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Vol. 3, No. 90 / December 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

Cover Artist Jack KIrby

Writer/Editorial: Marvels—Alter Ego Style!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Have A Cup O’ Joe! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Joe Sinnott’s 80th, celebrated by his pal Bill Cain and some of comics’ finest talents—three years late!

Cover Colorist

The Yancy Street Gang Visits Dick & Lindy Ayers . . . . . . . . . 10

Tom Ziuko

Three of the artist’s greatest fans (including Barry Pearl) spend a day with Sgt. Fury & Ghost Rider.

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Sal Amendola Pedro Angosto Ger Apeldoorn Terry Austin Dick & Lindy Ayers Clive Baldwin Bob Bailey Jack & Carole Bender Rodrigo Baeza Dominic Bongo Lee Boyette Mike Burkey Bill Cain Nick Caputo DeMotte Case Gene Colan Mike Costa Steve Darnell Teresa R. Davidson Tom DeFalco Mike DeLisa Jack DiMartino Michael Dunne Mark Evanier J. Fairfax Stuart Fischer Stephen Fischler Shane Foley Todd Franklin Ron Frenz Joe Giella Janet Gilbert Anthony Gillies Mike Grell David Hajdu Jennifer Hamerlinck Tom Heintjes Fred Hembeck Ben Herman Randy Howell George Hudson Rob Kirby Brian Saner Lamken Thomas Lammers Bob Layton Marjorie Lazarus

Contents

Stan Lee Zorikh Lequidre Marvin Levy Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Dan Makara Frank Motler Mark Muller Will Murray Jerry Ordway Jake Oster Laurence Parade Barry Pearl Fritz Peerenboom Joe Petrilak John G. Pierce Rubén Procopio Warren Reece Ethan Roberts John Romita Sherry Ross Steven Rowe Joe Rubinstein Paul Ryan Brian Sagar Alex Saviuk Tom Sawyer Joan Schenkar Marie Severin Erin Sinnott Joe Sinnott Mark & Belinda Sinnott Joe Staton Tim Stroup Desha Swayze Marc Swayze Jeff Taylor Dann Thomas Mike Touhey Herb Trimpe George Tuska Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Michael Vance Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Mark Voger Hames Ware

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Leon Lazarus, Dave Simons, & Dorothy Schaffenberger

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The pre-Silver Age writings of the Marvel spearhead analyzed by Ger Apeldoorn—& lavishly illustrated.

Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics. . 35 Biographer Joan Schenkar on the famed novelist’s stint on Black Terror and, er, Jap Buster Johnson.

Marvel Super-Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Stuart Fischer’s brief overview of the first animated TV series starring Marvel’s mighty misfits.

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Golden Age scripter Leon Lazarus on Timely/Marvel and others in the late ’40s & ’50s.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “Cain Before Comics” . . . . . . . 63 Michael Gilbert presents a 1948 rebuttal to Dr. Wertham—by a 14-year-old fan!

The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 John G. Pierce relates how the way to Howard the Duck was lit by a Comet.

A Tribute To Dave Simons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 74 …And All In Color For Christmas! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Holiday greetings from some buddies (and beasties) of Alter Ego.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamerlinck spotlights Marc Swayze & the female Captain Marvels—and remembers Dorothy Schaffenberger. On Our Cover: In the late 1960s a certain “California entrepreneur” licensed the rights to promote Marvel products under the name Marvelmania. Jack “King” Kirby penciled—and even inked—this threesome of heroes as one of a number of posters, most of which were never produced (according to comics historian Mark Evanier), before the promoter struck his tents, leaving behind a stack of unpaid bills. But one Kirby effort that at least served a worthy purpose was this one, done to promote Toys for Tots, the Marine Corps Reserve’s pet charity, which distributed toys to underprivileged kids at Christmas. To the best of our knowledge, this art has never before been utilized as a color cover— so it made a perfect image for our Yuletide issue! Thanks to John Morrow & the Kirby Estate. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: One of a Hulk-high heap of congratulatory illos done to honor joltin’ Joe Sinnott on his 80th birthday—this one by Bob Layton. See lots more, starting on page 3! [Thing TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] 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

Marvels—Alter Ego Style

espite a fair amount of coverage this past year in A/E of 1970s comic book adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s sword-andsorcery heroes and of the 1950s Mad wannabes Crazy, Wild, and Riot, we nearly managed to slip and slide through this entire twelvemonth without an issue of Alter Ego that dealt primarily with Marvel’s super-heroes and their creators. We hate it when that happens!

—and an examination of the 1960s teenage fan-creations of the late great Steve Gerber, a decade before he came up with Howard the Duck and other milestones of the medium— —and even a look at the various super-heroines called “Captain Marvel” over the years, the great majority of whom were published after 1968 by the self-styled House of Ideas!

So, to see out the year, we put together scintillating celebrations of two of Marvel’s most deserving Silver Age talents—joltin’ Joe Sinnott and darling Dick Ayers—

So here it is—Marvel from “A” (for Ayers and Apache Kid and Astonishing) to “Z” (for “Zombie” and, uh, not much else), in what Stan the Man, back in his heyday—and maybe even yesterday—would’ve referred to as a “pulsatin’ potpourri of pulse-pounding pandemonium.”

