Comic Book Artist #19 by TwoMorrows Publishing

HARVEY COMICS HOUSE PARTY!

No.19 June 2002

$6.95 In The US

SIMON • JACOBSON • KREMER • COLÓN • POST • COUCHEY • EISNER

A COMICS HISTORY GAME-CHANGER!

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES

THE

1960-64 Volume NOW SHIPPING! 1980s Volume ships in MARCH!

This ambitious new series of FULLCOLOR HARDCOVERS documents every decade of comic books from the 1940s to today! Each colossal volume presents a year-by-year account of the comic book industry’s most significant publications, most notable creators, and most impactful trends.

This ongoing project enlists TwoMorrows’ top authors, as they provide exhaustively researched details on all the major events along the comics history timeline! Editor KEITH DALLAS (The Flash Companion) spearheads the series and writes his own volume on the 1980s. Also in the works are two volumes on the 1940s by ROY THOMAS, the 1950s by BILL SCHELLY, two volumes on the 1960s by JOHN WELLS, a 1970s volume by JIM BEARD, and more volumes documenting the 1990s and 2000s. Taken together, the series forms the first cohesive, linear overview of the entire landscape of comics history, sure to be an invaluable resource for ANY comic book enthusiast! JOHN WELLS leads off with the first of two volumes on the 1960s, covering all the pivotal moments and behind-the-scenes details of comics in the JFK and Beatles era! You’ll get a year-by-year account of the most significant publications, notable creators, and impactful trends, including: DC Comics’ rebirth of GREEN LANTERN, HAWKMAN, and others, and the launch of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and multiple earths! STAN LEE and JACK KIRBY’s transformation of superhero comics with the debut of FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDER-MAN, HULK, X-MEN, AVENGERS, and other iconic characters! Plus BATMAN gets a “new look”, the BLUE BEETLE is revamped at Charlton Comics, and CREEPY #1 brings horror back to comics, just as Harvey’s “kid” comics are booming!

NOW SHIPPING! The Best of FROM THE TOMB Compiles the finest features from the preeminent magazine on horror comics history, along with never-seen material! (192-page trade paperback with COLOR) $27.95 • (Digital Edition) $8.95 ISBN: 9781605490434 • Diamond Order Code: AUG121322

The co-founder of Filmation Studios tells all about leading the last American animation company through thirty years of innovation and fun! (288-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $9.95 ISBN: 9781605490441 • Diamond Order Code: JUL121245

MATT BAKER: The Art of Glamour The fabled master of glamour art finally gets his due! (192-page HARDCOVER with 96 COLOR pages) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $11.95 ISBN: 9781605490328 • Diamond Order Code: JUN121310

TwoMorrows. A New Day For Comics Fans! TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: store@twomorrowspubs.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com

PRINTED IN CANADA

LOU SCHEIMER: Creating the Filmation Generation

1960-64 VOLUME: (224-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $11.95 • ISBN: 9781605490458 • Diamond Order Code: JUL121245

’

Name These Harvey Hipsters!

It’s 2002 and the Harvey kiddie comics characters are all grown up and swinging with the Harvey Thriller line heroes! Can you name all of our partygoers as expertly rendered by kitschmeister and artist extraordinaire Mitch O’Connell? Answers on bottom of the opposite page.

2 9

4 5

18 15 16 19 17 NUMBER 19

CELEBRATING THE LIVES & WORK OF THE GREAT CARTOONISTS, WRITERS & EDITORS

JUNE 2002

THE FRONT PAGE: LAST MINUTE BITS ON THE COMMUNITY OF COMIC BOOK ARTISTS, WRITERS & EDITORS Tom Sutton and Bob Kanigher: RIP; new books on Stan Lee and B. Krigstein; and visiting Alan Moore ..............1

Editor/Designer JON B. COOKE

EDITOR’S RANT: MARVELOUS TIMES Ye Ed notes that things sure are rockin’ at the House of Ideas, but not all is perfect ..........................................5

Publisher

NAVAL GAZING: LEST OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT Our first report on the initial results of the First Annual CBA Readers Survey and format changes......................7 CBA COMMUNIQUES: STEVE GERBER AND ROY THOMAS CLARIFY Gerber’s not sick and Thomas is not sure we got all the facts straight in CBA #18 ..............................................8 CBA TRIBUTE: REMEMBERING DAN DECARLO Renowned artist Terry Austin recounts a friendship with the late Archie artist and shares Dan’s anecdotes ......12 MICHELLE’S MEANDERINGS: HARVEY WASN’T ALL HUMOR Ms. Nolan reveals those forgotten Harvey titles that were decidedly not for kiddies!........................................84

TWOMORROWS JOHN & PAM MORROW Associate Editors CHRIS KNOWLES DAVID A. ROACH CHRISTOPHER IRVING GEORGE KHOURY Contributing Editors ROY THOMAS JOHN MORROW

COMIC BOOK ARTIST™ is published 10 times a year by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. 919-833-8092. Jon B. Cooke, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: P.O. Box 204, West Kingston, RI 02892-0204 USA • 401-783-1669 • Fax: 401-783-1287. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT the editorial office. Single issues: $9 postpaid ($11 Canada, $12 elsewhere). Six-issue subscriptions: $36 US, $66 Canada, $72 elsewhere. All characters © their respective owners. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © their respective authors. ©2002 Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows. Cover acknowledgements: Art ©2002 Mitch O’Connell. Characters ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc. First Printing. PRINTED IN CANADA.

Proofreader ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON Cover Art MITCH O’CONNELL Transcribers JON B. KNUTSON BRIAN K. MORRIS SAM GAFFORD LONGBOX.COM STEVEN TICE Logo Designer/Title Originator ARLEN SCHUMER Mascot WOODY by J.D. King Issue Theme Song TUNNEL OF LOVE Bruce Springsteen Visit CBA on our Website at:

www.twomorrows.com Contributors Sid Jacobson • Warren Kremer Grace Kremer • Ken Selig Ernie Colón • Howard Post Sid Couchey • Joe Simon Will Eisner • Mark Arnold Mitch O’Connell • Terry Austin The Family of Dan DeCarlo Shawn Hamilton • Bill Janocha Bill Matheny • Lou Mougin Fred Hembeck • Michelle Nolan Jeff Bonivert • Scotty Moore Steve Leialoha • Andrew Steven Ronn Sutton • John R. Borkowski Michael Arnold • Sandy Plunkett In appreciation of

Warren Kremer Grace Kremer Ken Selig Ernie Colón Howard Post Sid Couchey and all who contributed to Harvey Publications and dedicated to the memories of

