a 50% raise.” I said, ”Well, that means I have to leave.” Ed was surprised at that. I said, “Can’t you go back and talk to him?” Ed said, “No, no, no. I can’t do that. He’s spoken, and that’s it.” Ed was terrified.

JA: Was Hillman that terrifying a person to you?

ROGOFF: No, to me he was just a guy with a big, fat cigar. But he was the boss. However, Ed did have total control over the comic book department. In that area, no one came in and told him what to do.

Maybe he was sheepish about getting raises for salaried employees in the office? Ed was totally autocratic; he wasn’t a sheepish guy, though he appeared to be that way... and maybe he was in some ways. As for page rates for freelancers, Ed had the final say.

“Ed Always Gave People A Fair Shake” JA: Did the freelancers like Ed Cronin?

ROGOFF: Oh yes. Ed always gave people a fair shake. When I was hired as an editor at Ziff-Davis, I called Ed and said, “I will use people who worked for Hillman only if they have no assignments from you.” I made it plain that he had priority over the people that he used. I was very hurt, later on, when Ernie Schroeder told me that Ed claimed I double-crossed him and took artists away from him. I never did that, even though we were paying almost double the rate Hillman was. I told each and every artist that I’d only hire them if they didn’t have an assignment from Ed. But Ed didn’t believe me and never spoke to me again. Before that, we had always gotten along very well.

Ed did have a hang-up about college graduates. A guy could appear to be the goofiest person you ever saw, but if he mentioned that he’d attended a university or even better, graduated from one, Ed would practically cow-tow to him. He respected people with college affiliations because he’d never gone to college. I once told him that we’d graduated from the school of hard-knocks and that’s a pretty good university. I said, “You’re the most brilliant man I’ve ever met. You didn’t need college.” Ed was a well-read man.

Ed was very religious. When I was at Ziff-Davis, Ernie Schroeder called me. Hillman had stopped publishing comics, and Ed was at home, dying from cancer. Ernie said, “I’m going to visit Ed Cronin.” I said to give him my best and Ernie said, “I dread going because Ed has terminal cancer.” The next day, Ernie called me and said, “That was the most magnificent visit I ever had with any human being. Ed said that this next step he was going to take was just another part of his experience and that he’s not afraid... that it was a new adventure in his life, one he was looking forward to.”

A funny story about Ed involved a topcoat. I had bought this coat from an uncle who had a clothing store on 34th and 8th Avenue.

Actually, my two uncles owned this shop and since both were named Sam, the name of the shop was Sam and Sam. The shop was under an El [= elevated train], which made it very dark... so dark that I didn’t notice that the coat was an ugly olive green. I hated it, but Ed loved the color and agreed to buy it for $15—$10 less than I paid for it. Ed was truly in love with his new coat (I barely wore it), and especially loved the shop’s label inside: “Sam and Sam.” One day, he came in and told me that his Sam and Sam coat was gone.

7

He had worn it to his amateur theater group’s rehearsal, got involved with some discussions which delayed his going home, and went to get his coat.

It was the only one left in the closet.

When he put it on, it felt strange: the sleeves were too short, as well as the rest of the coat. He said to himself, “Well, Herb’s shorter than I am.”

(Actually, we were the same height.)

Once he had it on, he noticed that the buttons were unusually large and In Frederic Wertham’s 1954 polemic Seduction of the they buttoned on Innocent, he assumed—incorrectly, according to the wrong side. He Herb Rogoff—that the cover of Hillman’s Crime Detective Comics #9 (July-Aug. 1949) was a was wearing a “caricature of the author in a position comic-book woman’s coat! Then publishers wish he were in permanently.” Herb says it dawned on him he was one of those who “worked on” that cover. that when he left (See p. 9.) With thanks to Frank Motler for the cover home, his wife’s scan. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] bridge group had already got there.

Obviously, when he left, he had taken a bridge player’s coat instead of his own.

When he got home, the women were still there. He sneaked the coat into the closet and waited for all of them to leave, which they shortly did. He confidently went to the closet, but saw the same coat he had put in there. His Sam and Sam coat was gone.

The next day, he put an ad in the New Canaan newspaper that said, “Lost: one Sam and Sam coat. Reward.” Personally, I didn’t think a Sam and Sam coat would go over great in that part of Connecticut, or neighboring Darian, where Ed lived. Ed got no response from the ad, commenting, “Who would give up a Sam and Sam coat for any reward?” This was so important to him, but I was glad to see that coat gone forever. That was Ed Cronin.

JA: I really like that story. It’s makes him human.

ROGOFF: It does make him human. There’s another story that he told me. Ed went to a party and got drunk. He was in the bathroom and someone was having an argument. The people arguing were right outside the bathroom door, so while Ed was on the hopper, he opened the door so he could get into the conversation, forgetting where he was. [Jim laughs] Now, Ed told that story on himself.

There was one story involving Ham Fisher. When Ham Fisher came in with a brand new suit, he asked Ed what he thought of it. Ed said, “Oh, I hate it. It’s ugly and doesn’t fit you at all.” Fisher took the suit off, threw it in the corner, and never wore it again. Fisher said, “If you want the suit, pick it up.” Ed said, “Why would I want that suit? I just told you it was awful.”

Another time Fisher came into the studio and threw a set of car keys to Ed, saying, “Here, I bought you a car.” Ed refused to take it. Ham Fisher was a very difficult man, but Ed remained friends with him. You

8

The comic book called Air Fighters Comics was Hillman’s flagship title. Here’s a clockwise montage of the cover and several splashes from Air Fighters, Vol. 2, #10 (Fall 1945)—the last issue before it changed its name to Airboy Comics for the final eight years of its (and Hillman’s) run. The “Sky Wolf” tale (featuring The Heap) is attributed to Maurice del Bourgo & inker John Belfi; “Iron Ace” to Walter Palais; and “Black Angel” to either Bob Fujitani, John Cassone, or Dan Zolnerowich (some of it sure looks like “Fuje” to us!). “Pvt. Skinny McGinty” is signed by later Joe Palooka artist Tony DiPreta—but, oddly, we’ve no idea who drew the “Airboy” lead! With thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

9

know, Ham Fisher had a feud with Al Capp, claiming Capp stole the idea for Li’l Abner from him. Now, Ham Fisher couldn’t draw any person below the neck. Ed used to draw all the bodies and Ham drew all the heads.

“Suddenly The Empire State Building Comes Flying By” JA: You know what’s funny about that? I’ve heard that after the first six months of Li’l Abner, Capp seldom drew anything but the faces of his characters. By the way, who came up with the ideas for the covers at Hillman?

ROGOFF: Ed Cronin. Dan Zolnerowich was one of the cover artists.

He did very few interior stories for us. You’re familiar with Dr. Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent. In the book is one of our covers, with a psychiatrist sitting in a chair, tied up with a gag in his mouth.

Wertham said something like, “Here’s one of the comic book publishers’ obvious answers to my book. They’re trying to keep me quiet.” We had no such thought! I worked on that cover, which was for Crime Detective. We had a laugh about it.

Dan came in one day, and was very depressed. He said, “My little girl had her friends over and they were talking about what their fathers did for a living. One girl’s father was a manufacturer, and another girl’s dad was a doctor or something. My girl said, “My dad’s a bum—he stays home all day.” It depressed him because he was making as much money as the other kids’ fathers, and she called him a bum. I took him out and bought him a few drinks. That made both of us feel better. [laughter] Another thing about being an editor and dealing with freelancers is that I was dealing with guys who’d been locked inside all week long.

They were at the mercy of their wives, who didn’t take their work any more seriously than Dan’s little girl did. The wives would make the artists drive them around, or do menial stuff around the house. I’d occasionally go out to lunch with them and had to listen to these guys unwind. This is the lot of an editor—to deal with a filibuster.

JA: Which reminds me: I’ve been cooped up inside all week and boy, I got a lot to tell you...

ROGOFF: Oh no! [mutual laughter] I forgot that you’re one of them, too!

JA: Okay, I’ll give you a break! So, did Ed discuss cover ideas with you?

ROGOFF: Yes. The covers didn’t usually relate to the interior stories.

We were just looking for something provocative to sell the book. Ed might have done some cover roughs for the artists, but usually he just told the artist what to draw, and the artist would bring back a completed cover. The artists didn’t have to submit cover roughs.

JA: Who lettered the word balloons and captions?

ROGOFF: Ed did. He was an excellent letterer.

Herb Rogoff says that Dan Zolnerowich drew lots of covers but very few interior stories for Hillman. Here are examples of both his cover work and a splash, from Airboy Comics, Vol. 7, #5 (June 1950). The lead story that went with DZ’s great cover was drawn by Ernie Schroeder; you’ll see some of his art for it in his interview, which follows. Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: What was Hillman’s biggest-selling comic?

ROGOFF: We had Airboy, [the lead story of] which was drawn by Ernie Schroeder. Then we had “The Heap,” who was a precursor to Marvel Comics’ Hulk. “The Heap” was full of symbolic philosophy. He had been a German pilot, shot down in World War I, who became enmeshed in vegetation, and became a great big living thing.

The Heap became a force for good.

I think Airboy was our biggest seller. We came out with a book called Pirates, which was way ahead of its time. You can see how that theme is popular today in movies like The Pirates of the Caribbean. Mike Suchorsky was the artist, and he was great. Each panel he drew was a masterpiece. Mike went out fishing one day, and never came back. It was very sad. He was a strange man; we didn’t know anything about him.

This one day, I expected him and I wondered where he was. I called his house, and his father answered the phone. Mike was working on a story for us, and when I asked to speak to him, his father said, “He dead.” Just like that. I said, “What?” His father said, “He go out fishing and don’t come back.” His father spoke with an accent; I don’t know for sure, but I think his family was Polish.

JA: That’s a brutal way to break that kind of news, especially when the father was talking about his son.

ROGOFF: I agree. Mike was a quiet guy, never registering any kind of emotion. He was a terrific artist.

10

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies Cover and splash by Mike Suchorsky (not to be confused with Mike Sekowsky) from Pirates V1#2 (May-June 1950). This is one genre where Hillman beat EC to the punch, since Bill Gaines’ Piracy didn’t debut until 1954— and Suchorsky’s work could’ve competed with the art there by Reed Crandall, et al. Hames Ware and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. (the latter provided the Pirates scans) discussed Suchorsky’s talents in Alter Ego #27— still on sale wherever A/E back issues are sold. Guess where that is! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

artwork, so we’d cut down the dialogue. That’s where Ed’s writing ability came in.

Ed did have story conferences, but they were always informal. Ernie Schroeder would sit in on those conferences because he had a good grasp on comic writing. Ernie would do his own writing or, if he had a script, he’d rewrite it. Most of our story conferences revolved around “Airboy” and “The Heap.”

“Writers Are The Ones I Don’t Really Remember” JA: Who were some of your writers?

ROGOFF: Of all the people I had met in the comics, writers are the ones I don’t really remember. There was an incident that involved a writer and, fortunately, I don’t recall who he was. One day, I got a call from Stan Lee; it was obvious that he was upset. “I have a story that I just published that’s exactly—word for word— like the one you just published.” If that wasn’t bad enough, it appeared that this writer had also sold this same story to a third publisher. Apparently, he tried Hillman first, I guess because Ed was so tough, and if he could sell it to Hillman, he could sell it to anyone. I guess he was really strapped for money. Why else would he do such a stupid thing? Of course, he was blacklisted at all three companies, and, if I’m not mistaken, at other ones in the industry.

JA: In Mike Benton’s The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History, I read this quote from you: “Our story conferences at Hillman were memorable to say the least. Ed Cronin was so good at creating comic book stories because he never had a grip on reality. I remember one instance when he began, ‘Airboy is about to get into his Birdplane when suddenly the Empire State Building comes flying by.’ And from that wild germ of an idea an entire, fanciful, thrilling tale evolved.” Cronin did that?

As I said, Ed never wanted a writer to give him a full script; he always asked for a synopsis first. Ed always said that a good writer could give him a plot on the back of an index card—certainly no more than a page.

After a plot was approved, we’d tell the writer how many pages the story was to be. Sometimes Ed wrote plots for the writers.

ROGOFF: Yes, he did that. In fact, I think he was talking about that when he was going to pee in the barrel.

JA: [laughs] So Ed was a writer?

ROGOFF: Yes, but I don’t think he wrote our comics. Ed handled his job on the absolute straight and narrow.

He didn’t want to be accused of doing anything out of the way. But who knows? He could have sent in stories under a pen name—I can’t say for sure.

I doubt he did, though. He was such a straight-laced guy.

JA: Did you do any writing at Hillman?

ROGOFF: No, though I wrote a lot at Ziff-Davis. What writing I did at Hillman was only in the form of rewriting.

Minor art corrections were done by us in the office. If it was something major, we had the artist make the changes, and then pasted them on the pages. Both Ed and I made lettering changes. I could match up styles, whether it was Leroy lettering or Ben Oda’s. Ben filed down some pen points for me, so I could match his thick-and-thin line.

JA: I know he wrote and drew comics in the 1930s, and I think he did some of that into the early ’40s at Quality.

JA: Seems like you did nearly everything regarding production.

ROGOFF: We heavily rewrote all the stories we published at Hillman. We only did that on the penciled pages; we never rewrote a typewritten script. Ed taught me how to rewrite, and we did that on nearly every panel. Some of our writers used so much copy that there was hardly room for the

ROGOFF: I did. We always met with the artists, too. We didn’t color the books, though. That was done by the engraver. We only made color notes when certain colors were important to the storyline. We’d get photostats once the pages were colored, and would go over them to make sure everything looked right. For instance, if a guy wore a brown hat on page 1, we made sure his hat was brown from panel to panel.

There may indeed have been an “Airboy” story that began with the Empire State Building “flying by”—but if so, we couldn’t find it.

Still, this cover of Airboy Comics V7#10 (Nov. 1950) by Dan Zolnerowich isn’t too shabby! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

Yes, Virginia (and Herb), there were Hillman titles called Dead-Eye Western and Western Fighters. Here, courtesy of Bob Cherry, are splashes from two stories in Dead-Eye Western V1#7 (Jan. 1950), with the “The Tenderfoot” art apparently signed

by Allen Ulmer—and a Bill Ely splash (bottom right) from an issue of Western Fighters. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: Did Hillman have Christmas parties?

ROGOFF: I don’t remember any. We didn’t get Christmas bonuses, either, because Alex Hillman was so tight-fisted. I have a side story for you. At Hillman, they shot their own photography for their crime magazines. One time, they asked me if I wanted to pose for pictures for a story. I went out, got a haircut, and came back that afternoon. They had me pleading with a woman whom I had just raped. All they wanted were my hands. When the magazine came out, my head was cut off!

That was my big day as a model. I had to sign a release, but I didn’t get a dime for posing.

JA: Do you think the comics sold well? Besides Airboy, I mean.

ROGOFF: Oh, yes. They had to, because they were keeping Pageant in business. The crime comics sold well. All Sports Comics didn’t, and Pirates Comics only lasted four issues. Pirates was Ed Cronin’s idea, and Mike Suchorsky drew a beautiful story in the first issue. He really researched his subjects. Mike wasn’t a very fast artist, but everything he did was terrific.

JA: Hillman also published Romantic Confessions, and westerns like Dead-Eye Western and Western Fighters, all of which lasted from around 1948 to 1953.

ROGOFF: Those titles really don’t stick out in my mind, though DeadEye sounds familiar. Hillman didn’t have very many titles, unlike ZiffDavis.

JA: Since Hillman seemed to be making money on their comics, you’d

11

12

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies think they’d have put out more titles.

ROGOFF: It could be that Hillman wanted to put out more books, but Ed didn’t want to do them. That would seem like the most logical answer, because Ed was such a perfectionist, that if he was spread too thin, the quality of the books would suffer. Because of Ed Cronin, Hillman only published quality books.

A George Olesen splash from Hillman’s Frogmen, Vol. 1, #2 (May-June 1952). [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: Each book had several stories, requiring a fair amount of trafficking. How did you keep track of everything? Did you have a chart? You must have at least had a book detailing what was going on.

JA: Didn’t you ever see a page or cover that you wanted and think, “Gee, I wouldn’t mind having that?”

ROGOFF: No, I never gave it a thought. I didn’t save copies of the Hillman comics, either. I have some bound volumes of early Ziff-Davis comics—1952, I think—but when my kids were little, they took pencils and colored them in. Oh well...

JA: Did you have summer interns?

ROGOFF: No, we didn’t. We didn’t need them.

JA: Did you have any health benefits?

ROGOFF: No, there were none then. We just got salaries; very low by today’s standards.

“Some Of The People You Worked With At Hillman” JA: Let me ask you about some of the people you worked with at Hillman. Did Bill Finger write for you?

ROGOFF: No, but I knew his ex-wife, Portia. When I was with Grumbacher Art Supplies, she worked for a company that procured prizes for game shows like The Price Is Right and Concentration.

When I worked in public relations at Grumbacher from 1959 to 1969, she got us a spot on The Price Is Right. What a voice, what a voice!

When I first heard her over the phone, I got excited just listening to her. [laughs] But the first time I met her—oh, my God, she weighed about

ROGOFF: We’re talking about pre-computer days. We had no charts or other systems to keep track of our books, their writers, artists, etc. I had a memory then. [laughs] And I prided myself on it. I can recall some times when an artist, not one of our regular ones, would come into the office and ask if the job he had done had been published. Now, in some cases, this would be the only story he had done, in a magazine that had come off press six or eight months earlier. I’d go right to our pile of books, pick out a particular issue and hand the copy to him, much to his surprise. If I could do that same thing today, it would be much to my surprise.

“People Didn’t Want To Make Waves” JA: Why were there no credits on the stories? Were the artists told not to sign them?

ROGOFF: We had no restrictions about signing work. Most of them never even thought about it. They were pros: they did their jobs, got their checks, and that’s it. George Olesen and Dan Barry always signed their stories. Dan Barry was one of our highest paid artists. Our top rate was $35 a page, penciled and inked. I think Barry got $50 a page. Writers got $6 to $8 a page, and letterers got $2.50.

JA: What happened to the original art afterwards?

ROGOFF: I think the artist had to get it back, but we never respected that. I don’t think anyone did. I don’t know what happened to the original art after it was printed; it could very well be that the engravers held onto it. We never made any effort to get it back. I don’t think any of the artists even asked to get their work back. This was an era when many people didn’t really realize the rights they had. People didn’t want to make waves; they were worried that they would be cut and not given any more work. It’s sad that so much of the art just disappeared.

Herb Rogoff says he knew future comic strip artist Leonard Starr both at ZiffDavis and at Hillman—so here’s Starr’s splash for the former’s The Crime Clinic #10 (July-Aug. 1951). It was actually the first issue. You know how devious those comic book people were! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

13 of stories in our crime books. He had trouble making money in comics because he drew so slowly. He usually inked his own stuff; some guys were adamant about that. Bernie was one, John Prentice another.

JA: Did you prefer that your pencilers ink their own work?

ROGOFF: We wanted to get more work out of artists who did very finished pencils by having other people ink them, but guys were most happy when they inked their own things. A lot of inkers weren’t artists; if they were artists, they’d have been pencilers.

JA: Well, some people ink because they make more money that way. And it’s often easier to get inking work than penciling work.

ROGOFF: That’s true, Jim. We had a guy named Myron Strauss, and he did marvelous pencils, but he couldn’t ink, and he was so slow that I don’t know how he made money.

Two Bernie Krigstein splashes done for Hillman. (Left:) Real Clue Crime Stories, Vol. 5, #11 (Jan. 1951), thanks We got him to draw on cameo paper, which to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. (Right:) Western Fighters, Vol. 4, #2 (Jan. 1952). Thanks to Bob Cherry. had a chalky surface, and you could get a Fantagraphics has recently published a pair of excellent volumes on Krigstein and his comic book work. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] very black black with just a B pencil. So we would reproduce his pencils just as if they 400 pounds. She was already divorced at that time from Bill. Portia and I were inked. We tried it, but when the pages were lettered in ink, his became great friends. drawings just washed out. Ben Oda came up with the idea of lettering his pages with a gray ink the same value as the pencils. It worked out JA: What do you remember about Leonard Starr? beautifully. He got some nice effects, and it saved money, too.

ROGOFF: A very interesting guy. He was self-taught, and back then, he Strauss spoke like a Brooklyn fruit peddler. He wasn’t a very goodwas easily making $50,000 a year. One day, he gave it all up and went to looking guy; he was thickset and balding. He did romance stories, and the Art Students League for a couple of years to learn to draw better,

and then came back into comics. That was quite a courageous thing for him to do.

Then he went like a house afire. He did the On Stage newspaper strip. At Ziff-Davis, he did a feature called “The Crime Clinic.”

It was a story that centered around a prison psychiatrist. He also did some filler stories for our anthology books. Leonard was a nice-looking, brash kid; I liked him.

JA: Tell me about Bernie Krigstein.

ROGOFF: He worked for me at Hillman and Ziff-Davis. I knew him better at ZiffDavis than at Hillman, but I got to know him even better after the comic book days.

He became an easel painter and a teacher of drawing, anatomy, and graphic arts.

When I moved out to Rockport in 1969, Bernie told me he’d like to come out. It turned out that he’d left his wife, and he brought his girlfriend with him without telling me first. They stayed for a weekend.

I don’t know what his wife was like, but he was sure making a mistake with that girlfriend.

Bernie was one hell of a good artist. His layouts were almost surreal. Each panel was a beautiful piece of graphic art. He always saw himself as more than just a runof-the-mill comic book artist. Ed and I really liked his work, and we gave him a lot

Krigstein, whose most famous work is a handful of stories he drew for EC in the 1950s, did a couple of sciencefiction titles for Ziff-Davis. At left is the splash of the oddly-named “Death Rite of the Dwarfs” from Space Busters #1 (Spring 1952); at right is a splash from Space Patrol #1 (Summer 1952), based on a kids’ radio series.

Both are repro’d from Herb Rogoff’s bound volumes. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

14

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

he drew absolutely gorgeous women and handsome men. He drew like a Ladies’ Home Journal illustrator.

JA: Dan DeCarlo worked for you, right?

ROGOFF: Yeah, he was a funny little guy, and a very good cartoonist.

He worked on “Yardbirds,” which was a very funny strip which started as a feature in G.I. Joe, and then we gave it its own book.

JA: What can you tell me about Alex Kotzky?

ROGOFF: He worked for me at Ziff-Davis, doing Flyboy. He was a hell of a nice guy, and a hell of an artist, but he was a quiet guy and I didn’t get to know him very well.

There was a writer, Matt Suarez, who was apparently a paraplegic. I never met him, I only spoke to him on the phone, but somebody who went up to see him told me that this guy just had cases upon cases of Southern Comfort, and swilled it like water. I guess the fact that he was so handicapped gave him license to do that. I think he did western scripts for us.

JA: What do you remember about Howie Post?

ROGOFF: Howie Post worked on our kids’ books. We had Dolly, Alice, Fairy Tales, and Nursery Rhymes, and Howie worked on Fairy Tales. He was kind of zany, but a hell of an artist. A lot of those guys just disappeared after I got there, because we got rid of all the kids’ books.

“Ernie [Schroeder] Was Always A Renaissance Man” JA: Let’s talk a little more about Ernie Schroeder. He was at Hillman before you, and he got the top rate, didn’t he?

ROGOFF: Yes to both questions. Ernie also wrote a lot of his own stories on “Airboy” and “The Heap.” His spelling was atrocious, and we

had to straighten out some of his sentence structures, but he was very imaginative. He was just natively bright, and was a marvelous conceptionalist. Ernie and Ed Cronin plotted stories together at lunch, and then Ernie would go home and write them.

He and I worked the same way on G.I. Joe at Ziff-Davis. Ed really respected Ernie, who was also a graduate of the school of hard-knocks.

JA: He was a family man, wasn’t he?

[NOTE: This interview was conducted before I met Ernie Schroeder.

—Jim.]

Even the redoubtable Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., couldn’t come up with a piece of art from Hillman that was definitely by Myron Strauss— so he provided an earlier (signed) Strauss cover from Centaur’s Stars and Stripes #5 (Nov. 1941).

Nice save, Jim—thanks! Like Charles Sultan, ’twould appear that Myron Strauss did a pretty fair Lou Fine imitation in those early days! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

ROGOFF: Yeah, he divorced his first wife and married someone else, but he had children with both of them. Later, he went to work for the Franklin Mint; he would strike medals for them. This is a guy who did everything in the field of art: sculpture, oil paintings, watercolors, graphics. He was a talkative man. He lived on the north shore of Long Island, and apparently his mother worked for some very wealthy people.

He grew up around these wealthy people, so he had a bead on how they lived, and he lived that way, too. They didn’t have money of their own, but he derived some benefits of his mother working for these people.

Ernie and I were very close. We used to go to Lou Priscilla’s art class at 28th and Lexington. Every Monday, Lou had a live model there, and we’d leave my office at Ziff-Davis at 4 o’clock and hit every bar on the way down to Lou’s. One time, we were smashed by the time we got there. We were drawing this gal, and she was in the buff, and Ernie came over and said, “Rogoff, when that gal took her clothes off, she meant business, but we’re not ready for the business of art. We’ve got to leave.” And we did.

