Roy Thomas’ Strange Comics Fanzine
A Haunt-Happy HALLOWEEN From
BRUNNER, BIRO,
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In the USA
& BUDDIES
No. 73 October 2007
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Vol. 3, No. 73 / October 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
Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich
Circulation Director Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Periodical Distribution, LLC
Cover Artist
Writer/Editorial: Eyes On The Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Strange Interlude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Frank Brunner personally annotates his illustrations of Dr. Strange and others.
Blood, Bullets, And Gun Molls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Frank Brunner
With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Richard Arndt Bob Bailey Jean Bails Alberto Becattini Allen Bellman John Benson Christopher Bing Bonnie Biro Dominic Bongo Jerry K. Boyd Gary Brown Frank Brunner Brett Canavan R. Dewey Cassell Russ Cochran Gene Colan Mike Collins J. Randolph Cox Teresa R. Davidson D.D. Degg Wayne DeWald Michaël Dewally Tom Fagan Michael Feldman Stuart Fischer Shane Foley Robert Gerson Jennifer Hamerlinck Janet Gilbert Penny (Biro) Gold Fred Hembeck
Contents
Roger Hill Stan Lee Alan Light Joe Mannarino Bruce Mason Fred Mommsen Brian K. Morris Will Murray Eric NolenWeathington Marie O’Brien Jerry Ordway Denise (Biro) Ortell Paul Dale Roberts Steven Rowe Scott Rowland Steve Sansweet Anthony Snyder Steve Stiles Marc Swayze Ty Templeton Greg Theakston Dann Thomas Mike Tiefenbacher George Tuska Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Delmo Walters, Jr. Hames Ware Robert Weiner Jerry Weist Tom Wimbish
This issue is respectfully dedicated to the memory of
Charles Biro, George C. Shedd, William B. Ziff, Jr., & Al Grenet
A brief overview of Charles Biro & Lev Gleason Publications by Steve Stiles.
Charles Biro—“Some Kind Of Genius” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 J. Randolph Cox presents the only comic-con appearance ever (1968) by the creator of Crime Does Not Pay, et al.
“He Always Wanted Immortality For His Work” . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Charles Biro’s three daughters talk about their talented and influential father.
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: Twice-Told Marvel Heroes (Part 1) . 49 Michael T. Gilbert on two Daredevils, & Jerry K. Boyd on comics characters who read comics.
A Dose Of Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Richard Arndt interviews Robert Gerson, publisher of the 1970-71 black-&-white horror comic.
From Bing To Bails—And Back Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., and Hames Ware in search of “Great Unknown” artist L. Bing.
Comic Fandom Archive: Celebrating 40 Years of Squa Tront . 66 Bill Schelly toasts the important EC fanzine and a few of its 40ish fellows.
Tributes To William B. Ziff, Jr., George C. Shedd, & Al Grenet . . 71 re: [comments, correspondence, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . 74 FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America) #132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamerlinck, Jerry Ordway, Marc Swayze, & the Montclair (NJ) Art Museum.
FREE PREVIEW of Draw! #15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 On Our Cover: Doc and Clea hangin’ out at 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village— courtesy of Frank Brunner, artist of the Mystic Master’s popular 1970s stint in Marvel Premiere and Dr. Strange. What more need we say—except thanks, Frank, for letting us use this beautiful painting for our cavortin’ cover! [Dr. Strange & Clea TM & ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: This illo by Charles Biro appeared on a two-page spread in Boy Comics #9 (April 1943) that celebrated the first “birthday” of that best-selling comic book. Biro, as co-editor, chief cover artist, and major writer of the company’s comics line, almost single-handedly put Lev Gleason Publications on the map. This drawing shows Biro and co-editor Bob Wood (doing an Oscar Levant turn at the piano), as well as Boy Comics stars Crimebuster & Squeeks, Young Robin Hood, Little Dynamite, Swoop Storm, and maybe even Yankee Longago. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.] Alter EgoTM is published eight times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $9 US ($11.00 Canada, $16 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $78 US, $132 Canada, $180 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.
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Strange Interlude FRANK BRUNNER Annotates His Association With Stephen Strange And Others
A/E
EDITOR’S NOTE: Some months back, we made arrangements to use as an A/E cover a gorgeous Dr. Strange and Clea painting of which Frank Brunner had sent us a copy a year or two ago. Frank, of course, is one of the most successful delineators ever of the Sorcerer Supreme, beginning during Ye Ed’s reign as Marvel editor-in-chief in the early 1970s. However, somewhere along the way, we learned that our TwoMorrows sister mag Back Issue #24, edited by Michael Eury, planned to feature—in the very same Halloween month—a round-robin interview with Frank and two or three other artists about drawing the Mystic Master. So, to avoid duplication, and since I had already interviewed Frank briefly for A/E #29, I invited him to write his own comments about a number of his magic-, fantasy-, and horror-oriented illustrations for this issue. So, with Frank on tap, what am I continuing to yak away for? Except for the occasional necessary editorial comment and contributor IDs, the rest of the text you read in this section will be Mr. Brunner’s! —Roy.