THE HARVEY COMICS STORY FRED HEMBECK’S DATELINE: @!!?* CBA mascot F.H. looks over perhaps the strangest super-hero comics of all time: The Harvey Thriller Line! ......17 HARVEY WORLD HISTORY: A FAMILY AFFAIR—THE HARVEY COMICS STORY Mark Arnold gives us a comprehensive retrospective of the fascinating World of Harvey Comics ......................18 SID JACOBSON INTERVIEW: SID’S KIDS—THE HARVEY YEARS Longtime Harvey editor-in-chief recounts a half-century of heartache and joy working at Harvey......................40 WARREN KREMER INTERVIEW: CREMÉ DE LA KREMER The great children’s comic book artist chats with Harvey alumnus Ken Selig about his masterful work ..............56 SID COUCHEY INTERVIEW: WHOLE LOTTA LITTLE LOTTA Shawn Hamilton gets the skinny from the delightful Sid Couchey, the definitive Little Lotta artist! ..................68 ERNIE COLÓN INTERVIEW: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNIE The versatile artist gives us a peek behind the scenes at the House of Richie Rich..............................................74 HOWARD POST INTERVIEW: HOWIE’S HOT STUFF We chat with the country boy from the city about “The Little Devil Kid,” and other Harvey Hits......................80 SPECIAL HARVEY THRILLER SECTION JOE SIMON INTERVIEW: HARVEY GETS SIMONIZED In an e-mail interview, the comics legend talks about his friends, fads and thrills at Harvey Comics..................86 HIGH CAMP HARVEY: THOSE THRILLING HARVEY HEROES Lou Mougin examines the outrageous and whacky—and sometimes wonderful—line of adventure comics ......88

Tom Sutton WILL EISNER INTERVIEW: RESURRECTING THE SPIRIT Bob Kanigher The master of sequential art recounts his brief, though important, experience with Alfred Harvey’s line............98 Dave Berg RETROVIEW: THE STERANKO CONNECTION and Ronn Foss The first professional comic book work of the premier artist is detailed by Jim Korkis......................................102

HERO INDEX: HARVEY THRILLER CHECKLIST An issue-by-issue look at Joe Simon’s delightfully quirky Harvey comics line and its precursors ......................104 Cover & previous page: Mitch O’Connell’s Harvey house party featuring players from the Thriller line and the kids’ comics. Artwork ©2002 Mitch O’Connell. Above: Groovy 1971 calendar header. Characters ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc., except Sad Sack ©2002 Lorne-Harvey Productions, Inc. Please send all letters of comment, articles and artwork to: Jon B. Cooke, Editor, Comic Book Artist, P.O. Box 204, West Kingston, RI 02892-0204 Phone: (401) 783-1669 • Fax: (401) 783-1287 • E-mail: jonbcooke@aol.com

Our Harvey Hipsters: 1) Jigsaw, Man of a Thousand Parts 2) Bunny, The Queen of the In-Crowd 3) Casper, The Friendly Ghost 4) Clawfang’s girlfriend, Princess Felina 5) Black Cat, Hollywood’s Glamorous Detective Star 6) Misfit, the Bemused Behemoth of Miracles, Inc. 7) Clawfang the Barbarian 8) Freddie the Flower Boy is Captain Flower 9) Magicmaster, the Blue Wizard 10) Dotty Little Dot 11) The Pirana, Deadliest Creature in All the World 12) Sooper Hippie 13) Half-Human, Half-Insect, It’s Bee-Man 14) Klank, Miracle, Inc.’s Super Robot 15) The Micro-Hero of Miracles, Inc., Manlet 16) Hot Stuff, the Little Devil 17) Fruitman, the World’s Peachiest, Berry Grapest Super-Hero 18) Playful Little Audrey 19) and last and, of course, least, Tigerboy (sans Company)! N E X T

I S S U E

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F AT H E R S

S O N S :

T H E

K U B E R T S

T H E

R O M I TA S

Editor’s Rant

Marvelous Times

After a quarter-century in the doldrums, Marvel finally wakes up

What is up with the House of Ideas? With the ascension of artist Joe Quesada into the editor-in-chief position at Marvel Comics, a new, invigorated spirit seems to be permeating the once-staid publisher. After years in bankruptcy proceedings, the virtual rape of the company by venture capitalist Ron Perelman, and forests’ worth of crushingly dull product, the comic book imprint is suddenly looking to be quite the hip-hopping place to be. Proof can be found in the refreshing approach taking place in a number of Marvel titles. Daredevil is once again a crime comic, reaching storytelling heights (under the able hands of writer Brian Michael Bendis and accomplished artist Alex Maleev) unseen since the days of Frank Miller. The Incredible Hulk, now shed of any super-hero trappings, has been smartly remade into a Fugitive-type series by the accomplished team of writer Bruce Jones and artist John Romita, Jr. (not to mention CBA pal Tom Palmer’s inks). The Ultimates by writer Mark Millar and exquisite illustrator Bryan Hitch is a fun, handsome retelling of The Avengers mythos. The latest version of Captain America looks promising under the guidance of John Ney Rieber (scripter) and John Cassady (art). Even the oh-so-calculated blockbuster Origin, detailing (at last!) the background of Wolverine, by Quesada and Andy Kubert, is pretty darn cool. Even the use of artist Michael Allred on X-Factor indicates positive vibes. But what capped it for me was the inspired choice of alt-comics darling and Hate!Weirdo artist/writer, Peter Bagge, perhaps the world’s premier comic book satirist, to create the Startling Tales one-shot, The Megalomaniacal Spider-Man (in which Peter Parker basically turns into Spidey co-creator/artist Steve Ditko, spouting Ayn Randian philosophy and all). I mean, what was the thinking there? For the first time in about 25 years, Marvel is publishing the “good sh*t” once again. While I know Quesada’s Marvel Knights imprint has produced consistently attractive and well-produced books for the last three or four years, and the recent no-brainer use of artist Rich Corben on a Hulk mini-series (Banner) foretold that a new attitude was underway at the editorial offices at 10 East 40th Street, I wonder if the defining moment for the “new” Marvel came from the response of Quesada and president Bill Jemas to the most recent defining event of our time, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What hit me and any number of others as perhaps a totally inappropriate response to the all-too-real tragedies, Marvel’s 9/11 benefit books, Heroes and A Moment of Silence, as well as Amazing Spider-Man #36 (which dealt directly with the events), were immediately embraced by the media, and the deluge of positive press about American comics has continued unabated ever since, leaving me, for one, astonished. Certainly, a number of factors are converging to make these optimistic times for American comic books, including the phenomenal box office and critical success of the Spider-Man film and actual market growth in the industry, not to mention the possibility of a rebounding U.S. economy. Whether or not the potentially top-grossing movie will prompt anyone to actually seek out a comic book shop needs to be proven (as the earlier successes of the X-Men, Batman and Superman flicks seemed to have little, if any, coattail effect on the direct market), the mere presence of the Marvel logo on the film’s opening credits was gratifying. At least, moviegoers who notice and care about such things will know that the House of Ideas is still around and assume that, yep, funnybooks are still being published. (Interestingly, my buddy at Fantagraphics tells me that, as a result of the critical success of Ghost World, the Oscar-nominated film based on a serial from artist/writer Daniel Clowes’s Eightball comic book, sales of Dan’s work have gone through the roof at the SeattleJune 2002