(Left:) Dan DeCarlo, who’d one day be Archie’s top artist, made “The Yardbirds” so popular in Ziff-Davis’ G.I. Joe Comics that for Summer 1952 they got their own #1 comic! He also drew a G.I. Joe feature called “Wendy the WAF.” (Right:) Alex Kotzky, earlier an artist for Quality and soon to become the artist/co-creator of the comic strip Apartment 3-G, drew this splash for Flyboy, Vol. 1, #1 (also Summer 1952). Thanks to Herb Rogoff—who loaned us his personal bound volume of all “Jan.-June 1952” Ziff-Davis titles! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

When the comics slowed down, Ernie went into advertising on staff at Norman, Craig, and Krummel, doing storyboards. After having been a freelancer all his life, he said he couldn’t believe that he was getting

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

15 jobs just didn’t have it. I would take them to the cabinet, and I’d pull out Dan Barry’s originals. “Sit and look these over; this is what we’re buying.” In a few minutes, they’d return, say “Thanks,” and leave. I knew I’d never see them again. But other guys would say, “I gotta get home.” I knew they were going to go home and draw. I was sure I’d see them again.

JA: What do you remember about Dan Barry?

ROGOFF: I did a lot of work with Dan after we were through with the comics. He did painting demonstrations for me when I was doing public relations at Grumbacher. Every little town had an art club, where people would get together to paint, and they would bring in demonstrators. We would provide free demonstrators to promote our products.

Dan was doing Flash Gordon while he was still working at Ziff-Davis. He was a ladies’ man, and lived in the Hotel des Artistes. This was kind-of the arts section of Central Park West, that had a lot of studios, and he had a great big studio in what used to be a hotel.

(Left:) Herb says his good friend Lou Priscilla was “an illustrator, cartoonist, anatomist, and teacher of drawing and painting”—and he sent us these two sketches out of many which Priscilla sold to The New Yorker as filler art. (Right:) With Herb at L.P.’s art classes was Ernie Schroeder, who wrote and drew many of the later “Heap” stories—as per Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #5 (June 1952), featuring a spectral monster. This issue’s cover appeared with the brief overview of Schroeder in A/E #29. [Sketches ©2004 The New Yorker.]

I was not overly fond of Dan Barry. He was caustic... he was an egomaniac. He studied with Fredrick Taubes, a painter who wrote for American Artist magazine. Dan Barry thought that Taubes was God’s answer to painting. Barry was a taker, not a giver. As

paid for going to the bathroom. [laughter] Later, when he went into the boat business and had to hire guys, he said, “I’m paying them by the hour, and they’re taking coffee breaks!” [more laughter] Ernie designed his own boats and was one of the first to make fiberglass hulls. Ernie was always a Renaissance man; there’s nothing beyond Ernie’s abilities.

“This Is What We’re Buying” JA: You mentioned John Prentice.

Was he at Hillman?

ROGOFF: Yes, and at Ziff-Davis, too.

His drawings were marvelous. He was from Texas, and he came to the big city and clicked right away. He was an Alex Raymond-type artist. In fact, he ended up following Raymond on the Rip Kirby newspaper strip. He won out over a lot of artists to take over that strip when Raymond died.

One time, there was an artist who tried to get work from us using Stan Drake’s tear sheets as samples, but I wasn’t fooled. It’s very interesting; some of these guys who applied for

(Left:) John Prentice drew “The Lady Killer” for Ziff-Davis’ The Crime Clinic #5 (Summer 1952) a few years before he took over the late Alex Raymond’s Rip Kirby comic strip. (Right:) Dan Barry, just then taking over Raymond’s earlier strip Flash Gordon, drew the lead tale in Z-D’s Weird Thrillers #3, which was dated “Jan., Feb., & March 1952.” Thanks to Herb Rogoff’s invaluable bound volume! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

16

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies printer?” And the first day that Anthony came into the office, Becker calls him “Agony.” [laughs] JA: Was the original cover art the same size as the interior pages?

ROGOFF: At Hillman, it was the same size as the pages. At Ziff-Davis, they did it on a 20" or 24" canvas.

JA: Do you remember Mike Roy? ROGOFF: I knew him! I think Mike may have been from Chicago. He was a natty little guy; he had a pencil mustache and dressed very well. He was a lot of fun, but drank a lot, like many other artists of the time.

JA: What about Arthur Peddy?

Bob Powell drew “Tiger Town” for Hillman’s All-Time Sports, Vol. 1, #5 (June-July 1949) and “Joe College” in the V1#2 issue of the comic of that name, cover-dated Winter 1950. Thanks to Jim V. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

a comic book artist, he was very good on deadlines. He was a top pro; I always admired him for that. He drew science-fiction, mystery stories, and romance for us, but he didn’t write.

JA: Bob Powell worked for you at Hillman, right?

ROGOFF: Yeah. He seldom came into the office, but when he did, he was just a nice cut-up, happy-go-lucky. I don’t think he wrote his own stories. He was a good draftsman, though; we liked his stuff.

I also remember Wally Littman from Hillman. He was an associate art director, and also did humor fillers for us.

According to John Dunning’s great radio encyclopedia Tune in Yesterday, John J. Anthony “set himself up as an expert in all areas of human relationships… claimed to have three university degrees, and at least once said he studied under Sigmund Freud in Europe. Actually, he was a high school dropout.” His radio show The Goodwill Hour faded in 1945, but he turned up four years later in a TV version… and in no less than five issues of Hillman’s Mr. Anthony’s Love Clinic during 1949-50. This is the cover of issue #1. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

At Z-D, we did this comic called Mr. Anthony’s Love Clinic.

You remember John J. Anthony? [Jim says he does.] Okay. You never put your hand out to shake, because he wouldn’t shake it. But if you happened to grab his hand, he would run to the sink and wash immediately. He was very neurotic. Wasn’t that a hoot! Our art director, Robert Becker, would always say, “Hey, you got that Mr. Agony cover? What’s the schedule on the Agony?

When will we have to get Mr. Agony to the

ROGOFF: Yeah! He always came in wearing a suit and a tie. He was kind of a gentleman. He was a mild sort of a guy, nice-looking, and he always seemed older than all the rest.

JA: Gerald McCann.

ROGOFF: He was a great big guy with a shock of black hair, and he could draw like hell. He was a pulp artist, and he could really draw. He was in his mid-thirties at the time, but he looked older. I had him do a feature in Crime Clinic called “The Padre,” about a priest who righted wrongs.

JA: Do you remember a guy named Robert Q. Sale?

ROGOFF: Oh, Bob Sale! He wasn’t one of the bigger artists, but we’d throw him a bone. He was a comic nut; he was so proud to be in the comic business. One day, we said to him, “Did you ever hear of the inker, Da Vinci?” And he’d say, “Who does he work for?” And we’d say, “Uh, Quality; he did some work for Quality...” And he’d say, “No, have you got any samples of his work?” And we’d say, “No, but he’s pretty good. Have you heard of Joshua Reynolds? He’s terrific; he can even draw on velvet.” And he’d say, “Draw on velvet? Wow...” Bob was a total cultural illiterate, or else he was putting us on. If he was, he was good at it.

“You Have An Appointment With Jerry Siegel” JA: Moving on to Ziff-Davis, how did you get your job there?

ROGOFF: As I told you earlier, I left Hillman because I was turned down for a raise.

Irv Werstein—one of the writers I do remember—asked me if I had heard of ZiffDavis. He said they were doing a string of comic books, and Jerry Siegel was the editor.

They had hired Siegel to come

By the time he became comics editor at Ziff-Davis, alas, Jerry Siegel’s glory days were behind him—as were those of his Superman co-creator Joe Shuster. Even so, comics can never repay the debt they owe to Jerry and Joe. This photo of Siegel appeared in Les Daniels’ book Superman: The Complete History.

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

17

up with a string of books.

Werstein said, “I do work for them; do you want me to speak to them about you?” I said sure.

So he called me up the next day and said, “You have an appointment with Jerry Siegel.”

So I went up there, and Jerry Siegel hired me for 85 bucks a week as an associate editor. They were only paying me 65 bucks a week at Hillman, so that was a nice raise.

The guy running the comic division was named Louis Zara, and he was a vice-president. He was right under Bill Ziff and Bernard Davis. They also had a book division whose main claim to fame was turning down Knock on Any Door, which became a bestseller and a movie with Humphrey Bogart and John Derek. Lou was a novelist in his own right.

Two more Hillman highlights: (Left:) Gerald McCann from Dead-Eye Western, Vol. 2, #9 (Aug.-Sept. 1952), and (right:) a

My first job was to go Robert Q. Sale splash from Real Clue Crime Stories, Vol. 5, #11 (Jan. 1951). The motto of the latter mag was: “Commit a Crime, through a slush pile of and the World Is Made of Glass!” Catchy, huh? Thanks to Jim V. yet again. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] submitted scripts and synopses.

Lou said, “Read these and write ROGOFF: No. That was so pathetic. After I took over, Shuster would down your comments about each one.” I guess that was Lou’s way of call and say, “Hello, Mr. Rogoff. This is Joe Shuster, creator of getting a bead on me. I didn’t approve any of them, because I’d come Superman.” That became part of his name. Then he’d say, “Do you have from Ed Cronin’s shop, and Ed was really sharp on scripts. When I any work for me?” I’d have to turn him down. He couldn’t draw turned in my comments to Lou, he was very impressed. That flattered anywhere near as well as the guys we were using. me, coming from a published novelist.

JA: Did Jerry try to help him?

Sometime later, he called me in and said, “We want to revamp ROGOFF: I think he got Shuster some early work in Bill Stern’s Sports G.I. Joe. Right now, it’s not going anywhere. We have two characters, Book, in the first issue. and there’s no direction.” I got the feeling that they were dissatisfied with Jerry Siegel. Ziff had hired him because, if you’re going to start comics, you might as well go with the most successful comic book writer of all. So Lou told me, “We want you to come up with a whole string of characters for this platoon that G.I. Joe is in. Just keep G.I. Joe and Sgt. Mulvaney, scrap everything else, and start over. Do dossiers on each one. Take as much time as you want.” It disturbed me greatly at the time, but I realized that they were priming me to take over G.I. Joe and some other books. I doubt if Jerry was aware of it, but they had every intention of getting rid of him.

So I came up with new characters. Lou looked at what I gave him, and then we all got a memo saying that we had to sign a waiver that everything we did for the company belonged to them. There was already a release printed on the backs of our checks, so when we signed them, we were signing the release. I don’t know how legal it was, but I don’t think it was very binding. However, they must have thought they needed something more, so they wanted us all to sign this waiver, that everything that we would do would belong to the company. Because of his troubles with Superman, they knew Jerry Siegel wouldn’t sign. This was sneaky on their part, because Jerry Siegel was the only one who had a contract. That’s how they got rid of him: he refused to sign their waver because of the way he’d been burned throughout his career, and they said they had no choice but to let him go. So I got to be the editor of G.I. Joe, and with these new characters that I came up with, they had me write the first few issues. But I didn’t like the underhanded way they got rid of Siegel.

JA: Was Joe Shuster ever around when Siegel was still there?

JA: Several people who were around at the time have described Jerry Siegel as looking disheveled.

ROGOFF: Yeah, he didn’t look prosperous. I think it was his nature.

We used to go out and have lunch in the month we were there together, and he was a nice guy. I liked Jerry.

I remember, I happened to be in Lou Zara’s office, and there was a call for me. It was Jerry, and he wanted to talk about the story in the paper that day about television picking up Superman for millions of dollars. He cried like a baby. That’s the last time I ever spoke with him.

JA: When they let Jerry Siegel go, was it personal, or professional?

ROGOFF: Professional. He didn’t do anything to rile anyone there, but it didn’t take them long to find out that he didn’t have anything on the ball. Everything he came up with was a Superman type; that’s all he could do. Siegel and Shuster were two plain kids out of Cleveland. They didn’t know story structure, and Joe didn’t know how to draw. People liked Jerry Siegel, but he was kind of a lost soul. I think the way Superman was handled preyed on him all his life. He was always lost in thought about Superman and what could have been. He was hired because of Superman, and ironically fired because of Superman.

After Siegel left, we had three editors, and Lou Zara was the executive in charge of the division. When I became an editor, there was an associate editor there named Ed Murphy. They also hired a third editor, a guy named Ben Martin, who had been with the Herald-Tribune comics

18

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

division. He was a nifty guy; he was Brooks Brothers all the way, and I understand that his wife was the heiress of Chase-Manhattan Bank.

So we had three editors with about 30 books, and we split them up. I took all the sports books, G.I. Joe, Wild Boy, and later on I took Crime Clinic. Ed had all the westerns. There were no assistant editors.

“G.I. Joe… Sales Went Up To 1,600,000” JA: Did Red Grange really edit Football Thrills? [laughs]

the whole business was. He made Joe Birch look kind of Joe Palooka-ish, with a nice square head and a strong jaw. As with so many other characters, G.I. Joe was really empty. He had nothing. And that’s why we came up with all these characters around him: Millie Company. Two issues later, sales went up to 1,600,000 and climbed each month. [NOTE: For more about artist Henry Enoch Sharp, see A/E #26. —Roy.] JA: So you knew the sales figures on your books!

ROGOFF: There was a young lady at ZiffDavis who was kind of an oddball, because she and her family had been prisoners of the Japanese in the Philippines. Her name was Mavis. She’d been forced to watch beheadings and torture, and she’d been freed just a few years earlier. She would leave a big pile of paperwork on her blotter as long as William Ziff was around, and as soon as he said good night, she would put everything into her middle drawer, and then she’d have a clean desk.

ROGOFF: [laughs] No, and Bob Feller didn’t edit Baseball Thrills, either. I don’t know why they did that, but it was already that way when I came there. I remember we were doing a story about Joe DiMaggio called “The Yankee Clipper.” Alex Kotzky did the drawing, and I got an idea that it would be nice to have a letter from Bob Alex Kotzky drew this Joe DiMaggio bio-story for Feller on Cleveland Indians stationery, We went out to lunch once, and she Baseball Thrills #3 (Summer 1952). Thanks to Herb Rogoff. congratulating Joe DiMaggio. So I called said, “You know, G.I. Joe is selling very Note Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller’s reluctant letter.

Bob Feller in Ohio and asked him to write a well.” So I said, “What are the sales?” She [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] letter, and he said, “Ahh, why would we said, “I can’t tell you.” I said, “But I’m want to do anything for DiMaggio?” And I editing these books,” and she said she still said, “Wait a minute, we’re doing a story on him.” And he said, “Oh, couldn’t tell me. I asked Ed Murphy if he knew the sales of his books, well, if you say so, okay,” and he hand-wrote the letter for the story. and he said “No.” So I asked the young lady why they weren’t telling us what our sales were, and she said, “I guess they think you’d want JA: Let’s talk some more about G.I. Joe. raises.” I said, “That’s stupid! Of course we want raises, but in due time.” And so we went to Lou and said we wanted the sales figures, and ROGOFF: Henry Sharp was the first one who drew G.I. Joe, and for from that point on, we got them. some reason he put a daisy in his helmet. It might have been his cynical touch about how he felt about the war and how ridiculous he thought

One intriguing thing about the painted G.I. Joe covers is that, on virtually every one through at least #27 or so, Joe is smiling—no matter what he’s doing: slamming two Commie heads together, while toting a puppy dog, or handing out vittles to Korean waifs.

Must’ve been an editorial dictate—and one of the things Herb Rogoff decided to change after the truce was signed at Panmunjom!

Incidentally, shown are issues #18, 22, & 27, courtesy of Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

19

There was a monthly report where they’d publish the sales figures for titles in print. It covered more than 500 titles. When the sales figures would go down, people around the industry would say, “We have a slump.” So they’d cancel 250 titles. Then they’d have 250 titles left, and the sales would go up. No one seemed to realize that they were selling to the same readers. I tried to get that across to these people. I also told them that, every five years, they could repeat everything that they’d done, ’cause they would have completely new readers. The kids who were five years old then were now ten, and ready to read our books.

JA: Tell me about Harry Stein.

ROGOFF: Harry Stein came aboard when Ed Murphy left. Ed wasn’t well; he was deaf, his knees were bad, and he retired a few months after I got there. I don’t know if he retired or if they retired him. Ed was an okay guy, but he harkened back to olden days. He wasn’t a really creative guy. So they brought Harry Stein in, but I don’t know how Harry got there. So it was Harry, Ben Martin, and myself.

Harry always fancied himself many notches above comics, but he couldn’t even write a good comics story. He was a very bright guy, and he wanted to write a novel. I guess you could call him a Renaissance man. He had married a woman whose father was pretty wealthy, and they had a son, but he had girlfriends galore and was always out ’til all hours of the morning. I don’t know when he saw his wife. He was a nice-looking guy who wore European suits. He introduced me to all that fashion; I was just a dumb little kid out of Brooklyn, and he had been all over the world.

Harry was a lucky guy because he was play-acting; he didn’t understand the elements of writing, and he wasn’t much of an editor, either.

We were very good friends, but I didn’t think he knew anything about comic book writing and editing, and he’d been at it for a very long time.

JA: You know, he was an editor at Quality Comics for a number of years, and then he was let go for unknown reasons.

ROGOFF: Yeah, it might have been over a woman. Who knows?

JA: Might have been, because Busy Arnold was known to like the ladies, too.

ROGOFF: Yeah. And Harry liked his sauce; Harry drank a lot. When I was leaving New York City in 1969 to move up to Rockport, Mass., I called on Harry. By that time, he was retired and had had a heart attack.

We had a nice chat, and that’s the last I saw of him.

JA: Do you think he got hired on the strength of his résumé rather than his talent?

ROGOFF: Yeah, sure! First of all, I think he went to City College, and he was a very bright guy. He had a degree, but I don’t think he went into postgraduate. He knew grammar very well, so I guess he had been an English major. He had a good vocabulary, though, and he always dressed well, so he managed to impress a lot of personnel managers and publishers.

JA: Was he there the whole time you were editing?

ROGOFF: This is what happened: they let the whole staff go in 1956, and kept me. I had gone to Florida on vacation, and when I came back, Harry and Ben were gone. I asked what had happened, and they said they were folding their comics division, and the only comics title they were holding on to was G.I. Joe. Then they killed G.I. Joe, not because it wasn’t selling. Since we only had this one book, the wholesaler threw it in with a bunch of other publishers’ books, and the bundles were getting sent back unopened. Davis called me in and said, “We know why it’s not selling, but there’s nothing we can do about it, because with only one book, we have no clout. We can’t tell a wholesaler to send it out in one package.” So G.I. Joe became a victim of the distribution system.

Ziff-Davis’ title Wild Boy changed its name to Wild Boy of the Congo with issue #9, and abandoned the Norm Saunders-painted covers for its last four issues, starting with #12. In the stories, apparently, he was never called anything except “Wild Boy.” Art probably by Paul Hodge. Thanks to Bob Cherry, and to Jim V. and Hames Ware for the artist ID. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

“Censorship Of Any Kind Is Cruddy” JA: Did Dr. Wertham and the Senate investigations cause the company much grief?

ROGOFF: Censorship of any kind is cruddy; I hate it. We had to take our books to Judge Murphy, who was named to head the Comics Code.

He had a bunch of schoolteachers working as censors, and they were pains in the ass. They were atrocious; they were terrible. Now, I always prided myself on the quality of my books. I was careful about the kinds of stories I ran. For example, I never showed a guy shooting another guy in the same panel. I never ran stories about divorce, tried not to show snakes, even in Wild Boy. I didn’t like them and felt that others other might not like them, either. So, I never felt that I should be showing this group my books for their approval.

Anyway, this one time when I brought in all of my pages, the woman I was assigned to told me to take out the arc that depicted the woman character’s breast, the other breast being in profile. When I asked why, she replied that showing the arc was too lascivious, that boy readers would lust over it. I said, “You’re out of your mind! This is insane.

Women have two breasts. Period! We’re not showing her cleavage. We’re just indicating her other breast. And notice,” I said, “she’s fully dressed.”

20

Another short-time title was Fairy Tales, which lasted just two issues (#10-11, what else?) from “Approved Comics,” Ziff-Davis’ sometime official name for its comic book line. Shown is the cover of #10. Artist uncertain. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies Despite my ranting, raving, and even quiet cajoling, I couldn’t move this granite “blue pencil.”

say, “The fresh one doesn’t taste any better than the stale one.”

They held out the threat of the books not getting the Comics Code seal. Now, the idea was that if you didn’t have the seal, the printer would not print it, but that’s ridiculous.

The printer wasn’t going to turn down a half a million copies just because there was no seal.

No one was going to close down a printer; these were giant printers. But the threat worked.

One time he was working at home on something, and his wife came in and said, “I’m going to have a baby,” while he was in the middle of a deadline. And he said, “Get rid of it,” and went right on drawing. It came out automatically, because all he could think of was the bother of a pregnant wife in the midst of this deadline that he had. And she went out very quietly, left the house, and had an abortion. And then she divorced him. When Jim told me that story, he cried. He said he’d had no idea that she would do something like that.

Dell never bothered with the Code, because they said it defeated the purpose of their editorial policy. If they’d had the seal, that would have meant that they felt that they needed censorship.

They won out, and I should have held out for the same thing. Dell had a lot more clout than Ziff-Davis, though, especially when we got down to just one book. We had some pretty good clout, but Judge Murphy and his blue-penciling crew didn’t care.

It used to get him in trouble. He had had three wives, and he never told his current wife that he couldn’t smell anything. She would put on perfume, but he’d never smell it. She waited for a compliment, and it never came.

He did work out in Hollywood. I think he was an animator. He was older, and he was a very handsome guy. He had a beautiful Roman profile, dark hair slicked back, mustache, but not greasy-looking. He was a guy without much education. I suspect he graduated from high school, but his grammar wasn’t all that great, and we used to have to correct the spelling and punctuation in all of his scripts. He was a good storyteller, though. He tried some drawing as well as writing, but his drawings weren’t very good.

JA: Did you do much writing on staff?

ROGOFF: Well, I got a freelance rate for writing. I did some when the new G.I. Joe was kicking in. And the last writing assignment I did in the comics division was an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen. It was a complete book of Andersen’s stories and songs done as cartoons, and Vic Martin did the drawing. I did it along with Samuel Goldwyn Productions. They gave me the whole working script of the Danny Kaye movie, and I chopped it down to 100 pages. Irv Novick did the straight drawing, with likenesses of Danny Kaye, Farley Granger, and the others.

“Ziff” and “Davis”

JA: Did they have a big production department there for the comics?

JA: Did you have a lot of autonomy?

ROGOFF: No, we had stats of logos and a big jar of rubber cement, and we editors pasted them on, just like we had done at Hillman. If you’re familiar with rubber cement, how long does it take?

ROGOFF: Oh yeah. I called Ziff one time to tell him about a new direction I intended to take after the war ended in Korea. And Ziff said, “Mr. Rogoff, don’t tell me what you want to do or what you don’t want to do. I reserve the right to criticize when the magazine comes out, and that’s all I ask of my editors.”

JA: How often would you confer with the other editors?

ROGOFF: Never. Each of our magazines was totally independent of the others, and the company didn’t hold editorial conferences.

We had another editor, Jim Miele.

[NOTE: See photo on p. 25.] He worked on Fairy Tales and the other kid stuff. He did Casper the Friendly Ghost for Harvey, and then he came to us. Jim was a very interesting individual. He smoked a lot, and as a result, his senses of taste and smell were gone. When we would go to a lunch counter, he would always pick out the pie that looked very firm. It was probably stale, which meant nothing to him. A fresh blueberry pie, oozing out all over the place, wouldn’t appeal to him from a graphics standpoint, so he would get the real firm ones. I’d ask him why he didn’t get something fresh, and he’d

Ziff was a guy out in Chicago who used to make products for African-Americans, like hair straighteners, that he would advertise in various magazines. He started publishing during the Depression. He realized that people were out of work and had nothing to do, and that’s when he came out with special-interest magazines. He always felt that, during a recession, these would survive. Popular Photography, Flying Magazine, Modern Bride: he came up with all these things, and it paid off.

And he had pulp magazines, too.

JA: What do you remember about Bernard Davis?

A Vic Martin gag page from G.I. Joe #21 (May 1953).

Thanks to Jim V. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

ROGOFF: Davis was a guy who came to Ziff right out of college and was hired as an administrator. And I guess Ziff took a liking to him, because Davis was so short

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

21

Ziff-Davis’ comic The Hawk #2 (Summer 1952) featured stories of the cowboy hero by three talented artists (left to right): George Olesen, Carmine Infantino, and Joe Kubert. Knowing that Carmine and Joe worked in tandem on the Avon western title Jesse James around the same time, Ye Editor is tempted to ID the “Kubert” story as being Kubert’s inks over Carmine’s pencils. Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

and Ziff was so tall. They were like Mutt and Jeff. I’m sure there’s more to that story, but Ziff hired him. He eventually kind-of became Ziff’s hatchet man, to do things so that Ziff wouldn’t get his hands dirty. Davis was president of the company, and was in the office all the time.

We occupied a complete floor of 366 Madison Avenue, between Tripler, which was a men’s store, and Abercrombie & Fitch. When I first got there, we all sat in a big room, but later I got my own office.

JA: Did you have many story conferences with your writers?

ROGOFF: No, the writers would call and say they had some synopses.

So they’d come up, and I’d go over the synopses with them, and we’d tighten them up and make stories out of them. I’d work on plots for G.I. Joe with Ernie Schroeder; after a time, he wrote the stories. We came up with Ugly Otis, who looked just like Arnold Stang, and Ready Money Riley, who was a con-man like Sgt. Bilko, but wasn’t as likable as Bilko. This guy was a crud. With the Korean War over, we felt that we had to come up with guys who were in the occupation army in Japan, or in New York City. We just came up with some funny characters.

JA: Paul S. Newman was one of your writers.

