Alter Ego #92

Roy Thomas’ Barbarous Comics Fanzine

SWORD-&SORCERY IN THE COMICS PART THREE SPOTLIGHTING

RAFAEL KAYANAN JOHN BUSCEMA ERNIE CHAN HOWARD CHAYKIN KEITH GIFFEN JOE GILL SAM GLANZMAN DON GLUT PAUL GULACY JACK KATZ DAVID MICHELINIE DENNIS O’NEIL JESSE SANTOS WALT SIMONSON JIM STARLIN BERNIE WRIGHTSON & MORE!!

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No.92 March 2010

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TwoMorrows.Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

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Vol. 3, No. 92 / March 2010 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 Painting Rafael Kayanan

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Michael Ambrose Richard Arndt Dick Ayers Bob Bailey Jean Bails Tim Barnes Albert Becattini John Benson Frank Brunner Mike Burkey Glen Cadigan R. Dewey Cassell Mike Conroy Leonardo De Sà Michaël Dewally Jerry Edwards Michael Eury Mark Evanier Michael Finn Shane Foley Mark Foy Janet Gilbert Sam Glanzman Donald F. Glut Walt Grogan Paul Gulacy Jennifer Hamerlinck Eric Jansen Jack Katz Rafael Kayanan Gene Kehoe Shirleen King Jim Kingman Mike Kuypers Tristan Lapoussiere

Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Darrell McNeil Peter Meskin Philip Meskin Clifford Meth David Michelinie Brian K. Morris Mark Muller Tony Oliva Barry Pearl John G. Pierce Donnie Pitchford Ken Quattro Dave Reeder Trina Robbins Gary Robinson Herb Rogoff Steven Rowe Adrienne Roy Dr. Peter Schilder Evan Shelly Craig Shutt Jim Simon Joe Simon Anthony Snyder Desha Swayze Marc Swayze Jeff Taylor Greg Theakston Dann Thomas Anthony Tollin Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware John Wells Steve Younis

This Issue Is Dedicated To The Memory Of

Edd Cartier & Frank Springer

Contents Writer/Editorial: The Shadow Of The Cimmerian . . . . . . . . . 2 The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules . . . . . 3 Charlton’s Conan precursor—plus Richard Arndt’s incisive interview with artist Sam Glanzman.

The Trials of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Gold Key’s 1970s swordsman against swords, examined by co-creator Don Glut.

Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans” . . . . . . . 18 Fritz Leiber’s Sword of Sorcery heroes at DC, put under the microscope by Richard Arndt.

Claw The Unconquered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 John Wells surveys David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s horror-handed DC hero.

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Part II of Jim Amash’s incredible interview with Jack Katz, writer/artist/creator of The First Kingdom.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham – Part 4” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Michael T. Gilbert wraps up his study of comics’ most vital defender of the ’40s & ’50s.

Headline—And Beyond! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 “The Teenage Creations of Steve Gerber – Part III” by John G. Pierce.

Tributes To Artists Edd Cartier & Frank Springer . . . . . . . . . 72 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 75 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamerlink’s marvelous mixture of Marc Swayze and Captain-Marvel-inspired Superman sagas!

On Our Cover: This pulsating portrait of the quintessential mighty-thewed sword-and-sorcery hero was painted in the 1990s by Rafael Kayanan, primary artist of Marvel’s series Conan the Adventurer. Our thanks to Raf for allowing us to feature it as this issue’s cover. Oh, and you’ll find a bit more of RK on p. 34. [©2010 Rafael Kayanan.]

Above: Is it sword-and-sorcery? Is it science-fiction? Nope, it’s artist/writer Jack Katz with his own unique and powerful brand of fantasy—a scene from the 20th issue of his 24-book graphic novel The First Kingdom, which has a special place in the history of the medium. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

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.

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writer/editorial

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The Shadow Of The Cimmerian H

ard to believe it’s really been forty years (or will be this summer, anyway) since Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian slashed its way onto the nation’s newsstands, to become, apparently for the rest of my life, a major item on my résumé.

With yours truly, the Cimmerian seems to be an every-second-decade thing. From 1970 till I left Marvel in 1980, I was knee-deep in Hyborian Age hyperbole and derring-do. After which, for the next ten years, I neither wrote nor read a Conan comic (though I did get involved with the two Schwarzenegger films, especially the ill-starred second one). Then once more, for most of the ’90s, I wound up scribing the Conan titles again, until such time as Marvel decided to let its license lapse. And so the first decade of the 21st century was another Conan-less one for me personally, although Dark Horse had brought the Cimmerian back by its middle years.

As for this second decade of the century—well, we shall see what we shall see. Either way, I suspect Conan will squeak by... and so will I. Meanwhile, a couple of years back, I conceived the notion of putting together a history of sword-and-sorcery in the comics, with Conan as its centerpiece, though not its sole star, of course. When various legal Hydraheads got in the way of doing that, it seemed simpler to turn the project into an ongoing series in Alter Ego, though largely limiting coverage to titles that were launched by the mid-’70s (and, eventually, dealing with some of my own post-Marvel forays into the genre).

So here we are at the third installment of “Sword-and-Sorcery in the Comics”—the preceding ones having appeared in A/E #80 & #83. This time the spotlight is on Charlton’s pre-Conan the Barbarian/quasi-s&s title Hercules, as well as Gold Key’s Dagar the Invincible and DC’s two most notable post-CTB entries in the genre, Sword of Sorcery (starring Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser) and Claw the Unconquered.

In addition, this issue also concludes Jim Amash’s fascinating interview with artist Jack Katz, whose 24-issue graphic novel The First Kingdom, by coincidence, contained elements of sword-and-sorcery as well as sciencefiction and other aspects of high adventure.

No, there’s not nearly as much about Conan, or about his creator Robert E. Howard, in this issue as there was in the series’ previous two entries. Still, the spirit of both that hero and his guiding light suffuse this issue, as well, with their gladiatorial glow.

For they were both guys who cast a very long shadow.

And the end is not yet.

Bestest, P.S.: Just as this issue went to press, a letter from Golden/Silver Age artist Sheldon Moldoff, whose hospitalization we noted last issue, informed us that he is home and recuperating from his illness. Welcome back, Shelly!

COMING IN MAY

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Beginning This Issue— Special 16-PAGE COLOR SECTION!

EARTH-TWO–1961 To 1985!

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• Part I of JIM AMASH’s monumental, never-before-published interview with Golden/ Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN—featuring lore & lowdown on the likes of such 1940s-50s editors, writers, and artists as BINDER • ELLSWORTH • FINGER • KANE • KANIGHER • LIEBOWITZ • MILLER • REED • SCHIFF • SIEGEL & SHUSTER • WEISINGER, etc.! Lavishly illustrated with rare art by DC greats of 1939 and up!

• MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s Comic Crypt tells “The Truth about Comic Books” in 1953!— FCA presents MARC SWAYZE & those frantic Fawcett readers—& MORE!!

Edited by ROY THOMAS DC Comics; [Super-heroes TM & ©2010 o & Jim Amash.[ Infantin other art ©2010 Carmine

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The Swords And The Sorcerers part five [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules Charlton’s Conan Precursor— Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist SAM GLANZMAN

by Richard J. Arndt

S

ix years before Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, four years before Kull, and three years before Conan appeared—at least in comic book form—what may well have been the first modern sword-&-sorcery comic debuted from Charlton Press.

It was called Hercules.

Certainly Charlton’s effort wasn’t Hercules’ first bow in the four-color medium. He had appeared dozens, possibly hundreds, of times in previous comics, most notably in Fawcett’s “Captain Marvel” titles and, only two years prior to his Charlton debut, in Marvel’s “Thor” series in Journey into Mystery. It also wasn’t the first of what we might consider modern sword-&-sorcery tales to appear. Warren Publishing had done a number of s&s stories in its black-&-white magazines, most of them illustrated by Steve Ditko or Gray Morrow. Several amateur fanzines of the period had also done Conanesque stories in their pages. Still, Hercules appears to be the first regularly published example of what we today would call a sword-&-sorcery comic—the more so because its regular backup feature, in all its baker’s-dozen issues, was Steve Skeates’ Beowulfderived series “Thane of Bagarth” (which was discussed in A/E #80, as well as by Skeates himself in A/E #84).

Unlike Marvel’s Hercules, who existed in the present day and was caught up in the Marvel world mixture of super-heroes, science-fiction, and fantasy, Charlton’s Hercules prowled the ancient Greek world from which his stories had originated. His adventures were also pure mythology/fantasy from the get-go.

Based on the original myths, particularly on the twelve labors of the Hercules legend, the first issue got off to a somewhat shaky start when the writer gave the demi-god only nine labors (an error corrected in the second issue) and placed him in the historical times of Philip of Macedonia and his son Alexander, several hundreds of years after the events described by the myths. Still, it was a rousing adventure, ably illustrated by Sam Glanzman, in which Hercules not only completed his first task, that of killing the Nemedian Lion, but also assisted Alexander in repelling a invasion by another Greek city-state.

Hercules’ twelve-labors storyline, which would run through the entire length of the series, began in #2 with a teen-aged Hercules asking his

Hercules The Four-Color Hero Sam Glanzman’s cover for Hercules #1 (Oct. 1967). Probably coincidentally, Marvel had drafted its own incarnation of the mythical son of Zeus, who had battled Thor in 1965-66, into a super-group in The Avengers #38 (March ’67). Charlton’s hero was originally beard-free, though Glanzman opted to give him one a few issues later… while Marvel’s Hercules started out bearded and later shaved it off! Thanks to Michael Ambrose, publisher of the excellent Charlton fanzine Charlton Spotlight (see ad on p. 10). [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

father Zeus to be allowed to live in Olympus, following the death of Hercules’ mother. Zeus refused, telling him that, as he was only a demigod, he simply wasn’t good enough to enter and live in the home of the gods. Zeus informed him that he had to prove his worthiness by performing twelve labors. Hercules agreed and set out to do so.

He was somewhat the Rodney Dangerfield of heroes. Brawny, possessed of the strength of a hundred men, he was still regularly mocked by the mortals around him, who openly scoffed at his claim to be the bastard son of Zeus. One man described him as “brawny between the ears.” His half-brother Mars (another technical error, as the Greek god of war was named Ares—Mars was his Roman equivalent) despised him, while his father’s wife Hera did her best to kill him at every opportunity.

Family get-togethers always ended in a brawl of some sort. Even the Greek gods that helped him usually did so secretly, and more to express their hatred of the dominating Hera than because they liked or respected Hercules or regarded him as worthy to walk among them.

The comic wasn’t above poking sly fun at rival companies, either. In #5, his labor was to travel to the land of the Amazons, there to steal Hippolyta’s gold belt, which she used to control the minds of the female warriors. In myth, one of Hercules’ labors was indeed to obtain that belt from the Amazon queen, although there was no comics-style mind

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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman

control involved. In the DC Universe, of course, Hippolyta/Hippolyte is the mother of Wonder Woman—and, in certain panels, the Charlton version of Hippolyta bears a strong resemblance to Wonder Woman. To make matters worse, Hippolyta was even more evil than Hera, perfectly willing to jealously slow-roast a maiden whom Hercules had rescued over an open fire, if he refused to become Hippolyta’s consort. She issued this demand while lolling on a bed, leaving little doubt as to what she actually wanted! The same issue also showed some interesting ways to circumvent the Comics Code’s ban on Amazon bondage scenes, which had once been a regular occurrence in DC’s “Wonder Woman” titles. Charlton simply showed the chains, the ropes, the girl, etc., but didn’t actually show her with her hands chained. It looked a little silly, but—problem solved!

Another thing notable about Hercules was the violence factor. Unlike most heroes in the 1960s, this son of Zeus actually killed people. In #1, he was clearly shown using a flail to crack soldiers’ heads while various bits of debris (but no blood) were shown flying into the air. Curiously, in those battle scenes from #1, he was not drawn front and center in the panels.

Alexander was, with Hercules’ actions relegated to the background and often depicted in silhouette.

Scripts for the series were credited to Joe Gill (#6-13, and possibly #1) and Denny O’Neil (#2-5), the latter under the pseudonym Sergius O’Shaugnessy. Although Charlton regular Gill is generally credited with the script for #1, there remains a possibility that Carl Wessler wrote the first issue’s lead tale. The present writer recently obtained a copy of the one-shot 1968 Charlton black-&-white Hercules magazine, and its title page lists Wessler as well as Denny O’Neil and Joe Gill. The latter pair are both credited on the original splash pages for the second and third “Hercules” epics in the b&w, but #1, also reprinted there, didn’t have credits. Thus the first “Hercules” adventure, the one that ascribed nine labors to the son of Zeus, may have been written by either Gill or Wessler.

The scripts for the series were generally good, with amusing and often sly twists and droll dialogue. While there’s a lot of hoity-toity god talk, at one point Mars offers to give Hercules a fat lip. Hera spared no opportunity to insult and demean our hero, reminding Hercules that his “human grossness makes even… lovely thing[s] ugly!”

Characterizations are good, also, both in the scripts and the art.

Despite the fact that he was the mightiest god of all, Zeus was also the ultimate henpecked husband, so determined not to upset his prickly wife that he never confronted her directly. Instead, while Hera openly campaigned and plotted against his son, Zeus’ response was almost always an indirect one, done behind her back. Mars clearly despised his halfbrother and did as much as Hera to thwart Hercules’ desire to live in Olympus. His failures in this regard made him increasingly frustrated as Hercules, “the muscle-bound idiot, blunder[ed] to victory in the most incredible situations!” After one of Hercules’ victories, Mars summed up his attitude towards his younger brother by voicing to his mother, Hera, the following classic Greek line: “Gee, Ma, I hate that kid.” King Eurystheus, Hercules’ cousin and the human who set out the labors that Hercules had to undertake, was depicted as a vain, spindly man. You know he’s vain because he’s balding, but, like Donald Trump, undertakes a huge comb-over to conceal that fact.

The artwork for the entire series was provided by the amazing Sam Glanzman, whose work underwent a sea change as the series progressed.

The early stories are standard Glanzman, which is to say pretty darn impressive, but in #3 the artist redesigned Hercules, slimming him down by about 30 pounds while aging him a few years and giving him a beard and a profile that could have come directly off an ancient Grecian urn.

Glanzman’s artwork also became more stylized as the series continued, with figures appearing to ape ancient Greek artwork while still remaining fluid and dynamic. Panel borders and lettering began to show strong graphic design elements, similar to what Jim Steranko and Neal Adams were doing at roughly the same time. One page depicted a violent dinner

Amazons In Australia Hercules faces Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The “Hercules” tales from the 5th and 6th Charlton issues were printed, along with two “Thane” installments, in this 3rd issue of an black-&-white reprint comic, published

by Murray Publishers, a.k.a. Planet Comics, of Sydney, Australia.

Regretfully, Ye Editor is uncertain which of his several valued Australian correspondents sent him this copy, some time back. Cover art by Sam Glanzman. (Inset:) Writer Dennis O’Neil, 1969; photo courtesy of Jean Bails. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

scene in a full-page panel that was shaped like a chalice. The stem of the chalice separated Zeus and Hera from each other and highlighted their opposing opinions as to the ongoing situation. Another page featured Hercules testing weapons and slapping his half-brother Mars around, with the ironic panel design appearing to follow the shape of a rectangular peace symbol. In yet another panel sequence captions were enlarged ten times larger than usual, with the words and caption shapes appearing as huge billows of steam as our hero prepared to bathe.

By the end of #11 Hercules had completed his twelve labors, but, in an attempt to delay his ascension to Mount Olympus, Hera demanded that he present his qualifications and describe his adventures before all the gods at a dinner party. However, Hercules was such a boring speaker that most of the gods fell asleep listening to him! Seeing that, Mars started a brawl with the demi-god and defeated him, hurling him back to Earth.

Since the assembled gods never heard the end of Hercules’ accomplishments, his acceptance to dwell on Olympus was delayed. Forever, as it turned out, since #13 marked the final issue of Hercules’ adventures, with the hero still waiting to sit side-by-side with his father.

The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules

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Hercules At Labor—Up To His Gills A full-page action shot from Hercules #12—and its author, Joe Gill. The photo of Gill at the typewriter was taken in the Charlton Comics bullpen, and appeared in a descriptive brochure that accompanied the educational filmstrip People at Work: The Comic Book. The photographer is unknown, but the photo was supplied by Donnie Pitchford. Thanks to Michael Ambrose for the comics scan. [Hercules art ©2010 the respective copyright holders; photo ©1975 King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

This was an excellent series, well written and beautifully drawn. It’s somewhat pricey on the back issues market, but the reprints are fairly cheap. Charlton reprinted it twice, first under their Modern reprint line in 1978, then under the title Charlton Classics in 1980. In addition, #1-2 & #8 were reprinted in a black-&-white magazine format in 1968; this

edition is quite rare and fairly expensive. In 2001 Roger Broughton, who in 1986 had purchased much of the Charlton horror, war, and adventure material, reprinted a number of Hercules issues, also in a b&w format.

The artwork in those issues is quite stunning (Charlton printing presses often left much to be desired in terms of fine printing). It would appear from the sharp detail that Broughton had possession of Charlton’s original film or perhaps Photostats of the original art. For some reason, however, he reprinted stories from the early and latter run of the title, leaving out much of the middle story. In addition, he shifted many pages around, combining storylines from different issues together.

With a page count approaching 225 pages, Hercules would seem to be an excellent choice for a b&w trade paperback in the Marvel Essentials or DC Showcase Presents mode.

A Hercules Checklist #1. (Oct. 1967) Cover: Sam Glanzman “Adventures of the Man-God Hercules” – writer uncertain & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp.

“Meeko the Microbe” – Joe Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Feud” – Steve Skeates (w) & Jim Aparo (a) – 8 pp.

[A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: As stated in the article, the “Thane of Bagarth” series also has ties to the sword-&-sorcery genre, in some ways even more directly than the “Hercules” lead feature, and was discussed in the first part of our sword-&-sorcery coverage, in A/E #80.] #2. (Dec. 1967) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “When Men Meets Monster” – Denny O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp.

“The Molecules and the Cook Book” Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Plot” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #3. (Feb. 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Netherworld” – O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) ] 18 pp.

“The Story of Momotaro” – Gill – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “Banishment” – Skeates (w) Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #4. (June 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “Land of Menace” – O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp.

“The Goddess of Mercy” – Gill – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Galley” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #5. (July 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Land of Amazons” – O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp.

“Mogo the Mighty” – Gill (w) 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Battle Lost” – Skeates (w), Charles Nicholas (p), & Vincent Alascia (i) – 9 pp. #6. (Sept. 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “Hercules’ Choice” – Joe Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp.

“Sandstorm” – Gill – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Queen” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 9 pp.

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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman

Hercules – “The Prey” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 7 pp.

“Tame the Tracks” – Gill (w) 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “Beowulf ’s Decision” – Skeates (w) & Sanho Kim (a) – 7 pp. #12. (July 1969) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Wrath of the Gods” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 17 pp.

“Tough Tommy Turner” – Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “Melting in the Dark” – Skeates (w) & Kim (a) – 8 pp. #13. (Sept. 1969) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “Hercules Wears the Armor of the Gods” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 17 pp.

“New War Dance” – Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “Revenge” – Skeates (w) & Kim (a) – 8 pp.

[NOTE: Future pro comics writer Tony Isabella has a fan letter in the 13th issue.]

Come Back, Thane!

Jim Aparo’s “Thane” splash from Hercules #1; script by Steve Skeates. Thanks to Michael Ambrose. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

#7. (Nov. 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Bull of Minos” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp.

Thane of Bagarth – “The Captive” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 9 pp. #8. (Dec. 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Boar” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 12 pp.

Hercules – “The Legend of Hercules” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 6 pp.

Thane of Bagarth – “Escape” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 9 pp. #9. (Feb. 1969) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “Diomedes’ Curse” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 17 pp.

“The Hero Huang Cho” – Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “Freahulf ” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #10. (April 1969) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Ninth Head That Wouldn’t Die” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 17 pp.

“Tornado Trouble” – Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “From the Future” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 7 pp. #11. (May 1969) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Trophy Hunter” – Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 10 pp.

Family Feud Glanzman’s cover for Hercules #11 featured Grecian-style heads of Hera and Zeus. In both myth and comics, the sister/wife of the king of the gods was Herc’s unrelenting enemy. Thanks to Michael Ambrose. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules

A 2006 Interview with SAM GLANZMAN Conducted via E-Mail & Transcribed by Richard Arndt RICHARD ARNDT: Welcome. I’m very happy to be talking with the legendary Sam Glanzman, writer and illustrator of comics since the 1940s, including series such as “The Haunted Tank,” “Tarzan,” “Robin Hood,” Attu, “U.S.S. Stevens,” “The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz,” “The Iron Corporal,” and today’s topic—Charlton’s Hercules. Can you tell us something about your early life and your first work on comics?

SAM GLANZMAN: I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. People from Baltimore pronounce it “Ballmore.” That is, people from my time. Yassir, in 1924, on December 4th. At home, not in a hospital. My mom used to paint in oils, for fun. She was great. Pop was a World War I vet with a Purple Heart… a sergeant. Lew, my older brother, is 84 now and is the artist of the family. He was in the Air Corps in World War II. Go to “Google” and find out a lot more about him. Dave, my kid brother, was in the Navy CBs in WWII. He messed around with clay modeling. He was good at it but didn’t stick to it. I think he could have been great.

As for the comics… at the time the family was living in Arverne, New York… the Rockaway. Lew, my older brother, was doing a strip called “Amazing-Man” in [Centaur’s] Amazing-Man Comics. This would be the late 1930s. He was also doing something called “The Sharkman” or “The Shark”—I don’t remember which. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: It was the latter.] Anyway, because of him, I started in comics. I’m sure he helped get me in.

My first comic was “The Fly-Man”—originated, written, illustrated, and lettered by me for $7.50 a page. It was in what was called a pocket book at the time, because, unlike regular comics, these would fit into your back pocket without rolling or folding them. There were others… I did some with my brother Lew, using the name “S. Decker.”

I did stuff for True Comics. I remember one about an Indian floating down a river underneath a log to get past the Army scouts or something.

All I can remember about that one is that one panel. It stuck with me. I can’t remember the editor’s name. It may have been Ellsworth. Seems to me the publisher was Parents’ Magazine.

RA: What can you tell us about working on Charlton’s Hercules?

GLANZMAN: I loved Herk. Just loved that job. I had so much damn fun on it. I loved playing around with the panels and lettering and stuff.

RA: Did you receive full scripts for those stories? The writers were Joe Gill and Denny O’Neil.

Come Fly With Me (Left :) Sam Glanzman and his wife Sue, with A/E editor Roy Thomas at right, at the 2002 Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by R. Dewey Cassell.

(Right:) The splash page of Sam’s very first comic book series, “FlyMan”—from Harvey Publications’ Spitfire Comics #1 (Aug. 1941). Perhaps it was a certain amount of youthful impishness on Sam’s part that made him draw the hero stuck—on flypaper! The hero also appeared in Spitfire #2. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

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GLANZMAN: The Herk scripts were full scripts. Joe did a great job with those. I think he really enjoyed doing them. I played poker with Joe, along with Pat Masulli and others. Pat kept a gun tucked away in his belt, around in the back. I had a free hand with the scripts, though. You could do that at Charlton. I especially had fun making up words like “HATE”…

“FIGHT”… and other wording in large letters and adding it to the panels.

Nobody objected. I loved doing that.

RA: Did you do the lettering as well as the full art? I’ve noted that many Charlton artists did their own inking, which wasn’t the norm at either DC or Marvel. Was that because of low pay rates per page or simply an editorial policy?

GLANZMAN: I don’t and didn’t know anything about low pay or editorial policy or anything like that. I’m no goddam good as a businessman. I just accepted my scripts and my paychecks and that was that. The lettering was done by Charlton on some goddamn typewriterlike machine. I did pencils and inks on all my work at Charlton except for a couple of stories that Willi Franz penciled and I inked. One of them was called “Huertgen Minefield.” Can’t remember the title of the other one.

Willi was not a bad drawer… I can’t say artist, because he’s not (Hey, Will, you wouldn’t want me to lie, would you?)… but he draws pretty good.

RA: There was a distinct style change in the Hercules book after the revamping that took place in #3. What prompted this?

GLANZMAN: I changed the way Herk looked just ’cause I wanted to.

Didn’t have to ask anybody’s permission. I had been doing some research

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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman

in my swipe file on Greece. I came across a couple of pictures of Greek vases and such. They all seemed to have these very stylized figures on them with this very distinct profile. I thought it would be good to give Herkie the same puss. I liked it better than the original design.

What prompted me to work that way? I don’t understand the question.

Like with anything I needed references for, I went to my swipe file. If I need to draw a bull, I go to the swipe file to see what the damn thing looks like. A jet bomber? Hercules? Same damn thing. I went to my swipe file.

RA: In 1967 and 1968, when Hercules was going strong, there was a lot of positive fan reaction to the graphic design approach to storytelling that Jim Steranko and Neal Adams were doing. Much of your work on Hercules is also heavily designed as a total page presentation, as opposed to simple panel to panel progression. You did pages designed as peace symbols, with the characters in the panels ironically preparing for war. There was lettering used as a part of the artwork, panels done in both black-&-white and color at the same time, and much more. What was your inspiration for this?

GLANZMAN: Regarding panel layout and such? Hell, man, I wasn’t thinking nothing about no fans or anything like that. Even now I draw for me. I draw mostly for the fun of it. I get satisfaction out of that. I do it for me. It has to please me.

of Operations], and all in the Pacific Theater which I was more familiar with. It was a little bit different than the other two strips, too. More variety, so there was more to do.

RA: Both “The Iron Corporal” and “Willy Schultz” were cancelled at the same time in early 1970. Do you happen to know why?

GLANZMAN: I don’t know. Like I said, I never asked questions or hobnobbed with the [higher-ups]. Bad businessman, that’s me.

RA: Since Willi Franz was only 15 or 16 when he started writing for Charlton, and you were a World War II vet, did you find any difficulty working with him, due to the age difference? What was the working relationship like? Did he just send you scripts?

GLANZMAN: Nah, age had nothing to do with it. He’s a little bullheaded at times. He’s gotta learn to bend sometime. I can’t remember how I got scripts from him back in those days. You’re going to have to ask Will. He’s still a young buck. He probably remembers. One thing about writers, though. Willi, and you with that Hercules article you sent me, and all the writers I know just write and write and write. You guys just go on and on and on, and when I talk to Willi on the phone I can’t get him to shut up.

WHAT IS IT WITH YOU WRITERS????

RA: The first time I saw your artwork was in my dad’s subscription to the hunting magazine Outdoor Life. You did a one-page strip there called “This Happened To Me!” I loved that series. It was about the only reason I picked up that magazine. How did you get the account? Were they real stories or fiction?

GLANZMAN: My older brother Lew was doing some work for them and he suggested me to the editor. I think the editor’s name was Bob Bline.

They were real stories that hunters and such had sent in to Outdoor Life telling about their own personal experiences. I loved that job. I think it paid 10 times more per page than any comic book I ever drew.

RA: You did the strip for a long time, about ten years. What made you decide to leave it?

GLANZMAN: After my divorce I moved up here in the mountains and dropped that account, sorry to say. If I’d kept it I would have had to travel back and forth to Manhattan all the time. Too complicated for my life at that point. I left with good feelings all around, though.

RA: Will Franz was a teenager when he wrote the series “The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz,” “The Devil’s Brigade,” and “The Iron Corporal,” all three of which you illustrated for Charlton. “Willy Schultz” was a grim story of a German-American falsely accused of murdering his commanding officer and condemned to death. He escapes and finds himself in adventures that had him switching back and forth between the American & German armies. “The Devil’s Brigade” told the story of a merged British & American tank squad in the Sahara. “The Iron Corporal” was about a squad of Aussies batting the Japanese on New Guinea. Two of those serials—“Willy Schultz” and “The Iron Corporal”—were extraordinarily tough, hard-hitting war tales. How did you and Franz meet?

GLANZMAN: Willi had sent me a fan letter with some of his drawings in it. I was astounded by the accuracy of his uniforms, guns, and so on. I wanted to find out where this kid got his swipes from. His answer floored me. The bugger told me he swiped ’em from my artwork. Anyway I invited him to my place (this was when I was living in Commack, Long Island). I think I was instrumental in him getting work at Charlton. I like Willi’s stories. He’s a better writer now, though. More mature.

RA: Which of the serials you and Willi worked on was your favorite?

GLANZMAN: I liked the “Iron Corporal” stories the best. As comic book stories, anyhow. Mostly because it was out of the ETO [European Theater

Leo Tolstoy, Eat Your Heart Out! The panels of this ironic page from Hercules #13 are arranged in the form of a peace symbol—even as Herc is being outfitted for war. Script by Joe Gill; art by Sam Glanzman. Thanks to Michael Ambrose. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules

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War Is Hell RA: Ha! Sam, asking a writer why he goes on and on is the same thing as asking an artist why he fills in the background. Most folks don’t notice background when it’s there, but they damn sure notice when it’s not. All we’re doing is trying to fill in the background just enough so that the reader will pay attention to the foreground.

GLANZMAN: Ha! Good answer.

RA: Since we’re on the subject… what do you look for in a good script from a writer?

GLANZMAN: Something I can understand and something I think the reader will understand. No particular type of story. Just something the reader will understand.

RA: What type of art pens or pencils, drawing board, etc., do you feel work best for you?

GLANZMAN: I use a #2 wooden pencil to rough in my stuff and then finish them with a #2 series 7 Winsor and Newton sable brush on Strathmore cold press board. I use Higgins black ink, and I erase the pencil work with a kneaded eraser. Now, if I misspelled anything… forget it… it’s tough enough typing this stuff. I ain’t going back to correct the damn spelling.

RA: What prompted the move from Charlton to DC in 1970?

GLANZMAN: Dick Giordano went to DC, I think in 1968, and took a couple of his cronies with him. He left me behind, though. Anyway, some time later, I forget exactly when, I went over to DC looking for work.

Robert Kanigher was the guy I saw. He didn’t accept any of my work.

The first and last appearances of “The Iron Corporal,” by Glanzman & writer Willi Franz— from Army War Heroes #22 (Nov. 1967) and #38 (June 1970), respectively. #22’s cover heralded “The Continuing Battle Saga of a Yank in the Aussie Army,” while in the final episode it looks as if the hero’s Down Under buddies are getting mowed down by the Japanese, in a violent World War II scene.

Maybe somebody told the creators that the series—and indeed Army War Heroes itself— was about to end, so Franz & Glanzman decided to send them off with a bang? Thanks to Michael Ambrose & Richard Arndt for the scans—and to Richard Arndt for the recent photo of Willi Franz. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

Didn’t like it, I guess. Or maybe he didn’t like me. He told me he wanted to see every blade of grass, and every grain in the wood of a rifle stock. I said, “What the hell is this? I ain’t drawing for goddam National Geographic.

This is comics!” Guess he didn’t like that. He sure didn’t accept my work.

Later I came back again, and this time the editor was Joe Kubert. He liked the “U.S.S. Stevens” idea and took me in. I didn’t have to persuade him about anything. That’s it. He liked it and took it just like that.

The “Stevens” stories were four page stories most of the time. If I needed more or less, then I’d do more or less. Joe gave me a free hand. I’ve been a fortunate son of a bitch in comics. I’ve never had to redraw or change a goddam thing. Nobody ever told me what to do or what not to do. Lucky, I guess. Joe redrew one of my panels once. It was a picture of my skipper laughing. I was thrilled and honored to have the great Joe Kubert messing with my stuff.

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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman

RA: I understand that you kept a diary or journal during the war years.

Obviously that must have helped you while working on the “U.S.S. Stevens” series. How detailed is that journal?

GLANZMAN: The journal I kept was very sparse. Most of the stories I did for the comics were from memories of sea duty during that time.

Some of them happened to me or shipmates, a few of them I heard about, and some were made up, like “Old Glory” and “Where Are the Heroes?”

For some goddam reason I start to cry when I get into a conversation about my Navy time. Some guy once asked me that, if it was such a harrowing experience, how could I stand to write and draw about it? I had no answer for him. But now I think that drawing the comics purged, if that’s the right word, my brain of all the crap. Especially now, ’cause dammit, I don’t even remember my time in the service. Except once in a while a couple of little things pop up in my noggin.

RA: I know you need to go, so I’d like to thank you for your time. I’ve always admired your work.

GLANZMAN: Hope this is some kind of help to you, Dick. Like Popeye sez… “I yam what I yam and that’s all I yam!” Keep your back to the wall… I learned that in the Navy. Keep your back to the wall in a barroom brawl. That way no bastard can sneak behind you and whack you over the head. Do the same thing in poker… that way no SOB watching the game can silently signal what hand I’ve got to his buddy across from me. I still play poker. Haven’t been to a bar since 1950. Adios.

Richard Arndt is a librarian and comics historian from Elko, Nevada.

His interviews and articles have appeared in the magazines Alter Ego, From the Tomb, and Spooky, as well as online at www.enjolrasworld.com.

War At Sea Sam’s superlative series of stories set on the U.S.S. Stevens during World War II began with “Kamikaze” in DC’s Our Army at War #235 (Aug. 1971)— which, as Mike Conroy pointed out in his fine recent book War Stories: A Graphic History, “offers a motive for the [Kamikaze] pilot beyond that of the Samurai code of chivalry: the deaths of [his] family as a result of the incendiary bombs dropped on Japanese cities.” Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Gene Kehoe for the scan. [©2010 DC Comics.]

RA: How did you get the gig drawing “The Haunted Tank”?

GLANZMAN: I don’t know! Just one day Joe had me drawing it. I never did know the how or why behind that.

RA: When did you enter the Navy? Was the U.S.S. Stevens the first ship you were assigned to?

GLANZMAN: I entered the Navy when I was old enough to get in without my parents’ permission, in 1943. I didn’t turn 19 until Dec. 5, 1942. The U.S.S. Stevens was the one and only ship I served on. God bless her. I went from able-bodied seaman to fireman (all that stuff is in my graphic novel A Sailor’s Tale) to Water Tender second class. Those rates (or ranks) have nothing to do with tending any kind of water like you may think. Also, the rank of fireman had nothing to do with putting out fires.

Just the Navy’s way of doing things. W/T 2nd class was my shipping-out rate. The equivalent of a master sergeant in the Army.

The Swords And The Sorcerers part six [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

The Trials of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery

by Donald F. Glut This article has been reprinted, with minor editorial emendations, from Jurassic Classics, Don Glut’s 2001 book on dinosaurs and popular culture. Thanks to Brian K. Morris for retyping this piece.

M

ost of my professional writing output of the 1970s consisted of scripts written for various comic book companies. As a longtime comic book fan, actually working in the industry was, for many years, a real dream come true.

Of course, it was only natural that dinosaurs, cavemen, and other things prehistoric would frequently be featured into these scripts. I worked for most of the major comic book companies during those years—Warren, Marvel, DC, Archie, Charlton, and others—with a good percentage of my writing done on assignment for Gold Key, the comics line of Western Publishing Company.

Dagar, the mercenary-warrior hero I created for Gold Key’s Dagar the Invincible, was not a prehistoric hero per se—at least not in the same sense as was Joe Kubert’s Tor the Hunter. Dagar was not an ax-carrying caveman like Tor, but a relatively civilized sword-carrying hero of the descriptively named “sword and sorcery” genre, which had arisen basically in the pulp magazines of

Is That A Dagar That I See Before Me? Don Glut, writer/co-creator of Dagar the Invincible, is flanked by actress Monique Parent and by Dagar artist/co-creator Jesse Santos, in a pic taken at the 2007 Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Monique starred in the Frontline Films horror flick Blood Scarab, which was scripted and directed by Don. The photo, in turn, is flanked at top of page by the cover of what it and the indicia inside technically hailed as Tales of Sword and Sorcery DAGAR THE INVINCIBLE #1 (Oct. 1972)—and, at left, by the splash page of Dagar #1, as scripted by Glut and drawn by Santos. The cover is by George Wilson, according to Steven Rowe & Mark Foy; the latter collects the original paintings of Wilson, who did many excellent covers for Western/Gold Key. According to Don Glut, Jesse Santos took over the Dagar covers beginning with issue #13, and had done rough layouts for some of the earlier covers, as well. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

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Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery

This article about Dagar the Invincible, originally titled simply “The Trials of Dagar,” was written for the fifth [July-Aug. 1973] special swordand-sorcery issue of Comixscene, a tabloid periodical published and edited by innovative comic-book writer and illustrator, and former magician and escape artist, Jim Steranko. *** Dagar, a young mercenary warrior living during a mythical prehistoric era of monsters and magic just following the Stone Age, battled his way through a number of issues of Gold Key’s sword-and-sorcery comic book Dagar the Invincible. He continued to fight evil forces despite the often poor distribution of Gold Key titles in some major cities. And although there may be relatively few comic book collectors who had even heard of (let alone actually seen and read) an issue of Dagar the Invincible [coverdated Oct. 1972], his first issue outsold every other Gold Key title for that month, with further adventures having been scripted up to a full year in advance. Somebody must have been buying the magazine, which made this author, the creator and writer of Dagar, quite happy.

Dagar’s comic-book origin was that of a young, blond-haired orphan boy, living at a time when many creatures—mostly strange mammals, but also an occasional monstrous reptile like the giant spike-backed lizard that he slays in his second-issue adventure [Jan. 1972], and the likewise slain, corpse-eating “earth-lizard” in the eighth issue [July 1974] from the Stone Age—still lived. Dagar witnesses the genocide of his entire nation of Tulgonia (an “in-joke” name that the publishers never seemed to catch, as when I first began this book the stories were published without a byline) by the hordes of Scorpio, a powerful evil sorcerer. The boy’s grandfather, once a great warrior, saves young Dagar from the massacre so that he might be trained in all manner of combat and someday avenge his people.

Later, standing by his grandfather’s deathbed, the adult (and by now quite cynical) Dagar, representing his nation personified, vows to become a mercenary warrior, bearing as he does no love for his fellow men, and to destroy the fiend Scorpio.

That was Dagar’s official origin.

A Glut On The Market (Above:) Dagar of Tulgonia battles one of the surviving giant reptilians that inhabit his era, in issue #2 (Jan. 1973) of the quarterly comic. Art by Jesse Santos. Don says his editors never realized that “Tulgonia” is his last name spelled backwards, with an “-onia” tacked on. (Or maybe they did, and just never let on!) “Glut,” by the way, is pronounced “gloot”—so the pun in this caption’s heading works only visually, not aurally.

(Right:) Using magical jewels, our hero brings to life a statue of a giant warrior in Dagar #6 (Jan. 1974). Script by Don Glut; art by Jesse Santos. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

earlier decades and was currently enjoying a new life in numerous comic books featuring burly warriors, particularly Marvel Comics’ highly successful Conan the Barbarian.

But Dagar certainly lived in a prehistoric time period, albeit a mythical one that was never discovered by archaeologists or paleontologists, in which early civilizations were based upon and governed by magic and sorcery rather than science and industry. In this very ancient realm that never was, Dagar would encounter and often have to fight creatures that had survived from the previous age of clubs and stoneheaded axes, including sabertooth cats, mammoths, giant ground sloths, dinosaur-like dragons and reptiles, even enormous serpents.

Dagar the Invincible enjoyed a healthy run, being published for most of the decade in a series spanning 18 issues, two of which were reprints of the first issue. In addition to this “official” series, Dagar also appeared in Gold Key Spotlight and made brief guest appearances in my fellow Gold Key titles Tragg and the Sky Gods and The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor.

Dagar’s real beginnings go back nearly six months before his “birth” at Gold Key. During the spring of 1971, I had written a sword and sorcery comic-book script entitled “Castle of the Skull,” featuring a one-shot barbarian hero named Shaark. The story had been first submitted by my agent Forrest J Ackerman to the line of black-&-white horror-comics magazines issued by the Warren Publishing Company, to which I had sold many scripts before. It was promptly rejected by thenstory editor J.R. Cochran.

The story immediately got recycled to Skywald, another publisher of black-&-white comics magazines, which returned it with a note that the story was acceptable, but that the backlog of scripts flooding their offices had necessitated that it be resub-

The Trials Of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior

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mitted the following winter. That was too long for me to wait.

About that time (the early 1970s) I had begun writing horror and science-fiction scripts for Mystery Comics Digest, a new publication from Gold Key, a division of the very large Western Publishing Company. One of my early submissions to the Digest was a story titled “Lizard Sword,” which featured Daggar, yet another one-shot barbarian hero I’d named.

The Gold Key editors were surprised and a bit confused by the story and its hero, the “sword-and-sorcery” genre being an entirely alien concept to them. Wisely, they bought the script but, perhaps just as wisely, requested a new and better title, which I changed to “Wizard of the Crimson Castle.”

The story then went into a stack of scripts waiting to be drawn by the company’s new artist “discovery,” Jesse Santos.

