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CATACLYSMIC CONFRONTATIONS No.85 IN THE COSMOS, May 2009 IN CANDY STORES —& IN COURT! SPECIAL

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ALSO:

GOLDEN AGE GREATNESS WITH

´ LILY RENEE & CENTAUR COMICS!

Unlock the FINAL secrets of the JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA (& friends) !

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• Amazing new info on the Golden Age JSA—including every JUNIOR JUSTICE SOCIETY message ever—and an incredible index of the solo stories of the original JSAers, from 1939 to 1951! • Sensational new JSA and INFINITY, INC. cover by JERRY ORDWAY, drawn especially for this volume! • The OTHER 1940s Hero Groups Examined in Depth! THE SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY—THE MARVEL FAMILY—THE ALL WINNERS SQUAD— & M.C. Gaines’ own INTERNATIONAL CRIME PATROL! • Issue-by-issue 1980s spotlight on INFINITY, INC. & SECRET ORIGINS! • Rare, often unpublished art & artifacts by: ALEX ROSS * TODD McFARLANE JOE KUBERT * CARMINE INFANTINO ALEX TOTH * GIL KANE MURPHY ANDERSON * IRWIN HASEN WAYNE BORING * SHELDON MOLDOFF MORT MESKIN * GENE COLAN MART NODELL * HARRY LAMPERT DON NEWTON * GEORGE TUSKA PAUL REINMAN * JOE GALLAGHER CHESTER KOZLAK * LEE ELIAS E.E. HIBBARD * ARTHUR PEDDY JIM VALENTINO * ALAN KUPPERBERG MICHAEL T. GILBERT * RICK HOBERG MIKE SEKOWSKY * JACK BURNLEY MIKE MACHLAN * FRANK HARRY DICK DILLIN * BERNARD KRIGSTEIN H.G. PETER * MICHAEL BAIR —& many others! VOLUM E FOUR

Companion

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Vol. 3, No. 85 / May 2009 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 Productions

Cover Artist & Colorist Rich Buckler

With Special Thanks to: Greg Huneryager Rob Allen Jay Kinney Heidi Amash Dominique Leonard Henry Andrews Don Mangus Matt D. Baker Bruce Mason Dennis Beaulieu Jake Oster John Benson Barry Pearl Jon Berk Lily Renée Phillips Dominic Bongo Nick Pollack Lee Boyette Rubén Procopio Rich Buckler John James Pulaski, Jr. Susan Burgos Ken Quattro Nick Cardy Mikhaela B. Reid Dick Cole Bob Rivard Mark D. Cotnam Trina Robbins Craig Delich Fred Robinson Michaël Dewally Steven Rowe Betty Dobson Bob Rozakis Jim Engel Jean Schanberger Mark Evanier John Selegue Jon R. Evans Jean-Michel Ferragatti Ted Skimmer Flo Steinberg Martin Filchock Marc Swayze Jim Fitzpatrick Jeff Taylor Shane Foley Dann Thomas Janet Gilbert Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Lew Glanzman Vaughn Warren Bob Greenberger Robert Wiener Walt Grogan Monte Wolverton Lawrence P. Guidry Jennifer Hamerlinck Alex Wright Fred Hembeck

Contents writer/editorial: Of Shazam!, Señorita Rio, And Centaurs . . 2 “I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!” . . . . . . . . . . 3 The understatement of the year from Golden Age artist Lily Renée, interviewed by Jim Amash.

Centaur Spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The amazing story of the little-known but astonishing Centaur Comics Group, by Lee Boyette.

“Pow! Bam! Zap!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Bob Rozakis spins Part 7 of his “Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc.”

Comic Crypt: In Praise Of Picto! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Michael T. Gilbert and Mr. Monster celebrate EC’s Picto-Fiction mags—and their most brazen imitator!

A Tribute To Creig Flessel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 60 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America #144] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze, DC vs. Fawcett, Rich Buckler—& The Wall Street Journal! On Our Cover: Especially for this issue, Rich Buckler re-did his cover for the historic “Superman vs. Shazam!” tabloid-size comic of more than three decades ago—only switching the Superman and Captain Marvel figures! For the full story, see this issue’s FCA section and its intriguing interview with Rich. [Superman & Shazam! hero TM & ©2009 DC Comics.] Above: A powerful “Lost World” splash panel by Lily Renée, from Planet Comics #42 (May 1946), repro’d from a copy as reprinted in Trina Robbins’ 2001 volume The Great Women Cartoonists. Thanks to Trina for her blessing in using this art. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Creig Flessel

Alter EgoTM is published 8 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: $88 US, $140 Canada, $210 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.

writer/editorial

Of Shazam!, Señorita Rio, And Centaurs Y

et once again, we bit off more than we could chew. We really ought to be getting used to the taste by now. How do these things happen?