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based publisher. So maybe there is hope!) A personal high point in recent days was to witness a minor miracle, the six-hour (or so) fall and rise of Top Shelf. My favorite guys in the small press, the alternative comics publisher was facing financial disaster in April when one of their major distributors suddenly declared bankruptcy, though heavily in debt to Top Shelf, for one. Yet within hours of publisher Chris Staros sending out an e-mail plea for help, the comics community came to the rescue, putting the company back on a sure footing, by ordering boatloads of inventory. (Now, keep that vessel sure and steady, Staros and Warnock!) I’m not usually a very optimistic guy and leery as I’ve been about the superhero genre, these days do look bright indeed. “Free Comic Book Day,” ingeniously scheduled for the day after Spider-Man’s opening, appears to be an astonishing success. Yet, as innovative and challenging Marvel appears today, trouble still looms as the company continues to adhere to their idiotic “print to order” and “no reprint” policies, ploys aimed to singularly benefit the collector’s market and no one else. Hey, Joe and Bill: What’s the point in me recommending the myriad worthy Marvel titles to my buds long out of comics, if they can’t find any issues in the shops? Let’s say they go in looking for Gerber’s new Howard the Duck, can’t find one or see a copy up encased in plastic on the wall for an ungodly sum, so what will they do? Purchase another comic? Hang out and chat with the shop owner? Mull over Marvel’s clever strategy? Hell, no. They’ll leave in frustration and disgust, maybe never to enter the store again. Now, this is marketing? Is it me, or do these tactics fly in the face of logic, subverting the good ol’ trusty supply and demand theory? Economics, I’m not too knowledgeable about, but I do got eyes and the future looks bright indeed. CBA orders are up, readers seemed stoked about our format revisions, I’m actually reading new comics regularly, and I just came “down from the mountaintop,” after a visit to magic man Alan Moore’s flat in England, where George Khoury and I interviewed the genius writer for nine hours straight… how could life possibly be better?

Above: Peter “Hate!” Bagge goes Marvel with Startling Stories: The Megalomaniacal Spider-Man #1, a wonky romp written and drawn by Bagge under the apparent premise: “What if Peter Parker were more like his co-creator Steve Ditko?” While we heartily recommend this one-shot, Marvel’s current policies of printing-to-order and no reprints, probably insures that those curious will never find a copy for sale at cover price. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the issue is the startling inclusion of the credit, “Spider-Man created by: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko.” Get me a sweater, ‘coz hell has just frozen over! ©2002 Marvel Characters, Inc.

—Jon B. Cooke, Editorman 5

CBA Tribute

Remembering Dan DeCarlo Terry Austin recalls the life & work of the late, great Archie artist Below: The good girl, Betty, from a pin-up page in Archie’s Girls, Betty & Veronica #74 (1962), as exquisitely drawn by the late Dan DeCarlo. From the original art, courtesy of Terry Austin. ©2002 Archie Publications, Inc. Inset right: Dan DeCarlo. Photo courtesy of the DeCarlo Family.

by Terry Austin Several years ago, artist/editor Richard Howell phoned me. A friend of his had written a story for something called The Marvel Valentine Special #1, which involved Bill Everett’s Venus characters squaring off against Jack Kirby’s monster Goom before a backdrop containing some of the beauteous babes from various Atlas titles of the 1950s (Chili Seven, Hedy Devine, an unnamed Irma/Pearl type, etc.). The job had been penciled by the man who was to humor comics what Jack Kirby was to super-heroes, Dan DeCarlo. An Atlas mainstay, Dan hadn’t worked for the company in almost three decades, and the writer, Frank Strom, was afraid they were going to hand the pages over to any old inker who wouldn’t realize what a momentous occurrence they represented. Richard recalled my fondness for genuine, good ol’ funny funnybooks and asked if I would like to ink the job. Like any kid of an earlier time, I’d gotten interested in the four-color wonders of comic books through the titles aimed at the kid consumer, back when the companies were smart enough to have comics for children and had not yet abandoned the newsstand market. I remember reading (and rereading and rereading) my battered copies of Huckleberry Hound, Little Eva, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, Jacky’s Diary, Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal, and, of course, Popeye. Sprinkled in their midst were a few gems by Dan DeCarlo: Homer the Happy Ghost, a few Archies, and The Adventures of Big Boy (did Wimpy ever eat hamburgers at the Elias Brothers’ Big Boy restaurants, I’d sometimes wonder. Was that a conflict of interest? For that matter, never mind who’s stronger, the Thing or the Hulk; who’d win in a hamburger eating contest, Wimpy or Jughead? [CBA will gladly pay you Tuesday for an answer to that today.—Y.E.]) Anyway, “Glory be!” I answered and was promptly assigned the job/joy of inking Dan’s pencils. This professional obligation would eventually lead to a treasured friendship with Dan and his lovely wife, Josie, a relationship that has meant more to me than words can ever express. My visits to the DeCarlo home would usually begin with my rummag-

ing through the stacks of Dan’s art out in the garage, picking out some to buy and trying to bring a little organization to things as I went. Over the years, I was able to act as intermediary to get some of these old stories into the hands of other professionals who had cherished Dan’s work in childhood as I had (Bret Blevins, Trina Robbins, Al Gordon, Steve Leialoha, Mario Hernandez, and Mike Manley, DeCarlo fans all!) After commerce had been attended to, I’d present Dan with a stack of Xeroxes of pencil art I had inked since I had seen him last. He loved to see how other artists work; he’d flip through the pages, alternately crowing, “I’m gonna swipe this shot!” or cooing, “Oooh, this is one of the good ones,” meaning he’d found a job by one of the pencilers he favored (invariably, Blevins, Manley or Alvir Amancio). Dan would then show me what he was working on, worrying if his pencils were tight enough (they were). Then, off to dinner, at some Italian restaurant more often than not, where I’d pump him for stories of the old days in comics and for information on the legendary folks he’d rubbed shoulders with. If fate had been kinder, the stories making up the bulk of this piece would have been written in Dan’s own words instead of my clumsy and undoubtedly inaccurate paraphrases. Health problems, both Dan’s and my own, postponed the career-spanning interview we had agreed to undertake for the pages of this magazine. Suffice to say, these anecdotes (and a little known fact or two) Dan told me more than once, so it’s evident he enjoyed them (not counting the ones involving me, of course), as the tales would be related with a twinkle in his eye and frequent pauses for laughter. I’d like to think that if the interview had come off, we’d have worn out the transcriber with all the [laughter] indications… The first night Dan and I shared a meal, he paused outside the restaurant to stare into the window of an art gallery next door. He spoke of always wanting to learn how to paint properly, perhaps after retirement, wondering aloud if it might be too late for a man in his eighties to do so. I told him about being a painter before I got sidetracked by steady comics work, and urged him to give it a go, as I always found the process freeing and enjoyable even if the results were sometimes less than stellar. To encourage Dan, every Christmas I’d give him a book on a painter I thought he’d enjoy (George Petty and Gil Elvgren were two that spring to mind). The last couple of years, he began to enjoy working with color in conjunction with the fan commissions and recreations he undertook. His gift for Christmas 2001, the new book on Robert McGuiness, sits on my coffee table, waiting for Dan to unwrap and wryly comment on the images within, before looking at me in the eye and saying something like, “Hey, this guy’s pretty good, isn’t he?” And then we’d both laugh. There was no laughter in my house last Christmas for my friend Daniel is gone. DAN DECARLO AND NORMAN ROCKWELL By all accounts, one of the early artistic role models for young Dan DeCarlo was the popular illustrator Norman Rockwell. Hardworking, COMIC BOOK ARTIST 19