WitchGirls Inc. #3 (April 2006), Cover, Heroic Publishing “This was the cover assignment that got me back into writing comics. Right after I sent it in to editor Dennis Mallone, he asked me if I had a story to go with it... and would I want to write and draw it? I begged off on the latter, but agreed to write it as a 5-part miniseries, as long as I had full creative control. I’ve finished the first three chapters (“Circles of Fear”), in which I explore some of the Gnostic books of the Bible (the books that were cut out of the modern Bible), and I’ve created an amusing partner for Rose (Psyche) and a certain Dr. Kent Buttterworth who works for her WitchGirls Inc. Detective Agency. He’s a big Sherlock Holmes fan and dresses accordingly; he’s also a retired proctologist, which makes him a natural probe and snoop in general. (Ouch!)” [Art ©2007 Frank Brunner; characters TM & ©2007 Heroic Publishing.]
Silver Comics #1 (Feb. 2004), Cover, Silver Comics Publications “This independent press effort is in the tradition of Big Bang Retro Comics, and reflects the styles of late-’50s/early-’60s comics. Even the coloring for the cover was done the old way, with several screens instead of a computer… to achieve that retro look. Each book features several continuing-character storylines, and there have been six issues published thus far. I contributed three covers to them... a ‘Mr. Monster’ cover (SC #4) and ‘The End’ (SC #6) which ends this little backstory….” [Art ©2007 Frank Brunner; characters TM & ©2007 Silver Comics Publications.]
Frank Brunner Annotates His Association With Stephen Strange and Others
Doc And The Caterpillar, Tight Pencil Commission, 2007 “This an expansion on the famous meeting of the two in Doctor Strange #1 (June 1974). Obviously, the caterpillar was a borrowed idea from Alice in Wonderland… which is how I thought of what it was like inside the Orb of Agamotto. Which is where Doc fled to avoid death! It’s always fun to draw everything realistically and then put a cartoon character in it… such as I did with Howard the Duck! And the advice I gave the Lucas people about Howard was just as I said: ‘It’s a cartoon in the real world, and not a guy in a duck suit!’ But my words fell on deaf ears, and the Howard movie is what it is! Later I was vindicated when Roger Rabbit appeared and was done exactly as I had wanted for Howard!” [Characters TM & ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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Blood, Bullets, And Gun Molls
Too Much Monkey Business Daredevil and Crimebuster never shared an actual adventure in all their years as Biro/Gleason heroes, but the original DD took a moment out from his busy schedule to welcome CB to the fold in Daredevil Comics #9 (April 1942), wherein readers were asked to name the monkey buddy of the star of the forthcoming Boy Comics. For Biro’s own account of the “win a monkey” contents, see p. 18. Art by Charles Biro. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]
Hillman’s Crime Detective Stories, St. John’s Authentic Police Cases, Atlas’ Crime Must Lose, Victor Fox’s Crime Incorporated, Charlton’s Crime and Justice, and on and on—a whole lot of crime for a dime! This explosion in crime comics attracted the attention of the media. Time magazine published a story about copycat crimes by kids who read comic books. The history of Dr. Frederic Wertham’s crusade against crime and horror comics is well known and started with a symposium called “The Psychopathology of Comic Books,” that concluded, among other things, that comics glorified sadism. (EC comics were a prime target.) Citizen groups organized against horror and crime comics, and newspapers and radio stations editorialized against them. Did comics actually contribute to youth crime rates in those days? If so, we in the 21st century are in for major trouble: pop culture in comics, television, and film these days is miles more violent than anything seen in previous decades. It’s a debate that will no doubt go on well into our new century. When the heat began to come down on crime comics, some publishers made attempts to dodge the bullet (so to speak). Fox slapped “For Adults Only” onto his titles, and Gleason pasted “Not Intended for Children” on his. Going further, Gleason, together with Bill Gaines (EC), Harold Moore (Famous Funnies), and Ray Herman (Orbit), and two distributors, formed the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (AMCP) with the idea that publishers would regulate the contents of their comics, meeting some level of decency. To no avail; the big publishers refused to join, and the smaller ones were too reliant on gore and sex. The years 1954-1955 were the comic book industry’s equivalent of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. When the smoke cleared, the Comics Code Authority ruled supreme over a decimated and pallid field. Juvenile delinquency, as we all know, instantly wilted. Charles Biro left the comics field in 1956 to work as a graphics artist for NBC and died of natural causes in 1972. Bob Wood, who suffered from alcoholism, bludgeoned a woman to death in 1958. A year after serving a three-year sentence at Sing Sing, the writer/artist stepped out from behind a parked car and was killed instantly by a truck. Steve Stiles writes that his Internet piece was based on readings in The World Encyclopedia of Comics (Maurice Horn, editor, 1976), Comics between the Panels (Steve Duin & Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics, Inc., 1998), and other comics-historical works.
“An Adult Comic Soon”? This sketch of Daredevil and The Little Wise Guys was done by Biro for fan Wayne DeWald. Wayne says, “I talked to Biro at the ’68 [SCARP] Con and he said he’d do a sketch if I’d write him at the TV network. When I wrote him, I believe I mentioned the discussion then going on in Graphic Story Magazine about the future of comics, which netted the note at the bottom of the sketch.” The inscription indicates that Biro retained an affection for and interest in comic books, even after more than a decade away from the field. If memory serves, the reason the name “Pee Wee” is scratched out is that that character was renamed Slugger in the later years of the feature—perhaps because “Pee Wee” was considered denigrating to kids of the shorter persuasion. Under either name, he was clearly the most popular of the gang, along with the gangly, mop-topped Scarecrow. Curly is the bald one; brainy Jock wears the cap. There was a fifth Wise Guy, Meatball—but, in a startlingly realistic touch, Biro killed him off in wartime story. [Art ©2007 Estate of Charles Biro.]