Well, you start off simply—knowing it’s been a year since Alter Ego last featured a double-size helping of Fawcett Collectors of America—so you discuss one with FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck, and between you, you even line up a spanking-new cover by your old buddy Rich Buckler to go with its Captain Marvel/Superman theme. Next you talk with associate-editor-slash-indefatigable-interviewer Jim Amash to be sure that his entry for the issue, the long-awaited talk with Golden Age great Lily Renée, will be ready in time for you to line up and arrange ample art to accompany it. It will. Then you recall that you have on hand this piece by Lee Boyette that you really want to get into the mag: an awesome overview of the fabled yet nearly forgotten (if that’s not a contradiction in terms) Centaur Comics Group and related companies of the late 1930s and early ’40s, stretching back even before the Golden Age. And you decide you’ve just gotta squeeze that in, too.

Well, when push came to shove, our shoehorn wasn’t quite up to the task. FCA’s twenty pages are here—and the complete Renée interview— but we had so much Centaur-related art on hand, thanks first and foremost to Lee Boyette and his pal Jon R. Evans, but also to several other generous souls, that we decided the only way to do Lee’s survey justice was to serialize it, hopefully with no more than a couple of months between installments. So that, by the time it’s been totally printed, you’ll have had an illustration-laden tour of the company that brought the world Amazing-Man, The Eye, and “Speed” Centaur. Present and accounted for, naturally, for the 85th issue in a row, is Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt.” Bob Rozakis’ faux history of AllAmerican Publications is back, with its penultimate A/E chapter—while Bill Schelly’s “Comic Fandom Archive” will return next issue. And, with that pulsatin’ preview, it’s time to charge ahead—on centaur-back, of course! Bestest,

COMING IN JUNE

“WHAT HATH KURTZMAN WROUGHT?” The Mid-1950s Color MAD Imitations— I.e., From SUPERDUPERMAN to NUTS!

• Furshlugginer full-color cover featuring art by Mad creator HARVEY KURTZMAN and some of the era’s greatest artists! • The Mad wannabes of 1953-55—when everybody in comics was aping EC’s new smash hit! “Captain Marble”—“Drag-ula”—“Mighty Moose”—“Four-Flush Gordon”— “Prince Scallion”—“20,000 Leaks under the Sea”—“Tick Dracy”—surveyed by GER APELDOORN, with a sidebar on Harvey Comics’ horrific humor by JOHN BENSON! • Awesome ’50s art & artifacts by (take a deep breath!): ANDRU & ESPOSITO, AYERS, BERG, BRODSKY, BURGOS, COLAN, COLE, DAVIS, DISBROW, DITKO, DRUCKER, EVERETT, FAGO, GIORDANO, HARTLEY, HEATH, HUBBELL, KUBERT, LEE, MANEELY, MAURER, NOSTRAND, OVERGARD, POST, POWELL, REINMAN, SEVERIN, SIMON & KIRBY, WOOD, et al.—at their funniest and most frantic! • Plus—a frank talk with Golden/Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE (Crimebuster, Red Mask, Dr. Solar, etc.)—conducted by JIM AMASH! • MICHAEL T. GILBERT & GER APELDOORN on the “Lost KURTZMAN Years”—BILL SCHELLY’s Comic Fandom Archive—FCA with MARC SWAYZE & a special tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS

SUBSCRIBE NOW! Twelve Issues in the US: $88 Standard, $120 First Class (Canada: $140, Elsewhere: $210 Surface, $230 Airmail). NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE SUB, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!” The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist LILY RENÉE

NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Lily Renée’s comic book work was mainly done for Fiction House during the 1940s on features such as “Señorita Rio,” “Werewolf Hunter,” “Jane Martin,” and “The Lost World.” I must admit that, as much as I like her work, I have a greater fascination for her biography. Born during the 1920s in Vienna, her youthful struggles against the Nazis and the prejudices of the war-torn England populace are compellingly heart-wrenching. I admire Mrs. Lily Renée Phillips for her bravery and strength in the face of troubled times and unenlightened attitudes, and I imagine everyone who reads her story will feel the same. —Jim.