June 2002

talented, famous and successful, Rockwell must have shown like a powerful beacon to a boy born into a family of modest means, a boy who had a talent and a burning desire to do something with it, while the mundane world around him earned a dollar by the sweat of its brow. Dan’s father, Vito, owned a garden/landscaping business in New Rochelle, New York. Working for his father, the teen-aged Dan would find himself laboring on Norman Rockwell’s estate. Dan described calling Rockwell on the phone, but being too frightened and intimidated to speak when the artist answered. Eventually, contact was made. The working class kid spoke to the Great Illustrator and Rockwell spoke back, words of encouragement that must have come like a gentle rainfall to a young seedling foundering in parched earth for too long. Study at New York City’s Art Students League would follow, while Dan prepared for a career in illustration and advertising art, not knowing that the Second World War was just around the corner. DECARLO AND ROCKWELL II A local Boys Club of America had an original painting by Norman Rockwell on the wall. For Dan, this was the closest thing to a visit to a museum. One day, he asked if he could take the painting home to study. The folks in charge said, “Sure, go ahead.” And away went Dan. In 1942, Dan entered the Army and spent the next few years in Europe, honing his cartooning skills by illustrating letters home to his family and using cartoons to court the Belgian lass he would eventually marry. When he returned stateside, there in Dan’s room waited the original Rockwell painting. He took it back to the Boys Club and handed it in, only to find that the personnel had changed in the intervening years and no one knew it belonged there or knew what to do with it. “I shoulda kept that thing,” he’d sigh years later, a faraway look in his eyes as if remembering a longlost love. DON’T MESS WITH DAN Newly discharged from the Army, after serving in England, France, Belgium and Germany, and newly married to Josette (Josie) DuMont, whom he had met at a dance in Belgium, Dan had difficulty finding work upon his return to the states. The added responsibility of caring for twin sons James and Dan Junior, born in 1947, made employment that much more of an imperative. His military background came in handy as he landed a strip for Ziff-Davis called “The Yardbirds,” a humor filler about two dumb guys in the Army, which appeared in the pages of G.I. Joe. This was the sort of regular gig that seemed an answer to the young father’s prayers. June 2002

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One day, upon entering the editor’s office, Dan was informed by the man that times were bad and the artist would have to endure a cut in his page rate. Dan protested but eventually relented after being repeatedly assured by the editor that his hands were tied and there was nothing else he could do. The matter settled, the editor left his office to go talk to the publisher. Shaken, a gloomy Dan DeCarlo decided to go down the hall to the bathroom and compose himself. Passing the publisher’s open door, he overheard a conversation that went something like this: Publisher: “Well, did he buy it?” Editor: “Hook, line and sinker. I told you he’d roll right over… what choice does the poor sap have?” (Followed by hearty guffaws from both.) The editor returned to his office, all smiles, to find a different Dan DeCarlo than the one he had left a short time before. “I thought your proposition over,” Dan stated calmly, “and I just can’t afford to take that pay cut. In fact, this couldn’t have worked out better; with all my other accounts doing so well, I’m going to have to drop you as a client!” With that, he left the office and “The Yardbirds” behind, despite the editor’s protests that he’d try to eke out a little more money from the cold-hearted publisher. Dan would find work with Standard Publications, drawing Jetta, The Teen-Age Sweetheart of the 21st Century and “Pinhead Perkins,” a humor filler in their Joe Yank comic book about one dumb guy in the Army (half the work of “The Yardbirds,” right?). (Author’s note: Although Dan’s military life prepared him for the Perkins assignment, it is unknown at this time if he ever actually traveled into the future to do the necessary research to accurately portray Jetta’s 21st century environs.)

DAN VS. THE BRAIN TRUST In the 1950s, the success of the comic book version of Hank Ketchum’s Dennis the Menace (exquisitely written and drawn by Fred Toole and Al Wiseman) caused every other publisher to attempt a knock-off. Archie Comics begat Pat the Brat; Atlas tried Melvin the Monster, Peter the Little Pest, Willie the Wise Guy, Dexter 13

Harvey World History

A Family Affair: The Mark Arnold charts the highs and lows of one of by Mark Arnold

Below: The ubiquitous Harvey Comics “jester in the box” icon, doubtless designed and rendered by the versatile Warren Kremer, which graced the upper left-hand corner of virtually every cover of the company’s titles for a good 15 years between 1957-72. Note the “box” is shaped like a TV screen, where many a Harvey character thrived in those years. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc.

”Can I say something about Harvey? Harvey Comics are what we’re talking about. They were the worst! They were the most pathetic comic books ever turned out. You know what I’m talking about: Casper, the Friendly Ghost… Richie Rich. Richie Rich looked just like Casper, except that he wasn’t a ghost. Did you ever notice that?” Such was the verbal abuse spouted over the airwaves at San Francisco radio station KITS radio where, as a guest, I was invited to discuss my fanzine, The Harveyville Fun Times! (hereafter referred to as THFT! published since ’90). The host of the program was Bay Area radio personality Alex Bennett, who featured a great many comedians on his show. On this decidedly minor day of infamy, Dec. 7, 1992, I was booked along with another small press publisher, to talk about our respective fanzines. Mine, of course, was THFT! His was Murder Can Be Fun! What was supposed to be a simple promotional visit and an opportunity to talk about my hobby, turned into an argument, where I found myself defending a position that Harvey Comics are beloved not only by myself, but many other readers the world over are devoted to that memorable comics line. It has been an uphill climb ever since…. Harvey Comics is one of the most important and most overlooked of comic book publishers. Though the majority of the stories were written for children, people of all ages have read them or are re-reading them today, despite not having been published regularly since 1994. And even those who have never read a Harvey Comic, seem to at least know about Richie Rich or Casper, who despite your feelings about each character, are as memorable and recognizable as Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny. But where did the story start? Alfred Harvey was born on October 6, 1913, in Brooklyn. His real name was Alfred Harvey Wiernikoff. He was the youngest son of Russian Jewish immigrants, and the fraternal twin of Leon Harvey, and youngest brother of Robert B. Harvey. Alfred began his professional career at the age of 15, drawing up to two-dozen advertising cartoons each week for $5 each. Like many others, he was lured by the success of comic books and determined to make a go at it, landed a job at Fox Comics, eventually becoming their managing editor. One of Fox’s biggest successes at the time was The Blue Beetle. By 1940, Harvey grew restless working for publisher Victor Fox (a