Jesse had been one of the top artists in his native Philippines, working as a staff illustrator for the Halawak comic magazine and chief artist on Paraluman magazine. In 1967 he had been elected vice-president of the Society of Philippine Illustrators and Cartoonists (SPIC), and in 1970 he became a member of the Society of Western Artists. Jesse worked in pen and ink, water color, oil paints, tempera, pastel, and acrylic, and had already earned an enviable reputation as a fine and much in demand portrait artist. Seven of the comic books he drew in the Philippines had been made into motion pictures, some of these in the popular “James Bond” spy genre.

In 1971, just before I became a freelancer for Gold Key, Jesse Santos began getting art assignments at that company, handling both pencils and inks. Jesse started drawing the Brothers of the Spear feature when that strip was awarded its own magazine. Because of his rugged style, Santos was the artist chosen to illustrate “Wizard of the Crimson Castle.”

However, before “Wizard” was shipped out to Jesse at his studio in San Jose, California, I submitted a second sword-and-sorcery tale to Gold Key. It was entitled “Demon of the Temple,” and again starred the character Daggar. At first the editors, Del Connell and Chase Craig, frowned on the idea of using the same character again in a new story, disliking any kind of heavy continuity in their books, arguing that no reader would see both stories. After much effort, I finally managed to convince the editors that it didn’t matter, really, since each story stood up as an individual tale, neither relating directly to the other. With both scripts in their hands, however, Connell and Craig began to see this new (to them) kind of story as a possible series. I made a presentation, complete with an origin, and submitted it as “Daggar the Invincible.” Soon afterward, Western’s New York office made the final decision to proceed with the new book. We were in business.

Getting the old “Castle of the Skull” script back from Forry Ackerman, I set out revamping it, altering the hero from Shaark to Daggar, at the same time giving the character more of a personality and altering him to fit within the more severe restrictions of Gold Key’s self-imposed and quite rigid censorship policies. The script was approved with the exception of the name—Daggar, the editors contended, was too much of a pun on the word “dagger.” Indeed, I had purposely given the hero a dagger to use in the premier story, when he slays an attacking prehistoric sabertooth cat (who leaps upon him on the second page of the initial story), to tie in with the weapon. Although I wanted to title the magazine with the hero’s name as is the custom, Del Connell preferred the less dynamic, in my opinion, Tales of Sword and Sorcery. Perhaps both “swords” and “daggars” spelled out on the same cover was simply too much deadly weaponry for a usually rather tame company like Gold Key! What followed was perhaps one of the most difficult phases of comic book writing—creating a new name. “Dragar” was suggested; but I argued against this to avoid future jokes about our new hero wearing a dress. Del made up a dummy cover with the name “Zagar”; but that was abandoned when I showed them a Skywald Publishing Corporation comic book featuring the jungle hero Zangar. I knew that if Gold Key didn’t like Daggar,

Is This A Zagar That I See Before Me? This “dummy cover” for a “Zagar the Invincible” comic was prepared

by Gold Key editor Del Connell in Los Angeles. Thanks to Don Glut. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

they certainly wouldn’t care for my original Shaark.

Eventually everyone settled on “Dagar.” I was pleased, still pronouncing it with the short “a” as in “dagger.” But most of the Gold Key staff—and, as it turned out, the buyers, too—pronounced it “Day-gar,” with the long “a,” which I for a long time did not like, perhaps fearing it might offend our Italian readers. (Not until after our third issue was published did I learn of an old comic book called Dagar, published by Fox during the 1940s, about a desert sheik hero.)

Tales of Sword and Sorcery #1 was shipped out to the printers, with art by Santos and with a two-part story bearing the separate titles “The Sword of Dagar” and “Castle of the Skull.” In this tale Dagar is pitted against Scorpio’s inhuman minion Ostellon, a villain with mystical control over bones. Among the supernormal threats Dagar must face is Ostellon’s resurrection and animation of the entire articulated skeleton of a giant wooly mammoth, which he sets upon the sword-carrying hero. Swinging a primitive mace and chain, Dagar reduces the skeletal prehistoric threat to a pile of inanimate bone fragments.

When this first issue was released featuring a non-Santos painting recreating the mammoth-skeleton sequence on its cover, I was happy to see that the title had been changed to the more dynamic (and commercial) Dagar the Invincible, almost my original choice. The cover, not surprisingly, featured the attacking mammoth skeleton.

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Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery

Swordsman And Sorcerer Dr. Spektor and Duroc—two heroes co-created and written by Don Glut—met in Gold Key’s The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #4 (Oct. 1973). Duroc and Dagar, as Don notes, began life as basically the same hero. Cover and interior art by Jesse Santos, who was clearly kept pretty busy on a Glut of creations in the first half of the ’70s. The cover was provided by Don, the inside page by Glenn MacKay. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

Coincidentally, this first Dagar issue was scheduled to be published the same month as the issue of Mystery Comics Digest featuring “Wizard of the Crimson Castle.” Both stories had rather similar surprise endings, so Del Connell changed the hero of “Wizard” to “Duroc.” Now, inadvertently, we had two sword-and-sorcery heroes.

I promptly envisioned an eventually separate Duroc series, but knew that he would have to be somehow different from Dagar. The funny thing about Dagar was that, although he appeared to be just another barbarian hero, whose type appeared in numerous comic books published by other companies, he was not really a barbarian. Yes, he looked like a barbarian and fought monsters and bad sorcerers with a broadsword. But Dagar came from a civilized nation and possessed a nobility which prevented him from stealing or wantonly killing. Duroc, I decided, should be a true barbarian in the strictest definition of the term. And while Dagar would brood much of the time over his lost people, the jovial Duroc would seek out danger and adventure just for the thrill of it. To complement his new characterization (and to make him look less like Dagar, since both his and Dagar’s stories were being drawn by the same artist, Jesse Santos), Duroc was given longer (and brown) hair, a mustache, and goatee in all of his subsequent stories.

Duroc made a very brief guest appearance in “Death between Floors,” the second story in the fourth issue [Oct. 1973] of The Occult Files of Dr.

Spektor. When the inked artwork for this story was purchased by the New York office of Gold Key, the powers-that-be decided that the name Duroc sounded too much like the hero of Turok, Son of Stone, that company’s long-running series about two American Indians stranded in Lost Valley, a vast “lost world” populated by dinosaurs, cavemen, and other prehistoric creatures. There were already two more “Duroc” stories, penciled by Jesse and awaiting lettering by Bill Spicer, for Mystery Comics Digest. By the time those tales went to press, Duroc’s name was altered to “Durak.”

Durak (the original character who had starred in the original “Daggar” story, “Wizard of the Crimson Castle”) would eventually fight alongside Dagar in the latter’s seventh issue [April 1974] in the story “Two Swords Against Zora-Zal.” What was the future of Dagar once he avenged himself on his people in the fourth [July 1973] issue? In that story, Dagar faces a number of challenges, including facing a gigantic sabertooth cat in an arena of death.

The monster has been created by Scorpio himself by magically melding together three normal-sized animals. But despite his slaying of Scorpio in this issue, which did at least satisfy Dagar’s reasons for living the life he does, the magazine continued. In the fifth [Oct. 1973] issue’s story “Another World ... Another Time,” Dagar ventures into an eerie cave whose mystical energies zap him back through time to a yet more prehistoric environment than his own — a world in which, through yet more strange forces, dinosaurs and other ancient animal forms have somehow

The Trials Of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior

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Swords, Period!

(Left:) Dagar and Durak (formerly Duroc) share an adventure in Dagar the Invincible #7. Too bad Turok, Son of Stone, didn’t show up to lend a hand!

Thanks to Don Glut. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

survived into the early age of man. There he meets Jarn, a caveman, sharing with him an adventure involving dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and, of course, magic. Making a one-panel appearance in this story was Tragg— not spotted, I believe, by my editor, who frowned upon such “guest shots”—a Cro-Magnon caveman hero who had already appeared in a couple of stories recently published in Mystery Comics Digest.

The original script for this story featured Tragg himself; but the editor changed the name and appearance of Dagar’s caveman partner in battle, making him more of a standard Neanderthal. The editor feared that, as both Tragg’s and Dagar’s stories were being illustrated by the same artist, the two heroes would appear in the same story looking too much alike.

As it turned out, Tragg would eventually get his own comic book, Tragg and the Sky Gods, the first issue dated June 1975, which brought into the caveman’s continuity alien invaders, based upon the “ancient astronauts” concept introduced by Erich Von Daniken in his books that were very popular at the time. Jesse Santos, who also drew the “Dagar” tales, illustrated the first two Tragg issues, after which the book was taken over by Dan Spiegle in order to ease Jesse’s workload. Santos continued, however, to provide Tragg’s painted covers. Jarn, it would later be revealed, was actually Tragg’s brother, while Tragg himself was a direct ancestor of

What A Tragg It Is To See You! Jesse Santos’ painted cover, and artist Dan Spiegle’s splash, for Tragg and the Sky Gods #7 (Nov. 1976); thanks to Don Glut and Glenn MacKay, respectively.

This series was in part a fictionalized response to Erich Von Daniken’s bestselling 1968 book Chariots of the Gods? and its sequels, which hypothesized that humanity had been strongly influenced by, and perhaps was even descended from, visitors from outer space in primeval epochs. Script by Don Glut.

Von Daniken is seen in the inset photo. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

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Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery

A Glut On The Market, Part II (Right:) As Don notes, he wrote one storyline that continued from Tragg through Dagar to The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor, culminating in issue #16 (Sept. 1975) of the latter. Art by Jesse Santos, who else? Thanks to Don for the scan. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

Dagar, thus offering another explanation for their resemblance. Tragg’s more modern appearance was shown to be the result of evolutionary tinkering on the part of the alien Sky Gods, thereby explaining the lack of family resemblance between him and sibling Jarn.

Dagar would also venture underneath the Earth’s surface and to various exotic lands, sometimes accompanied by his beautiful companion Graylin. There would also be a multi-title storyline that thematically tied together the heroes Dagar, Tragg, and occult investigator Dr. Spektor, all of them sharing a common ancestry.

Editorial policy at Gold Key dictated a prescribed number of panels per page and a minimal amount of wordage, which often cut down on the characterization level that could be achieved compared to that of the competition. At Gold Key story was more important than characterization and, generally, any personality nuances not contributing directly to the story itself were edited out. There were also restrictions on how sexy the women characters could be portrayed and on the continued use of magic and monsters. And so, of necessity, Dagar the Invincible was different in many ways from the sword-and-sorcery features published by other companies.

Support Your Local Barbarian Two well-developed supporting characters in Dagar the Invincible were the black warrior chief Torgus (seen at far left in Jesse Santos’ splash for #10, Dec. 1974) and Dagar’s ladyfriend Graylin (who helps Dagar battle a giant ape in #12, July 1975). Graylin was named after Don’s then-wife, Linda Gray… though Linda was a blonde. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

The Trials Of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior

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Closing Thrusts (Left:) Don sent us a copy of his script for Dagar the Invincible #20, which he typed in a form that suggested panel shapes and sizes.

This story was never published, however.

(Below:) Though the last two issues of Dagar consisted of reprints, one inventory “Dagar” story appeared in Gold Key Spotlight #6 (June 1977).

Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

(Below left:) Remember actress Monique Parent from the first page of this article? Sure you do! Well, here she is again, in photo art from Don’s film Blood Scarab… a good way to put teeth into a plug! [©2010 Frontline Films.]

Since Gold Key had not, for some years, run letter columns in their comic books, the editors got almost no feedback from the readers of Dagar the Invincible. That was indeed unfortunate. This writer, for one, would have liked to know how we were doing.

Don Glut, noted for his work for Gold Key and Marvel in the 1970s, has written and directed a number of sf/horror films. He has recently done English-language voice-overs for Japanese anime films and been a writer and consultant on an upcoming dinosaur show for the Discovery Channel. He has two new novels coming out (Brother Blood and Jawbreaker vs. the Scarlet Skull), while his 11-year-old New Adventures of Frankenstein series of novels is soon to be reissued. DVDs of his films can be purchased at www.frontlinefilms.com: Dinosaurs vs. Apes ($15), I Was a Teenage Monster Maker ($30), and—for $20 each—Dinosaur Valley Girls, Blood Scarab, Countess Dracula’s Orgy of Blood, and The Mummy’s Kiss: 2nd Dynasty—plus $2 @ for postage and handling, and $1 @ for each additional film per same order.

The Swords And The Sorcerers part seven [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

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Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser— DC’s “Anti-Conans” Fritz Leiber’s Sword Of Sorcery Heroes

by Richard Arndt

C

In Search Of Nehwon

onan the Barbarian had not been an immediate hit for Marvel Comics when it debuted in 1970, but by 1972 the book was certainly doing well enough for other comic companies, particularly DC, to take notice.

Since most of Robert E. Howard’s stories and characters were tied up legally by Marvel, DC went looking for the other bestselling sword-&-sorcery characters on the paperback racks, namely acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber’s jaded adventurers Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Like Howard’s Conan, Leiber’s red-headed giant Fafhrd and the small, dark Gray Mouser had made their literary debut in the 1930s—in their case, in the magazine Unknown, a rival to the Weird Tales pulp that had spawned the Cimmerian. And, also like Conan, while the stories were greatly appreciated by fans of fantasy prose stories, their real surge in popularity came with their paperback appearances in the 1960s. It would have taken DC no great effort at research to discover this.

Fritz, Fafhrd, And Friend Author Fritz Leiber, juxtaposed with the cover of a paperback edition of the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Cover artist uncertain. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

The Boys Who Cried “Ironwolf”—And/Or “Fafhrd”!

(Left:) “Ironwolf” splash page from Weird Worlds #10 (Oct.-Nov. 1974). Half science-fiction and half sword-and-sorcery, “Ironwolf” by writer Denny O’Neil and artist Howard Chaykin was also a precursor of Stars Wars—indeed, it was largely because of “Ironwolf” that Star Wars director George Lucas told Marvel in 1976 that he’d like Chaykin to draw the adaptation of the upcoming film.

Scipter/editor Roy Thomas was only too happy to oblige. Thanks to Bob Bailey for the scan. [©2010 DC Comics.]

(Above:) This photo of three rising stars of the comics world, all of whom had illustrated material for the 1973 Sword of Sorcery series: (l. to r.: Bernie Wrightson, Howard Chaykin, & Jim Starlin) was taken at Phil Seuling’s 1976 New York Comic Art Convention. Clearly, they got into the spirit of the con’s masquerade—or maybe just got into spirits? With thanks to the Golden Age Comic Book Stories website.

Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans”

DC also had to be aware that nobody on their regular staff of artists was going to attract the new audience fan base for sword-&-sorcery comics that Conan artist Barry Smith (now Barry Windsor-Smith) was attracting. So they went looking among the “Young Turks” entering comics in the early 1970s—and they found Howard Chaykin.

They didn’t have to look far. Chaykin, who had debuted with work in comics fanzines only two years earlier, was already doing his own strip for DC: “Ironwolf,” which appeared in Weird Worlds. For the times, it was an odd feature, combining the appeal of a far-future world with the dynamics and swordplay of an old Errol Flynn historical swashbuckler. “Ironwolf,” and his 1974 reincarnation “Cody Starbuck” in Mike Friedrich’s early indy comic Star*Reach, clearly anticipated the frantic arrival and appeal of Star Wars a few years down the road.

Still, in 1972 “Ironwolf ” was not doing particularly well, so Chaykin, as well as “Ironwolf ” editor and scripter Denny O’Neil, became the editor/writer-artist team on Sword of Sorcery. No doubt, the generic title was selected both to alert sword-&-sorcery fans to a comic aimed directly at them, and because Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser would have made a long, cumbersome, and hard-to-pronounce title. Even so, DC itself was probably quite aware of differences between Leiber’s style of s&s (and let’s just use “s&s” instead of typing out “sword-&-sorcery” every time, shall we?) and Howard’s more straight-ahead, balls-to-the-wall style.

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Leiber was certainly the more literate of the two writers, establishing in his fantasy world of Nehwon (“Nowhen” spelled backward) a considerably decadent style and two main characters who actually liked to talk to each other. A lot! Compared to Conan, these fellows were regular jabberjaws.

Physically they were quite different, as well. Fafhrd was a tall, red-headed giant with muttonchop whiskers and a certain amount of clumsiness. The Gray Mouser was short, dark, and quick, with a sharp tongue and a sharper knife.

In Howard’s Hyborian Age, Conan’s barbarian gods rarely interfered in the everyday dealings of men. Leiber’s gods, particularly the Gray Mouser’s patron Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Fafhrd’s patron Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, constantly stuck their noses into storylines.

There’s a lot more sex and sex-talk in the Leiber stories, too. And although Fafhrd is called “the barbarian” in the tales, he’s considerably sharper and smoother in his approach to women, crime, and barroom brawls than Conan ever was. There’s also a great deal of humor in Fafhrd & the Mouser’s adventures, which may have been off-putting to the young Conan readers of the time.

Here Are The Swords—The Sorcery Comes Later (Left:) A preliminary pencil sketch by Howard Chaykin of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. With thanks to Tim Barnes. (Above:) The second story page of Sword of Sorcery #1, by O’Neil (writer), Chaykin (penciler), and The Crusty Bunkers (which generally consisted of Neal Adams and various talented young artists who happened to wander into his studio that week). The cover and splash page of the first issue were seen in A/E #80. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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Fritz Leiber’s Sword Of Sorcery Heroes

Sort Of Sorcery (Above:) The Chaykin/Wrightson cover of SOS #2 (April-May 1973).

(Above right:) Panels of a decidedly non-Conan type from #3 (JulyAug. ’73, skipping June entirely). Script by O’Neil, art by Chaykin— though the issue’s story contained no credits. [©2010 DC Comics.]

(Right:) Bernie Wrightson, one of the artists seriously considered to inaugurate the Conan the Barbarian comics series, submitted two samples of barbarian warriors to Marvel in 1970. This one was later printed in the prozine Seraphim #5 (1971); the other specimen was seen in A/E #80.

Though Barry Smith was tapped to draw the early Conan, Roy Thomas liked Wrightson’s drawings—and soon assigned Bernie to draw the first Marvel “King Kull” story, for Creatures on the Loose #10 (March ’71). [©2010 Bernie Wrightson.]

Ill Met In Comicland So, with an indicia date of Feb.-March 1973 (which meant it came out sometime in December of ’72), Sword of Sorcery #1 debuted. It boasted a cover by Michael Kaluta (another of the “Young Turks”), pencils by Chaykin, and inks by Neal Adams and his Crusty Bunkers comrades, along with a script by Denny O’Neil adapting Leiber’s tale “The Price of Pain Ease.”

In this first chronicle, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser burgle the palace of one Duke Danius. Escaping from his soldiers’ arrows, they ride off across a salt marsh, where they encounter their patron gods. Sheelba and Ningauble set the duo on a mission to steal and deliver to them the mask of Death from Death’s very own castle. Meanwhile, Duke Danius has obtained an axe he believes will kill Death himself, thus sparing the Duke

Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans”

Sally Fourth!

The cover and lead story of Sword of Sorcery #4 (Sept.-Oct. 1973) were drawn by Chaykin, though with a little inking help from his friends… while newcomer Walt Simonson drew the “Young Fafhrd” back-up, seen below right. Scripts by O’Neil. [©2010 DC Comics.]

for eternity, and is en route to the same darksome citadel. Soon enough, the three find themselves in a battle royal, which is interrupted by Death’s return home. Danius, confident of his axe’s enchantment, attacks Death, and in the confusion of the battle, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser escape with the mask, which the Mouser cuts in half so both their meddlesome gods can share it.

All in all, it’s a fairly satisfying tale. Well told, and with excellent artwork.

So, for the next ten months or so, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser swashbuckled their way through the Comic Book Land of Newhon.

Issue #2 featured an adaptation of Leiber’s “Thieves’ House,” with Chaykin providing the complete art, fronted by a cover credited to Chaykin and Bernie Wrightson… #3 features a Chaykin cover and pencils, with inking, due to a deadline crunch, by roughly an anonymous dozen of Chaykin’s pals, including Walt Simonson and Michael Kaluta… …and #4 featured a lead-off story adapted from Leiber’s “The Cloud of Hate,” with Chaykin again being helped on the inks by anonymous inkers (Kaluta certainly did page 9), along with a back-up tale called “Young Fafhrd the Barbarian,” which featured an original

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Fritz Leiber’s Sword Of Sorcery Heroes

A Fifth Of Fafhrd (Above:) Walt Simonson penciled the lead feature in SOS #5 (Nov.-Dec. ’73), while Jim Starlin penciled the back-up story—the only issue containing no Chaykin artwork. Scripts by Denny O’Neil & George Alec Effinger respectively; inks by Al Milgrom. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [©2010 DC Comics.]

story by Denny O’Neil and dazzling art by a young Walt Simonson.

The 5th and final issue saw Simonson take over the artwork on the cover and main story, an adaptation of Leiber’s “The Sunken Land,” while the back-up tale this time featured a young Gray Mouser with script by science-fiction writing newcomer George Alec Effinger and art by Jim Starlin & Al Milgrom. In terms of overall art, this was probably the best single issue, despite lack of any Chaykin contribution.

But that was it. Clearly the sales on #1 had not been great. Fanzines of the day were reporting the death of the magazine well before #5 went on sale. It was too bad, since scripter O’Neil was clearly getting the grasp of the somewhat difficult characters, and the art was generally very good. Simonson’s efforts in the final issue, which displayed his fascination with Norse legends that he later utilized brilliantly in his classic run on Marvel’s Thor comic, were especially tasty.

The story doesn’t quite end there, however. Those five issues have become collector’s items, and even 35 years later are genuinely interesting and, best of all, fun to read.

Chaykin himself must have enjoyed his time on the series. In the early 1990s he revived Fafhrd and the Mouser as a prestige mini-series, this time for Marvel Comics, with artwork by (future) Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Some of the stories adapted there were same ones Chaykin had first worked on in the original series.

You could do a lot worse when haunting the back issue bins to locate and buy the 1970s Sword of Sorcery and the 1990s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser issues. The original Fritz Leiber prose stories are pretty good, too, and appear in six paperback volumes, currently in print from Dark Horse.

Fafhrd Revisited (Left:) Mike Mignola’s cover for the first volume of Marvel’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser prestigeformat mini-series in the 1990s. Howard Chaykin wrote the adaptations. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Swords And The Sorcerers part eight [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]

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Claw The Unconquered David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

by John Wells

H

Nature Red In Talon And Claw

owever rocky his birth may have been, by 1974 Conan the Barbarian was king of the Hyborian Age of Comics, and Marvel Comics was riding high. This success had not been lost on rival DC Comics, whose efforts at conceiving a viable sword-&-sorcery series of their own had thus far met with no success, despite some fine efforts. If distinctive features like “Nightmaster” (which had preceded the Conan comic) and the licensed Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser had failed to catch on, DC seemed to reason, perhaps something a bit more visually on-the-nose was in order. A brawny shirtless soul with long black hair and a sharp sword in his hand. A barbarian drawn by a man who already

Claw Is Coming!

(Above:) This house ad, with strong art by Ernie Chan (then known as Ernie Chua), appeared in DC comics in early 1975 to promote the launch of Claw the Unconquered. All art accompanying this article was supplied by John Wells, except where otherwise identified. [©2010 DC Comics.]

had Conan’s adventures on his résumé. And a rhythmic name/description like… Talon the Untamed.

Or not.

Jawbonin’ (Above:) The sword-and-sorcery hero Iron Jaw was created for DC editor Joe Orlando by writer Michael Fleisher… but when Orlando elected not to publish the series, it wound up at Martin Goodman’s Atlas/Seaboard Comics as Iron Jaw #1 (Jan. 1975), with art by Mike Sekowsky & Jack Abel. Back in the ’40s, of course, the original Iron Jaw had been one of comics’ great villains, the relentless nemesis of Crimebuster in Charlie Biro’s Boy Comics. From Ye Editor’s personal collection. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

DC editor Joe Orlando’s search for an s&s hero had begun with writer Michael Fleisher, his go-to guy for features as diverse as the Simon & Kirby-revived “Sandman” and a hard-edged take on “The Spectre” with artist Jim Aparo. In 1973, Denny O’Neil and Howard Chaykin had created an energetic political space opera called “Ironwolf ” in 1973’s Weird Worlds #8 & 9, only to have it abruptly cancelled as a consequence of a nationwide paper shortage. The already-completed Weird Worlds #10 was published in the summer of 1974, and Orlando believed its title character might work in a different environment.

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David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

Buscema & Chan—A Conan Team Supreme John Buscema became the most popular “Conan” artist of the 1970s, taking over the color comic with #25 (April 1973). Seen at left is a barbarian sketch he drew for a collector in 1979; with thanks to Mike Burkey.

[Art ©2010 Estate of John Buscema.]

The team of Buscema and Ernie Chan was born with John’s second Conan the Barbarian outing, in #26 (May ’73)—in which the Cimmerian discovered the grim secret of the Living Tarim. Script by Roy Thomas. Thanks to Tony Oliva and Barry Pearl for the scan. [©2010 Conan Properties International, LLC.]

“I decided to try Michael on a sword-&-sorcery series,” Orlando explained in the DC-produced fan-magazine Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May-June, 1975), “so I had him read the ‘Ironwolf ’ books and come up with a sequel. He came in with ‘Iron Jaw’…. He wanted a Jonah Hex type attitude on the part of the hero, and I wanted strange worlds and a feeling of fantasy. The end product was unlike what either of us expected, and although I bought it, I told Michael that I wouldn’t use it. I gave him the choice of trying it on another market, and he did—taking it to Seaboard [better known as Martin Goodman’s Atlas Comics], where they published it as Iron Jaw #1.”

Orlando next turned to David Michelinie, another young writer, whose provocative work on non-super-hero features like “The Unknown Soldier” and Swamp Thing was already earning him a good reputation. In Michelinie, the editor found someone more simpatico with the type of character and series he envisioned.

Visually, as noted, their tanned hero had the build and hair of Conan, but with points of distinction that included a white fur loincloth and a matching swath worn around his neck with a gold necklace. Most important, though, was the metallic red glove on his right hand that concealed a grotesque gray-furred dragon’s paw with webbing between the fingers. The man born as Valcan would wander the land of Pytharia and fight unearthly threats sent his way by the evil King Occulas of the Yellow Eye (so named for his jaundiced left pupil).

Completing the creative team was artist Ernie Chan, then known as Ernie Chua due to a transcription error when he had emigrated to the United States from the Philippines. A strong storyteller with a roughhewn inking style, Chan was a perfect fit for the project. Indeed, Paul Levitz noted in Amazing World of DC Comics #3 (Nov.-Dec. 1974) that he brought “a wealth of experience from inking a Certain Other Noteworthy Adventurer (Not published by us)” in 1973—specifically, Conan the Barbarian #26-36. Chan ultimately penciled and inked the first seven issues of the new DC title, save for #3 & 4 (which were inked and lettered by Pat Boyette).

Plans for Talon the Untamed #1 were well underway when word of the project reached artist/writer Jim Steranko. That comics legend had long since announced a projected series starring a barbarian hero of his own named “Talon,” first previewed in 1968’s witzend #5, and later covered in Marvel’s Savage Tales #3 (Feb. ’74). Under threat of legal action (as reported in The Comic Reader #112, Nov. 1974), Talon the Untamed abruptly became Claw the Unconquered. He was part of a wave of new DC fantasy titles that included Paul Levitz & Wally Wood’s Stalker and

Michael Uslan & Ricardo Villamonte’s Beowulf adaptation, each of which likewise featured sword-&-sorcery overtones.

Clawing His Way Into Comics On sale in February of 1975 (and dated May-June), Claw the Unconquered #1 doled out a degree of backstory. Years earlier, while plotting the murder of his own father, then-Prince Occulas had been advised by the blank-eyed court wizard Miftung that an unspecified figure with a clawed hand would threaten his dreams of conquest. Learning that a woodsman named Kregar possessed such a hand, Occulas arranged for his assassin Zedon to murder the man and his wife. But the killer failed to notice the couple’s infant son Valcan—who possessed a claw just like his father’s. After Zedon stalked off, a snow-white hand reached down to soothe the tot, and a voice pronounced him uniquely suited to completing specific tasks in the years ahead.

Believing his future unimpeded, Occulas poisoned his own sire and claimed the throne of Castle Darkmorn. Was it the guilt concerning the destitute, subjugated people of Pytharia that filled Occulas’ sleeping mind with dreams of the dreaded clawed man? Not according to Miftung, whose crystal ball finally disclosed the existence of Valcan, now a tanned, muscle-bound wandering savage who was called Claw.

Claw had no answers. His lone memory was of the stranger’s visitation following his parents’ murders. “I know only that I have a gnawing sense of fate,” he told a barmaid. “A feeling that I am to play a vital role in the future of this world.” Appropriately, Valcan often called on Pytharia’s god of chance, the seven-bearded Soth.

The barbarian’s survival instincts and strong sword arm ensured that he didn’t fall prey to the constant attacks on his person. A pretty face was another matter, and the aforementioned barmaid soon lured him into a trap set by Miftung. Using an ancient crimson jewel, the assassin Zedon summoned a Lovecraftian plant-god called Kann the All-Consuming.

Wrapped in one of Kann’s many tentacles and reeling from its piercing yet soundless scream, Claw managed to plant a makeshift spear in the creature’s “eye” (or was it a brain?) and proved that “even a god can die.”

Zedon could die, too, and did, having unwittingly sacrificed his life force

Claw The Unconquered

to summon Kann. The fact that this was the man who had killed his parents was unknown to the barbarian.

Against his better judgment, Valcan agreed to take the pleading barmaid with him as he resumed his wandering and was nearly repaid with a knife in the back. Leaving her stranded in the desert, the barbarian assured her she need not worry about being alone. The jackals would come out at dusk. “I’m sure you’ll feel quite at home with them.” And he rode away alone as the poster that had caught the ill-fated barmaid’s eye fluttered in the breeze: “Reward: 10,000 dreknars for the head and right hand of Valcan the Claw.”

The hits kept right on coming in issue #2 (July-Aug. 1975), where the green-robed Gofflok of the Slender Blade tried to kill the sleeping Valcan. When a pack of glowing hell-hounds bore down on them, the duo declared a truce and desperately leaped for the rope that conveniently dropped out of the sky. They were warmly greeted by the gold-skinned grand-priestess Myrallya of K’dasha-Dheen, a glorious floating city that existed between dimensions, via a spell sustained through periodic sacrifices of godly beings. Due to a dearth of the latter, Myrallya decided Claw and his sycophantic companion would suffice. But the barbarian refused to die quietly, even when faced with a giant slug that sported unicorn-like horns on both of its heads. Claw goaded it into stabbing one of its horns into the brain of the other head. Then he and Gofflok escaped while the flesh of the city’s inhabitants faded to gray, “assuming the consistency of curdled cream as it [dissipated] into time’s waiting maw.” K’dasha-Dheen was no more.

Not resting on sentiment, Gofflok immediately tried to stab Valcan in the back, only to have the barbarian’s gloved hand thrust the blade into the blackguard’s heart. Claw was less shaken by the betrayal than by the fact that the attack had caught him genuinely unawares and that his unearthly hand had reacted of its own accord to save him.

Further betrayal awaited Claw in issue #3 (Sept.-Oct. 1975), when a silver-haired centauress named Elathia convinced him to scale a wizard’s tower to recover the runespear called Kyriach, with which her true human form could be restored. In fact, the wizard was Miftung, and what he’d really told her was that he’d undo the supposed spell if she killed Claw. To no great surprise, the centauress was killed by the runespear while Valcan defended himself. As she succumbed, Elathia rejoiced that at least her true shape would manifest upon her death. But her corpse remained the carcass of a centaur.

Lo, There Shall Come A Quest!

After three issues of episodic fare, Claw #4 (Nov.-Dec. 1975) reached for something bigger—introducing a genuine ally for Claw, revealing a far greater plane of existence beyond Pytharia, and inaugurating that grand tradition: the quest.

In his latest scuffle with reward-seeking swordsmen, Valcan was joined by Ghilkyn, the self-described Prince of the Thousand Hills, a

The Twin Talons Of Claw The cover of Claw the Unconquered #1 (May-June 1975)—and the hero’s creators, writer David Michelinie (center) and artist Ernie Chan. David sent us a photo of himself at the wedding of comics artist Bob Layton… while Ernie was snapped at a comics convention not long ago.

[Claw art ©20101 DC Comics; Chan photo ©2010 Atomic Romance.]

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fighter equally adept with a slingshot and a curved blade—and sporting demonic horns on his forehead. There were, Ghilkyn explained, numerous planes of reality, and he was born on an utterly boring one called Awadaka. Dabbling with mystic forces beyond his control, he had accidentally thrust himself across dimensions and picked up his horns in one hellish realm before landing in Pytharia.

Elsewhere, Occulas revealed that Claw endangered his rule of his own kingdom, and of fifteen worlds across the parallel realities that he planned to conquer (which, three issues later in Claw #7 he would refer to as the Multiverse, the first use of that term in a DC comic book). The king urged Miftung to summon the gargantuan N’hglthss the Damned from one of the seven hells to use its death touch on Valcan.

Claw, meanwhile, was stunned to learn that the crimson gauntlet on his hand had been meant to be joined

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David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

You’ve Gotta Hand It To Claw (Above:) The baby Valcan was marked for greatness by someone—or something— while, years later, an overeager barmaid discovered the grown-up Claw’s terrible secret. From Claw the Unconquered #1, by David Michelinie (writer) and Ernie Chan (artist). [©2010 DC Comics.]

Worms Of The Earth (Left:) Ernie Chan’s covers for Claw #2-3. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Claw The Unconquered

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by a silver sword called Moonthorn at the moment of Valcan’s “release”— but the weapon had been stolen away to a netherworld before ever Claw could wield it. Accessing that realm required “an arcane talisman called the Grimstone” that had been split into three pieces and scattered across Pytharia in locations that Asvitar provided.

Though intrigued by the curious references to his “release” and his “right” to Moonthorn, Claw wasn’t sure he wanted to risk his life to recover the sword and use it to kill a world-threatening demon. “Why should I care?” he asked a horrified Ghilkyn. “This world has given me naught but pain, sorrow, hatred. For all I know, I may not even be part of the race you expect me to save.” But then, shamed when the hill-prince rode against N’hglthss alone, Valcan leapt into the fray and soon agreed to embark on the Grimstone quest. “I still have no love for this world,” he asserted, “but, unfortunately… it’s the only world I’ve got.”

The boundaries of that world were helpfully laid out in Claw #5 (Jan.Feb., 1976) in the form of a map accompanying the letter column.

Conceived by scripter/creator Michelinie, the actual cartography and calligraphy were provided by Orlando’s editorial assistant Paul Levitz and production crew member Debra Ulrich, respectively. “Passersby Joe Kubert and Tex Blaisdell,” issue #7’s letter column added, drew the forests and mountains.

“A fantasy world, just like the real world we live in, must be governed by certain rules of logic and nature in order to maintain a basic believability,” Michelinie elaborated in Claw #11’s text page. “Cities should be placed near rivers, trade routes, ports—areas where pockets of civilization and commerce are most likely to spring up. The borders between its countries should generally follow natural obstacles such as mountain ranges, bodies of water and the like. Its deserts should not edge its tundras and its swamplands shouldn’t pop up in the middle of its mountain ranges. Once a world is established with a geography solidly based on such logic, the deviations stemming from the fantasy elements in that world become more pronounced and, therefore, more effective.”

Having created his world, the writer “set about devising a culture to accompany the physical aspects of our dark-maned hero’s realm. Again, the creation began with simple logic: since sorcery plays such an important part in Claw’s life, it was necessary to make magic a common—

A Laying On Of Claws In this dramatic page from Claw #6, Valcan instinctively works a spell with his monstrous appendage. Script by Michelinie, art by Chan. [©2010 DC Comics.]

if often unsettling—occurrence. And upon this initial foundation, an ever-branching background was formed, incorporating literature and legend, proverbs and plays, histories and songs and religions.”

In the comic proper (Claw #5), the quest began in earnest.

Discovering the first piece of the Grimstone was easy enough, but its owner Safa Ghul threatened to destroy it if Claw and Ghilkyn didn’t acquire for him the gem eyes of a dragon statue that channeled the magic essence of the Oracle. Overcoming various menaces, Claw soon traded the Grimstone for the Eyes of the Oracle. But when Safa Ghul placed the gems in his own eye sockets, he was overwhelmed by the knowledge that flooded his mind—shrieked—and dropped dead.

“Even a fool,” Claw moralized, “should know that in putting the mind of a god into the soul of a man, there can be naught but the devil to pay.”

The World According To Claw The map of Claw’s world that appeared in issue #5, as designed by David Michelinie with the help of Paul Levitz and Debra Ulrich. [©2010 DC Comics.]

The second part of the quest (Claw #6, March-April 1976) brought the adventurers to the village of Dhylka-Ryn, where a put-upon young man named Kurah Shan had been corrupted by his portion of the Grimstone and now threatened the people who had once tormented him. With the aid of Kurah Shan’s former girlfriend Pfylahna, Claw and Ghilkyn got close to the sorcerer’s gleaming white fortress, but even they couldn’t repel his magic threats indefinitely. Accepting that death was at hand, Valcan went into a trance, pulled the gauntlet from his hand, and unconsciously raised it into the mystic energy as he

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David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

aloft above a gleaming lake. It was guarded after a fashion by Mahan K’handa, a man-turned-demon with the tail of a snake. In Claw #8 (JulyAug. 1976), the barbarian hero relentlessly fought past every protector that the green demon threw in his path but was stymied by the fact that K’handa himself was invulnerable. Claw’s dragon’s-paw had no such problems, thrusting forward to grab the gem on the demon’s chest and shattering his soul within.

Afterwards, a small golden dragon perched atop the hilt of Moonthorn, declaring itself the Shadow-God and assuring Claw that they were fated to meet again in battle. Why not, he suggested, simply surrender and save himself a lot of trouble later? Valcan’s only response was to swat the pest aside, lift the sword high above his head, and use the Grimstone to return to Pytharia.

The strikingly different environment of the hell-realm in Claw #8 coincided neatly with the strikingly different art style of new penciler Keith Giffen. With Ernie Chan’s departure for “Batman” (and soon for Marvel once more), Giffen filled the void with layouts that were a far cry from the more traditional storytelling of the first seven issues. Pages contained upwards of 8 to 10 panels, and the two-page sequence detailing Mahan K’handa’s origin was constructed from the outline of the demon’s head. Maintaining a bit of Chan’s grittier qualities was inker Ricardo Villagran, with assistance from Oscar Nouvelle and Luis Dominguez. And Chan himself inked Giffen’s covers on this issue and the next.

The Savage Sword Of Ernie Chan Ernie Chan could pencil, as well as ink, a mean Conan—as he would shortly do, from time to time, after he returned to Marvel's “Conan” comics—as witness this 1977 illustration. Alas, we're uncertain as to precisely who sent us this commissioned illo—or, technically, if it was intended to be Conan— or Claw--or perhaps some third barbarian hero. [Art ©2010 Ernie Chan.]

chanted in a strange tongue. Claw had no idea what he’d done, but it set him and Ghilkyn free while an unsettled Kurak Shan was literally killed by the enchanted manifestation of his own fears.

The acquisition of the final Grimstone segment (Claw #7, May-June 1976) proved something of a moral dilemma. Claw and Ghilkyn found it at the bottom of the Lake of Hands as the power source of the city of the Heshahnoy, which defied the laws of physics. Led by Trefalion, its ancient people had attempted to share their technology with their barbaric contemporaries and been rewarded with naught but violence. In response, the pacifists had cut themselves off from the world and created an underwater utopian society while the power of the Grimstone held the lake’s water at bay. After the duo defeated a seaweed monster animated by Miftung, Trefalion presented Claw with the Grimstone, conceding that Miftung’s attack had convinced his people that the threat to the world was greater than their own well-being. As the ocean crashed in on the unprotected city, Valcan found himself impressed by their willingness to die rather than compromise their principles.

The Hour Of The Giffen Putting the three pieces of the Grimstone together and uttering the appropriate words, Claw and Ghilkyn were cast across the void into a realm where countless stars and planets hung in the sky and strange creatures leapt forth from every direction. The hill-prince literally blinked out of existence, but Valcan forged on and discovered Moonthorn held

New Blood Keith Giffen provided the pencils for Claw the Unconquered #8—which were inked by Ricardo Villagran, albeit with a bit of assistance. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Claw The Unconquered

Incidentally, The Answer To The Question On The Cover Was “Yes” The cover of Claw #9, as penciled by Giffen and inked by Chan. [©2010 DC Comics.]

The more polished Bob Layton inked Giffen on #9 (Sept.-Oct. 1976), where Claw returned to Earth, reunited with Ghilkyn, and learned that Moonthorn lived up to its billing when its crackling blue energy utterly destroyed N’hglthss.

Vanishing in a burst of energy, Valcan reappeared in an alien vessel and found himself clad in different clothing that included pieces of chain-mail on his right shoulder and left arm, with brown briefs replacing his fur loin cloth.