“Vienna Was A Beautiful City” JIM AMASH: Did you get a lot of support from your family? How supportive were people of you being an artist? LILY RENÉE: They were proud of my ability to draw. When I was six years old, a lot of things happened; in a way it was the high point of my life. I had an art exhibition of my drawings, and also won a contest for a photo of me that my mother sent in. The prize for the contest was a movie contract, but my father was not letting his daughter enter show business. At school I was chosen to dance the little rose in the Schubert song “Heidenröslein.” The head of the education department was there and said to my parents he would see to it that I was admitted at the opera-ballet. Again my father would not let me join. JA: Were there art classes in school? RENÉE: Yes, my artwork from the exhibit was from my art class. JA: You say you were living a little bit in your own kind of fantasy world….

Señorita Renée (Left:) A recent photo of Lily Renée, which appeared with the too-short article about her in Alter Ego #70. (Above:) A Fight Comics splash by Ms. Renée, as retouched and reprinted in AC Comics’ America’s Greatest Comics #14 (2006). [Photo ©2009 Trina Robbins; page ©2009 AC Comics, Inc.]

The Life And Times Of Golden Age Artist Lily Renée

RENÉE: Yes, I was, quite a lot. When my cousin Charlie came over, we always pretended our carpet was really a flying carpet, and we had adventures in the exotic countries we visited. When I was alone, my fantasy showed up in my drawings. JA: What was it like to live in Vienna back then? RENÉE: Vienna was a beautiful city with a lot of style. There were many churches; the best known was a Gothic one with a very high spire called “Stephan’s Dome,” and the most beautiful one—which I could see from our windows—was “Karl’s Kirche,” which had a copper dome covered in green partina. There was a wide street called The Ring, which circled around the inner city and had all of Vienna’s important buildings on it: the Opera, two museums, the University, the Parliament, etc. We lived in the center of the city in a comfortable apartment. Life was less rushed than in New York. A lot of attention was paid to the preparation of food. I was an only child and often lonely. I started drawing at an early age, maybe at the age of three. Later I read a lot, as well. I also enjoyed dancing. My Nanny took me to the Stadtpark [State Park], where she had to pay for an iron fold-up-chair to sit on, and I would play with my diabolo, or push my big wooden hoop with a little stick and run after it. There were “Do not step on grass” signs everywhere. JA: What was your economic situation at the time of your childhood?

Austrian Anschluss, 1938 The German troops—this one from an armored car unit—received an enthusiastic welcome in Vienna. This photo is dated March 21, 1938. Lily says she mostly remembers that many of them arrived on motorcycles.

RENÉE: My parents were well off; we lived comfortably, had servants, and gave dinner parties. I had lots of toys but I was lonely. JA: Did you have any friends who were interested in art and near the same age as you? RENÉE: No, but the grownups around me were interested in art. I was taken to museums and art galleries, and through my parents’ friends I met some artists. JA: What was it that you drew? RENÉE: I drew clowns, ballerinas, tigers, and scenes that depicted what you would see in theatres. My parents took me to the theatre, where I saw some ballets, and I also went to dance classes. When I was older, I went to the opera twice a year with my school. JA: During your teenage years, did you make a decision that you would make a career in theatre or art? RENÉE: Yes, somehow I was convinced I would be involved in theatre or visual arts. JA: You were a teenager when Hitler came to power in Austria. What was it like for you? RENÉE: When Austria became a part of the German Reich, Jewish people lost all protection. A lot of people went to concentration camps. I wasn’t allowed to go to school, and it was just scary when walking out on the street. We always had to stand in line to get our documents stamped; and at one point, all the people who were standing in line were taken into a synagogue. The Nazis were standing all around us, and we were afraid they were going to set fire to the synagogue. Nothing happened, but I don’t know how long I stood in there. It was terrifying. I looked at one of these big men who was standing next to me. For some reason, I thought he was protecting me because I was a pretty girl. I looked at him, and I saw this totally cold face, and it was such a shock, and then I knew I was completely unprotected. I think I was thirteen when this happened. JA: The people in the town: were they pro-Nazi or anti-Nazi? RENÉE: Apparently, the Nazis were welcomed with open arms by the Viennese. It was awful. You have no idea. When they marched into