—and a lushly illustrated analysis of Smilin’ Stan Lee’s writings from 1941 up to Fantastic Four #1 twenty years later—

Oh, and just to keep things honest, there are a few non-Marvel moments herein, as well.

—and a piece on the two occasions when Marvel’s original publisher, Martin Goodman, served as “angel” to a pair of star-studded Broadway plays—

This’ll have to hold you till we can pull together a couple more Marvelcentered issues next year, starting with a much-requested focus on the hero-parody mag Not Brand Echh, that zany showcase for the unparalleled talents of mirthful Marie Severin!

—and an article on Patricia Highsmith, who wrote comic book scenarios in the 1940s for Timely/Marvel, Standard/Nedor, and other companies before becoming acclaimed as the author of the crime novels Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley— —and a brief look at the Marvel Super-Heroes animated TV show of 1966— —and an insightful interview with Leon Lazarus, who scripted for Marvel back in its Atlas days and returned in the ’60s for a single “GiantMan” saga—

Bestest,

P.S.: Oh, and just in case you’ve noticed that the Martin Goodman article listed in the previous column isn’t mentioned in the table of contents on the preceding page or anywhere else in this issue—well, turns out we tried to shoehorn in one thing too many, so that one’ll have to wait a little while!

COMING IN JANUARY START THE NEW YEAR WITH

CAPTAIN MARVEL, KATZ, CENTAUR, & CARICATURE!

• Stunning brand-new cover by Justice Society of America artist JERRY ORDWAY & Golden Age Fawcett staffer EMILIO SQUEGLIO! • A fantastic Fawcett festival! Vintage artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO— and the awesome ’40s spawn of Black Adam, with art by BECK, COSTANZA, BINDER, & GROTHKOPF! • Timely/Marvel and First Kingdom artist JACK KATZ on TOTH, SIMON & KIRBY, ROBBINS, FOSTER, RAYMOND, MESKIN, and himself—a surprise-laden interview by JIM AMASH! • “Centaur Spread – Part III”! More on those eerie early comics featuring AmazingMan, Fantom of the Fair, The Eye, et al., by LEE BOYETTE! • “What Hath Kurtzman Wrought? – Part II”! The rest of the mid-1950s Mad color wannabes, by GER APELDOORN, with art by ROSS ANDRU & MIKE ESPOSITO, L.B. COLE, JAY DISBROW, MANNY STALLMAN, HY FLEISCHMAN, HOWARD NOSTRAND, BOB POWELL, and others! • MICHAEL T. GILBERT wraps up coverage of 1940s-50s “anti-Wertham” DR. LAURETTA BENDER—continuing the 1960s fan-creations of STEVE GERBER—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS

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

Have A Cup O’ Joe! Happy 80th Birthday—Even If We’re Three Years Late— To Joltin’ JOE SINNOTT! by Bill Cain A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: Eagle-eyed readers would quickly realize, even if we hadn’t worked the fact into our subtitle directly above, that ace artist Joe Sinnott’s 80th birthday was slightly more than three years ago. We had planned to run this piece, which was written soon after the fact by his friend Bill Cain, and with art sent by Joe and his son Mark, in 2007… but somehow, things kept getting in the way. (So it’s us who’re late, not Bill!) However, it’s still an event worth remembering and celebrating… as we’re sure you’ll agree!

ctober 16, 2006, marked a major milestone for one of the great artists of the comics genre, the legendary Joe Sinnott. On that day, the highly respected and still working artist and inker turned 80 years young in Saugerties, New York, the same town where he was born in 1926. As one might imagine, a man as talented and friendly as Joe Sinnott has many friends, and in Joe’s case many of these friends can really draw! To prepare for the big event, Joe’s son Mark began secretly inviting many of the great legends of the comics industry to not only come to Joe’s surprise birthday bash, but to submit something special to commemorate the big day. What you see on this and the following pages comprises the outpouring of affection and respect for one of the most talented and friendly creators in the field of four color entertainment.

Mark Sinnott’s plan was to have the guests attend the surprise birthday party at the American Legion Post in Saugerties, NY. During the party, Mark would present Joe with an album containing the many drawings and written accolades printed here. Both Mark and Joe’s wife Betty planned the event for over a year. Sadly, Betty became ill and was hospitalized four days prior to the party. Due to her illness, Mark cancelled the party; and, as many readers already know, Mrs. Sinnott passed away a few weeks later, on November 1st of that year. Despite this tragic setback for Joe and his family, the personal appreciation and professional respect emanating from these cards, drawings, and letters remain clear. For fans of great comic art, it represents another example of great talent from some of the biggest names in the industry. A brief glance through the names represented here would turn the head of any comics fan … Stan Lee, John Romita, Gene Colan, Marie

The Sinnotts And Friends The Sinnott family plus one—and Joe’s capricious visual comment on Disney’s recent acquisition of Marvel, which occurred while this feature was in preparation. [Thing TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Left to right in photo, standing:) Joe’s son Mark… daughter Kathy… son Joe, Jr…. and the man himself. Oh, and Jim Amash says to mention that the apparent bearded garden gnome crouching in front of the Sinnott clan is Jim, who came north last August with his wife Heidi to visit Joe and a few other friends. He talked the Sinnotts into posing for this snapshot… but they insisted on including him, as well.