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Charles Biro— “Some Kind Of Genius” The Only Comics Convention Appearance Of The Creator Of Crime Does Not Pay, Et Al. - 1968
A/E
EDITOR’S NOTE: Editor/writer/artist Charles Biro was a major figure in the comic book field from virtually the day he entered it until the day he left it. Three of the comics he developed—Daredevil Comics, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics—were among the most popular and influential in the industry during World War II all the way through the pre-Comics Code years. Yet, so far as we know, he was never really interviewed about his work in comics—so we were elated when collector/researcher J. Randolph Cox informed us that he possessed an audio tape of an impromptu speech Biro made at the 1968 SCARP Con in New York City and offered it for use in Alter Ego. Brian K. Morris did journeyman service in transcribing the tape; but alas, the quality of the old tape was so poor that Brian, Randy, and I had to do considerable reconstruction and even a bit of guesswork as to the precise wording in many areas… and, in the end, we still had to jettison a portion of the speech as unintelligible. Even so, it provides a welcome hook on which to hang a big hat—and to do honor to Charles Biro. And to serve as an introduction to the interview which follows it, Jim Amash’s great conversation with Biro’s three loving daughters, who accepted their father’s Eisner Hall of Fame award in San Diego a couple of years back. But first, let’s let Randy tell (with, as he says, “lots of help from Tom Fagan,” his good friend and a major 1960s comics fan) the circumstances under which Biro attended the one and only SCARP Con. Both Randy’s anecdotal insights and the speech itself— augmented by the help of some generous contributors of art scans and photocopies—enable Alter Ego, at last, to give a bit of coverage to the man Stan Lee has called “some kind of genius.” —Roy.
Biro’s Boy Charles Biro (right) and co-host Phil Seuling at the 1968 New York comics convention hosted by the short-lived organization called SCARP (Society for Comic Art Research and Preservation)—juxtaposed with the sketch Biro drew for young J. Randolph Cox a few weeks later. (Note that it’s signed by “Daredevil” rather than by “Crmebuster”—or even Squeeks!) In the photo, sent by John Benson, the artist’s hand partly obscures his face. [Art ©2007 Estate of Charles Biro.]
The Night We Met Charles Biro
I
by J. Randolph Cox (with lots of help from Tom Fagan) wish I had taken notes!
There are historic occasions in our lives when memory isn’t enough to preserve the situation. July 6, 1968, was just such a time. Someone should have used a camera or a tape recorder. Of course, I had a tape recorder along, but it was in my dormitory room the night Tom Fagan and I met Charles Biro. This is a blend of the memories of the two of us, written by one of us. Let me set the stage. It was the summer of 1968. I had been working as a reference librarian at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, for six years and was in New York City on a program for college librarians to learn about books published in the so-called “Non-Western” countries and how to order them for our libraries. I was staying in a dormitory room at Barnard College, and for the most part our sessions were being held at Columbia University. It was also the summer of the SCARP Convention, a comic book fan convention sponsored by the
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The Only Comics Convention Appearance Of The Creator Of Crime Does Not Pay
I don’t even have a distinct memory of how we encountered Charles Biro. He was not on the official program, and he may have approached us to ask directions. How did he learn about the con? As best I recall, he had seen an article about the convention in one of the papers and thought he would stop by the hotel and see what was going on. As simple as that. At first, he thought we were part of the industry and not just a couple of longtime fans. Here was one of the pioneers in comic books who was interested in talking with us! I don’t know how it came about, but we soon adjourned to the bar in the hotel, and for the better part of an evening we talked about comics, old and new. Some things I remember vividly, other things are hazier. I told him how much I had enjoyed reading Daredevil and Black Diamond and the stories of “Crimebuster” in Boy Comics. I said I had had a sense these stories were intended for older comic book readers, because they were filled with serious themes. I remember him saying how almost any theme could be successful in comics, even what he called the “sweet and light,” if it were done as true as possible. Here was someone who wrote stories for comics as diverse as Uncle Charlie’s Fables and Crime Does Not Pay.
Fan-Friends Forever! Randy Cox (right) and his pal Tom Fagan, in a photo taken in summer of 1971 near Tom’s home in Rutland, Vermont—the small New England city that in the early 1970s became the setting for a number of Halloween stories at both Marvel and DC. With them are Tom’s daughter Deana (pronounced “Deen-a” because she was named after James Dean) and their dogs Lobo and Diablo.
It was obvious he’d been keeping up with comics even in his present position as an art director for NBC. That’s why he had an opinion about the new Marvel Daredevil as contrasted with the hero
Society for Comic Art Research and Preservation. The dates of that convention were July 4-7, a convenient holiday for those of us at the Non-Western Studies Seminar. Every day I got on the subway and went to the convention hotel, the Statler-Hilton. It was like having a secret identity. By day a mild-mannered librarian; by night, a comic fan. I hung out with Tom Fagan for most of the convention. I had met Tom two years earlier when he was representing the Charles Tuttle Publishing Company at an education convention in Minneapolis. Whenever Tom went to a new city for Tuttle’s, he always tried to find someone in the area who was into comics, and I had been recommended by none other than Biljo White. I was heavily influenced by the TV series The Avengers that year and showed up at his hotel room wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrella. Ever since, Tom has called me “Steed” after the character Patrick MacNee played in the series. If anyone were to call me “Randy,” Tom would profess not to know whom they meant. I have no memory of just when things happened that weekend and whom we met (although I do remember having Will Eisner sign a collection of Spirit dailies), and a look at the program book only reinforces the fact that memory is often unreliable. I remember buying things in the dealers’ room for prices that seem ridiculously low today, but didn’t at the time.