Vienna—well, they didn’t march. They came mostly on motorcycles. I can still hear the sound of the motorcycles in my mind: vroom-vroom-vroomvroom-vroom. We were listening to the radio when the son of the people who lived in the same house knocked on the door and said the Nazi headquarters needed another radio. I couldn’t believe—this is how it started—images of the helplessness. I remember my father walking over to the radio, picking it up, and handing it to this guy. So we couldn’t listen to it any more. You had to be there; otherwise, you don’t know what it was like. Just trying to get out was very hard, because we didn’t have any relatives in other countries. We lived this way for about two years. Everybody was trying to get out, but without a passport that allowed you to re-enter, other countries were not willing to let you in. We had to have someone who guaranteed that we would never be a burden on the state. That was hard to find if you did not have relatives in other countries. I had taken English in school, and was given a correspondence friend by the name of Molly Kealy in England. My parents had invited her to spend the summer with us the year before Hitler came to power, but her parents thought she was too young. Now we were asking them to send a visitor’s permit for me to come to England. It took almost a year for it to arrive. It helped me to get on one of the children’s transports (Kindertransport) for which England paid the Nazis for every child on it. I went to England late in ’39. I had to say goodbye to my parents. All the parents were standing behind bars at the station, and the children were waving to them. We had a cardboard square with a number on it around our necks, and we were given food parcels. As soon as the train started moving out of Vienna, everybody was eating. The Nazis were at the border and inspected our luggage. I had made a terra cotta figure which I was really proud of, and they took it out. It was wrapped in towels, and the guard stomped on it. He stomped on it and broke it into pieces. The woman who was the head of the Kindertransport came over to me because I was crying. She said, “Don’t cry, you can make another one. You are in one piece, and you’re getting out of this.” JA: When you were at the train station, were you afraid that you wouldn’t ever see your parents again?

“I’m Not Typical For Doing Comics, You Know!”

RENÉE: Of course. All of us were; that’s why we were eating. We wanted to be reassured. The youngest one was under a year old. I would say about a hundred children were on this train, which was paid for by England.

“When I Came To America…” JA: And what happened to you there? RENÉE: Molly was a lovely girl, but her mother thought by bringing me over she would get unpaid help in the household. I think I was a shock to her: too well-dressed and not trained in household duties. At home, I was not even allowed in the kitchen, since our cook did not like it. Anyway, Molly and her dad ate their main meals out, and Molly’s mother would eat after she sent me to the store for some groceries. The only meals I had were breakfast, and in the late afternoon when everybody was home for “high tea.” During this time I was trying to get my parents out of Austria. England let people in if they had a domestic situation, meaning they could be a cook or a butler. My parents were willing to do anything to get out of

Austria. I was interviewed by two very nice families in lovely homes, where I described how my mother was a fabulous cook, and how my handsome father was suited to be their butler. Both families backed out, saying that they would not feel comfortable with my parents as domestics because they would be too much like their peers. They did not see that it was a matter of life or death. Anyway, the war broke out, and we were cut off from Austria. Molly’s mother thought she was stuck with me and said, “You don’t even know if your parents are still alive.” After that, I knew I could not spend another night in that house. I walked into Leeds from Horseforth, a suburb of Leeds, with no money for the bus fare, and went to an employment agency, where I lied about my age and said I want to be a “mother’s helper.” I got a job right away, since there were so many requests for “mother’s helpers”! JA: The situation with the wicked mother…how long did that last? RENÉE: Less than a month. JA: When did your parents get out? RENÉE: I did not know what was happening to them, since I was completely cut off. But they got an affidavit and came to New York about 18 months after I left Austria. They wrote to Bloomsburg House, which was the agency that helped children who were on the Kindertransport, and asked for us to be united. Bloomsburg House wrote to me and told me about my parents’ request, and that I was scheduled to leave for America. Unfortunately, I had the worst listing as an alien you could have— “enemy alien,” because I had lied about not having a camera when I was asked by a Scotland Yard agent. I was afraid they would take it away from me, and it was a very good camera. Because of this, I was not supposed to move and had to report every week to the police station. I decided not to tell anyone, called my cousin in London, took a taxi to the train station in the middle of the night, and went to London. JA: When your parents got to America, were they able to take any money with them, or did they just go with the clothes they were wearing? RENÉE: My father inherited two apartment buildings in Vienna, which he gave to the Nazis in order to get out. They were able to put their furnishings and china and all of that into what was called a “lift.” You could put all of your stuff on a wagon on the railroad. Unfortunately, the train was bombed in Holland, and everything was destroyed. They came to America with nothing. JA: How did you get the money to come to America? Or did you need it? RENÉE: I came on another children’s transport that traveled from England to America. JA: So you came to America… RENÉE: ...on the Rotterdam. It was ironic, since it was a ship from the Holland-American line, of which my father had been the director in Vienna. JA: Did you go to New York?