Severin, Herb Trimpe, George Tuska, and Joe Giella are just the beginning of the artists and writers who took the time to send birthday congratulations to Joltin’ Joe. “The response was overwhelming,” Joe told me by telephone on New Year’s Eve. “It was a labor of love from my son Mark, and it was so wonderful to get all these amazing pieces of art from my friends and colleagues.” [Continued on p. 6]

Happy 80th Birthday To Joltin’ Joe Sinnott!

The Seven C’s—For “Congratulations!” Since Bill Cain mentions Stan Lee, John Romita, Gene Colan, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, George Tuska, and Joe Giella—that’s all the excuse we need to run a mirthful montage of their greetings on this and the facing page. (Herb’s is the two-image one, with the artist introducing his penciled tribute.) [Nick Fury, Medusa, Invisible Woman, Crystal, Agatha Harkness, MJ, Captain America, Hulk, & Iron Man TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Batman TM & ©2009 DC Comics; Mary Worth TM & ©2009 King Features Syndicate, Inc.; other elements ©2009 the respective artist and/or writer.]

Have A Cup O’ Joe!

STAN LEE In The 1940s And ’50s The Pre-Silver Age Writing Style Of The Marvel Spearhead by Ger Apeldoorn

n his 2002 biography Excelsior!, Stan Lee tells of being inspired at an early age by a schoolboy two years his senior, who used to come into class to sell subscriptions to The New York Times. This boy would “speak for ten full minutes, looking his audience straight in the eye, never once fumbling or losing the attention of the class.” Stan says he decided then and there that he wanted to be able to speak that way and hold the attention of an audience. And, indeed, all through his career as a writer and editor and representative of Marvel in Hollywood, that has been his driving force—to be able to be the center of attention by being as entertaining as he can be.

To do this, he has a bag of “party tricks” he developed through the years. I call them “tricks,” but I could use instead the words “stylistic traits.” They are a product of his own sense of humor and of the way he keeps his stories in the here and now. In a deeper sense, they may even be a reflection of the way his mind processes information. I know that’s a big statement, but let me tell you how I came to it.

Follow Me In his 1960 autobiographic Mark It and Strike It, Steve Allen gives an analysis of his own brand of humor. Allen was a many-faceted showman (actor, author, songwriter, etc.) with more than a few similarities to Stan Lee. In Mark It Allen describes how he used the literal meaning of words and expressions to turn a normal conversation into nonsense. When doing

What’s A Couple Of Decades Between Friends? Stan Lee mugs for the camera in an early-1970s issue of Crazy magazine, after he’d become Marvel’s publisher—a gag photo overlooking his first printed comics work (the text story in May 1941’s Captain America Comics #3) and the cover of Fantastic Four #1 (Oct. 1961). Ger Apeldoorn’s article studies Stan’s writing over the two decades between those epochmaking events... both of which, by coincidence, were largely illustrated by Jack Kirby. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Stan Lee In The 1940s And ’50s

in the winter of 1942. He’d started out as an office boy under editor Joe Simon in 1941. His first writing assignment had been a two-page text story in Captain America Comics #3 (May ’41), and he was soon was writing “real” comic book stories. Thanks to the new series of Marvel Masterworks reprints from this era, we can finally see for ourselves what Lee wrote in those days.

Off To See The Whizzer

his famous Q&A audience interviews, he turned his subjects’ answers on their heads by deliberately misunderstanding them—often by taking them too literally. When an audience member said she couldn’t follow him, he responded with a literal interpretation of that phrase: “Well, somebody’s been following me for the past five days... a short dark man in a grey sweater.” Allen also applied this trick to the implied social meaning of certain phrases people commonly use. When a lady in the audience spelled out her name for him (“I’m Mrs. Holt. H-O-L-T.“), he took it as a clue for some unknown social rule and replied: “Very well. W-E-L-L.” These are examples of what I would call a “literal mind”—someone who has the ability to hear the words in a phrase apart from their context.

What’s In A Signature? To see these tendencies in Stan Lee’s work, we have to take a broader view of his writing career than just his work as a super-hero scripter. After all, when The Fantastic Four #1 was published in mid-1961, he was already 38 years old and had been writing and editing comics for half his life. How much he has written isn’t 100% clear. He signed some stories he wrote and didn’t sign others. And since he also devoted a considerable portion of his time to being the editor of Timely/Atlas/Marvel (even if at times he had other editors such as Don Rico, Vince Fago, and Al Jaffee working under him), and Timely was the most prolific comics company of much of the ’40s and ’50s until the ’57 collapse, it is clear that he wrote no more than a fraction of the company’s output.