Biro Was A Star From The Start Biro’s first cover was that of Chesler’s Star Comics #6 (Sept. 1937), seen at left—his second, perhaps Star #9 (Dec. ’37), above. Nice scans of the latter were sent to us by Bruce Mason and Michaël Dewally. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]
Charles Biro—”Some Kind Of Genius”
he had written for Lev Gleason. He didn’t think Marvel should have made the character blind, but he didn’t elaborate and we didn’t ask him to. In recent conversation, Tom says he doesn’t remember this at all. That may be so, because it’s the sort of thing Tom would have asked about. I really don’t remember how it came about (this is nearly 40 years later and I suppose it doesn’t really matter), but Tom and I convinced him that what he’d been talking about with us that night would be equally interesting to the other people at the con. And so we invited him to come back the next day—Sunday. Before we parted that night, I asked for a drawing of Crimebuster and received one in which his monkey, Squeeks, was perched on CB’s shoulder. Biro, having just drawn and signed a picture of Daredevil for Tom, carelessly ID’s CD as Daredevil on mine, as well. When Biro arrived the next day, he recognized us and we introduced him to convention co-host Phil Seuling and asked if there was room for
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an extra pro on the program. Phil, of course, was delighted and invited Biro to speak to the convention. Biro was accompanied this time by his daughter, and Tom spoke with her at some length. Tom told me later that he didn’t think she actually approved of her father getting this close to the comics industry again after all these years. But Charles Biro took the microphone and began to address the audience. I had brought my reel-to-reel tape recorder from my dorm room this time and set it on the edge of the stage, with its microphone as close to the action as possible. I plugged it in and pressed the “record” button. The rest was history, as they say, and at least some of what he had to say that day was captured on tape and is transcribed here. However, I still wish I had taken notes on that first meeting...! CHARLES BIRO: [tape begins in mid-sentence]—something that’s hot and can sell as well, and be as exciting as “Superman,” and I have to admit that. And as I recall, I was asked to come up with one as good or better. Since then, there have been hundreds of characters that were as good or better…. So Steel Sterling was born at that time. [I’ll take] just a second to tell you that I was working [at the Fleischer animation studios] at one time as a storyboard man and story man in the early days of animated cartoons, so I learned a little bit about some semblance of order and logic and plausibility about a story, the continuity. Even [in] animated cartoons, you couldn’t sell anything that just couldn’t tax the imagination of the audience…. You know, once you go beyond the realm of even the most extended plausibility, you’re dead. I mean, nobody believes in junk. That’s got some hook, it retains some relationship to, let’s say some plausibility, some fundamental logic. Another thing that offended me was such a brazen and outward effort at proving that might is right. And this bothered the hell out of me, too. And so I grabbed an opportunity because of a six-page vacancy in Pep Comics—or was it Zip Comics, with “Steel Sterling,” one of those books? INTERVIEWER: Zip Comics. CHARLES BIRO: Zip Comics. And they were going to farm the strip [i.e., let someone besides me do it]. I said, “No, let me try something.” There was no war at the time. Things were getting a little hot in Europe, and a war strip seemed entirely—at that time, I knew it was the first comic book war strip. And I did this character called “Sgt. Boyle,” and it ran for a couple of issues, maybe four or five issues, and
To Beat The (Dare)devil (Above:) For the cover of the late lamented comics-history magazine Comic Book Marketplace #102 (May 2003), editor/publisher Russ Cochran combined images from Daredevil and Boy Comics, then added clever dialogue about Charlie Biro, Bob Wood, and Stan Lee—obliquely referring to the fact that in 1964 Marvel Comics launched a Daredevil comic of its own, of which Biro may (or may not) have taken a somewhat dim view in 1968. [Art ©2007 the respective copyright holders; composite ©2007 Gemstone Publishing, Inc.] (Right:) By ’68, Gene Colan was the artist par excellence of Marvel’s Daredevil, a blind hero who had nothing but his name in common with the earlier Cole/Biro hero. This exquisite Daredevil montage appeared in The Gene Colan Annual: Painting with Pencil from As You Like It Publications in 2000. [Daredevil TM & ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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“He Always Wanted Immortality For His Work” The Three Daughters Of Comics Wizard CHARLES BIRO Talk About Their Famous Father Interview Conducted by Jim Amash Transcribed by Tom Wimbish
C
harles Biro, the celebrated writer/ artist/editor of the Lev Gleason line of comic books (among others), was more than a major influence on the comic book field. He was multi-talented man whose abilities led him into other venues, such as television, advertising, illustration, and invention. He was, by all accounts, a fascinating larger-than-life character, devoted to doing the best work possible. Thanks to his daughters, Denise Ortell, Penny Gold, and Bonnie Biro, we find, upon closer inspection, that Charles Biro was much more than the sum of my previous descriptions. An amazing man in amazing times, Biro will always remain one of the top editorial influences in comics history, as well as one of the most intriguing men who helped build the comics industry. This interview, incidentally, was conducted via a joint phone call to Denise’s and Bonnie’s homes, with Penny on an extension at the former. —Jim.