29

answers Claw sought. The Multiverse, he explained, was composed of fifteen worlds, seven of which were positive planes controlled by his fellow Gods of Elder Light, while seven other negative realities were under the thumb of the Shadow-Gods. Pytharia’s plane of existence was the only one that remained contested, forcing the Shadow-Gods to designate Occulas as their avatar, even as the Gods of Elder Light selected Valcan to represent them. “Whoever controls that final plane shall have the advantage and power to topple the cosmic equilibrium,” the light god explained, “and gain rule of the entire universe.”

One of Claw’s ancestors had once inadvertently raised a demon. The man mostly deflected the fiend’s attempt to possess his body but was left with the creature’s claw in place of his hand, a curse that was passed from father to son over ensuing generations. Aware of the demonic paw’s innate threat to the Shadow-Gods, one of the Gods of Elder Light had rescued the infant Valcan, training him in the art of combat, sheathing his claw in a crimson metal glove of Oraculum that simultaneously inhibited the demonic paw’s seduction of his mind and directed it to protect him via a link to the gods’ consciousness. Returning to Pytharia, Valcan had been ambushed by a counter-spell of the Shadow-Gods that not only separated him from Moonthorn but erased his memories.

Any satisfaction Claw received from the newfound knowledge was undercut by his fury over having been a pawn in a cosmic war he wanted no part of. Snapping Moonthorn’s blade in two, he was abruptly returned to Earth. Though he had no memory of his parents, the barbarian recognized there was a debt to pay, now that he was finally aware of the existence of Occulas. Bidding farewell to Ghilkyn, Claw insisted this was something he needed to do alone. A final confrontation was promised two months later.

Wanderings Delayed

On the vessel, an albino being in a bejeweled robe at last provided the

Launched after comics’ sword-&-sorcery boom had crested, Claw the Unconquered had defied the odds by surviving as long as it had. “Even though I loved writing the series, and the fan mail was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, the book’s sales kept falling somewhere within the twilight zone of profit and loss—not losing money, but not really making it, either,” David Michelinie explained in issue #10’s text page. Aware the end was near, he and Giffen resolved to produce a proper ending in their final issues. Which would have been fine had the book not been canceled an issue earlier than expected.

With a completely written and penciled story on hand, Michelinie and

Claw The Resuscitated Joe Kubert’s cover for the revived Claw #10, and the splash page

by Giffen and sometime Tarzan newspaper strip artist John Celardo. Script

by Michelinie. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

Giffen spent the next year trying to figure out a way to get it into print, “even offering to work at cut rates or for free to offset the costs of using the story as a back-up, one-shot, anything!” Claw #10’s text piece continued. They’d even persuaded Cary Burkett, editor of Amazing World of DC Comics, to do a special s&s issue that would include the tale as a bonus. Instead, DC treasurer Arthur Gutowitz noticed that the final two Giffen issues had sold markedly better than their predecessors, enough to justify returning Claw to the schedule to fill the void left by the late-1977 cancellation of Metal Men. By this point, though, a year and a half had passed, so it was deemed prudent to have the first issue of the revival recap what had gone before rather than open with what had been intended as the grand finale.

Beneath a cover by Joe Kubert (who’d perform such honors on each succeeding issue), the comic that Michelinie dubbed “Claw #9 ½” (really #10) went on sale in January 1978 (with a cover date of April-May), with veteran illustrator John Celardo now as Giffen’s inker. The story involved Valcan crossing paths with three ancient mages en route to Castle Darkmorn and included an extended flashback sequence as the hero slumbered midway through the story. As with everything in Pytharia, the trio were not what they seemed. They’d made a bargain with the ShadowGods that gave them immortality but failed to realize that their bodies would continue to age without the release of death. Their attempt to sacrifice Valcan to a bizarre soul-eating creature backfired spectacularly when Claw’s actions caused it to turn on the trio and devour them instead.

The long-delayed “Death at Darkmorn” finally saw print in #11 (JuneJuly 1978), wherein Claw fought his way to the edge of Occulas’ castle, only to see it rise into the sky courtesy of Miftung’s magic. Valcan had no intention of letting the yellow-eyed king get off that easily and began scaling it as it rose higher and higher. The fearful Occulas insisted that his brow-beaten wizard perform a spell of transmutation on him. Thus, when the barbarian finally arrived, he faced not a slender king but rather a magenta-fleshed demon with a horn jutting from his forehead. Even so, Claw inflicted a well-placed stab wound with his dagger—though he was

Eyeball-ToEyeball With Occulas (Left & above:) To celebrate his showdown with Occulas, Claw sported a new, American Indian-style haircut beginning in issue #11. Cover

by Kubert; interior art by Giffen & Celardo; script

by Michelinie.

Photo of Keith Giffen above taken by Glen Cadigan, with special thanks to Michael Eury. [©2010 DC Comics.]

unprepared for Miftung to be the one who doubled over in pain even as Occulas reverted to human form. The spell of transmutation had effectively made the wizard’s life force into a magical shield around his king.

Mortally wounded, the mage forgave the remorseful Valcan: “When Occulas took the throne, he abused me and my loyalty… by turning my power to malevolent ends. I’ve hated Occulas for what he’s made of me {koff} but never had the daring… to do something about it. Though now your knife-thrust… should accomplish… quite the same ends… ” Transporting Claw to the ground far below, Miftung died taunting Occulas with the fact that his spells died with him. Including the one that allowed Castle Darkmorn to float in the sky. Watching it shatter after it plunged from the sky, Valcan turned and rode into the crimson sunset.

An Eternal Champion Michelinie’s concept of a war between chaos and order being fought through avatars on the mortal plane was freely inspired by the fiction of Michael Moorcock. The renowned fantasy/s&s writer was perhaps best known for his concept of the Eternal Champion, a hero who existed across time, space, and dimensional barriers in a variety of identities to maintain the balance between good and evil, often unwittingly. “I was a big fan of Elric, Corum, and the rest of the heroes populating Moorcock’s multiverse,” Michelinie told Mark DiFruscio in Back Issue #34 (June 2009). “I thought the Eternal Champion concept was brilliant, and I was consciously trying to create something similar in my DC work.”

Claw The Unconquered

31

Michelinie expressed that desire in Star Hunters #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1978), where that title’s space-faring hero Donovan Flint learned that he was one such champion in the eternal war between light and darkness. A Rich Bucklerpenciled montage revealed facets of Flint in other realms, among them other DC characters previously scripted by Michelinie—The Unknown Soldier, fantasy heroine Starfire, and Claw the Unconquered.

Under new editor Larry Hama, Claw #12 (Aug.-Sept. 1978) made a brief nod to the previous issue’s events by having dragon-like Shadow-Demon crawl from the wreckage of Castle Darkmorn and vow to do better next time. Mostly, though, the focus was on Valcan’s attempt to find a purpose in life now that there was no longer a price on his head. His efforts were complicated when three mercenaries stole the Oraculum glove and left Valcan increasingly susceptible to the demon blood flowing in his claw. Attempting to train soldiers in a border war, Claw was increasingly overcome with rage, culminating in a massacre in which his bloodlust led him to slaughter everyone on the battlefield regardless of their allegiance. It was simply too much. Valcan raised his broadsword, severed the demonic claw, cauterized the wound… and wept.

Claw The Cancelled Once again, Michelinie and his hero had been left hanging. Thanks to DC’s line-wide reduction of its line-up in the summer of 1978, all of its marginal titles were cancelled in one fell swoop that was soon dubbed “the DC Implosion,” a play on what had begun as an ambitious expansion called “the DC Explosion.” The completed Claw #13 (and #14, for that matter) did manage to make it into print, albeit only as photocopied pages in a multi-page, omni-feature black-&-white collection called Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #1 that was distributed to DC staffers.

Illustrated by Romeo Tanghal and Bob Smith, issue #13’s tale found Valcan drowning his sorrows in a tavern and about to be assaulted by a group of brawlers. The approach of a silver-haired beauty named Trysannda made the group inexplicably scatter, and the embattled barbarian accepted her offer to leave in her company. She’d come seeking a champion willing to kill “a man of unimaginable evil” in her village, a deed she was incapable of committing herself. Claw respectfully declined (“I am a warrior, not a murderer”) but rode away with her anyway.

When they were attacked by winged demons, Trysannda demonstrated why the men in the tavern had given her a wide berth. With a gesture, she frosted over the wings of the scavengers. When her village had come under attack by energy blasts from a chaotic dimension, she’d made an unspeakable bargain with a nearby wizard to acquire the power that would seal the dimensional rift. Having succeeded in her quest, Trysannda found herself ostracized by the neighbors she had saved and now beholden to an evil mage. Only through his death, she explained, would she be freed from the bargain.

Sleeping on the matter, Valcan awoke—amazed to find that his disembodied claw had literally followed him and reattached itself to his wrist. As he fretted about the possibility of again being overcome by bloodlust, Trysannda mystically tracked the Oraculum glove—and, wouldn’t you know, it had ended up in the possession of Dalivar the Unethical, the selfsame wizard whom the

The Eternal Champion’s Champion (Above:) Fantasy and science-fiction author Michael Moorcock, and (at left) the most famous of his incarnations of the Eternal Champion—Elric of Melniboné, as depicted a decade or so ago by Paul Gulacy. Moorcock’s writings are an acknowledged inspiration to Claw co-creator David Michelinie.

Gulacy’s illo is a prize from the personal collection of A/E’s editor; the photo of Moorcock appeared in James Gunn’s Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction (1975). [Art ©2010 Paul Gulacy; Elric is a trademark of Michael Moorcock.]

(Above:) In this page from Star Hunters #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1978), we see scripter David Michelinie’s answer to Moorcock’s “Eternal Champion” concept, which includes The Unknown Soldier, the short-lived sword-and-sorcery heroine Starfire, and Claw. Pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Tom Sutton. [Claw page ©2010 DC Comics; Elric figure ©2010 Paul Gulacy; Elric is a trademark of Michael Moorcock.]

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David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

Hair Today, Goblin Tomorrow (Left:) On Joe Kubert’s powerful cover for Claw #12, Valcan’s changed his hairstyle back to its original look. He must’ve had quite a barber bill. [©2010 DC Comics.]

silver-haired beauty wished to kill. Approaching Dalivar’s Castle Ravenroost as the story ended, Claw and Trysannda were taken aback when the ground itself rose up to attack them.

Michelinie abruptly left the book and DC Comics as a whole at that point, the result of an editorial conflict on the Star Hunters series that was detailed in Back Issue #34. Tom DeFalco stepped in to conclude things in a story intended for Claw #14.

Though Valcan defeated the living mountain with the aid of his claw’s demonic energy, he and Trysanndra nonetheless became prisoners of Dalivar (now called Validarr), and the nature of Trysannda’s bargain became clear. She was meant to be the mate of a slithering demon called Sha-Gasa the Merciless and to give birth to its unholy offspring. Claw and the sharp end of a sword made certain that didn’t happen. He then grabbed Trysannda and fled into caverns far beneath the castle. On the last page, they were suddenly illuminated with torches as strange creatures emerged from the shadows and a hunchbacked king welcomed them to the Lair of Lunacy: “You’ll never leave alive!” DeFalco also continued from #13 Michelinie’s subplot that saw Ghilkyn return to the cast long enough to be abducted by the Shadow-Lord. The latter’s unrealized plan was to manipulate Valcan’s friend into succeeding Occulases as the chaos lords’ agent in Pytharia.

Claw The Continued All of this was ultimately a road not taken, since the preceding two issues were never officially published by DC. As far as general readers knew, Claw’s adventures ended when he severed his hand on the last page of #12. Exactly three years later, the official (i.e., published)

The Sword-And-Sorcery Sagas That Never Happened—Or Did They?

(Below:) The silver-tressed Trysannda from Claw #13—and Claw in action in #14, the original series’ final issues. These two issues were never published in actual newsstand comics; but they were included in the rare black-&-white 1978 volume Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #1 (of 2). Pencils by Romeo Tanghal, inks by Bob Smith. When Michelinie abruptly departed the series after #13, the 14th issue was scripted by Tom DeFalco. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Claw The Unconquered

33

With their master’s defeat, the hordes slipped away and the forces of light seemed victorious. Riding into Ichar with Shalieka at his side, Claw reveled in the cheers of the masses. His confidence might have been shaken had he heard the thoughts of one of those revelers: “You have done well for yourself, Shalieka… and all goes just as the Lords of Shadow have decreed.”

Following a career summation in Who’s Who #5 (July 1985) with a new Giffen illustration, the book was closed on the original saga of Claw the Unconquered. That was hardly the end of the character, however.

Escape Claws In Neil Gaiman & Bryan Talbot’s Sandman #52 & 56 (Aug. & Dec. 1993), Claw and another 1975 fantasy alumni, Stalker, were among the patrons at a tavern called World’s End that was a nexus for beings from other realms. Later, Swamp Thing #163 (Feb. 1996) suggested that the two of them and other 1970s creations such as the sword-wielding Starfire were strictly the fantasies of the mad Jim Rook (a.k.a. Nightmaster).

Even so, he seemed real enough in Tim Truman and Scot Eaton’s Creature Commandos #4-8 (Aug.-Dec. 2000). In a story set outside mainstream DC continuity, Claw was a rebel leader in the other-dimen-

Claw-About-Town In the course of the “Claw the Unconquered” back-up feature in Warlord #48 & 49, Valcan accepted his destiny in one issue—by the end of the next, he had apparently triumphed. Yet it was all, apparently, part of some dark plan by “the Lords of Shadow.” Well, what kind of plan except a dark one would you expect Lords of Shadow to have? Script by Jack C. Harris, art by Tom Yeates. [©2010 DC Comics.]

continuation of the barbarian’s adventures resumed in a two-part feature in the back of Warlord #48-49 (Aug.-Sept. 1981) with script by Jack C. Harris and moody art by Kubert School graduate Tom Yeates.

Here, the claw reattached itself to Valcan’s arm almost immediately after he sliced it off. Appearing before his reluctant champion, one of the Gods of Elder Light offered him a choice: he could be a pariah, or he could embrace his destiny “and become the ruler of your universe.”

Accepting the sacred golden helmet and the re-forged Moonthorn, Valcan chose the latter.

Dispatched to the Pytharian capital of Ichar, Claw found it under siege by the Shadow-Lord’s demonic hordes in the power vacuum following Occulas’ death. One demon chieftain in particular caught Valcan’s eye— the one with the human hand belonging to his ancestor. When two engaged in battle, man and demon were stalemated. A warrior woman named Shalieka convinced them to participate in a ritual that would settle the matter. Transported to the realm of the death-god Jarmal, both combatants reached for a dagger held by Shalieka, but Valcan got it first.

His human hand sliced off, the demon plunged into Jarmal’s maw. Valcan’s own claw remained while the severed human hand crumbled to dust, its human owner having died centuries in the past.

Treading Jeweled Thrones Beneath Their Sandaled Feet Since 1932 Two different creations inspired largely by Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian fight side by side in the second issue of the Dynamite/DC limited series Red Sonja/Claw the Unconquered, which was later collected into graphic novel form. Script by John Layman, art by Andy Smith. [Red Sonja TM & ©2010 Red Sonja Properties, Inc.; Claw TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

34

David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero

the Unconquered #1-6 (Aug. 2006-Jan. 2007). By the last page of the Chuck DixonAndy Smith six-parter, Claw was anything but unconquered, having been condemned to hell while the world above fell to the Lovecraftian demon H’kothadaztlonta Rzahl.

sional world of Terra Arcana who first fought and then joined forces with the title characters, who’d flown in from Earth.

When he removed his oraculum gauntlet, the barbarian wasn’t just more prone to his demonic hand’s influence; he was threatened with a total transformation, as its monstrous attributes climbed his arm and shoulder.

(Many of the villains and details in the Creature Commandos mini-series, incidentally, were loosely based on Gardner Fox creations from the early years of Justice League of America. Terra Arcana itself was inspired by JLA #2’s Magic Land.)

Within the DC Universe proper, a young man from Hong Kong named John Chan became a modern-day Claw when he unwittingly acquired the Claw of Pytharia after buying an ancient suit of armor and sword.

Conceived by Steven Seagle and Ken Hooper, this version of Claw joined a team called the Leymen in Primal Force #0-14 (Oct. 1994-Dec. 1995) and resurfaced briefly in 2004’s Birds of Prey #70, 72, & 73.

Claw’s own parallels to Conan were clearly the inspiration for a crossover between DC’s Wildstorm imprint and the new comics publisher Dynamite Jim “Nightmaster” Rook, feeling much Entertainment, which now held the comics “There Ain’t No Sanity Claws” better since his appearance in Swamp license for Red Sonja. With the comics rights Thing, was now the proprietor of a In issue #21 of the latest incarnation of Wonder Woman, to Conan in the hands of Dark Horse, his Diana and Valcan face each other in battle—but though gathering place/magical hub called the female counterpart from 1970s-90s Marvel the Amazon Princess is sporting the claw on the cover, here Oblivion Bar; and, in Day of Vengeance #1 could no longer easily cross paths with neither one of them currently possesses—or is possessed (June, 2005), at least, counted Claw as one Robert E. Howard’s barbarian hero. Instead, by—it. Script by Gail Simone, art by Aaron Lopresti. of his patrons. For the most part, though, she befriended Valcan in John Layman & [©2010 DC Comics.]

Valcan remained in Pytharia. In Gail Andy Smith’s four-issue Red Sonja/Claw Simone & Aaron Lopresti’s Wonder Woman mini-series (May-Aug. 2006), seeking to #21-23 (Aug.-Oct. 2008), he made his last appearance to date when the unite him with the wizard Thanador in the hope of lifting his curse. Alas, Amazing Amazon recruited him and fellow Class of ’75 heroes Beowulf the mage had made a hellish bargain of his own and had two demonic and Stalker to fight the latter’s demonic foe D’grth. arms to show for it. Goaded by Thanador into attacking Sonja, Valcan was shaken from his mania when the warrior woman hacked off his clawed Thirty five years after his creation, the eternal champion fights on, his forearm. talon untamed. He is still Claw the Unconquered.

By the end of the story, it had begun to grow back. Now called Valcan Scaramax, the barbarian was tempted by the witch Satarina into embarking on a quest to rid himself of his vile talon in Wildstorm’s Claw

John Wells is a highly regarded DC Comics historian who maintains a massive private database devoted to that company’s characters and creations. Once described as the Mark Waid of Earth-Two, he has served as a consultant to the likes of Kurt Busiek, Bob Greenberger, and others. John and Phil Jiminez are the co-authors of 2010’s Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia from Del Rey.

Kayanan’s Key To The Kingdom (Above:) On page 36 of Alter Ego #83, we were privileged to print a fabulous grouping of Robert E. Howard’s heroes, as delineated by Rafael Kayanan, who contributed the cover art for A/E #80 and for this issue… and who drew most issues of the 1990s Marvel series Conan the Adventurer. We promised that, in this third sword-and-sorcery issue, we would identify them. Above, as specially prepared by Rafael, is a silhouette key matching the earlier drawing, with each of the characters numbered. They are, from left to right: (1) Ace Jessel, prizefighter; (2) Valeria of the Red Brotherhood; (3) Gorm; (4) Bran Mak Morn; (5) Solomon Kane; (6) Cormac Mac Art; (7) Wulfhere; (8) Kull; (9) Conan; (10) Francis Xavier Gordon – “El Borak”; (11) Robert Ervin Howard himself; (12) Wild Bill Clanton; (13) Esau Cairn of Almuric; (14) Turlogh Dubh O’Brien; (15) Sonya of Rogatino, a.k.a. Red Sonya, in the story “Shadow of the Vulture”; (16) Sailor Steve Costigan; (17) Dark Agnes de Chastillon; (18) Breckinridge Elkins; (19) Brule the Spear-Slayer. Collect them all! [Conan TM & ©2010 Conan Properties International, LLC; Kull TM & ©2010 Kull Productions, Inc.; Solomon Kane TM & ©2010 Solomon Kane, Inc.; other characters TM & ©2010 Robert E. Howard Properties, Inc.]

ATTENTION: FRANK BRUNNER ART FANS! Frank is now accepting art commissions for covers, splash panels, or pin-up re-creations!

Also, your ideas for NEW art are welcome!

Art can be pencils only, inked or full-color (painted) creation!

Contact Frank directly for details and prices.

(Minimum order: $150)

Visit my NEW website at: http://www.frankbrunner.net

Art ©2010 Frank Brunner; Red Sonja TM & ©2010 Red Sonja Properties, Inc.

Previously Unpublished Art by Frank Brunner

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“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think” The Conclusion Of Our Intriguing Interview with Golden & Silver Age artist JACK KATZ Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

L

ast issue, Jack Katz talked about his friendship (dating from their days together at the High School of Industrial Arts) with fellow future comic book artists Alex Toth, Pete Morisi, and Alfonso Greene, as well as about their relationship with legendary newspaper comic strip artist Frank Robbins. In some of his earliest days, Jack worked at the Chesler, Sangor, and Iger comic art shops, later in the production department at King Features Syndicate. Then, after drawing for a time for Standard/Nedor Publications alongside Toth and Mike Peppe, Jack moved on, in the mid-1950s—to the studio of comics’ ultrateam, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby…. —Jim.

…And The Last Shall Be First Jack Katz (on left) with fellow artist Jack Kirby in the 1970s—and the cover of the first issue of his 24-book magnum opus The First Kingdom. Thanks to Jack for the photo, and to Jerry Edwards for the comic book cover. Jack Katz currently does commission drawings, and can be reached at (510) 237-1779. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

“I Learned To Ink [From Jack Kirby]” JIM AMASH: How did you get started with Simon & Kirby?

JACK KATZ: This was before I went to Timely. Jack Kirby took a look at my stuff, and he spoke to Joe Simon. I started working with them, and right next to me was Mort Meskin. There were about seven desks there, and for the most part, people came in to work there. Very few people took the stuff home except Marvin Stein, and Marvy was a machine like I’d never seen before. He barely penciled anything. He did most all of his drawing with the brush.

JA: Was there a receptionist?

KATZ: No, there was nobody there.

JA: Did Simon and Kirby work out in the open with the others?

KATZ: Jack would work at his own desk there, and Joe would come in during the morning, and subtly stare at us. Then Jack would go to lunch, and when he came back, Joe would leave for day. I think he was looking for financing, I’m not sure. You know how I learned to ink? Jack sat me down one day. He said, “This is what you do.” He took one of my drawings, and he inked it with a

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

brush. I’d never seen inking that good in my life. I said, “Jack, if you could ink so good, why do you let—?” He said, “I don’t have the time.” I wish to this day I could have stolen those pages and kept them. He did an amazing job.

He said, “This is what I want you to do. You apply the blacks like this.

This is what you do with your camera angle to make sure that the background, if you have a background, will stand out.” Sometimes, when there was one figure I had in a hallway, Jack would fill the scene with all kinds of black areas in the background. As an inker, I don’t think there could have been anybody better if he had just done his own stuff by himself. Unfortunately, there was just no way he could do this.

JA: Did he talk about holding lines? Did he talk about line weights?

KATZ: Yes, he did. He showed me how to apply all of that to figures and objects. He said, “You have to make it three-dimensional. What you do is, you just make sure you have a black area behind a line, always a dark behind a line. It could be feathered, it could be this, it could be that.” One of the things they had in that office was the Sunday Hal Foster Tarzan strips, almost from its inception from 1931. They also had almost all of Foster’s Prince Valiant Sundays, and everybody in the office was using them for swipes.

JA: Did you ever see Kirby use swipes?

KATZ: No, never. I’m being very straight about that one. If he did, it would have just been for reference. I never saw him erase anything, either.

JA: When Jack was talking to you about inking, what did he say about light sources?

KATZ: He said that the light sources were extremely important to emphasize dramatic scenes. He put away the pages, and showed me two different ways of showing light. He said, “If you bring the light in behind a figure, on the right hand side, you have to make sure that the other side is carefully outlined. But if you want to show real drama, sometimes you have to have the light source come from the top so that the eyes are in shadow, and the mouth is in shadow, and the neck is in shadow. If you want to make a real ghoul”… and he turned the page over, and drew a quick face. He showed me how the light comes from underneath, highlighting bone structures. He showed me a lot of these things.

He looked at my stuff and said, “You know what your problem is? You can’t tell the difference between wood and clothing,” and he showed me how to vary my textures. He didn’t like the way I had drawn curtains, and said, “Curtains should kind-of look delicate,” and he showed me how to do that with his brush. He used the brush almost continually. He liked some of the dramatic shots that I had, like this guy was waking up out of the bed and looking at this door that was barely open. Kirby said, “Keep that in the dark! If you want, you can make two little white eyes, but make sure the door is open to a point where you don’t know who the hell is behind it.”

He said that the line had to be strong enough so that it would stand up to reproduction. In those days, the reproduction was not good. Jack said that the trouble with Lou Fine, and he knew I loved Lou Fine... everybody loved Fine. He had some work of Lou Fine’s, and he said, “Look at these delicate lines, and look at the reproduction that came out. Nothing came out. You have to have remember, in comic art, no matter how important it seems to you, you’re not doing a Rembrandt. If you’re doing comics, you’re working for reproduction.” Then he showed me a Hal Foster drawing. Jack said, “Look at the economy of line, and yet it does everything that it needs to do.” Jack was very involved and very, very knowledgeable where I was concerned. Then I said to him, “Inking is problemsolving.” He said, “No, inking and drawing is decision-making. The problem-solving, you do that in your head. But when you put those lines down, you’ve made a decision.”

“You’re Overthinking It!” JA: Did he talk about drawing figures?

Fighting For Survival Although the mid-’50s would see the official end of the 15-year Simon-&Kirby partnership, it was also the period during which Joe & Jack would do some of their best work together, such as this splash page from Fighting American #3 (Aug.-Sept. 1954). Repro’d from the 1989 Marvel hardcover reprinting. [©2010 Joe Simon & Estate of Jack Kirby.]

KATZ: Yes, and this is where we had the beginning of the end for me.

Kirby said, “Jack, why are you putting the anatomy underneath the clothing? You’re going to drive the inkers crazy.” As a matter of fact, he gave one of my stories to Mort Meskin, and Mort handed it back, saying, “I want to ink. I don’t want to think.” Kirby said, “What do you mean you have to think?” Mort says, “I don’t like it. I want clean lines. It’s much too detailed. It’s too much work.” Another time, Kirby said, “Jack, you’re just slowing everything up. You’re doing wonderful anatomy. You drew an anatomy book in this story, but we don’t have that kind of time. We’ve got to get this stuff out.” And I did not do complete stories. Nobody did.

Everybody did piecemeal work. It was like a sweatshop. Sometimes, several people worked on one story. I don’t think I ever did a complete story for Jack, and there was another guy who was tall and thin—a little older than me—and he never did a complete story. Jack would go over people’s pencils, and redraw things. As long as you got the figures in the right place and stuff like that, Jack would jump on that, and so would Joe Simon.

JA: What did Jack tell you about camera angles?

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

KATZ: He said, “To design a page, you have to make sure that the lettering does not interfere with the storytelling.” I would design the page the way he told me, and sometimes he’d go over it. If he didn’t like a certain angle, he would then change the figure to suit what the story should do. Jack said, “This is very dramatic, but the guy, he’s got a heartache over a girlfriend who left him. But we’ve got to show that he’s in jeopardy, for God’s sake.” [chuckles] The guy was being chased by a criminal, and I drew this unbelievable Dean Cornwell-like figure that Kirby didn’t like. I said I was angry at him. Then he had to let me go.

Kirby said, “Jack, you’re one of the best artists I’ve ever seen, but I’ve got news for you. Even during the time that Raymond and Foster were working, they had to get the goddamned stuff out. You’re making a fiveyear plan out of this.” [laughs] JA: Did Kirby consider the whole page as one piece of art or separate illustrations?

KATZ: He considered it a cliffhanger for the next page. In other words, it was a Sunday page with a cliffhanger at the end so that you want to see what’s going on next.

JA: Did he say anything about long shots, medium shots, drama?

KATZ: Oh, yes. Not only would he do it, but he would take out some of my panels and say, “This should be a long shot. This should be this, this should be that,” and I would take it back and do it.

JA: Did you think he was right?

KATZ: In some ways, he was right, but he never understood what I was trying to achieve. I guess I should not have laid that on him, because we were doing a comic book. I was already thinking about graphic novels about that time. It really was significant to me that the graphic novel should come to pass. I just felt that here we had Hollywood in our hands with frozen tableaus. You know what I’m saying? Not only that, but some

39

of the greatest messages in the world could be put into comics, which I did when I did The First Kingdom, and some of the other stuff that I’m doing now. And they didn’t see it like this back then. They just thought that comics were something for the kiddies, and it was going to be the good guy beating up on the bad guy, and it was, which is fine.

Kirby loved my drawings. He said, “Jack, you draw like the old masters, but this is not what we’re into. We’ve got to just tell the stories, meaning I don’t care if you do a silhouette, as long as it tells the story. One guy’s punching another guy—you don’t have to have a dramatic shot where he’s halfway through the panel. It’s not that important.” I had this one shot where this guy hit some other guy, and the chair is falling over—in perspective—and his arm is knocking over the lamp, and there’s coffee flying through the air. Kirby says, “For God’s sakes! You’re overthinking it!“ He was telling me to think “impact.” He said, “And this will lead the kids, or anybody else, to the next adventure.” In fact, he did a number of books in which there were photographs on the covers.

JA: You’re referring to Justice Traps the Guilty.

KATZ: Right. And Jack and Joe used family, friends, and themselves as models, trying to save money.

JA: There was one where Kirby was a bad guy, and Joe Simon’s a cop in a window. Who took those photos?

KATZ: I’m not sure, but I think it was that same tall guy I mentioned earlier. That’s how they kept him on.

JA: How fast an artist was Jack during this time period?

KATZ: If he wasn’t interrupted by Joe, and if he wasn’t interrupted by telephone calls and stuff like that, I think he could do a good four and a half pages a day. But he’s an amateur compared to Frank Robbins. [Jim chuckles] Compared to him, everyone’s an amateur.

JA: Was he doing any layouts first, or was he just sitting there and doing it?

KATZ: He would lay out first. He kind-of did sketches, blocking out where things were to go. I was transfixed by what he was doing. He turned around and gave me a look and, man, did I get back to work. [mutual laughter] I figured I was done.

JA: So you thought he was pretty open with giving you advice.

“You Drew An Anatomy Book In This Story” That’s what Jack Kirby told him our interviewee back in the ’50s—but, as can be seen from this 1998 drawing, attempting to keep Jack Katz from rendering detailed anatomy was an exercise in futility. Thanks to Jerry Edwards. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

off, and he would take some pages with him.

JA: Did you see Joe do much inking or drawing in the shop? Or writing?

KATZ: Once in a while, I saw Joe do some inking. He had a pad next to him, sometimes, and occasionally he would write out something like a synopsis for a story. Kirby wrote, too.

JA: Did Kirby work from a script very often, or did he write it as he drew it?

KATZ: He wrote it as he drew it, and that’s how I learned to do it myself.

He also worked from scripts, but he wouldn’t follow a script verbatim. He used it as a template.

JA: When Jack was giving you art direction, did he ever say, “Here’s how you take shortcuts”? Did he ever use a term like that?

KATZ: No, but he told me, which would be the equivalent, that if you put a black in a certain section of a panel, you will save time. This was on his mind all the time, getting the stuff out. He’d say, “It’s not worth the effort.

We’ve got to get this stuff out.”

JA: How did you feel about that attitude?

Justice Traps The Clueless Photo taken in 1949 for a cover of Headline or Justice Traps the Guilty (but not published), in which intrepid police officer “Shoeless Joe” Simon protects Roz Kirby from trenchcoated burglar Jack Kirby. The team saved money by using themselves as models. Thanks to Greg Theakston. [©2010 Joe Simon & Estate of Jack Kirby.]

KATZ: He liked my art. He saw that I could really help the company. So did Stan Lee at one time. But Kirby said, “To get you to simplify, you’ve got to get rid of those anatomical constructions underneath the wrinkles.”

In fact, when he let me go, he said, “Jack, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but we’ve got a time schedule, and we’re really in jeopardy. I don’t know how much longer this company can keep going, and you’re just slowing us down.” And so what’re you going to do?

JA: You just couldn’t pick any speed, could you?

KATZ: No, because I was more interested in how the muscles contracted, and stuff like that. I was working hard for that eleven bucks a page.

“It Was Apparent To Me That [Kirby] Was Reliving The War” JA: I’ve seen a number of Simon & Kirby-produced books with stories by other artists, and all of a sudden I’d see a Jack Kirby panel on page two or a redone splash page. Jack wouldn’t sit there, get ticked at an artist, and redraw it. He just did it as a matter of business.

KATZ: I’ll be honest with you: I was young and impressionable, and just thinking about art in a classical way. And I’d think, “What am I getting myself into?” I didn’t understand the business end. I’m still not sure about the business end. I still feel, and I will always feel, that the art has to come first. You’ve got to produce something that is worthy of some kind of attention, acknowledgment. Like that first Hulk movie that came out a while back. I knew it was going to be bad. And it was. It was a very poor facsimile of what they could have done. Oh, this pent-up rage that the creature felt in his guts. It’s now being displayed by the rest of the world.

Maybe it’s clairvoyance?

JA: I think a lot of that came from Kirby, too.

KATZ: There’s a reason for that. Jack was very, very excited about that Frankenstein business, seeing the movie in 1931. Jack was much older than me, and he started drawing these kinds of creatures in comics. When he was in World War II, Jack was involved in some pretty horrific situations in which he had to do the ultimate thing. There was a number of times that these young men had to do some godawful things, and he just didn’t understand how this could happen to young people, to be so seduced by such craziness. Sometimes, I noticed he was staring out the window, and from the look in his eyes, it was apparent to me that he was reliving the War. He talked to me about these things; his eyes were very deep into the past. It was extraordinary. I used to say to him, “Jack, this is the truth. One day, you’re going to be sitting at your desk, just working away, and in the shadows, you’re going to hear a voice.” And he yelled at me, “For God’s sakes, Katz! Not in the room!” [mutual laughter] “Get out of my head!” I could scare him. He was the most susceptible person I have ever met in my life.

JA: Well, war is hell and war isn’t nice.

KATZ: Yes, everybody becomes crazy and everybody does crazy things.

JA: Are you saying that Jack was ashamed of what he did?

KATZ: Of course. They had to get the books out. Even then, the printers had a schedule. We’re talking about business. Business and Art is the worst marriage in the world, and it’ll always be this way. There’s nothing can change it.

KATZ: He wasn’t ashamed, but he felt great regret over the fact that he had to kill people. I once wanted to ask him if he would have been a conscientious objector. But after what was going on in Europe, he just couldn’t do it. He had to serve his country, he had to do his duty.

JA: How many hours a day do you figure was Kirby working?

JA: He had nightmares about World War II for the rest of his life.

Sometimes, Roz said he’d wake up, having a nightmare and talking in German.

KATZ: I left late. He would get in early. He was always there before I came in. I used to come in at nine. Joe was there quite often. But then he’d take

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

41

KATZ: Yes, he told me that, too. It’s something only those who’ve lived it can possibly understand. And it’s because of guys like him that, for a time being, we had a little bit of sanity in the world. Jack went through hell.

Here’s one story he told me: it’s one where it was him or the other guy. It was in the Eagle’s Cove, or maybe the Battle of the Bulge—I’m not sure.

He had to warm himself up, so he went into this kind of beaten-up barn, and it was pitch black. He said to me, “You know, Jack? Even in pitch black, you can actually see, if you keep turning your eyes,” and he saw this figure coming. “It’s definitely a German.” And he watched him and watched him, and he didn’t wait anymore... hand-to-hand, he just did it.

This kid was young, but dangerous. It’s tragic.

The way he told these stories. His body language, the significance of what he felt, what he was going through—he was reliving this damn thing.

I couldn’t have stopped him, even if I wanted to. The thing is that this becomes recorded into a person. It really becomes a physical construct, and remains there. Every time you think about it or you dream about it, it’s the same thing.

JA: How did Jack seem to you during the Simon-Kirby days?

KATZ: He struck me as a man who was very, very, determined about what he was going to do, almost like he was a tough sergeant handing orders.

No happiness or unhappiness. Jack had a terrific mind. He was the greatest draftsman in the world as far as anatomy, but what he did in the storytelling, the concepts, the theories that he worked under were legend.

Everybody was following him, including Rich Buckler, who at one time was actually doing Jack Kirby-type of drawing. That was the winning style. Well, this is no way to be. But if Buckler thought that it would save time, maybe it did. Buckler was all right.

To me, Jack Kirby represented a boss who was handling a very unusual art form. He was very much the boss, very much in command. The only one who would say stupid things to him was Meskin. He let Meskin run amok. Whatever Stein did, it was, to Jack, sacrosanct. Jack would never bother with him because Stein was very important. Jack appeared like he was holding himself together, like there were things on his mind.

JA: What was your opinion of Joe Simon?

KATZ: I thought he was a consummate businessman. Somebody had to keep the business going, regardless of what Jack did. Somebody has to steer that damn ship. So far as the administration is concerned, dividing the money and this and that, I think Jack was probably more in tune with that, but it was only because Joe gave him the directives, the overall picture, the details, data. Simon was a steadying influence on Jack. Jack was very dependent on Joe Simon, he really was. Joe was the great, necessary adjunct to that business.

“In World War II, Jack [Kirby] Was Involved In Some Pretty Horrific Situations”

JA: Joe told me that Jack had confidence in his work, but not in his life.

Both Jack Katz and Jim Amash recall Kirby’s telling them that he had nightmares “for the rest of his life” about his wartime service in Europe after D-Day. This striking cover was produced in the latter days of the Simon-&-Kirby team for their own Mainline company’s war title Foxhole (Jim suspects Joe Simon may have inked Kirby’s pencils)—but, despite the April 1955 cover date, the art never saw print in a comic, and it’s probable that the Comics Code Authority, which came into power at the end of 1954, nixed it. The published cover of Foxhole #4, the last before Mainline’s assets were sold to Charlton (which published issues #5-7), was far tamer and was not by S&K. Thanks to Anthony Snyder for the photocopy of the original art; see his ad on p. 88. [© Joe Simon & Estate of Jack Kirby.]

KATZ: Once, Jack and I were talking about some comedian on television who had messed up his life. Kirby said, “Very few of us know what we’re doing in our life.” So maybe that fits your little theory there, I don’t know.

KATZ: Yes, he did. That’s the guy, for heaven’s sakes! [Jim laughs] How dare you? You know too much.

JA: When people came in, who handled the freelancers? Was it Jack or Joe, or both?

KATZ: A lot of kids would come up and show their stuff. Sometimes, very rarely, would Jack look at their stuff. I think that Joe was really the bulwark there. The hopefuls used to call ahead of time to make sure that there’d be somebody there to look at their stuff. Very often was there a rejection. They just couldn’t afford to hire just anybody. The stories they published were basically the same. I remember one writer came in, and they didn’t hire him. They told me the guy later became famous. I wish I could remember who that was.

JA: Jack told me that Jules Feiffer came in, looking for a job, but Jack turned him down.

JA: You were paid in cash. Who handed you the money?

KATZ: It was usually Joe, sometimes that tall kid, and once in a while, Jack.

“I Hope [Mort Meskin] Realized The Kind Of Artist He Was” JA: Did Jack or Joe talk much? Or was it quiet in there?

KATZ: Oh, they would get together in hushed tones, and I knew it had to do with the finances. The place was like a suite, and there was a second room and a bathroom. The second room was like an office, but there were drawings in there, also. When Jack and Joe got together, it was deadly

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

business. That’s all there was to it. This tall guy and Mort Meskin, and there was one other guy in there who would come in. They would joke around. Jack never said a word, but let them do their thing. Once in a while, he’d lift his head from his desk and then suddenly, there was silence. [chuckles] Mort Meskin had a window seat—and I never could figure out why he would say, “Get up! Get up! Get up!”

And then everybody would get up, and there was a girl walking around in a wet bathing suit. [mutual laughter] And so Jack would say, “Would you get the ‘F’ down?” This happened almost every day. Some of the guys were like little boys with arrested development. I was married at the time, and pretty much satisfied. They said, “What’s the matter with you? Don’t you want to look at the girls?” I said, “Well, I’m married.” And the other guy says, “I’m married, too, for God’s sakes.” It didn‘t mean a thing to me, but Jack would never budge.

Jack was really Victorian about sex.

One day, Mort bought some pornographic toys, and brought in a pair of fake breasts. These were really queen-sized, and he shows them to Kirby. Jack says, “What are you doing?” Mort put the breasts on the shower floor, and jumped up and down on them. Kirby comes in, and he needed Mort to get to work, so he tells him to stop. “I can’t do anything,” Mort says, “because I had a date, and she was a disgusting pig. I’m taking revenge.” He almost slipped and killed himself. Mort was an unusual character.

JA: As you know, Mort had a series of nervous breakdowns. Joe said that sometimes Mort would sit there all day and not do anything because he was emotionally unable to work. And sometimes Joe, or somebody, would draw some lines on the page because Mort couldn’t face a blank page. Then Mort would start drawing around those lines. Did you ever see that?

