Vol. 3, No. 65 / February 2007
™
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
Editor Emeritus Mike Friedrich
Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ross Foss, Biljo White
Production Assistant Chris Irving
Circulation Director Bob Brodsky, Seastone Marketing Group
Cover Artist
Writer/Editorial: “The Best of Times... The Worst of Times” . . 2 “When You Do A Lot of Super-Heroes, All You’re Drawing Is Men In Long Underwear” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 But Nick Cardy still talks to Jim Amash about those guys and other things.
The Siegel & Shuster Deal At 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Nick Cardy
Murray Bishoff helped get the ball rolling for Superman’s creators back in the mid-1970s.
With Special Thanks to: Jack Adams Heidi Amash David Armstrong Allan Asherman Bob Bailey Mike W. Barr Marty Baumann Mark Beazley Alberto Becattini Spencer Beck Allen & Roz Bellman John Benson Daniel Best Murray Bishoff Bill Black Dominic Bongo Richard Boucher Frank Brunner Mark Burbey Mike Burkey Glen Cadigan Nick Caputo Jim Cardillo Nick Cardy R. Dewey Cassell Bob Cherry John Cogan Ray A. Cuthbert Teresa R. Davidson Michael Dunne Mark Evanier Michael Feldman Shane Foley Jeff Gelb Joe & Frank Giella Janet Gilbert Laura Gjovaag Glenn Greenberg Steve Griffin Darrell Grimes George Hagenauer Jennifer Hamerlinck William Harper Heritage Comics Larry Ivie Jonathan G. Jensen Larry Kashdan
Contents
Henry Kujawa Larry Lieber Alan Light Dan Makara Don Mangus Bruce Mason Bob McLeod Sean Menard Clifford Meth Linda Monaco Luis Morales Mario Morales Frank Motler Mark Muller Andy Patterson Lily Renee Charlie Roberts Trina Robbins Herb Rogoff Rich Rubenfeld Constance Schroeder Paul Schroeder Pat Sekowsky Carole Seuling David Siegel Jean Siegel Robin Snyder J. David Spurlock Emilio Squeglio Bhob Stewart David Studham Marc Swayze Richard Deane Taylor Joel Thingvall Dann Thomas Michael Uslan Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Nicholas Viscardi Mike Vosburg Tom Weaver Len Wein Marv Wolfman Lynn Woolley Spiros Xenos Eddy Zeno
The Best “Will” In The World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Another Reinman “Green Lantern” page from that never-published 1940s JSA story!
Hollywood Comes To Hollywood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Golden Age artist Allen Bellman met two Lois Lanes at the 2006 MegaCon!
Comic Crypt: “Oooh…That’s Cheesy!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Michael T. Gilbert on some not-so-gouda comic book covers.
Comic Fandom Archive: Monsters & Heroes At His Beck And Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly tell what little they can about the 1967 Calvin Beck Con.
Tributes To Ernie Schroeder, Dave Cockrum, Mart Nodell, & Andy Warner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 re: [comments, corrections, & correspondence] . . . . . . . . . . 67 FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America) #124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze, Emilio Squeglio (part 2), and a tribute to artist Tom Laughlin. About Our Cover: The venerable and estimable Nick Cardy painted this cover of himself and a few of the many comic book heroes he’s drawn especially for this issue of Alter Ego. We envy the lucky soul who gets to buy this one off Nick! But what’re you lookin’ at, Batman? [All characters except Nick TM & ©2007 DC Comics.] Above: The pencil sketch for yet another cover drawn by Nick Cardy for a recent publication— in this case, the hardcover Silver Age Teen Titans Archives, Vol. 1. Hope you got paid a little better for that one, old buddy! Thanks to Spencer Beck & Glen Cadigan. [Teen Titans TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]
This issue is dedicated to the memory of
Dave Cockrum, Mart Nodell, Bob Laughlin, Ernie Schroeder, & Andy Warner 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: $9 ($11.00 outside the US). Twelve-issue subscriptions:$72 US, $132 Canada, $144 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. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.