hyperbolic self-promoter who was known to exclaim to anyone within earshot, “I’m the King of Comics!”), and attempted to make a go at it himself, by forming his imprint, Harvey Comics (though officially known at the time as Alfred Harvey Publications). Irving Manheimmer, owner of Publishers Distributing Company (whose “PDC” initials could be found on thousands of comics and magazines over the next half-century), assisted Alfred in fulfilling his dream and eventually Harvey built up a standard, but solid line of super-hero titles. Although it is sometimes reported that Alfred, Leon and Robert Harvey founded Harvey Comics in 1939, the reality was that Alfred alone started the company in 1940. The first book was a novelty in comic book publishing: a digest-sized book entitled, appropriately enough, Pocket Comics. Harvey Publications enjoyed tremendous prosperity, and Alfred enlisted the help of legendary creative team, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who had both worked with Harvey previously at Fox. Together, they created such memorable titles as Boy’s Ranch and Stuntman. For brief periods in the late ’50s and mid-’60s, Simon would head up the Harvey Thriller line, but we’ll get to that later. During the 1940s, Harvey Publications slowly expanded its line. Initially after starting Pocket Comics, Harvey acquired already running titles to establish its regular output. Harvey took on Speed Comics, Champ Comics and Green Hornet Comics, the latter notably the first property—this one a radio adventure hero—to be licensed by Harvey, as in the future licensing would prove to be incredibly lucrative for the publishing house. A new title was introduced at the same time, Spitfire Comics, but was very short-lived, lasting only two issues. The same bad luck greeted Super Duper, War Victory Adventures and Hello Pal Comics, lasting three issues apiece, despite the fact that the latter sported photo covers featuring contemporary celebrities such as Bob Hope and Charlie McCarthy. Even the experimental digest-sized Pocket Comics was canceled after only four issues. (Joe Simon, who was one of Alfred Harvey’s first investors, explained in his book, The Comic Book Makers, that the half-size format may have failed because they were easily concealed and thus a snap for kids to “pocket” without paying. Harvey’s next all-new title was appropriately titled All-New Comics, which premiered late in 1942, running successfully until 1947. From 1943 through the end of the war, output was kept to a minimum and All-New, Green Hornet and Speed were the only titles published. While the company prospered during World War II, Alfred Harvey enlisted in the U.S. Army, and produced educational comic books for the Armed Forces. He rose to the rank of Captain, Adjutant General’s division. Brother Leon joined the company as vice-president and editor at this time, as it was renamed Family Comics. After the war, brother Robert, who was an accountant, joined the fold as vice-president and business manager, and the company became Home Publications and finally, Harvey Publications, Inc. In 1945, a one-shot Front Page Comic Book was attempted before Harvey began the first title featuring a character that would eventually branch his line into the direction that would make him world famous, animated cartoon style comics. The title was Nutty Comics and the character was Rags Rabbit, who would appear periodically throughout the ’40s and ’50s and even as recently in Alan Harvey’s Harvey Hits Comics in 1986. Rags’ style would eventually emulate the typical Harvey approach after the Harvey World line was COMIC BOOK ARTIST 19

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Harvey Comics Story the most successful comics publishers in U.S. history

established in the 1950s. As the ’40s wore on, fewer super-hero titles and more humor and adventure titles were attempted. For humor, there was the shortlived Clown Comics and the modestly successful Dotty Dripple and Horace and Dotty Dripple. For adventure, there was the equally short-lived Boy Explorers, Stuntman and Strange Story, though the former two were notable Simon & Kirby creations, and all victims of the industry’s postwar slump. In 1946, Harvey Publications had its first bona fide hit with Black Cat Comics. The Black Cat was originally featured in Harvey’s first publication Pocket Comics back in ’41, and appeared regularly or semi-regularly in just about every super-hero title Harvey produced during that decade. Black Cat underwent a few format changes, most notably becoming a horror anthology in the early ’50s, before reverting back to the original super-hero format at the conclusion of its run in 1963. The Harvey family retained the Black Cat property when the company when up for sale in 1989, and new issues of The Original Black Cat appeared sporadically throughout the ’90s. Talk of a movie is currently in discussion, as is a Web site. As the ’40s progressed, the appeal of super-heroes fell into a lull, and new ideas were attempted to lure readers back. In Harvey’s case, the answer was simple. He began licensing out many established and popular newspaper comic strips at the time. Though helming a fledgling Harvey Company, Alfred realized how successful syndicated newspaper comic strip-reprint titles had been since the success of Famous Funnies in the mid-’30s and so, by the late 1940s, Harvey phased out most of his super-hero titles and introduced its Comic Hits Revival series. The first syndicated strip property obtained by Harvey was Joe June 2002

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Palooka in 1945. Ham Fisher created Palooka in early 1928, with he comic strip centered on boxing with a schmaltzy storyline and Palooka’s naive charm, and became immensely popular. Palooka first appeared in comic books in 1933, though not by Harvey, but by Cupples and Leon Company. But the most enduring run was for Harvey from 1945-61. So popular was this comic that at one point it boasted over one million copies sold each issue. The title begat two spin-offs as well: Humphrey Comics (1948-52) and Little Max Comics (1949-61). In later years, Little Max outsold Joe Palooka, but by 1961, both titles were canceled to make way for the ever-expanding Harvey World line. In 1947, Harvey obtained the comic book rights from Ham Fisher’s arch nemesis, Al Capp, to publish Li’l Abner and also successfully purchased the license for Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates. Neither title was particularly successful and Li’l Abner lasted only nine issues and Terry for 24. Harvey started publishing a comic book version of Steve Canyon, another Milt Caniff creation, in 1948. But this proved to be the least successful Harvey comic based on a newspaper strip so far, lasting only six issues. Harvey fared a little better with Kerry Drake from 1948-52. A five-issue flop, Love Stories of Mary Worth was followed by Harvey’s most durable comic strip reprint book, Sad Sack in 1949, though that title would graduate to contain all-new material in short order and would be the only Comic Hits Revival title to last throughout the entire Harvey World era. The character was published all the way to the end of the original Harvey line in 1982, and had a brief resurgence by Lorne-Harvey in the ’90s. In 1950, Harvey started an anthology title called Family Funnies, (later called Tiny Tot Comics). The title was designed to

Above: The Harvey World cast (plus the Apollo 16 command module) march along in this illustration that originally graced an ad in the 1973 Reuben Awards Program. Is this by Marty Taras? Image taken from The Harveyville Fun Times! #17. Courtesy of Mark Arnold & Jim Korkis. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc. Below: The Big H Kid, the Harvey mascot when the line was most renowned for its licensed “famous name” comics, such as Dick Tracy, Blondie, and others, in the 1940s.

CBA Interview

Sid’s Kids: The Harvey Years Conversing with Harvey managing editor Sid Jacobson Conducted by Bill Matheny Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson Sid Jacobson is one of those legendary editors—perhaps akin to Victor Gorelick over at Archie—who seems to have been in the comic book business since the Stone Age, is well liked by just about every freelancer, and also happens to be excellent at his job, lording over tens of thousands of quality comics pages since taking on the editorial position at Harvey in the early 1950s. Still a passionate advocate for wholesome children’s comics, Sid continues to work in the field, currently at Sunland Entertainment (the company which once was Harvey). Sid was interviewed in his Los Angeles office and he copyedited the final transcript.

Above: The man himself, Sid Jacobson, editor of the Harvey World line of comics from the early 1950s to, well, the early 1990s, though there was a lapse in the ’80s, when Sid helmed the Star Comics line at Marvel. This pic, courtesy of Sid, was taken during his stay at the House of Ideas.