KATZ: Yes. [pauses] Well, I did it once myself. I felt badly about his problems, because he was a good artist, second to none. He understood artistic temperament, the characters he created, stuff like that. But he was just a very nervous man. He felt hopeless in a hopeless world. This affected him greatly, his inability to make the kind of living that he thought he could. I hope he recognized the kind of artist he was.

JA: Mort was institutionalized for a reason. Did you ever find out what the reason was?

KATZ: Apparently, he could not function at all. It was not that he was violent—it was the question of functioning, about getting in the subway, and getting to work. It was like he shut down.

JA: I once heard that he went downstairs, and started directing traffic in the street.

KATZ: I’ve heard that story, too, but I don’t know if it’s true. His pencils, sometimes they were a little bit detailed, but basically, they were only sketch marks. He drew with a brush. An extraordinary man. Sometimes, he’d sketch conventionally, but he loved to experiment. He had a penchant for black-&-white art. He understood it! He would knock off a page in about, I would say, three to four hours, pencils and inks.

JA: Your talk, for the most part, was small talk then.

KATZ: Yes, unless he saw a page of mine. He’d say, “Jack, I’ve got to take something out here.” One day, I had drawn a wall, and on it, I had an advertisement and the advertisement was very detailed. Mort said, “For God’s sakes, Jack, think silhouette. It’s too much detail there.“ He was upbeat most of the time.

JA: What was Marvin Stein like?

Three Masters In Three Dimensions Mort Meskin (see photo) and a young Steve Ditko are credited with the inking of this Kirby-penciled page from Harvey’s Captain 3-D #1 (Dec. 1953).

Repro’d from a scan of the original art, with thanks to Mike Burkey; try his website at www.romitaman.com. The photo of Meskin was supplied by his sons Peter and Philip for A/E #24, which featured our in-depth coverage of that outstanding comic book artist. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

KATZ: You know, he was actually a computerized machine, capable of turning out several pages a day. He’d do very little penciling before inking.

He left the exact room for the letterer. Listen, he was very gentle, he was a nice guy, completely wrapped up in his world. Time didn’t matter to him.

He was making good money to pay bills, and bought a place out on Long Island. His wife was miserable there. She wasn’t happy with the house, she wasn’t happy with the neighbors, she wasn’t happy with anything. So he had to find a new place.

JA: Off tape, you mentioned that there may have been a little friction between Marvin and Joe Simon. Did Marvin get along with other people?

KATZ: Yeah, pretty well, but here’s the way Marvin was. Whenever he’d come in, he’d say, “What do you need, Jack?” Jack would say, “ I need a story about...” whatever it was that Jack needed, and Marvin would sit down and draw it. They had a very good relationship. But Marvin had no concept of time. Once, he came in late, and Mort and I were working late.

At one point, Marvin asked what time was it? Mort said, “It’s 8:30.“ Marvin said, “Then why is it so dark outside?” Mort says, “Because it’s 8:30 at night!” [laughter]

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

“[Working For Timely] Was Like A Sentence…

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting For A Script”

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JA: When you brought your artwork back in, would he go over it with you?

KATZ: Well, they never let me inside. In those days, they kept the artists at bay, waiting. It was like a sentence… waiting, waiting, waiting for a script.

KATZ: Not in those days. But I’ll tell you a couple of things. I didn’t do well in those days. I did a “Helen of Troy” story, but I became fascinated with the crow quill, and was inking just with that—no brush. Stan was incensed about this because the coloring on the stories overpowered my inks, and he said, “I don’t want you to ever ink with a crow quill again.

One must ink with a pen and a brush.” But after that, Stan wanted more production from me, and decided he’d get someone else to ink my stories.

JA: How much writing do you think Stan was actually doing? And were you given full scripts?

JA: When you got a script, you brought back a completed job, or did you bring back pencils and have them approved first?

KATZ: I don’t know. I know some of the writing was his. There were a number of writers. And always full scripts. I never met the writers. I didn’t even peek to see whose name was on the scripts.

JA: What was Stan like?

KATZ: I’d bring in the penciled pages, they’d letter it, and then I would do the inking. Stan never asked me to redraw anything. He liked my stuff; it’s just that I was too damn slow. That’s why he wanted me to use an inker, so he could get more production out of me. Stan was the one who decided just what Philistines would ink my work.

KATZ: Extremely efficient, cold, indifferent, and unmoving.

JA: [chuckles] You didn’t like any of the inkers?

JA: That’s very unlike the image we all have of Stan.

KATZ: They didn’t understand the feathering that I indicated, and they just went over it like a steamroller. They gave Stan the production time that he needed. It’s like any given shop work. I was making about $41 a page, before I had to give up the inking. It was tough to survive when you

JA: After you worked for Simon & Kirby, as near as I can tell, your next stop is Timely. The dates I have here are ’54 and ’55. What do you remember about the Timely offices?

KATZ: He had a serious attitude, almost arrogant.

The Face That Launched A Thousand Inkers Jack says that, after he drew this tale of the Trojan War for War Comics #31 (Jan. 1955), editor Stan Lee forbade him ever again to ink with a crow quill, and indeed usually had him inked by other embellishers. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

In A Timely Fashion Jack Katz and Timely-Atlas researcher Dr. Michael J. Vassallo at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2009—plus examples of genres and stories Jack drew for Stan Lee during the mid-1950s (clockwise across these two pages from right): Menace #11 (May 1954)… Arrowhead #3 (Aug. ‘54)…

Marines in Battle #2 (Oct. ‘54)… Battlefront #25 (Nov. ‘54)… Western Kid #2 (Feb. ‘55)… Battle #78 (March ‘55)… Strange Tales #37 (Aug. ‘55).

It’s possible that Jack didn’t ink many of these tales. The “Sundown!” art was supplied by Jim Ludwig, “Bonhomme Richard” by Michaël Dewally, the Strange Tales #37 splash by Tristan Lapoussiere (from a black-&-white French reprinting), and the other art (and photo) by Doc V. [Timely pages ©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

work slow. That didn’t put me high up on Stan Lee’s list.

JA: You drew Westerns for the Annie Oakley comic. I’ve got you as doing a lot of war comics, horror books like Journey Into Mystery, and Journey into Unknown Worlds. You did some Jungle Tales, and The Western Kid. Did you have a favorite genre?

KATZ: Frankly, I liked the historical stuff better than anything else. Also, during that time, Stan never knew it, but I got a job at Fiction House, doing a couple of cowboy stories, which slowed me down even more.

They went out of business right then, too. Tough times. I came in, I went out... hardly spoke to anyone else but Stan. I talked to Joe Maneely once or twice, but it wasn’t much of a conversation.

“I Decided To Give [Comics] Another Try” JA: You worked there until about 1955, and then you’re out of comic books for a long time.

KATZ: Yes and no. I did some ghosting for George Wunder on Terry and the Pirates, late ’50s, maybe early ’60s. I didn’t do a lot for him. I don’t think he was crazy about what I did, and I wasn’t crazy about him very much. I did one or two dailies on Kerry Drake for Alfred Andriola.

By this time, I was so in love with Dean Cornwell’s work that my mind

was wandering away from comics. I began painting and teaching painting.

I taught privately, mostly. Then I got a teaching job at the YMCA in New York City, and at the same time, I taught at another “Y” in Brooklyn. So I was basically a teacher of Art. JA: But something led you back to comic books.

KATZ: Yes, and it is the strangest thing in the world. Here I was, teaching teenagers as well as Broadway dancers and minor actors. A student of mine was so excited about comics that I decided to give it another try, hoping to make more money than I was. I saw Jim Steranko’s Captain America, and was very impressed by this man’s work, so I made up some samples for Stan Lee. He liked them very much, and he never returned them to me. But he did give me an issue of Sub-Mariner to draw, and half of my pages were taken out, because I had the Sub-Mariner kidnapped and taken to another planet. Stan was unhappy with it; it didn’t jibe with what he had in mind for the character. Marie Severin was brought in redraw the second half of the book. So they changed the ending, took the guts right out of the story.

JA: Roy Thomas wrote that Sub-Mariner. What kind of plot did he give you?

KATZ: It was more sketchy than the kind of plot I was used to. So I had a little bit of liberty, and this is one of the reasons Stan Lee got angry with

Katz And Hawks—Underwater Jack Katz, as “Jay Hawk,” drew the early pages of Sub-Mariner #17 (Sept. 1969) as a try-out; but Stan Lee asked the series’ regular artist, Marie Severin, to finish the story—and to alter a few things even in the early pages. At this late stage, scripter Roy Thomas isn’t sure what Marie may have redrawn on these first two pages—mostly faces, probably. But most of the figure work on these two pages—and pretty much all of the scheming Kormok—is Jack’s.

Thanks to Barry Pearl. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

And Then I Drew…

Other stories penciled by Katz for Marvel over the next few years include these specimens for (clockwise from above) Monsters on the Prowl #9 (Feb. 1971), Fear #10 (Oct. 1972), and My Love #30 (Sept. 1974). “Black Bill” was probably Bill Everett. Thanks to Barry Pearl and Jim Ludwig. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

me. I wasn’t paying attention to the code that he’d laid down as to what stories should look like, but he was right. I can’t argue it. Everybody has their own design, and they follow it. So I can’t say that he was right or wrong because I was the same way. More than anything else, I wanted to bring back science-fiction, which very few people at that time was doing.

Stan, in an effort to get me to do more violent, action-packed stuff, spent a half hour dramatizing every character: how this guy should be choked to death and what his hands would look like with his hands in the air. He throws himself on his desk, and he’s strangling himself and yelling.

You would have loved to have been there! He could have won two Academy Awards.

JA: Apparently, Stan was not as cold as you described him as being in the 1950s.

KATZ: He had kind-of humanized by then. I appreciated the new, different Stan Lee. JA: Did you deal much with John Romita?

KATZ: Yes. Johnny was always telling me, “You know, Jack, all of these extra lines and stuff is too much. It’s got to be simpler. You’re not going to

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

get anywhere like this. Look at this. I’m a good artist,” and I know Johnny was. He said, “I love bowling ball muscles,” and he showed me bowling ball muscles, and he wanted me to do bowling ball muscles. [chuckling] And I said, “For God’s sakes, what’re you doing to me? I studied anatomy, I used to look at cadavers at New York Hospital, for heavens sakes! Would DaVinci do that?” Johnny said, “Yeah, but DaVinci couldn’t get a job doing comics.” [mutual laughter] He was right!

JA: Why did you use the name “Jay Hawk”?

KATZ: I didn’t want to be affiliated with the old Jack Katz who worked in earlier times. So I was “Jay Hawk,” or “David Hadley.”

JA: But you didn’t do that much for Marvel, really. Monsters on the Prowl, Adventures into Fear—you got a couple stories in there. Maybe they felt you were more suited for that than for super-heroes?

KATZ: They did. I wanted to impress Stan, wanted to write stories, and Stan never thought that I could write.

“When [DC] Killed The Romance Line, I Was Out Of Work” JA: So you went to DC, and you drew romance comics, some House of Secrets, and did some writing. You inked a few stories, but you did not ink them all because you were slow. Who was your editor on the romance books?

“I Wrote All Of My [Warren] Stories” JA: You also did a couple of things for Jim Warren.

KATZ: [in a very flat voice] Yes, I did.

JA: That is the most doleful sound… go ahead.

KATZ: I wrote all of my stories. In fact, one of the major stories that I did, he really was taken by. It was called “Work Orders for the Day.” It wrote it and illustrated it, you bet your bottom dollar. I didn’t ink again. This story has been copied a number of times, which is fine, and I knew the people that copied it. I met some of them in Los Angeles... strangling them would be too good. You know, let them steal. As I said before, sadder to have to copy than to be copied from.

I did the story of Noah, but it was different. I had always thought about the story of Noah and the Flood. So I wrote a story about this super-race that sees Earth, and they know that the Earth people are having a really bad time. This guy I named Nordak wanted to go down and visit, just see how humanity was developing in this area of the galaxy.

He falls in love with a woman, and they have children. Then his friends come down, looking for Nordak. I was into this Einstein time business.

They said, “We don’t know him, but we know a Noah. Would you like to visit him?” Eventually the “friends” realize that they’re his children, but

KATZ: Dorothy Woolfolk. She wanted me to do so much work, but when they killed the romance line, I was out of work. I had limited myself to the lower levels of comics. Dorothy was the typical editor type. She reminded me of journalist Dorothy Kilgallen in terms of temperament. She felt this stuff very strongly. She was a pretty good writer, actually. There was one story she wrote that I drew. I penciled it like some cruel, brutal maniac. It was about a girl who was too tall for this guy, and she lied through her nose, and the guy who loved her was traumatized. And you were sure that she would eventually meet the guy she would fall in love with—a guy was shorter than she was. I drew some beautiful women in those stories.

JA: On the writing you did, did you come in with a synopsis? Did you sit around and talk about it with Dorothy before you wrote it?

KATZ: I wrote a full one- or two-page synopsis with details. She barely changed anything I gave her. Dorothy loved the way I drew. She said, “Oh, my God, you draw girls like girls, and men with full bodies, beautiful.” It was so tragic when they had to give up the romance line. It was a big mistake. But on the other hand, what are you going to do? Everybody wants a super-hero.

JA: You worked for Joe Orlando on the House of Secrets.

KATZ: Yes, I did. Joe was very disappointed in the fact that, when I sent the pages in—he was really pissed because I drew them on cheap paper. I didn’t have money to buy good paper, so he had them rolled out by the inker, and boy, after that, I got no more work from him. As an editor, he was cruel. I did a story about a priest who gets killed. It was a nutty story, but I needed the work. I think I did something else when he took over as editor, but I don’t remember.

Carmine Infantino liked my stuff. When they sent him out to California, before they fired him, he came out to see a guy who put on a thing called Creature Features. Carmine said, “I understand Jack Katz is living out here. You tell Jack Katz I think he’s a great artist.” In fact, when Carmine saw my penciled romance stories, he said, “This stuff is so damn real and so damn beautiful, it’s frightening. I get scared when I look at your stuff because these things are coming to life.” I was very, very deliberate about the illustrative quality of my work.

I’ve Got A Secret Along with romance stories, Jack penciled for DC such fare as this tale from House of Secrets #99 (Aug. 1972). Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2010 DC Comics.]

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

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KATZ: Skywald—dear Lord! While I was working at DC, I found out about Skywald, and I decided that there would be a place where I could write my own stories. I went to see Herschel Waldman, and they wanted me because Sol Brodsky knew about me. The offices were very mechanical, not very big, nothing special. They had a small art department. Brodsky and Waldman had separate offices. I saw Israel Waldman, but he wasn’t well, and certainly stayed away from us.

JA: He was the person in charge of getting the older stuff that they were reprinting. He had quite a history of doing that. He had had his own company before, called IW, and was doing illegal reprints of characters he didn’t own. The stuff that they were printing here, they were printing them legally, right? He wasn’t stealing stuff, was he?

KATZ: No, not during that time.

JA: I know very little about Herschel Waldman.

KATZ: Herschel was a young man, thin and tall. He was okay, he liked my stuff. He was very friendly. He considered me one of the old guys in the business, even in those days. You can imagine what I’m like now. I passed the grandfather stage. [mutual chuckling] He was the editor, and he used to help with ideas for stories and books.

A Flood Of Memories “Targos,” scripted and penciled by Jack Katz, was inked by “Nebot”—actually the name of two brothers, so we’re not sure which of them embellished this tale for Warren Publishing’s Creepy #45 (May 1972). The linework, in any event, is exquisite. Thanks to Glenn MacKay & Jim Ludwig. [©2010 New Comic Company, LLC.]

Nordak decides he wants to stay on Earth, instead of coming back with them. They told him, “By the way, there’s going to be a tremendous flood.

You’ve got to warn your people. And when we come back to this area of the galaxy, if you’re successful and developed into something, we would get you a trade route.” He says, “I don’t think they’ll listen, but I’ll try.”

This was my story of Noah.

I did around seven stories for Warren, but I don’t know if they were all published. He was having money troubles, and was terrified I would go work for his competitor, Myron Fass [Countrywide]. He just said, “Jack, if you even go near him, if you do anything like that, you’ll never get work here again.” I would never have gone to Fass. But on the other hand, Warren would give me a hard time once in a while. If I complained about the inking or anything like that, he said, “You know, Jack, you’ve got to accept that you’re doing it too slowly.” But Warren paid pretty good. He was a very enigmatic, strange—I hate to use the word “eccentric” because it’s used about me. But he had a, let’s say, an unusual behavior.

“Skywald—Dear Lord!”

JA: Skywald is next. You started there around ’70. Actually, you did Warren stuff while you were doing some Skywald stuff.

Jungle Jack Jack says he and co-publisher Sol Brodsky came up with “Zangar,” the scarlet-tressed Tarzan type who appeared in all three issues of Skywald’s Jungle Adventures. Jack penciled this beast-laden tale for issue #3 (June 1971), with its subtle underwater coloring effect. Vince Colletta inked and Gardner Fox scripted the “Zangar” saga in #1, but it’s not known if they worked on this later offering. Thanks to Jerry Edwards. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

The Skywald’s The Limit!

Skywald published two black-&-white horror comics. Here are Jack’s splash pages from Nightmare #14 (Aug. 1973) & #21 (Oct. ‘74). The second was written

by Charles McNaughton and inked by Frank Giacoia—but Jack is credited in the Grand Comics Database with full art and script on “The Plastic Plague.”

Thanks to Jim Ludwig & Glenn MacKay. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

He was not a good businessman. Jack Kirby told me to be careful, because they were under-financed. I was working for DC at that time, and Sol Brodsky called me at home. He said, “Jack, have you always wanted to do your own ideas with your own stories?” I said, “Well, you know it. I talk about this all the time.” He says, “Well, Jack, this is it. You’ve got the company that you can do this for. Anything you write, anything you draw, we will publish.” I said, “My God. You know the way I think. I can come up with some classy stuff. I think in terms of epics, things like that.”

Anybody can be seduced, but can you imagine a top company coming in?

So I go there and he says, “Jack, before you do your thing, I want you to think of a character like Superman.” [laughter] I said, “What?” He says, “Well, maybe—” I said, “Let’s think of a character that’s not done much these days.” And Sol says, “Well, all right,” and we put together this idea of “Zangar.“ And of course I did it. I said, “I gave up a good job at DC. They were going to give me more work. How could you do this to me?” He said, “Jack, not only are you a good artist, but you’re family. [shouts] It’s the family I meant!” [mutual chuckling] So I did three “Zangar“ stories, two of them criminally assaulted by Vince Colletta inks. Colletta also killed some of the stuff I did at DC. He was awful! There was no way anybody could get him off any work because of his mob connections. People were afraid of him, including Carmine Infantino. One day, I asked Colletta, “How’s the wife?” He says, “Wife? I have a goil.” [mutual laughter] He looked like every morning that, instead of breakfast, he had chewed a bag full of nails. He liked my work, but I swear to God, he was measuring my boots for some cement blocks. He erased my backgrounds, simplified my figures, took out every bit of subtlety and charm that was in my work with those tiny little pen lines. In

one story, I had this old man with a cane, trying to dramatize him a little bit. The guy was completely erased, cane and all. The best story was inked

by Frank Giacoia, although he did short-change a lot of the artwork. But still, he got the gist of it.

Skywald paid me about $30 a page for pencils, and $10 for writing.

Herschel and I would go over my stories, and then he’d say, “Okay, go ahead.” He never wanted to change anything. He never asked me to change my art. He did the least amount of work that he could. There were times when I thought some of his story ideas were good. Sometimes, I felt that they had gone over the deep end.

JA: Not that Zangar took a lot of imagination to create, but who created him?

KATZ: Sol had a verbal sketch of the idea. I kept talking to him about some of the ideas in my head, and we worked it out together.

JA: Did Sol ever look at the art or the writing? Or did Herschel take care of all that?

KATZ: Let me tell you what Sol once did. I did one story as “Jay Hawk,” about some witches. Sol didn’t like the fact that I put all this stuff in the drawing, and he started redrawing the stuff, and he said, “Jack, we‘ve been trying to make some changes. I messed it up. Do you mind going over it again?” So I went over it again, and then some inker went and steamrollered it.

JA: Then Sol did have his hand in the actual production of the books?

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

KATZ: Oh, definitely. Herschel depended on Sol a great deal. And Israel Waldman just let Sol do whatever he wanted, because they’d known each other for a long time. I would say Sol was the industrial plan that kept it going. I worked at home, but I also worked in the offices some, so I got to see how they worked together. As an inducement to get me to work there, Sol told me that Bill Everett worked there, so I went to see if Bill did, and there he was. That influenced me to go. They already had a couple of horror scripts waiting for me.

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JA: He probably had some input. Did you ever see him have any function in the office than just doing pages?

KATZ: Yeah, I’m sure he had. He knew what would sell, what wouldn’t sell, stuff like that. I think he wanted very much for this company to win.

He was very instrumental in this.

JA: Did he ever talk about the Sub-Mariner?

KATZ: No... can you understand why?

“Bill [Everett] Was Very Much The Gentleman” JA: Was that the first time you met Everett?

KATZ: I had seen him a couple of times when I was working with Stan, just a nodding acquaintance. He worked a great deal in the office, but I noticed something unusual. Bill would not look out the window at all.

Every time he’d get up from the desk, he would turn his head away. I asked Herschel, “What is this about?” He says, “Don’t you know? He gets dizzy, and he could actually fall over.” And I noticed that on Wednesdays, he was never there. I asked Sol about it, and he said, “He’s an alcoholic. He runs the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on Wednesday. He’s trying to break this habit, or just keep it the way it is.”

Bill was very much the gentleman. He had some kind of respect for me, which I didn’t get at any of the other places. He recognized my abilities as an artist. If you look at his stuff, you’ll see that it’s not realistic. It’s almost metaphysical, sometimes, and Bill was very successful at what he did. His “Sub-Mariner“ stories were very magical. It is the Bill Everett look, and that will never change. I admired him. He was one of the pioneers, one of the real innovators.

Bill and I developed a nice friendship, although in many ways, there was a wall that you couldn’t really penetrate. He would talk about a lot of things, especially comics. He talked about some of the things that he had done. I mentioned to him the business of a potential graphic novel and he said, “That’ll never work. The big companies would dig in against it. You can’t compete with what’s going on.” He did not feel that anything like what I eventually did, The First Kingdom, or other graphic novels, would ever come to pass. To me, he was a perfect friend, a gentleman, and I heard he was not like that from other people. But they may have bugged him or maybe caught him at bad times in his life. He was suffering. He used the word “depression.” He didn’t see an endlessness to the pattern that he was in with the comics business. He wasn’t happy at Marvel, but I don’t know why he left. He and Sol were very good friends. They would get into a hush-hush meeting, and it was because of him that I got more work from Sol. So he really felt that I deserved to get as much as I could— besides, it would be less work for him. [chuckles] JA: Do you think Bill was more than just an artist there?

KATZ: I think there was something going on. I think there was more than just business. What can I tell you? I can’t prove it.

What’s In A Namor?

This photo of Wild Bill Everett appeared in the program book for Phil Seuling’s 1970 New York Comic Art Convention, at which he was a special guest. The cover of the program book (right) spotlights a detail from a drawing of Namor battling the Hulk which Bill had drawn especially for Roy Thomas. RT foolishly parted with it years ago, but the full art did become the flip cover of Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #3! Thanks to the Golden Age Comic Book Stories website.

Thanks to John Benson. [Sub-Mariner TM & ©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

JA: You think maybe part of his discontent had to do with that character?

KATZ: Well, I think it had to do with what Marvel did with the character, and taking it away from him. But he never actually said that. I just felt it.

Only Sol broke through that wall he had up.

JA: Did he ever discuss his own approach to drawing?

KATZ: He just said one thing to me. “The lines have to be fluid, and the storytelling has to be light. One piece of art has to flow into the other so that you just feel comfortable reading the material. It’s more than just storytelling, the page is a story. The whole page, it’s not just one panel.”

When he worked, he seemed to be doing it without paying attention to any laws. He wasn’t intellectualizing much. He was a fine artist. He was one of the best people I ever met in my life.

JA: Gary Friedrich did a lot of work there.

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

time. To give you an idea, I know I’m jumping the gun, but this is very important. There was a Japanese fellow who lived around here in California who was putting out a fanzine, and I put the first four books of the concept of The First Kingdom in his fanzine in one daily strip. It was major lettering, major writing on that thing. And then he told me he wanted me to just keep doing it, and by that time I was getting work again, so I dropped it. The next time I did it was at Warren, and I called it “Targos.” It was inked by some primitive savage that even the savages would be loathe to admit belonged to their tribe.

JA: So did you think that doing a quarter-sized comic, when the other comics were still a cheaper price, a bad idea?

KATZ: They were trying to make up for the low distribution and sales.

They thought a higher price tag would help.

JA: But none of the books lasted very long. Did you ever hear anything about their sales figures?

KATZ: No, but Myron Fass was trying to hire me because he saw the kind of crazy stuff I was doing in those ghoul stories.

JA: When you were doing the stuff for Skywald’s magazines—not the comic book line—was there any discussion about whether or not you could be freer in what you wrote and drew in your stories?

KATZ: No, they gave me total freedom. They didn’t think about whether or not they were under the Comics Code. I was still working for Jim Warren at that time. I went over to him one day, and said, “I wonder if there’s any extra work.” He said, “Jack, I told you I didn’t want you to do any horror stuff. You’re out! I never want to see you again.” And that was the end of that.

JA: You knew Gerry Conway at Skywald.

That Sarn Cat The second Skywald b&w horror title was Psycho. This Edgar Rice Burroughsian tale was scripted by Gardner Fox, penciled by Jack, and inked by Vince Colletta for Psycho #12 (May 1973). Thanks to Glenn MacKay. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

KATZ: He did, but when I worked with Gary, it was at Marvel. He wrote that mummy story I drew at Marvel. Gary was one of the few metaphysical people I’ve ever met. We talked quite a bit when I was working at Marvel. We barely saw each other at Skywald. I saw him go out the door once, but that was about it. You know who Gary reminded me of? Peter Parker, who becomes Spider-Man. At the time, he was a real College Joe to me; a new intellectual who thought beyond his writing.

JA: Skywald revamped The Heap, the old Hillman character. Do you remember anything about that?

KATZ: No. JA: Did you ever hear anything about reader reaction to the books that Skywald put out?

KATZ: They told all of us in the office, “Write some letters about how wonderful the comic books are.” I’m sure Gary wrote a few letters. A number of us wrote things like, “This is the best stuff since sliced bread.” I don’t know if we got many fan letters. This was something that was taken care of by Bill and Herschel. I don’t know if they thought that what I was doing, or what anybody else was doing, was substantive enough.

JA: But also, their comic books were a quarter, which had to hurt them, too.

KATZ: That’s just it. When I was doing “Zangar,“ they felt that this was going to be a break. But then, what I did was instead of keeping it on contemporary lines... I had The First Kingdom in mind for a long, long

KATZ: Gerry Conway, at that time, had worked with Neal Adams. One of the stories he wrote was about this captain of a transport that takes people on tours in space. Suddenly, this monster comes and knocks the front of this spaceship out. The Captain pushes everybody back into the spaceship—and remember, there’s no oxygen out there, there’s nothing out there. I asked Sol, “Could you do me a favor? Could you look at this script?” He said, “It’s an adventure story.” I said, “Sol, is there a sun?

There’s nothing growing on this planet. What kind of a monster could exist there?” “He eats people,” he said. “He just eats people.” Well, I could see where this company’s going. “All right,” I said. “Okay, fine. Now the captain pushes everybody back, he manages to do this. What is the monster going to do once they’re back there?” Sol said, “Well, he’s going to eat the people.” I said, “Sol, I can’t do this story. It makes no sense— anywhere.”

I got another script from Gerry Conway. It‘s about a vampire who goes around biting people in the daytime. He can outwit the sun. I said, “Sol, do you know anything about vampires?” Sol was basically a production man, and a great one. Sol was not an intellectual. He hadn’t read much; he couldn’t know much about horror theory. But this did it for me. I refused the second script. Guess what! I go to sleep after I talked to Sol. At three in the morning, I get a call from Sol, who had just gotten a call from Neal Adams. “Do you realize what you’ve done to Neal Adams?” And I said, “What did I do to him?” [laughs again] Gerry was on the phone and he was crying, and he was saying that my rejection abused him. Neal was protecting Gerry. Later on, many years later, he said Gerry Conway is the biggest crybaby in the world.

Anyway, Sol called me back at four a.m., and says , “Jack, I just got a call from Gerry Conway, and he just sold that story about the vampire to a pocket book company.” I said, “What???” He said, “Yeah!” I said, “Well, how come he’s been using this script for Skywald?” He says, “Well, it doesn’t matter, and he’s very, very happy with the thing, and he got a very big bonus.” I don’t know where this kid got his mind from, but he was a

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

young boy at the time, and I can understand his trying to aggrandize himself and trying to sell stuff without our knowledge. A pocket book company’s going to buy everything in the middle of the night. Oh, sure.

I would have not talked about this except for one thing: this was very, very instrumental in my getting out of comics, and going back to California. I just didn’t want to be part of that New York scene. I’d also had a very bad divorce at that time. Meanwhile, I had met another girl. I went out to the West Coast to live with her for a while. That didn’t work out either, but the thing is that I got away, and this time I was going to stay in California, no matter what. I have not returned to New York.

JA: So you quit working for Skywald then?

KATZ: No, I kept getting work. But as a matter of it, I was beginning to sour on the thing because I wasn’t getting to do the things I wanted... the things that Sol originally said I could do.

JA: Did you feel like Skywald was a company that was ever going to go anywhere?

KATZ: Had they listened to me, they would have! All right, Bill understood the commercial part of the business, but I knew what the business was potentially going to be like. I just knew graphic novels were going to take off, and would be part of the motion picture world. At one time, I thought they were going to go far, and then something happened. I don’t know if it was poor editing, bad planning, or bad distribution that sunk the company, or a combination of all three. Sol understood production and getting books out—nothing else. The company was aimless. They were trying to be everything to everybody. One of the things is this, they had a lot of the old stories they were reprinting. The styles conflicted with a lot of the stuff that was contemporarily being made. They went into business not understanding what was going on in the new world of comics. The model had changed, and they couldn’t keep up. They were depending on the reprints, I think, to bail them out of some other stuff.

Kirby was right; they were under-financed.

“Ideas I Had At Warren And At Skywald… I Wound Up Taking To The First Kingdom“ JA: You said you had a Jim Steranko story for me.

On The Beach Since Jack is so intrigued by the human figure, and he talks at this point about escapades at the San Diego Comic-Con some years back, this 1994 drawing seemed appropriate. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

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KATZ: I met Jim at a San Diego Con while I was doing The First Kingdom. I told him that his Captain America work was what inspired me to come back to comics. Jim said, “That’s not my best work.“ Well, he did get better, but I can’t help what I saw first. Jim says, “You’re the guy who did The First Kingdom. My God, this stuff is great!” Then Jim came over to my room at ten o’clock at night, saying, “Come on, Jack. Let’s go.

I’ve got a few places I want you to see.” I said, “Oh, all right. I’ll go.” It’s Jim Steranko, after all. Jackie Estrada and my then-wife Caroline went with us.

So we go out, and Jim loves these little arcades. Practically every game we played, I beat him, and he wasn’t happy about that. Then we go to a miniature golf course, and by this time, it’s about 2:00 in the morning.

After a couple of hours, Jackie Estrada says, “We’re going to do something else.” Well, there was another place that was open where you drove around in bumper cars. You know, the floor is electrified, and you bang the cars into each other. Carolyn was exhausted, and I think Jackie may have gone home. We go into this thing, so what does Jim do? Jim has to act out a personality. It‘s pitch black, okay? He puts on dark glasses, and rolls up his sleeves. This is like the racing carts of the past, like what you see on television. We go around and around and around, and we bumped everybody else off.

Finally, it was me and him, and we kept going after each other. It must have been 4:30 or five in the morning by this time, and Jim decided to put a halt on it because neither of us could wipe out the other. So we leave, and he says, “Is there a place we could eat?” In San Diego, you can always find something to eat. We got back to the hotel at 6:30, and Jim says, “I want you to see the story that I’ve done.” It was Chandler. He tried to open the door the art room, but it was barred. Somehow, he managed to snap the bar that held the doors closed. Inside, there were two guys from the convention sleeping on cots, and they were terrified that someone was breaking in to steal the art. Jim says, “It‘s all right. It’s me, Jim Steranko.

Go back to bed.” [laughs again] And then Jim proceeds to tell me the entire Chandler story until 10 o’clock. I’m barely able to crawl back in bed, and Carolyn said, “You’ve got an 11:00 appointment to talk on a panel.” [mutual laughter] JA: How did you get to doing The First Kingdom?

KATZ: There were ideas I had at Warren and at Skywald, which I ended up taking to The First Kingdom. But in California, I returned to private teaching. By this time, the concept of The First Kingdom was beginning to jell in my mind. My life was a shambles. I’d gone through a second divorce, which was a pretty cruel thing. I began to be terrified of the idea of dying without being able to get a chance to express what I wanted to say. At the same time, a number of other things happened. At Stamford, I sat in on some biology classes.

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

lation of my thoughts and fears of humanity.

JA: The First Kingdom was originally published in ’74, by Comics and Comix Company for the first two years.

KATZ: Yes. Bud Plant was part of that. I gave them the first, I think, 25 pages of The First Kingdom, and they jumped at it because undergrounds were really going hot and heavy at that time. It was the one place I could get the stuff done without any editorial interference. And they were just happy to have the books, and I was happy to do something that was totally my vision. I had worried about finding a place that would allow me to do it my way, but everyone was totally supportive.

JA: How and why did you go from them to Bud Plant as your publisher?

KATZ: Because Bud had been part of the original group, and he decided to take it on. It was a tremendous, courageous thing on his part. I owe Bud so much, I can’t tell you, for being willing to take this crazy story on.

It’s just beyond metaphysics, it’s beyond fantasy. As far as fantasy is concerned, fantasy has no reality. Imagination implies potential, but there must be something beyond that in which people delve in, and I’ve never been able to find out what it is exactly, but I know that this is where The First Kingdom lies. I’m not, in any way, socially oriented towards any kind of collective perspective.

First Things First!

Jack Katz, in a photo from The First Kingdom, Book 12—and the 447th page of his epic, which puts this panorama in Book 14. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

Everything seemed to be working on some kind of a system, and I began to study the nature of the fact that we are ambulatory vegetations.

Everything, of course, comes from the Earth. We eat a cow, the cow eats from the Earth, and it’s a form of recycling. Recycling, this vegetation is blessed by the sun, supposedly, and given energy from the nutrients in the ground... the fact that even some scientists now believe in a thing called the transpermia, meaning that the life spore came from somewhere else, and created the proteins.

I kept looking at human beings. I kept seeing the cycle of expressions that human beings go through: they get born, they get second teeth, their teeth develop, puberty, instinct to survive which is in every subatomic particle in every bit of grass, everything acting accordingly as a pre-programmed and in-packaged system. In other words, that humans are super-computerized, that something happened in the past to cause this. There may have been a natural situation, but this thing is, to me, too evident. I see it constantly. The instinct to survive, and the instinct for reproduction, are almost synonymous. So there’s a fight for this business since the caveman. The instinct to survive is so strong, and if it is so that it is instilled in all of the vegetation that we eat, and that we are part of, and that we live on part of it, we are ambulatory vegetation. That became an implicit part of The First Kingdom.

The First Kingdom was the first of a trilogy. It would have been what had happened on the on ground level of our humanity. It’s the simplest book of all of them. The second book, which I’m working on, is called The Space Explorers Club. It’s an extension of The First Kingdom. It’s what happens to mankind when they begin to think they’re like gods, and the terrible mistakes that are made. And the third book, which is called Destiny, has to do with things that really happened, and is mostly dependent on the dreams I had when I was a child.

The First Kingdom is about the regeneration of mankind after an atomic holocaust, and it’s incipient beginnings where the hunter/gatherers even take the heads of the beasts that they kill and flaunt their power. The story details the stepping stones of tribal enclaves through eventual space exploration. I consider this story to be a metaphor of today’s civilization. Page 634 of the story is an encapsu-

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

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The Race For The Stars In the unfolding issues of The First Kingdom, the trappings of myth and sword-and-sorcery gave way to those of science-fiction, as Jack’s post-Apocalyptic race develops over time. These pages from #13 & #15 were sent by Mark Muller. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

JA: So you were not really into the undergrounds, you just saw that this was the opportunity for you to do what you wanted.

JA: You had to be self-motivated to do this, and I’m assuming you were pretty much living what you were doing.

KATZ: Yeah, this was the place. There was no other place where my series could be published, considering the ideas I was exploring, and the nudity.

I got some good reaction from a fanzine called The Rocket’s BlastComicollector. Then Playboy somehow discovered the series, and an editor by the name of Stevens put in a big plug for The First Kingdom.

KATZ: Yes, I was. In fact, Milton Caniff found out about The First Kingdom, and he asked me to come down to Palm Springs. I said, “Milt, sometimes, I’m so exhausted that I hyperventilate.” And he said to me, “You’re not a turd. You’re not like the others. You’re a creator. This is what creators go through. Did you ever read about any of the other creators?” I said, “Yeah, some of them ended up dead.” He says, “Yes, but they never stopped creating.” Milt was brilliant. He had a tremendous understanding of what I was doing, and he wrote a forward in one of my books. He said, “You can’t be like the others. What you’re doing is so novel and so unusual, you have to stick to what you’re doing.” His encouragement was un-be-lievable. To this day, I’ll never forget it.

JA: You weren’t getting a page rate, you were just getting a percentage of sales. Were you able to live on that?

KATZ: At one time, yes. But then, of course, things got a little rougher, and I had to keep teaching to pay my bills. Of course, I always enjoyed teaching.

JA: How much of your plan for this story was written down, and how much of it was in your head?

KATZ: The whole thing has been in my head for a long time before I wrote it down. I wanted to talk to Stan Lee about this, but I realized that wouldn’t have worked. I wanted to talk to so many people. When I talked to Sol Brodsky about the possibility of the whole thing, he just brushed it off.

JA: So your relationship with Bud Plant was very good, I take it.

KATZ: Yes! I would bring in a book, and then I would wait and wait and wait until he had the money to publish it. But he believed in me. Bud was completely supportive.

JA: Did doing the book affect you in your personal life? You were taking a pretty big risk here.

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

more for the popular stuff, which is what they do now. I got an attack from a church who called me the worst thing in the world to civilization which... well, maybe it’s true. [mutual chuckling]

“My Latest Graphic Novel, Legacy” JA: The First Kingdom ended in 1986. What did you do afterwards?

KATZ: I continued to teach in small schools, and give private lessons, and then I started putting together notes. It took a long time to put together the theories that I have. Now, my latest graphic novel, Legacy, is out.

JA: Why did it take you over 20 years to continue on?

KATZ: Because it took twenty years to put together these ideas that I have. And during that time, I also wrote Legacy. Legacy is about a will. There’s a giant in industry, and he disinherits his entire family.

He goes to a place where nobody can break this will, and so this family is totally enraged. They hire an insurance investigator. In the beginning, he’s very, very tongue-in-cheek, Devil-may-care. He drinks, he does everything you’re supposed to do that is an insult to the human body. But what happens is the agency that he works for is owned by the family. He doesn’t know that. The boss does, and it turns out that this 78-year-old woman who can’t speak English inherits all this money, all their business, and everything. They’ve got to get rid of this guy, they’ve got to destroy the evidence, so they’re willing to let him go, and do the legwork for them. Of course, it’s more involved in that, but I don’t want to give the story away.

Better Than Chocolates St. Valentine’s Day has come and gone—but this 1992 illo by Jack is forever in style—and perfect for a sword-&-sorcery issue! Thanks to Jerry Edwards. [©2010 Jack Katz.]

KATZ: Well, yeah. My former wife and I, my third marriage, she said, “Why don’t you finish it, already?” I said, “Well, look, here’s the deal. The First Kingdom’s going to be very principled.” She says, “What are you talking about?” I said, “There are 24 books in The Odyssey and The Iliad, and there are 24 Tarzan books. [mutual chuckling] From the ridiculous to the sublime. There’s going to be 24 books and I planned it to twentyfour books.” By twenty-two, she was getting exhausted. We were both getting exhausted. [more mutual chuckling] I never had any doubt about what I was doing. It was very important to me that I complete it. I was still teaching, so at least I had some money coming in in between issues.

At one point, I was really desperate to get somebody to help me ink.

Nobody would come near my stuff. Alex Nino came over, and I gave him just a simple little drawing to ink. He took the brush, threw it up in the air, and said, “Jack, nobody can ink it.” [mutual laughter] JA: Who owns the copyright?

KATZ: The copyright is completely mine. I still own all of the originals.

There’s a chance that it might be reprinted sometime in color, too. I hope so.

JA: When you went to conventions, what was the reaction like to you?