ROGOFF: Yes, he was. Paul was a so-so writer, but he called himself “The King of the Comic Book Writers” because he wrote more stories than anyone else. His dad was Newman of the Newman Ticket Agency in New York. Paul would bring me several story synopses, which I’d look over, and then reject. He’d say, “You’re not going to buy any of them?” I said, “No, they’re lousy.”

Then Newman would say, “Do you like the theatre?” I said I did.

Then he’d say, “I can get you tickets. Which play would you like to see?” I got theatre tickets. I didn’t want to be indebted to Paul. He worked on “The Yardbirds,” and also Wild Boy. We had a voucher system at Ziff-Davis. If you turned your work in

by Tuesday, you got your check on Friday. Naturally, everyone rushed to get his work in to me by Tuesday. Once, Paul brought his stories in on Wednesday morning and asked, “Can you push this through so I can get paid on Friday? I know I’m a little late.” I agreed to do it. Then he

said, “Yeah, I need the money to pay the governess.”

I said, “What?” He said, “My kid’s governess.” I said, “There are guys here who want to put bread on their tables and you’re talking about a governess?”

JA: Did you spend much time with your artists?

ROGOFF: Not too much. I’d glance at their stuff when they delivered it. Later, I would look at it more carefully when I was alone, and I’d call them if there was something wrong.

JA: Earlier, you mentioned Vic Martin. What do you remember about him?

ROGOFF: Vic Martin was from a Rosario suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He did a lot of cartoon features for Ziff-Davis. If he had listened to me, he’d have been in the U.S. Army. He didn’t listen to me and became a U.S. citizen anyway. I told him to join the Army so he could become a citizen. This was during the time of the Dick Haymes controversy. Haymes, who was also from Argentina, was going to be deported because he wasn’t a citizen, which was why I suggested Vic go into the service. Vic talked to his counsel and he was told to stay out of the Army.

Vic was a very funny cartoonist and became a good friend. He wrote his own features and later worked for Help! magazine, though I think he drew from someone else’s scripts at that time.

Speaking of artists, we also used Paul Parker, who went way back to the early days of Ziff-Davis’ comics. And Lawrence Dresser, an older man who was very English; he drew very well. He did a few things for us at Ziff-Davis.

Ben Oda also worked for me at Ziff, as did George Olesen, though I couldn’t stand the guy. He had the personality of a toilet seat. [Jim laughs] One time, an ad agency called me to put together an industrial comic book. They were paying $100 a page. I said I have the guy right here: George Olesen. George said, “We don’t like each other. Why are you sending me over there?” I said, “You’re right. I don’t like you, but

22

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

THREE BY NORMAN SAUNDERS (From left:) Luscious Saunders-painted covers for The Crime Clinic #3 (Winter 1951)—Amazing Adventures #3 (May-June 1951)—and Space Busters #1 (Spring 1952).

Thanks to Jim V. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

they want a good artist and you are a damn good artist.” I don’t mean to self-aggrandize, but this is the way things were.

“To Inject A Touch Of Class” JA: Tell me about Everett Raymond Kinstler.

ROGOFF: Okay, but I have to tell you about Norman Saunders first.

Norm painted most of our covers, and he was very, very good. One day, Ziff said—he was very proper—“Would you get Mr. Saunders to come up, and have him bring his paints?” I said, “His paints? Do you want something repaired?” And he said “No, no... I would like to show him how to paint a cover.” So I called Norm, and I said “Mr. Ziff wants you to bring your paints.” Norm said, “Well, I’m not going to cart my paints around, but I’ll come without them.” But he did come with a copy of a book Ziff had written called The Coming Battle of Germany, which he wanted Ziff to autograph for him.

So we went to see Ziff, and he said, “Mr. Saunders, your covers are creditable, but I told Herb to have you bring your paints.” Norm asked why, and Ziff said, “Well, I want to show you how to paint a cover.”

And Norm said, “Mr. Ziff, there are 3,200 people like you in the United States, and there’s only one like me.” Ziff said, “What do you mean?”

And Norm said, “Well, there are 3,200 people who have more than a million dollars, and there’s only one who can paint a cover like I do.

Now, if you want to teach me how to paint a cover, I’ll very gladly take your instruction, but not for what you pay me for a cover.” Ziff asked how much he got for a cover, and Norm said $125. And Ziff said, “Herb will increase that, I’m sure.” So Norm said, “If I get a good rate, fine; I’ll listen to anything you have to say.” And Ziff said, “Well, you will bring your paints next time,” and Norm said he would.

So we left, and Norm went home, and then the phone rang at my desk. It was Ziff, and he said, “Don’t use Norm Saunders any more.”

That put me in a bind, because I had to find somebody who could do covers as well and as fast as Saunders.

There was an artist by the name of Raphael DeSoto, who had shown me samples some time back. He was a good painter and illustrator. I had

no occasion to use him then because I had the very good, very reliable Norm Saunders. But now, thanks to William Ziff, I needed someone fast.

I tried DeSoto, but he was too slow and wasn’t a real commercial illustrator who could grind the stuff out as fast as we needed it. He did one or two G.I. Joe covers, which I no longer have copies of. Those issues were in bound volumes of all the G.I. Joe comics. I gave them up to St. John Publishing when I sold our entire art inventory to them.

Some time after the Saunders incident, I needed a cover for Wild Boy. We had one, but Ziff had rejected it, tearing it to shreds. So I contacted Kinstler. He came over and asked when we needed it, and I said “Tomorrow morning.” He said okay, painted it (in oils) overnight, and brought it in the next day as promised.

Ziff said, “Considering the short time you had to work on it, I’d say this is quite remarkable.” It was Wild Boy jumping onto the back of a lion, with jungle greenery and birds all around, and it was remarkably detailed. We had an art director name Leo Summers, and he saw the cover sitting in Ziff’s office, and said, “Who did that?” And Mr. Ziff said, “Everett Raymond Kinstler. What do you think of it?” And Leo said, “Mr. Ziff, it’s awful.” But Ziff never told Leo that Kinstler had done the cover overnight; he just said, “Yes, I guess it is awful,” and then called me and said, “Don’t use that Kinstler cover.” We did pay Kinstler, but we didn’t use the cover. I think, even if Ziff had told Summers that the cover was done overnight, he’d have still said we couldn’t use it. But now, we don’t know where Leo Summers is, but we do know where Everett Raymond Kinstler is: painting Presidents, cabinet members, generals, astronauts, along with Katherine Hepburn, and John Wayne...

Ziff was always testing people. We were planning to do a daily comic strip of G.I. Joe, and I was writing it. Ziff looked at the dialog, didn’t like it, and tried to tell me how to redo it. He wanted “23 skiddoo” dialog, to have the soldiers in Korea using outdated slang from back in the ’20s. I said, “I think that’s terrible.” He said, “What?” And I said, “I think it’s terrible. G.I.s haven’t talked like that since World War I.” And he said, “You will do as I say, and put that in.” I said, “I’ll put it in, but I still don’t like it.” And he said, “I do not care what you like or do not like. You will put in what I say.” The next morning, I came in, and the phone rang at nine o’clock. I answered it, and Ziff said, “Mr. Rogoff?

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

23

William B. Ziff. I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I looked it over, and I like your copy better.”

Ultimately, Ziff left the business to his two sons, and the family ended up selling Ziff-Davis’ special interest magazines to CBS for billions.

JA: What happened to Davis?

ROGOFF: After he left Ziff-Davis, Davis went into his own publishing venture.

He bought Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and his son Joel was the editor. I did illustrations for their promotions.

JA: Who had the idea of using painted covers at Ziff-Davis?

ROGOFF: It started before I got there, so I don’t know for sure. I suspect it was Ziff wanting to inject a touch of class, and to make the books look a little different on the newsstand. We would sketch out a scene for the illustrator to paint. The illustrator would paint in oils, but he would use Japan drier. You mixed it with your colors; it wouldn’t change the tones or hues, but the paints would dry much faster.

JA: I’m surprised that nobody asked for their artwork back, especially the painters.

ROGOFF: Nobody ever questioned it. The rights waiver took up nearly half of the back of the check, and that intimidated the artists.

They were afraid of raising the issue, because they might lose their jobs.

JA: I’m sure they’d have gone to you about it rather than Ziff, though, since Ziff was such a tough guy...

ROGOFF: Ziff was a creative man himself, so I think he would have understood, and said, “By all means, the art belongs to them.” Ziff was tough in the way that men who become multimillionaires are tough, but he understood the problems of creative people very well. Alex Hillman was just a clod. He wouldn’t have understood anything. All he’d want is a big cigar to smoke and look important.

“Artists... Were Storming Our Doors” JA: What do you remember about George Roussos?

ROGOFF: He was a very strong illustrator. His stuff was moody, with good use of blacks, good patterns. His brushwork was very strong and very sure. George was a strange man, but I loved his art.

George Roussos came in one day with cat prints on his white shirt.

He had gotten drunk, fell asleep in an alley, and a cat walked over him. [mutual laughter] I had never heard of someone sleeping it off in an alley before.

JA: How about Frank Giacoia?

ROGOFF: Yeah, Frank was a very young guy, and drew very well. He did a story for one of my sports magazines about Dempsey and Tunney.

Before he became a major illustrator and painter, Everett Raymond Kinstler did some outstanding work in comic books, including for Ziff-Davis. Seen here are a splash from Bill Stern’s Sports Book (Winter 1952) and the inside front cover of Weird Thrillers #3 (“January, February, & March 1952”). Bill Stern, for those who came in late, was a famous sports announcer of the day, and the portrait of him that appeared on many stories looks like Kinstler’s work. Jim Amash’s interview with ERK is slated for an early issue, while Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. (who sent us the scan from the sports comic) is hard at work on an entire book about the artist. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

He stands out in my memory because he drew very well, and inked his own pencils.

JA: Ric Estrada.

ROGOFF: He did only one story for me. There was a guy by the name of Bill Siegel. I gave Siegel a few filler pages, but he wasn’t very good. So Ric Estrada wrote a scathing letter which Robin Snyder published in his newsletter The Comics! about me and Bill Siegel. Estrada wrote, “A cartooning acquaintance, Bill Siegel, with a studio in the Bible House, recommended me, first to the legendary editor Ed Cronin, at Hillman Publications, and then to Herb Rogoff at Ziff-Davis. Rogoff thought I’d been sent by Jerry Siegel (Superman) and gave me a basketball story to illustrate. After I finished it, he either didn’t like it, or realized little Bill Siegel and not big man Jerry had sent me. He never called again.”

I think Estrada mixed up Bill Siegel and Jerry Siegel. First, I don’t remember how Estrada came to my attention. If it was a recommendation from Bill Siegel, as Estrada claims, then I surely would not confuse him with Jerry Siegel. I certainly knew the difference between Bill and Jerry. And why would I want to curry favor with Jerry? He was no longer at Z-D and was in no position to help anyone. In fact, he needed, at that time, a lot of help for himself, as evidenced by his weeping phone call to me about the very sad news (for him) of the huge sale to television by DC Comics. After that call, I never had occasion to speak with Jerry again.

I remember Estrada and the job he did for me. It was creditable, but

24

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies lettered?

ROGOFF: I always insisted on getting the pencils back before they were inked, because I edited on the pencils, as I’d learned from Ed Cronin. After I’d edited the pages, they’d be sent on to the letterer.

JA: Do you remember Bob Stuart?

ROGOFF: Yes. Bob was from Savannah, Georgia. He worked hard at shaking his Georgia accent, but when he’d get excited about something, it would all come out. We palled around a lot; we’d go out to lunch, or out drinking. He did a lot of work for me at ZiffDavis, and we spent a lot of time together. He couldn’t draw as well as he inked. He was a good inker; he could pull a weak pencil job together.

JA: Do you remember how much inkers were paid at Ziff-Davis?

George Roussos & Frank Giacoia! You’ll find photos of these two talented gents in Alter Ego #4 (&39) and #37, and #14—but here are sterling examples of their 1950s work for Ziff-Davis. (Left:) A George Roussos splash from Crusader from Mars #1 (Jan-March 1952)—(right:) a Frank Giacoia-signed “Buddies” splash from G.I. Joe #16 (Dec. 1952). Thanks to Jim V. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

the opportunity for another assignment didn’t present itself, what with the great number of artists who were storming our doors to take advantage of the great rates that we were paying, certainly the best in the business. It’s too bad that this happened. I liked Bill Siegel very much. I don’t think he got enough work to be a fulltime artist. He was a hell of a nice guy; whenever the receptionist said Bill was there, I’d say, “Send him right in.”

JA: There used to be a couple of text pages in each issue of the ZiffDavis comics. Did you have anything to do with those?

ROGOFF: Comics needed the text to qualify as a magazine for secondclass mailing rates, so some legal brain came up with the idea of including a couple of pages of text. Kids used to read them right after they finished the whole book, because they had nothing else to do. It was better than reading the back of a cereal box.

I used to write the ones in G.I. Joe. I tried to make them interesting.

There was a baseball book called You Know Me Al, by Ring Lardner, and I did a Ring Lardner-type text story about a G.I.’s letters sent to his girlfriend. It was “Dear Mabel.” I enjoyed writing those things.

We used to pay $25 for the two pages. There was one guy who did them for all of the books; he was an expert at everything. I think it might have been Matt Suarez.

JA: Do you remember Marvin Levy?

ROGOFF: Marv Levy was a very good artist. We did a comic strip called The Snowman’s First Christmas, with Jim Miele’s story and Marv’s artwork. I rewrote and edited the 22 strips. We syndicated it in newspapers from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. It was a beautiful story about a snowman who couldn’t stand the cold. I did the selling on the strip, and Miele, Levy, and I shared the proceeds.

Marv also did “The Little Mermaid” for Hans Christian Andersen, “The Little Match Girl,” and some other things. He wrote some of his own stuff. He’d bring in a synopsis, and I’d approve it before he wrote a story. [NOTE: Look for our Marvin Levy interview in an upcoming issue of Alter Ego. —Jim.] JA: Since Levy inked his own pencils, when did his stories get

ROGOFF: At Hillman, our total page was $35, so the pencilers got $25 and the inkers got $10. It probably worked the same way at Ziff-Davis, where we paid $45 a page: it might have been $25 and $20, or it might have been $30 and $15.

“Another Golden Opportunity Lost”?

JA: Earlier, you mentioned selling Ziff-Davis inventory to St. John Publications. I’d like to hear more about that.

ROGOFF: When Ziff-Davis quit publishing comic books, Ziff gave me our $100,000 worth of inventory to get rid of. I called Stan Lee and asked if he wanted it. Stan came over and picked out three stories. I said, “This isn’t a department store. I’m selling the whole thing.” Stan said he couldn’t handle all that inventory. That was the last I saw of Stan Lee. I ended up selling the work to St. John Publications for $50,000. I don’t know what they ever did with it, but they bought G.I. Joe and everything else. Richard Decker was the guy I dealt with; he was their business manager. They offered me a job to go out to Los Angeles and handle a string of comic books for them there. But I had to give them word overnight. My wife said there was no way we were going out there. That was another golden opportunity lost, but I don’t really know how golden it would have been.

JA: What happened to you when Ziff-Davis quit publishing comics?

ROGOFF: I became the art director of Ziff-Davis’ fiction group. We had Amazing Stories and Fantastic Stories as pulp magazines, and then they were made digest-size. When Ziff-Davis gave up its comics division, I went in with a guy named Howard Brown, who later went to Hollywood and wrote Maverick, Cheyenne, and other stuff for Roy Huggins at ABC. He bought stories from Huggins for the Black Mask pulp magazine. When he left, he turned the fiction group over to Paul Fairman.

Ziff bought Amazing Stories from Hugo Gernsback, and put Ray Palmer in as editor. Ray was a very short man. [NOTE: Not so ironically, editor Julius Schwartz used his old friend Ray Palmer’s name for that of the Silver Age Atom. —Jim.] We had some good illustrators. I had to learn to work with cold type, to know how things were going to fall into place on a typeset page. I told the typesetter I didn’t know anything about it, and to just be patient and work with me. At Amazing, we used stories from Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury. Howard Brown edited it.

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

25

In 1952 writer Jim Miele (at left) and artist Marv Levy produced the holiday comic strip The Snowman’s First Christmas. Here’s a display drawing by Levy. The story had originally appeared, in a different form, in a Ziff-Davis comic. Herb says he “completely rewrote the story, breaking it down into daily strips, then had well-known cartoonist Marv Levy do the art. Ben Oda, ‘Michelangelo with a Speedball,’ lettered the words in his inimitable style.” Rogoff then marketed the strip. It was syndicated to newspapers by the George Matthews Adams Service, and ran from Thanksgiving through Christmas in 1953, 1954, and 1955. Special thanks to Marv Levy for the artistic materials and photos. [©2004 Marv Levy.]

I left Ziff-Davis because they were cutting back on the fiction group.

They encouraged me to try to find a position at one of the other publications in the house—Popular Photography or another of those—but I was making more money than some of the assistant editors of those magazines. So there was nothing there for me, and I had to leave.

I went to work as a freelance illustrator for an art studio on the East Side of Manhattan, up in the 50s. It was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we did Christmas catalogs for practically every department store in the United States. It was a pretty good situation, because I could work as many hours as I wanted. After that, I had an arrangement with a guy named Davis Lewis, who ran a one-man ad agency: he got priority on my time in exchange for giving me a rent-free place to work.

time on my hands. My job consisted of visiting art studios all over New York City and, later on, some trips to big commercial centers: Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc. When in New York City, I would make seven visits each day to studios around the city, calling on the art directors and also artists in the bullpen. The big problem with freelancing while holding down a nine-to-five job is picking up and delivering the work. As a missionary, as I was referred to, I was always free for those important functions. I left one hour for each appointment and never spent more than thirty minutes on each call.

Therefore, I had a lot of time on my hands.

While I was there, I took on a job working mornings for art supplier A.I. Friedman, calling on artists. One day I called on a guy named David Hartman, who told me about a job opening at Grumbacher, introducing their products at art studios and classes. I didn’t really like the freelance life, because my wife wanted a regular income, so I took the job at Grumbacher in 1959. I gave talks about our products to commercial artists and art directors, and eventually, when the public relations director gave his notice, I was called in to take over public relations. 90% of Grumbacher’s materials were for the easel trade, and only 10% were for the commercial trade, so it was a better job to promote their fine arts materials.

JA: Did you do any freelancing for comics after you left Ziff-Davis?

ROGOFF: Yes. While I was with Grumbacher Artists Materials Company as public relations for its commercial art products, I had a lot of

Like Herb says, good artists were turning up at Ziff-Davis! Murphy Anderson drew much of Lars of Mars #10 (April-May 1951; actually the first issue), from a script by Jerry Siegel. This page is repro’d from Eclipse Comics’ Lars of Mars 3-D special in 1987, which had 3-D effects

by Ray (3-D) Zone. [Art ©2004 Murphy Anderson & Eclipse Comics.]

At every stop, I would sample the art departments with Grumbacher materials, which, by the way, were excellent but not very popular among commercial artists. To explain, while Grumbacher was the leader in sales of easel painting supplies, they needed much help with sales of their hard pastels, designers’ colors, masking materials, red sable brushes, photoretouch grays, and other products that were used exclusively by commercial artists. While I made some inroads among these artists, their art directors still ordered materials from our competitors: Eberhard Faber’s Nupastels, Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes and designers’ colors, Pelican watercolors, Higgins and Artone India inks, etc.

I was pushed up to public relations for the company, which left me practically no time to freelance. Before that time, when I was still free to do comics, I wrote principally for Gold Key, which was the comic bookproducing arm of Western Publishing, after it had broken away from Dell Comics.

The editor at Gold Key was a guy named Wally Green. They produced

26

Golden Age Editor Herb Rogoff on Two Vintage Companies

an “Archie” type book called Wally, with all the same characters as the older, famous comic magazine. I wrote a few issues of Wally, and I have to say, quite immodestly, that I wrote some very funny stuff. The art was fabulous; sadly, I can’t for the life of me remember the artist’s name. I regret this greatly because he surely deserves mention in this interview. I don’t have any copies of this magazine, which I regret, too.

Wally lasted four issues, and then editor Green asked me to do some stories for a special book called Rocky and His Fiendish Friends in Hollywood. I had a lot of fun doing these stories. One was a takeoff on [the boxing movie] Golden Boy. I called it “The Gingerbread Boy”; it was about a cookie that becomes a boxer. I did other stories using the wonderful characters of the animated TV series: “Fractured Fairy Tales,” “Peabody and Sherman,” “Boris and Natasha,” “Dudley Do-Right,” and others.

“What More Can A Cartoonist Ask For?” JA: In 1967, you started a magazine called Palette Talk.

ROGOFF: Right. Palette Talk ran 80 issues; it was very popular. It was a house organ for Grumbacher, and they gave them away to some dealers and sold them to others. Helen would write articles and howto’s about painting, and all of the advertising was for Grumbacher supplies. We’d print 200,000 copies of each issue. It was a great promotion. Originally, Helen wrote all the articles, and I did the editing and put the magazine together. Later, Grumbacher asked us to include articles written by popular regional painters, so various regions of the country were represented in each issue. We stopped doing it in 1992.

We also published a magazine called Alla This was about the time I met a Prima, which means “All At Once.” It was Monsieur was one of a legion of publications that popped marvelous artist named Helen Van Wyk, a 16-page, full-color magazine with no up after Playboy became a success, and Herb sold a few who was doing demonstrations for amateur advertising, and we immediately got 10,000 cartoons to them, including this full-page look at other art groups. Grumbacher wanted me to travel subscribers. It was great, but Helen was sick storylines that could’ve worked with popular movie titles with her around the country, introducing with cancer, and eventually she couldn’t do of the time—clearly the early 1960s. [©2004 the respective our products. I planned out all the trips, and it anymore, so we canceled it. copyright holders.] we traveled to about 300 cities in about 6 years. We were both unhappily married to other people, and something JA: You also wrote a book called American Sign Language. Tell me happened. She used to say that we should write a book: Never Let Your about that.

Husband Travel with a Woman. I became her business manager, and ROGOFF: That was in 1963, while I was still with Grumbacher. The when she moved to Rockport, I moved in with her. We lived together book took 4 years to illustrate, and I did 8,000 drawings of hands. It was for 30 years, which was great. We had a very good, successful life published by Harper & Row, and the editor was Martin Sternberg, who together. We published 9 books and our own magazine, calling ourselves had been deaf since the age of 7 from spinal meningitis. After the Art Instruction Associates. drawings were finished, it took until 1981 to get it written and In 1990, Helen did a weekly half-hour painting show on PBS. We published. We did the book on a government grant that was handled by created books for the television programs, and did our own videos for New York University, so I had the position—and salary—of Associate them. That’s how you make your money on PBS. She’s been dead for ten Research Scientist. [laughs] years, and the books and videos are still selling.

I got paid $8,000 a year for 2 years, and then worked 2 extra years for nothing, because the woman who was handling the project had told them that we could finish in 2 years. Once they saw all the drawing, they told us that we could have been paid for the extra 2 years, but by then it was too late. So she screwed us up.

JA: Do you recall doing a comic strip called Barnacle Barney?

ROGOFF: Yeah, I did that while I was serving in the Marines. I did the strip for the Camp LeJeune Globe in 1945 and ’46.

(Above:) Herb often volunteered his public relations services to the Society of Illustrators, of which he was a member. In one major promotion, famous author and radio raconteur Jean Shepherd appeared as guest of honor as a luncheon held at the Society. With Rogoff (center) and Shepherd (left) is noted painter, lecturer, and teacher Helen Van Wyk, who was also Herb’s wife.

(Right:) Helen Van Wyk with a 1969 portrait of Herb, one of 25 done over the 30 years of their marriage.

When he lost her to cancer in 1994, he relocated to Sarasota, Florida. Helen’s books and videos are popular to this day, as is her PBS television show, Welcome to My Studio. Photos courtesy of H.R.

JA: I also have a credit for you that says you wrote and drew Spot Boot in Armed Forces.

ROGOFF: Armed Forces was a newspaper that Will Lieberson, who was the executive editor at Fawcett, put together. It went to families on

Glory Days at Hillman & Ziff-Davis

27

HERB ROGOFF Checklist [The following is based primarily on information provided by Dr. Jerry G. Bails from his online Who’s Who of 20th-Century American Comic Books, which can be accessed at www.nostromo.no/whoswho/. Additions and corrections are invited, either to Jerry or through Alter Ego. Names of features which appeared both in comic books with that title and in other comics are generally not italicized below—e.g., Airboy. Key: (w) = writer; (a) artist. Re syndicated comic strips: (d) = daily; (wk) = weekly (i.e., Sunday only).]

Name: Herbert Norton Rogoff [b. 1927] (editor, writer, letterer]

Syndicated Credits: The Snowman’s First Christmas, 1953-55

Education: Art Students League

Comics in other publications: Spot Boot (w/a) in Armed Forces; Barnacle Barney (w/a) Camp LeJeune Globe 1945-46

Influences: Willard Mullin, sports cartoonist Magazines: Cavalier 1970; Swank 1972; Palette Talk (quarterly = editor/writer/artist) 1967+; Magazine Management 1948-49

Gag cartoons: Various trade publications, 1957-63 MAINSTREAM COMIC BOOKS:

Paperback Illustrations: American Sign Language 1963/1967

Hillman Periodicals: various features (assoc. ed.) 1949-52

Freelance layout, design, mechanicals: 1957-68—Grumbacher [art supply] 1959-69

Marvel/Timely: letterer, 1949

Painting instruction books: 1972+

Western Publishing/Whitman/Gold Key: Rocky and His Friends (w) 1960s; Wally (w) 1962-63

Books: A New Star at the Track; Homer Stretch [both re horse racing]

Ziff-Davis: various titles (editor) 1952-56; G.I. Joe text pages (w); Hans Christian Anderson (w) 1953

military bases all over the United States. I did it while I was at Grumbacher, so it would have been during the 1960s.

lives in Manhattan, and works for an insurance brokerage. They’re nice kids.