Inset right: Surprisingly, perhaps the finest run of Harvey children’s comics was during their initial (albeit shortlived) revival in 1986 when each issue was spot-on in all-out entertainment. Editor Sid Jacobson, artists Warren Kremer, Howie Post, Ernie Colón and others just pored their hearts into the work and it showed. This group shot was the centerspread from the resurrected titles trumpeting the line’s return. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc. 40

Bill Matheny: Where were you born? Sid Jacobson: An apartment in Brooklyn. [laughter] I grew up in Brooklyn. I still see an old compatriot from Brooklyn who I first met when I was seven years old, and we speak together almost every week. We talk about how wonderful it was, growing up in those days. Poor as hell as we were! Bill: Now, did you live in a predominantly Jewish area? Sid: It was Jewish and Italian. Bill: Were they slums, or were they a step above? Sid: No. I’d say lower middle class. I grew up on the second floor of a walk-up of four rooms, and my parents slept in basically what would be the living room, and my sister and I had a bedroom. Bill: What did your father do? Sid: My father was in the garment business. He was what is called a pattern maker. Bill: Did your mom stay at home? Sid: In those days, all mothers were stay-at-home. Bill: Was your sister older or younger? Sid: My sister was six years older. She died ten years ago. We were close. Bill: When you were young, did you read a lot of comics, were you heavily influenced by them? Sid: I did read a lot of comics. I never thought I’d end up in comics, but I did read a lot of comics. I remember Superman and Batman, and I remember they were that important to me, as a kid of my generation. Bill: Were comic strips an influence on

you? Sid: Oh, yeah. I would say so. I became an instant fan of Superman. My father read at least two New York papers a day, the Times in the morning on his way to work, and on his ride home, he read The World Telegram. The New York Post had Superman, and I pleaded with my father until he stopped buying the Telegram and bought the Post so I’d be able to read Superman. [laughter] At that time, the Post World Syndicate had a lot of very good strips. Then, my mother read the Daily News, so I got to read all the strips in that. Bill: You were well-informed! Sid: Yeah, there wasn’t television! [laughter] Bill: You were heavily-influenced by big band music at the time, weren’t you? Sid: Oh, yeah! Bill: When you were a little kid, what was the lure of that? Sid: Well, I was a big band fan. My favorite band was Stan Kenton. I especially loved instrumentals, and had a huge record collection including Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Charlie Barnet, Kenton… I had every Kenton record, went to con-

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certs, and it was tremendous for me. There were not too many boys my age into that stuff, maybe two other guys—Bernie Platin and Jimmy McHugh—who were interested in the big bands, and we talked a lot. I even went to the famous Frank Sinatra concert at the Paramount, the first time he appeared there. That was the only time, I believe, I ever cut class, [laughter] Jimmy and I went together. Later on, I became a songwriter. Bill: Did you guys try to sneak into clubs to see guys, or just had the records? Sid: No, not while I was in school. Bill: So you were in high school at the time? Sid: When I went to the Sinatra? Yeah. In fact, I was in junior high. Bill: Had you ever seen anything like that before? The bobbie-sox hoopla surrounding Frank? Sid: Sinatra? No, nothing like it. In my lifetime, that was the first great outcry for a performer, for a singer. It was unbelievable. Bill: That must’ve been just overwhelming! Sid: It was thrilling. I’d go to places like the Paramount, the Capitol, the Strand, the Roxy… I mean, you could see big bands perform and comedians doing their acts. Sinatra was a rarity, but he started singing for a big band, and then went on his own! Bill: Do you think the big band music influenced your writing and editing later on in any way? Sid: No. I did become a songwriter for a period of time. Bill: I’m talking about the way you approach comics, do you think it influenced your story senses in any way?

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Sid: I don’t know. Maybe the rhythm of sound, the way I might write, but… Bill: I’d think it would very much, when you’re approaching dialogue—even in comic books—you once said that rhythm is the basis of all art. It must’ve had some kind of influence! Sid: When I was in college, I began a jazz club at NYU, so there was this constant interest in music, and in swing or primarily jazz swing. I went to the Royal Roost, Bop City, Jimmy Ryan’s, all those clubs, mainly from college on. Bill: Were the rest of your family into big band music like you? Sid: No, though my family was interested in music. Bill: When you started at Harvey in 1953, the bulk of their output wasn’t humor books at the time, was it? Sid: No. Not when I started. Actually, Harvey was a very sizeable firm at that time. There were four editors: Matt Murphy, Louise Hill, Perry Antoshak, and I was coming in to be the fourth. There was a whole group of famous name, licensed comics: Joe Palooka, Dick Tracy, Kerry Drake, Blondie, Dagwood, The Phantom… well, those was just the properties. There was a whole group of Blondie books, for instance. I think Dotty Dripple at the time had two regular titles, one a monthly, one a bi-monthly. Little Max and Humphrey were Joe Palooka spin-offs. Then, there were four or five horror books, four or five war books, and a line of romance comics that included four or five different titles. Bill: How many books a month were they were publishing? Sid: Oh, I would think at that time between 30 and 45. There was a gal, Louise Hill, who edited all the romance books, as well as Dick Tracy and Kerry Drake. Harvey editor Perry Antoshak, interestingly enough, became Warren Kremer’s brother-in-law. [laughs] Warren was married to a gal named Grace Callori, who filled-in at the Harvey art department, and two of them got together and later married. Grace’s sister Phyliss married Perry. I came in as an assistant to Perry, before the Korean War, and within six months of my being there, Perry got drafted into the Army—this was during the Korean War—and I took over his entire line of books. Bill: So you weren’t working on the humor books when you first came over? Sid: No. The first books I worked on for were the war and horror books, and Joe Palooka. That was when I started. When Matt Murphy went to Dell, I took over his books. That was my introduction to the humor. Bill: Was

Above: Just who are the true creators of Richie Rich, the Poor Little Rich Boy? Still heatedly debated, one side says Sid Jacobson and Warren Kremer and the other, Harvey Comics president Alfred Harvey. Regardless, under the helmsmanship of editor Jacobson and definitive RR artist Kremer, the character went on to become perhaps the most popular comic book character of all time, if number of titles are the indicator. The kid had 32 different comic book titles devoted to him! Here’s the debut issue of his first solo mag, cover dated November 1960. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc.

CBA Roundtable

Créme de la Kremer Harvey’s best artist talks with Ken Selig, Bill Janocha and Grace Editor’s Note BILL JANOCHA truly went above and beyond the call of duty in helping to see that Warren Kremer receives due attention in these pages. Our hearty thanks! Bill submitted a biography, which we’ve edited for print below: Bill is a freelance cartoonist and illustrator who has been studio assistant to Mort Walker on Gamin and Patches and Beetle Bailey since April 1987. Editor of the 1988 and 1996 editions of The National Cartoonists Society Album, for which he was nominated for an Eisner Award. He served as the NCS membership chair on their board of directors. As a child, he urged his mother to buy him the latest Harveys. Today, he is married with a young son, who is already an avid fan of the Harvey creations. Below: Warren drew the melange of Harvey characters for a calendar header in the ’60s. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment Inc.