KATZ: Sometimes, very good and sometimes, not so good. It all depended. As the convention became more commercialized, they went

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books (1928-1999) Online Edition Created by Jerry G. Bails FREE – online searchable database – FREE www.bailsprojects.com – No password required

A quarter of a million records, covering the careers of people who have contributed to original comic books in the US. This nameless character, penciled by Jack Katz in 2003, says he wants his own comic book! [©2010 Jack Katz.]

“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think”

57

From Legend To Legacy The cover and a page from the graphic novel Legacy. The book is credited to Jack Katz (“Artistry and Imagination”), with Jack and publisher Charlie Novinskie co-credited with “Scripting.”

As part of the experimental nature of the work, Jack eschewed breaking up the page into actual “panels.” It can be purchased from Graphic Novel Literature; for more information contact charlienovinskie@hotmail.com. [©2010 Jack Katz & Charlie Novinskie.]

JA: When is Space Explorers Club coming out?

Monthly! The Original First-Person History!

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

KATZ: I’m still working on it. Destiny is finished. Space Explorers is the second part of the trilogy, and Destiny is actually the third part. Legacy is an unrelated book. Destiny’s what I’ve been trying to get to all this time.

This is going to fry every theory that had been thought before. And you ask me why it took 20 years. Man, the reading.… I went into Chemistry, I even went into Architecture, Ancient Art—I wanted the motivation. All of our hungers; it’s been a long, long, long search. You don’t do something like Destiny overnight. And I have plans for another book after all this is done.

I didn’t want to become too flowery with you, but you must understand that when I work, I’m not trying to create another Superman or a Batman, or a This or a That. What I’m trying to do is trying to prod thinking people to think, to open up their heads, to try to free themselves from the occupation of their heads, and it is an occupation. It’s a belief system people would kill for. This is flawed. They destroy that which they cannot create. They destroy themselves, and they destroy other people. They steal what other people create. This is what we’re up against, and these are the reasons that I work the way I do. I’m trying to put together these ideas so I can enunciate them in the works that I do. I won’t settle for anything less.

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Interview With Golden & Silver Age Artist Jack Katz—Part II

JACK KATZ Checklist NOTE: The following Checklist is adapted from information contained in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999), established by Jerry G. Bails; see website’s ad two pages back. (We should point out that the Who’s Who somehow lists Jack as having passed away in 1993, which is far from true. It also lists his Inkpot Award, given by the San Diego Comic-Con, as dating from 1975, but the actual date seems to have been 1982. At some hopefully near-future date, when that website is “unfrozen” and susceptible to updating, those errors will doubtless be changed.) Jack Katz himself was the source of some of the data below. Names of features listed below which appeared both in magazines with that title and in other publications, as well, are generally not italicized. Key: (w) = writer; (a) = full art; (p) = pencils only; (i) = inks only.

Name: Jack Katz (b. 1927) (artist, writer, publisher, letterer) Pen Names: Alac Justice; Alec Justice; Jay Hawk; Vaughn Beering; David Hadley Education: High School of Industrial Arts, New York City, NY Influences: Harold R. Foster; Alex Raymond; Dean Cornwell Member: National Cartoonists Society Other Career Notes: teacher: arts; teacher; sculpture at University of California at Berkley Honors: Inkpot Award (San Diego Comic-Con) 1982 Syndication: various features (assistant) 1946-51 while working for King Features Syndicate Creator: The First Kingdom (w,a). NOTE: Issues #1-3 were published by Comics & Comix Co. (1974-76); issues #4-24 were published by Bud Plant, Inc. (1977-86). There was a tabloid-size squarebound reprinting of its first 192 pages (issues #1-6) by Pocket Books in 1978, and a comicsize squarebound reprinting of the same material

by Mecca (later Century) Comics Group in 2005.

To the best of our knowledge, issues #7-24 have not been reprinted.

Comics Studio/Shop: Beck & Costanza Studio (p, i) 1943; Chesler Studio (p, i); Iger Studio (letterer) 1945; Simon & Kirby Studio (p, i) 1952-56; other studio work (unconfirmed) 1946-48

Still Swimmin’ After All These Years COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US Publishers): Archie Comic Publications, Inc.: Archie (p,i) c.

1943 Better/Standard/Pines/Nedor Publications: Adventures into Darkness (p) 1952-53; Exciting War (p) 1952; horror (p) 1954; Lost Worlds (p) 1952; New Romances (p) 1952; Out of the Shadows (p) 1952; The Unseen (p,i) c. 1952-53

Jack’s still at it—and his art’s as exciting as ever! He drew this pencil study of the Sub-Mariner for A/E’s editor in January of 2010. Like we said earlier, he can be reached concerning commission art at (510) 237-1779. [Namor TM & ©2010 Marvel Entertainment, Inc.]

Fawcett Comics: Bulletman (a) 1943

1950s; Battle (a) 1955; Battlefront (a) 1954-55; Battleground (a) 1954-55; Fear (p) 1972; Journey into Mystery (a) 1955; Journey into Unknown Worlds (a) 1955; Jungle Tales (a) mid-1950s; Marines in Battle (a) 1954; Marvel Tales (a) 1954; Menace (a) 1954; Monsters on the Prowl (p) 1971; My Love (a) c. 1971; Mystery Tales (a) 1955; Mystic (a) 1954; Strange Tales (a) 1954-55; Sub-Mariner (p) 1969; Uncanny Tales (a) 1954-55; Unknown Jungle (a) 1954; War Comics (a) 1955; Western Kid (a) mid1950s; Wild Western (a) mid-1950s

Feature Comics: Black Magic (a) 1952; romance (a) 1952

Quality Comics: Doll Man (i) c. 1950

Fiction House Comics: Western (a) 1952

Skywald Publishing Company: Nightmare (p) 1970-c. 1973; Psycho (p) 1971-74; Tender Love Stories (p) 1971; Zangar (p) 1971

DC Comics (& Related Companies): covers (p) 1974; Falling in Love (p) 1972; Heart Throbs (a) c. 1972; House of Secrets (p) 1972; Love Stories (p) 1972-73; Young Love (p) 1971; Young Romance (w,a) 1972

Hillman Periodicals: Western Fighters (a) c. 1949 Marvel Comics (& Related Imprints): Annie Oakley (a) c. 1955; Arrowhead (a) 1954; Astonishing (a) mid-1950s; Battle Action (a) mid-

Warren Publications: backup feature in Vampirella (w,a) 1971; Creepy (w,a) 1972

Top: Lewiston, Idaho, where Young Lauretta lived from 1902-1909. And there she is on the far left in all her finery!

Next, a studious Lauretta, date unknown.

And above, she takes a moment to enjoy nature. [Photos ©2010 Peter Schilder.]

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham - Part 4 Introduction by Michael T. Gilbert

L

ast issue we featured the first selection from Dr. Bender’s testimony before the 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency. As her testimony continues this issue, we’ll see rare glimpses of the inner workings of DC Comics during the Golden Age. But first, a little background on Dr. Bender. Though we’ve focused on her comic book credentials, her comics work was a tiny asterisk in a very successful career.

Lauretta was born in Butte, Montana, on August 9, 1897, to attorney John Bender and his wife Catherine. She had two younger brothers, Jack and Carl. Lauretta spent her childhood in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and California. She earned a B.S. degree from the University of Chicago in 1922, and was awarded her M.A. in pathology a year later.

Dr. Bender was best known for developing (in 1923) the BenderGestalt Visual Motor Test, a neuropsychological exam that has become a worldwide standard. She spent many years researching the cause of childhood schizophrenia and was responsible for studies on child suicides and violence. In 1926, she earned her M.D. degree from the University of Iowa Medical School. This was followed by overseas study, an internship at the University of Chicago, a residency at Boston Psychopathic Hospital, and a research appointment at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic of Johns Hopkins Hospital. While there, she fell in love with a colleague, Dr. Paul Schilder, who was married and eleven years her senior. According to son Peter, “When Lauretta Bender and Paul Schilder first met she instantly fell in love. They worked together at JHH. In the early 1930s they moved together to NYU-Bellevue. They married and had three children.”

She became a staff member at the hospital, and later was senior psychiatrist in charge of the Children’s Services, a post she held for 21 years. Ironically, the man who directed Bellevue’s Mental Health Clinic was Dr. Fredric Wertham, whose 1954 best-seller Seduction of the Innocent would fuel the anticomics movement and inspire the Senate hearings.

Lauretta and 2nd husband Henry B. Parkes (nicknamed Michael) at their family home in Long Beach, Long Island, August 1971. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

Lauretta married Paul Schilder in 1936 and they had three children, Michael (in

1937), Peter (in 1938), and Jane (in 1940).

While she was in the hospital following the birth of her daughter, a car struck Paul, killing him. This left Lauretta Bender to raise the children alone. “This she did very successfully while continuing to make major contributions to the concepts of biological child psychiatry.” says Peter Schilder. “She remained at NYU-Bellevue as Chief of Child Psychiatry. Many of her co-workers and trainees served as surrogate family to the Schilder children. Through most of this period the family lived in a ‘beach’ house that Paul Schilder had bought as a present for Lauretta. It was in Long Beach, NY; Lauretta commuted on the Long Island Railroad six days a week to get to work.”

Lauretta and Paul Schilder on a California trip in the ’30s. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

Peter remembers his mother fondly. “She was always upbeat and energetic. She did household projects such as finishing furniture. She decided it would be nice to have a fireplace, so she had one built in spite of warnings that it might damage the structure of the house. We had a red wagon and would collect driftwood from the beach, often large enough that it would stick out into the living room.

“She was very flexible and adaptive; willing to listen to any suggestions.

She came home from work one day to discover that I had an automobile engine hanging from the porch railing. Her comment was ‘If the porch falls down you will have to put it back up.’

“Her involvement on the Advisory Board of DC Comics was a natural extension of her pioneer work in Child Psychiatry. The basic approach was a positive non-judgmental belief that children either mentally disturbed or healthy benefited from honestly presented material.”

In 1955, Dr. Bender was appointed principal research scientist in child psychiatry, a new post in the State Mental Hygiene Department. She continued working with the state until 1973, when she moved to Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Bender taught at the University of Maryland and was a consultant to the Children’s Guild, Inc. (a group that worked with the emotionally disturbed) and similar organizations. She won numerous awards, including New York State’s Medical Woman of the Year in 1958. Fittingly, she also received New York University School of Medicine’s Paul Schilder Memorial Award in 1977.

She remained single until 1967, when 70-year-old Lauretta wed Henry B. Parkes, a marriage that lasted until his death in 1972. Lauretta Bender passed away on January 4, 1987, at age 88, leaving behind a rich scientific legacy and a lifetime of service to children.

And now, let’s find out what she had to say about comic books in part two of her 1954 Senate testimony….

Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham — Part 4

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1954 Senate Testimony of Dr. Lauretta Bender, Part Two Mr. Beaser: You are on the editorial advisory board of the Superman Comics?

Dr. Bender: That is right.

Mr. Beaser: I gather you were in the courtroom today and heard the discussion?

Dr. Bender: I was. By the way, I am not in any way connected with the Child Study Association. That was implied and it was a mistake. It is merely that Josette Frank interviewed me for one of her articles.

Mr. Beaser: You were one of the resource persons?

Dr. Bender: I was one of the resource persons from which she got expert testimony, let us say, and wrote the article. It is true now, I am an editorial adviser of the Child Study Association. That is another one of my jobs that I do not even get a dollar a year for.

Mr. Beaser: What I cannot understand is that with all the listings of the associations you belong to you must be pretty busy. How do you get time to read the comic books of the National Superman?

Dr. Bender’s name was prominently displayed in DC comics of the ’40s and early ’50s. [©2010 DC Comics.]

sionary ideas. The children in the ward thought that was a good story and they thought it was a good idea, it was like the kind of treatment we were giving them, which I had not thought of in that fashion. They certainly thought it was a good way to cure the sick woman.

Mr. Beaser: But you saw this after the comic book had been on the stands?

Dr. Bender: I don’t read them all.

Mr. Beaser: You read what?

Dr. Bender: I read the ones which look to me to be of some interest. I give the rest to the children at Bellevue and let them read them and tell me what they think about them. I give them to the teachers, psychiatrists. I take them home to my children.

And if there is any question about one, and frequently there is—for instance, about two years ago one of the psychiatrists wrote me in dismay saying that he had picked up a comic his daughter brought in, in which a psychiatrist had been abused in his opinion and found my name on the advisory board and wondered how I could justify such a thing.

In this particular comic the storywriter had thought up a new form of what might be called shock treatment, in which a wife, who was jealous of her husband, had been exposed by the husband, at the advice of his psychiatrist, to actual situations which could be interpreted as indicating that the husband was wanting to do her harm.

But then it ended up with the husband explaining everything and the psychiatrist coming in and explaining everything and the wife and the husband reunited in their mutual understanding and love and the psychiatrist going home. He lived next door. The husband played chess with him, or something.

Well, this didn’t look very bad to me. I said I was not even sure it was not a good idea, it has some good ideas in it. Maybe if we actually did try to portray some of the delusions of patients and showed we could explain, that might be a way of exposing disillusionary ideas. I showed them to the children in the ward because they do have disilluDr. Bender on the roof of Bellevue Hospital. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

Dr. Bender: That is right. I am not responsible in any way whatsoever with what is published.

Mr. Beaser: And your duties as a member of the editorial advisory board consist of what?

Dr. Bender: My duties on the editorial advisory board are to be consulted by them whenever they choose to consult me and to give them advice about matters which many think are problems in just the terms that you are trying to deal with today, and in the beginning when I worked with them, I also helped them work out their first code.

Whenever they have asked for my advice I have always made an immediate study as carefully as I can, have given my advice and, to my knowledge, it has always been followed.

Mr. Beaser: How often does the board meet?

Dr. Bender: It meets very irregularly and in the last six months I think we have not met. As a matter of fact, we don’t function as a board usually. Now and then we do. We have, sometimes in the past, been called together, as a board, to take up certain questions.

The Chairman: Are the members polled? For example, you have a problem come before you, submitted to you. Do they poll all the members on that problem?

Dr. Bender: I gather they do, because Mr. Dybwad, just ahead of me, told you about a letter which the Child Study Association got and the advice that they had given in regard to this copyrighted article from one of the comics, and I am sure it is the same letter I got and I gave the same advice and I thought they were following my advice, but, obviously, they were not following all our advice. [A/E NOTE: Mr. Dybwad was Executive Director of Child Study Association of America, a parent education group, from 1951 to 1957.]

The Chairman: Are the board members compensated?

Dr. Bender: Yes. I received $150 a month.

Mr. Beaser: I suppose each one of the members received the same compensation?

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Disturbing to the kiddies? The final panel of “She Wakes Up Screaming” in DC’s House of Mystery #3 (April 1952), discussed in Dr. Bender’s testimony.

Art by Ruben Moreira. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Dr. Bender: No. I understand some of them get more because they are expected to give more service than I do. It is understood I am a very busy person. It is understood that the amount of time that I can give to it should be minimal, but in terms of my professional experience. So I understand that some get more.

I understand, on the other hand, some get less because they have come in more recently than I have. As a matter of fact, when I went on this advisory board, it was when the Superman and National Comics were separated into two parts, and Mr. Gaines, Sr., the father of the gentleman who testified yesterday, had his series of comics including Wonder Woman, and the Biblical ones and historical ones and what not. He paid me $50 and the Superman series paid me $100. Later on, the group was united, so I have been paid $150 by the one publication.

The Chairman: Doctor, could you give the subcommittee a typical case of the sort of problem which comes to the board members?

Dr. Bender: Yes, very easily. As a matter of fact, I don’t see any reason for not being more specific about this last inquiry. This was a question that there were concerns who wanted to produce a Superman uniform for children, realistic, and copyrighted. The National Publishing Co. said they had this request coming through for many, many years, and they had always turned it down because they were afraid that children would be hurt under the circumstances; but again, it had come up so persistently that they now wanted my advice about it.

dreams are analyzed.

The Chairman: If Superman could have that influence, what sort of influence do you think that picture there, called “Crime SuspenStories,” would have?

Dr. Bender: I can tell you why this would have nowhere near the influence. Superman represents an instinctive problem that we are all born and grown up with, that we can fly—after all, we can fly now; we couldn’t before—and that we can carry on all kinds of scientific investigations, that we can stop crime, which Superman does, and that we can have a good influence on the world, and that we can be protected by the powerful influences in the world which may be our own parents, or may be the authorities, or whatnot.

Mr. Beaser: It is your considered judgment, then, that Superman has been a good influence?

Dr. Bender: A good influence. There is another reason why Superman has had a good influence. That is the years of continuity of the Superman character. The children know that Superman will always come out on the right side. On that, I can give you another story about what they wanted to do. At the end of the Second World War we had the problem of a certain number of soldiers coming home as amputees. One of the script writers got the bright idea that we ought to prepare children for their fathers coming home as amputees by having one of the characters—I don’t think it was Superman—one of the others—have an accident and lose his leg. They wanted to know what I thought about that idea. I said I thought it was absolutely terrible because I felt that the children loved this character and, after all, how many children were going to have to face the question of an amputee father? Certainly there are far better ways of preparing such children for such a father than to have to shock the whole comic reading children public. So I disapproved of it.

So I advised them that in my experience children throughout the ages, long before Superman existed, tried to fly, and also it has been my specific experience, since I have been at Bellevue Hospital, that certain children with certain emotional problems are particularly preoccupied with the problem of flying, both fascinated by it, and fearful of it. And we frequently have on our ward at Bellevue the problem of making Superman capes in occupational therapy and then the children wearing them and fighting over them and one thing or another—and only about three months ago we had such, what we call epidemic, and a number of children were hurt because they tried to fly off the top of radiators or off the top of bookcases or what not and got bumps.

The Chairman: You mean they would put these suits on and try to fly?

Dr. Bender: That is right. The sheets form many purposes to these children. Part of it is that it probably gives them the feeling of the power to fly. It also gives them the feeling of protection, almost as if they were invisible when they wore the Superman cape or as if they had the magic power of Superman, so if they wore a Superman’s cape they would have these magic powers.

The Chairman: This does show the influence of comics, then?

Dr. Bender: That is true. I am sure the comics were an influence. As I say, I have found one of the best methods in my experience to examine children is to get them to tell me their favorite comic book and to relate it and then analyze their material. In adult psychiatry,

Kids read comics in 1945. Hey, where’s my time machine? [©2010 the respective copyright owners.]

Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham — Part 4

The Chairman: Doctor, suppose you were on the advisory board for some of these magazines, what would you recommend? I am talking about the magazines which appear on the board there.

Dr. Bender: Let us put it this way: suppose you said, “Why don’t you go on one of these and see,” and then I would go on it and I would see. I would expose children to these comics and see what the result was.

Now, if you want to ask me what I think the result would be, I think it would be minimal. I think that many of the children would be bored with them, I think that many of the children would refuse to read them and the more sophisticated would say, “So what, I have seen stuff like that before.”

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Actually, the amount of money I get, $150 a month, is what I can get for one lecture such as I gave yesterday—I was all day yesterday in another state attending a scientific conference at which I gave a lecture—and which I can give once a week without any trouble—and it certainly is a small part of my income. I would say this: the fact that I am in this position as far as the National Comics are concerned has two influences. I think I have influenced the National Comics Publications to some extent, and I think my continuing presence on their editorial board may represent a continuing influence, not only on the National Comics but conceivably all of the comic publications, to some extent. I would say that I have been somewhat more interested in the comics. I am furnished with the comics as soon as they come out regularly. In fact, I am furnished with three L. A. Councilman Ed Davenport, 1948, doing intense copies of them. And I have in recent years research! [©2010 the respective copyright owners.] especially been particularly interested not only in this sort of thing, but some extremely interesting new phenomena in the comics.

Mr. Beaser: But you do not actually know, Doctor?

The comics actually, if you follow the history of the comics, and I wish Dr. Wertham could have done this, because he is a brilliant scientist, if he could only realize what could be done with it, they have gone through phases of understanding the problems that the world is being shaken by continuously. And now, most amazingly, they have become aware of the problems which most concern us psychiatrists, and me particularly, and that is something which is a technical phase, the concept of the body image and what can happen to it under different emotional circumstances.

The Chairman: You are talking about normal children, though?

Dr. Bender: There is no such thing as a normal child.

The Chairman: There is not?

Dr. Bender: No. The Chairman: That is your medical opinion?

Dr. Bender: That is my medical opinion.

The Chairman: How about a child that is deficient?

Dr. Bender: Mentally deficient?

The Chairman: I mean delinquent, or has delinquent tendencies.

Dr. Bender: As I told you before, it certainly is conceivable that you can find a certain number of children who will be, or could be pushed one or two steps further.

The Chairman: By this sort of literature?

Dr. Bender: By this sort of literature. Of course, it is a drop in the bucket as far as all the experiences in the world that the children are exposed to, and an awfully small drop and an awfully big bucket.

Mr. Beaser: Doctor, when Mr. Dybwad was talking he said something about dividing the subject into two phases. One, the fact that the association was concerned about was [sic] the fact that these crime and horror comics were creating a climate in which the child was living and growing up and to which the child was exposed. Do you share Mr. Dybwad’s fears in that respect?

Dr. Bender: I don’t think the comic books are creating the climate.

Mr. Beaser: Are they a part of the climate?

Dr. Bender: I think they are a reaction to the climate.

Mr. Beaser: Now, let me ask you one final question, Doctor.

Would you say—I suppose you would—that your opinion on this subject is in no way influenced by the fact that you are an advisory member of the Superman comics’ advisory board?

Dr. Bender: Well, it is a fair question and I think you were a little bit hard on Mr. Dybwad in that regard this morning.

These are psychological problems and the uncanny capacity for the script writers to delve down into their own unconscious and dig up these problems and depict them to me is an amazing phenomenon. I only wish that I had the time from my various other duties to sit down and do a job—not with these, I confess they don’t interest me much— but with the psychological phenomena that have occurred in the comic books and in terms of what they might mean to developing children. Now, there was one type of comic that I disapproved of very thoroughly. When the comics first came out, Superman, at least, the publishers of Parent[s’] Magazine got out a little comic called...

The Chairman: It used to be Hairbreadth Harry, in my day.

Dr. Bender: Were they good?

The Chairman: Very good.

Dr. Bender: The Parent[s’] Magazine got out a comic called True Comics.

They were really very bad. The reason they were bad is that they

True Comics, Vol. 4, #35 (May 1944). From 1950-56, Parents’ Magazine rated comic books— but, ironically, their own comics failed the Bender test! [©2010 Parents Magazine.]

64

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Dr. Bender: Yes. It involves more or less the things I say except they go to certain other things.

The Chairman: They are more specific?

Dr. Bender: They are more specific. Some of these things I wouldn’t be so specific about.

The members of the 1954 Senate Subcommittee listen intently to someone’s testimony—maybe even Dr. Bender’s. [©2010 the respective copyright owners.]

showed historical situations of, let us say, sailors being thrown off the boat because the boat had been bombarded by the Nazis and they were jumping in an ocean of flaming oil. There was just no help for these people.

Mr. Beaser: What was bad with that? We saw pictures like that yesterday in some of these.

Mr. Beaser: Okay, but they weren’t put out by the Parent[s’] Magazine Publications. The parents didn’t approve of that, but these were approved by parents.

Mr. Beaser: You would disapprove of that?

Dr. Bender: I disapprove of that. They said, “This is good because it is history. This is real,” which is another reason why it is bad. They also gave a picture of colonial days where the mother was being tommyhawked by the Indians, with a baby at her breast, and the baby was being dropped on the ground. Now, this was history. Certainly it is history, but do our children today have to be exposed to such things?

This is not history. I see no excuse whatsoever for a parent [sic] magazine group or an approved group approving that sort of thing. It was quite contrary to the code which we eventually established for the comic people.

The Chairman: Doctor, the Chair has before it a typewritten document entitled “Editorial policy for Superman—DC Publications.” I will send that down to you and ask you if that is the code you helped prepare.

Dr. Bender: I have seen this lately. No, this is not the one I helped prepare. The one I helped prepare is the one which was to this effect, that no character in the comic with whom the children could identify themselves, or their own parents, their own family, or their own country, or their own side, should be irretrievably damaged, killed, or mutilated, and neither should such a person with whom the child could identify himself or anyone on his side irretrievably damage or injure anyone else regardless of whether they were an enemy, or not. That is to say, they should not have to bear the guilt of feeling that they were responsible for this damage having happened.

The Chairman: In what year was this code prepared?

Dr. Bender: That code was prepared in the middle forties.

A recent photo of Lauretta Bender’s son Dr. Peter Schilder, without whom this series of articles on Dr. Bender would not have been possible. [©2010 Peter Schilder.]

The Chairman: Have you ever seen this code?

Dr. Bender: I just saw that for the first time night before last.

The Chairman: That is the code under which this publication is operating, is it not?

The Chairman: As I understand it, Counsel, that code has been made part of the record?

This Jack Kamen panel from “Only SkinDeep” (Shock SuspenStories #13, Feb. 1954), was probably the one under discussion by the Subcommittee. [©2010 EC Comics.]

Mr. Beaser: Yes, sir. [The code referred to was submitted earlier by Mr. Gunnar Dybwad and appears on p. 70 as “Exhibit No. 9.”]

The Chairman: Does counsel have any further questions?

Mr. Beaser: Just one. You mentioned burning flames. Look at this picture here. It shows as a final scene a man being burned. You would object to that being distributed to children, would you not? I gathered that from your last remarks.

Dr. Bender: I would say this: I think I could distribute that to the children. I don’t know who the man is. I don’t think they know who he is, do they?

Mr. Beaser: Supposing it was a magazine which depicted him as the father of a child, a father figure?

Dr. Bender: Then I would object to it. You see, I objected to this thing about the sailors because it was our sailors.

Mr. Beaser: You would also object maybe to the sight of a child’s mother and father being electrocuted?

Dr. Bender: Well, I object to seeing that under any circumstances, if you don’t mind.

Mr. Beaser: I have no further questions.

The Chairman: Doctor, the subcommittee is very grateful to you for coming here this morning. We know how busy you are. I am glad we got several points in the record cleared up.

Postscript by MTG: Despite Dr. Bender’s testimony, the negative reaction to comic books following the Senate hearings led the comics industry to produce a stringent Comics Code rather than risk official government censorship. Decades later, Dr. Wertham was forced to admit that many of the kids who read comics in the ’50s had grown up to be pretty decent people, after all. His 1973 book The World of Fanzines even praised the creativity of comics fans. But by then the damage had already been done. It’s also worth noting that Dr. Bender was not the sole defender of comic books. Others, like Josette Frank of the Child Study Association of America, also did their part, but that’s a story for another issue.

Our thanks to Janet Gilbert, Ken Quattro, and especially Dr. Bender’s son, Dr. Peter Schilder.

Till next time…

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Comic Fandom Archive

Headline – And Beyond!

Part III Of “The Teenage Creations of Steve Gerber”

by John G. Pierce “CFA” EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In this final chapter of John Pierce’s look back at the late Steve Gerber’s fanzine Headline from the early 1960s, you’ll find an interesting litany of the challenges that beset fanzine publishers of the day. The glow of nostalgia can sometimes cause us to forget that editing and publishing even the humble amateur magazines of yesteryear were not without their stresses, their disappointments, and their outright snafus. This realization can only serve to heighten our appreciation of those fans—such as Steve Gerber—who managed to shepherd their fanzines from an idea to a finished product.

The road was often bumpy!! —Bill Schelly.

I

n earlier articles, I have recounted the story of Steve Gerber’s childhood creations, as well as the first two issues of his fanzine Headline. In this final chapter, we’ll take a look at the third issue of that seminal, oft-overlooked zine.

In 1964, more than a year after the 1963 publication of #2 (that had also been the approximate time-span between #1 & #2), the third issue appeared. Headline was, admittedly, published irregularly, as were most fanzines of the early days, but it might as well have been labeled an annual.

Following a Superman cover, “Ye Olde Print Shoppe”—again labeled “Editorial Comment,” although presumably the readers knew that by now—bears reprinting here, if for no other reason than a look at Steve’s early writing style: At the risk of sounding like Jerry Bails, I’m forced to say that this will be the last issue of Headline under my editorial eye. I’m turning the chores over to Steve Grant, fellow U. Citian, child prodigy, and the biggest braggart since yours truly. With Steve at the helm, you can be sure that HL will continue under its original motto—“Open mouth, insert foot”….

[R]ather than the standard sob-story, I think I’ll devote this last editorial to a re-hashing of the “behind the scenes” story of this fanzine. If you think you’ve been reading incredible fiction, wait’ll you dig into this!

It started with Alter-Ego #2. In that issue, Jerry Bails (yes, he did publish A-E once) offered his #35 duplicator for sale. The two A-E issues had given me the fanzine bug, and I immediately wrote to him about it, and I happened to mention the possibility of a zine devoted to original hero creations. Jerry, too, was enthused about the idea—though probably more because he thought he could unload his duplicator than because he liked the idea. [AUTHOR’S NOTE: I think perhaps Steve was selling the late Dr. Bails a bit short here. It is my impression that the Father

Two Super-Stars From the vantage point of a later time, Steve Gerber contemplates fan-artist Ronn Foss’ cover for the third issue of the former’s fanzine Headline. Art sports for this chapter have been supplied

by John G. Pierce and/or Bill Schelly. [Superman TM & ©2010 DC Comics; other Headline cover art ©2010 Estate of Ronn Foss.]

of Comics Fandom was glad to see it flourish in multitudinous forms, and almost certainly a publication with such a focus would have been welcomed by him. —John.]

Nonetheless, the two of us exchanged correspondence prolifically, discussing the duplicator, the fanzine, and the money. And then, when I finally decided to buy the duplicator and put out one whammo of a fanzine—Jerry sold it locally.

Undaunted, I searched about and finally located an outfit called Standard Duplicators. I checked, and found a great used model for $45, bought it, and things began looking up a bit.

Slowly but surely, the articles were compiled. This was about November of 1961. Jerry had put me in contact with a number of teenage writers, and almost all of them graciously contributed to HL. Somewhere along the line, Paul Seydor joined the crew as co-editor. And it was his excellent art that graced the cover of Headline #1 when it debuted in May of 1962.

But between November and May there was one heck of a winter, and it was no fun for this editor! S.G. Ross had written the Little Giant story, to be our illo’d strip in #1, around a plot which didn’t satisfy artist Ronn Foss. I agreed, and so S.G. and I plotted the actual tale which appeared in HL. This script was admittedly rather crude, but Ronn managed to turn it into a strip which brought raves from every reader! Then he quit! But that comes later.

Now wait. All this sounds fairly simple. But LG was never even intended for HL at first! Paul Seydor was going to do “The Falcon and Electricman,” but pulled out because he felt the strip “just

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Part III Of “The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber”

not much. Through John Pierce, I’d met Mel Herbers and he came through with an All-Star review without a hitch. A few readers had the courage (some had the gall) to write letters, so that column filled up nicely. And then—DISASTER!! After a beautifully done origin, John Pierce’s Black Hand took a wee bit of a plunge.

John and I went over the story at least three times and we still didn’t get what I—er, we—wanted. I called in S.G. Ross, who had evidently been reading my mail from then-co-editor Seydor. He recalled that Paul had mentioned that both the Hand and Death Spirit, his foe, were the proud owners of rather mysterious faces, Hand’s being invisible and Death Spirit’s being shrouded in darkness. He proposed a ‘duel of the faces’ in which the two adversaries would use the powers of their strange faces in an epic battle. That new angle was incorporated into the story and at last it was complete. But this new aspect eliminated the usefulness of a couple of pictures Seydor had drawn for the original story, so it was back to the old ditto masters for him! [AUTHOR’S NOTE: Years later, as I re-read the line about a “battle of the faces,” it makes even me want to crack up a bit, but really, it wasn’t a bad idea. —John.]

Four By Foss Ronn Foss was as important to the history of Headline as he was to the original hyphenated edition of Alter-Ego, which he was destined to inherit from Jerry Bails and publish in 1963-64. These “Original Creations of Yesterday” pages of his from Headline #3 showcase several of the artist’s own earlier hero concepts. For a photo of Ronn, see our previous issue. [©2010 Estate of Ronn Foss.]

didn’t have it.” It was only then that S.G. Ross and Ronn Foss turned up to further complicate my life. But wait—here comes the clincher!

HL was almost ready to roll. Then, I realized I’d lost my tracing of the Flash Comics #1 cover!!! I wrote to Douglas Marden who had loaned me the book, sighing with relief because I knew he would trace it for me... OH YEAH? The book was out on loan!

Fortunately, I knew Nick Debelo, the fellow to whom the precious volume had been entrusted, so I quickly wrote to him, sent masters, and Nick came through in grand style.

Finally, the zine was run off, stapled (aagh), and mailed. It was only the seventh fanzine out. Only Alter-Ego, Comic Art, Xero, Rocket’s Blast and Spotlite were around at that time, a far cry from the 39 fanzines of today. (That’s the actual number.)

The reviews ran so-so. Almost everyone liked the idea.

(Witness the many copies and imitations of HL scattered through fandom.) The Black Hand by John Pierce fared rather well, and the Flash #1 cover (along with Marden’s excellent article) was a novelty and was received as most ‘firsts’ are. Sadly, the Guard, my comedy story, and Original Creations of Yesteryear really didn’t do as well as I’d hoped.

Next issue rolled around. By now I had a little idea of what to expect in editing a zine, so this one was somewhat easier—but

This time, Paul came through with The Falcon (although what became of Electricman is probably the comics’ greatest mystery) and the Black Hand picture we couldn’t use in the story ended up as a colorful back cover. And now comes this issue’s first big mish-mash. Jerry Bails (remember him?) had sent me a package intended for Paul. (I guess I’m not the only one in fandom who can goof.) These were the original art drawings that appeared in the Original Heroes of Yesteryear section in #2 . I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on at first, but after another pile of letters had been exchanged, Paul got the drawings, traced them, and wrote the article... after a long hassle over which of us should do it! (Chee...) As if this weren’t enough, the Superman-TV article by George Paul was put on masters and set to go when The Comicollector printed a letter accusing him of being a thief!! (The validity of this charge is still a mystery. I have no proof either way.) Finally, after typing and rejecting a half-dozen editorials (at least) I managed to get that portion into good order and set it on masters, at last.

So, at last, the issue went to press. It was only after the 250th copy of the last page came rolling off the presses that I realized— no doubt with the greatest expression of horror in recorded history—that I had omitted (sob) a full-page ad!! I first thought of printing in inside the front cover. But a screw was loose somewhere—probably in my head—and all I did was ruin 250 beautiful covers!! Needless to say, I re-ditto’d all of them (I don’t think Paul ever forgave me for that blue blotch in the middle of the cape), and placed the ad elsewhere. Then, after more stapling, more stamping, and more aggravation, I took them to be mailed.

It was at this point that I became somewhat disenchanted with the US Post Office Department. The fellow at the post office told me that HL #2 would cost eight cents to mail—it cost TEN!! And after stamping them with 250 8-cent stamps, I had the unpleasant chore of dragging the whole lot home from the post office, to add 2 cents postage to each one. The zine went out, though, as what I felt was a fine effort. So what did I get? A 2.71 rating on the Alley Awards Poll. Actually, that was probably due to the fact that there was a full year between the time the issue came out and the voting. And the fact that only 65 (out of 250) readers voted. (Sigh) That’s reader appreciation for you!

There was more, but this pretty much gives the picture. It was not uncommon in those days for editors to turn their publications over to other fans for continuation. At the end of this parting editorial, Steve turned control over to Steve Grant and Steve Wyde, who then took over for a page (“The New Print Shoppe,” still subtitled “Editorial Comment”).

After listing #3’s contents (a relatively worthless activity, since the readers

Headline—And Beyond!

had it in their hands), they proceeded to make predictions as to the contents of the next issue, predictions which would prove to be the most inaccurate yet, for reasons we shall soon see.

Beyond the editorials, the first entry in HL #3 was “That Mighty Man of Steel,” Part II. Written by Steve Gerber, this listed the contents of the Superman theatre cartoons released by Paramount in the early 1940s (cartoons now readily available on DVD all over the place, but back then yet one more part of the Great Lost Past), followed by some of Steve’s observations on “Superman: Then and Now,” an article notable for two reasons: Steve’s lack of real understanding of the early “Superman” stories (probably he was operating from a few early issues), and his defense of the then-current Superman line of comics. While most article writers chose to berate Mort Weisinger’s editorial style, Steve felt that it was fine, and even compared it to the style of Spider-Man and Fantastic Four! These were certainly different observations. It is intriguing to note that Steve proclaimed Kryptonite to be a “now-indispensable part of the strip,” not realizing that someday it would indeed be dispensed with—but not for very long, so probably he was right all along!

“Beware the Supernatural” featured the totally-unillustrated tale of “The Grey Mantle,” by S.G. Ross, as Steve maintained his pseudonym right to the end. (I should point out, however, that in private correspondence, Steve Grant insisted to me that S.G. Ross was a real person—just not the one who wrote the material credited to him.) This story was of a dead man sent back to earth, in the guise of the Grim Reaper, to find the most evil person on the planet. His powers were given him by one of the strangest benefactors ever, the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, who quipped

69

that “One can hardly get this job by marrying the boss’ daughter, can one?”

A fairly lengthy letter-column followed, probably due to the number of complaints Steve had received that HL #2’s had been too short. Then a second part of “Beware the Supernatural,” by Steve Perrin, presented “The Genie,” a well-written origin story. Perrin was later to be the editor of his own fanzine Mask and Cape, as well as a contributor to many other zines, and still later a game-designer at Chaosium.

Evidently there had been no hassling over which staffer would write “Original Creations of Yesteryear” this time, for Ronn Foss wrote and illustrated his own biography, including copious drawings of several of his creations, such as Man of Action and Captain All-Star.

“Beware the Supernatural” was not only one of the most popular of HL’s offerings, but it was certainly the most prolific, as readers turned to the issue’s third such contribution, by the feature’s creator, yours truly, and its first hero, “The Black Hand.” This time his adventures occupied four typed pages, plus a full-page illo by newcomer Louis Zarfas, whose work was distinctly inferior to that of Paul Seydor, but who was, as noted, new.

In this tale, Black Hand revived a dead man, restored most of the life on Earth after the Evil One (if I was attempting to disguise the Devil, I didn’t succeed) had destroyed it, and even chased the Evil One back to Malta (i.e., Hell). All in a day’s work for the obviously Spectre-inspired Black Hand. A full-page drawing of the Silver Age Hawkman preceded Doug Marden’s article on “The Winged Wonder of the Forties.” Though more detailed than his “Flash” article in #1, this piece still left many questions

Heroes Pro And Fan (Left:) One little-heralded feature of HL #3 was this drawing by Alan Weiss of Hawkman, a fan-favorite character (and even a fannish cause célèbre) during the early ’60s, at a time when DC was going through two The Brave and the Bold tryouts of the Joe Kubert-drawn version of the Pinioned Paladin, which finally led to a Murphy Anderson-illustrated “Hawkman” briefly sharing the Mystery in Space title with “Adam Strange.” Alan, of course, went on to become a longtime professional comics artist himself, on such as strips as “Pellucidar” for DC and Captain America for Marvel. [Hawkman TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

(Right:) The splash page of the “Little Giant” story in Headline #3 was drawn by neophyte Louis Zarfas; “S.G. Ross” was a nom de plume of Steve Gerber himself. Zarfas also illustrated John G. Pierce’s “Black Hand” in the issue. [Art ©2010 Louis Zarfas.]

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Part III Of “The Teenage Creations Of Steve Gerber”

unanswered, as the state of Golden Age scholarship was still in its infancy.

And, after two years, Steve’s hero Little Giant finally overcame The Wheel, though both hero and villain now appeared slightly different, anatomically, due to the switch from Ronn Foss to Louis Zarfas. While defeating The Wheel, LG proved his name by growing to giant size, thereby destroying his costume, but fortunately—I think— retaining his underwear! (Part of Steve’s idea for the retooled Little Giant was that he could both shrink and grow in size, but only on a very limited basis, lest he use up his power altogether.) A trailer to this story promised a new costume and new adventures for Little Giant in forthcoming issues of HL. But it was not to be. Though Steve Grant collected many manuscripts, enough for at least three more issues, he never followed through on any of the plans. None of the manuscripts, as far as I know, was ever returned to their authors, and eventually the whole thing was forgotten, as Headline faded into oblivion.

You’re A Star!

John G. Pierce, author of this study of Steve Gerber’s early work, had also created for Headline his own super-heroes, Jonni Star. This illustrations from far more recent times, were executed by Brazilian artist Emir Ribeiro. [Art ©2010 Emir Ribeiro.]

Its staffers went different ways. Steve Perrin, as mentioned before, would still contribute many characters and stories to fanzines for a while. I myself went off to college, and had little time for fannish pursuits, for the most part, until the early ’70s. Doug Marden also went off to college, but many years later, as business ventures brought him from his native Massachusetts to Ohio occasionally, he and I were able to meet in person a few times. Ronn Foss moved to the rustic Ozarks and supported himself mainly from comic book and commercial art commissions. Paul Seydor dominated the DC letter columns for a few years, and then vanished, only to end up becoming an editor of major Hollywood movies. Steve Gerber himself vanished, then returned as a writer and editorial associate for Marvel.