Charlie’s Kids (Top left:) Charles Biro’s cover for Uncle Charlie’s Fables #2 (March 1952), from Lev Gleason Publications—and (at right) the issue’s inside front cover, in which “Unc” talks to a group of children. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.] His own daughters—(l. to r.) Denise Ortell, Penny Gold, and Bonnie Biro, in photos sent from Denise’s design firm, DFO Creative Consultants. If you mentally transpose the three sisters into the photo from UCF #2, you wind up with a reasonable facsimile of a grouping of the Biro household—minus Mrs. Frances Biro. In fact, Denise writes: "The group of kids on the inside of every cover of Uncle Charlie's Fables was me and my friends from our summer home in Wilton, Connecticut." UCF seems to have been designed, at least in part, to show that the folks who produced Crime Does Not Pay could also do “clean and wholesome.” Except where otherwise noted, all art and photos accompanying this article were sent by the Biro sisters, via Jim Amash and Teresa R. Davidson. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]
“He Always Wanted Immortality For His Work”
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blueberries, and they literally came nose to nose. Grandfather fainted, and that’s the only way he survived. PENNY: They say that’s the best way to escape from bears; they won’t eat dead meat. DENISE: Some time after that, he came back to New York, and we don’t know how he made his money, but he was able to buy a quite a bit of land in Jamaica, Queens. It’s now very valuable property, but unfortunately, we don’t own it. He built a working farm there, and then he became an engineer. I don’t know when he studied for his engineering degree, but he was the chief engineer when they built the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue in Manhattan. There’s a plaque in the Waldorf with his name on it. PENNY: I used to work there in the summer, and the plaque used to be right in front where the doorman was. They moved it recently, though. DENISE: Our grandparents were lovely people. From an eight-yearold’s point of view, he seemed sort-of stern, while she was very loving and warm. JA: Did your grandparents speak Hungarian around the house? PENNY: Our dad remembered the curse words, and some food words, but I don’t think he was fluent in Hungarian once he left home. JA: How many children did your grandparents have? DENISE: They had three sons: Mitchell, Louie, and Charlie. Charlie was the youngest by ten years or more. I guess he was a surprise. Mitchie and Louie were very interesting: they went down to Argentina and introduced boxing there, and set up a boxing federation. PENNY: I was told that later on, Louie invented the electronic tickertape display with the moving letters that they have in Times Square. It was called the Flash-O-Graph in those days.
Back From The Future A character blows up his own “crystal ball” in Boy Illustories #67 (July 1951) to see his future—while Charles Biro’s daughters tell us of their family’s past. Art by William Overgard. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]
“Biro Is A Hungarian Name That Means ‘Judge’” JIM AMASH: When and where was your father born? DENISE ORTELL: He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York, on May 12, 1911. Biro is a Hungarian name that means “judge.” Our grandfather was a judge in Hungary, and when they came over to the United States, he took the name “Biro.” We don’t know the name that they went by in Hungary. Our grandmother was a homemaker. JA: What were your grandparent’s names? PENNY GOLD: Anton and Josephine Biro. I was told that when our grandfather came through Ellis Island and they asked his title and name, the immigration officials were having such trouble with the language that they just took the first part of it. He said, “Judge Anton,” and whatever the last name was, and they just took the first two words. DENISE: Our grandfather was an interesting character. He had to leave his wife in Hungary when he came over here to make his fortune. He mined for gold in Alaska during the Gold Rush. He had an encounter with a bear. He and the bear were both gathering
DENISE: That was Louie and Dad, Penny. Both of their names were on the patent. Louie was also a sculptor; he had large shows in Manhattan, and influential people like the mayor attended. I haven’t been able to find any references to his work on the Internet, though. I think time sort-of washed over it. PENNY: Mitchie and Louie had traveled around the world while our father was still going to school in New York, so they didn’t really have a close relationship with him. BONNIE BIRO: They were relatives, not buddies. They were an extremely creative group. PENNY: They were very rough with Dad. They taught him to swim by throwing him off a bridge. Which is also how he taught me to swim. [laughs] DENISE: Our father went to Jamaica High, and he was what they called in those days a “five-letter man.” He was extremely athletic: he did track, tennis, football, boxing, hockey, golf.
“[Our Dad] Was Driven” PENNY: He was a natural athlete, and he would play almost any sport you could name until he mastered it. DENISE: He was driven. He had to win at whatever he did, and he would take each sport up to the point where he could win at the highest level. If it was ping-pong, he would keep going until he could beat the world champion. In tennis, he played the semi-professional circuit. When we were growing up, we had trophies everywhere you
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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt
you may have missed the first time ‘round! Let’s begin with some panels from the team’s sneaky Captain America tryout in Strange Tales #114 (Nov. 1963), as seen atop the facing page. In this sequence The Human Torch digs a Golden Age comic out of his collection and rhapsodizes over Cap and the good ol’ days! Next, at left center on that page, we have The Thing reading an “Ant-Man” comic story, seconds after the real AntMan left the Baxter Building! This pic appeared in Fantastic Four #17 (Aug. 1963). Johnny Storm certainly loved comics, especially those by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962) features the highly collectible (and highly combustible!) first issue of The Incredible Hulk, worth about $25,000 today! I’ll bet Johnny’s sorry he was such a hothead back then! And who could forget the kid holding a copy of the FF letters page in FF #11 (Feb. 1963)? It isn’t often you see a super-team picking up the latest issue of their own magazine! Finally, we have this famous scene just moments before The Human Torch rediscovers and revives the flophouse derelict that turns out to be Prince Namor himself! Johnny turned his attention to a 1940s Sub-Mariner comic that just happened to be in the room. And you thought Jolly Jack never drew a Golden Age Subby cover!