Will was a playwright, and he had the shortest review in the history of the theatre. I think it was Brooks Atkinson who wrote, “That was the most dismal evening I ever spent in the theatre.” Will offered all the comic artists at Fawcett the opportunity to be angels for the production, so they all kicked in. This was certainly the low point of his career.

JA: Are you retired now?

One day, Will asked me to give a chalk-talk for his kid’s Cub Scout troop at a dinner. And it was supposed to be nine months hence, so I said I would. And of course, when the time approached, I thought, “Oh, my God, what did I do?” So I went there with my son, and I got smashed because I had stage fright. But at dinner, I sobered right up, because at a Cub Scout dinner, you can’t get any hootch. So I gave my talk, and I’d have a kid come up and draw a squiggle, and then I’d make something out of it. So my son came up, and he did a squiggle that I couldn’t possibly solve. [mutual laughter] That little bastard, I’ll never forgive him for that! [more laughter] He left me standing there with my pants down—totally sober.

I have two kids, a boy and a girl. My son is 50. His name is Jay, and he teaches at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. My daughter Leslie

Herb relaxing in his Rockport, Massachusetts, backyard during the days when he was a successful publisher of wife Helen Van Wyk’s painting instruction books. The backstory of the cartoon at right is told in the last two paragraphs of his interview. [Cartoons ©2004 Herb Rogoff.]

ROGOFF: I’m semi-retired, which means that I only drive one way. [laughs] Our latest book was Loose Watercolor, by Jerry McClish. We publish books, tapes, videos, DVDs, and we also have Van Wyk brushes and palettes.

JA: Do you do any art for pleasure?

ROGOFF: While I lived in Rockport, I would draw and have printed a year-end card that served also as an invitation to our huge party for neighbors and friends. Over the years, I did about twenty of them and was surprised, and flattered, to learn that many of our friends had saved each and every one.

Here in Sarasota, my girlfriend Shirleen King and I planned a big party to reciprocate for parties we had gone to. I drew a cartoon of the two of us inviting our guests to this party. The invitation was a big hit.

We had eighty people coming and it was planned for one of our popular restaurants in town. That was four years ago, and at the last minute we had to cancel because I ended up in the hospital for lung surgery. In March of 2004, we finally got around to rescheduling this party, and again I drew a cartoon. Since the people we were inviting were the same ones we had invited four years earlier, I felt I needed a new drawing, so I drew a cartoon of Shirleen, my dog Gina, and me. We are shown looking at the invitee, proclaiming: “As we were saying not too long ago….”

The party was a tremendous success.

Just as important were the complimentary comments about my cartoon invitation; they were truly heartwarming. What more can a cartoonist ask for?

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“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist” An In-Depth Interview (At Last!) With

ERNIE SCHROEDER –––The Ultimate Illustrator (and Writer!)

Of “Airboy,” Et Al. Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash A photo of Ernie Schroeder taken December 2003—and a drawing of Airboy and The Heap that he did around the same time as a surprise gift for interviewer Jim Amash. It’s as if Airboy Comics wasn’t ever canceled half a century ago! Photo courtesy of Ernie & Constance Schroeder. [Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder; Airboy & The Heap TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

[INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Ernie Schroeder was simply known as “The Good Artist,” because he never signed his name to his comic book work. One day, Hames Ware happened upon a pulp magazine filled with drawings by “The Good Artist,” and saw the credit “Illustrations by Ernest Schroeder.” At last, comic book historians were able to put a name to the mystery artist! However, very little information about Ernie surfaced, until now. Thanks to Herb Rogoff, it’s my personal pleasure to peel back the Wizard’s curtain and show off one of most unsung artists in comic book history: Ernie Schroeder, the great “Airboy” and “Heap” artist who delighted a generation of fans. A humble, fun, and delightful man, Ernie isn’t as convinced as we are that he was—and still is— terrific, but he’s going to have to get used to it! Sit back and enjoy the praise Ernie: you deserve it! —Jim.]

“I Always Always Able To Draw Pretty Well” JIM AMASH: Tell me where and when you were born—and about your family history.

ERNIE SCHROEDER: January 9, 1916, Brooklyn, New York. My father was a graduate of West Point who fought in the Spanish-American War. He went to the Philippine Islands and stayed there for twenty years. On one of his trips to the states, he met my mother at an amusement park that her father owned and ran. She was one of nine children and each one worked in the park. My father married her and wisked her away to the Phillipine Islands and they were out there for eight years. She worked in a hospital out there and became a damn good nurse.

They came back to the States because I was on the way and so was World War I. When they got back, my father was decorated with all kinds of medals, and he went a little crazy and everyone went crazy over him. First of all, he worked with D.W. Griffith on The Birth of a Nation... on a white horse as a Confederate soldier. He might have played General Sheridan... I’m not sure. The whole thing turned his head and he started a company called Noxon, that made silver polish. He did this with an old German chemist on the east side of New York. The company was a howling success and he got a contract from the Ford Motor Company to sell trucks in Brooklyn. The ladies were all over him and he just sort-of slipped away from my mother.

He went off and she was sort-of stuck with my little presence. She gave me to my grandmother and I lived with her for a while. In the

meantime, my mother took a nursing job with a friend of hers who wanted to go on a weekend date. My mother met old man Ricks, who was the president of Union Carbide and we moved into his estate. In one week, I had gone from the Brooklyn cockroach slums—which gave me asthma as a frail little kid—to having servants wait on me. Talk about rags to riches!

There were three other boys living in the house who were older than me. Naturally, they gave me “the works.” Once, I was on top of the garage roof... we had Cadillacs and Lincolns there... and everybody was jumping off the roof. I was scared. My mother came out—and I get all choked up thinking about her—and said, “If you don’t jump off of that roof, I’m going to give you the beating of your life.” [laughter] So I jumped off, and from then on, I kept jumping until I was strong enough to do chin-ups with one arm. I copied Teddy Roosevelt, who was anemic. “He’s so frail.” But I got stronger by playing in the woods; there were a hundred and ten acres on the estate.

I read all the time and started drawing at an early age. I was interested in nature and drew pictures of all the butterflies and bugs on the estate.

And we’d go into New York, driven by a chauffeur, to the Bronx Zoo, and see the guy in charge of the reptiles. Because we had money, we were given special treatment. They really liked us. We’d go to Tiffany’s and got to hold the Hope Diamond in our hands. I went from being a

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist” Brooklyn tenement kid to King of the World! [laughter] Sam Wanamaker’s was a big department store in New York. They ran art contests in the public school system, and I won, handily, a couple of years in a row. I also won second and third place the other times. It was an incentive to keep drawing, and my mother’s Uncle Phil used to paint frescoes in the movie theatres, so I had plenty of encouragement. Along with a few other guys, he painted the elevated trains in Brooklyn, too.

I was always able to draw pretty well. One time, a traveling salesman came to the estate and all of us boys met with him. He had a blackboard with a roller on it that he wanted to sell. We were asked to draw railroad tracks, and the other boys drew them like ladders. I drew mine in perspective with the telegraph poles, and the salesman told my mother, “This boy is artistic and has a good eye. You should buy this blackboard.” My mother didn’t buy it and I didn’t want it anyway. She said to me, “I guess you’re going to be ruined by that art crap, like everyone else in the family.” [laughs] She was cynical about art, which I guess I am a little now. I don’t paint anymore.

Carl Sandburg came to the estate one time. Old man Ricks invited Sandburg... well, millionaires don’t invite—they command, and writers and artists have to kiss their fannies. Anyway, Carl Sandburg played the guitar and sang a song that went like this: “Away from the US, the home of the free. The home of the bedbug and the cockroach and flea. I’ll sing you its praises and talk of its fame, while starving to death on my government claim.”

It was true. People went out West and didn’t have anything. They made houses out of sod. Sandburg told this story about a father who found a plank of wood and put it over his fireplace. The guy’s wife brought out a peacock feather and laid it on that board. Their neighbors would come out every Sunday to see that peacock feather. Can you imagine how dull that was? The people who built this country worked so hard under difficult conditions, finding joy and entertainment any way they could, and now they’re all for cars and guns. I just don’t know what’s going to happen to all of us.

“I Studied Anatomy Under Bridgman” JA: Our culture seems to be changing from day to day, so who knows what will happen next? By the way, I understand you studied art with George Bridgman and George Grosz.

SCHROEDER: I started playing hooky from school in my sophomore year of high year, and my mother used to fight the truant officer while I went to the Art Students League. I studied anatomy under Bridgman, and met George Grosz and other German refugees, who were running from Hitler.

Bridgman looked like Santa Claus, without the beard. He always wanted to be a muralist, but he stunk at it. He had two models, one of which was a Norwegian carpenter. He was so emaciated from working so hard, that when he posed under the spotlight, he looked like a skeleton. The other model was a woman, Rosie, who was Rubenesque.

If you were a good student, Bridgman would invite you out to lunch with him and the carpenter. I was invited on two separate occasions, which was quite an honor. Now, Bridgman and I were rebuilding garages at the time, so all we talked about was carpentry. I went to the school for a couple of months or so.

Grosz had fought in the trenches for the Germans in World War One, so he was a tough guy. He commuted into New York and read The Wall Street Journal upside down. He was always spoiling for a fight with a commuter; he was a bad-ass. I told him to go up to Cape Cod because the sand dunes look like naked women and the sea grass looks like pubic hair. I told him that he’d make out. He went up there and his

29

stuff got into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I knew he’d make it!

I’ll tell you a very interesting story, both for your edification and my wanting to pass it along. I was working as a textile designer when I first got married and making $21 a week. This was after my stint in the Merchant Marines. We had just had our first child and I had to get a job right away, so I became a textile designer. The boss (his name was Bob) took off on his honeymoon with one of the women who had worked there, so we didn’t get our paycheck that week. I borrowed some money from my mother, and in the meantime I asked one of the salesmen, “What happened to Bob? Is he ever going to come back?” This guy was a Frenchman and he said, “I don’t know.” He didn’t give a damn.

Ernie at age 12, circa 1928.

I said, “Look, we got men and women Watch it, Ernie—that hedge here who need to get paid.” He said, “I’ll behind you might be The tell you something. I use an old barn in the Heap in disguise! woods. I fill it with paint and canvas and brushes and put a bunch of artists in there who like to draw... no food, no water... nothing! I come back in a week, and they’re all dead, but I have some beautiful pictures.” I took this story to heart. I was in a trade where your ego was involved and you’re competitive, but someone’s always going to take you for a ride. So I was always careful about getting paid for my work. Most artists are like actors: if they’re in a prison, they’ll get up and do an act just before they’re electrocuted! [mutual laughter] They’re all weird people! I have this weirdness in me and I try to curb it.

JA: This happened in the late 1930s?

SCHROEDER: Yes, just before World War II. I went into the Merchant Marines in 1936. After two voyages, I quit. I could have been a Fourth Officer, but I wanted to stay ashore. That’s when I got married, and took that job I mentioned.

“We Had Trouble With The Nazis” JA: You told me an amazing story about your time in the Merchant Marines, which I’d like to share with our readers.

SCHROEDER: Okay. In 1936, I was a cadet officer. We had trouble with the Nazis in Germany. This was the time when Jesse Owens beat the hell out of the German runners and Hitler was chewing the carpet in disgust. He was plenty pissed off. Of course, we loved it!

I used to go on shore leave in Hamburg by myself and wander around. I wanted to see the battle site of Jutland, so I took a train trip there. I could speak a little German, so when I got out there, I asked a hotel operator where the Battle of Jutland site was. I was told that I’d need a guide. I went to bed, and in the morning met a very young, tall guy and a little fat fart, both wearing Nazi uniforms. I asked if they wanted breakfast, and the tall guy said, “We Germans drink beer.” In other words, no breakfast, so I said, “Well, have some beer then.” I didn’t care for this guy and the fat one didn’t speak any English at all.

We went out there and saw the site. I had a map of the battle with me and had read up on the battle before going out there. The British had lost an awful lot of tonnage there because their magazine was near their engine, and whenever they got hit, they suffered quite a bit of damage.

The British lost, but the Germans never came out. I made a comment to

30

An In-Depth Interview with Ernie Schroeder

the tall Nazi that the German fleet never came out. That started us off on the wrong foot.

Afterwards, we went to a big crystal restaurant for lunch... it had a dome glass ceiling. There were about two hundred people in there, eating and drinking beer.

Hitler came on the radio and everybody stood up, but me. I was eighteen years old, cocky as hell.

Somebody said something to the tall Nazi who was with me, but I didn’t catch what was said. I sat there in protest.

Later, I asked him what he said to the guy and the Nazi replied, “I told him you were a cripple.” [laughter] He wanted to save me, because they were going to get a free night on the town with me.

The tall Nazi then took me to his mother’s house to tell her that we were going to the Reeperbahn to drink and visit the whores. I didn’t want to go and we had a big “We had trouble with the Nazis!” And with the Japanese, too, during the little skirmish known as World War II. In a “Great argument. I pushed the big guy Unknowns” article in A/E #29, Hames Ware and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., identified this Captain Freedom/Black Cat cover of and he fell back onto the little guy.

Speed Comics #37 (May 1945) as being drawn by Ernie Schroeder—and Jim feels the same about the “Captain Freedom” page I took off running like a deer and at right (with Cap out of uniform at the moment) from Speed Comics #43 (May-June 1946). Ernie himself isn’t certain he ran up a hill, where I saw a nice drew them, so we’ll take another look. Thanks to Jim V. for the scans. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] little house, so I headed there. A little guy came out and I asked him where the railroad station was. He pointed me in the right direction and then saw those two Nazis running towards us. He ran back in the JA: Once you were back home, you went back to doing art, didn’t house, as I ran to the railroad station. you?

The Nazis were after me, but they couldn’t run too fast because they SCHROEDER: Yes. I got an honorable mention for a sculpture in the were drunk. I got to the station and the train was underground, so I had World’s Fair of 1939. They gave out contracts for the top three winners to get my ticket, run down the stairs, past Nazi guards, who were posted and I was number four, so I didn’t get any money—which we could all over the station. I had my ticket and was pacing up and down the have used. I didn’t want to live with my mother, so my wife and I and platform, because I knew those guys were going to show up soon. The the baby lived in a little shack in the woods. We had a lot of fun, and train finally came in. The station master blew a little whistle and the then World War II came along. Even with a baby, I figured I had to Nazi guards blew a whistle, and I got on just as the train was pulling enlist. I had a silver dollar and decided to flip it. If it came up “heads” I out. I got into a compartment, grabbed the leather straps, and lowered would enlist in the Merchant Marines and get killed. I lost two boyhood the window into the door, leaned out, and thumbed my nose at those friends of mine from school, who were killed right outside of Long two bastards [mutual laughter] as the train roared away.

Island. The Germans were waiting for them.

There was an old gentleman and a beautiful granddaughter sitting But the coin landed “tails up,” so I didn’t go to war. I was good with there. I sat down and shared the ride with them. He was anti-Nazi. I got my hands so I went to work in a machine shop, making tools for the back to the ship and never told anybody what happened, because we had PTB... a Grumman bomber. I did that for a while, but I was getting fed had real serious trouble with the Nazis. We had lost three guys to the up with defense work. There were all kinds of abuses there. A whole lot Nazis already. of guys—with kids in the Army—were in the bathroom, smoking and JA: What happened? goofing off. We were working seven days a week, and I was so fed up that I quit and decided to let the military draft me.

SCHROEDER: On my last excursion from the boat, which was a fourday leave, I was sitting having coffee and there was a little Norwegian I had started doing comic books with Bob Powell. I had met him at a kid sitting there crying. I asked the cook what had happened and he said dance and we got together afterwards. He showed me the comic books the kid’s best friend had been killed on shore leave that night. he was drawing and I figured I could make a lot of money drawing them. That way, I could take care of my wife and get the hell out of that What had happened was that there was a rally of Nazis who were machine shop. I was working 12 hours a day there and the only day we pretending to be anti-Hitler. They were putting Hitler down and at one got off early was Saturday. point, everybody applauded. These two Norwegian kids cheered and when the crowd dispersed, the one kid found his friend lying on the A month after I quit the shop, I was drafted into the infantry. I ended pavement, stabbed to death. It was all a set-up to find out who didn’t up at Camp Blanding in Florida. When we were training in the woods, like Hitler.

I’d slip away and take my shirt off, because it was hot there. I’d clear a

“I Was Drafted Into The Infantry”

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist” space and read all day while I heard the other guys shooting and hollering. If I was Japanese, I could have shot and killed every one of them... that’s how loud they were. After a while, I’d slip back into ranks.

One day, a corporal told me to fall out of the line and asked, “Where the hell do you go everyday?” I told him I went to the movies and sat in the air-conditioning. [laughs] I asked why he wanted to know and he said, “Because you’re never here; you never train.” I told him I was out shooting with the other guys, but he knew better. He said, “You know, we’re going to Germany and will be in the infantry. We’re going to stick together.” He knew that everyone else was going to get killed because they made too much noise. You know, if you made it through the first engagement, you could survive, but most of the guys were killed the first time around.

We were sent to California and had fun on the way. One guy would throw another guy’s shoes out the train window and then that guy would throw the other guy’s pants out. It’s a good thing we didn’t have any guns, because they’d have have shot us for throwing them out the window, too. We disembarked wearing nothing but a shirt and underwear. The officers wanted to know what happened to our clothes, and when we told them, they got us new clothes.

We were standing on the dock, waiting to go with the invasion forces to Japan. That’s when the news came out that we had dropped the Atom Bomb on Japan and that the war was over. And you know something: not one guy cheered. The thought of that bomb and all those dead people! To me, it was worse than going into combat. I didn’t want to go to Japan and see what was left. An officer came up to me and said, “You’re Schroeder? You got four kids?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “You don’t have to go. You’re getting out of the service.” That’s how I got out.

At Camp Blanding, there was an Army newspaper called The Bayonet. I drew for that paper and also did comic books on the side.

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“I Used To Research Everything” JA: Let me stop you here. You said Bob Powell got you into comic books. You started with Harvey Comics, right?

SCHROEDER: Right, but I don’t remember what features I did.

JA: In addition to drawing some covers, you did “Zebra,” “Shock Gibson,” and “The Spirit of ’76,” according to Jerry Bails. Any of them ring a bell?

SCHROEDER: The last one sounds familiar. I remember Al and Leon Harvey ran the company, but it’s a fleeting memory now. I do recall that Al really ran the company; Leon was a jack-of-all-trades... doing whatever was needed. It was Bob Powell who introduced me to them.

They paid a lot of money; I was making around two to three hundred dollars a week.

JA: How were you able to do freelance comic book work while in the service?

SCHROEDER: I used to draw pictures on the soldiers’ mail for their girlfriends. I was their hero! The guys would jump over me because I was drawing on a footlocker. If someone jostled my arm when I was doing those drawings, someone else would punch him out. The sergeant came by once, while I was drawing something for his girlfriend. He said, “On the weekends, when the officers are out, you can go to their quarters and draw your comic books.” We had a lot of downtime, and some of the guys would have to do menial work to fill up their time, but I got out of that. I stayed out of everybody’s way.

JA: How well did you know Bob Powell?

SCHROEDER: We were very close friends for a long time. I remember that he drew “Sheena.” He was a good artist. Bob was always an organizer; he loved to get people together. Bob loved to talk. He could enter a crowded room and know everybody in five minutes. He was very expressive and very funny. His wife Flo and my first wife were great friends. We’d get together every weekend and go to the beach. We both loved sailing.

Bob Powell's father was an agent for wrestlers. He used to give Bob free passes to the matches and we used to go watch. I got a big kick out of it.

I was fascinated by these big 200/300pound guys getting knocked around.

It didn't matter to me that it was all fake. I studied how their bodies looked and a few times, I took a sketch book with me so that I could draw them. It was a great way to learn about the subtleties of heroic anatomy, which you needed to know in drawing comic books.

While in the Army, Ernie drew cartoons such as these for the Bayonet newspaper at Fort Blanding, Florida. If some of the copy isn’t quite readable, he and wife Constance tell us this is the best copy they could get from the ancient newsprint. One of the pieces is dated November 30, 1945… a few months after the war ended. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: I have you listed as having worked for Funnies, Incorporated, from 1946 to 1949, but I don’t think this is an accurate listing. Did you ever work for a man named Lloyd Jacquet?

SCHROEDER: No.

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An In-Depth Interview with Ernie Schroeder

JA: Did you ever work in a studio?

[mutual laughter] I never forgot that. Ed was a great family man.

SCHROEDER: The only time I did that was when I worked on True Comics for Parents’ Magazine, which I did for a couple of years. I worked in their offices every day. My editor was a woman, though I can’t remember her name. I remember that she was born in Gibraltar.

Her assistant was an Italian guy and I can’t remember his name either.

The last time I saw Ed, he was at the end of his garden, throwing a rock at a rabbit, who was eating his carrots. Ed was dying of cancer and passed away a week or two later. He was a wonderful man and a very nice guy. I still miss him.

The comic book office was separate from the magazine department; it was a small office. Let me tell you: I used to research everything. When I had to draw Hadrian’s Wall, I researched how many counties in England it went through. I didn’t want to give the readers any false information.

The editors appreciated my hard work and I enjoyed doing it. Even when I did “Airboy”: if he was in an Egyptian pyramid, I made sure the hieroglyphics were accurate. I’d get a copy of National Geographic and copy the hieroglyphics. I figured I had to educate the kids because they were avid readers and it gave me the chance to plant some real knowledge in their minds.

JA: Did you ever write any of your stories?

SCHROEDER: Yeah, I wrote a lot of them. I loved doing True Comics. I’d get out the history books and duplicate the facts. I never made anything up. This was the first time I wrote comic book stories. I had story conferences with the editors, who gave me the assignments.

They would tell me what they wanted a story on and we’d work out the particulars. Once I started doing the stories, they left me alone. I never had to get my pencils approved; I’d draw the story and then ink it. I also proofread the scripts others wrote, and if something didn’t seem right to me, I would talk to the editor about it.

“The Heap” had a certain pattern that we followed, due to the nature of the stories. Now, with “Airboy,” who was a free agent, we had more latitude to develop stories. We could do anything we wanted with him and it would work.

JA: How much of the plotting was yours and how much was Cronin’s?

SCHROEDER: I couldn’t begin to tell you, because our ideas were so intermixed that we couldn’t even tell who came up with what. I would never do a thing without him, and he would never do one without me.

Sometimes I came in with a story idea, and sometimes he had one ready for me. I wrote the dialogue. Now, maybe Ed would do a little rewriting, but I’m not sure he did too much of that. Herb Rogoff, who was Ed’s assistant, would know more about that than I would.

JA: When you brought in the artwork, did you bring it in uninked?

SCHROEDER: Usually. They’d have the stories lettered before I inked them. There may have been a few times when I was out on my boat, and in that event I might have gone ahead and inked the story before turning it in.

The letterers and colorists also worked on staff. There was one other artist on staff. I can’t remember his name, but he drew the cartoon features, not the historical ones. Now, Parents’ Magazine had a complete staff on the magazine side, and it’s possible that someone there might have done some comics work, but I can’t say for sure. They paid pretty well; I was paid a salary, not by the page. I worked on staff until the work started drying up.

“I Still Miss [Ed Cronin]” JA: That’s when you went to work for Hillman Publications.

SCHROEDER: Right. I started with Hillman while still doing True Comics. By that time, I was doing all my work at home. My editor at Hillman was Ed Cronin and we became close friends. We wrote together. I’d come in at lunch time and we’d discuss plots. Ed would leave it up to me to fill out the story. He was a good writer and came up with brilliant plots. He could take any idea, no matter how far out it seemed, and make a good plot out of it. I wrote the stories from his plots at home.

One time, I took the family to his house for a visit. Ed had a little girl, about five years old. She wore a starched dress, with ribbons in her hair; she was the cutest little thing.

She and I were sitting on a bench... I always liked to talk to kids, even more than adults, because you learn so much talking to kids. I asked her about her hobbies and she said, “I don’t have any hobbies, but my sister and I study music.” She told me that she played the piano. I asked her what her older sister Florence played. She smoothed her skirt out when she said, “She plays the shovel.” [laughter] As soon as I could, I said to her mother, “I understand Florence plays the shovel.” She said, “The cello! The cello!”

An undated photo of Ernie as a young man—and a page he drew for the Parents’ Magazine company’s Calling All Boys #9 (Oct. 1946-Jan. 1947). This was his first story for the “Bigbrain Billy” series. Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist”

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“With Airboy… we had more latitude to develop stories.” This selection of art from Airboy Comics, Vol. 7, #5 (June 1950), is a case in point. First off, it’s clearly a continued story, in a day when those were rare. On p. 4, as his enemy Zzed flees, Airboy—hanging by a line from his Birdplane, which he affectionately calls “Birdie”—sees primeval creatures from different eons revive after an explosion—the good guys tackle rampaging mammoths with earth-moving machinery—and, just for good measure, a tyrannosaurus kills the last mammoth. All this—yet Zzed escapes by story’s end, to fight Airboy another day! Art (and script?) by Ernie Schroeder. Thanks to Jim V. for the loan of the comic. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

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An In-Depth Interview with Ernie Schroeder

The Heap’s origin was told numerous times, with a surprising degree of consistency, but with ever-burgeoning details and modifications. The basic story was that, during World War I, the German ace Baron Von Immelman dies in aerial battle, and his corpse mutates into the nearly shapeless Heap, a creature with only dim consciousness who becomes in time a force for good, wandering into other people’s stories to straighten things out with nigh-mindless brute force. Here’s a (clockwise) evolution of the origin, with the latter three versions supplied by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.: (Above left:) The first telling was by writer Harry Stein and artist Mort Leav in the “Sky Wolf” tale in Air Fighters Comics, Vol. 1, #3 (Dec. 1942), as detailed by Mort himself in A/E #19. Repro’d from the 1988 Eclipse black-&-white reprint.