It is interesting to note that, in a brief autobiography published in Marvel’s black-&-white Tales of the Zombie magazine, while Steve mentioned a later humor fanzine he published, Nerve, he never once alluded to Headline.

Was he ashamed of HL? He needn’t have been. Though it was not a great zine, it provided a lot of fun and excitement for those who worked on it. Had HL made the conversion to better printing and featured more than one strip per issue, it might have lasted and become one of the great fanzines of the 1960s. As it was, it just vanished, but the spark it kindled was to lead to other great fanzines, which more fervently pursued the idea of the fan-created super-hero and were quite successful in doing so.

Headline made no headlines in fandom, but should rightfully take its place as one of the trend-setting zines of its time, the days when oft-times enthusiasm counted for more than anything else, except perhaps talent.

Postscript: The purpose of this series of articles has not been to trot out the immature writings of anyone and hold them up to ridicule.

Indeed, the foregoing has been intended as more of a tribute than anything else, to a person whose latent talent was obvious from the start to many of those who were exposed to his work.

Nor does the foregoing exhaust all that was the teen-age Steve Gerber.

He had also planned a separate zine, to be called Star-Studded Comics (but with its title changed to The Headliners, at my urging, since SSC had been a title used during the Golden Age—though that wouldn’t subsequently stop the Texas Trio from using it!). This would have featured a grouping of Headline’s heroes, including some of Steve’s characters, as well as the Guard, The Black Hand, and others. (Also to have been featured in both future issues of Headline, as well as The Headliners, would have been another creation of mine, “Jonni Star,” who has since gone on to appear, in the 1990s, in a small-press comic book entitled The Peacemakers, as drawn by Emir Ribeiro, future professional, and background artist to his fellow Brazilian, Mike Deodato, Jr. Jonni also appeared in Community Comics’ Hero TV in 2003. ) Steve had several intriguing story ideas in mind, including one with the title “One of Us Is an Impostor—But Never Mind That, Where’s the Real One?” which would have included a missing Headliner, an impostor Headliner, and an impostor President of the USA (JFK at the time, who ended up with an interesting, if brief, career as a comic book character, anyway!).

Another idea Steve had was for a TV series, to be produced at a local station, an idea which, as he later said, “came within a hairbreadth of acceptance.” This was, of course, back in the days when local TV stations did more than just deliver the news, but had plenty of programming and personalities of their own—such as my own area’s Fritz the Nite Owl. As for Steve, I have to admit that I did not extensively follow his professional comics work. He demonstrated a great deal of imagination, but much of it was a bit too dark for my tastes. For my part, I prefer The Comet, Little Giant, and his other Creations of Yesteryear.

“CFA” EDITOR’S NOTE: I certainly understand John’s liking for amateur characters from the Golden Age of comic fandom. Many of them, especially those appearing in the pages of Star-Studded Comics, were immensely enjoyable. But it seems that the majority of readers preferred articles on the history of comics, interviews with pros, and more fact-based features.

As a publisher, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Hamster Press still has copies of The Best of Star-Studded Comics (the 1960s-70s Texas Trio fanzine) available. It can be purchased through our web-site at www.billschelly.com. End of Hamster Press plug!!

Two issues from now, inspired by John Pierce’s analysis of Steve Gerber’s early fan work, and as a tribute to his late friend, A/E editor Roy Thomas will add his own several-page postscript to JGP’s threeparter with a recounting of the story of Crudzine, the fanzine parody that Roy conceived and which was executed by Steve and his talented St. Louis/University City buddies. As Marv Wolfman might write—“Don’t fail to miss—The Green Rabbit!” —Bill.

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72

In Memoriam

Edd Cartier (1914-2008) “Painting With Light”

by Anthony Tollin

E

dward Daniel Cartier, one of the legendary illustrators from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction, died December 25, 2008, in his Ramsey, New Jersey, home.

Cartier created more than 800 illustrations for The Shadow Magazine, painted five covers and produced more than 200 interior illustrations for Unknown, and drew nearly 300 illustrations for Astounding Science Fiction. The favorite artist of editor John W. Campbell and writer L. Ron Hubbard, Cartier also illustrated sf stories by Asimov, Heinlein, Sturgeon, et al., as well as horror stories by Robert Bloch and the early mystery fiction of John D. MacDonald.

Cartier began illustrating stories for Street & Smith, the leading publisher of pulp fiction magazines, while still a student at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute’s School of Fine and Applied Arts, where he majored in pictorial illustration and studied under illustrators Harold Winfield Scott and William James, a Street & Smith art director who gave Cartier his first professional assignments. “I began by doing a single illustration per week for Street & Smith pulps like Wild West Weekly, Movie Action, and Detective Story Magazine while still attending Pratt,” he recently recalled, “and was initially paid $8 for each drawing.”

The Shadow Knows…

The above photo of artist Edd Cartier (the older gent on the left) and his friend and fan Anthony Tollin was taken by Adrienne Roy in 1966, at a party hosted by Tollin & Roy to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Amazing Stories, the first science-fiction pulp. Providing a taste of Cartier’s pulp and comics art are a spot illo from an issue of The Shadow Magazine and the cover of Red Dragon Comics (2nd series) #2 (Feb. 1948). Thanks to Anthony T. [Art ©2010 The Condé Nast Publications, Inc., or successors in interest.]

Graduating in 1936, Cartier received his first ongoing assignment illustrating The Shadow’s adventures. “The regular artist, Tom Lovell, was moving on to pursue a painting career, so I alternated with him illustrating the twicemonthly novels. My first week for The Shadow Magazine accompanied ‘The Sledge-Hammer Crimes’ in the August 1st, 1936, issue, coincidentally my 22nd birthday.”

After he began illustrating The Shadow, Cartier received a letter from popular painter Norman Rockwell offering him a job as an assistant: “I asked Harold his opinion. ‘If you study with Norman Rockwell, you’re just going to become another Norman Rockwell,’ Scott advised. ‘You’ll be influenced entirely by him. You should remain on your own.’ So I turned down Rockwell’s job offer, though I have regretted doing so ever since.”

Shortly after graduating, Cartier leased a Manhattan studio with Earl Mayan, a future Saturday Evening Post cover artist. Cartier later returned home to New Jersey and set up his second studio above Cartier’s [his

father’s] Saloon in his hometown of North Bergen. “Although I continued to contribute drawings to the other Street & Smith pulps, The Shadow [Continued at bottom of second page following.]

In Memoriam

73

Frank Springer (1929-2009) “I’ve Been Lucky”

by Mark Evanier

V

eteran comic book artist Frank Springer died on Thursday, April 2, 2009, at the age of 79. The cause is being reported as prostate cancer.

Born December 6, 1929, in Queens, New York, Springer graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in art in 1952 and promptly went into the Army, where he did mostly illustrated work at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Upon his discharge in ’54, he began assisting George Wunder on the comic strip Terry and the Pirates, a post he held until 1960 and returned to on occasion when Wunder was behind and needed help.

Springer also occasionally worked on other strips, including several years of Rex Morgan, M.D., plus ghosting on The Heart of Juliet Jones, On Stage, Friday Foster, The Phantom, and many others. He also did strips he originated, such as The Virtue of Vera Valiant, written by Stan Lee. His comic book career began in 1960, and he later recalled Brain Boy, a Dell comic, as his first assignment.

He drew many books for Dell, including Charlie Chan, Ghost Stories, and Toka, Jungle King. He also began drawing for DC and, later, Marvel. Fans recall his byline on the DC series The Secret Six, and for a time on Marvel’s Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and later on many “Spider-Man” titles and Dazzler. He also did a lot of uncredited work, including a few “Batman” tales under the “Bob Kane” signature.

In the late ’60s, he teamed with writer Michael O’Donoghue and produced several adult features for Evergreen Review, the most notable being The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist, the episodes of which were collected into a bestselling book. When O’Donoghue became an editor for National Lampoon,

Springer Is Here Frank Springer, in a photo retrieved from Mark Evanier’s website—juxtaposed with a pair of his moments outside pure comic books, but with comic-book connections: a display illustration from the 1969 Grove Press edition of Phoebe Zeit-Geist (script by Michael O’Donoghue), and Frank’s Nov. 12, 1976, daily of the newspaper comic strip The Virtue of Vera Valiant (script by Stan Lee). The latter was inspired by the considerable (if transitory) popularity of the then-new TV soap-opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Thanks to Jim Ludwig, Leonardo De Sâ, Mike Conroy, & Dave Reeder. [Phoebe Zeit-Geist ©2010 the respective copyright holders; Vera Valiant ©2010 Los Angeles Time Syndicate or its successors in interest.]

74

In Memoriam

he bought Frank in, and soon Springer was drawing many of their comic book parodies to great acclaim.

Frank was admired and loved by his peers, and the National Cartoonists Society three times awarded him its trophy as Best Comic Book Artist of the year and once elected him its president. He was a guest of honor at the 2004 Comic-Con International in San Diego, where I had the privilege of interviewing him twice before his many fans. On one of those panels, he said of his career, “There were some raggedy times, but I always had work, raised five kids, bought some houses, bought some cars… I’ve been lucky.” Personally, I think skill and dedication had a lot to do with that.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara, as well as four children and seven grandchildren.

This piece has been edited from its online version on Mark Evanier’s website www.newsfromme.com.

Plane Speaking Frank Springer inked a number of issues of the Frank Robbins-penciled Invaders in the late ’70s. Here, from a couple of years ago, is FS’s commissioned pencil version of what may have happened “one minute later” following the events depicted on the cover of The Invaders #1 (Aug. 1975), courtesy of collector Michael Finn. The plane on which Captain America, The Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner are planting the American flag is one of the Nazi aircraft downed on that John Romita cover.

[Heroes TM & ©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[Continued from page 72.]

Magazine quickly became the focus of my career…. The gritty atmosphere of The Shadow’s relentless fight against crime gave me the opportunity to illustrate a weird and fantastic world. Much of the action took place in my stylized visions of urban locales: dark hallways, one-room flats, spooky mansions, dingy subways, dead-end alleys, and fog-shrouded wharves. I especially liked doing full-throttle scenes of speeding boats, steam-belching locomotives, crashing cards, and hovering autogyros.”

Cartier also illustrated the adventures of Hook McGuire, bowling detective, and some three dozen tales, written by Steve Fisher as “Grant Lake,” about a young shoeshine-boy detective named Danny Garret that appeared as back-up stories in The Shadow Magazine, as well as stories for Street & Smith’s other mystery magazines, including The Whisperer, The Wizard, and Detective Story Magazine.

In 1939, the editor of Street & Smith’s Astounding Science Fiction offered him the opportunity to illustrate Unknown, a groundbreaking magazine of horror and supernatural fiction: “John W. Campbell, Jr., thought I would be ideally suited to illustrating fantasy…. After I illustrated the lead story in the first issue of Unknown, with my former instructor Howard Scott providing the cover painting, William James asked me if I would mind having someone else take over The Shadow so I could concentrate on science-fiction and fantasy…. When I was a kid, my brothers Alfred and Vincent read as much science-fiction as they could get their hands on. At first, I thought the stories were too fantastic, but I soon hooked on the genre. After I became an illustrator, I knew it would be fascinating to do science-fiction art, and I was pleased to move on to Unknown and also Astounding Science Fiction.”

Drafted in 1941, Cartier served as an infantryman and as a heavy machine-gunner in a tank battalion, fighting in France and Germany. He was severely wounded in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and again when his hospital train was blown apart, and was awarded the

Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He returned to Street & Smith after the war, illustrating The Shadow, Astounding, and Doc Savage, and also producing cover and interior art for Red Dragon Comics and SuperMagician Comics. His stylish and whimsical illustrations inspired generations of sf artists, including Frank Kelly Freas, and comic book illustrators, including Mort Meskin, “Batman” artists Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, and EC’s Joe Orlando.

“Cartier was just an amazing artist,” observes Mike Grell, longtime illustrator of DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes and Warlord. “The volume of his work is nothing compared to the quality. I loved his black&-white Shadow illustrations. Talk about solid! Having to draw for reproduction in the pulps, he made the best use of blacks and, more importantly, whites, like painting with light!”

During the early 1950s, Cartier was the premier artist for the Fantasy Press and Gnome Press book publishing houses, and illustrated the delighted Hoka stories by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson. A longtime friend of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Cartier served for two decades as a judge for the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest. In 1994 he attended the world premiere of The Shadow movie as a guest of Universal Pictures, and was delighted to see the look of his old pulp illustrations come to life on-screen.

Cartier’s wife of 65 years, Georgina, died earlier in the year. He is survived by sons Dean Cartier of Ramsey, NJ, and Kenn Cartier and his wife Ryoko of Redmond, Washington, and grandchildren Marika, Leland, and the late Elissa.

Anthony Tollin is the editor of the current series of trade paperback reprints of The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Whisperer, and The Avenger, and was for years a comic book colorist, primarily for DC Comics. The above article was slightly abridged from a version that appeared in Locus magazine.

75

looks pretty dark good to me. My motto is still working for me: “When sitting at the drawing table, forget what is being paid, simply enjoy doing the story.”

Dick

S

hane Foley welcomes us all to this section with his own clever interpretation of a Walt Simonson panel from DC’s Sword of Sorcery #5 (Sept. 1973). And, while our maltreated “maskot” strives to free himself from his octopoidal antagonist, we’ll move on quickly to letters and e-mails concerning A/E #77, whose cover feature was Ken Quattro’s thorough-going history of St. John Publishing, a piece we were truly proud to present in these pages. [Alter Ego hero TM & ©2010 Roy & Dann Thomas; other art ©2010 Shane Foley We’ll open with a letter from veteran pro artist Dick Ayers: Howdy Roy...

Ogling Alter Ego #77, page 3, yesterday, I saw the Atom-Age Combat cover and, in parentheses, it said “cover artist uncertain.” I checked my books, and in 1958 I did the covers and stories, lettering, penciling, and inking, for editor Al Fago, who was also the publisher, calling it “Fago Publications”... though I’m almost 100% certain I didn’t ink or pencil the other covers you printed in the issue.

I also remember how the second issue sold so many copies that Al got all excited and assigned me the next two issues to do—when he was told the distributor had [accidentally] added the first two issues as one, which is what had put the sales in high numbers. Al gave up the publishing, and Carl Memling the writer and I lost Atom-Age Combat plus.

I saw the art was published under the St. John stamp and figured Al and Vin Fago had sold the art to them. I have the Fago books in my collection. The art was done at $15 per page and, by golly,

Words to live by, Dick! So you’re saying that the cover of St. John’s Atom-Age Combat, Vol. 2, #1 (Feb. 1958), pictured on p. 3 of A/E #77, was your work, done for Fago Publications, then sold by them to Archer St. John, who published them? We’re still a bit confused in terms of chronology, because it was St. John that launched AAC in 1952, and we want to find out how your memories (and records that you have) may square with Ken Quattro’s assessment that Al and Vince Fago “would later pick up the rights to briefly continue St. John’s Atom-Age Combat under their Fago imprint.” And yet, Fago’s AAC “#1” was dated Jan. 1959—after the final St. John issue listed at the start of this paragraph. If that AAC cover—though not, apparently, the other two reprinted in A/E #77—was indeed yours, it’s truly gratifying not only to chronicle the dealings between Fago and St. John after half a century, but to get the word straight from the artist himself! Anytime you want to write about Timely/Marvel, Magazine Enterprises, the Fago brothers, or any other subject from the ’40s up through the mid-1970s, Dick, you know that you have a standing invitation from A/E! I (Roy) still look back fondly to that year’s worth of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos that we did together in the mid-’60s.

Tom Ziuko, who colors many, probably most, of the covers of Alter Ego, sent this note: Roy— Thanks for the kind words about the coloring of the cover of A/E #77. Wish I could take more credit, but all I did was finesse the Master’s (Kubert’s) original work. But you’re correct, there was a lot of production work on my end, as well. I have to agree with you—it’s one of the bestlooking covers in the entire run.

However, I didn’t color Joe Simon’s cover for A/E #76, for which I accidentally received credit, while it appears to me that Joe hand-colored it himself.

Tom Ziuko

The Once And Future Face Of War These splashes confirmed by Dick Ayers as having been drawn by him for Fago Publications but winding up in St. John’s Atom-Age Combat, Vol. 2, #1 (Feb. 1958), display the twin aspects of the title: the high-tech missiles that would rain down terror from the skies, and the grizzled soldiers who still had to slug it out on the ground. Dick proved himself adept in both areas. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

76

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

P. 21: The “Murder in Mink” splash page is pencilled by Matt Baker and inked by Edd Ashe, I think.

P. 36: About Three Dimension Comics/Mighty Mouse, I know that Vic Lockman and George Crenshaw were involved in its production. I think that Lockman did the writing and lettering on this comic. Norman Maurer’s brother Len possibly pencilled it. Crenshaw (that’s what Lockman told me) was acting as agent for the book, but possibly wrote part of it. As far as I know, Crenshaw was also involved in the production of St. John’s Little Eva comic books.

P. 49: I don’t think that the painted cover to Manhunt #1 is by Matt Baker, as noted. But the interior art certainly is.

(B) Tom Scheuer/Tom Sawyer: As far as I could determine, Sawyer worked on the following daily strips: Flash Gordon – episode One If By Land—Two If By Sea “Dust Devil,” pencils 4/15/57 A pair of pages by artists covered in Alberto Becattini’s chronicle. (Left:) Matt Baker’s cover for St. John’s Authentic through 4/20/57; pencils & inks, Police Cases #35 (1954—no month), with thanks to Evan Shelly. (Right:) a Tom Sawyer splash for Timely/Marvel’s 4/22/57 to 4/25/57... episode “City Marines in Combat #3 (Oct. 1955), courtesy of Michael T. Gilbert. [APC cover ©2010 the respective copyright holders; of Azcar Women,” pencils & inks MIC art ©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.] 4/27/57 to 5/3/57. Rip Kirby – Thanks for straightening that out, Tom. And don’t worry—we didn’t episode “Volcano Pearls,” pencils 2/10/58-61 to 6/14/58. wrongly credit you with coloring this issue’s cover, which is a painting by Alberto Becattini Rafael Kayanan. But you’ll be back next issue, adding tones to the work of none other than Carmine Infantino.

Whew! Not only did you come up with all the above additional data re the subject matter(s) of A/E #77, but we’re well aware that we still have on Next up: Alberto Becattini, Italian student and recorder of all data hand a couple of missives you sent us regarding earlier issues that we haven’t “comical,” sent this itemized report on A/E #77: got around to printing yet! But we will, Alberto, one of these days—honest!

Roy— And now, another Golden Age pro heard from—Hillman and later Ziff(A) St. John article: Pp. 11-12: About St. John’s Terrytoon comics, here are a few more names of those who contributed, most of whom were Terry Studio storymen and animators. Several stories were written by Tom Morrison, who also drew “Mighty Mouse” covers from 1949-55. The ubiquitous Paul S. Newman also wrote stories in the late 1940s. As for artists, besides Bartsch and Rasinski, there were Paul Sommer (who also wrote some stories around 1950), John Gentilella, Carlo Vinci, and Jim Tyer.

P. 12: St. John’s “Casper” comics were apparently written by Isidore (Izzy) Klein and drawn by animator Steve Muffatti. Both were employed at the Famous Studios at the time.

P. 15: The pencil art on the “Buckskin Belle” splash page is by Matt Baker.

P. 21: St. John’s Laurel and Hardy comic book was drawn by Reuben Timmins (erroneously spelled Timmons, Timmens, and even Timming), née Reuben Timinsky (1910-1994). Timmins’ animation career lasted over 50 years and found him at Fleischer (c. 1930-32/37-38), Mintz (c.

1933-36), Van Beuren (c. 1936), Disney (c. 1938-41), Terrytoons (c. 1952), MGM (c. 1955), TV Spots (c. 1956-58), Sam Singer/Trans-Artists (c.

1958-62), UPA (c. 1963-64), Melendez (c. 1964-65), Krantz/Bakshi (c.

1967-68), Filmation (c. 1968-70/72-73/78-81), DePatie-Freleng (c. 197172/74-77), and Sanrio (1978).

Davis comic book editor Herb Rogoff (who was interviewed in depth by Jim Amash back in issue #42) sent this epistle that goes into further detail about Ziff-Davis’ deal selling inventory artwork to St. John Publishing in the mid-1950s. It’s a long letter, but we thought it was worth printing in full: Dear Roy: In the twilight of my life, I’ve found that little things become more significant when, earlier in my existence, they were of no consequence.

One of them is visiting my doctors... and after each visit, happily a gratifying one, I stop at the desk to make a future appointment, usually for about a year from that date. I always manage to say to the appointments secretary: “I will see you a year from now, and since I never miss an appointment, I thank you for making it possible for me to live one more year.”

In a way, Alter Ego does the same thing for me. To explain: I find that there is something in almost every one of your issues that seems to jog my memory for me to confirm or correct. It may be a specific date, or something about an artist, or maybe an experience with a publisher of the past. It may have been something I was personally involved with, or else something of which I was aware. Therefore, just as I joked about how my medical appointments were keeping me alive, that is how I feel about the way that A/E manages to pry my memory from the junk pile of my past.

Your May 2008 issue ran two stories with which I was connected.

The first one, an anecdotal recollection of Tom Sawyer, is obvious. My

re:

77

scripts that would take care of two issues. Zara liked what I had done and so did Mr. Ziff. Soon after that, Jerry Siegel was deceitfully forced out of his contract. The four remaining editors had Z-D’s 34 or so titles divided among them. I became editor of G.I. Joe, as well as of seven other magazines.

Some time later, when hard times hit Z-D, as they did other publishers in the field, the powersthat-be decided to get out of the comics business. They pared our editorial staff down from four editors Hey, G.I. Joe—You Got Gum? to one—me—and that was only G.I. Joe—in the days when the term was used in its because I happened to be the editor original, authentic sense, as a nickname for World War of the one book that was still II and Korean War fighting men in the U.S. armed profitable. We also reduced the services, not as the name of a group of super-agents— number of titles from more than was the title of Ziff-Davis’ best-selling comics title. At thirty to just G.I. Joe. In 1953, we did left is the painted cover of issue #17 (Nov. 1952), one more book, an adaptation of the which, like most covers, depicts the soldier in a Joevial mood fighting North Korean troops. Artist Danny Kaye film Hans Christian unknown. [©2010 the respective copyright centers.]

Anderson which I wrote and edited, and on which I supervised the The recent photo of Herb Rogoff shows him reading a copy of Hans Christian Anderson, a comic book artwork by Irving Novick, Marvin recollection appears in a side box, along with my version of the 1953 movie starring Danny Kaye. The Levy, and Vic Martin. HCA was a 96photo, where I tell how Tom Sawyer came to my home issue was written and edited by Herb, the last one he page comic that was faithful to the to get some kittens. I finished my account by noting worked on for the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. movie. Samuel Goldwyn was happy that I hadn’t remembered whether or not Tom did get Photo by Shirleen King. and so were his press agents, because his kittens, but an Editor’s Note informed me that he it beautifully promoted his movie. did indeed get them. Thank you for that.

While the product was aesthetically delightful, I doubt it made any money Indeed, I was a bit puzzled at how the spelling of Tom’s name got for Ziff-Davis. screwed up. In the aforementioned account, his name was “Scheurer.” I Shortly after the publication of HCA, I was called into the office of immediately checked my computer to see if that’s what I wrote. Just as I William B. Ziff and his partner, Bernard G. Davis. Mr. Ziff invited me to thought, I had spelled it “Shauer.” The article itself (the interview by Jim take a seat, and then spoke. He told me that we had on the books at that Amash) spelled it “Scheur.” So, we have one guy with three different particular time $100,000 worth of inventory, made up of original, unpubspellings of his name. In view of these inconsistencies, one can underlished artwork that the company had bought for the various comic stand why Tom may have been fit to change his name to Sawyer. Seriously, magazines that were now discontinued. “We wondered, Mr. Rogoff,” Ziff this recollection made me feel rather good that, 50-plus years later, my said in the pretentious tone he was noted for, “if you could arrange to sell memory of most of the events was on target. all this artwork. We’d be willing to let it go, even for as low as ten cents on The second story of #77 was about St. John Publishing and its the dollar. We just want it off our books.” Then, never waiting for my headman, Archer St. John, which mentions a deal that brought the bulk of reply, he curtly said, “That is all.”

Ziff-Davis’ inventory to his company. I played a major role in this sale.

The first call I made was to Stan Lee. Before I had joined Ed Cronin Shortly after I was hired by Jerry Siegel to join Ziff-Davis’ staff, my at Hillman in 1949, I had worked briefly at Marvel [Timely] as a bullpen boss was Louis Zara, a vice-president of the company, who took over the letterer, and Stan Lee was my boss. I had not spoken with him since the comics when Z-D’s book division folded. My first assignment for Zara was day I left to work for Hillman, except for the time when Marvel and to read through a slush pile of scripts that had been sent in by aspiring Hillman had the problem of a writer who had sold the same story, wordwriters from all over the country. Zara told me, and I could plainly see, for-word, to both of us—and to two other publishers, we found out later. that these scripts should have been attended to many months ago. I had The next time I spoke with Stan was this occasion, to let him know that just come from Hillman Periodicals, and under its editor, Ed Cronin, I our inventory was for sale. Stan said he was definitely interested, and I had become sharply attuned to what made a good story. I read the scripts could expect him the next day.

Zara gave me and attached notes to each. I didn’t accept any of the scripts At ten the next morning, Stan showed up. He started looking and wrote the reasons why. Before sending these manuscripts back to the through the artwork, setting some aside, and going through the rest of the writers, I delivered them to Zara, just as he had asked me to do. He told huge batch, repeating this until the last page had been turned over. me how impressed he was by my critiques of each script. I later learned Finally, he picked up the ones he had set aside, maybe twenty or so, and Zara was a novelist with about six published books under his belt. said, “I’ll take these. Send us an invoice.”

On the basis of my work on the “slush pile,” he told me to revamp “Stan,” I said, “this is not a department store. I thought I made [the] G.I. Joe [war comic], a change he and Ziff had discussed for quite a myself clear. We want to get rid of the entire batch, $100,000 worth, to while. I had only one obligation, which was to keep the two main one buyer.” characters, Joe Birch and Sgt. Mulvaney. I could insert as many other characters as I felt necessary, build situations for them all, and finally “Uh-uh,” Stan begged off. “Not interested.” And he left. There I was, write the initial scripts to kick off our new G.I. Joe. Two weeks after I was back to Square One. assigned this project, I presented a dossier of the new characters, and Right now, I can’t really tell you what pointed me in the direction of

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[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

St. John Publishing. I’d never had anything to do with them, didn’t know any of the principals nor any of the underlings. I did know, however, that they had a telephone operator, so I started with that individual. I told her I wanted to speak with a person who was in charge. She gave me Richard E. Decker, the general manager.

Decker was interested, even after I told him he could have the art at 50¢ on the dollar, instead of the price that Ziff said he’d settle for. Ziff and Davis were stunned when I told him they were $50,000 richer. From then on, I was no longer “Mr. Rogoff ” but “Herb,” uttered with affection and appreciation.

We turned the mechanics of the transaction over to people at Z-D, who were better at this than I was, and they completed the deal. In the article in A/E #77, on the bottom of page 30, author Ken Quattro wrote, “In what was apparently an effort to increase their newsstand presence, St. John purchased the majority of the Ziff-Davis inventory for the bargain price of $50,000.”

Herb Rogoff As I like to say, Herb, we’re all blind men feeling up the same elephant.

Ken Q. covered the St. John half of the transaction as best he could from the scant details available—and I’m sure he’s as delighted as I am that this inspired you to set down the Ziff-Davis side of the deal... with a sidebar about Stan Lee and Timely, to boot! Like we told Darlin’ Dick Ayers above— anytime you want to write more such memoirs, feel free! Now, just room for a few final comments re A/E #77: Hames Ware, longtime comics researcher, writes concerning the St. John coverage: “Only one tiny addition. It’s Gaspano Ricca, rather than the Gustavo which, I admit, makes a lot more sense for the nickname Gus. Wonderful job on the St. John story! My plaudits to writer Ken Quattro! Oh, and I wanted to let your readers know that, thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., and some old coverless Fox comics he acquired, we can confirm that the

‘Mysterious Bing’ (from our ‘Raggedy Ann’ artist column a few A/E issues ago, did indeed draw a super-hero, Green Mask at early Fox.” A/E associate editor Jim Amash reports that “some guy online said he wasn’t buying the St. John issue because he didn’t like small-companyfocused issues (‘Kubert cover or no Kubert cover’).” That “guy,” of course, was a numbskull.

Regular correspondent Jeff Taylor queries: “In an issue filled with Joe Kubert, Archer St. John, and the quite interesting life of Tom Sawyer, is it wrong that the thing I found most interesting was Al Walker’s ‘Norge Benson’ and the penguin people of Pluto” in Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt” section? Not to us, Jeff. That’s why we have a number of features in each issue, supplied by different people… to achieve a variety of input.

Retired underground cartoonist Trina Robbins (who now writes biography and the like), says she “adores” the work of Al Walker, and adds: “On page 26, the cover of Slash-D Doublecross, which you list as ‘artists unknown,’ is Matt Baker. I can always tell Matt Baker. So, do I get a No-Prize?” Sure, Trina… I’ll send one from the boxcar-load I took with me when I quit being Marvel’s editor-in-chief in 1974.

Also, one correction re a statement in A/E #76 which we neglected to print last issue. It came from Jim Simon, son of Golden Age great Joe Simon: “Joe Simon did not sue Marvel. Marvel sued Joe. Joe had terminated the copyright of Captain America as granted by the new laws passed by Congress. Marvel sulked it up. Joe and the Siegel family fought the good fight for creator rights.” To which Joe Simon himself soon added via e-mail: “The case was settled. Marvel is paying royalties.” Jim, for his part, concluded by saying that, back in the late ’40s and ’50s “not only were the Westerns not selling [in comics], but surprisingly, sci-fi as well. The kids just did not believe space travel was possible.” They weren’t the only ones, Jim—neither did most adults! But we did, right? You and I and Joe all knew better!

Send those e-mails and other epistolary intercourse (as the Lupoffs’ fanzine Xero used to call it) to: Roy Thomas e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 We get mail on Earth-Prime, Earth-One, and Earth-Two… so fire away!

SPECIAL NOTE: Aardwolf Publishing is taking pre-orders on The Whorehouse Madrigals, the newest dark fiction collection from Clifford Meth. With a cover by fantasy award-winning Kelly Freas (his last ever!), an introduction by “Handsome” Dick Manitoba (of the legendary protopunk band The Dictators), and illustrations by the brilliant rising star Mike Henderson, The Whorehouse Madrigals contains Meth’s best work to date.

Solicited for $13.95 in this month’s Diamond Previews, you can advanceorder the book now for $9.95 postage-paid and have your book signed.

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“Clifford Meth writes with power and authority. Great stuff and a great read!”

—Gerry Conway (creator of The Punisher).

“Meth is a unique and exciting voice—funny, twisted, visionary. His insights into character and culture are often startling and his stories, always entertaining. I am a huge fan.

—Richard Saperstein, Pres. The Weinstein Company.

“The only thing about Cliff ’s writing that makes me crazy is the demented titles he puts on them. For a guy who writes as well as he does, and who thinks as deeply as he does, I can’t figure it out!

—Harlan Ellison.

[Characters TM & ©2010 DC Comics; the name “Captain Thunder” is a trademark of Roy & Dann Thomas.]

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FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

about as long as people had. But mostly they were funny dogs ... and I wanted mine to be different. We were in an era of humorless comics at the time, and the graceful shepherd dog I had in mind was not intended to be funny.

Nor was he meant to carry on oral conversations with the strip’s human characters ... or the reader.

I had by this time met with sufficient syndicate opinion to be convinced that a fixed demand among them was that an original feature, such as mine, was not to begin with people talking. As one was quoted: “Never open with a bunch of promises of things to come. Have the action already here ... in that first episode on that very first panel!”

By [Art & logo ©2010 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2010 DC Comics]

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and stories for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been a vital part of FCA since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last time, Marc explained the importance of “doodles.” In this issue, the artist speaks of his love for dogs, and revisits one of his unpublished newspaper strips. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

M

aybe it’s just the imagination working overtime, but it seems that we’ve had a dog or two around ... ever since I was a kid. I love dogs. It stands to reason, then, that one of the first comic strips I ever attempted featured a dog.

I remembered that ... yet, I began the story at hand with two unimportant characters ... talking. Then there followed more vocal exchanges, and inactive panels, and temporary characters ... this time Judge Bentley. In the final panel of strip one, Jango appears. Not much action there!

Nor in the next strip ... but the plot thickens a bit. Jango becomes aware of the presence of a dangerous forest denizen nearby ... a panther!

And strip by strip a story unfolds ... three weeks of dailies ... and Jango has a new friend... an injured war veteran ... and a new world of adventures.

Jango never made it to the printing press. Like many others, he was a victim of the massive postwar switch in reader interest ... from the dramatic ... back again to the funnies of yore.

And ... Consequently ... he was stashed away ... Here ... where he is today.

And we still have dogs. Matter of fact, a couple are curled up at my feet at this very moment.

And I love ’em!

Marc Swayze will return next issue with more anecdotes about the Golden Age of Comics.

It was not a new thing. Dogs had been appearing in comic strips ...

Dog Gone (Above right:) Marc recalls always having “…had a dog or two around …” Sure enough, one such four-legged friend is nearby as he inscribes the FCA editor’s copy of Captain Marvel Adventures #19 on Memorial Day, 2005. Photo by Jennifer Hamerlinck.

(Directly above:) A Jango daily, circa 1954, when Swayze pitched the strip for syndication … about a dog, without a co-star (although later in the story, Jango teams up with a war vet). The Jango character was actually created around 1941 as a canine companion to Judi the Jungle Girl, another syndicate strip attempt by the artist which, like Jango, never made it to the printing press. [©2010 Marcus D. Swayze.]

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Super-Marvels Captain Marvel-Inspired Superman Stories

by John G. Pierce Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

Introduction

I

t is generally conceded that Captain Marvel started his life as a deliberate imitation of Superman. Actually, that doesn’t make him all that unique, by itself, anyway. In a general sense, virtually all superheroes, even those (such as Batman) who were merely non-powered costumed heroes, were in one way or another imitations of Superman.

Some, such as Fox’s Wonder Man or Fawcett’s Master Man, were a bit more obvious.

But it is hard to deny the order came down from on high at Fawcett Publications to “create a character like Superman” (see PCH’s ’98 Roscoe K. Fawcett interview, reprinted in the book Fawcett Companion), although that mandate could simply have meant something on the order of “not a character like Mickey Mouse” or “not a character like Flash Gordon.” Be that as it may, Captain Marvel did bear an undeniable similarity to the Man of Steel. Later on, when DC sued Fawcett over alleged copyright infringement, each company had teams of workers poring over stories and panels looking for similarities—which were located, but going in both directions, with some sequences having been done in “Captain Marvel” stories before they appeared in Superman’s adventures.

Well, we all know how that story ended, and further elaboration is not the task at hand. Instead, it is to focus upon a certain set of “Superman” stories which were inspired by Captain Marvel—not imitations of him, necessarily, but owing their existence (or at least certain story elements therein) to his prior existence.

Zha-Vam The Invincible One such three-part Silver Age tour de force was found in Action Comics #351-353 (June-Aug. 1967). In a series of stories, readers were introduced to a villain with the suspicious-sounding name of Zha-Vam, a mere two letters and a hyphen removed from that of the old wizard whose powers gave birth to The Marvel Family, viz., Shazam. It might come as no surprise that the tale was written by Captain Marvel’s erstwhile head writer, and by this point head writer for the Superman family, Otto Binder. Still, it’s hard to tell where the idea actually originated, as editor Mort Weisinger was, in Otto’s own words, “an idea man,” though MW was also notorious for taking ideas from one writer and force-feeding them to another under the pretense that they were his own creations. But here, given Otto’s history with the Marvels, we might be more inclined to credit Otto himself with having generated the idea—or, if nothing else, perhaps it was Mort’s knowledge of Otto’s past association with Fawcett which gave him the thought, instead.

Whizzed Action Comics #351 (June 1967) marked the first installment of former “Captain Marvel”/”Marvel Family” scripter Otto O. Binder’s “Zha-Vam” trilogy (cover art

by Curt Swan & George Klein).

Residing next to it is a re-creation of the cover— with a Captain Marvel twist— by artist Eric Jansen (ericjansenartist@tripod.com) and assembled by Walt Grogan (marvelfamily.com).

[Action art ©2010 DC Comics; Superman & Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

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Anyway, after a quick demonstration of his abilities, Zha-Vam easily convinces the crooks to accept him as their leader, and they start off on what criminals do best: committing crimes. An attempt on Fort Knox (a location which turned up more than once in Silver Age “Superman” tales) brings the Man of Steel into action, and up against Zha-Vam for the first time. But, although the villain is able to knock Superman around, he can’t quite defeat him. Even Apollo’s magic bow, shooting arrows made from Zeus’ lightning (an interesting combination), doesn’t really affect Superman. (Yes, yes, I know he’s supposed to be vulnerable to magic just as he is to Kryptonite. Does magic have rules?)

It is then that Zha-Vam unveils his reserve powers, in the form of his belt with various buttons, each with a different letter. When he touches the ‘T,’ he gets the power of Titan, and grows to be 100 feet tall. The chapter ends with Superman’s defeat, and a written message of defiance to Superman on a Fort Knox wall. (The fort’s gold, however, presumably the object of the invasion, was not taken but rather simply melted down by Zha-Vam’s flame breath.)

The Victory Of Zha-Vam The second Zha-Vam tale demonstrates once more how Silver Age writers were able to pack more plot into 14 pages than most modern writers can do into several issues. It begins with a charity exhibition in which Superman tosses, smashes, and otherwise cavorts with full-sized replicas of the Empire State Building, the Great Pyramid, and the Eiffel Tower. (This was supposed to be taking place in Metropolis Stadium, which had to have been one huge place to accommodate all those facsimiles.) The crowd is suitably wowed by the spectacle, until Zha-Vam shows up to challenge the Man of Steel.

Insuperable Action #351’s Zha-Vam splash page, drawn by artist Wayne Boring. Otto Binder’s “Zha-Vam the Invincible,” and the two subsequent stories featuring the character, copiously contained slight (and not-so-slim) deferences to the original Captain Marvel. Scan courtesy of Darrell McNeil. [©2010 DC Comics.]

The “action” begins when Zha-Vam intrudes on a meeting of criminals—the United Crime Syndicates—who are in need of a new leader, given that Superman has jailed their previous one. Zha-Vam presents his impressive résumé for the job: the lightning bolts of Zeus, the strength of Hercules, the invulnerability of Achilles, flame breath from Vulcan, magic bow and arrows from Apollo, and the speed of Mercury.

One right away notices some similarities to Captain Marvel’s pantheon, and some differences. Here, Zeus is given a specific ability, that of throwing thunderbolts, rather than the vague “power of Zeus” (often considered to be the source of CM’s invulnerability). The strength of Hercules is not only the same as with Cap, but in the same spot in the name.

Then there’s Achilles, who gives Captain Marvel courage, rather than invulnerability—though it’s tempting to think that anyone with invulnerability would have a built-in advantage in that department. (Still, keep in mind that the early CM was not totally impervious to harm or pain.)

Vulcan and Apollo, of course, are specific to Zha-Vam, as are the attributes they convey. Finally, Mercury, as with Cap (and in the same tailend spot), gives speed, which obviously includes flying ability. (Mercury apparently was a bit stingier when he gave his speed to Wonder Woman, as that gift did not include flight—at least, not until George Pérez took hold of the character in the mid-’80s.)

His challenge? An invitation to Superman to push one of his belt buttons. Superman chooses “G,” which turns Zha-Vam into a Gorgon, who immediately turns Superman to stone. But, being the sporting sort, Zha-Vam gives our hero a clue before he flies off: “A lucky horseshoe can set you free!”

Meanwhile, those first-degree voyeurs, the Phantom Zone villains, are looking in on the events. Concentrating their thoughts, they send Superman a mental message: “We figured out Zha-Vam’s clue, and it’s attractive! That’s a clue of our own... if you can guess it!”

As if all that weren’t enough, Superman remembers that Clark Kent had promised Lois a story for her woman’s-page feature, and he’s worried that if he doesn’t deliver soon, she’ll get suspicious. But then he gets a flash of brilliance. “Lucky horseshoe means a horseshoe magnet, which has an attractive force. Zha-Vam turned me into lodestone, which is a natural magnetic material!” And conveniently, of course, a thunderstorm comes up, so Superman’s lodestone body is able to attract a lightning bolt, which “temporarily charged my thought-waves with electrical energy!”

(The Silver Age: There’s nothing quite like it!)

So then Superman uses his concentrated mental energy to operate the keys of an electric typewriter in the Daily Planet office, thus pounding out a story for Lois to find, and divert her suspicions—for now, anyway.