Comics Within Comics—Atlas Style!! But comics within comics showed up even before the ’60s. Here are a couple of examples that appeared in Marvel comics in the ’50s. In these panels (see at top of this page) from “The Pit of Fear” in Atlas’ Adventures into Weird Worlds #10 (Sept. 1952), cartoonist Bill Everett shows us that even demons love reading comics! And finally… At right is a neat story called “You Can’t Escape!” from Adventures into Terror #6 (Oct. 1951). Talk about overkill! Every panel from this page presents a part of the comic book the reader was reading. The plot has the vampire setting up his victims by inserting his own professionally drawn pages into the very issue of Adventures into Terror the reader just bought! Now what would Dr. Wertham have done with that, I wonder?
The End Michael here: We hope you enjoyed Jerry’s brief look at comic book characters who read comics. Naturally, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Someday we hope to showcase some of Jerry’s other discoveries. Next: “Twice-Told Marvel Heroes (Part 2),” featuring The Avengers––from 1940! Trust me, you don’t want to miss this! For more comic book oddities, make sure to check out my website at: http://mrmonster.com/ Till next time…
[All art this page ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
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A Dose Of Reality A 2007 Interview with Black-&-White Horror Comics Publisher ROBERT GERSON Interview Conducted by Richard Arndt
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any readers of Alter Ego will be totally unfamiliar with the two issues of the black-&-white comics magazine Reality, published in the early 1970s. May Ye Editor make a confession? I was one of that uncognizant group. But Richard Arndt sent me this interview with its publisher, Robert Gerson, and I thought that it would be a perfect fit in this Halloween issue, since several of the then-young artists who contributed to it (Bernie Wrightson, Michael W. Kaluta, Jeffrey Jones) went on to illustrious careers. So we’ll let the interview—and the accompanying pictures— tell the story. By the time you’re finished reading, you may not only wish you knew even more about Reality—but wish you had copies of both issues! —Roy.
That’s What We Call Starting Out At The Top! Robert Gerson in 2007, juxtaposed with three covers from the two issues of Reality. (Left to right:) The front cover of issue #1 (Nov. 1970) was painted by Jeffrey Jones—that of #2 (which came out sometime between Jan. and May of 1971) by Larry Todd—with a back cover by Michael W. Kaluta, which sported the issue’s logo! Unless otherwise specified, all art accompanying this interview was provided by Richard Arndt. Photo courtesy of R. Gerson. [Illos ©2007 respectively Jeffrey Jones & Michael W. Kaluta.]
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Celebrating 40 Years Of SQUA TRONT! by Bill Schelly
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n American pop culture, 1967 is remembered for the Summer of Love, when the “Flower Children” made their way to San Francisco.
In comic fandom circles, 1967 is remembered (among other things) as the year the moldy zombies and slithering aliens of EC comics walked back onto center stage, in the pages of a fanzine that would prove to be a classic of its form: Squa Tront! Forty years have passed since the halcyon days when Kansas comic book fanatics Jerry Weist and Roger Hill published the first issue of what would prove to be not only the greatest EC fanzine of all time (and there have been quite a few), but the longestlasting. We might have missed the opportunity to celebrate Squa Tront’s 40th birthday, if Chris Kettler—who himself worked on the
Who Says EC Fans Didn’t Like SuperHeroes? Jerry Weist (left) and Roger Hill were the original editors of the EC fanzine Squa Tront. This photo was sent by Roger, who writes: “Here’s a photo of Jerry and me, taken around 1968, in my room where I grew up (parents’ house). We’re holding the original [‘HeMan’] house ad for Mad #5 (1953) by Wally Wood.”
early issues of the mag—hadn’t introduced himself to us at this year’s ComicCon International in San Diego and promptly suggested such a piece.
A 40th anniversary is certainly remarkable in the world of fanzine publishing. So what if there was a 20-year “hiatus” between Squa Tront #9 and 10? John Benson, who took over the editorship with issue #5, assures us that he always intended to publish more issues—and continued gathering material as the years went on—but didn’t have the time until he semi-retired after the advent of the new millennium. The fanzine wasn’t dead; it was merely hibernating. And so, let’s take a look at the origin of Squa Tront, the “ultimate EC fanzine,” and how it returned in recent years, with input from Roger Hill and John Benson.
The Origin of Squa Tront The Squa Tront story began in the early days of fandom, when two buddies going to Derby High School in Derby, Kansas, discovered the wonders of EC Comics. “I first started collecting ECs back in 1964,” Roger Hill wrote in Squa Tront #4 (1970). “Jerry Weist dropped by one day with the first EC that he or I had ever seen. It was a copy of Panic #7, and my first impression was that this EC comic really wasn’t too great.” Then Roger saw his first New Trend issue. “[Jerry] had just received in the mail Haunt of Fear #15, which he had bought from a fellow in Michigan. Wham!! The outstanding artwork and excellent story content of the EC comics hit me like a ton of bricks.” From that point on, Hill and Weiss collected every EC comic book they could get their hands on.
Spa Fon, Meet Squa Tront! Roger Hill’s cover to Squa Tront #1 (Sept. 1967) was an homage to Wally Wood’s great art in the EC science-fiction comics. Covers imitating the logo-style and look of EC comics became commonplace in later years, but this was one of the first. It was also one of the first full-color fanzine covers. [Art ©2007 Roger Hill.]