War Stories Lily Renée’s artwork appeared in a good many war-oriented Fiction House comics, as in this copy of Rangers Comics #26 (Dec. 1945) whose Joe Doolin cover she autographed for collector Vaughn Warren. It contained one of her “Werewolf Hunter” tales. Thanks to Vaughn and to John Selegue. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

RENÉE: Yes. We were supposed to leave in a convoy, but the sailor who was trying to get the anchor up fell overboard, and we were unable to leave [at that particular time]. [Once we were on the ocean,] we sailed in a zigzag pattern. Everybody was seasick. A boy and I were the only ones who were not seasick and could enjoy every meal. On its return trip, the Rotterdam was sunk by a U-boat.

Centaur Spread The Amazing, Keen, and Funny Story Of The CENTAUR COMICS GROUP by Lee Boyette

A/E

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article and its attendant listings were put together by Lee B. especially for this magazine. As it turned out, however, the amount of information covered on a subject about which relatively little has been written— added to the outpouring of scans of Centaur artwork from several enthusiastic collectors, on top of those provided by Lee and his friend Jon R. Evans—has forced us to split the material into several parts, in order to be able to fully illustrate the piece. Our heartfelt thanks to Jon for helping expedite this survey in every way.

Meet You In The Funny Pages Brimming with artists such as Rafael Astarita, Bill Everett, Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Basil Wolverton, Carl Burgos, Paul Gustavson, Harold De Lay, Tarpé Mills, and Fred Schwab, and with a roll call of characters that includes Amazing-Man, The Eye, The Shark, Meteor Martin, The Arrow, Blue Lady, The Rainbow, “Speed” Centaur, Little Dynamite, Fire-Man, The Owl, and Mighty Man— the Centaur group of comics remains a complex, baffling mystery… mainly as to how, and why, they managed to last for so long with such confusing issue numbers and titles, while going through so many renovations (and re-issues) with so little style, content, or quality!

with the May 1942 issues. But there are no less than three companies that existed before Centaur which have ties to it. Confused? Allow a longtime comics researcher to elaborate: In early 1936, two ex-employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (founding publisher of National/DC)—William H. Cook and John Mahon— inaugurated a new line of comics: The Comics Magazine Company. Its initial offering was titled The Comics Magazine and had a cover date of May 1936. It consisted mainly of one-to-two-page stories of various types: humor, funny animal, Western, puzzles, text stories, and magic tricks—

Joseph J. Hardie’s Centaur line began with March 1938 cover dates and ended

The Beginning And The End Amazing-Man—the classic hero and the best-known character to come out of any Centaur-related comics title—flanked by the earliest and latest covers dealt with in this multi-part article: The Comics Magazine #1 (May 1936) & the 1942 oddity C-M-O Chicago Mail Order Company Comics #2; cover artists of both uncertain. Thanks to Jean-Michel Ferragatti for a scan of Sam Glanzman’s cover for Amazing-Man #15 (Aug. 1940). Except where noted, all art accompanying this article was either provided by Lee Boyette & Jon R. Evans, or (in the case of a few covers, such as the ones above) are repro’d from the Gerbers’ indispensable Picto-Journal Guide to Comic Books. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.] Naturally, we regret that photos (or other images) of most of the publishers, editors, and other creative personnel mentioned are unavailable.