(Above right:) In Air Fighters, Vol. 2, #10 (Fall 1945), with pencils by & inks by John Belfi, the origin was retold, but with the proviso that Von Immelman didn’t quite die, that his indomitable will led to his merging with the very Earth to become The Heap (at this point, still in a story starring the hooded aviator Sky Wolf).

(Below left:) In Airboy Comics, Vol. 7, #5 (June 1950), as drawn and probably scripted by Ernie Schroeder, we see Von Immelman taking a break after downing his 80th Allied plane in 1918—poring over an ancient Egyptian parchment in his barracks and learning that a “secret essence of life” lies hidden under the paws of the Great Sphinx. He’s so preoccupied with this discovery that, soon afterward, he gets shot down—and lies dead (in this version, while “months” pass) in this “Polish swamp,” the parchment in his hand.

Reviving as The Heap, he heads for Egypt.

(Right:) By two issues later (Vol. 7, #7, Aug. 1950), we’ve learned that Von Immelman was sabotaged on the day of his death by a fellow German named Bocke, who jammed his plane’s machine guns—and who ever since has wished to die, but cannot. Both Bocke and The Heap wind up inside the Sphinx, where Bocke finally decides he really wants to live, after all—just in time to flee from The Heap across the sands, into the African jungle, and into a river where he’s devoured by crocodiles! The Heap stands on the shore, holding in his hand a stone inscribed: “He who suffers everlasting life can only find death when he returns to the scene of his crime.” The scene of Bocke’s crime had been a “Polish swamp—far from this tropical setting”—but I guess, in the writer’s mind, a swamp is a swamp is a swamp. A good story, despite the lapse in logic.

[All art this page ©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist”

35 lead them along because they just can’t visualize a story. That kind of writer only impeded the movement of the story.

“I Was Only Interested In The Kids” JA: Ernie, why did you never sign your name to the stories?

SCHROEDER: I don’t know; I never thought about that.

JA: Were you told not to sign your stories?

SCHROEDER: No. Did other people sign their stories?

We couldn’t resist printing this 4-page sequence (above & below) that ends the “Heap” story in Airboy V7#5, because it gives Ernie Schroeder, in all probability both its writer and artist, a great chance to display his skills with as few words as possible, in an era when that was rare in comic books. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

JA: How fast an artist were you?

SCHROEDER: I could draw a couple of pages a day. It depended on the content of the story. “The Heap” was much easier to draw than “Airboy,” and I could be more artistic there. I could draw the Heap in silhouette because his body shape was so identifiable. That was a wonderful feature. I had him beating up gangsters and going to Italy on one occasion.

The Heap was a force of nature, but you had to set up the story first. Like, there’d be some injustice going on, and then The Heap would come in. He was always the savior—a great force for good. I think he was a great character; very dramatic.

JA: Did you ever ask for any of your originals back?

SCHROEDER: No. I never felt that they belonged to me.

I was kind of naïve. I thought they were buying the originals when they paid me.

JA: Did you get paid for the writing that you did?

SCHROEDER: No, I don’t think so, but it didn’t matter.

It was worth it to me not to have a writer to deal with.

Some writers have no graphic sense at all, and you have to

JA: Some did, some didn’t. It depended on where they worked and what the company’s policy was.

SCHROEDER: I guess I didn’t because my name is so long, that signing a story would screw up my composition. I wasn’t interested in being known. I was only interested in the kids. I didn’t care about myself, though I did care about the money, because I made a lot of money.

I never subscribed to any particular style. I didn’t elongate figures or

36

An In-Depth Interview with Ernie Schroeder

cheat the perspective drawing. I tried to draw my stories the way a kid would look at them, because they were what was most important. I was always a Boy Scout. I try to be tough, but basically, I’m a pushover for any five-year-old.

JA: No wonder we get along! [mutual laughter] Now, let me ask about how you put your stories together. In the writing stage, did you write a script first or do thumbnails?

SCHROEDER: If I wrote the story, I started by breaking down the stories into panels. Then I drew the stories right on the board. I never did thumbnails; I wrote and drew my stories directly on the boards.

Since I inked my own work, I didn’t have to pencil in every little detail; I could do that in the ink stage. Sometimes I made changes in the art while doing that, because you get new ideas when you go over it a second time.

JA: Tell me how the covers were done.

SCHROEDER: I don’t think I did too many covers, but when I did, it was after I talked to Ed. I never had to show roughs first; Ed trusted me.

He was a great boss. We both saw comics as a wonderful device for storytelling. It was the greatest thing ever invented—much better than movies or television, because kids could read them under the covers at night with a flashlight even after their parents made them turn out the lights. A little girl could push aside her dolls on a rainy day and spend a little time in the fantasy world that we created for her.

My kids read my comics. They didn’t make a big deal about it, but

when we lived in Port Jefferson, little kids would come over once in a while and I’d paint little animals on their hands. And they wouldn’t let their mothers wash their hands because they didn’t want the drawings to go away. [laughter] That was funny! Sometimes, I’d paint them on their fingernails and the next day, I’d see they were still there because the kids didn’t want to wash them off. I used to have a lot of fun with kids.

Nothing makes you feel better than to make a child happy.

JA: You certainly did a lot of that, because look how many of those children bought your comics.

SCHROEDER: You know whose work I like? Moebius. That man is a real artist. I love his stories and his art. He did a story about a little car that was just touching and marvelous. I wish someone would take one of his stories and make a movie out of it. His work speaks to my heart.

JA: I feel the same way—and he’s an incredibly nice man, too.

Everybody I know admires him.

You worked for Hillman until they quit publishing. Do you remember anything about what happened when they folded their comics line?

SCHROEDER: Not really. I know that, at the end, the sales of the comic books were helping to support the magazine department. They were publishing Pageant, which wasn’t making much money. They needed the comics.

“It’s Just Been Too Long Ago…” JA: After Hillman, you did some work for Toby Press and for Dell Publishing. Do you remember any of that work?

SCHROEDER: No. It’s just been too long ago and anything I did there didn’t leave too much of an impression on me.

JA: You also did some work for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby at Crestwood Publications, including some work in Black Magic and their romance books.

SCHROEDER: I remember them, though not that particular work.

I believe I dealt with Joe on that work. I remember that, later on, I did some work for Joe Simon on Sick. I did a page or a story a month for him, but that only lasted for a year or so. I did one about boats and another about the Eiffel Tower. It was hard, because I had to think of something new every month. I enjoyed doing it, but it was a tough job.

JA: Jerry Bails’ online Who’s Who lists you as working for Sick in 1961-62. You started doing regular work for Ziff-Davis right as your Hillman work was ending?

SCHROEDER: Yes. I did G.I.Joe. He was a funny character and it was a fun series to do. His uniform didn’t give me much chance, unlike “Airboy” and “The Heap.” It was easier to play off the backgrounds with those two characters.

Herb Rogoff was my editor at Ziff-Davis, and of course I knew Herb from Hillman. I used to go to his house and pick up scripts.

Herb used to tell me all kinds of stories about his father, who had been a baseball player. Herb’s father used to take the family up to Grossinger’s in the Catskills. I remember that Herb used to go swimming in the East River and he could really swim. Herb does cartoons and has a great sense of humor. I loved being with him.

Here, lest you think Ernie drew nothing but “Airboy” and “The Heap” for Hillman, is a splash from Real Clue Crime Stories, Vol. 3, #7 (Sept.1948). Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

I never went to the Ziff-Davis offices. Herb was living in an apartment in Jackson Heights, I think. I used to go to his house at night, like some kind of German spy, and pick up scripts.

“The Good ‘Heap’ Artist”

37

“Now, this is yachting!” [laughter] It was great to be a kid, I tell you!

JA: How long did you build boats?

SCHROEDER: Oh, about ten years. I built over 40 boats. In 2002, I was talking to a friend who goes up to Maine every summer. He was telling me a story about 44-footer that he sailed on. I asked him who built it, and he said, “Ernie Schroeder built that in Seattle, and we’ve been from Seattle to Maine three different times. And we’re going to go back. We’ll have gone through the Panama Canal on that boat eight different times.” That was my best boat. I’ve won some races on my boats, too.

JA: When did you come down to Florida?

SCHROEDER: When I got out of the Merchant Marines, but I didn’t stay. It was always in the back of my mind to move down here someday.

When I went broke in Glencove, Long Island... after the comic book business declined and other work faded, I brought an old International Truck next to my boat yard, packed all our belongings in it, and drove my wife and kids to Seattle, Washington. I bought an old shack and immediately started building a 44-footer right in the driveway—the same one my friend took to Maine. This was around 1963.

My neighbor was an editor for a magazine and I told him about my comic book career. He told me they had a big art department where he worked [Boeing], so I went to check the place out. They took me to lunch, hired me on the spot, and I went home with a big, fat job. Five years later, I met a guy named Bill Davis, who told me that Boeing had a place in Florida. That sounded good to me, because I could get away from the Seattle winters. I also worked in Boeing’s helicopter division in Vertol, Pennsylvania, for about six months or so.

Ernie’s moody evocation of the Sargossa Sea as a graveyard of lost ships, in 1950’s Airboy Comics V7#7. Note the vibration lines near the wings of the Birdplane: Birdie was the only airplane, apparently, that ever flew by flapping its wings! [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

“After My Comic Book Days Ended…”

JA: After Ziff-Davis folded, you did some horror stories for Harvey Publications.

SCHROEDER: Yes, but I don’t remember anything about it. To be honest, any work I did outside of my main accounts just don’t register with me today. It was a long time ago, you know. I’m 88 years old now.

I did a lot of magazine and book illustration work after my comic book days ended. I remember illustrating some stories that Isaac Asimov wrote. Boy, he was a good writer. I also became a sketch artist in New York for advertising agencies. That was in the late ’50s and early ’60s. I did work all around town. But I left that all behind when I went into the boat business.

In 1970, I left Boeing and began working for The Franklin Mint. I became chief sculptor, so I was able to work at home. I also made design sketches, which I then handed off to others. I’d start with a certain theme, like Independence Day. Each artist would take a sketch and detail it. The design would be about the size of a dinner plate. After it was drawn, it was sculpted in modeling clay and then we made a negative in plaster. That’s what is used to make the images on the coins. I worked for them until 1979. That’s when I moved down to Florida, because I could work anywhere I wanted. I freelanced for Franklin and other mints for about four years, and then retired. I used to sail on my boats quite a bit while I was freelancing. We even lived on a boat for a year.

I also started doing museum work. I went up to a little museum in Silver Springs and met a school teacher who had started this place, which is now a state natural history museum.

He was doing a great job and I said to him,

My uncle was a boat builder in Sheep’s Head Bay, so I was always interested in boats. The watchman who worked on my mother’s estate had trained with sailors in the British Navy and was like a foster father to me.

When the other kids went off to boarding school, I stayed in the mansion and that watchman endlessly talked about the British Navy. I made ship’s models as a kid, too.

I used to rent rowboats when I was ten and twelve years old. One time, I rowed five miles or so out on Long Island Sound, and was drifting around at one point, thinking,

Two of Ernie’s miniature sculptures from the 1970s—a grouping of Betsy Ross, George Washington, and the first US flag, and a sailing ship’s figurehead.

[Art ©2004 Ernie Schroeder.]

38

An In-Depth Interview with Ernie Schroeder

ERNIE SCHROEDER Checklist [The following is based primarily on information from Jerry Bails’ online Who’s Who of 20th-Century American Comic Books; see webaddress in Rogoff interview. Additions or corrections invited. Names of features (like Airboy) which were also the names of comics are not generally italicized. Key: (a) = full art; (p) = penciler only; (i) = inker only; (w) writer.]

Name: ERNEST (ERNIE) SCHROEDER [b. 1916] (artist/writer)

Zebra (p) 1944

Books: Adventures for Today 1955; Adventures in Living 1955; Old Ways & New Ways 1954

Health Publications: Panic (a) 1958-59

Magazines: Children’s Digest c. 1958; Fantastic 1955 (comics for Children’s Digest 1953) COMIC BOOK CREDITS (MAINSTREAM U.S. PUBLISHERS): Dell Publications & related: Captain Davey Jones (a) 1954 Feature/Crestwood/Headline/Prize: Black Magic (a) 1954; romance (a) c. 1953-c. 1955; Sick (a) 1961-62 Harvey Comics & related: Alarming Tales (a) 19538; Black Cat Mystic (a) 1958; Captain Freedom (a) 1947; covers (a) 1945; Sea Story of the Month (a) 1944; Shock Gibson (a) 1945-46; Spirit of ’76 (a) 1945-46; “You know what you need in this place? A full size sabertooth tiger. I’ll make it for you.” I made the skeleton first and then put clay muscles on it, before I built the exterior. I articulated it so that the tiger’s jaw would open up when you pressed a button. Now, that button is on the floor and when the tiger’s mouth opens, so do the little kids’ mouths! [laughs] I love it to see that! The kids get a big thrill out of it. I always get a kick out of seeing the expressions on little kids’ faces when that tiger’s mouth opens. That’s worth every minute I spent breaking my back making that tiger. There’s nothing better than seeing a happy child.

Hillman Periodicals: Airboy (a, some w) 1948-53; covers (a) 1948-53; crime (a) 1948-49/1952; The Heap (a, some w) 1950-53; war (a) 1953; western (a) 1948 Parents’ Magazine Press/True: Bigbrain Billy (a) 1948; Calling All Boys (a) 1947-48; Calling All Kids (a) 1946; True Comics (a) 1946-49 Pierce Publishing Company: Frantic (a) 1959 Toby Press/Minoan: Black Knight (a) 1953; covers (a) 1953; Tales of Horror (a) 1953 Ziff-Davis: Buddies (a) 1953; G.I. Joe (a) 1955-56

JA: How do you spend your time these days?

SCHROEDER: I live in my house, which I designed and built with one of my sons. I still build boats and am looking around to do more museum work. I built a bronze fountain here in the public square, with animals and a great big fig leaf at the top. I put a big black stone in the imagery of the fountain so little kids could stand on it and reach the fountain when they want a drink. You know, anytime you can make something to please children, you are doing a good thing.

A recent drawing Ernie generously sent to Ye Editor. Guess we could say that Airboy and The Heap are waving goodbye—but never fear, you’ll definitely see more of both, and of the awesome artwork of Ernie Schroeder, in future issues of Alter Ego! [Airboy & Heap TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

39

“We’d Sit Around And Come Up With Situations” A Talk With Hillman Artist WALLY LITTMAN Interview Conducted by Jim Amash Transcribed by Tom Wimbish

Wally Littman and wife Rosemary at Florida’s Senior Olympics (they won two gold medals for basketball). Below this recent photo are (below) an example of the monthly gag panel Life in Paradise that Wally does for Lifetime magazine, a publication of the Bergen [NJ] Record, and (bottom) a filler cartoon he did for Ziff-Davis’ G.I. Joe comic in the early 1950s.

Thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., for the Ziff-Davis scan.

[Comic book art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; “Life in Paradise” cartoon ©2004 Wally Littman.]

[INTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Wally Littman’s career in comics wasn’t long, but it was fruitful. His time at Hillman Publications, as an associate art editor and cartoonist, carried him through Ziff-Davis (where he drew humor fillers for Baseball Thrills and Crime Comics), and into a long and varied career in television, working with celebrities such as Bob Hope. Wally has fond memories of his time in comics and certainly adds to the known history of Hillman. Now retired from television, Wally still works as a gag cartoonist. I guess he just can’t help making people laugh! Thanks for the info and fun chats, Wally! —Jim.]

“Ed Cronin Hired Me” JIM AMASH: I’m going to start off with a question that’s probably haunted you for years: when and where were you born?

Comics #2, 3, and 4? Wow, do you know what that’s worth?”

I also had an opportunity when working at Hillman to help myself to the original art, had I wanted.

WALLY LITTMAN: Ahhh! I was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 16, 1931. My father was a kosher butcher, so we never starved, but we ate meat that he couldn’t sell. [mutual laughter] I grew up in the Depression, and we had very few toys, and very little money, so a neighbor of mine—we lived in a fourth-floor cold-water flat in Jersey City—a kid from the ground floor and I used to exchange comics. And during the war, just to pass time, we would draw Japanese Zeros crashing into the ground, and German Luftwaffe planes also crashing, going down in flames. And we would exchange comics—we drew them and wrote them ourselves—and it was basically an entertainment. We didn’t have television... my father had a radio, which he kept to himself, and he listened to WEVD, which was a Yiddish station.

JA: Herb Rogoff and Ed Cronin were the only two editors at Hillman, right?

So that’s how I got into it. I used to save comics... in fact, I had some early issues of Action Comics. I had a collection that I really kept in pristine condition, and when I went off to the service, my mother gave the books to my niece and nephew, and when I returned home from the Army, they were in shreds. So you look back, and you say, “Action

LITTMAN: Yes, and publisher Alex Hillman was the tyrant. He was really a bastard. He terrified poor Ed Cronin. Cronin was somewhat insecure, and one day he sent out a comic book that was short pages, and it had to come back, which cost Mr. Hillman some additional money. Hillman reamed him to no end, which created a situation where

JA: Why didn’t you?

LITTMAN: Because I’m a jerk. I was an 18-year-old kid who knew nothing about the value of art. And I was concerned about going into the service then, and dying for my country, which I almost did. I can’t even remember how much I got paid, but it was a wonderful opportunity.

JA: So your first professional work was at Hillman.

How did you get that job?

LITTMAN: Ed Cronin hired me. I was 18, I showed him a portfolio, and he liked it, and I became an associate art editor. My assignment was to letter and correct some of the balloons, to patch over some of the errors. Also, they were 32-page books, and if we came up a page short, I’d write and draw a humor filler page.

40

A Talk With Artist Wally Littman

Cronin, before a book was sent out, would start with the 32 pages, and he would count them, “One, one, one, two, two, two, three, three, three,” meanwhile feeling each page. And then he’d start all over again! I mean, it was almost like a comedy sketch, but the poor guy was terrified of Alex Hillman, and wanted to keep his job.

Ed Cronin was a saint; he was really a lovely, lovely man, and very talented, I thought. He was a terrific editor, and you never see his name mentioned. He discovered illustrators and used them to the best of their advantage. He got the best work from them because he gave them, not free rein, but he let them do what they did best. Ernie Schroeder is a good example of that.

John Prentice did the western stuff, and he did a lot of the covers. Ed was a kind, easy-going guy, except when it came to sending books out to the printer. Then it was, “One, one, one, two, two, two, three, three, three...”

Wally owns black-&-white photostats of these two Hillman covers, and sent us photocopies—so this seemed like the right place to share ‘em with you. At left is one possibly by Mike Suchorsky for Frogman Comics #2 (May-June 1952)—at right is one by Ernie Schroeder Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #4 (May 1952—but it was “real number” 99!). Looks like Hillman Periodicals was big on water scenes that month, huh? Interestingly, the “1952” dates seem to have been hand-lettered onto the covers before printing. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

As for Hillman, I only dealt with him once, because I saw what happened to Ed. I was really the young kid in the office, and he sort-of looked over my head, although I’m 6'4", so it was hard for him to do.

“I Learned An Awful Lot” JA: What did Alex Hillman look like?

LITTMAN: He was about 5'4", he was stocky, he was balding, he always dressed to the nines, tie and shirt and jacket and all that; he looked like a banker. And he had horns. [mutual laughter] JA: This business with the counting of the pages, did Ed start doing that before you were there?

LITTMAN: Yes, thanks to Alex Hillman. I understand not wanting to lose money, but to really make a poor guy so insecure is incredible.

JA: Was that the only reason you think Ed was insecure?

LITTMAN: No, I think he also had a drinking problem. He liked to nip periodically, but how much of a problem that was, who knows? We all liked to nip periodically. I didn’t know much about his home life, truly.

He sort of kept it separate. I knew he lived up in Darien, Connecticut, and never invited us to his house. It was primarily a business relationship, and it was very positive, I thought.

JA: What did Ed Cronin look like?

LITTMAN: Well, he was balding, he had a salt-and-pepper mustache, he wore a jacket with a tie, but the tie was undone and the shirt was open.

He was a sport-jacket kind of guy who periodically wore a v-neck sweater. You know, he was... not a slob; you couldn’t be if you lived in Darien.

JA: What do you remember about Herb from those times?

LITTMAN: Herb was so energetic, and so positive. He was also a good

artist, a fast thinker, and a good letterer. I only have positive things to say about him. I didn’t get to know the freelancers, because we were so busy, but one I talked to and liked was Jules Feiffer, who did filler pages.

JA: Herb told me that there was no real comic book staff there.

LITTMAN: That’s right, just Herb, Ed, and me. We’d all sit around and come up with situations for the covers, which was kind of fun. I was an 18-year-old kid; I didn’t know squat. I was there to learn, and I learned an awful lot. I was there about 2 years, from ’49 to ’51.

JA: Who colored the books?

LITTMAN: Ed did. He indicated color to the printer. He also did all the cover lettering. He was very good. He also wrote a lot of the stuff. The only artist who wrote his own stories was Ernie. Now that I think about it, John Prentice wrote a couple, but by and large, the artists were given full scripts.

JA: Did Ed have story conferences with the writers?

LITTMAN: I don’t think so. I think that what they did was submit stories, and if Ed liked them, then they would start discussing them.

Perhaps they talked to Ed on the phone about a plot, and if he said, “OK, go ahead and do it,” then they’d write it, and they’d submit it to him.

JA: Herb remembered Ed Cronin rewriting dialog on the pages...

LITTMAN: Oh, absolutely, and the rewrites were pasted on by Herb and myself. Ben Oda lettered for us. Absolutely fast, great, on time. He was a little guy, little Oriental fellow, and a charming man. He would carry this huge portfolio, because he worked for DC... he worked for everybody. He was a very nice fellow. You gave him a script and the pages, and the very next day, he would come in with the finished stuff.

Overnight. And he was not only fast... I saw him work: lettering was like handwriting to him. He’s gone now—let’s hope he’s lettering in the sky. And there was a woman named Kelly who also lettered for us, but she wasn’t as good as Ben Oda.

“We’d Sit Around And Come Up With Situations”

“You Need Money To Feed Children, So… I Went Into Advertising”

41

JA: Here are the only credits I have for you at Ziff-Davis: Baseball Thrills, Crime Comics, and fillers. And all of this was humor, correct?

LITTMAN: Yes.

JA: How did you know Bernie Krigstein?

JA: Do you remember who your editor was? Was it Jerry Siegel?

LITTMAN: Primarily, I saw him when he would come up and submit his pencils. And his pencils, holy mackerel! He would work with mannequins, and his pencils were mannequins in different positions.

And he was such an accurate penciler, holy smoke! I mean, I was in awe of his work. But then, he didn’t ink a lot of his stuff; it was this guy who inked Sub-Mariner [John Belfi].

LITTMAN: No, and I can’t remember who it was. I remember more about Hillman because I worked in the office. Doing freelance was hitand-run: you do the job, you bill it, and forget it. And you hope that you get a check.

Oh, did Herb mention Lee? Stan Lee? Yeah, Stan Lee was not a nice man. He stole the idea of The Heap for The Hulk. (I learned from my mother, who always said, “If you have something bad to say about somebody, say it.”)

JA: Ok, you were in the Korean War, and I’m assuming you were drafted.

LITTMAN: I was indeed, and I told them I was an artist, so they put me in the combat engineers. I was trained to lay booby traps and minefields, and to build bridges and barracks. I went over to Korea—the war was still on—and I escaped with my life. While I was there, I was able to work for the Pacific Stars and Stripes, and I had a gag panel in the Tokyo Mainichi and another Japanese newspaper called Jabberwocky Japanese. I was in the service from 1952 until ’54.

When I got out of the service, I took advantage of the G.I. Bill, and went to Pratt Institute. I had a double major: illustration and advertising.

I met my wife there, we got married, and my first child was born during my finals in my senior year. I didn’t feel I could pursue a career in cartooning because you need money to feed children, so I had a responsibility, and I went into advertising.

JA: I have you working for Ziff-Davis in ’51 and ’52.

LITTMAN: I did freelance work for them. I wasn’t on staff there. I always freelanced, because truthfully, Hillman didn’t pay enough, so I was always out hustling. I did filler pages and spot illustrations.

Whatever I could get, I did.

“[Bob Hope] Was An Absolute Professional” JA: When you came back from the service, what did you do in advertising?

LITTMAN: I became an art director, a creative director, and a television producer. I was in it for 45 years. As a producer, I worked with Bob Hope for seven years, for Texaco. I was a good art director, and I worked for at least 6 different companies over the years. My last staff job was as a creative director at an agency. I left my last permanent position in 1987 to become a freelance art director, and that’s what I was until 2001.

One of the most interesting assignments that I had in advertising was covering a photo shoot in Nairobi, Kenya. It was an ad for Canadian Club whiskey: “On September 27, 1969, we dropped a case of Canadian Club on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Here’s how you can find it.” Not only did I physically push the whiskey out of an old B-25, but I had to record the event so that the directions on how to find it could appear in the ad. To say that it was exciting would be an understatement.