In a recent telephone chat, Roger explained what happened next. “We started to get involved in fandom in the next year, and began collecting any fanzine with EC material. Rich Hauser’s Spa Fon was the first EC fanzine we’d ever seen. Then another collector in town, Bob Barrett, a long time Frazetta collector, told us about Reed Crandall. He was living in Wichita at the time and working for Warren Publications and Tower Comics. We were like ‘Oh my God, there’s an EC artist living right here in Wichita.’ We couldn’t believe it!” About the same time, the editors of Spa Fon showed up. “Rich Hauser, Helmut Mueller, and Wally Reichert came to town,”
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first convention Frank had ever attended in his life. He and Ellie lived out on Long Island at that time, so the convention people put them up in a hotel suite. Everyone was so enthused with the Frazettas and Frank’s work that they actually drove back to Long Island on Sunday morning and hauled in just every major Frazetta painting he had done at that time, along with a stack of Johnny Comet and Ace McCoy Sunday and daily strips. You couldn’t buy the paintings, but you could buy those original dailies for 25 bucks a hit or the Sundays for 75—all you wanted. And there were very few people buying them, because that was a lot of money then.” Needless to say, Jerry and Roger were able to sell a lot of copies of Squa Tront #1 at the con, and before too long, Weist sent the issue back to press in an edition fully saddlestitched. (The first one was loose sheets stapled between a wraparound cover.) Soon, Weist and Hill had made solid contacts with most of the EC professionals, and issues #2 through #4 were loaded with rare artwork and personal reminiscences, interviews, and opinion pieces. It was a fanzine of the highest quality, not so much for the lay-outs and articles, but for the sheer quality of the artwork—much of it unseen before— that could be found within (and on) its covers. The material on Frank Frazetta and Harvey Kurtzman was especially outstanding. Those four issues alone were a sterling achievement. And, for a while, it looked like they would be the only issues of Squa Tront.
Enter: John Benson.
An Origin-Al Cover Al Williamson’s cover for Squa Tront #2 (Sept. 1968) gave evidence that Jerry Weist and Roger Hill had made contacts with former EC artists (and writers), which became a major draw for readers. Not many fanzines in this era had a comparable level of professional support. [Art ©2007 Al Williamson.]
John had been involved with EC fandom from the 1950s, and had been the first person to conduct in-depth interviews with Harvey Kurtzman and Bernard Krigstein. In the early 1970s, he got in touch with Jerry Weist, who had graduated from college and opened a science-fiction bookstore in Boston. As related by Roger Hill, “Benson got in touch with Jerry and asked, ‘What’s happening with Squa Tront?’ Jerry said, ‘I’m not doing it any more.’ Benson said, ‘I’ve been thinking a long time about articles I’d like to see published in an EC fanzine. Why don’t I take over the editorship?’ Jerry replied, ‘That’s fine with me.’ And John took over from then on.”
Hill remembered. “All of us went over to Reed Crandall’s place, and he showed us what he was working on. We had a great time, and after the Spa Fon boys left, we were all hyped up, and Jerry came up with this idea. He said, ‘Let’s do an EC fanzine. We’ll call it Squa Tront!’ Naturally, after Spa Fon, what else could you call it? In fact, we always kind of thought of Spa Fon as our sister publication.” Roger, an aspiring artist, drew a cover inspired by Wally Wood’s work for the EC science-fiction comics, and he drafted his mother to work on the fanzine, too. “My mother did all the typing, on an IBM typewriter. She had access to an IBM typewriter because she was a secretary at a big corporation in Wichita for years. There was a way on there that you could justify your margins, and the type looked more professional than a regular typewriter.” The first issue was completed and printed—a run of 500 copies—in time to take it to the 1967 World Science Fiction Convention in New York City. Weist and Hill stuffed a couple of suitcases full of copies and headed to the Big Apple to sell as many as they could. “What a convention!” Hill enthused. “At this time, comics fandom was really starting to get organized… with Phil Seuling and John Benson and some of those guys on the East Coast. So when we got to New York City, here was Phil Seuling set up at the World Con, selling Golden Age and Silver Age comic books, and ECs. “It just happened that the Guests of Honor at the Dum-Dum, which was the meeting of Edgar Rice Burroughs fans during the World Con, were Hal Foster and Frank Frazetta. I’m pretty sure this was the
How Much Am I Bid For…? A photo of Jerry Weist (left) and Roger Hill holding the original Batman cover of Mad, painted by Norman Mingo, at Sotheby’s Auction House (for which Roger worked). Taken in the mid-1990s.