Centaur Spread

Clock Work (Left:) George Brenner’s hero The Clock graced the cover of the fifth issue of Funny Picture Stories, dated Nov. 1936. He was the first masked modern-day hero in comic books. This issue’s story was recently reprinted in Fantagraphics’ excellent volume Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941, edited by Greg Sadowski. (Above:) For some long-forgotten reason, writer Jerry Siegel & artist Joe Shuster’s 2-page series “Dr. Occult” appeared in FPS, Vol. 1, #1, with his name changed in mid-continuity to “Dr. Mystic.” The next month, Doc was back home in More Fun Comics. For the two preceding panels of this installment, see the forthcoming All-Star Companion, Vol. 4. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert, Bob Rivard, & Henry Andrews—all of whom sent us these scans. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

some illustrated in color, some in black-&-white. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, friends from Wheeler-Nicholson’s company, provided a single two-page installment of “Dr. Mystic,” a “Superman” precursor. Other contributors included Ellis Edwards, Matt Curzon, William Allison, John Patterson, future All-American Publications and DC editor Sheldon Mayer, and future Pogo creator Walt Kelly. Beginning with #2, the “Comics Magazine” title was printed minuscule on the cover, above the far larger phrase “Funny Pages.” With the fourth issue, the name became officially The Comics Magazine – Funny Pages; and with #6 it was retitled simply Funny Pages. (The course of comic book history would have been changed—though in what ways, it’s impossible to say for certain—had Cook and Mahon purchased “Superman” from Siegel and Shuster, which the writer-andartist team had been trying to sell in one form or another since as early as 1933, rather than a single installment of “Dr. Mystic.”) Cook and Mahon then added Funny Picture Stories, with a first issue dated November 1936, a sister comic with most stories running from two to seven pages in length. George Brenner’s “The Clock,” the first “costumed” hero in comics, was cover-featured. FPS #4 (Feb. 1937) contains Will Eisner’s great Beau Geste-style adventure story “The Brothers Three.” Color and black-&-white were also used here, ending with issue #7, dated June 1937. C&M’s next effort—Detective Picture Stories #1 (Dec. 1936)—is the first recorded comic book featuring a single theme—in this case, of course, detectives and crime. Issue #4 of DPS (March 1937) contains Eisner’s classic detective story “Muss ’Em Up!,” while #5, the final issue, has both Bob (“Batman”) Kane’s first “serious” story, “Case of the Missing Heir,” and “The Clock,” who was cover-featured. Western Picture Stories #1 (Feb. 1937) is the first Western comic, continuing Cook-Mahon’s ground-breaking efforts. Eisner’s art appears in early issues: “Top Hand” in #1, “Sheriff of Caribou County” in #2, and

Seeing Stars Even the guy on the smaller cover-within-a-cover of Star Comics, Vol. 1, #15 (Nov. 1938), at bottom right is seeing stars—and so, presumably, is the tiny figure in that cover… well, you get the idea of an “infinity cover.” Art by Martin Filchock. [©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

hat if, instead of selling his share of All-American Publications to National/DC co-publishers Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz in 1945, as happened in The World We Know, AA co-publisher Max Charles Gaines had instead bought DC from them?

newsstands in the late 1940s, with both versions eventually being cancelled) the AA characters Green Lantern, The Flash, and Wonder Woman had instead become the surviving Golden Age heroes—stars of comic books, radio, movies, and TV? (Even so, in Our World, all art on the next 6 pages features characters trademarked and copyrighted by DC Comics.)

Just imagine… a comic book industry in which (due to legal problems with Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Bob Kane, which resulted in there being two competing versions of Superman and Batman on the nation’s

Not a dream (precisely)… not a hoax (because we tell you about it up front)…just an imaginary tale of an alternate universe we call Earth-22, and of…

The Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc. by Bob Rozakis

Book One – Chapter 7: “Pow! Bam! Zap!” [NOTE: This chapter’s interview with Ted Skimmer, longtime AllAmerican production man, has never been printed before.] BOB ROZAKIS: From the time DC was merged into AA, there wasn’t much change in the AA staff for a long time, was there?

The Other AA Editors Were Green With Envy… …when AA Green Lantern editor Mort Weisinger (seen in previous installments) acquired an assistant editor—namely, E. Nelson Bridwell, the guy who really put together many of those 80-Page Giants. He’s seen here in a photo taken by Michele Wolfman for The ACBA Newsletter for June of ’73; with thanaks to Flo Steinberg. Below, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, is a panel from Green Lantern #39, penciled by Carmine Infantino, that was reprinted in one of the earliest 80-Page Giants. Thanks to Dominic Bongo & the Heritage Comics Archives.