(This trick, which in various forms has been used more than once, can be traced to the 1950 Columbia movie serial Atom-Man vs. Superman, where Lex Luthor trapped the hero in what was called “the Empty Doom,” an obvious forerunner of the Phantom Zone.) Meanwhile, Superman has managed to attract a barrage of lightning bolts, “which are smashing the iron magnetite atoms and turning me back to living flesh!”

Later, Clark gets a report about strange temple being built in Greece.

Investigating, he finds that, surely enough, it’s the work of Zha-Vam, who has proclaimed himself “King of Earth” (in English lettering on the temple; one wonders why no Greek letters were used … a missed opportunity to teach readers a little something worthwhile). In the ensuing

Super-Marvels

battle, Superman manages to remove the belt, but when he attempts to crush it, he accidentally pushes the “M” for Morpheus—which causes him to fall into a deep sleep.

Zha-Vam forces Superman to press another button; the Man of Steel selects “P,” reasoning that Pegasus, Pan, Pandora, and Perseus are only minor mythological characters, but … it just wasn’t Supe’s day. Turns out that “P” stands for Pluto, god of the nether world. “His cap of darkness kept people from seeing him—but I’ll use it so no one can see anything!”

Superman can only comment, “I goofed again!” (We’ve all had those days—and it’s nice to know that even Superman isn’t exempt.)

Humiliated, Superman is forced to admit that Zha-Vam is greater than he is, so Zha-Vam removes the cap of darkness and flies off. Superman’s next tactic is to fly to his Fortress of Solitude to consult his “supercomputer.” (Nowadays, of course, he’d probably just whip out a cellphone or carry a laptop in his cape pocket.) The computer comes to the rescue by telling Superman that “Zha-Vam can be defeated through his power of Achilles!” (And just why did Superman need a computer to figure that out?)

Back at the temple, Superman momentarily tricks his foe, then yanks off his boot to expose the heel, into which he injects a chemical from a specially-made ring. But it’s still not Superman’s day. Zha-Vam is prepared with a covering of green Kryptonite over his heel. The boot, made of lead, had contained the rays until now. (Of course, we now know that lead is the real enemy.)

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uphold the honor and glory of Olympus, Zha-Vam is sent into the future via the River Styx.

Superman, meanwhile, follows the Oracle (here, at least, portrayed as a female). Later, after an off-panel visit to the Oracle, Superman flies through the time-barrier, arriving five minutes before he’d been blocked

by Orion’s shield. He carves a message to Zha-Vam (whom he addresses as “Blockhead“) on a meteor, challenging him to a “final super-showdown in the arena at Latium.” (That this would mean that Superman exists in two places simultaneously, which in other stories would further mean that at least one of the versions would have to be incorporeal and invisible, is simply not dealt with here. Rigid consistency was not quite a hallmark of the Silver Age. Maybe that was for the better.)

This time, Superman is prepared, for in his visit to the Oracle, he had procured his own magic belt. So, when Zha-Vam conjures up the power of Cyclops, Superman counters with the magical pan pipes of Pan, which force Zha-Vam to dance. In a flashback, it is explained that other gods who have quarreled with the Olympians would gladly give some of their powers to help Superman “puncture the ego of my arrogant brother, Zeus,” as one of them, Neptune, puts it.

It turns out to be quite an eclectic mixture, too, not only in Superman’s belt but, apparently, in Zha-Vam’s, too. Zha-Vam pushes two buttons, “M” for Mars and, oddly, “S” for Siva, the four-armed Hindu god. Given that he has heretofore utilized only powers from Greek (or, more exactly, Greco-Roman) deities, it seems strange to have Siva turn up as part of the

Zha-Vam is ready to kill Superman, but then decides that he wants him to stay alive and suffer some more. He’s not the first villain to make that mistake.

The Battle Of The Gods The final chapter of the Zha-Vam trilogy, in the next issue, apparently resumes some time later (no real indication is given of how much time has passed), with Superman, who is out in space, building a “space bridge” between two artificial satellites, to help out people whose original planet had succumbed to an ice age. On the way back to Earth, he encounters a huge shield, with yet another challenge from Zha-Vam, who is hiding behind the shield, and who uses the power of Orion to make it grow—somehow causing Superman not to be able to harm it or even travel around it.

But that’s just a momentary setback to the Man of Tomorrow, who simply crosses the time-barrier into the past, before the shield was placed there.

Superman, wanting to discover how Zha-Vam got his powers, heads for ancient Olympus, where, with a slight disguise and his knowledge of ancient Greek (he notes that he has memorized all languages), he is able to convince the deities that he is a wandering minstrel, who is invited to dine with them.

But the Oracle of Delphia shows a prophecy that, one day, the temple will lie in ruins and humans will praise Superman, instead of them. In a fit of pique, the various gods boastfully display their powers (as much for the reader, particularly the reader who hadn’t read either of the foregoing chapters, as for each other). The Oracle, however, is quick to point out that Superman has many powers, so one of their number, Prometheus, comes up with an idea: to create a man out of clay.

Thus is Zha-Vam, the champion of the gods, formed and brought to life, with their powers. Meaning, in other words, that he not only is a sort of villainous version of Captain Marvel, but also of Wonder Woman, who likewise started life as a statue of clay. (And not all that far removed, I suppose, from Adam, whom God formed out of the dust of the Earth.

There’s more than a hint of the Jewish Golem in there, as well.) Sworn to

Victorious Scripting In Action Comics #352’s “The Victory of Zha-Vam” (July 1967), Otto Binder packed a plentiful amount of plot within its 14 pages. Art by Wayne Boring. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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Silver Age Switcheroo Wayne Boring’s cover for Action Comics #353 (Aug. 1967), the issue with the final Zha-Vam saga. Its misleading scene shows Zha-Vam and Atlas battling for the honor of destroying Superman—but, somewhere along the line, something changed, and Atlas became Superman’s ally. At right is a “re-creation” unearthed

by Alter Ego’s editor which features a different guest-star! We regret that we’re not certain who composed this re-do, or who sent it to Roy Thomas several years ago, but it’s a real winner! [Action art ©2010 DC Comics; Superman & Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

mixture. (It bears mentioning that Captain Marvel’s co-creator, Bill Parker, had combined the names “Siva” and “Nirvana” to form the name of the Captain’s first and greatest foe, Dr. Sivana.)

(It should be noted that heretofore the belts have summoned powers, but now Superman summons a deity himself, much as Quality Comics’ Kid Eternity used to do.)

But Superman is ready, by pushing “B” for Balder, “the Norse god whom no sword could harm,” as Superman notes. Zha-Vam counters with “J” for Jason, enabling him to sew dragon-teeth which grow into real dragons. But “M” for Midas on Superman’s belt enables him to turn them to gold. This sequence is reminiscent of those scenes in Binder’s sixchapter “Captain Marvel” serial “the Cult of the Curse” (covered in A/E #80), wherein Cap and Oggar went at each other, each trying a new trick.

Perhaps Otto had that in mind when he scripted these scenes?

Humbled, the gods admit their defeat, that “Superman is more powerful than all of us put together,” and Prometheus turns Zha-Vam back to clay again. The story ends with Superman’s visit to the ruins of Mt. Olympus back in his own time (then, 1967). “Their temple is abandoned, just as the Oracle predicted. The Olympians have vanished into limbo. And only these ruins remain, as a monument to the failure of Zha-Vam!”

Finally, after several more interchanges, Zha-Vam resorts to his ace-inthe-hole, or rather, in the boot, as he once more unveils his Kryptonite sock! (Why weren’t those ever made available for purchase at our local shops?) Weakened, Superman pushes “A” on his belt, summoning up Atlas, who gladly assists Superman by giving Zha-Vam “the old airplane spin“ (though one wonders how Atlas knew what an airplane was!), with the resulting centrifugal force causing the sock to fly off. (I’ve heard of “knocking one’s socks off,” but really!) Superman is able to defeat his foe by attacking his (literal) Achilles heel, and then returning him to ancient Olympus.

The Kid Who Saved Superman Moving on to the Bronze Age, legendary editor Mort Weisinger had retired, and after a brief period of time in which editorship of the “Superman” titles was split, Weisinger’s place was taken by his long-time friend, Julie Schwartz. The architect of the Silver Age wisely retained definitive “Superman” artist Curt Swan, pairing him with outstanding inkers such as Murphy Anderson (a fine penciler in his own right), and newer writers such as Denny O’Neil, the up-and-coming Elliott S! Maggin, and Weisinger holdover Cary Bates—all aided and abetted by another Weisinger holdover, associate editor E. Nelson Bridwell.

Super-Marvels

Fairly early in that time period, in the June and July 1972 issues of Superman (#253 and 254), author O’Neil, just shortly before he would begin writing the adventures of a newly-returned Captain Marvel, penned a sort of oblique take-off on the concept.

“The Kid Who Saved Superman” tells the tale of Billy Anders, a boy who lives in Clark Kent’s apartment building, and who, due to a strange accident, finds that his mind is transferred into the body of a lynx. But of course, Billy-as-lynx can’t speak and tell anyone of his plight, until the two bodies manage to make contact, thus alerting Superman.

Now, there was a lot more going on in that 22-page tale, but the meat of the story we want to focus on actually comes in #254, as Superman encounters a group of aliens, the Kleth, who are on a five-year mission to explore new worlds, greet new civilizations—or, as their leader, conveniently named L’drr, explains, “If I may say so, to boldly go where none has gone before.”

But while he’s in their ship, Superman feels a slight tingle, which, as both readers and he will learn later, will have some ominous consequences. Meanwhile, Billy, in the company of the lynx, is released from the hospital. Superman offers him a sightseeing trip, but finds himself having difficulty with his strength (though the other powers seemed to be operating sufficiently well).

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Later, out in space, he rescues one of the Kleth, sentenced to death by L’drr, who, as it turns out, is a renegade who had linked Superman to a sub-space reflector warp. (I think I have one of those lying around somewhere.) The net effect is to make Superman’s force work against him.

But the fellow has a solution, and proceeds to build (with materials supplied by the Man of Steel) a psionic-transferral unit. (I don’t have one of those, but the price of the batteries would probably be a killer.) It is designed to transfer Superman’s strength to another person, leading our hero to believe that the other person will have to do the fighting. But not so, explains the good alien doctor. Merely by thinking a certain thought, Superman’s strength will be transferred back to himself. In essence, he would be borrowing his own strength.

Billy, observing all of this, volunteers to be the receptacle of Superman’s strength. According to the instruments on the device, as explained by the good doctor, “the youth has nearly total telepathic capability! Yes ... he would be perfect for the task!”

So, as it ends up, when Superman needs his strength, he merely has to think and speak softly the word “lynx,” and Shazam! … uh, voila—his strength is back.

Anyway, when L’drr attempts to attack the UN headquarters, Superman makes short shrift of the Kleth and sends them packing. At the end, he

There’s a New Kid in Town Nick Cardy’s cover for Superman #253 (June 1972) featuring Denny O’Neil’s first story of Billy Anders, “The Kid Who Saved Superman,” a tale which was perhaps a foreshadowing of the writer’s involvement in Captain Marvel’s impending revival at DC months later. At its right is Eric Jansen’s “re-creation” of that cover … with a theoretically impossible situation! [Superman art ©2010 DC Comics; Superman & Shazam heroes TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

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concludes that he and Billy make a great team, and wonders what effect it will have on both their lives.

The idea of Billy Anders and the Superman-as-a-sort-of-CaptainMarvel apparently originated with Schwartz. O’Neil, who once revealed to me that in his youth he had loved Captain Marvel and believed him as being “right below The Spirit” in terms of overall appeal, nonetheless stated at a 1972 convention that Billy Anders was not his idea. Still, it is possible that O’Neil’s story in Superman #254 was a bit of a trial run for the Shazam! assignment he would soon undertake, while simultaneously implementing more of his and Schwartz’s desire to place limitations on the Man of Steel’s great strength.

However, this was to be O’Neil’s last work on Superman, a character and assignment he never particularly cared for. In the 1987 book Superman at Fifty, O’Neil explained that, after writing 13 issues of Superman, he “begged off the assignment, an act damaging to both my sense of professionalism and, potentially, to my bank account.”

As John Wells noted in the magazine The O’Neil Observer #4 (2004), O’Neil’s abrupt departure from Superman left the resolution of the Billy Anders storyline in limbo. Ultimately, Cary Bates was assigned to resolve the situation in Superman #259.

That issue’s cover and story title proved a bit of a cheat, as the “kid” who knocked out Superman was actually a disguised Terra-Man. In the tale we find that Billy’s immune system is breaking down under the strain

of supporting Superman’s vast abilities. Terra-Man, who’d abducted Billy in the hope of permanently separating Superman from his powers, unintentionally provides the solution by, with the alien super-science at his disposal, breaking the link between Billy and the lynx. Later, Superman himself utilizes the technology to draw his powers out of the boy and back into his own body. The boomerang effect, by this point, has faded.

There was one last appearance for Billy Anders. Cary Bates brought him back for a final cameo in the prologue of Action Comics #421 (1973), once again playing second fiddle to a thinly-disguised super-hero archetype: Captain Strong, otherwise known as Popeye. Billy Anders, the kid who stole Superman’s powers, has yet to be seen again.

Make Way For Captain Thunder Our final story examined herein, from Superman #276, (June 1974), is the only one which actually followed DC’s acquisition of the Marvel Family characters, and was clearly designed with Captain Marvel in mind.

At the time, DC was not legally allowed to put Captain Marvel and Superman in the same story, so instead they took Cap’s original intended name, enabling editor Schwartz and scripter Elliott Maggin to craft “Make Way for Captain Thunder”—penciled by the definitive super-artist, Curt Swan, and inked by one of C.C. Beck’s later replacements on Shazam!, Bob Oksner.

Shazam!?

A very Shazamic-looking cover for Superman #253 (July 1972) by Nick Cardy … along with Eric Jansen’s “re-creation” of it, with Captain Marvel replacing the Man of Steel, and Billy Ander’s spot filled by … Freddy Freeman! [Superman art ©2010 DC Comics; Superman & Shazam heroes TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]

Super-Marvels

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In the story, a dimensional transfer causes young Willie Fawcett to appear on Earth-One (never so designated in the tale itself), where he meets up with Superman. And, due to some earlier machinations by his foes, the “Monster League of Evil,” he turns evil when he rubs his magic belt buckle and says the word “Thunder!” to change into Captain Thunder. Eventually Superman is able to trick Cap into changing back into Willie; the idea was that Superman will hold on to Willie, who will change back into Captain Thunder. By holding Cap tightly, Superman somehow forces him to use his natural wisdom (one of his gifts from Merokee, “last of the great medicine men of the Mohegan tribe,” who apparently couldn’t find a worthy youth of his own ethnic group to give the power to). And eventually understanding dawns, as Captain Thunder concludes that “by accelerating my torque on a radius of 6N-8 power along a 19-dimensional mobius curve,” he can make it back home. Say what? (Apparently included in all this is the overcoming of his having been turned evil by his enemies.) Thus, he asks Superman to loosen his grip, so that Captain Thunder can rub his belt buckle—and somehow, that enables him to return home.

It seemed like a rather rushed, forced conclusion to what was an otherwise very good story. For some fans of both Captain Marvel and Superman, this was as far as a meeting between the two heroes should have gone.

Only recently has it come to light, in Michael Eury’s Back Issue #30 (Oct. ’08), that a “Captain Thunder” sequel had been planned, many years later, for Action Comics #576 (Feb. ‘86). However, due to various legalities, the character this time was to be called Colonel Lightning; his alter ego was now named Willie Watson, but otherwise it was the same character. The writing again was by Maggin, with art by Alex Saviuk, but ultimately the story went unpublished.

The Monkey’s Paw

With One Magic … Thunder!

Nick Cardy’s archetypal cover for Superman #276 (June ’74), that made way for “Captain Thunder,” a Captain Marvel doppelgänger standing in for Captain Marvel, who couldn’t yet legally appear together with Superman in a story. But, as John Pierce muses, for some fans of both CM and Superman, this memorable tale was as far as a meeting between the two characters should have gone. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Smells Like (B.R.) Cheese Two “Captain Thunder” panels—an origin flashback and his battle with the “Monster League of Evil”—from Superman #276, where writer Elliot Maggin wonderfully integrated these and other homages to the original Captain Marvel.

Art by Curt Swan and Shazam! artist Bob Oksner. [©2010 DC Comics.]

And finally, as we fly back into the Silver Age, to July of 1963, to be exact, one other story is worthy of mention, from Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #42. However, it really isn’t an entire story we’re concerned with, but rather only two panels (a splash panel and one interior). In this adventure, entitled “The Monkey’s Paw,” Lois daydreams of alien suitors

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who want her, but who are defeated by Superman. The two panels in question, showing some of the suitors on the ground after Superman has decked them, include a figure who looks suspiciously like Captain Marvel, if one looks carefully. It was done as a in-joke by former “Marvel Family” artist Kurt Schaffenberger. Possibly no one noticed, especially since the costume was incorrectly colored—until 1970, when E. Nelson Bridwell edited the story for inclusion in Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #104 (Oct.).

ENB spotted one of his favorite characters (all unaware, of course, that only two years later he would be given the opportunity to editorially assist on and write the World’s Mightiest Mortal), and insisted that he be colored correctly in the reprint. At least one sharp reader did notice this time, leading to the accusation that DC was merely gloating over their having put Captain Marvel and company out of business years earlier—a charge Bridwell easily refuted.

Thus, we can see that, while Superman had his influence on Captain Marvel (in conception though not as much his actual adventures), the latter surely also had some influence on the former.

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of John Wells, Gary Robinson, Jim Kingman, Gene Kehoe, Mike Kuypers, Steve Younis, and Craig Shutt with portions of this article.

Monkeying Around Former “Marvel Family” artist Kurt Schaffenberger playfully drew a figure who looked suspiciously like Captain Marvel, one of Lois Lane’s decked suitors, in Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #42 (July 1963) … years before the World’s Mightiest Mortal was resurrected from Comic Book Limbo. [©2010 DC Comics.]

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SPRING 2010 EDITION Hype and hullabaloo from the company celebrating the art & history of comics, LEGO®, and other fun stuff

TwoMorrows News Today

by publisher John Morrow

MORE, & MORE Pros@Cons!

COLORFUL, MAGS! In 2010, TwoMorrows plans to be exhibiting at the following comics conventions:

Big Book Update Instead of turning out a bunch of new books the first half of 2010, we’re working overtime to get some delayed projects off the ground.

Here’s an update on several: AGE OF TV HEROES A delay on final copyright approvals has held this one up, but the snags are about cleared up, and it should be shipping by March.

LOU SCHEIMER: CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION Filmation rights were sold in the midst of production on this book, so we had to start over on approvals. We’re shooting to have it out this Summer. Stay tuned!

MODERN MASTERS For the Modern Masters series, the GUY DAVIS and MARK BUCKINGHAM volumes should be out by late March. The JEFF SMITH volume has been rescheduled for July. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, we’ve been unable to complete the DARWYN COOKE volume as planned, and will be rescheduling it as work progresses.

BRAVE & BOLD ART OF JIM APARO New co-author JIM AMASH is working with ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON toward an early 2011 release; we’re sure it’ll be worth the wait!

Please stay tuned to our website (www.twomorrows.com) for current release dates on all our upcoming items, and thanks for your patience.

Cover Switch For JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #54, we moved the KIRBY/TUSKA piece we planned for the BACK cover to the FRONT, as a long overdue tribute to the late Mr. Tuska (and thanks to MIKE GARTLAND, who conducted George’s final interview in that issue, and pointed out how remiss we were in not featuring Tuska’s work on a TJKC cover while he was still with us).

2010 is the YEAR OF THE MAGAZINE at TwoMorrows, with big changes in store! To paraphrase the DC Comics house ads from 1971, “Let’s rap. We owe you an explanation.”

The last couple of years, the economy’s affected everyone and everything, especially magazines. We’re not immune—we had to cancel ROUGH STUFF! and WRITE NOW! last year. But we’re glad to announce that both of those mags’ editors are now a part of DRAW! magazine, where BOB McLEOD will continue his “Rough Critiques” of newcomers’ work, and DANNY FINGEROTH is producing a new feature spotlighting top Writer/Artists in each issue.

Now the bad news: This Spring, ALTER EGO and BACK ISSUE join DRAW! by going to a $7.95 cover price (starting with issues #93 and #40, respectively). But since most comics shops offer a percentage discount to their customers, your actual increase will probably be less. And the per-copy subscription cost and price for Digital Editions remains the same as before—plus we’ve even LOWERED the price for Canadian and overseas subscribers!

Still, we wanted to give our readers something extra for that extra dollar, so we conducted an online poll and asked if they’d like to see AE and BI add color to its pages. The results were overwhelming; two-thirds of the respondents said they’d like us to add at least some color, even if it meant an increase of $1-2 in the cover price. But rather than take too big a price jump and go all color, we set out to find a solution that lets us stick with that $7.95 price, AND add 16 pages of color to each issue.

The answer? We normally feature a large section of house ads for our publications each issue, so we’re dropping all those ad pages (and, alas, a few pages of editorial matter), and standardizing on a new page count: 84 pages (16 of which are color) for $7.95—the same format DRAW! has had for a while now (but we’re replacing the ads currently in DRAW! with more editorial content, making it an even better value). Our house ads will now only be on the inside and back covers. It’s a gamble, but we’re betting our loyal readers will keep tabs on our website to stay updated on our new releases, and continue to order our back issues online, and through our free print catalog (and the free digital catalog they can download online). Once a year, we’ll also include our full print catalog in an issue of each mag, so be sure to save it to refer back to!

Also this year, BACK ISSUE! goes to 8 times a year (matching ALTER EGO’s frequency), and BRICKJOURNAL increases its output to bi-monthly. This all means more of the mags you love, and more color in some, but the same dedication to bring you the best publications about comics (and LEGO) ever produced. (And just wait’ll you see what we’ve got planned for ALTER EGO #100 and BACK ISSUE! #50 next year!)

HEROES CON (Charlotte, NC, June 4-6, 2010) COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL (San Diego, CA, July 21-25, 2010) NEW YORK COMICON (New York City, October 8-10, 2010) and these LEGO conventions: BRICKMAGIC (our own event!)

(Raleigh, NC, May 6-9, 2010 BRICKWORLD (Chicago, IL, June 17-20, 2010) BRICKFAIR (Washington, DC, August 5-8, 2010) BRICKCON (Seattle, WA, Sept. 30 - Oct. 3, 2010) If you’re there, be sure to stop by our booth!

COMING SOON: So you don’t think we’re only concerned with late books and LEGO, here’s a sneak peek at just a few of the comics-related books we’ve got in the works. See our Summer 2010 Catalog for details!

TED UPDAION! EDIT

New Lower Prices Our Own LEGO Festival in Raleigh!

Outside The USA!

For customers outside the US, we’ve just DRAMATICALLY CUT THE COST to get our mags. Canadians SAVE $1 PER ISSUE and other international subscribers SAVE $4-5 PER ISSUE! Plus we have new LOWER INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RATES for online orders!

May 8-9 (with a private event for builders on May 6-7), TwoMorrows and BrickJournal are putting on BRICKMAGIC 2010, the ultimate Festival for LEGO Fans! The public will get to interact and build with pro LEGO builders, see hundreds of amazing LEGO creations, attend panels and workshops (and a LEGO Boat Race in the hotel pool!), and even build a LEGO rose for their Mom (since it’s held over Mother’s Day Weekend). Go to www.brickmagic.org for details; see you there? Festival for LEGO Fans ®

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) ®

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

C o l l e c t o r

The JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine (edited by JOHN MORROW) celebrates the life and career of the “King” of comics through INTERVIEWS WITH KIRBY and his contemporaries, FEATURE ARTICLES, RARE AND UNSEEN KIRBY ART, plus regular columns by MARK EVANIER and others, and presentation of KIRBY’S UNINKED PENCILS from the 1960s-80s (from photocopies preserved in the KIRBY ARCHIVES). Now in OVERSIZED TABLOID FORMAT, it showcases Kirby’s amazing art even larger!

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #42

KIRBY COLLECTOR #43

KIRBY COLLECTOR #44

1970s DC WORK! Coverage of Jimmy Olsen, FF movie set visit, overview of all Newsboy Legion stories, KEVIN NOWLAN and MURPHY ANDERSON on inking Jack, never-seen interview with Kirby, MARK EVANIER on Kirby’s covers, Bongo Comics’ Kirby ties, complete ’40s gangster story, pencil art gallery, and more! Kirby covers inked by NOWLAN and ANDERSON!

KIRBY AWARD WINNERS! STEVE SHERMAN and others sharing memories and neverseen art from JACK & ROZ, a never-published 1966 interview with KIRBY, MARK EVANIER on VINCE COLLETTA, pencils-toSinnott inks comparison of TALES OF SUSPENSE #93, and more! Covers by KIRBY (Jack’s original ’70s SILVER STAR CONCEPT ART) and KIRBY/SINNOTT!

KIRBY’S MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS! Coverage of DEMON, THOR, & GALACTUS, interview with KIRBY, MARK EVANIER, pencil art galleries of the Demon and other mythological characters, two never-reprinted BLACK MAGIC stories, interview with Kirby Award winner DAVID SCHWARTZ and F4 screenwriter MIKE FRANCE, and more!

Kirby cover inked by MATT WAGNER!

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #45

KIRBY COLLECTOR #46

KIRBY COLLECTOR #47

KIRBY COLLECTOR #48

KIRBY COLLECTOR #49

Jack’s vision of PAST AND FUTURE, with a never-seen KIRBY interview, a new interview with son NEAL KIRBY, MARK EVANIER’S column, two pencil galleries, two complete ’50s stories, Jack’s first script, Kirby Tribute Panel (with EVANIER, KATZ, SHAW!, and SHERMAN), plus an unpublished CAPTAIN 3-D cover, inked by BILL BLACK and converted into 3-D by RAY ZONE!

Focus on NEW GODS, FOREVER PEOPLE, and DARKSEID! Includes a rare interview with KIRBY, MARK EVANIER’s column, FOURTH WORLD pencil art galleries (including Kirby’s redesigns for SUPER POWERS), two 1950s stories, a new Kirby Darkseid front cover inked by MIKE ROYER, a Kirby Forever People back cover inked by JOHN BYRNE, and more!

KIRBY’S SUPER TEAMS, from kid gangs and the Challengers, to Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Super Powers, with unseen 1960s Marvel art, a rare KIRBY interview, MARK EVANIER’s column, two pencil art galleries, complete 1950s story, author JONATHAN LETHEM on his Kirby influence, interview with JOHN ROMITA, JR. on his Eternals work, and more!

KIRBYTECH ISSUE, spotlighting Jack’s hightech concepts, from Iron Man’s armor and Machine Man, to the Negative Zone and beyond! Includes a rare KIRBY interview, MARK EVANIER’s column, two pencil art galleries, complete 1950s story, TOM SCIOLI interview, Kirby Tribute Panel (with ADAMS, PÉREZ, and ROMITA), and covers inked by TERRY AUSTIN and TOM SCIOLI!

WARRIORS, spotlighting Thor (with a look at hidden messages in BILL EVERETT’s Thor inks), Sgt. Fury, Challengers of the Unknown, Losers, and others! Includes a rare KIRBY interview, interviews with JERRY ORDWAY and GRANT MORRISON, MARK EVANIER’s column, pencil art gallery, a complete 1950s story, wraparound Thor cover inked by JERRY ORDWAY, and more!

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 (Digital edition) $3.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 (Digital edition) $3.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 (Digital edition) $3.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 (Digital edition) $3.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 (Digital edition) $3.95

KIRBY FIVE-OH!

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE “KING” OF COMICS

The publication that started the TwoMorrows juggernaut presents KIRBY FIVE-OH!, a book covering the best of everything from Jack Kirby’s 50-year career in comics! The regular columnists from THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine have formed a distinguished panel of experts to choose and examine: The BEST KIRBY STORY published each year from 19381987! The BEST COVERS from each decade! Jack’s 50 BEST UNUSED PIECES OF ART! His 50 BEST CHARACTER DESIGNS! And profiles of, and commentary by, 50 PEOPLE INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! Plus there’s a 50-PAGE GALLERY of Kirby’s powerful RAW PENCIL ART, and a DELUXE COLOR SECTION of photos and finished art from throughout his entire half-century oeuvre. This TABLOIDSIZED TRADE PAPERBACK features a previously unseen Kirby Superman cover inked by “DC: The New Frontier” artist DARWYN COOKE, and an introduction by MARK EVANIER, helping make this the ultimate retrospective on the career of the “King” of comics! Takes the place of JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #50.

(168-page tabloid-size trade paperback) $19.95 ISBN: 9781893905894 • Diamond Order Code: FEB084186

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #52

KIRBY COLLECTOR #53

Bombastic EVERYTHING GOES issue, with a wealth of great submissions that couldn’t be pigeonholed into a “theme” issue!

Includes a rare KIRBY interview, new interviews with JIM LEE and ADAM HUGHES, MARK EVANIER’s column, huge pencil art galleries, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, two COLOR UNPUBLISHED KIRBY COVERS, and more!

Spotlights Kirby’s most obscure work, like an UNUSED THOR STORY, his BRUCE LEE comic, animation work, stage play, and see original unaltered versions of pages from KAMANDI, DEMON, DESTROYER DUCK, and more, including a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series BEFORE EDITORIAL TAMPERING (with lots of surprises)! Color Kirby covers inked by DON HECK and PAUL SMITH!

Spotlights THE MAGIC OF STAN & JACK! New interview with STAN LEE, a walking tour of New York showing where Lee & Kirby lived and worked, re-evaluation of the “Lost” FF #108 story (including a new missing page), plus MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a Kirby pencil art gallery, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, and more, behind a color Kirby cover inked by GEORGE PÉREZ!

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US (Digital edition) $3.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $10.95 US (Digital edition) $3.95

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 (Digital edition) $3.95

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

TM

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

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BACK ISSUE #26

BACK ISSUE #27

BACK ISSUE #28

“Spies and Tough Guys!’ PAUL GULACY and DOUG MOENCH in an art-packed “Pro2Pro” on Master of Kung Fu and their unrealized Shang-Chi/Nick Fury crossover, Suicide Squad spotlight, Ms. Tree, CHUCK DIXON and TIM TRUMAN’s Airboy, James Bond and Mr. T in comic books, Sgt. Rock’s oddball super-hero team-ups, Nathaniel Dusk, JOE KUBERT’s unpublished The Redeemer, and a new GULACY cover!

“Comic Book Royalty!” The ’70s/’80s careers of Aquaman and the Sub-Mariner explored, BARR and BOLLAND discuss CAMELOT 3000, comics pros tell “Why JACK KIRBY Was King,” “Dr. Doom: Monarch or Menace?” DON McGREGOR’s Black Panther; an exclusive ALAN WEISS art gallery; spotlights on ARION, LORD OF ATLANTIS; NIGHT FORCE; and more! New cover by NICK CARDY!

“Heroes Behaving Badly!” Hulk vs. Thing tirades with RON WILSON, HERB TRIMPE, and JIM SHOOTER; CARY BATES and CARMINE INFANTINO on “Trial of the Flash”; JOHN BYRNE’s heroes who cross the line; Teen Titan Terra, Kid Miracleman, Mark Shaw Manhunter, and others who went bad, featuring LAYTON, MICHELINIE, WOLFMAN, and PÉREZ, and more! New cover by DARWYN COOKE!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

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BACK ISSUE #29

BACK ISSUE #30

BACK ISSUE #31

BACK ISSUE #32

BACK ISSUE #33

“Mutants” issue! CLAREMONT, BYRNE, SMITH, and ROMITA, JR.’s X-Men work, NOCENTI and ARTHUR ADAMS’ Longshot, McLEOD and SIENKIEWICZ’s New Mutants, the UK’s CAPTAIN BRITAIN series, lost Angel stories, Beast’s tenure with the Avengers, the return of the original X-Men in X-Factor, the revelation of Nightcrawler’s “original” father, a history of DC’s mutant, Captain Comet, and more! Cover by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Saturday Morning Heroes!” Interviews with TV Captain Marvels JACKSON BOSTWICK and JOHN DAVEY, MAGGIN and SAVIUK’s lost Superman/”Captain Thunder” sequel, Space Ghost interviews with GARY OWENS and STEVE RUDE, MARV WOLFMAN guest editorial, Super Friends, unproduced fourth wave Super Powers action figures, Astro Boy, ADAM HUGHES tribute to DAVE STEVENS, and a new cover by ALEX ROSS!

“STEVE GERBER Salute!” In-depth look at his Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Defenders, Metal Men, Mister Miracle, Thundarr the Barbarian, and more!

Plus: Creators pay tribute to Steve Gerber, featuring art by and commentary from BRUNNER, BUCKLER, COLAN, GOLDEN, STAN LEE, LEVITZ, MAYERIK, MOONEY, PLOOG, SIMONSON, and others. Cover painting by FRANK BRUNNER!

“Tech, Data, and Hardware!” The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and GREENBERGER on DC’s Who’s Who, SAVIUK, STATON, and VAN SCIVER on Drawing Green Lantern, ED HANNIGAN Art Gallery, history of Rom: Spaceknight, story of BILL MANTLO, Dial H for Hero, Richie Rich’s Inventions, and a Spider-Mobile schematic cover by ELIOT BROWN and DUSTY ABELL!

“Teen Heroes!” Teen Titans in the 1970s & 1980s, with CARDY, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, PÉREZ, TUSKA, and WOLFMAN, BARON and GUICE on the Flash, interviews with TV Billy Batson MICHAEL GRAY and writer STEVE SKEATES, NICIEZA and BAGLEY’s New Warriors, Legion of Super-Heroes 1970s art gallery, James Bond Jr., and… the Archies! New Teen Titans cover by GEORGE PÉREZ and colored by GENE HA!

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BACK ISSUE #34

BACK ISSUE #35

BACK ISSUE #36

BACK ISSUE #37

BACK ISSUE #38

“New World Order!” Adam Warlock examined with JIM STARLIN and ROY THOMAS, the history of Miracleman with ALAN DAVIS & GARRY LEACH, JIM SHOOTER interview, Marvel’s post-STAN LEE editors-in-chief on New Universe, Logan’s Run, Star Hunters, BOB WIACEK on Star Wars and Star-Lord, DICK GIORDANO revisits Crisis on Infinite Earths and “The Post-Crisis DC Universe You Didn’t See,” new cover by JIM STARLIN!

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

“Monsters!” Frankenstein in Comics timeline and a look at BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s and Marvel’s versions, histories of Vampirella and Morbius, ISABELLA and AYERS discuss It the Living Colossus, REDONDO’s Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, monster art gallery, interview with TONY DeZUNIGA, art and commentary from ARTHUR ADAMS, COLÓN, KALUTA, NEBRES, PLOOG, SUTTON, VEITCH, and a painted cover by EARL NOREM!

“Comics Go to War!” KUBERT/KANIGHER’s Sgt. Rock, EVANIER and SPIEGLE’s Blackhawk, GEORGE PRATT’s Enemy Ace, plus Unknown Soldier, Wonder Woman’s return to WWII, the Invaders, Combat Kelly, Vietnam Journal, Sad Sack, the Joe Kubert School, art and commentary from AYERS, HEATH, KIRBY, ROBBINS, ROMITA SR., SINNOTT, and the return of GERRY TALAOC! JOE KUBERT cover!

“Family!” JOHN BYRNE’s Fantastic Four, SIMONSON, BRIGMAN, and BOGDANOVE on Power Pack, LEVITZ and STATON on the Huntress, Henry Pym’s “son” Ultron, Wonder Twins, Commissioner Gordon & Batgirl’s relationship, and Return of the New Gods.

With art and commentary from BUCKLER, BUSIEK, FRADON, HECK, INFANTINO, NEWTON, and WOLFMAN, and a Norman Rockwell-inspired BYRNE cover!

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DRAW! (edited by top comics artist MIKE MANLEY) is the professional “HOW-TO” magazine on comics, cartooning, and animation. Each issue features in-depth INTERVIEWS and DEMOS from top pros on all aspects of graphic storytelling. NOTE: Contains nudity for purposes of figure drawing.

INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS.

DRAW! #4

DRAW! #5

DRAW! #6

DRAW! #8

Features an interview and step-by-step demonstration from Savage Dragon’s ERIK LARSEN, KEVIN NOWLAN on drawing and inking techniques, DAVE COOPER demonstrates coloring techniques in Photoshop, BRET BLEVINS tutorial on Figure Composition, PAUL RIVOCHE on the Design Process, reviews of comics drawing papers, and more!

Interview and sketchbook by MIKE WIERINGO, BRIAN BENDIS and MIKE OEMING show how they create the series “Powers”, BRET BLEVINS shows “How to draw great hands”, “The illusion of depth in design” by PAUL RIVOCHE, must-have art books reviewed by TERRY BEATTY, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more! OEMING cover!

Interview, cover, and demo with BILL WRAY, STEPHEN DeSTEFANO interview and demo on cartooning and animation, BRET BLEVINS shows “How to draw the human figure in light and shadow,” a step-by-step Photo-shop tutorial by CELIA CALLE, expert inking tips by MIKE MANLEY, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more!

From comics to video games: an interview, cover, and demo with MATT HALEY, TOM BANCROFT & ROB CORLEY on character design, “Drawing In Adobe Illustrator” step-by-step demo by ALBERTO RUIZ, “Draping The Human Figure” by BRET BLEVINS, a new COMICS SECTION, International Spotlight on JOSÉ LOUIS AGREDA, a color section and more!

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DRAW! #10

DRAW! #11

DRAW! #12

DRAW! #13

DRAW! #14

RON GARNEY interview, step-by-step demo, and cover, GRAHAM NOLAN on creating newspaper strips, TODD KLEIN and other pros discuss lettering, “Draping The Human Figure, Part Two” by BRET BLEVINS, ALBERTO RUIZ with more Adobe Illustrator tips, interview with Banana Tail creator MARK McKENNA, links, a color section and more!

STEVE RUDE demonstrates his approach to comics & drawing, ROQUE BALLESTEROS on Flash animation, political cartoonist JIM BORGMAN on his daily comic strip Zits, plus DRAW!’s regular instructors BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY on “Drawing On LIfe”, more Adobe Illustrator tips with ALBERTO RUIZ, links, a color section and more! New RUDE cover!

KYLE BAKER reveals his working methods and step-by-step processes on merging his traditional and digital art, Machine Teen’s MIKE HAWTHORNE on his work, “Making Perspective Work For You” by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, Photoshop techniques with ALBERTO RUIZ, Adult Swim’s THE VENTURE BROTHERS, links, a color section and more! New BAKER cover!

Step-by-step demo of painting methods by cover artist ALEX HORLEY (Heavy Metal, Vertigo, DC, Wizards of the Coast), plus interviews and demos by Banana Sundays’ COLLEEN COOVER, behind-the-scenes on Adult Swim’s MINORITEAM, regular features on drawing by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, links, color section and more, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #3 PREVIEW!

Features in-depth interviews and demos with DC Comics artist DOUG MAHNKE, OVI NEDELCU (Pigtale, WB Animation), STEVE PURCELL (Sam and Max), plus Part 3 of editor MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP on “Using Black to Power up Your Pages”, product reviews, a new MAHNKE cover, and a FREE ALTER EGO #70 PREVIEW!

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DRAW! #15

DRAW! #16

DRAW! #17

DRAW! #18

DRAW! #19

BACK TO SCHOOL ISSUE, covering major schools offering comic art as part of their curriculum, featuring faculty, student, and graduate interviews in an ultimate overview of collegiate-level comic art classes! Plus, a “how-to” demo/interview with B.P.R.D.’S GUY DAVIS, MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP series, a FREE WRITE NOW #17 PREVIEW, and more!

In-depth interview and coverage of the creative process of HOWARD CHAYKIN, behind the drawing board and animation desk with JAY STEPHENS, more COMIC ART BOOTCAMP (this time focusing on HOW TO USE REFERENCE), and WORKING FROM PHOTOS by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY. Plus, reviews, resources and more!

An in-depth interview and tutorial with Scott Pilgrim’s creator and artist BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY on how he creates the acclaimed series, plus learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS creates the fabulous work on his series. Also, more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

Features an in-depth interview and demo

by R.M. GUERA (the artist of Vertigo’s Scalped), behind-the-scenes in the Batcave with Cartoon Network’s JAMES TUCKER on the new hit show “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” plus product reviews by JAMAR NICHOLAS, and Comic Book Boot Camp’s “Anatomy: Part 2” by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY!

DOUG BRAITHWAITE gives a demo and interview, pro inker and ROUGH STUFF editor BOB McLEOD offers a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work, JAMAR NICHOLAS’ “Crusty Critic” column reveals the best art supplies and tool tech, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP gets your penciling in shape, plus Web links, reviews, and more!

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(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

Edited by ROY THOMAS The greatest ‘zine of the 1960s is back, ALL-NEW, and focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America, featuring the archives of C.C. BECK and recollections by Fawcett artist MARCUS SWAYZE), Michael T. Gilbert’s MR. MONSTER, and more!