JA: You worked with Bob Hope. What did you think of him?

LITTMAN: Well, the first five years, I thought he was a jerk, because he treated the people in advertising poorly. And then, some days at like 12:00, he would take our limo and disappear. One day, I followed him.

He went to the old actors’ home, and he visited his buddy Jerry Colonna. Every day, he would visit Jerry Colonna, and I thought, “Oh, this is not a bad guy.”

A photo that our interviewee titled “young Wally Littman with hair”— flanked by two more ZiffDavis gag pages he drew—the military one from another issue of G.I. Joe. Thanks yet again to Jim V. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

42

A Talk With Artist Wally Littman

WALLY LITTMAN Checklist [For a third time just on this flip side, our thanks to Jerry G. Bails for the info. Wally was the artist of the following, though in the case of gag cartoons he was also the writer, to the extent that there was one.]

Full Name: Wallace (Wally) Littman COMIC BOOKS (MAINSTREAM U.S. PUBLISHERS): Magazines: Satan 1957

Hillman Periodicals: gag cartoons (dates and comics uncertain); asst. editor 1949-1951 Ziff-Davis: Baseball Thrills 1952; crime 1951; fillers 1950-51

Before each shoot, he would give us an hour to do three commercials. Because he only gave us an hour of his time, we had to hire two separate crews, which doubled our costs. He would also insist that the Winnebago that he occupied be loaded with fresh fruits, four different kinds of ice cream, kava coffee up the ying-yang, and all kinds of other stuff. And after the shoot, you’d go into the Winnebago and it’s all gone. And I wondered, “What the hell happened?

His place in Toluca Lake must be loaded with kava coffee.” But it turned out that after the shoot, he invited many of these oldtime actors—the character actors—to come by and help themselves in his Winnebago. So as a result, my feeling for Hope went up.

See, he didn’t like the people in advertising, because he felt that we were sort-of, you know, A recent photo of Wally Littman, with one of his Life in Paradise cartoons. Keep ‘em coming, Wally! freaks. But he really had a love for the people in the [Cartoon ©2004 Wally Littman.] movie business. And he was an absolute professional: if you wanted him to do another take, he wouldn’t do birthday, I’d worked with him for five years already, and he had a party it unless you had a very good, technical reason. “Hey, Bob, there was at the Toluca Lake home, which is a big, big house. He invited the some airplane noise; it went over your voice. Could you do it once producer. Not me, and I was the art director on the shoot. He invited more, and could you take a half a second off?” And he would. Half a the producer! second, right on the mark. So he By the way, when I was Florida, I noticed the address of Harry was really a pro, Lampert in an issue of Alter Ego. Harry saved me from joining a stageand not a bad craft union when he hired me as an art director for The Lampert guy. In fact, one Agency. At that time, I was a designer/illustrator at CBS. If I’d stayed day I walked there, I would have had to join the weakest union in New York. The into the shop stewards, to compensate for their lack of influence at the Winnebago, and bargaining table, would come around to all the artists and insist that he’s standing everyone take a coffee break, no matter what they were in the middle of. there absolutely The union was not for me; Harry saved me from that. naked, and he’s I knew Harry was a gag cartoonist, but never realized that he was the looking in the original artist on “The Flash” In all the time I worked for him; he never mirror, and he mentioned it. Recently, I sent him a note and mentioned that I’d like to looks down at chat about the old days. He called a few days later, and chat we did. He his ying-yang, told me that he spends a lot of time at comic book conventions and, and he says, when he’s not in Florida, he’s at his home in Lenox, Mass. I asked him “With a face like for his address in Lenox, with the promise that I wouldn’t stop by. this, how could I have something JA: Tell me about your gag cartoons. as old as that?” [mutual LITTMAN: That’s a tough business, man. I mean, I thought advertising laughter] was tough, but selling gag cartoons is tougher. In fact, I’m in touch with a lot of other gag cartoonists. It’s a very cooperative group. They’re so He had a positive, and so filled with encouragement, it’s terrific. I told one of the terrific sense of fellows, I have 300 gags that are circulating, and he said, “300? Ha ha humor. He was hah! I’ve been in it for thirty years; I’ve got 30,000 circulating!” Now I sharp, I’m sure, have 700 gags circulating, and over the two years, I’ve sold maybe 40 up until the day gags. I’ve been in Reader’s Digest, Saturday Evening Post, and he died. In fact, I National Enquirer, but it isn’t a living—yet.

A quartet of illustrations done by Wally for a children’s was annoyed at book—clearly one about numbers! [©2004 the him. At his 80th respective copyright holders.]

[Art ©2004 Marc Swayze.]

44 private detective, may have been on the drawing board, perhaps waving goodbye, when Wow folded in 1948 and Mickey Malone in the Cometplane took off for his final flight.

By

[Art & logo ©2004 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2004 DC Comics]

A major objective as I began sketches of a main character was that he not look like a detective ... especially one in a comic strip. Rather, I thought, that he look like just a plain anybody ... someone who might be delivering your pizza, or ... hey ... your milk! Marty’s likeness was not based on any particular living individual, although in looking over the old originals I see the possibility of my drawing hand having been influenced by the open, honest face of a popular leading man of the day, Robert Montgomery.

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (CMA #18, Dec. 1942); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he soon made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and story for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-1950s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last time, Marc discussed drawing the female figure… namely, the famous heroine he originally designed, Mary Marvel.

In this issue, Marc takes us back to his attempts to sell a syndicated strip, meeting artist Walt Kelly in the process, and providing stunning samples of the strip that never was…

Marty Guy, Private Detective—The Great Guy. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

I had called on those syndicates before ... with hopeful ideas. I knew as I prepared the first Great Guy strips that I was inviting a familiar criticism heard from feature editors ... a remark that had to do with the timing ... “It moves too slowly!” The general idea seemed to have been that a lot of things had to happen to the characters in the first day’s strip ... and then through the first week ... and on and on ... hurry, hurry ... keep it moving!

The experiences of an obscure private detective as the subject for a comic strip was not new. I knew that, but nevertheless had held the setting at ready for several years ... to the extent of a collection of notes and clipped news items that might suggest future plots. The assembling of that material was begun in earnest while I was doing “The Phantom Eagle” in Fawcett’s Wow Comics. Now that I think of it, Marty Guy,

Though not a regular reader of The New York Star, somehow I knew of its reputation as a liberal paper. I suppose that, and my natural sensitivity toward editorial criticism or command, contributed to the differences between me and the Star over the contract that was drawn up for The Great Guy. I don’t recall Walt Kelly being aware of any of it ... only that an agreement was never reached.

My opinion was otherwise. A new day was at hand. Sentimentality was overtaking fast action in the comics in the papers and in the books. I saw that as a preference of the readers. Would the syndicate people?

With The Great Guy I took my chances.

I don’t recall who suggested The New York Star as a must-see. It was most likely Rod Reed or Mac Raboy, both already syndicate-affiliated and both my friends and supporters. At the Star I asked to see the feature editor, not knowing if they even had one. The fellow to emerge didn’t look the part ... about my age, rolled sleeves and open collar ... obviously intent upon convincing me that he didn’t have time for me. My story was an old one ... I had come a long way with an original comic strip idea and wanted to show it to someone.

As he turned to the work I had brought with me, the conversation revealed that he was my age, within one month, and he was the feature editor, or in that capacity at whatever title they had for it.

I liked the guy ... the way he talked. He was a seasoned pro ... had been with the Walt Disney Studios in Hollywood several years There were at least two occasions in my when I was still driving a milk wagon. And he efforts to nail a syndicated newspaper comic “Wow folded in 1948 and Mickey Malone in the had been around ... the syndicates and comic strip that I attached the word “Great” before the Cometplane took off for his final flight.” And book publishers. We had a lot in common to name of the title character. It wasn’t that I was indeed, this panel from Wow Comics #69 does talk about ... and did... that morning. When he enchanted by the expression ... but I must’ve indeed depict The Phantom Eagle’s final takeoff. told me his name was Walt Kelly I was thought it pretty cool. It might have been held Oddly, longtime Wow cover star (and Swayze unimpressed. I’d never heard it before. A lot of over from when I was a kid ... and there was a co-creation) Mary Marvel had departed from the people hadn’t in 1948. After he had gone Major League baseball player the sports writers comic some issues before, to appear thenceforth only in The Marvel Family. Art by Marc Swayze. through the two weeks of The Great Guy a dubbed “The Great Shires,” presumably due to [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] second time, I asked what he thought of the his frank opinions of his performance on the slow-paced story. He answered, “The snappy diamond ... great. Now, before we rush into dialogue between Marty and the gal carries it right along. Who wrote ugly criticism of that fine infielder of long ago, let’s be reminded that the it?” I was pleased to lay claim to the whole kaboodle. line between self-confidence and conceit ... if there is one ... is thin.

...It Was the Golden Age! Walt and I continued an exchange of friendly correspondence after that ... and then, as friendly correspondents often do, went our separate ways ... he to fame as author, lecturer, president of the National Cartoonists Society, and creator of the legendary syndicated comic strip Pogo.

45

And it may have been just as well. Some of the names made fun of by the characters in Pogo were favorites in our household.

Now, here are what were intended to be the first two weeks of daily strips of The Great Guy... most of them never before printed….

[Strips ©2004 Marc Swayze.]

46

[Strips ©2004 Marc Swayze.]

We Didn’t Know...

...It Was the Golden Age

[Strips ©2004 Marc Swayze.]

[More Golden Age memories from Marc in our next issue.]

47

48

…And Then There Were None!

Charlton and the Remnants of the Fawcett Comics Empire—Part III

by Frank “Derby” Motler the Senate Committee hearings of April 1954. William M. Friedman, Story’s co-owner, had also appeared as a witness at the proceedings.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Alter Ego #39-40 (FCA #98-99) featured Parts I & II of Frank Motler’s study of how, following Fawcett’s quitting the comic book business in 1953, both published and unpublished Fawcett material, as well as comic art and stories from other companies such as Comic Media, Fox Features, Toby Press, et al., came to be published by the new Charlton comics group, a.k.a. CDC (Capital Distribution Co.). This issue completes his textual study of this 1950s phenomenon. Next issue, we’ll feature Frank’s exhaustive checklist of the sources of much Charlton material from that period. —PCH.]

New Directions Around the time Charlton was printing the “Toby” issues of Gabby Hayes, plus Soldier and Marine, two late issues of Fight against the Guilty (Dec. 1954 & March 1955) were released by rival publisher Story Comics. This was a hasty re-titling of Fight against Crime, and both issues carried a basic “CDC” distributor code. By now, all regular Charltons bore its distinctive sniper-sight symbol. Quite why Story switched from its regular distributor, Leader News, remains a puzzle.

However, both Story and Leader had been subject to critical scrutiny at (Top:) With issue #86 (Aug. 1953), The Marvel Family was only three issues away from being crushed by the slow and certain glacier of cancellation, as Fawcett quit publishing comics in response to the lawsuit launched in 1941 by National/DC—but editor Wendell Crowley, writer Otto Binder, and artist Kurt Schaffenberger could still work their Shazamic magic, right up to the end!

(Center:) By 1954 Fawcett had sold most of its characters and inventory to Charlton, but in terms of super-heroes Charlton/CDC had to content itself with Blue Beetle reprints from Fox, starting in Space Adventures #13 (Oct.-Nov. 1954). The artist of this splash is uncertain—but it was probably added new for that issue, with the rest of the story being a reprinted 1940s tale.)

(Bottom:) By 1957 Space Adventures featured “Captain Atom” by the up-and-coming Steve Ditko. But the Big Red Cheese and company couldn’t be published by Charlton, or anybody else, without unsettling the 1953 legal settlement between Fawcett and DC. [Irony Dept.: Marvel Family, Blue Beetle, & Captain Atom TM & ©2004 DC Comics.]

EC publisher and fellow attendee Bill Gaines claimed that the first issue of his company’s “New Direction” titles, Impact (April 1955), had been printed initially by Charlton. EC was also distributed by Leader during this period. Gaines claimed that the print quality was poor and that he had ordered the entire run destroyed. Yet, there remain in existence two distinct variants of it. The cover of the first carries a violet background with the title word “Impact” in white, whilst the second has a more mauve background, with yellow coloring for the title. I take the latter to be the Charlton version, as the interiors are mis-registered. There may well be other comic book

...And Then There Were None!

49

publishers of the time who used the CDC plant to print their wares; and, had events not taken an unexpected turn, Charlton might have been poised to take over printing and distribution of other publishers’ product, on a large scale.

Biblical Proportions!

On the 18th of August, 1955, the expansion at Charlton was dramatically halted when Hurricane Diane, the second such storm to strike the area in a week, caused the Derby, Connecticut, area to be flooded. The devastation cost the lives of 180 people in Connecticut alone. Its wake left the CDC plant under water, as was detailed in Comic Book Artist #9.

Paper was an immediate casualty, which included untold quantities of used and unused artwork from Comic Media, Fawcett, Fox, Toby, and the in-house staff. The scale of this loss may never be fully known.

Had it not been for this disaster, these stories would have been used or re-used in the following years.

The recovery was slow and took months too For Blue Bird, Charlton packaged the 1959 Maco Toys comic at left, with art by Tony Tallarico; achieve. Staff were put on reduced wages, and many Bold Detergent got its money’s worth in 1967 out of peacetime soldier Beetle Bailey, with titles failed to continue. There was also a gap, whilst the help of Charlton/CDC. [Maco Toys art ©2004 the respective copyright holders; production geared-up again and new titles were introBeetle Bailey ©2004 King Features Syndicate.] duced. Recently, the Derby site, where Charlton produced much of their product, has been subject to a today Charltons from all periods are among the scarcer items in the pollution assessment (site #115 on the New Haven County listing). This back-issue bins. was due to a number of toxins still traceable in the soil, a by-product of industrial process and less enlightened times.

A disadvantage for CDC was their remoteness from New York, where most of their contemporaries were located. Distribution also proved an enduring problem for Charlton. In America, periodicals were distributed by a number of independent haulers; and, from the mid1940s, these distributors’ initials started to appear on the covers of many, including comic books. Before that, they were often scribbled onto the cover by hand.

The initial annotated Charltons carried one of several different distribution marks. One was FDC, which had been in business since 1945, at least, and distributed several companies up to the end of 1947. Others include LCDC, FPI, and SDC. The initial letters of the latter two may have stood for Frank or Santangelo. There is also LNC, who distributed early issues of Charlton’s crime titles Lawbreakers and Crime and Justice. This company is currently being researched by Michael Feldman, who suspects it might have been a cooperative between distributor Leader News (LN) and Charlton. Some or all of the above may have been Charlton subsidiaries.

By 1951, Charlton had set up Capital Distributing Company (CDC), also based at the Derby site. It is worth noting that Charlton used both “Capital” (distributor) and “Capitol” (publishing company) as names.

However, not all titles were distributed by Capital. FPI, and LNC remained in operation until late 1953, when all comics switched to the CDC distribution symbol and the Charlton Comic Group imprint. This signified the end for a host of companies that Charlton had previously used for their comics. These include Capitol Stories, Inc.; Children’s Comics Publishers, Inc.; Law and Order Magazines; Outstanding Comics, Inc.; Romantic Love Stories, Inc.; and Song Hits, Inc. This was common practice in the publishing business, designed to prevent the failure of one title from bringing the company as a whole to a halt. The magazines, however, continued using subsidiaries for some time to come.

These practices did not entirely overcome the problem of getting the comic book product to the shelves. The result was patchy allocation, and

To Boldly Go!

In common with several shoe-store chains, the successful Blue Bird group liked to present its young customers with gifts. In the mid-1940s they reused coverless comics with plain-paper covers, promoting their wares. In 1959, they struck a deal with Charlton to package complete comics, promoting the Blue Bird brand. These featured amended covers, with the promoting store listed at the top, and the words “Blue Bird Comics” in a circle. They were released numerically but with several different editions bearing the same number. The series ran for several years, at least until 1965. Reprinted issues discussed here include Atomic Mouse, Li’l Genius, Masked Raider, Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds, Texas Rangers in Action, Wild Bill Hickok, and Wyatt Earp. At least one former Fawcett title exists in this promotional series: Blue Bird Comics #7 & #10, both Six-Gun Heroes.

During 1959, Blue Bird also produced Maco Toys Full Color Comics, which promoted the Brooklyn-based companies’ war toys.

Other giveaways from CDC include several Beetle Baileys (Armed Services, Bold Detergent, Cerebral Palsy, Red Cross, 1969-70), Hunting with Davy Crockett (1955), Quincy Looks into His Future (1973), and Popeye Bold Detergent (1969). The latter reprints regular issue #94, from February 1969. There was also a series of fifteen “Popeye Careers-Advice” giveaways, numbered E-1 to E-15, with a 4-pager to promote the series, Getting Better Grades. Another multi-part series was Comics Reading Library R-1 through R-16, but like the Blue Birds, several issues could bear the same number. These were designed to improve the reading skills of young readers. Among the better-known characters featured were Blondie, Felix the Cat, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, with Popeye and Beetle Bailey also pitching in. Both of these series bore the King symbol in the corner. King Features Syndicate was the owner of the various characters and newspaper strips. These were printed under license by CDC, from 1969 through 1977. In 1970 fast-food giant McDonald’s arranged for Charlton to produce several Ronald McDonald comic books. Although carrying

50

Charlton and the Remnants of the Fawcett Comics Empire–––Part III

15¢ cover tags, they were intended primarily as company promotions.

There are several different printings and cover variations of at least three editions of Ronald McDonald.

There may well be other Charlton items to turn up, from this largely undiscovered area of comics publishing.

Coconut Curiosities After the release of Giant Comics #1 (1957), Charlton decided to expand the giant format across the company’s range. This was done within the existing titles and numbering. This was possible, as the company had recently acquired the necessary side-stapling machine. The majority were bound in the conventional way of two or three signatures, side-stapled, with the covers glued at the spine. Intriguingly, several early 68-page editions, dated February 1958, used the regulation single signature with spine staples. The concept seems hastily conceived, as some of the art looks rushed. However, several notable artists were featured in these editions, including Sid Check, Steve Ditko, Sam Glanzman, Joe Maneely, Pete Morisi, Paul Reinman, John Severin, and Al Williamson. The former good-girl specialist Maurice Whitman, plus “Rocke” Mastroserio, drew a number of covers, and many were excellent, indeed.

Several of these giants appeared in the titles inherited from Fawcett.

They are Lash LaRue #67-68; Rocky Lane #79; Romantic Story #39-40;

Strange Suspense Stories #36; and Sweetheart Diary #41.

Of these, Romantic Story #40 (Sept. 1958) was increased to 100 pages, the remainder being the more usual 68-page editions. This edition has no less than ten stories from Vince Colletta, an artist who could produce fine work, even when sketchy, as here. Both Lash LaRue giants contain Maneely-drawn stories, whilst the latter has a couple of twopagers from Sid Check.

Rocky Lane #79 features a Mastroserio cover, plus a Morisi and Peter Paul’s 4 in 1 Jumbo Comic Book #1 (even its two Whitman stories. title was jumbo-sized!) is a particularly rare Although not strictly a Charlton-published mag. There’s no price or distributor mark, and it may have been a Fawcett title, Rocky giveaway. Frank Motler says all copies he knows Lane’s Horse Black of contain the contents of the same four Jack was given his own coverless comics in the new binding with this comic. In typical joint cover: Racket Squad in Action #3, Space convoluted style, Adventures #3, Crime and Justice #10, and Space Charlton continued the Western #41, all originally dated from numbering from predeSeptember through December 1952. [©2004 the cessor Jim Bowie and respective copyright holders.] debuted in November 1957. Two issues later, Black Jack #22 (March 1958) was bumped to 68-page giant status. It would feature two stories from Joe Maneely plus a 6-pager from Pete Morisi, all under a rearing Black Jack cover by Maurice Whitman.

The initial idea for these giant editions may have originated with a 132-page compilation of Charlton Comics, produced for “Peter Paul,” a confectionery company from Naugatuck, Connecticut. Entitled Peter Paul’s 4 in 1 Jumbo Comics #1, its indicia reads: “Entire contents copyrighted by Capitol Stories, Inc.” and “Printed in U.S.A.” It is therefore undated, but was most probably issued early in 1953. It was also without a distributor code or price, so may have been intended as a giveaway or premium from the confectioner. The only new story is the illustrated “Coconut Curiosities by Peter Paul,” which promoted the uses that the giant seed could be put to. There was also room to plug two Peter Paul snack bars, Almond Joy and Mounds. This story resembles many other one-pagers that Charlton featured on the inside covers during this period. All copies seem to contain the same coverless comics, under the new binding. They are Racket Squad in Action #3, Space Adventures #3, Crime and Justice #10, and Space Western #41, dating from September to December 1952. The promised second issue has yet to be verified. Excluding this initial example, Charlton produced at least fifty giants, of 68 or 100 pages (15¢ and 25¢ respectively), during the brief period 1957-58. These include editions not listed in Overstreet’s estimable Price Guide; others may still be found. Charlton would return to the idea sporadically, but the great experiment was over.

Renaissance Rocke Mastroserio’s cover for Rocky Lane #79 (Feb. 1958)—one of more than 40 “giants” issued during that year. Interior art by Pete Morisi, Charles Nicholas, Sal Trapani, Maruice Whitman. [©2004 the respective copyright holders.]

In the mid-1960s, Charlton underwent a minor renaissance, with several new super-hero and mystery tiles, plus an injection of first-rate art from Jim Aparo and Pat Boyette, plus CDC regulars Pete Morisi and

...And Then There Were None

51

Steve Ditko. Thunderbolt and Peacemaker were graced by Morisi and Boyette, whilst Blue Beetle was revived for a further five issues (Vol. 3, #50-54), courtesy of artists Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico. A final series featured Steve Ditko art. The first issue also heralded Ditko’s “The Question,” with a reprise in the one-shot Mysterious Suspense #1. “Captain Atom” was reprinted from his Space Adventures originals, before a run of new stories in Strange Suspense Stories/Captain Atom #75-89, again featuring Ditko art. Jim Aparo’s art was to be found in issues #87-89 of Nightshade, as well as in a western super-hero strip “Wander.” These were tucked inside Cheyenne Kid #66-71, 1968-9.

After its acquisition from King, Jim Aparo’s art also enhanced the look, if not the fortunes, of The Phantom. Don Newton’s art and painted covers for the final Charlton Phantom issues during 1976-7 were a revelation. There was also sterling work on the new mystery titles, but patchy distribution and a reputation for second-rate product did not help with their Two more comics that started at Fawcett and were continued by Charlton/CDC. (Left:) Six-Gun Heroes #26 promotion. This was often abetted by chaotic (May 1954) featured movie cowboys Lash LaRue, Tex Ritter, Rocky Lane, and Rod Cameron, each of whom numbering, leaving many first issues unhad also once had his own Fawcett title. (Right:) Although the stories inside consisted of Fawcett identified. The horror comics were eventually inventory, former Fiction House (and Jungle Comics) artist Maurice Whitman drew the new cover of diluted by inferior art. Never concerned with Nyoka the Jungle Girl #14 (Nov. 1955), the first Charlton issue continuing the Fawcett heroine in her own distribution or sales, publisher Charlton mag; she had previously appeared in issues of Charlton’s Zoo Funnies. [Nyoka TM & ©2004 AC Comics; seemingly started and stopped titles at will.

Six-Gun Heroes art ©2004 the respective copyright holders] Magazines and song sheets were the breadwinners for the company, and comics were Cowboy Love, Don Winslow, Monte Hale, Ozzie and Babs, This apparently run off when there was spare capacity on their presses.

Magazine Is Haunted, and Young Eagle proved unsuccessful, all failing within a year. Negro Romances managed only one issue (May 1955), What of the fortunes of the titles inherited from Fawcett? one of the rarer Charlton items from this period. Gabby Hayes, Nyoka

Late-1960s Charlton heroes included the Ditko-drawn fourth go-round of Blue Beetle (this is the cover of #4, Dec. 1967) and two features drawn by Jim Aparo: the “sci-fi/western/super-hero” feature “Wander” in Cheyenne Kid (this is from #69, Nov. 1968) and the licensed Phantom (#33, Aug. 1969). “Wander” was scripted

by Denny O’Neil, under his pseudonym “Sergius O”Shaugnessy,” taken from a character in a novel by Norman Mailer. [Blue Beetle TM & ©2004 DC Comics; Wander ©2004 the respective copyright holders; Phantom material ©2004 King Features Syndicate.]

52

Charlton and the Remnants of the Fawcett Comics Empire–––Part III

the Jungle Girl, and Funny Animals folded soon after, despite two appearances of the TV-based “Merry Mailman” in the latter. Western heroes Tex Ritter and Rocky Lane survived until 1959, whilst Lash LaRue rode on until 1961 before hanging up his whip and spurs— an impressive 38 issues under the Charlton brand. There are also back-up stories of “Lash LaRue,” “Rocky Lane,” or “Tom Mix” in Masked Raider and Cowboy Western. Fawcett’s former anthology Six-Gun Heroes, featuring “Rocky Lane,” “Lash LaRue,” “Tom Mix,” and “Tim Holt” (the latter a retread from Magazine Enterprises), would change personnel, with the arrival of TV’s “Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles.”

“Kit Carson” stopped off for two further issues (#43-44, 1957), after which the title returned to album format. The various features in the latter included “Wyatt Earp” and “Annie Oakley.” As co-star, “Lash LaRue” would continue until at least #62 (1961). The super-hero styled “Gunmaster” had arrived with Six-Gun Heroes #57 (June 1960) and was immediately the main attraction. In July 1965, the title was renamed in his honor as Gunmaster #84.