TED SKIMMER: You have to realize that throughout the ’50s and much of the ’60s the comics business was a closed shop. The guys who had started the business in the 1940s were pretty much all still there. The leaner times had weeded out some, but for the most part, the faces you would have seen in the AA offices in 1950 were the same ones, albeit older, that were there in 1969. Even on the freelance side, there wasn’t much change. Guys like Kubert, Infantino, and Toth, who were the “kids” when they started working for us a few years after the War, were only in their forties when the second generation started arriving. Mort Weisinger was only 55 when he retired in 1970. I guess you could say that Bill Gaines and Julie Schwartz were somewhat responsible for the “second generation” of people getting into the comic book business. Certainly they had tapped into something when they started printing letters from the readers in the books in the early ’50s. E. Nelson Bridwell was one of their regular readers—and letter-writers— and he said that having his letters published in the books made him feel much more comfortable about asking for a job in the early 1960s. BR: Well, Nelson came to the company a lot earlier than my compatriots and I did.

some writing for Kurtzman’s Mad magazine at the time, but he was looking for a full-time job. We didn’t think he’d last long, having to deal with Mort, but he did. BR: But how did Mort convince Gaines that he deserved an assistant when no one else did?

SKIMMER: Nelson got hired as the result of one of Mort’s “salary negotiations.” At the time Mort was editing the whole line of Green Lantern books, so he had, what, six or seven titles? He somehow convinced Charlie that he was carrying a much heavier workload than the rest of the editors, so, in addition to wanting more money, he needed an assistant.

SKIMMER: It was the popularity of the Annuals that Mort used to convince Charlie. While the other editors were also producing a few, under the blanket 80-Page Giant title, it was the Green Lantern ones that appeared most often. Nobody on staff, nor among the readers for that matter, seemed bothered by the concept that “annuals” were coming out two or three times a year!

Nelson had already moved from Oklahoma to New York and was doing

Nelson, as it turned out, was the perfect choice to handle these books

“Pow! Bam! Zap!”

Sidebar: Editorial assignments at AA in 1964. Weisinger edited only seven regular titles while each of his colleagues edited eight. MORT WEISINGER Green Lantern All-American Comics Doiby Dickles Cathy Crain Kid Lantern Sensation Comics Comic Cavalcade

for Mort. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the books, dating back to the ’40s, and a remarkable memory. Mort would be talking about an old story, and Nelson would pull it out of the file of old issues in a matter of moments. The film negatives that AA would use to produce the reprint books dated back to the early-to-mid-1950s. That there was only a decade or so worth of material did not appear to be a problem. At the time, the majority of the audience was boys ranging in age from about 10 to 14. With the audience turning over every four years or so, reprints from five years ago would be new material for them. There was one other problem, though. Weisinger took full advantage of this reader turnover and would frequently reuse old plots. Sometimes the stories would start the same way and go off in different directions; other times they would be almost identical. BR: I remember finding a couple of those. SKIMMER: [laughs] Only a couple? After the first few months, Mort was letting Nelson handle the reprints by himself. Nelson would suggest something like “Green Lantern’s Greatest Foes,” and Mort would just nod and say okay. He might look at the stats of the stories or the cover, but mostly he didn’t care. One time, however, Nelson suggested “Secrets of Green Lantern,” and Mort said to him, “Yes, I like that. Be sure to include that story where Alan’s friend accidentally finds out he’s Kid Lantern.” So Nelson says, “Which one?” and pulls out three different issues in which Mort had used the exact same premise… one from 1952, one from ’57 and the last from ’62!

JULIUS SCHWARTZ Superman Batman Flash Comics All-Flash Justice League of America Aquaman Green Arrow Sugar & Spike ROBERT KANIGHER Action Men of War G.I. Combat Our Army at War Our Fighting Forces Captain Storm Star Spangled War Stories Wonder Woman Metal Men

BR: Oh, I know about Nelson’s memory. I’d be talking about a plot point with Julie and suddenly Nelson would say, “You can’t do that. In issue such-and-such it was established that…” and then he would go to the filing cabinet, pull out a twenty-year-old comic book, flip to the exact page, and point at a panel. Sometimes Julie would go along, and sometimes he’d just growl and say, “I don’t care what it said in 1957!”