Conducted by Bill Janocha Transcribed by Brian K. Morris If there is any impression Ye Ed hopes any reader of this Harvey Comics retrospective should walk away with, it’s that Warren Kremer is an extraordinarily talented artist. A master of design, character nuance and just plain exquisite drawing ability, he is perhaps the most underrated—or, even worse, ignored—comic book creator of significance in the industry’s history. What Jack Kirby is to superheroes and Dan DeCarlo is to teenage humor, Warren Kremer is to children’s comics. Overwhelmingly, that wonderfully accessible “look and feel” of the Harvey Comics is mostly due to this premier artist’s talents, as his versions of Casper, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, and many other Harvey favorites, are the quintessential character designs. Though we had hoped a new Warren Kremer interview would have been the showcase for this issue, circumstances led us to transcribe this June, 1990 round table discussion with Warren, his lovely wife (and Harvey letterer) Grace, former Harvey art director and cartoonist Ken Selig, and interviewer (and assistant to cartoonist Mort Walker) Bill Janocha. Our grateful appreciation goes to Bill and Ken for their gracious support and dedication in helping Warren receive some measure of attention by the comics industry at large. This talk took place in Warren and Grace’s New Jersey home and the transcript was copyedited by Bill and approved by Warren and Ken.—Ye Editor Bill Janocha: [To Warren] Where were you born? Warren Kremer: In the Bronx, New York, down in the Mott

Haven section, lower town. Ken Selig: Warren always wanted a house, with a workshop and tools. Warren: Which I didn’t get it until I got this house in 1956. Bill: Who were your first influences in the field? Alex Raymond? Warren: Yeah, I loved Raymond’s work. He was the epitome for me, and I also loved Hal Foster’s artwork. Bill: So the newspaper comic strips were important? Warren: Oh yeah. Those Sunday funnies were so easily accessible, more than anything. Bill: You went to the School of Industrial Arts? Warren: Yes. It was right next to the Times’ printing building. 40TH Street on Seventh Avenue. The school was an old, old building, rebuilt in 1861. I’ll never forget, they had a plaque telling that the building was rebuilt and it was a real ancient building. Bill: Did you take the Landon course or study with different artists? Warren: Well, in those days, the instructors didn’t need teaching certificates, as long as they were working artists. In other words, if you were a working sign painter, you’d go right into the school and teach the kids what you knew. And that’s what they did. I had a sign painter teacher called Martin and he was a crackerjack letterer! Bill: As good as Grace? [laughs] Grace Kremer: [To Warren] That’s how you described me at the time, right? [laughs] Bill: Growing up in the Bronx, did you have an artistic family? Warren: Yes, and my dad was a sign painter. Bill: So art ran in the family? Ink in the veins? Warren: I guess so. Bill: You got encouragement? Warren: Well, I took a different path, naturally, than they did, but my family always encouraged me. They never told me, “Ahh, you don’t want to be an artist. You want to be a doctor!” None of that. Grace: A lot of people couldn’t make a living from their art. Ken: If you were a good sign painter, you were slated to be great. A sign painter has to put down a stroke so accurately, one swift move of the wrist. I think that’s where his greatness comes from, the fact that he was born a sign painter. You show me a sign painter and I’ll show you a born artist. Bill: [To Ken] How about your family? Ken: I had a very loving sister. I was born in old New York, grew up with a family life. I decided to work for the family. We had jobs delivering newspapers, selling pretzels… Warren: Did you eat up the profits? Ken: Yes, indeed. I looked forward to it. Especially sitting down there at six o’clock in the morning with that heavy smell of the pretzel dough baking! Oh, that great smell. Grace: With mustard? COMIC BOOK ARTIST 19

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Warren: Yeah, the bakery was down a dark cellar. You always had these bakeries down in cellars and you wondered how did they ever keep the vermin out? You know, there had to be vermin. Ken: I guess because there was so much movement down there, the rats would stay away. Grace: No, no, no! They all had cats. There were mousers in my uncle’s bakery. Ken: That’s probably true, Grace. Warren: There was a speakeasy just across the way from me. When I was a child, I used to see the cops come and raid it and roll the barrels out in the gutter, hit them with an axe and all the beer would flow down the gutter, down into the sewer. Grace: And you’d see grown men cry! Warren: There was a pretzel factory right in the same building. Bill: So when did you start venturing more into getting your work published? You said you worked in the pulps? Warren: I have to tell you that when I was in school, I had a teacher named Bob Seaman and he used to come up to me and say, “Are you doing anything after school?” I’d say no, and he’d say, “You want to come up to my studio and help me?” I said, “Why, sure!” So he’d take me up to 59TH Street, into the same loft we worked in for the Harveys many years later—I used to work up there in the old Journal-American, promotion and advertising section… Ken: That was a two-story building. Warren: A loft, I remember. Ken: And that’s where you worked doing Sad Sack for King Features in that building. Warren: You’re right. Well, they had the entire loft. It was a promotion. I used to do presentations with them. Seaman taught me how to do presentations so that eventually when I worked at Ace Magazines, and they wanted to do a presentation, I made up a little dummy and gave it to them in the mail, they okayed it, and I did the finished presentations. Then I got a job in a publishing house for Ace Magazines. This was during World War II. They had dropped the atomic bomb when I worked there. I remember coming down the lobby and everybody was excited about the atom bomb. I didn’t know what the hell an atom bomb was! I had never even heard of it. Bill: So you started as an illustrator? Warren: Yes, I did. I just went up there with a portfolio. Ace had this editor named Fred Gardener. He couldn’t draw but knew what was good and he’d come look over your shoulder and say, “That’s enough. Don’t spend any more time on that. Get moving onto something else.” That way he got the magazine out on time. Bill: These were adventure, horror or gangster stories? Warren: No, one was a confession pulp called Secrets, the Revealing Romances! [laughs] Well, that’s what I worked on. Bill: It would be guy/girl stuff with women scorned, things like that? What reference were you using? Photos or models? Ken: It was all black-&-white, right? Warren: Those were pulp illustrations. Ken: The pulps really lasted up to the ’50s. Raymond Chandler was big in those

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days. Bill: So, then, that lasted until…? Warren: I think it was in 1939. I used to draw pulp illustrations and also did wash illustrations for the aviation book that was printed in rotogravure. Do you remember that process? They did comic pages in the ’60s, they put out an inquiry, it said “roto comics.” That was all of us: Broome and Avery and all of the cut off before. Yeah, St. John was doing that and he heard of me and called me to his office to do a story on roto in New York for his comic book, which I did. In one day, we shot every picture down in Greenwich Village. The photographer was a newsman and, boy, could he hustle! He didn’t want to waste any time. So I drew up the whole story in storyboard form and we’d go to a location and set the scene up with the shooter. Maybe take three shots and then go to another scene

Above: March 1975 pic of the legendary Warren Kremer at his art table in the Harvey offices. Courtesy of Bill Janocha. Below: Warren’s masterpiece, Stumbo the Giant, mighty protector of Tinytown, in a splash panel detail from Devil Kids #20. Though the character’s solo title was relatively short-lived, he remained as permanent back-up in the pages of Hot Stuff. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc.