That first Lee text story, “The Traitor’s Revenge,” seen in the two hardcover reprintings of Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), is nothing special, as you can easily check for yourself—but the lone illustration may well be by Jack Kirby, which would make it the first Lee-Kirby “collaboration.” Stan’s second signed text story seems to be the one in All Winners Comics #1 (Summer ’41). In it Stan introduces a comics fan called Johnny Blake, who wishes he could meet his Marvel heroes Torch and Toro, Sub-Mariner, The Angel, Black Marvel, Captain America and Bucky—who also just happen to be the stars of All Winners. One by one they turn up in his bedroom (see Vol. 1 of Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All Winners). Finally Johnny wakes up and realizes it was all a dream. Stan Lee then pulls it all together with a little twist, using the literal meaning of the title of the story: “Gee, I wonder who did win the contest, though. But what am I saying? Nobody could have won, because Cap, the Marvel, the Torch, the Angel and the Sub-Mariner are all winners! Yes sir, ALL WINNERS!” There’s a similar text story by Lee in All Winners #2, reprinted in the same hardcover volume. It ends with the other heroes learning that the super-fast Whizzer—now featured in the comic—has been in the room with them all the time, simply moving too quickly to be seen. In Les Daniels’ 1991 history Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics, Lee says of The Whizzer: “I don’t remember if I made that up, but I remember writing it, because I wrote them all.” Whatever that means, precisely. Around the same time, Lee also wrote a text story introducing a number of new heroes to the reader in U.S.A. Comics #2 (Nov. 1941), which has likewise been reprinted in the Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age series. At a meeting of the mag’s heroes, Captain Terror proposes they “award a prize for the best story of the month,” with the best one to be announced in the following issue. But, apparently the editor (by then Stan

In fact, over at the Timely-Atlas-Comics list on Yahoo, where all things Goodman are discussed, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo has stated that any story that wasn’t signed by Stan Lee (or one of his early-’40s pseudonyms) probably wasn’t written by him. If so, that would yield a lot of bylined horror stories, a couple of science-fiction tales, numerous Westerns, Snafu, and a lot of dumb-blonde and funny-animal comics, but virtually no crime books, a genre he does claim to have written in the late ’40s. Doc V. also throws out all stories which have a job number with the prefix “SL.” By the time Lee got out of the US Army, Timely had begun using job numbers for every story, as a way of tracking payment. The earliest job numbers have an “R” prefix, which means they were handled by Don Rico. Soon after Stan was discharged on Sept. 29, 1945, and returned to the company, job numbers with an “SL” prefix begin appearing. But since that prefix also appears in the job numbers of Harvey Kurtzman-written “Hey Look!” pages, the simple appearance of his initials doesn’t imply authorship. In this instance, I agree totally with Doc. I am less certain about the work done before Lee went into the Army

Hey Look! A Stan Lee Job Number! “SL-163” is handwritten in this final panel of Harvey Kurtzman’s very first “Hey Look!” one-page gag, which appeared in Jeanie #17 (Jan. 1948)... but there’s no doubt that artist Kurtzman, not Stan Lee, wrote it. Doubtless the prefix was for the purpose of editorial trafficking. Reprinted from the Hey Look! collection published in 1992 by Kitchen Sink Press. [©2009 Estate of Harvey Kurtzman.]

Of The Marvel Spearhead

hero explosion of the early ’60s was tired and hackneyed. Well, it wasn’t. Okay, he didn’t introduce new subjects to any of the genres he worked in. But he did write them in a very lively fashion and with an attention to character that seems lacking in the work of most of his contemporaries. At that time, most comic books were plot-based. At DC they even prided themselves on that fact. But a plot-based story doesn’t lend itself to readers who actually want to read their comics. It makes you flip through a story as quickly as possible to get to the twist ending. Lee’s stories are fun to read, because his characters are fun to read. Often he accomplishes that by making someone in the story really unlikable and adding one or two anecdotes to illustrate the point. This makes most of his stories longer than those of his fellow writers, but who was going to stop him? He also consistently used the best artists he could find, and that helped, as well. It is often said that Stan Lee brought soap opera to the super-heroes, but I don’t think that is true. He brought character to them, as is evident in his earlier work. Soap opera can be just as plot-based and gimmicky as any type of story. Stan Lee, when he was having fun, brought more to his work than relationship troubles.

Fifty Years And Counting—But Who’s Counting? (Above:) Over the nigh half-century of the selfstyled Marvel Age of Comics (and nearly seven decades of his writing career), Stan Lee has kept up the personalized, chatty approach displayed in this letter to reader Mike Touhey, sent on March 4, 1963. (Below:) And Stan’s still plugging away today, as his Amazing Spider-Man newspaper comic strip enters its fourth decade; it debuted on Jan. 3, 1977. The Sunday for Aug. 23, 2009, features no less than Spidey, MJ (who’s still married to Peter in this version, by Stan’s decision), Dr. Octopus, and a captive Wolverine! Pencils by Alex Saviuk; inks by Joe Sinnott. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