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Jerry Ordway: A Modern Master Interview by Eric Nolen-Weathington
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elebrating the release of Eric Nolen-Weathington’s Volume 13 of his Modern Masters series, spotlighting artist Jerry Ordway, FCA presents the following excerpt (including unpublished outtakes) from the book, focusing on Ordway’s Power of Shazam! comic series from the 1990s—and how he incorporated former Fawcett characters into the stories. Check out the TwoMorrows ad this issue and order Modern Masters Vol.13: Jerry Ordway today. —PCH ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON: With The Power of Shazam! you brought in a wide range of Fawcett heroes. Minute-Man, Bulletman, and Spy Smasher appeared early on in the series, as part of a flashback. You didn’t bring in Mr. Scarlet until the very end. JERRY ORDWAY: Well, you know, one of the big problems was that I was searching for comics. I wasn’t able to buy the really expensive back issues. Because DC didn’t own the character until more recently, they didn’t have an archive. DC’s got this great library of bound volumes of all the DC books and whatever companies became DC books. And you can go in there, into their hallowed halls, and sit down with a notebook and read. One of my trips into DC was to go through their Fawcett collection, but they didn’t have very much. They really were very spotty. They had a handful of Captain Marveltype things, but they didn’t really have any of the other characters. So I was always on the search for those, and I would find them in some reprint form here and there. But then I started having a little more luck finding them on microfiche. So, some of those characters could have been in there if I had more information on them at that point. I don’t know why, but
Excerpt edited by P.C. Hamerlinck I think I referenced Mr. Scarlet in the first year, though, somehow... EN: Yeah, I think his name was mentioned, but you didn’t... ORDWAY: We didn’t have a good visual for him. You know, it’s funny because now, with the Internet, you can find all this stuff. At the time, when I was doing the book, all you had were expensive back issues, because there really wasn’t anything reprinted. To this day, the only guy who has really reprinted much of that stuff has been Bill Black, through his AC titles. So it was kind-of an adventure for me to read about it. I never really had that much of an idea of the impact of all the Fawcett stuff. The only one we weren’t allowed to use was Captain Midnight … but we used what we could, and we even did a Captain Midnight-esque thing, we just had to change him a little bit. But I was totally fascinated. We used all the stupid names, the obscure ones, that we could find. I went back to the reprint of Whiz #1, and there’s Lance O’Casey … I went through all the guys in there, because I just thought if anybody knew it, it was fun, and if you didn’t know it, it didn’t detract anything. EN: Exactly. ORDWAY: That’s adding a little extra layer, and it was all there for the reader’s fun. And the people who knew the stuff enjoyed it, and the people who didn’t know, it was just another name.
“You’ve Either Got Or You Haven’t Got Style!” Jerry Ordway’s drawing of Captain Marvel for the DC Comics Style Guide. [©2007 DC Comics.]
EN: The villains you brought in more slowly. Early on you had a plotline with Blaze, bringing her in
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from “Superman.” ORDWAY: When I did the regular series, they didn’t say, “Do whatever you want.” When I did the regular series, the main goal was, this has to be integrated in the DC Universe, because that’s never successfully been done. “Shazam!” has always been a thing on its own, and every one of those big DC crossovers that happened when we were doing The Power of Shazam!, “Shazam!” is part of every one of those. And sometimes that meant you had to set your own story aside, or rethink something. Like, with Underworld Unleashed, we had to change our ending. I mean, we did as much as we could, but basically [Mark] Waid’s spin kind of trumped us, not in timeliness, but because it was a bigger crossover. So originally the way that Power of Shazam! #12 was going to pan out was … and he and I both read the same Marvel comics when we were kids, obviously, and we were both riffing on a thing that Neal Adams drew in his one or two issues of Thor he did when Kirby left Marvel. With Stan Lee he did this thing where Thor just projected this goodness that sickened Loki. And that was what I wanted to do, because I thought that was kind of like a cute little thing, plus it had a little tie to my fanhood instincts. And then I found out, lo and behold, that’s what Waid’s planning for Captain Marvel and Neron. EN: And it even sounds like something that Captain Marvel would do back in the ’40s or something. ORDWAY: Yeah. I mean, again, it was a cute idea, and when you’re working for DC Comics, you’re working for the better good of the DC Universe, and that’s part of … I’ve always been a team player. Some people quit over stuff like that. I just forge ahead. And we had the same—I shouldn’t say exactly the same—but we had another issue with Kingdom Come and Mr. Mind. And, again, Alex Ross and I saw the same stupid Star Trek movie, and we saw the same Diamond Is A Super-Hero’s Best Friend bad TV shows and movies when we were kids, too. Ordway art from a Diamond Previews catalog. [©2007 DC Comics.] He had this idea about using Mr. Mind secretly controlling Captain Marvel, and it was like, “Well, case it was like, well, let’s use Mr. Atom and have the ulterior motive of gee.” Y’know? And I had a conversation with Dan Raspler, and I said, doing something really drastic to bring Mary’s adoptive parents into “Look, this is part of our plan.” Again, it was the year-long plan, and it Billy’s life. And Mr. Atom fit into that. Not at that point, I guess we seemed like it was a good idea and I felt like maybe I got there first, or introduced him. I don’t remember when we blew up Fairfield … maybe we both got there at the same time and just neither of us knew it. But what do you do? I don’t know if any of that ever contributed to EN: That was eight, ten issues later. … I love Alex’s work, but he said some nasty things in the fan press about Power of Shazam!, and that always made me wonder if it was ORDWAY: Well, we set him in place. over any of that stuff, or just the fact that he thought he knew how to EN: You used pretty much everyone from the Captain Marvel do it better or something. But he seemed kind of resentful, and I always mythology, but you didn’t use King Kull. thought that was weird, because, y’know, I was doing my best. EN: You updated Mr. Atom and made him look like a Transformer, almost. Was that what you had in mind? ORDWAY: I think Pete [Krause] wanted to do him more like what Alex Ross had done with him on Kingdom Come. We talked a lot during the run, and while I don’t think he necessarily suggested too many story ideas, he did have ideas here and there about stuff — “Oh, it would be fun to draw this, or fun to draw that.” So I think in that
ORDWAY: No. I had an idea for him, though. I was planning on using him. I was gearing him up towards the issue #50. I was going to do something with him taking over the Rock of Eternity. I think he did that once in the past. [Editors Note: Not quite, Jerry, but Kull once crept into the abandoned subway’s secret underground hall and brought to life the statues of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man in Captain Marvel Adventures #137, Oct. 1952. —PCH] He was one of those characters I think, it could have been kind of fun to do in a semi-