2007 EISNER AWARD WINNER Best Comics-Related Periodical

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

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ALTER EGO #1

ALTER EGO #2

ALTER EGO #3

STAN LEE gets roasted by SCHWARTZ, CLAREMONT, DAVID, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, and SHOOTER, ORDWAY and THOMAS on INFINITY, INC., IRWIN HASEN interview, unseen H.G. PETER Wonder Woman pages, the original Captain Marvel and Human Torch teamup, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, “Mr. Monster”, plus plenty of rare and unpublished art!

Featuring a never-reprinted SPIRIT story by WILL EISNER, the genesis of the SILVER AGE ATOM (with GARDNER FOX, GIL KANE, and JULIE SCHWARTZ), interviews with LARRY LIEBER and Golden Age great JACK BURNLEY, BOB KANIGHER, a new Fawcett Collectors of America section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, and more!

GIL KANE and JACK BURNLEY flip-covers!

Unseen ALEX ROSS and JERRY ORDWAY Shazam! art, 1953 interview with OTTO BINDER, the SUPERMAN/CAPTAIN MARVEL LAWSUIT, GIL KANE on The Golden Age of TIMELY COMICS, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, rare art by AYERS, BERG, BURNLEY, DITKO, RICO, SCHOMBURG, MARIE SEVERIN and more! ALEX ROSS & BILL EVERETT covers!

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ALTER EGO #4

ALTER EGO #5

ALTER EGO #6

ALTER EGO #7

ALTER EGO #8

Interviews with KUBERT, SHELLY MOLDOFF, and HARRY LAMPERT, BOB KANIGHER, life and times of GARDNER FOX, ROY THOMAS remembers GIL KANE, a history of Flash Comics, MOEBIUS Silver Surfer sketches, MR. MONSTER, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and SCHAFFENBERGER, and lots more! Dual color covers by JOE KUBERT!

Celebrating the JSA, with interviews with MART NODELL, SHELLY MAYER, GEORGE ROUSSOS, BILL BLACK, and GIL KANE, unpublished H.G. PETER Wonder Woman art, GARDNER FOX, an FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK, WENDELL CROWLEY, and more! Wraparound cover

by CARMINE INFANTINO and JERRY ORDWAY!

GENE COLAN interview, 1940s books on comics by STAN LEE and ROBERT KANIGHER, AYERS, SEVERIN, and ROY THOMAS on Sgt. Fury, ROY on All-Star Squadron’s Golden Age roots, FCA section with SWAYZE, BECK, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, JOE SIMON interview, a definitive look at MAC RABOY’S work, and more! Covers by COLAN and RABOY!

Companion to ALL-STAR COMPANION book, with a JULIE SCHWARTZ interview, guide to JLA-JSA TEAMUPS, origins of the ALL-STAR SQUADRON, FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, C.C. BECK (on his 1970s DC conflicts), DAVE BERG, BOB ROGERS, more on MAC RABOY from his son, MR. MONSTER, and more! RICH BUCKLER and C.C. BECK covers!

WALLY WOOD biography, DAN ADKINS & BILL PEARSON on Wood, TOR section with 1963 JOE KUBERT interview, ROY THOMAS on creating the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and its 1940s forebears, FCA section with SWAYZE & BECK, MR. MONSTER, JERRY ORDWAY on Shazam!, JERRY DeFUCCIO on the Golden Age, CHIC STONE remembered! ADKINS and KUBERT covers!

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ALTER EGO #9

ALTER EGO #10

ALTER EGO #11

ALTER EGO #12

ALTER EGO #13

JOHN ROMITA interview by ROY THOMAS (with unseen art), Roy’s PROPOSED DREAM PROJECTS that never got published (with a host of great artists), MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING’S life after Superman, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom Panel, FCA section with GEORGE TUSKA, C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, BILL MORRISON, & more! ROMITA and GIORDANO covers!

Who Created the Silver Age Flash? (with KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and SCHWARTZ), DICK AYERS interview (with unseen art), JOHN BROOME remembered, never-seen Golden Age Flash pages, VIN SULLIVAN Magazine Enterprises interview, FCA, interview with FRED GUARDINEER, and MR. MONSTER on WAYNE BORING! INFANTINO and AYERS covers!

Focuses on TIMELY/MARVEL (interviews and features on SYD SHORES, MICKEY SPILLANE, and VINCE FAGO), and MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES (including JOE CERTA, JOHN BELFI, FRANK BOLLE, BOB POWELL, and FRED MEAGHER), MR. MONSTER on JERRY SIEGEL, DON and MAGGIE THOMPSON interview, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and DON NEWTON!

DC and QUALITY COMICS focus! Quality’s GILL FOX interview, never-seen ’40s PAUL REINMAN Green Lantern story, ROY THOMAS talks to LEN WEIN and RICH BUCKLER about ALL-STAR SQUADRON, MR. MONSTER shows what made WALLY WOOD leave MAD, FCA section with BECK & SWAYZE, & ’65 NEWSWEEK ARTICLE on comics! REINMAN and BILL WARD covers!

1974 panel with JOE SIMON, STAN LEE, FRANK ROBBINS, and ROY THOMAS, ROY and JOHN BUSCEMA on Avengers, 1964 STAN LEE interview, tributes to DON HECK, JOHNNY CRAIG, and GRAY MORROW, Timely alums DAVID GANTZ and DANIEL KEYES, and FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and MIKE MANLEY! Covers by MURPHY ANDERSON and JOE SIMON!

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(100-page magazine) $5.95

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(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #14

ALTER EGO #15

ALTER EGO #16

ALTER EGO #17

ALTER EGO #18

A look at the 1970s JSA revival with CONWAY, LEVITZ, ESTRADA, GIFFEN, MILGROM, and STATON, JERRY ORDWAY on All-Star Squadron, tributes to CRAIG CHASE and DAN DeCARLO, “lost” 1945 issue of All-Star, 1970 interview with LEE ELIAS, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, & JAY DISBROW! MIKE NASSER & MICHAEL GILBERT covers!

JOHN BUSCEMA ISSUE! BUSCEMA interview (with UNSEEN ART), reminiscences by SAL BUSCEMA, STAN LEE, INFANTINO, KUBERT, ORDWAY, FLO STEINBERG, and HERB TRIMPE, ROY THOMAS on 35 years with BIG JOHN, FCA tribute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, plus C.C. BECK and MARC SWAYZE, and MR. MONSTER revisits WALLY WOOD! Two BUSCEMA covers!

MARVEL BULLPEN REUNION (BUSCEMA, COLAN, ROMITA, and SEVERIN), memories of the JOHN BUSCEMA SCHOOL, FCA with ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK, and MARC SWAYZE, tribute to CHAD GROTHKOPF, MR. MONSTER on EC COMICS with art by KURTZMAN, DAVIS, and WOOD, and more! Covers by ALEX ROSS and MARIE SEVERIN & RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlighting LOU FINE (with an overview of his career, and interviews with family members), interview with MURPHY ANDERSON about Fine, ALEX TOTH on Fine, ARNOLD DRAKE interviewed about DEADMAN and DOOM PATROL, MR. MONSTER on the non-EC work of JACK DAVIS and GEORGE EVANS, FINE and LUIS DOMINGUEZ COVERS, FCA and more!

STAN GOLDBERG interview, secrets of ’40s Timely, art by KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, MANEELY, EVERETT, BURGOS, and DeCARLO, spotlight on sci-fi fanzine XERO with the LUPOFFS, OTTO BINDER, DON THOMPSON, ROY THOMAS, BILL SCHELLY, and ROGER EBERT, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD ghosting Flash Gordon! KIRBY and SWAYZE covers!

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(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #19

ALTER EGO #20

ALTER EGO #21

ALTER EGO #22

ALTER EGO #23

Spotlight on DICK SPRANG (profile and interview) with unseen art, rare Batman art

by BOB KANE, CHARLES PARIS, SHELLY MOLDOFF, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, JIM MOONEY, CARMINE INFANTINO, and ALEX TOTH, JERRY ROBINSON interviewed about Tomahawk and 1940s cover artist FRED RAY, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD’s Flash Gordon, Part 2!

Timely/Marvel art by SEKOWSKY, SHORES, EVERETT, and BURGOS, secrets behind THE INVADERS with ROY THOMAS, KIRBY, GIL KANE, & ROBBINS, BOB DESCHAMPS interviewed, 1965 NY Comics Con review, panel with FINGER, BINDER, FOX and WEISINGER, MR. MONSTER, FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, RABOY, SCHAFFENBERGER, and more! MILGROM and SCHELLY covers!

BILL EVERETT and JOE KUBERT interviewed

by NEAL ADAMS and GIL KANE in 1970, Timely art by BURGOS, SHORES, NODELL, and SEKOWSKY, RUDY LAPICK, ROY THOMAS on Sub-Mariner, with art by EVERETT, COLAN, ANDRU, BUSCEMAs, SEVERINs, and more, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD at EC, ALEX TOTH, and CAPT. MIDNIGHT! EVERETT & BECK covers!

Unseen art from TWO “LOST” 1940s H.G. PETER WONDER WOMAN STORIES (and analysis of “CHARLES MOULTON” scripts), BOB FUJITANI and JOHN ROSENBERGER, VICTOR GORELICK discusses Archie and The Mighty Crusaders, with art by MORROW, BUCKLER, and REINMAN, FCA, and MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD! H.G. PETER and BOB FUJITANI covers!

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

The IGER “SHOP” examined, with art by EISNER, FINE, ANDERSON, CRANDALL, BAKER, MESKIN, CARDY, EVANS, BOB KANE, and TUSKA, “SHEENA” section with art by DAVE STEVENS & FRANK BRUNNER, ROY THOMAS on the JSA and All-Star Squadron, more UNSEEN 1946 ALL-STAR ART, MR. MONSTER on GARDNER FOX, FCA, and more! DAVE STEVENS and IRWIN HASEN covers!

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #24

ALTER EGO #25

ALTER EGO #26

ALTER EGO #27

ALTER EGO #28

X-MEN interviews with STAN LEE, DAVE COCKRUM, CHRIS CLAREMONT, ARNOLD DRAKE, JIM SHOOTER, ROY THOMAS, and LEN WEIN, MORT MESKIN profiled by his sons and ALEX TOTH, rare art by JERRY ROBINSON, FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY on Comics Fandom! MESKIN and COCKRUM covers!

JACK COLE remembered by ALEX TOTH, interview with brother DICK COLE and his PLAYBOY colleagues, CHRIS CLAREMONT on the X-Men (with more never-seen art

by DAVE COCKRUM), ROY THOMAS on All-Star Squadron #1 and its ’40s roots (with art by ORDWAY, BUCKLER, MESKIN and MOLDOFF), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by TOTH and SCHELLY!

JOE SINNOTT interview, IRWIN DONENFELD interview by EVANIER & SCHWARTZ, art by SHUSTER, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, and SWAN, MARK WAID analyzes the first Kryptonite story, JERRY SIEGEL and HARRY DONENFELD, JERRY IGER Shop update, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA with SWAYZE, BECK, and KEN BALD! Covers by SINNOTT and WAYNE BORING!

VIN SULLIVAN interview about the early DC days with art by SHUSTER, MOLDOFF, FLESSEL, GUARDINEER, and BURNLEY, MR. MONSTER’s “Lost” KIRBY HULK covers, 1948 NEW YORK COMIC CON with STAN LEE, SIMON & KIRBY, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, HARVEY KURTZMAN, and ROY THOMAS, ALEX TOTH, FCA, and more! Covers by JACK BURNLEY and JACK KIRBY!

Spotlight on JOE MANEELY, with a career overview, remembrance by his daughter and tons of art, Timely/Atlas/Marvel art by ROMITA, EVERETT, SEVERIN, SHORES, KIRBY, and DITKO, STAN LEE on Maneely, LEE AMES interview, FCA with SWAYZE, ISIS, and STEVE SKEATES, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Covers by JOE MANEELY and DON NEWTON!

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #29

ALTER EGO #30

ALTER EGO #31

ALTER EGO #32

ALTER EGO #33

FRANK BRUNNER interview, BILL EVERETT’S Venus examined by TRINA ROBBINS, Classics Illustrated “What ifs”, LEE/KIRBY/DITKO Marvel prototypes, JOE MANEELY’s monsters, BILL FRACCIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, JOHN BENSON on EC, The Heap by ERNIE SCHROEDER, and FCA! Covers by FRANK BRUNNER and PETE VON SHOLLY!

ALEX ROSS on his love for the JLA, BLACKHAWK/JLA artist DICK DILLIN, the super-heroes of 1940s-1980s France (with art by STEVE RUDE, STEVE BISSETTE, LADRÖNN, and NEAL ADAMS), KIM AAMODT & WALTER GEIER on writing for SIMON & KIRBY, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, and FCA! Covers by ALEX ROSS and STEVE RUDE!

DICK AYERS on his 1950s and ’60s work (with tons of Marvel Bullpen art), HARLAN ELLISON’s Marvel Age work examined (with art by BUCKLER, SAL BUSCEMA, and TRIMPE), STAN LEE’S Marvel Prototypes (with art by KIRBY and DITKO), Christmas cards from comics greats, MR. MONSTER, & FCA with SWAYZE and SCHAFFENBERGER! Covers by DICK AYERS and FRED RAY!

Timely artists ALLEN BELLMAN and SAM BURLOCKOFF interviewed, MART NODELL on his Timely years, rare art by BURGOS, EVERETT, and SHORES, MIKE GOLD on the Silver Age (with art by SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, INFANTINO, KANE, and more), FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more!

Covers by DICK GIORDANO and GIL KANE!

Symposium on MIKE SEKOWSKY by MARK EVANIER, SCOTT SHAW!, et al., with art

by ANDERSON, INFANTINO, and others, PAT (MRS. MIKE) SEKOWSKY and inker VALERIE BARCLAY interviewed, FCA, 1950s Captain Marvel parody by ANDRU and ESPOSITO, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! Covers by FRENZ/SINNOTT and FRENZ/BUSCEMA!

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #34

ALTER EGO #35

ALTER EGO #36

ALTER EGO #37

ALTER EGO #38

Quality Comics interviews with ALEX KOTZKY, AL GRENET, CHUCK CUIDERA, & DICK ARNOLD (son of BUSY ARNOLD), art by COLE, EISNER, FINE, WARD, DILLIN, and KANE, MICHELLE NOLAN on Blackhawk’s jump to DC, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on HARVEY KURTZMAN, & ALEX TOTH on REED CRANDALL! Covers by REED CRANDALL & CHARLES NICHOLAS!

Covers by JOHN ROMITA and AL JAFFEE! LEE, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, & THOMAS on the 1953-55 Timely super-hero revival, with rare art by ROMITA, AYERS, BURGOS, HEATH, EVERETT, LAWRENCE, & POWELL, AL JAFFEE on the 1940s Timely Bullpen (and MAD), FCA, ALEX TOTH on comic art, MR. MONSTER on unpublished 1950s covers, and more!

JOE SIMON on SIMON & KIRBY, CARL BURGOS, and LLOYD JACQUET, JOHN BELL on World War II Canadian heroes, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on Canadian origins of MR. MONSTER, tributes to BOB DESCHAMPS, DON LAWRENCE, & GEORGE WOODBRIDGE, FCA, ALEX TOTH, and ELMER WEXLER interview! Covers by SIMON and GILBERT & RONN SUTTON!

WILL MURRAY on the 1940 Superman “KMetal” story & PHILIP WYLIE’s GLADIATOR (with art by SHUSTER, SWAN, ADAMS, and BORING), FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, and DON NEWTON, SY BARRY interview, art by TOTH, MESKIN, INFANTINO, and ANDERSON, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT interviews AL FELDSTEIN on EC and RAY BRADBURY! Covers by C.C. BECK and WAYNE BORING!

JULIE SCHWARTZ TRIBUTE with HARLAN ELLISON, INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, KUBERT, GIELLA, GIORDANO, CARDY, LEVITZ, STAN LEE, WOLFMAN, EVANIER, & ROY THOMAS, never-seen interviews with Julie, FCA with BECK, SCHAFFENBERGER, NEWTON, COCKRUM, OKSNER, FRADON, SWAYZE, and JACKSON BOSTWICK! Covers by INFANTINO and IRWIN HASEN!

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #39

ALTER EGO #40

ALTER EGO #41

ALTER EGO #42

ALTER EGO #43

Full-issue spotlight on JERRY ROBINSON, with an interview on being BOB KANE’s Batman “ghost”, creating the JOKER and ROBIN, working on VIGILANTE, GREEN HORNET, and ATOMAN, plus never-seen art by Jerry, MESKIN, ROUSSOS, RAY, KIRBY, SPRANG, DITKO, and PARIS! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER on AL FELDSTEIN Part 2, and more! Two JERRY ROBINSON covers!

RUSS HEATH and GIL KANE interviews (with tons of unseen art), the JULIE SCHWARTZ Memorial Service with ELLISON, MOORE, GAIMAN, HASEN, O’NEIL, and LEVITZ, art by INFANTINO, ANDERSON, TOTH, NOVICK, DILLIN, SEKOWSKY, KUBERT, GIELLA, ARAGONÉS, FCA, MR. MONSTER and AL FELDSTEIN Part 3, and more! Covers by GIL KANE & RUSS HEATH!

Halloween issue! BERNIE WRIGHTSON on his 1970s FRANKENSTEIN, DICK BRIEFER’S monster, the campy 1960s Frankie, art by KALUTA, BAILY, MANEELY, PLOOG, KUBERT, BRUNNER, BORING, OKSNER, TUSKA, CRANDALL, and SUTTON, FCA #100, EMILIO SQUEGLIO interview, ALEX TOTH, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Covers by WRIGHTSON & MARC SWAYZE!

A celebration of DON HECK, WERNER ROTH, and PAUL REINMAN, rare art by KIRBY, DITKO, and AYERS, Hillman and Ziff-Davis remembered by Heap artist ERNIE SCHROEDER, HERB ROGOFF, and WALTER LITTMAN, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and ALEX TOTH! Covers by FASTNER & LARSON and ERNIE SCHROEDER!

Yuletide art by WOOD, SINNOTT, CARDY, BRUNNER, TOTH, NODELL, and others, interviews with Golden Age artists TOM GILL (Lone Ranger) and MORRIS WEISS, exploring 1960s Mexican comics, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and more! Flip covers by GEORGE TUSKA and DAVE STEVENS!

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

(108-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #44

ALTER EGO #45

ALTER EGO #46

ALTER EGO #47

ALTER EGO #48

JSA/All-Star Squadron/Infinity Inc. special!

Interviews with KUBERT, HASEN, ANDERSON, ORDWAY, BUCKLER, THOMAS, 1940s Atom writer ARTHUR ADLER, art by TOTH, SEKOWSKY, HASEN, MACHLAN, OKSNER, and INFANTINO, FCA, and MR. MONSTER’S “I Like Ike!” cartoons by BOB KANE, INFANTINO, OKSNER, and BIRO! Wraparound ORDWAY cover!

Interviews with Sandman artist CREIG FLESSEL and ’40s creator BERT CHRISTMAN, MICHAEL CHABON on researching his Pulitzer-winning novel Kavalier & Clay, art

by EISNER, KANE, KIRBY, and AYERS, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, OTTO BINDER’s “lost” Jon Jarl story, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom, and ALEX TOTH! CREIG FLESSEL cover!

The VERY BEST of the 1960s-70s ALTER EGO! 1969 BILL EVERETT interview, art by BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, SIMON & KIRBY, and others, 1960s gems by DITKO, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, JERRY BAILS, and ROY THOMAS, LOU GLANZMAN interview, tributes to IRV NOVICK and CHRIS REEVE, MR. MONSTER, FCA, TOTH, and more!

Cover by EVERETT and MARIE SEVERIN!

Spotlights MATT BAKER, Golden Age cheesecake artist of PHANTOM LADY! Career overview, interviews with BAKER’s half-brother and nephew, art from AL FELDSTEIN, VINCE COLLETTA, ARTHUR PEDDY, JACK KAMEN and others, FCA, BILL SCHELLY talks to comic-book-seller (and fan) BUD PLANT, MR. MONSTER on missing AL WILLIAMSON art, and ALEX TOTH!

WILL EISNER discusses Eisner & Iger’s Shop and BUSY ARNOLD’s ’40s Quality Comics, art by FINE, CRANDALL, COLE, POWELL, and CARDY, EISNER tributes by STAN LEE, GENE COLAN, & others, interviews with ’40s Quality artist VERN HENKEL and CHUCK MAZOUJIAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER on EISNER’s Wonder Man, ALEX TOTH, and more with BUD PLANT! EISNER cover!

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

ALTER EGO #49

ALTER EGO #50

ALTER EGO #51

ALTER EGO #52

ALTER EGO #53

Spotlights CARL BURGOS! Interview with daughter SUE BURGOS, art by BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, MIKE SEKOWSKY, ED ASCHE, and DICK AYERS, unused 1941 Timely cover layouts, the 1957 Atlas Implosion examined, MANNY STALLMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER and more! New cover by MARK SPARACIO, from an unused 1941 layout by CARL BURGOS!

ROY THOMAS covers his 40-YEAR career in comics (AVENGERS, X-MEN, CONAN, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC.), with ADAMS, BUSCEMA, COLAN, DITKO, GIL KANE, KIRBY, STAN LEE, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, ROMITA, and many others! Also FCA, & MR. MONSTER on ROY’s letters to GARDNER FOX! Flip-covers by BUSCEMA/ KIRBY/ALCALA and JERRY ORDWAY!

Golden Age Batman artist/BOB KANE ghost LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ interviewed, Batman art by JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, SHELDON MOLDOFF, WIN MORTIMER, JIM MOONEY, and others, the Golden and Silver Ages of AUSTRALIAN SUPER-HEROES, Mad artist DAVE BERG interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WILL EISNER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

JOE GIELLA on the Silver Age at DC, the Golden Age at Marvel, and JULIE SCHWARTZ, with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, SEKOWSKY, SWAN, DILLIN, MOLDOFF, GIACOIA, SCHAFFENBERGER, and others, JAY SCOTT PIKE on STAN LEE and CHARLES BIRO, MARTIN THALL interview, ALEX TOTH, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! GIELLA cover!

GIORDANO and THOMAS on STOKER’S DRACULA, never-seen DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strip, MIKE ESPOSITO on his work with ROSS ANDRU, art by COLAN, WRIGHTSON, MIGNOLA, BRUNNER, BISSETTE, KALUTA, HEATH, MANEELY, EVERETT, DITKO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, BILL SCHELLY, ALEX TOTH, and MR. MONSTER! Cover by GIORDANO!

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $5.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

ALTER EGO #54

ALTER EGO #55

ALTER EGO #56

ALTER EGO #57

ALTER EGO #58

MIKE ESPOSITO on DC and Marvel, ROBERT KANIGHER on the creation of Metal Men and Sgt. Rock (with comments

by JOE KUBERT and BOB HANEY), art by ANDRU, INFANTINO, KIRBY, SEVERIN, WINDSOR-SMITH, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, TRIMPE, GIL KANE, and others, plus FCA, ALEX TOTH, BILL SCHELLY, MR. MONSTER, and more! ESPOSITO cover!

JACK and OTTO BINDER, KEN BALD, VIC DOWD, and BOB BOYAJIAN interviewed, FCA with SWAYZE and EMILIO SQUEGLIO, rare art by BECK, WARD, & SCHAFFENBERGER, Christmas Cards from CRANDALL, SINNOTT, HEATH, MOONEY, and CARDY, 1943 Pin-Up Calendar (with ’40s movie stars as superheroines), ALEX TOTH, more!

ALEX ROSS and ALEX WRIGHT covers!

Interviews with Superman creators SIEGEL & SHUSTER, Golden/Silver Age DC production guru JACK ADLER interviewed, NEAL ADAMS and radio/TV iconoclast (and comics fan) HOWARD STERN on Adler and his amazing career, art by CURT SWAN, WAYNE BORING, and AL PLASTINO, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, ALEX TOTH, and more! NEAL ADAMS cover!

Issue-by-issue index of Timely/Atlas superhero stories by MICHELLE NOLAN, art by SIMON & KIRBY, EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, AYERS, HEATH, SEKOWSKY, SHORES, SCHOMBURG, MANEELY, and SEVERIN, GENE COLAN and ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely super-heroes, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and BILL SCHELLY! Cover

by JACK KIRBY and PETE VON SHOLLY!

GERRY CONWAY and ROY THOMAS on their ’80s screenplay for “The X-Men Movie That Never Was!”with art by COCKRUM, ADAMS, BUSCEMA, BYRNE, GIL KANE, KIRBY, HECK, and LIEBER, Atlas artist VIC CARRABOTTA interview, ALLEN BELLMAN on 1940s Timely bullpen, FCA, 1966 panel on 1950s EC Comics, and MR. MONSTER! MARK SPARACIO/GIL KANE cover!

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

ALTER EGO #59

ALTER EGO #60

ALTER EGO #61

ALTER EGO #62

ALTER EGO #63

Special issue on Batman and Superman in the Golden and Silver Ages, ARTHUR SUYDAM interview, NEAL ADAMS on 1960s/70s DC, SHELLY MOLDOFF, AL PLASTINO, Golden Age artist FRAN (Doll Man) MATERA and VIC CARRABOTTA interviewed, SIEGEL & SHUSTER, RUSS MANNING, FCA, MR. MONSTER, SUYDAM cover, and more!

Celebrates 50 years since SHOWCASE #4!

FLASH interviews with SCHWARTZ, KANIGHER, INFANTINO, KUBERT, and BROOME, Golden Age artist TONY DiPRETA, 1966 panel with NORDLING, BINDER, and LARRY IVIE, FCA, MR. MONSTER, never-before-published color Flash cover by CARMINE INFANTINO, and more!

History of the AMERICAN COMICS GROUP (1946 to 1967)—including its roots in the Golden Age SANGOR ART SHOP and STANDARD/NEDOR comics! Art by MESKIN, ROBINSON, WILLIAMSON, FRAZETTA, SCHAFFENBERGER, & BUSCEMA, ACG writer/editor RICHARD HUGHES, plus AL HARTLEY interviewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more! GIORDANO cover!

HAPPY HAUNTED HALLOWEEN ISSUE, featuring: MIKE PLOOG and RUDY PALAIS on their horror-comics work! AL WILLIAMSON on his work for the American Comics Group—plus more on ACG horror comics! Rare DICK BRIEFER Frankenstein strips! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY on the 1966 KalerCon, a new PLOOG cover—and more!

Tribute to ALEX TOTH! Never-before-seen interview with tons of TOTH art, including sketches he sent to friends! Articles about Toth by TERRY AUSTIN, JIM AMASH, SY BARRY, JOE KUBERT, LOU SAYRE SCHWARTZ, IRWIN HASEN, JOHN WORKMAN, and others! Plus illustrated Christmas cards by comics pros, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95

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ALTER EGO #64

ALTER EGO #65

ALTER EGO #66

ALTER EGO #67

ALTER EGO #68

Fawcett Favorites! Issue-by-issue analysis of BINDER & BECK’s 1943-45 “The Monster Society of Evil!” serial, double-size FCA section with MARC SWAYZE, EMILIO SQUEGLIO, C.C. BECK, MAC RABOY, and others! Interview with MARTIN FILCHOCK, Golden Age artist for Centaur Comics! Plus MR. MONSTER, DON NEWTON cover, plus a FREE 1943 MARVEL CALENDAR!

NICK CARDY interviewed on his Golden & Silver Age work (with CARDY art), plus art

by WILL EISNER, NEAL ADAMS, CARMINE INFANTINO, JIM APARO, RAMONA FRADON, CURT SWAN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, and others, tributes to ERNIE SCHROEDER and DAVE COCKRUM, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, new CARDY COVER, and more!

Spotlight on BOB POWELL, the artist who drew Daredevil, Sub-Mariner, Sheena, The Avenger, The Hulk, Giant-Man, and others, plus art by WALLY WOOD, HOWARD NOSTRAND, DICK AYERS, SIMON & KIRBY, MARTIN GOODMAN’s Magazine Management, and others! FCA with MARC SWAYZE and C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more!

Interview with BOB OKSNER, artist of Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Angel and the Ape, Leave It to Binky, Shazam!, and more, plus art and artifacts by SHELLY MAYER, IRWIN HASEN, LEE ELIAS, C.C. BECK, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, JULIE SCHWARTZ, etc., FCA with MARC SWAYZE & C.C. BECK, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on BOB POWELL Part II, and more!

Tribute to JERRY BAILS—Father of Comics Fandom and founder of Alter Ego! Cover by GEORGE PÉREZ, plus art by JOE KUBERT, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JERRY ORDWAY, JOE STATON, JACK KIRBY, and others! Plus STEVE DITKO’s notes to STAN LEE for a 1965 Dr. Strange story! And ROY reveals secrets behind Marvel’s STAR WARS comic!

(100-page magazine) $6.95

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ALTER EGO #69

ALTER EGO #70

ALTER EGO #71

ALTER EGO #72

ALTER EGO #73

PAUL NORRIS drew AQUAMAN first, in 1941—and RAMONA FRADON was the hero’s ultimate Golden Age artist. But both drew other things as well, and both are interviewed in this landmark issue—along with a pocket history of Aquaman! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Cover painted by JOHN WATSON, from a breathtaking illo by RAMONA FRADON!

Spotlight on ROY THOMAS’ 1970s stint as Marvel’s editor-in-chief and major writer, plus art and reminiscences of GIL KANE, BOTH BUSCEMAS, ADAMS, ROMITA, CHAYKIN, BRUNNER, PLOOG, EVERETT, WRIGHTSON, PÉREZ, ROBBINS, BARRY SMITH, STAN LEE and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, a new GENE COLAN cover, plus an homage to artist LILY RENÉE!

Represents THE GREAT CANADIAN COMIC BOOKS, the long out-of-print 1970s book

by MICHAEL HIRSH and PATRICK LOUBERT, with rare art of such heroes as Mr. Monster, Nelvana, Thunderfist, and others, plus new INVADERS art by JOHN BYRNE, MIKE GRELL, RON LIM, and more, plus a new cover by GEORGE FREEMAN, from a layout by JACK KIRBY!

SCOTT SHAW! and ROY THOMAS on the creation of Captain Carrot, art & artifacts

by RICK HOBERG, STAN GOLDBERG, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOHN COSTANZA, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, CAROL LAY, and others, interview with DICK ROCKWELL, Golden Age artist and 36-year ghost artist on MILTON CANIFF’s Steve Canyon! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, interviews with CHARLES BIRO and his daughters, interview with publisher ROBERT GERSON about his 1970s horror comic Reality, art by BERNIE WRIGHTSON, GRAHAM INGELS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, JEFF JONES, and others FCA, MR. MONSTER, a FREE DRAW! #15! PREVIEW, and more!

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ALTER EGO #74

ALTER EGO #75

ALTER EGO #76

ALTER EGO #77

ALTER EGO #78

STAN LEE SPECIAL in honor of his 85th birthday, with a cover by JACK KIRBY, classic (and virtually unseen) interviews with Stan, tributes, and tons of rare and unseen art by KIRBY, ROMITA, the brothers BUSCEMA, DITKO, COLAN, HECK, AYERS, MANEELY, SHORES, EVERETT, BURGOS, KANE, the SEVERIN siblings—plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL—with an ALEX ROSS cover! Double-size FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with P.C. HAMERLINCK on the many “Captains Marvel” over the years, unseen Shazam! proposal by ALEX ROSS, C.C. BECK on “The Death of a Legend!”, MARC SWAYZE, interview with Golden Age artist MARV LEVY, MR. MONSTER, and more!

JOE SIMON SPECIAL! In-depth SIMON interview by JIM AMASH, with neverbefore-revealed secrets behind the creation of Captain America, Fighting American, Stuntman, Adventures of The Fly, Sick magazine and more, art by JACK KIRBY, BOB POWELL, AL WILLIAMSON, JERRY GRANDENETTI, GEORGE TUSKA, and others, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

ST. JOHN ISSUE! Golden Age Tor cover by JOE KUBERT, KEN QUATTRO relates the full legend of St. John Publishing, art by KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, MATT BAKER, LILY RENEE, BOB LUBBERS, RUBEN MOREIRA, RALPH MAYO, AL FAGO, special reminiscences of ARNOLD DRAKE, Golden Age artist TOM SAWYER interviewed, and more!

DAVE COCKRUM TRIBUTE! Great rare XMen cover, Cockrum tributes from contemporaries and colleagues, and an interview with PATY COCKRUM on Dave’s life and legacy on The Legion of Super-Heroes, The X-Men, Star-Jammers, & more! Plus an interview with 1950s Timely/Marvel artist MARION SITTON on his own incredible career and his Golden Age contemporaries!

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ALTER EGO #79

ALTER EGO #80

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

SUPERMAN & HIS CREATORS! New cover

by MICHAEL GOLDEN, exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—MIKE W. BARR on Superman the detective— DWIGHT DECKER on the Man of Steel & Hitler’s Third Reich—plus art by WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, and others!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY COMICS! Learn about Crom the Barbarian, Viking Prince, Nightmaster, Kull, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser, Beowulf, Warlord, Dagar the Invincible, and more, with art by FRAZETTA, SMITH, BUSCEMA, KANE, WRIGHTSON, PLOOG, THORNE, BRUNNER, and more!

New cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

New FRANK BRUNNER Man-Thing cover, a look at the late-’60s horror comic WEB OF HORROR with early work by BRUNNER, WRIGHTSON, WINDSOR-SMITH, SIMONSON, & CHAYKIN, interview with comics & fine artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINTSLER, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 origin synopsis for the FIRST MAN-THING STORY, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood,

by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover

by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, in-depth art-filled look at Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, DC’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Dagar the Invincible, Ironjaw & Wulf, and Arak, Son of Thunder, plus the never-seen Valda the Iron Maiden by TODD McFARLANE! Plus JOE EDWARDS (Part 2), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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ALTER EGO #84

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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ALTER EGO #93

ALTER EGO #94

BACK ISSUE #39

BACK ISSUE #40

BACK ISSUE #41

“April Fools”! GIFFEN and LOREN FLEMING on Ambush Bug, BYRNE’s She-Hulk, interviews with HEMBECK, ALAN KUPPERBERG, Flaming Carrot’s BOB BURDEN, and DAVID CHELSEA, Spider-Ham, Forbush-Man, Reid Fleming, MAD in the 1970s, art and commentary from DICK DeBARTOLO, TOM DeFALCO, AL FELDSTEIN, AL JAFFEE, STAN LEE, DAVE SIM, and a Spider-Ham cover by MIKE WIERINGO, inked by KARL KESEL!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Cat People!” Catwoman, Black Cat, Hellcat, Vixen, Atlas’ Tiger-Man and Cougar, White Tiger and the Sons of the Tiger, Wildcat, Thundercats, Josie and the Pussycats, and the Badger! With art and commentary from BOLLAND, BRENNERT, COLON, CONWAY, DITKO, GOLDBERG, LEVITZ, MILGROM, MST3000’s MIKE NELSON, and more. Cover

by JOE STATON and FREDDY LOPEZ, JR.!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Red, White, and Blue” issue! Captain America and the Red Skull, CHAYKIN’s American Flagg, THOMAS and COLAN’s Wonder Woman, Freedom Fighters, and Team America! With art and commentary from JOHN BYRNE, STEVE ENGLEHART, ROGER STERN, CURT SWAN, MARK WAID, LEN WEIN, MIKE ZECK, and more.

Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN!

(96-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships March 2010

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships April 2010

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships June 2010

ALTER EGO #95

ALTER EGO #96

DRAW! #20

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo—1961 to 1985!” with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, ANDERSON, DELBO, ANDRU, BUCKLER, APARO, GRANDENETTI, and DILLIN, interview with Golden/Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and a new cover by INFANTINO and AMASH!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo Companion, Part II!” More on the 19631985 series that changed comics forever!

The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) Marvel’s NOT BRAND ECHH madcap parody mag from 1967-69, examined with rare art & artifacts by ANDRU, COLAN, BUSCEMA, DRAKE, EVERETT, FRIEDRICH, KIRBY, LEE, the SEVERIN siblings, SPRINGER, SUTTON, THOMAS, TRIMPE, and more, GEORGE KASHDAN interview conclusion, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more! Cover by MARIE SEVERIN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) Focus on Archie’s 1960s MIGHTY CRUSADERS, with vintage art and artifacts by JERRY SIEGEL, PAUL REINMAN, SIMON & KIRBY, JOHN ROSENBERGER, tributes to the Crusaders

by BOB FUJITANE, GEORGE TUSKA, BOB LAYTON, and others! RON GOULART on 1940s MLJ! Interview with MELL LAZARUS, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Cover by MIKE MACHLAN!

WALTER SIMONSON interview and demo, Rough Stuff’s BOB McLEOD gives a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work, Write Now’s DANNY FINGEROTH spotlights writer/artist AL JAFFEE, JAMAR NICHOLAS reviews the best art supplies and tool technology, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS offer “Comic Art Bootcamp” lessons, plus Web links, comic and book reviews, and more!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships May 2010

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships June 2010

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships July 2010

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships August 2010

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • Ships Summer 2010

TwoMorrows.

Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) ®

BRICKJOURNAL #9

BRICKJOURNAL #10

BRICKJOURNAL #11

KIRBY COLLECTOR #55

BrickJournal looks at LEGO® DISNEY SETS, with features on the Disney LEGO sets of the past (MICKEY and MINNIE) and present (TOY STORY and PRINCE OF PERSIA)!

We also present models built by LEGO fans, and a look at the newest Master Build model at WALT DISNEY WORLD, plus articles and instructions on BUILDING AND CUSTOMIZATION, LEGO’S HISTORY, and more! Now bi-monthly!

BrickJournal goes undersea with looks at the creation of LEGO’s new 2010 ATLANTIS SETS, plus a spotlight on a fan-created underwater theme, THE SEA MONKEYS, with builder FELIX GRECO! Also, a report on the LEGO WORLD convention in the Netherlands, BUILDER SPOTLIGHTS, INSTRUCTIONS and ways to CUSTOMIZE MINIFIGURES, features on LEGO HISTORY, and more! Now bi-monthly!

“Racers” theme issue, with building tips on race cars by the ARVO BROTHERS, interviews with the LEGO Group on TOP SECRET UPCOMING SETS (we can’t say anything yet about them, except... camels), photos from NEW YORK TOY FAIR 2010 and other event reports, instructions and columns on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION and MICRO BUILDING, builder spotlights, LEGO HISTORY, and more! Now bi-monthly!

“Kirby Goes To Hollywood!” SERGIO ARAGONÉS and MELL LAZARUS recall Kirby’s BOB NEWHART TV show cameo, comparing the recent STAR WARS films to New Gods, RUBY & SPEARS interviewed, Jack’s encounters with FRANK ZAPPA, PAUL McCARTNEY, and JOHN LENNON, MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a Kirby pencil art gallery, a Golden Age Kirby story, and more! Kirby cover inked by PAUL SMITH!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 Ships January 2010

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 Ships March 2010

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 Ships May 2010

(84-page tabloid magazine) $10.95 US Ships Summer 2010

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com www.twomorrows.com

All characters TM & ©2010 their respective owners.

SPRING 2010

WHE N YO ORD U ONL ER INE!

A plea from the publisher of this fine digital periodical: TwoMorrows, we’re on the Honor System with our Digital Editions. We don’t add Digital Rights Management features to them to stop piracy; they’re clunky and cumbersome, and make readers jump through hoops to view content they’ve paid for. And studies show such features don’t do much to stop piracy anyway. So we don’t include DRM in our downloads.

At

However, this is COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, which is NOT INTENDED FOR FREE DOWNLOADING ANYWHERE. If you paid the modest fee we charge to download it at our website, you have our sincere thanks. Your support allows us to keep producing magazines like this one.

If instead you downloaded it for free from some other website or torrent, please know that it was absolutely 100% DONE WITHOUT OUR CONSENT. Our website is the only source to legitimately download any TwoMorrows publications. If you found this at another site, it was an ILLEGAL POSTING OF OUR COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, and your download is illegal as well. If that’s the case, here’s what I hope you’ll do: GO AHEAD AND READ THIS DIGITAL ISSUE, AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK. If you enjoy it enough to keep it, please DO THE RIGHT THING and go to our site and purchase a legal download of this issue, or purchase the print edition at our website (which entitles you to the Digital Edition for free) or at your local comic book shop.

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And please DON’T KEEP DOWNLOADING OUR MATERIAL ILLEGALLY, for free. If you enjoy our publications enough to download them, support our company by paying for the material we produce. We’re not some giant corporation with deep pockets, and can absorb these losses. We’re a small company—literally a “mom and pop” shop—with dozens of hard working freelance creators, slaving away day and night and on weekends, to make a pretty minimal amount of income for all this hard work.

All of our editors and authors, and comic shop owners, rely on income from this publication to continue producing more like it. Every sale we lose to an illegal download hurts, and jeopardizes our future. Please don’t rob us of the small amount of compensation we receive. Doing so helps ensure there won’t be any future products like this to download.

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