MURRAY BOLTINOFF Blackhawk The Brave and the Bold Doom Patrol Hawkman Challengers of the Unknown Sea Devils Tomahawk Rip Hunter, Time Master JACK SCHIFF Strange Adventures Mystery in Space Weird Science Tales from the Crypt Falling in Love Heart Throbs Young Love Young Romance

A Thorny Issue A classic Julie Schwartz-edited issue of All-Flash (#185, Dec. 1967), featuring the return of The Thorn. Original art, which looks like Infantino pencils, repro’d from the collection of Lawrence P. Guidry.

ROTATING EDITORS Hollywood Funny Folks (Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Fox & Crow) Showcase 80-Page Giants (reprints)

SKIMMER: Well, that was probably one of the reasons Mort treated Nelson so badly. Mort interpreted Nelson knowing about multiple uses of the same plot as a way his assistant was showing him up. But Nelson didn’t have a mean bone in his body; he was just doing what he thought Mort wanted. But Mort made no attempt to disguise his contempt for Nelson, and often referred to him as “that idiot.” BR: Didn’t he fire Nelson at one point?

SKIMMER: Indeed he did. In 1965, Weisinger fired him and replaced him with Roy Thomas. However, Roy would not tolerate Mort’s abuse and left for Marvel after two weeks. This forced Mort to grudgingly rehire Nelson, telling the staff that he’d had Thomas fill in while Bridwell had taken a “vacation.” BR: Aside from adding Nelson to the staff, there was another big change in ’64. How did Julie end up editing the “Flash” books again? SKIMMER: By 1964, sales of Flash Comics and All-Flash had fallen off substantially. Under Jack Schiff, the character had been reduced to battling aliens, being changed into bizarre forms like the Zebra-Striped Flash, or chasing the one-shot gimmick villain of the

SUPERMAN VS. SHAZAM! The Rich Buckler FCA Interview Conducted by P.C. Hamerlinck

NTRODUCTION: A 1978 DC Comics house ad called it “The Battle Nearly Four Decades in the Making!” The oversized “Superman vs. Shazam!” (more formally, All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58) comic book, marking Superman and Captain Marvel’s first true co-starring adventure, is now over 30 years old. While time has flown by faster than a speeding bullet or the speed of Mercury, the book still remains as fun and dynamic as when it first appeared, thanks to Gerry Conway’s script and the multi-faceted artistic abilities of Rich Buckler (in collaboration with supreme inker Dick Giordano). Rich’s powerful layouts effectively collided the two worlds of the Man of Steel and the World’s Mightiest Mortal together. One of the comics industry’s most prominent artists during the ’70s and ’80s, Buckler has drawn virtually every Marvel and DC super-hero at one time or another during his career. He is best remembered for his work on Fantastic Four in the mid-’70s, co-creating Deathlok with writer Doug Moench, and penciling early issues of All-Star Squadron. My interview with Rich, conducted in late 2008, focuses primarily on that memorable late-’70s epic … “Superman vs. Shazam!”

Buckler’s Battle Royal (Left:) Rich Buckler’s surrealistic self-portrait, 2001. The painting appeared on a poster for his successful solo exhibition in Paris that same year at Galerie Natalie Boldyreff, a French art gallery owned and operated by Russians. Visit richbuckler.com to view more of Rich’s paintings. [©2009 Rich Buckler.] (Above:) The Rich Buckler/Dick Giordano cover for the 1978 tabloid-sized All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58 – a.k.a. “Superman vs. Shazam!” Julius Schwartz was the editor. Rich reversed the main figures for the cover of this issue of A/E. Scan courtesy of Walt Grogan. [©2009 DC Comics.]

P.C. HAMERLINCK: Rich, you were born in 1949. Fawcett Publications had ceased publishing Captain Marvel in 1953. How or when did you first become acquainted with the character? RICH BUCKLER: I first became acquainted with the Captain Marvel books from articles in fanzines during the early stages of organized comics fandom. It was then that I met Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas. Jerry was in the process of putting a huge amount of Golden Age comics on microfilm, and I had the opportunity to read and peruse rare books that I could not afford to buy from comic book dealers. I was 17 or 18 years old—but at that tender age I knew I was going to become a comic book artist. I delved into the world of fanzine publishing; I started out as a publisher before I became a professional artist. The Golden Age of Comic

Alter Ego #85