And that’s another thing: he seems to have written his best when he was having fun. When he was chasing a trend, such as in the Little Lizzie-style books of the late ’40s, he couldn’t breathe any life into his stories. And when he was restricted (or restricting himself) to four- and five-page stories for his Western books in the late ’50s, nothing sparkled, either. But for that brief period in the early ’50s when he was writing horror stories, he was ingesting them with a sense of fun and a lively spirit—as both a writer and as an editor. This lively spirit disappeared from the Timely-Atlas horror books, not when the Comics Code was installed, but when Stan Lee himself lost interest in them. And it returned when he started doing “mystery” stories again—this time with Steve Ditko. Ger Apeldoorn is a television writer in his native Netherlands. You can find his credits at the International Movie Database on the Internet. Many of his insights into Stan Lee’s style come from writing a play about Stan, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon, which was performed at the British Comics Convention in Bristol, England, a couple of years ago. He would like to hear from American convention organizers who might like to see about producing this hourlong play in the US next summer. He can be contacted at gerapelde@euronet.nl.

Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics by Joan Schenkar This article was written especially for Alter Ego by Ms. Schenkar, author of the new biography The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, and is ©2009 by Joan Schenkar; all rights reserved. See ad on p. 40.

n the early 1970s, when the late, great comics historian Jerry Bails was still sending out queries to anyone who had ever been associated with the making of early comic books, he mailed a questionnaire to a woman living in a house by a quiet canal an hour’s

Highsmith & High Times Noted novelist Patricia Highsmith, on the cover of Joan Schenkar’s new bio—juxtaposed with “The Destroyer” splash panel from U.S.A. Comics #14 (Fall 1944). Highsmith reportedly wrote a number of “Destroyer” stories during her seven-year sojourn in comics, but it’s not known if this is one of them; even the artist is unidentified. Both scans supplied by Joan Schenkar. [Book cover ©2009 the respective copyright holders; Destroyer art ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

train ride outside of Paris, France. The woman to whom Bails addressed his query was a well-known American expatriate novelist. Most of her books had been made into films and European critics liked to talk about her as a kind of American Dostoyevsky. Bails’ questionnaire seems to have arrived in the form of a list—which is probably the reason why Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995), the Dark Lady of American Letters and author of such masterpieces as Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, wrote back to Bails. There was nothing Pat Highsmith liked better than filling in a nice, orderly little list. As was her habit, she also used Bails’ query to establish a few misdirections: she gave the names of only a few of the many comics titles she’d actually worked on: “Black Terror” and “Sergeant Bill King” for the Sangor-Pines shop (Better/Cinema/Pines/Standard/Nedor); “Crisco and Jasper” for Fawcett; and some unidentified material for Dell Comics.1 But the truth of Pat Highsmith’s comics career was seven years longer and much stranger than the cursory answers she set down for Jerry Bails. Given her feelings for her long freelance career during the Golden Age of American Comics, the real miracle was that Highsmith chose to write anything at all on the subject. Like many people who wrote for the comics in New York City, Pat Highsmith was ashamed of her work. A couple of years before Bails contacted her, Vince Fago, who had been her wartime editor at Timely Author's Note: Jim Amash was my generous and extremely well informed guide to the Golden Age of American Comics—and Patricia Highsmith's secret comics career couldn't have been retrieved without him. Jim and the many members of the comics community who contributed to my research are acknowledged in The Talented Miss Highsmith. 1 Jerry Bails' listings of Highsmith's comics and non-comics work are incomplete, and Highsmith's novels are, in some cases, inaccurately represented and misattributed in his otherwise invaluable work.

“An epic biography—vivid with Joan Schenkar’s concern for her subject— the mercurial, gifted, fascinating mystery novelist Patricia Highsmith. A big book… an awesome achievement.” —Patricia Bosworth Author of Diane Arbus, A Biography

The Talented MISS HIGHSMITH The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar St. Martin’s Press – December 2009 ISBN: 978-0-312-30375-4

Marvel Super-Heroes A Brief Overview Of The First Animated (More Or Less) TV Series Starring The Mighty Marvel Misfits by Stuart Fischer

he 1960s were a most complex decade in just about every field and endeavor. Politically, socially, culturally and more, they were a decade of change. A decade, also, that introduced some very innovative and challenging concepts, especially in the realm of music, movies, television, theatre, books—and comics.

Comics, just like books, theatre, movies, television, and music, are a reflection of their times, and the comic book medium was changing in the 1960s, just as so much else was. Comics are a reflection of ourselves, and Marvel gradually made its way to the front of American popular culture during the ’60s. Kids were reading Marvel’s comic books such as Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man, and soon, images of Marvel’s characters began to appear on T-shirts, board games, action figures, and toys. The TV networks noticed this, and so did that medium’s advertisers— with the result that, only after a few years after Marvel had re-invented itself from the old Timely and Atlas days, its comic book heroes who had broken new ground found themselves on television and thus in the cultural mainstream, as a result of having attracted such a strong following as comics heroes. The 1960s saw many colorful novelties and personalities that arose from music. Set against a pop culture filled with the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Muhammed Ali, James Bond, and Star Trek, Marvel contributed an element that kids and even adults could relate to. What separated Marvel Comics under Stan Lee from other comics publishers of the day was something very special. Marvel’s super-heroes had powers that made them different from ordinary people and wore colorful costumes and led double lives to protect their true identities; however, they were seen not only as hyper-powered do-gooders, but also as people you might pass on the street in real life, people you would never suspect as being anything other than what they appear to be. All of this story material not only made (and still makes) for good comic books, but it also made for good television programs and movies, and producers and screenwriters were savvy enough to realize this. Marvel’s first foray into television was a 1966 syndicated package of cartoons which ran on local television stations and consisted of five Marvel Super-Heroes: Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Sub-Mariner. (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man would follow, on ABC-TV, in 1967.) Marvel Super-Heroes was programmed Monday through Friday and was aired in the early evening, where it became a hit, behind its colorful