With interruptions, Strange Suspense Stories survived until 1968. The other

romance titles were successful, both Romantic Secrets and Sweetheart Diary surviving until they were renamed in the 1960s. The latter became Time for Love, Vol. 2, #53 (October 1966), apparently the final issue.

However, the series restarted one year later, for a 47-issue, nine-year run.

Romantic Story and Sweethearts even saw the influence of hippies, bikers, and modern social mores before their expiration in 1973. Over 100 issues each, under Charlton’s parentage.

It’s A Wrap!

Inspired by Japanese monster movies, Gorgo, Konga, and Reptilicus had towered over the Derby skylines between 1960 and 1965. Ditko’s wry art on several issues didn’t hurt them a bit.

During the early 1960s, Charlton introduced a range of delirious, pseudomedical titles, with such intense offerings as Cynthia Doyle - Nurse in Love, Nurse Betsy Crane, Sue and Sally Smith - Flying Nurses, Dr. Tom Nowadays, Charlton/CDC is nicely covered in Michael Ambrose’s Brent, Three Nurses, and Young fanzine Charlton Spotlight. Learn more about this up-and-coming Doctors. The former continued the publication at <http://users.raketnet.nl/charltonspotlight>, Sweetheart Diary series for a further or contact Michael at <mikeargo@flash.net>. nine event-filled issues. Other titles of [©2004 the respective copyright holders.] interest include Caroline Kennedy, Green Planet, and Marco Polo, all oneshots from 1961-62. Cover prices also rose to 12¢ during 1962. The intervening years would see them reach 75¢.

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By 1975, Charlton even had its own b&w fanzine, Charlton Bullseye, courtesy of CPL/Gang Publications. It ran for five issues, not to be confused with several actual CDC comic books of the same name.

The recent Charlton Spotlight now carries the flame. Yet, by the late 1970s, Charlton was left with few titles and a dwindling audience, caught between publishing giants DC and Marvel with their massively popular super-heroes. A selection of “Modern Promotions” reprints appeared during 1977-8, with a final flurry of reprints from Charlton, starting in 1984. By 1986 all were gone. Two final reprints, Iron Corporal #25 and Punchy and the Black Crow #12, were their parting shots.

A growing group of fans now look to Charlton as a refreshing change from super-hero-dominated fare—although, as seen, CDC had a discrete few of these. Oddball titles such as Danny Blaze, Hillbilly Comics, Mr. Muscles, Space Western, Zaza the Mystic, and early editions of Cowboy Western, Crime and Justice, Lawbreakers, Space Adventures, True Life Secrets, and Hot Rods and Racing Cars gather devotees anew with each passing year. The giant editions from 1957-58 also have appeal, with their often-attractive covers and interiors. Any issue with Steve Ditko art is eagerly sought, but enterprising fans now also look for Jim Aparo, Joe Maneely, Rocke Mastroserio, Lou Morales, Pete Morisi, John Severin, and Maurice Whitman. Other collectors may also care to sample the numerous issues that carried forward the Fawcett torch.

Among the not-so-good, of which there were many, nuggets await to be unearthed. A selective dip into the huge Charlton inventory can be enjoyable, as well as rewarding. Good hunting!

[NOTE: Frank Motler’s exhaustive Charlton-Fawcett-et-al.

Index will conclude this coverage, next issue.]

Now—FLIP US for our “Silver-Agers” Section!

Edited by ROY THOMAS

DIGITAL

The greatest ‘zine of the 1960s is back, ALL-NEW, and focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with NS EDITIO BLE ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, A IL AVA NLY UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FOR O 5 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of $2.9 America, featuring the archives of C.C. BECK and recollections

by Fawcett artist MARCUS SWAYZE), Michael T. Gilbert’s MR. MONSTER, and more!

EISNER AWARD WINNER for Best Comics-Related Periodical

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with issues at HALF-PRICE!

ALTER EGO #4

ALTER EGO #5

ALTER EGO #1

ALTER EGO #2

ALTER EGO #3

STAN LEE gets roasted by SCHWARTZ, CLAREMONT, DAVID, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, and SHOOTER, ORDWAY and THOMAS on INFINITY, INC., IRWIN HASEN interview, unseen H.G. PETER Wonder Woman pages, the original Captain Marvel and Human Torch teamup, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, “Mr. Monster”, plus plenty of rare and unpublished art!

Featuring a never-reprinted SPIRIT story by WILL EISNER, the genesis of the SILVER AGE ATOM (with GARDNER FOX, GIL KANE, and JULIE SCHWARTZ), interviews with LARRY LIEBER and Golden Age great JACK BURNLEY, BOB KANIGHER, a new Fawcett Collectors of America section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, and more!

GIL KANE and JACK BURNLEY flip-covers!

Unseen ALEX ROSS and JERRY ORDWAY Shazam! art, 1953 interview with OTTO BINDER, the SUPERMAN/CAPTAIN MARVEL LAWSUIT, GIL KANE on The Golden Age of TIMELY COMICS, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, rare art by AYERS, BERG, BURNLEY, DITKO, RICO, SCHOMBURG, MARIE SEVERIN and more! ALEX ROSS & BILL EVERETT covers!

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ALTER EGO #6

ALTER EGO #7

ALTER EGO #8

Interviews with KUBERT, SHELLY MOLDOFF, and HARRY LAMPERT, BOB KANIGHER, life and times of GARDNER FOX, ROY THOMAS remembers GIL KANE, a history of Flash Comics, MOEBIUS Silver Surfer sketches, MR. MONSTER, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, and lots more! Dual color covers by JOE KUBERT!

Celebrating the JSA, with interviews with MART NODELL, SHELLY MAYER, GEORGE ROUSSOS, BILL BLACK, and GIL KANE, unpublished H.G. PETER Wonder Woman art, GARDNER FOX, an FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, WENDELL CROWLEY, and more! Wraparound cover

by CARMINE INFANTINO and JERRY ORDWAY!

GENE COLAN interview, 1940s books on comics by STAN LEE and ROBERT KANIGHER, AYERS, SEVERIN, and ROY THOMAS on Sgt. Fury, ROY on All-Star Squadron’s Golden Age roots, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, JOE SIMON interview, a definitive look at MAC RABOY’S work, and more! Covers by COLAN and RABOY!

Companion to ALL-STAR COMPANION book, with a JULIE SCHWARTZ interview, guide to JLA-JSA TEAMUPS, origins of the ALL-STAR SQUADRON, FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK (on his 1970s DC conflicts), DAVE BERG, BOB ROGERS, more on MAC RABOY from his son, MR. MONSTER, and more! RICH BUCKLER and C.C. BECK covers!

WALLY WOOD biography, DAN ADKINS & BILL PEARSON on Wood, TOR section with 1963 JOE KUBERT interview, ROY THOMAS on creating the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and its 1940s forebears, FCA section with SWAYZE & BECK, MR. MONSTER, JERRY ORDWAY on Shazam!, JERRY DeFUCCIO on the Golden Age, CHIC STONE remembered! ADKINS and KUBERT covers!

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ALTER EGO #9

ALTER EGO #10

ALTER EGO #11

ALTER EGO #12

ALTER EGO #13

JOHN ROMITA interview by ROY THOMAS (with unseen art), Roy’s PROPOSED DREAM PROJECTS that never got published (with a host of great artists), MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING’S life after Superman, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom Panel, FCA section with GEORGE TUSKA, C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, BILL MORRISON, & more! ROMITA and GIORDANO covers!

Who Created the Silver Age Flash? (with KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and SCHWARTZ), DICK AYERS interview (with unseen art), JOHN BROOME remembered, never-seen Golden Age Flash pages, VIN SULLIVAN Magazine Enterprises interview, FCA, interview with FRED GUARDINEER, and MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING! INFANTINO and AYERS covers!

Focuses on TIMELY/MARVEL (interviews and features on SYD SHORES, MICKEY SPILLANE, and VINCE FAGO), and MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES (including JOE CERTA, JOHN BELFI, FRANK BOLLE, BOB POWELL, and FRED MEAGHER), MR. MONSTER on JERRY SIEGEL, DON and MAGGIE THOMPSON interview, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and DON NEWTON!

DC and QUALITY COMICS focus! Quality’s GILL FOX interview, never-seen ‘40s PAUL REINMAN Green Lantern story, ROY THOMAS talks to LEN WEIN and RICH BUCKLER about ALL-STAR SQUADRON, MR. MONSTER shows what made WALLY WOOD leave MAD, FCA section with BECK & SWAYZE, & ‘65 NEWSWEEK ARTICLE on comics! REINMAN and BILL WARD covers!

1974 panel with JOE SIMON, STAN LEE, FRANK ROBBINS, and ROY THOMAS, ROY and JOHN BUSCEMA on Avengers, 1964 STAN LEE interview, tributes to DON HECK, JOHNNY CRAIG, and GRAY MORROW, Timely alums DAVID GANTZ and DANIEL KEYES, and FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and MIKE MANLEY! Covers by MURPHY ANDERSON and JOE SIMON!

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(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

16

ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

ALTER EGO #17

ALTER EGO #18

A look at the 1970s JSA revival with CONWAY, LEVITZ, ESTRADA, GIFFEN, MILGROM, and STATON, JERRY ORDWAY on All-Star Squadron, tributes to CRAIG CHASE and DAN DeCARLO, “lost” 1945 issue of All-Star, 1970 interview with LEE ELIAS, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, & JAY DISBROW! MIKE NASSER & MICHAEL GILBERT covers!

JOHN BUSCEMA ISSUE! BUSCEMA interview (with UNSEEN ART), reminiscences by SAL BUSCEMA, STAN LEE, INFANTINO, KUBERT, ORDWAY, FLO STEINBERG, and HERB TRIMPE, ROY THOMAS on 35 years with BIG JOHN, FCA tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, plus C.C. BECK and MARC SWAYZE, and MR. MONSTER revisits WALLY WOOD! Two BUSCEMA covers!

MARVEL BULLPEN REUNION (BUSCEMA, COLAN, ROMITA, and SEVERIN), memories of the JOHN BUSCEMA SCHOOL, FCA with ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK, and MARC SWAYZE, tribute to CHAD GROTHKOPF, MR. MONSTER on EC COMICS with art by KURTZMAN, DAVIS, and WOOD, and more! Covers by ALEX ROSS and MARIE SEVERIN & RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlighting LOU FINE (with an overview of his career, and interviews with family members), interview with MURPHY ANDERSON about Fine, ALEX TOTH on Fine, ARNOLD DRAKE interviewed about DEADMAN and DOOM PATROL, MR. MONSTER on the non-EC work of JACK DAVIS and GEORGE EVANS, FINE and LUIS DOMINGUEZ COVERS, FCA and more!

STAN GOLDBERG interview, secrets of ‘40s Timely, art by KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, MANEELY, EVERETT, BURGOS, and DeCARLO, spotlight on sci-fi fanzine XERO with the LUPOFFS, OTTO BINDER, DON THOMPSON, ROY THOMAS, BILL SCHELLY, and ROGER EBERT, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD ghosting Flash Gordon! KIRBY and SWAYZE covers!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

ALTER EGO #21

ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

Spotlight on DICK SPRANG (profile and interview) with unseen art, rare Batman art

by BOB KANE, CHARLES PARIS, SHELLY MOLDOFF, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, JIM MOONEY, CARMINE INFANTINO, and ALEX TOTH, JERRY ROBINSON interviewed about Tomahawk and 1940s cover artist FRED RAY, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD’s Flash Gordon, Part 2!

Timely/Marvel art by SEKOWSKY, SHORES, EVERETT, and BURGOS, secrets behind THE INVADERS with ROY THOMAS, KIRBY, GIL KANE, & ROBBINS, BOB DESCHAMPS interviewed, 1965 NY Comics Con review, panel with FINGER, BINDER, FOX and WEISINGER, MR. MONSTER, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, RABOY, SCHAFFENBERGER, and more! MILGROM and SCHELLY covers!

The IGER “SHOP” examined, with art by EISNER, FINE, ANDERSON, CRANDALL, BAKER, MESKIN, CARDY, EVANS, BOB KANE, and TUSKA, “SHEENA” section with art by DAVE STEVENS & FRANK BRUNNER, ROY THOMAS on JSA & All-Star Squadron, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, UNSEEN 1946 ALL-STAR ART, FCA, and more!

DAVE STEVENS and IRWIN HASEN covers!

BILL EVERETT and JOE KUBERT interviewed

by NEAL ADAMS and GIL KANE in 1970, Timely art by BURGOS, SHORES, NODELL, and SEKOWSKY, RUDY LAPICK, ROY THOMAS on Sub-Mariner, with art by EVERETT, COLAN, ANDRU, BUSCEMAs, SEVERINs, and more, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD at EC, ALEX TOTH, and CAPT. MIDNIGHT! EVERETT & BECK covers!

Unseen art from TWO “LOST” 1940s H.G. PETER WONDER WOMAN STORIES (and analysis of “CHARLES MOULTON” scripts), BOB FUJITANI and JOHN ROSENBERGER, VICTOR GORELICK discusses Archie and The Mighty Crusaders, with art by MORROW, BUCKLER, and REINMAN, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD! H.G. PETER and BOB FUJITANI covers!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

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(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

X-MEN interviews with STAN LEE, DAVE COCKRUM, CHRIS CLAREMONT, ARNOLD DRAKE, JIM SHOOTER, ROY THOMAS, and LEN WEIN, MORT MESKIN profiled by his sons and ALEX TOTH, rare art by JERRY ROBINSON, FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY on Comics Fandom! MESKIN and COCKRUM covers!

JACK COLE remembered by ALEX TOTH, interview with brother DICK COLE and his PLAYBOY colleagues, CHRIS CLAREMONT on the X-Men (with more never-seen art by DAVE COCKRUM), ROY THOMAS on AllStar Squadron #1 and its ‘40s roots (with art

by ORDWAY, BUCKLER, MESKIN and MOLDOFF), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by TOTH and SCHELLY!

JOE SINNOTT interview, IRWIN DONENFELD interview by EVANIER & SCHWARTZ, art by SHUSTER, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, and SWAN, MARK WAID analyzes the first Kryptonite story, JERRY SIEGEL and HARRY DONENFELD, JERRY IGER Shop update, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and KEN BALD! Covers by SINNOTT and WAYNE BORING!

VIN SULLIVAN interview about the early DC days with art by SHUSTER, MOLDOFF, FLESSEL, GUARDINEER, and BURNLEY, MR. MONSTER’s “Lost” KIRBY HULK covers, 1948 NEW YORK COMIC CON with STAN LEE, SIMON & KIRBY, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, HARVEY KURTZMAN, and ROY THOMAS, ALEX TOTH, FCA, and more! Covers by JACK BURNLEY and JACK KIRBY!

Spotlight on JOE MANEELY, with a career overview, remembrance by his daughter and tons of art, Timely/Atlas/Marvel art by ROMITA, EVERETT, SEVERIN, SHORES, KIRBY, and DITKO, STAN LEE on Maneely, LEE AMES interview, FCA with SWAYZE, ISIS, and STEVE SKEATES, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Covers by JOE MANEELY and DON NEWTON!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

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17

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

FRANK BRUNNER interview, BILL EVERETT’S Venus examined by TRINA ROBBINS, Classics Illustrated “What ifs”, LEE/KIRBY/DITKO Marvel prototypes, JOE MANEELY’s monsters, BILL FRACCIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, JOHN BENSON on EC, The Heap by ERNIE SCHROEDER, and FCA! Covers by FRANK BRUNNER and PETE VON SHOLLY!

ALEX ROSS on his love for the JLA, BLACKHAWK/JLA artist DICK DILLIN, the super-heroes of 1940s-1980s France (with art by STEVE RUDE, STEVE BISSETTE, LADRÖNN, and NEAL ADAMS), KIM AAMODT & WALTER GEIER on writing for SIMON & KIRBY, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA! Covers by ALEX ROSS and STEVE RUDE!

DICK AYERS on his 1950s and ‘60s work (with tons of Marvel Bullpen art), HARLAN ELLISON’s Marvel Age work examined (with art by BUCKLER, SAL BUSCEMA, and TRIMPE), STAN LEE’S Marvel Prototypes (with art by KIRBY and DITKO), Christmas cards from comics greats, MR. MONSTER, & FCA with SWAYZE and SCHAFFENBERGER! Covers by DICK AYERS and FRED RAY!

Timely artists ALLEN BELLMAN and SAM BURLOCKOFF interviewed, MART NODELL on his Timely years, rare art by BURGOS, EVERETT, and SHORES, MIKE GOLD on the Silver Age (with art by SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, INFANTINO, KANE, and more), FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more!

Covers by DICK GIORDANO and GIL KANE!

Symposium on MIKE SEKOWSKY by MARK EVANIER, SCOTT SHAW!, et al., with art

by ANDERSON, INFANTINO, and others, PAT (MRS. MIKE) SEKOWSKY and inker VALERIE BARCLAY interviewed, FCA, 1950s Captain Marvel parody by ANDRU and ESPOSITO, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by FRENZ/SINNOTT and FRENZ/BUSCEMA!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

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(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

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ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

Quality Comics interviews with ALEX KOTZKY, AL GRENET, CHUCK CUIDERA, & DICK ARNOLD (son of BUSY ARNOLD), art by COLE, EISNER, FINE, WARD, DILLIN, and KANE, MICHELLE NOLAN on Blackhawk’s jump to DC, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on HARVEY KURTZMAN, & ALEX TOTH on REED CRANDALL! Covers by REED CRANDALL & CHARLES NICHOLAS!

Covers by JOHN ROMITA and AL JAFFEE! LEE, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, & THOMAS on the 1953-55 Timely super-hero revival, with rare art by ROMITA, AYERS, BURGOS, HEATH, EVERETT, LAWRENCE, & POWELL, AL JAFFEE on the 1940s Timely Bullpen (and MAD), FCA, ALEX TOTH on comic art, MR. MONSTER on unpublished 1950s covers, and more!

JOE SIMON on SIMON & KIRBY, CARL BURGOS, and LLOYD JACQUET, JOHN BELL on World War II Canadian heroes, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Canadian origins of MR. MONSTER, tributes to BOB DESCHAMPS, DON LAWRENCE, & GEORGE WOODBRIDGE, FCA, ALEX TOTH, and ELMER WEXLER interview! Covers by SIMON and GILBERT & RONN SUTTON!

WILL MURRAY on the 1940 Superman “KMetal” story & PHILIP WYLIE’s GLADIATOR (with art by SHUSTER, SWAN, ADAMS, and BORING), FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and DON NEWTON, SY BARRY interview, art by TOTH, MESKIN, INFANTINO, and ANDERSON, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT interviews AL FELDSTEIN on EC and RAY BRADBURY! Covers by C.C. BECK and WAYNE BORING!

JULIE SCHWARTZ TRIBUTE with HARLAN ELLISON, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, KUBERT, GIELLA, GIORDANO, CARDY, LEVITZ, STAN LEE, WOLFMAN, EVANIER, & ROY THOMAS, never-seen interviews with Julie, FCA with BECK, SCHAFFENBERGER, NEWTON, COCKRUM, OKSNER, FRADON, SWAYZE, and JACKSON BOSTWICK! Covers by INFANTINO and IRWIN HASEN!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

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(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

Full-issue spotlight on JERRY ROBINSON, with an interview on being BOB KANE’s Batman “ghost”, creating the JOKER and ROBIN, working on VIGILANTE, GREEN HORNET, and ATOMAN, plus never-seen art by Jerry, MESKIN, ROUSSOS, RAY, KIRBY, SPRANG, DITKO, and PARIS! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER on AL FELDSTEIN Part 2, and more! Two JERRY ROBINSON covers!

RUSS HEATH and GIL KANE interviews (with tons of unseen art), the JULIE SCHWARTZ Memorial Service with ELLISON, MOORE, GAIMAN, HASEN, O’NEIL, and LEVITZ, art by INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, NOVICK, DILLIN, SEKOWSKY, KUBERT, GIELLA, ARAGONÉS, FCA, MR. MONSTER and AL FELDSTEIN Part 3, and more! Covers by GIL KANE & RUSS HEATH!

Halloween issue! BERNIE WRIGHTSON on his 1970s FRANKENSTEIN, DICK BRIEFER’S monster, the campy 1960s Frankie, art by KALUTA, BAILY, MANEELY, PLOOG, KUBERT, BRUNNER, BORING, OKSNER, TUSKA, CRANDALL, and SUTTON, FCA #100, EMILIO SQUEGLIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Covers by WRIGHTSON & MARC SWAYZE!

A celebration of DON HECK, WERNER ROTH, and PAUL REINMAN, rare art by KIRBY, DITKO, and AYERS, Hillman and Ziff-Davis remembered by Heap artist ERNIE SCHROEDER, HERB ROGOFF, and WALTER LITTMAN, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and ALEX TOTH! Covers by FASTNER & LARSON and ERNIE SCHROEDER!

Yuletide art by WOOD, SINNOTT, CARDY, BRUNNER, TOTH, NODELL, and others, interviews with Golden Age artists TOM GILL (Lone Ranger) and MORRIS WEISS, exploring 1960s Mexican comics, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more! Flip covers by GEORGE TUSKA and DAVE STEVENS!

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

18

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

JSA/All-Star Squadron/Infinity Inc. special!

Interviews with KUBERT, HASEN, ANDERSON, ORDWAY, BUCKLER, THOMAS, 1940s Atom writer ARTHUR ADLER, art by TOTH, SEKOWSKY, HASEN, MACHLAN, OKSNER, and INFANTINO, FCA, and MR. MONSTER’S “I Like Ike!” cartoons by BOB KANE, INFANTINO, OKSNER, and BIRO! Wraparound ORDWAY cover!

Interviews with Sandman artist CREIG FLESSEL and ‘40s creator BERT CHRISTMAN, MICHAEL CHABON on researching his Pulitzer-winning novel Kavalier & Clay, art

by EISNER, KANE, KIRBY, and AYERS, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, OTTO BINDER’s “lost” Jon Jarl story, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and ALEX TOTH! CREIG FLESSEL cover!

The VERY BEST of the 1960s-70s ALTER EGO! 1969 BILL EVERETT interview, art by BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, SIMON & KIRBY, and others, 1960s gems by DITKO, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, JERRY BAILS, and ROY THOMAS, LOU GLANZMAN interview, tributes to IRV NOVICK and CHRIS REEVE, MR. MONSTER, FCA, TOTH, and more!

Cover by EVERETT and MARIE SEVERIN!

Spotlights MATT BAKER, Golden Age cheesecake artist of PHANTOM LADY! Career overview, interviews with BAKER’s half-brother and nephew, art from AL FELDSTEIN, VINCE COLLETTA, ARTHUR PEDDY, JACK KAMEN and others, FCA, BILL SCHELLY talks to comic-book-seller (and fan) BUD PLANT, MR. MONSTER on missing AL WILLIAMSON art, and ALEX TOTH!

WILL EISNER discusses Eisner & Iger’s Shop and BUSY ARNOLD’s ‘40s Quality Comics, art by FINE, CRANDALL, COLE, POWELL, and CARDY, EISNER tributes by STAN LEE, GENE COLAN, & others, interviews with ‘40s Quality artist VERN HENKEL and CHUCK MAZOUJIAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER on EISNER’s Wonder Man, ALEX TOTH, and more with BUD PLANT! EISNER cover!

(100-page magazine) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

Spotlights CARL BURGOS! Interview with daughter SUE BURGOS, art by BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, MIKE SEKOWSKY, ED ASCHE, and DICK AYERS, unused 1941 Timely cover layouts, the 1957 Atlas Implosion examined, MANNY STALLMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER and more! New cover by MARK SPARACIO, from an unused 1941 layout by CARL BURGOS!

ROY THOMAS covers his 40-YEAR career in comics (AVENGERS, X-MEN, CONAN, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC.), with ADAMS, BUSCEMA, COLAN, DITKO, GIL KANE, KIRBY, STAN LEE, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, ROMITA, and many others! Also FCA, & MR. MONSTER on ROY’s letters to GARDNER FOX! Flip-covers by BUSCEMA/ KIRBY/ALCALA and JERRY ORDWAY!

Golden Age Batman artist/BOB KANE ghost LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ interviewed, Batman art by JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, SHELDON MOLDOFF, WIN MORTIMER, JIM MOONEY, and others, the Golden and Silver Ages of AUSTRALIAN SUPER-HEROES, Mad artist DAVE BERG interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WILL EISNER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

JOE GIELLA on the Silver Age at DC, the Golden Age at Marvel, and JULIE SCHWARTZ, with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, SEKOWSKY, SWAN, DILLIN, MOLDOFF, GIACOIA, SCHAFFENBERGER, and others, JAY SCOTT PIKE on STAN LEE and CHARLES BIRO, MARTIN THALL interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! GIELLA cover!

GIORDANO and THOMAS on STOKER’S DRACULA, never-seen DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strip, MIKE ESPOSITO on his work with ROSS ANDRU, art by COLAN, WRIGHTSON, MIGNOLA, BRUNNER, BISSETTE, KALUTA, HEATH, MANEELY, EVERETT, DITKO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, BILL SCHELLY, ALEX TOTH, and MR. MONSTER! Cover by GIORDANO!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

MIKE ESPOSITO on DC and Marvel, ROBERT KANIGHER on the creation of Metal Men and Sgt. Rock (with comments

by JOE KUBERT and BOB HANEY), art by ANDRU, INFANTINO, KIRBY, SEVERIN, WINDSOR-SMITH, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, TRIMPE, GIL KANE, and others, plus FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! ESPOSITO cover!

JACK and OTTO BINDER, KEN BALD, VIC DOWD, and BOB BOYAJIAN interviewed, FCA with SWAYZE and EMILIO SQUEGLIO, rare art by BECK, WARD, & SCHAFFENBERGER, Christmas Cards from CRANDALL, SINNOTT, HEATH, MOONEY, and CARDY, 1943 Pin-Up Calendar (with ‘40s movie stars as superheroines), ALEX TOTH, more!

ALEX ROSS and ALEX WRIGHT covers!

Interviews with Superman creators SIEGEL & SHUSTER, Golden/Silver Age DC production guru JACK ADLER interviewed, NEAL ADAMS and radio/TV iconoclast (and comics fan) HOWARD STERN on Adler and his amazing career, art by CURT SWAN, WAYNE BORING, and AL PLASTINO, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, and more! NEAL ADAMS cover!

Issue-by-issue index of Timely/Atlas superhero stories by MICHELLE NOLAN, art by SIMON & KIRBY, EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, SEKOWSKY, SHORES, SCHOMBURG, MANEELY, and SEVERIN, GENE COLAN and ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely super-heroes, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY! Cover

by JACK KIRBY and PETE VON SHOLLY!

GERRY CONWAY and ROY THOMAS on their ‘80s screenplay for “The X-Men Movie That Never Was!”with art by COCKRUM, ADAMS, BUSCEMA, BYRNE, GIL KANE, KIRBY, HECK, and LIEBER, Atlas artist VIC CARRABOTTA interview, ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely bullpen, FCA, 1966 panel on 1950s EC Comics, and MR. MONSTER! MARK SPARACIO/GIL KANE cover!

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19

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

Special issue on Batman and Superman in the Golden and Silver Ages, featuring a new ARTHUR SUYDAM interview, NEAL ADAMS on DC in the 1960s-1970s, SHELLY MOLDOFF, AL PLASTINO, Golden Age artist FRAN (Doll Man) MATERA interviewed, SIEGEL & SHUSTER, RUSS MANNING, FCA, MR. MONSTER, SUYDAM cover, and more!

Celebrates 50 years since SHOWCASE #4!

FLASH interviews with SCHWARTZ, KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and BROOME, Golden Age artist TONY DiPRETA, 1966 panel with NORDLING, BINDER, and LARRY IVIE, FCA, MR. MONSTER, never-before-published color Flash cover by CARMINE INFANTINO, and more!

History of the AMERICAN COMICS GROUP (1946 to 1967)—including its roots in the Golden Age SANGOR ART SHOP and STANDARD/NEDOR comics! Art by MESKIN, ROBINSON, WILLIAMSON, FRAZETTA, SCHAFFENBERGER, & BUSCEMA, ACG writer/editor RICHARD HUGHES, plus AL HARTLEY interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! GIORDANO cover!

HAPPY HAUNTED HALLOWEEN ISSUE, featuring: MIKE PLOOG and RUDY PALAIS on their horror-comics work! AL WILLIAMSON on his work for the American Comics Group—plus more on ACG horror comics! Rare DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strips! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on the 1966 KalerCon, a new PLOOG cover—and more!

Tribute to ALEX TOTH! Never-before-seen interview with tons of TOTH art, including sketches he sent to friends! Articles about Toth by TERRY AUSTIN, JIM AMASH, SY BARRY, JOE KUBERT, LOU SAYRE SCHWARTZ, IRWIN HASEN, JOHN WORKMAN, and others! Plus illustrated Christmas cards by comics pros, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

Fawcett Favorites! Issue-by-issue analysis of BINDER & BECK’s 1943-45 “The Monster Society of Evil!” serial, double-size FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, EMILIO SQUEGLIO, C.C. BECK, MAC RABOY, and others! Interview with MARTIN FILCHOCK, Golden Age artist for Centaur Comics! Plus MR. MONSTER, DON NEWTON cover, plus a FREE 1943 MARVEL CALENDAR!

NICK CARDY interviewed on his Golden & Silver Age work (with CARDY art), plus art

by WILL EISNER, NEAL ADAMS, CARMINE INFANTINO, JIM APARO, RAMONA FRADON, CURT SWAN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, and others, tributes to ERNIE SCHROEDER and DAVE COCKRUM, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, new CARDY COVER, and more!

Spotlight on BOB POWELL, the artist who drew Daredevil, Sub-Mariner, Sheena, The Avenger, The Hulk, Giant-Man, and others, plus art by WALLY WOOD, HOWARD NOSTRAND, DICK AYERS, SIMON & KIRBY, MARTIN GOODMAN’s Magazine Management, and others! FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

Interview with BOB OKSNER, artist of Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Angel and the Ape, Leave It to Binky, Shazam!, and more, plus art and artifacts by SHELLY MAYER, IRWIN HASEN, LEE ELIAS, C.C. BECK, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, JULIE SCHWARTZ, etc., FCA with MARC SWAYZE & C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on BOB POWELL Part II, and more!

Tribute to JERRY BAILS—Father of Comics Fandom and founder of Alter Ego! Cover by GEORGE PÉREZ, plus art by JOE KUBERT, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JERRY ORDWAY, JOE STATON, JACK KIRBY, and others! Plus STEVE DITKO’s notes to STAN LEE for a 1965 Dr. Strange story! And ROY reveals secrets behind Marvel’s STAR WARS comic!

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ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

PAUL NORRIS drew AQUAMAN first, in 1941—and RAMONA FRADON was the hero’s ultimate Golden Age artist. But both drew other things as well, and both are interviewed in this landmark issue—along with a pocket history of Aquaman! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Cover painted by JOHN WATSON, from a breathtaking illo by RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlight on ROY THOMAS’ 1970s stint as Marvel’s editor-in-chief and major writer, plus art and reminiscences of GIL KANE, BOTH BUSCEMAS, ADAMS, ROMITA, CHAYKIN, BRUNNER, PLOOG, EVERETT, WRIGHTSON, PÉREZ, ROBBINS, BARRY SMITH, STAN LEE and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, a new GENE COLAN cover, plus an homage to artist LILY RENÉE!

Represents THE GREAT CANADIAN COMIC BOOKS, the long out-of-print 1970s book

by MICHAEL HIRSH and PATRICK LOUBERT, with rare art of such heroes as Mr. Monster, Nelvana, Thunderfist, and others, plus new INVADERS art by JOHN BYRNE, MIKE GRELL, RON LIM, and more, plus a new cover by GEORGE FREEMAN, from a layout by JACK KIRBY!

SCOTT SHAW! and ROY THOMAS on the creation of Captain Carrot, art & artifacts

by RICK HOBERG, STAN GOLDBERG, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOHN COSTANZA, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, CAROL LAY, and others, interview with DICK ROCKWELL, Golden Age artist and 36-year ghost artist on MILTON CANIFF’s Steve Canyon! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, interviews with CHARLES BIRO and his daughters, interview with publisher ROBERT GERSON about his 1970s horror comic Reality, art by BERNIE WRIGHTSON, GRAHAM INGELS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, JEFF JONES, and others FCA, MR. MONSTER, a FREE DRAW! #15! PREVIEW, and more!

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20

ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

STAN LEE SPECIAL in honor of his 85th birthday, with a cover by JACK KIRBY, classic (and virtually unseen) interviews with Stan, tributes, and tons of rare and unseen art by KIRBY, ROMITA, the brothers BUSCEMA, DITKO, COLAN, HECK, AYERS, MANEELY, SHORES, EVERETT, BURGOS, KANE, the SEVERIN siblings—plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL—with an ALEX ROSS cover! Double-size FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with P.C. HAMERLINCK on the many “Captains Marvel” over the years, unseen Shazam! proposal by ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK on “The Death of a Legend!”, MARC SWAYZE, interview with Golden Age artist MARV LEVY, MR. MONSTER, and more!

JOE SIMON SPECIAL! In-depth SIMON interview by JIM AMASH, with neverbefore-revealed secrets behind the creation of Captain America, Fighting American, Stuntman, Adventures of The Fly, Sick magazine and more, art by JACK KIRBY, BOB POWELL, AL WILLIAMSON, JERRY GRANDENETTI, GEORGE TUSKA, and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

ST. JOHN ISSUE! Golden Age Tor cover by JOE KUBERT, KEN QUATTRO relates the full legend of St. John Publishing, art by KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, MATT BAKER, LILY RENEE, BOB LUBBERS, RUBEN MOREIRA, RALPH MAYO, AL FAGO, special reminiscences of ARNOLD DRAKE, Golden Age artist TOM SAWYER interviewed, and more!

DAVE COCKRUM TRIBUTE! Great rare XMen cover, Cockrum tributes from contemporaries and colleagues, and an interview with PATY COCKRUM on Dave’s life and legacy on The Legion of Super-Heroes, The X-Men, Star-Jammers, & more! Plus an interview with 1950s Timely/Marvel artist MARION SITTON on his own incredible career and his Golden Age contemporaries!

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ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

SUPERMAN & HIS CREATORS! New cover

by MICHAEL GOLDEN, exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—LOU CAMERON interview—STEVE GERBER tribute—DWIGHT DECKER on the Man of Steel & Hitler’s Third Reich—plus art by WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, and others!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY COMICS! Learn about Crom the Barbarian, Viking Prince, Nightmaster, Kull, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, Beowulf, Warlord, Dagar the Invincible, and more, with art by FRAZETTA, SMITH, BUSCEMA, KANE, WRIGHTSON, PLOOG, THORNE, BRUNNER, LOU CAMERON Part II, and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

New FRANK BRUNNER Man-Thing cover, a look at the late-’60s horror comic WEB OF HORROR with early work by BRUNNER, WRIGHTSON, WINDSOR-SMITH, SIMONSON, & CHAYKIN, interview with comics & fine artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINTSLER, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 origin synopsis for the FIRST MAN-THING STORY, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood,

by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover

by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, with a focus on Conan the Barbarian by ROY THOMAS and WILL MURRAY, a look at WALLY WOOD’s Marvel sword-&-sorcery work, the Black Knight examined, plus JOE EDWARDS interview Part 2, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

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ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stores, and in court), RICH BUCKLER on Captain Marvel, plus an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and pioneers WHITNEY ELLSWORTH and CREIG FLESSEL, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CURT SWAN, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, focus on DC advisor DR. LAURETTA BENDER, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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21

ALTER EGO #89

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

HARVEY COMICS’ PRE-CODE HORROR MAGS OF THE 1950s! Interviews with SID JACOBSON, WARREN KREMER, and HOWARD NOSTRAND, plus Harvey artist KEN SELIG talks to JIM AMASH! MR. MONSTER presents the wit and wisdom (and worse) of DR. FREDRIC WERTHAM, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with C.C. BECK & MARC SWAYZE, & more!

SIMON & KIRBY and NOSTRAND cover!

BIG MARVEL ISSUE! Salutes to legends SINNOTT and AYERS—plus STAN LEE, TUSKA, EVERETT, MARTIN GOODMAN, and others! A look at the “Marvel SuperHeroes” TV animation of 1966! 1940s Timely writer and editor LEON LAZARUS interviewed by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, the 1960s fandom creations of STEVE GERBER, and more! JACK KIRBY holiday cover!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL! Big FCA section with Golden Age artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO! Plus JERRY ORDWAY on researching The Power of Shazam, Part II of “The MAD Four-Color Wannabes of the 1950s,” more on DR. LAURETTA BENDER and the teenage creations of STEVE GERBER, artist JACK KATZ spills Golden Age secrets to JIM AMASH, and more!

New cover by ORDWAY and SQUEGLIO!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY, PART 3! DC’s Sword of Sorcery by O’NEIL, CHAYKIN, & SIMONSON and Claw by MICHELINIE & CHAN, Hercules by GLANZMAN, Dagar by GLUT & SANTOS, Marvel S&S art by BUSCEMA, CHAN, KAYANAN, WRIGHTSON, et al., and JACK KATZ on his classic First Kingdom! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER’s fan-creations (part 3), and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo—1961 to 1985!” with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, ANDERSON, DELBO, ANDRU, BUCKLER, APARO, GRANDENETTI, and DILLIN, interview with Golden/Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and a new cover by INFANTINO and AMASH!

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ALTER EGO #94

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

“Earth-Two Companion, Part II!” More on the 1963-1985 series that changed comics forever! The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

Marvel’s NOT BRAND ECHH madcap parody mag from 1967-69, examined with rare art & artifacts by ANDRU, COLAN, BUSCEMA, DRAKE, EVERETT, FRIEDRICH, KIRBY, LEE, the SEVERIN siblings, SPRINGER, SUTTON, THOMAS, TRIMPE, and more, GEORGE KASHDAN interview conclusion, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more! Cover by MARIE SEVERIN!

Focus on Archie’s 1960s MIGHTY CRUSADERS, with vintage art and artifacts

by JERRY SIEGEL, PAUL REINMAN, SIMON & KIRBY, JOHN ROSENBERGER, tributes to the Mighty Crusaders by BOB FUJITANE, GEORGE TUSKA, BOB LAYTON, and others! Interview with MELL LAZARUS, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Cover

by MIKE MACHLAN!

The NON-EC HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950s! From Menace and House of Mystery to The Thing!, we present vintage art and artifacts by EVERETT, BRIEFER, DITKO, MANEELY, COLAN , MESKIN, MOLDOFF, HEATH, POWELL, COLE, SIMON & KIRBY, FUJITANI, and others, plus FCA , MR. MONSTER and more, behind a creepy, eerie cover by BILL EVERETT!

Spotlight on Superman’s first editor WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, longtime Kryptoeditor MORT WEISINGER remembered by his daughter, an interview with Superman writer ALVIN SCHWARTZ, tributes to FRANK FRAZETTA and AL WILLIAMSON, art by JOE SHUSTER, WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, and NEAL ADAMS, plus MR. MONSTER, FCA, and a new cover by JERRY ORDWAY!

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ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL (AE #100)

ALTER EGO #99

GEORGE TUSKA showcase issue on his career at Lev Gleason, Marvel, and in comics strips through the early 1970s—CRIME DOES NOT PAY, BUCK ROGERS, IRON MAN, AVENGERS, HERO FOR HIRE, & more! Plus interviews with Golden Age artist BILL BOSSERT and fan-artist RUDY FRANKE, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and more!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

22

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL is a celebration of 100 issues, and 50 years, of ALTER EGO, Roy Thomas’ legendary super-hero fanzine. It’s a double-size triple-threat BOOK, with twice as many pages as the regular magazine, plus special features just for this anniversary edition! Behind a RICH BUCKLER/JERRY ORDWAY JSA cover, ALTER EGO celebrates its 100th issue and the 50th anniversary of A/E (Vol. 1) #1 in 1961—as ROY THOMAS is interviewed by JIM AMASH about the 1980s at DC! Learn secrets behind ALL-STAR SQUADRON—INFINITY, INC.—ARAK, SON OF THUNDER—CAPTAIN CARROT—JONNI THUNDER, a.k.a. THUNDERBOLT— YOUNG ALL-STARS—SHAZAM!—RING OF THE NIBELUNG—and more! With rare art and artifacts

by GEORGE PÉREZ, TODD McFARLANE, RICH BUCKLER, JERRY ORDWAY, MIKE MACHLAN, GIL KANE, GENE COLAN, DICK GIORDANO, ALFREDO ALCALA, TONY DEZUNIGA, ERNIE COLÓN, STAN GOLDBERG, SCOTT SHAW!, ROSS ANDRU, and many more! Plus special anniversary editions of Alter Ego staples MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA (FCA)—and ALEX WRIGHT’s amazing color collection of 1940s DC pinup babes! Edited by ROY THOMAS. (NOTE: This book takes the place of ALTER EGO #100, and counts as TWO issues toward your subscription.)

(160-page trade paperback with COLOR) $19.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • ISBN: 9781605490311 Diamond Order Code: JAN111351

ALTER EGO #101

Fox Comics of the 1940s with art by FINE, BAKER, SIMON, KIRBY, TUSKA, FLETCHER HANKS, ALEX BLUM, and others!

“Superman vs. Wonder Man” starring EISNER, IGER, SIEGEL, LIEBERSON, MAYER, DONENFELD, and VICTOR FOX! Plus, Part I of an interview with JACK MENDELSOHN, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and new cover by Marvel artist DAVE WILLIAMS!

NEW!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #102

ALTER EGO #103

ALTER EGO #104

ALTER EGO: THE CBA COLLECTION

Spotlight on Green Lantern creators MART NODELL and BILL FINGER in the 1940s, and JOHN BROOME, GIL KANE, and JULIUS SCHWARTZ in 1959! Rare GL artwork by INFANTINO, REINMAN, HASEN, NEAL ADAMS, and others! Plus JACK MENDELSOHN Part II, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and new cover by GIL KANE & TERRY AUSTIN, and MART NODELL!

The early career of comics writer STEVE ENGLEHART: Defenders, Captain America, Master of Kung Fu, The Beast, Mantis, and more, with rare art and artifacts by SAL BUSCEMA, STARLIN, SUTTON, HECK, BROWN, and others. Plus, JIM AMASH interviews early artist GEORGE MANDEL (Captain Midnight, The Woman in Red, Blue Bolt, Black Marvel, etc.), FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and more!

Celebrates the 50th anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1 and the birth of Marvel Comics! New, never-before-published STAN LEE interview, art and artifacts

by KIRBY, DITKO, SINNOTT, AYERS, THOMAS, and secrets behind the Marvel Mythos! Also: JIM AMASH interviews 1940s Timely editor AL SULMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and a new cover by FRENZ and SINNOTT!

Compiles the ALTER EGO flip-sides from COMIC BOOK ARTIST #1-5, plus 30 NEW PAGES of features & art! All-new rare and previously-unpublished art by JACK KIRBY, GIL KANE, JOE KUBERT, WALLY WOOD, FRANK ROBBINS, NEAL ADAMS, & others, ROY THOMAS on X-MEN, AVENGERS/ KREE-SKRULL WAR, INVADERS, and more! Cover by JOE KUBERT!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

(160-page trade paperback) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $4.95

HUMOR MAGAZINES (BUNDLE ALL THREE FOR JUST $14.95)

ALTER EGO:

BEST OF THE LEGENDARY COMICS FANZINE

Collects the original 11 issues of JERRY BAILS and ROY THOMAS’ ALTER EGO fanzine (from 1961-78), with contributions from JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, WALLY WOOD, JOHN BUSCEMA, MARIE SEVERIN, BILL EVERETT, RUSS MANNING, CURT SWAN, and others—and illustrated interviews with GIL KANE, BILL EVERETT, & JOE KUBERT! Plus major articles on the JUSTICE SOCIETY, the MARVEL FAMILY, the MLJ HEROES, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS and BILL SCHELLY with an introduction by JULIE SCHWARTZ. (192-page trade paperback) $21.95 ISBN: 9781893905887 Diamond Order Code: DEC073946

COMIC BOOK NERD

PETE VON SHOLLY’s side-splitting parody of the fan press, including our own mags!

Experience the magic(?) of such publications as WHIZZER, the COMICS URINAL, ULTRA EGO, COMICS BUYER’S GUISE, BAGGED ISSUE!, SCRAWL!, COMIC BOOK ARTISTE, and more, as we unabashedly poke fun at ourselves, our competitors, and you, our loyal readers! It’s a first issue, collector’s item, double-bag, slab-worthy, speculator’s special sure to rub even the thickest-skinned fanboy the wrong way!

(64-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 • (Digital Edition) $2.95

CRAZY HIP GROOVY GO-GO WAY OUT MONSTERS #29 & #32

PETE VON SHOLLY’s spoofs of monster mags will have you laughing your pants off— right after you soil them from sheer terror! This RETRO MONSTER MOVIE MAGAZINE is a laugh riot lampoon of those GREAT (and absolutely abominable) mags of the 1950s and ‘60s, replete with fake letters-to-the-editor, phony ads for worthless, wacky stuff, stills from imaginary films as bad as any that were really made, interviews with their “creators,” and much more! Relive your misspent youth (and misspent allowance) as you dig the hilarious photos, ads, and articles skewering OUR FAVORITE THINGS of the past! Get our first issue (#29!), the sequel (#32!), or both!

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

BL AVAILA

(48-page magazines) $5.95 EACH • (Digital Editions) $1.95 EACH

These sold-out books are now available again in DIGITAL EDITIONS:

NEW!

MR. MONSTER, VOL. 0

TRUE BRIT

DICK GIORDANO: CHANGING COMICS, ONE DAY AT A TIME

Collects hard-to-find Mr. Monster stories from A-1, CRACK-A-BOOM! and DARK HORSE PRESENTS (many in COLOR for the first time) plus over 30 pages of ALLNEW MR. MONSTER art and stories! Can your sanity survive our Lee/Kirby monster spoof by MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MARK MARTIN, or the long-lost 1933 Mr. Monster newspaper strip? Or the terrifying TRENCHER/MR. MONSTER slug-fest, drawn by KEITH GIFFEN and MICHAEL T. GILBERT?! Read at your own risk!

GEORGE KHOURY’s definitive book on the rich history of British Comics Artists, their influence on the US, and how they have revolutionized the way comics are seen and perceived! It features breathtaking art, intimate photographs, and in-depth interviews with BRIAN BOLLAND, ALAN DAVIS, DAVE GIBBONS, KEVIN O’NEILL, DAVID LLOYD, DAVE McKEAN, BRYAN HITCH, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH and other fine gents! Sporting a new JUDGE DREDD cover by BRIAN BOLLAND!

MICHAEL EURY’s biography of comics’ most prominent and affable personality! It covers his career as illustrator, inker, and editor—peppered with DICK’S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS—and is illustrated with RARE AND UNSEEN comics, merchandising, and advertising art! Plus: an extensive index of his published work, comments and tributes

by NEAL ADAMS, DENNIS O’NEIL, TERRY AUSTIN, PAUL LEVITZ, MARV WOLFMAN, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, JIM APARO and others, a Foreword by NEAL ADAMS, and an Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ!

(136-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $4.95

(204-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

(176-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $5.95

SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS: GENE COLAN

TOM FIELD’s amazing COLAN retrospective, with rare drawings, photos, and art from his 60-year career, and a comprehensive overview of Gene’s glory days at Marvel Comics!

MARV WOLFMAN, DON McGREGOR and other writers share script samples and anecdotes of their Colan collaborations, while TOM PALMER, STEVE LEIALOHA and others show how they approached inking Colan’s famously nuanced penciled pages!

Plus: a NEW PORTFOLIO of never-seen collaborations between Gene and masters such as BYRNE, KALUTA and PÉREZ, and all-new artwork created just for this book!

(192-page Digital Edition with COLOR) $6.95

ART OF GEORGE TUSKA

A comprehensive look at GEORGE TUSKA’S personal and professional life, including early work at the Eisner-Iger shop, producing controversial crime comics of the 1950s, and his tenure with Marvel and DC Comics, as well as independent publishers. Includes extensive coverage of his work on IRON MAN, X-MEN, HULK, JUSTICE LEAGUE, TEEN TITANS, BATMAN, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, and others, a gallery of commission art and a thorough index of his work, original art, photos, sketches, unpublished art, interviews and anecdotes from his peers and fans, plus the very personal and reflective words of George himself! Written by DEWEY CASSELL. (128-page Digital Edition) $4.95

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OTHER BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

PENCILER, PUBLISHER, PROVOCATEUR

COMICS’ FAST & FURIOUS ARTIST

THE ART OF GLAMOUR

MATT BAKER

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE

Shines a light on the life and career of the artistic and publishing visionary of DC Comics!

Explores the life and career of one of Marvel Comics’ most recognizable and dependable artists!

Biography of the talented master of 1940s “Good Girl” art, complete with color story reprints!

Definitive biography of the Watchmen writer, in a new, expanded edition!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $26.95

(192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95

QUALITY COMPANION

BATCAVE COMPANION

ALL- STAR COMPANION

AGE OF TV HEROES

The first dedicated book about the Golden Age publisher that spawned the modern-day “Freedom Fighters”, Plastic Man, and the Blackhawks!

Unlocks the secrets of Batman’s Silver and Bronze Ages, following the Dark Knight’s progression from 1960s camp to 1970s creature of the night!

Roy Thomas has four volumes documenting the history of ALL-STAR COMICS, the JUSTICE SOCIETY, INFINITY, INC., and more!

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $31.95

(240-page trade paperback) $26.95

(224-page trade paperbacks) $24.95

Examining the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes, featuring the in-depth stories of the shows’ actors and behind-the-scenes players!

CARMINE INFANTINO

SAL BUSCEMA

(192-page full-color hardcover) $39.95

MARVEL COMICS

MARVEL COMICS

An issue-by-issue field guide to the pop culture phenomenon of LEE, KIRBY, DITKO, and others, from the company’s fumbling beginnings to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity!

IN THE 1960s

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

MODERN MASTERS

HOW TO CREATE COMICS

Covers how Stan Lee went from writer to publisher, Jack Kirby left (and returned), Roy Thomas rose as editor, and a new wave of writers and artists came in!

20+ volumes with in-depth interviews, plus extensive galleries of rare and unseen art from the artist’s files!

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95

Shows step-by-step how to develop a new comic, from script and art, to printing and distribution!

(128-page trade paperbacks) $14.95 each

(108-page trade paperback) $15.95

IN THE 1970s

A BOOK SERIES DEVOTED TO THE BEST OF TODAY’S ARTISTS

FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

FOR A FREE COLOR CATALOG, CALL, WRITE, E-MAIL, OR LOG ONTO www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows—A New Day For Comics Fandom!

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com