Okay, Mr. Nielsen—Here We Come! The above ad for the Marvel Super Heroes show appeared in all Marvel comics with a November 1966 cover date opposite this Bullpen Bulletins paragraph written by Stan: “It won’t be long now before our swingin’ super-heroes make their star-studded debut on TV, appearing five nights a week—that’s right, five—count ’em—five nights a week, for a half-hour each night! So, you’ve just got time to make sure your set’s in good working order—check your local paper for time and station—and prepare to have a ball!” If this seems a relatively soft sell for Super-Salesman Stan, it’s partly because the full-page ad was on the facing page—and besides, he’d written a similar but longer notice the month before as an “official scoop.” Thanks to Barry Pearl. [©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

theme songs—the most memorable of which, surely, began: “When Captain America throws his mighty shield….” The series started in ’66 and ran for a few years in the syndication market (off-network). It was the result of a collaboration between Marvel and two television production companies: Krantz Films and Grantray-Lawrence. Krantz Films had been founded by Steve Krantz (1923-2007), whose full name was Stephen Falk Krantz, husband of bestselling author Judith Krantz. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Krantz had graduated from Columbia University. Something of a pioneer animation production company when it first started producing TV cartoons in the 1960s, Krantz Films provided shows to both the major networks and to the first-run syndication market. The firm’s first big successes were Marvel Super-Heroes and, a year later, Spider-Man.

I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories” LEON LAZARUS (And His Wife MARJORIE) On Timely/Marvel In The Late Golden Age

Conducted and Transcribed by Jim Amash

NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Leon Lazarus [1919- 2008] was an assistant editor for Timely Comics from 1947 until 1950, working primarily on their humor and teenage books. In addition, he wrote a fair number of features [“Kid Colt Outlaw,” “Black Rider,” Millie the Model,” “Tessie the Typist,” “Patsy Walker,” “Hedy De Vine,” etc.] during that time, continuing on until 1957. He also wrote for ACG, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Ziff-Davis [“G.I. Joe” and “Kid Cowboy”]. When the comics work dried up, Leon turned to writing for Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management for many years, returning to the newly christened Marvel Comics for a single “Giant-Man” story in 1964.

Leon was part of a family of comic book professionals. His wife Marjorie also wrote text pages for Timely in the 1950s, and was of great help in this interview, remembering some things that Leon didn’t, and supplying us with photos. His brothers Harry and Sid wrote and drew for several companies. In addition to that, Harry holds a number of patents on various inventions. I wish Leon had lived to see this interview printed, but his memories of his times live on and, thankfully, we are able to share them with you now. —Jim.

Lazarus Times Two Leon & Marjorie Lazarus in 2005—above art from two stories Leon wrote for Martin Goodman’s publications in the mid-1960s. Photo courtesy of the Lazaruses; forwarded by Jim Amash & Teresa R. Davidson. (Left:) Splash page from Tales to Astonish #64 (Feb. ’65). Art by Carl Burgos & Paul Reinman; repro’d from Essential Astonishing Ant-Man, Vol. 1—although by then Hank Pym had added two letters to his name and thirty feet to his height, to become Giant-Man. (Above:) A double-page title spread from Stag, Vol. 15, #7 (July ’64), with art by Bob Schulz; thanks to Rodrigo Baeza. [Stag art ©2009 the respective copyright holders; “Giant-Man” splash ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I Wrote Over 800 Comic Book Stories”

The Way We Were Marjorie writes: “The picture of Leon was taken in 1946, age 27, and the one of me in 1945, age 23.” This is how the happy couple looked as they entered married bliss and the postwar world.

“I Was Always Interested In Writing” LEON LAZARUS: I was born in the Bronx, Aug. 22, 1919. Sid was the oldest brother (born March 12, 1912), then Harry came along (Feb. 22, 1917), and I was the youngest. Sid passed away in 1973, I believe. I was always interested in writing. I loved to read, even as a four-yearold child. Sid encouraged me to read. I asked him to help me learn how to read, which he did, before I entered the first grade. In the fifth or sixth grade, I won an essay-writing contest and won a box of hard candy. That was a great incentive and gave me the idea to become a writer. I used to go to the library every day and read books in the reference room where the high schoolers were, even though I was much younger than they were. My brother Sid was working for Parents Magazine [company] on a feature called “Marco Polar Bear.” He also worked for DC. This was before the war. Sid had a family and wasn’t drafted, but I was unmarried and the sole support for my parents, who were already in their 60s. I wanted to get into the service. My friends were in, and I wasn’t patriotic-crazy, but I felt I could serve. I wasn’t there the first day the war started, but I went when I was called. In 1942, I was drafted into the Army. It was there that I decided I was going to make writing my career. I was in the radar department, which was a highly secret department during the Second World War. The Signal Corps wanted to do a film on radar, and I was asked to write about the importance of radar. I was in Italy at the time, training people how to use radar. A Signal Corps colonel told me that they were happy with what I did and would put my name on the film, which I never did get to see. Right after that, I was honorably discharged from the Army; this was 1945. JIM AMASH: What did you do when you came home? MARJORIE LAZARUS: He married me [in May 1946]! [laughter] Not to take away from Leon, but he wrote some articles when he got home, one of which was for The New Yorker.

“Timely Had Trouble With Their Proofreaders” LEON: It was about soldiers returning home from the war. They didn’t publish it, though, because they only wanted factual stories and I had

written fiction. They asked me to write something else, but that didn’t get published, either. As it turned out, I didn’t get into the magazine field until after I left comics. My older brothers were artists and were doing comic books for a living. I had to make a living, and my friend Bob Landers was working at Timely as an inker. I had good penmanship and decided to give lettering a try. I had done some jobs lettering on blueprints, so Bob said, “If you can do that, you can letter comics.” He gave me advice on doing samples, I did them, and got a staff job at $40 a week. Then I starting thinking, “I can write this stuff.”

Dave Berg was an editor there at the time, and he was also a good cartoonist. He was handling the teenage books, and he wrote and drew stories, too. He had a good sense of humor. I was only there about three weeks when I asked if I could submit a writing sample to him. He said, “Okay, kid, but remember, this may look easy, but it isn’t easy.” I wrote a story outline. Dave liked it and said, “Go take a crack at it.” I wrote it and they bought it. I don’t remember the character, but it was a teenage feature. Then they took me out of the lettering department, and made me the associate editor to Don Rico. I was making $60 a week now, not including my writing, so I was making about a $100 a week total. That was good money then. All the freelance writers, no matter who they were, got the same page rate. I know this for sure because I made out the vouchers when I was an associate editor. The rate was about $7 a page. JA: Who hired you to be a letterer? LEON: Gary Keller. He was in charge of the production department; gray haired... he was an old guy. Timely had trouble with their proofreaders, so I was made an associate editor in order to look over their shoulders and check out their work. Don Rico was working with Stan Lee and Ernie Hart. Rico had drawn features like “The Sub-Mariner.” He may have written some of it, too; I can’t be sure now. Ernie Hart had done a book on German police dogs, and could draw as well as write. He was a nice guy, very slick-looking, with a good sense of humor. He was smart. We were on the 14th floor of the Empire State Building. The letterers were gathered together in the production room, away from the artists. In that room with me were many people, most of whom I don’t remember now. Mario Aquaviva was in charge of the letterers, but Artie Simek was over him. Artie was a tall, skinny guy, very nice and quiet, with a big Adam’s apple. He never pushed anyone around. He didn’t letter stories; he did logos. Don Rico and Ernie Hart divided up a number of titles. Ernie edited the crime books and Rico did the “Sub-Mariner.” I knew Rico because he was a friend of my brother Sid. They had worked on WPA art projects together. I was like a kid brother to Rico, who talked to Stan Lee about putting me in charge of the women who were proofreading. When I started writing, Dave Berg and Ernie Hart were my editors. But right after I became a writer, Dave Berg stopped editing. I think Al Jaffee replaced Dave Berg. Jim Miele was an editor there, too, but I don’t remember what books he did. There was a time when super-heroes fell out of favor with the buying public and more “realistic” comics became popular. Westerns and romance comics were big by this time. [A/E

Leon & Marjorie Lazarus On Timely & Marvel In The Late Golden Age

though I see now how right he was. I didn’t want to get back into comics, though. The magazine stories paid better than comics. Stan told me that “The boss wants a back-up, but I told him that I don’t

think anyone else can do it. I’m doing it because I created this approach. But I have to do it [hire other writers] because Mr. Goodman asked me.” But it didn’t work for me, and that ended my comics career.

LEON LAZARUS Checklist [NOTE: The following Checklist is primarily adapted from information contained in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999), established by Jerry G. Bails; see website ad on p. 83. Names of features which appeared both in magazines with that title and in other publications, as well, are generally not italicized below. Key: (w) = writer; (e) = editor.] Name: Leon Lazarus (1919-2008) (writer, editor) Family in Arts: Sid and Harry Lazarus (brothers), Marjorie Lazarus (wife) Print Media (Non-Comics): writer – juvenile books 1958 Lassie and the Lost Explorer, Tales of Wells Fargo, Danger at Mesa Flats; writer – Magazine Management’s line of magazines; writer – novels 1960s Nick Carter (under house name) COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream U.S. Publishers): American Comics Group: horror (w) early 1950s; mystery/occult mid-1950s, 1961; romance (w) early to mid1950s Better/Standard/Nedor/Pines: various features (w) 1940s Mainline Comics: Black Magic (w) early 1950s; romance (w) early 1950s Major Magazines: Cracked (w) 1958

And Then I Wrote... (Above:) The splash panel of a 12-page comics-style pamphlet—though with only captions, no balloons—scripted by Leon for the Mutual Savings Bank, through the Knowelton Advertising Agency in New York (artist unknown). [Art ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]

Timely/Marvel Comics: backup features (w) c. 1952-57 in Westerns; Black Rider (w) c. 1952-57; Giant-Man (w) 1965; Kid Colt Outlaw (w) c. 1952-57; Millie the Model (w) late 1950s (a.k.a. Millie); Patsy Walker (w) late 1940s; support (assistant ed) c. 1947-50; Tessie the Typist (w) late 1940s Ziff-Davis Comics: filler (w) early 1950s; G.I. Joe (w) early 1950s; Kid Cowboy (w) early 1950s; other Westerns (w) early 1950s

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The Female Captain Marvels Marvel & DC’s Gender Adjustments Of A Fawcett Legacy by Zorikh Lequidre

here have been many different characters named “Captain Marvel” over the years, so it should come as no surprise that some of them have been female. Chronologically listed by the time they were known as “Captain Marvel,” they are: Monica Rambeau (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar); Mary Batson/Bromfield (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Black Mary); Phyla-Vell (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Quasar, Martyr); and Carol Danvers (a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel). Only one of them—Monica Rambeau—was not related in some way to any other Captain Marvel.

I. Monica Rambeau In 1982 Jim Starlin had just completed his graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel, which killed off the hero who starting in 1967 had secured the trademark of the name “Captain Marvel” for Marvel Comics. The issue as to why Marvel needed to have a character named “Captain Marvel” would fill another article, but writer Roger Stern, in an interview with Kurt Anthony Krug found on Mania.com, said that he “offered to come up with a new character to fill the bill.” Up to that time, most of the popular super-hero characters were white males. As “glass ceilings” were shattered over the years, a series of “firsts” and “pioneers” paved the way for a world in which the color or sex of a person would not limit their opportunities. Stern says that his wife pointed out to him that “Captain Marvel” was a genderneutral name, so he set forth to create a female Captain Marvel. On Sterntalk.com, he states that he “wanted to create a well-rounded female superhero—one who didn’t fit into any of the then-current clichés, and who could hold her own against the toughest opponents.” So he decided to make the next Captain Marvel an African-American woman. Though he had edited Marvel’s previous Captain Marvel, he made no connection between that character and his new creation: she was not a relative, nor were her powers derived from the previous CM; in fact, she had never even heard of him. With the civilian name Monica Rambeau, she started out as a New Orleans Harbor Patrol lieutenant who was often up against the aforementioned glass ceiling, in the person of her sexist superior officer (who happened to be black man, thereby making it clear that it was gender, not race, at issue). Monica/CM was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (1982),

with John Romita, Jr., as artist. In Modern Masters, Vol. 18: John Romita, Jr. (still available from TwoMorrows Publishing), the artist revealed about this new CM that he “just took some reference on [actress] Pam Grier, because I always loved her, and at the last moment somebody said that, ‘well, we need to use this woman, here (a different model),’ because they thought maybe Pam Grier wasn’t as good-looking as the model they found.” But, in her first appearance, the new CM even caused Peter Parker to turn his head as she passed by him. In the course of the adventure that gave her the ability to transform herself into “any form of electromagnetic energy,” she was referred to as “Mon Capitain” by Professor Andre LeClaire, an old friend of her grandfather’s who had discovered the extra-dimensional energy from which she obtained her powers. Clad in garments pilfered from a Mardi Gras costume warehouse (which conveniently included a mask, and coincidentally bore a black 16-pointed star, much like Captain Mar-Vell’s!), she rescued LeClaire and saved an oil rig from destruction. A South American soldier overheard LeClaire call her “Mon Capitain” and, realizing she had saved them all, started repeating, “Capitan est Maravilla.” When the story hit the newspapers, the headline read: “WHO IS CAPTAIN MARVEL?” At LeClaire’s urging, Monica decided to accept the opportunity to become a super-hero, and left her job with the Harbor Patrol. He even got a costume made for her—in that most practical of Marvel Universe fabrics: unstable molecules. A few weeks later she was in New York City, fighting off muggers and running into first Spider-Man, then The Thing, who was the first to inform her there had been an earlier Captain Marvel. She wound up going to The Avengers and was soon inducted as the first-ever “Avenger-in-training.” The very first thing she did was look up the records of Captain Mar-Vell. Conveniently, Stern was also writer of The Avengers at the time. Though it had been his hope that the new CM would have her own ongoing series, it never happened, and it would be in the pages of The Avengers that Monica Rambeau lived her life.

Monica gained full-member status in Avengers #231 (May 1983), and spent the next 50-odd issues developing her powers and gaining confidence as a super-hero. She was able to create holographic images and to could convert herself into everything from radio waves to cosmic rays to gamma rays to X-rays

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