CBA Interview

Whole Lotta Little Lotta! The charming Sid Couchey recalls 30+ years with Harvey Below: From top, it’s Dot and Champy (the Lake Champlain monster), Richie, and Lotta. Sid Couchey carries the burden. From a ’94 SUNY Plattsburgh Art Museum event postcard announcing an exhibit featuring art by Sid, Garry Trudeau, Reg Smythe, Al Capp, and others. Courtesy of the artist. Characters (except Champy) ©2002 Harvey Entertainment. Art ©2002 Sid Couchey.

Conducted by Shawn Hamilton Transcribed by Sam Gafford Sid Couchey’s unique, quirky and utterly charming drawing style is immediately identifiable in the hundreds of Little Lotta, Richie Rich and Little Dot stories he executed for Harvey Comics between the 1950s and ’80s. Last year, Shawn Hamilton—who works for the North Carolina comic shop franchise, The Great Escape—contacted Ye Ed to suggest an interview with this delightful artist, a suggestion CBA is quite grateful for as surviving Harvey contributors are certainly difficult to come by! Many thanks to Shawn and the artist (especially for the wealth of cool stuff loaned by Mr. Couchey!). This interview was conducted by phone and was copyedited by Sid. Shawn Hamilton: Where are you originally from, Sid? Sid Couchey: I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 24, 1919. We only lived there a short time, just long enough for my father to get acquainted with Tris Speaker, the old Baseball Hall of Famer. So I’ve been a Cleveland Indian fan ever since. Now that we’re living in upstate New York, that’s not easy! We also lived in Saginaw, Michigan, and Champagne, Illinois. But every Summer we came to Essex, New York, in the Adirondacks on Lake Champlain, not far from Lake Placid. We moved back here permanently in 1961. I have a son, Brian, with wife, Suze, and five grandchildren who live in Spartanburg (Inman), South Carolina. Also, a daughter, Laura, and son-in-law, Tony Abate, living in Brunswick, a suburb of Troy, New York. I had done some cartooning on my own but never had any schooling in art except for one year in ninth grade. Before I went to art school, I attended Essex High School and before that I went to school in Champagne for ninth grade where there were 1500 students. Than I came up to Essex and became valedictorian in my high school. (Later on, I met my wife down in New York City, we got married and moved up to Essex where someone told her that there were only five people in my graduating class. Being valedictorian didn’t cut any ice with my wife any more! [laughs]). I heard there was a school for cartoonists in New York City. I applied but it was filled up with ex-GIs, so I went to a general art school that was located in the penthouse of the Flat Iron Building, called the Art Career School. I received a good basic art education which, I found out served me quite well in that they taught me how to—and what to—exaggerate and distort more meaningfully in order to emphasize incongruity in humor. During my lunch I would spend time up on the rooftop looking over New York City and the other art school I would later attend—The School of Visual Arts on 23RD Street. The head man there was Burne Hogarth. We had some good teachers including Tom Gill and Jack Markow. Shawn: Oh, sure Tom Gill drew The Lone

Ranger for Dell! Sid: That’s right. We had a lot of guest speakers come in from time to time. Incidentally, Milton Caniff came and did a demonstration and he was just tops. I asked Mr. Caniff (I was working on an idea for a strip) what he thought the next comics “wave” would be about. He said the comics business was all cyclical and all you can do is to try and anticipate the next cycle. This would be in the ’50s and he said that he personally thought that comic Westerns would be the next big wave. So I drew this strip called Wild West Wilbur. Unfortunately, if there was a bandwagon there, I never got on it! Good schooling there, though. Shawn: It seems that a lot of the people CBA interviews went through that school. It’s amazing some of the talent that came from there. Sid: It’s a great school. They presented and produced all kinds of art and artists. I never realized the latitude they offered. I mean, I look at all the art courses and I am only in one area—cartooning—but there’s such a variety within that umbrella. Caricaturing, comic books, magazine illustrating, fashion, etc. Then throw in the head man, Burne Hogarth, who loved to teach in the classroom. We had a number of classmates who did very well and Jerry Marcus (Trudy) comes to mind. The first art work I got was with a man named John Lehti, who had a daily strip called Tommy of the Big Top. I did his backgrounds for a couple years. Then he got another contract for a Sunday page based on the Bible called Tales from the Great Book. That was in big papers and I also did the backgrounds. These were made in to four comic book issues. Shawn: Was that for Max Gaines at EC? Sid: No. Gaines had a title about the New Testament. (Incidentally, my pastor contributed something to that.) John Lehti was the first real job I had. Then I had some nibbles but the first comic work I did, a five-page strip for “Hoot” Gibson of Fox Studios. Then I found out that Fox went bankrupt and I never got paid! So I had the thrill of having my work published but no check to show. Shawn: Do you know about when that would have been? Sid: That was in the ’50s. It’s listed in the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. It’s interesting but there weren’t many made. I don’t know if you’ve met Dan Busha but I get most of my information from COMIC BOOK ARTIST 19

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him. He tells me the “Hoot” Gibson material is fairly well sought after. So after Tommy of the Big Top, Tales from the Great Book and the “Hoot” Gibson stuff, I did a few things for Famous Funnies, specifically Heroic Comics. I found out that in Heroic #70, Frank Frazetta had back-to-back two-page stories with me, both having to do with life-saving stories about heroic firemen. Being up here in Essex, I really wasn’t in touch with what was current and didn’t know, until recently, that Frazetta’s popularity had gone ballistic with fantasy art. One day the Famous Funnies editor called me up and said, “We’re folding, so come in and get your stuff.” I went in and the guy brought me to the storage room and said, “Take whatever you want.” I took my stuff and then I’m looking around at all this other leftover material and I saw Frazetta’s work so I took about six to eight pages of his stuff. The next day the phone rang and I was asked if I had taken my stuff. I said, “Yes.” Their next question, “Did you happen to take any of Frazetta’s pages?” I said, “Yeah, come to think of it, I did.” They said, “You had better bring it in because Frank is really upset.” So I had six to eight pages of Frank Frazetta’s work for about 24 hours! [laughs]. John Lehti used to take me to the National Cartoonists Society meeting that was very interesting. I went once when Rube Goldberg was president and Al Capp, Ham Fisher and Otto Soglow (The Little King) were there along with many others. Shawn: That place was just a Who’s Who of cartooning. Sid: I had the opportunity to join later but was coming up here and thought it wasn’t worth it. Although now, it would be interesting to go down and see how that’s changed and what’s going on these days. Shawn: When you were working at Heroic, were you allowed to sign your own names? Sid: Yes. My stories are in the #60s and #70s. Interesting work. Then along came Harvey and that became my livelihood. Some boys who had been at VA with me said that Harvey was looking for some artists. It wasn’t a project they were interested in. I went over, talked to Leon Harvey, Warren Kremer, Sid Jacobson and went to work. Sid would give me the assignments and, after I worked with the spec sheets, I started drawing Little Lotta and Little Dot. Shawn: I was going to ask you that if you started doing work with Heroic Comics, that obviously wasn’t the same style as Harvey? Your style, even though it fits the spec sheets... I can tell your work when I look at a Harvey book. Sid: That’s good, but it’s also a source of embarrassment because I was very green. When I look at some of that stuff now, I cringe. I would love to go back and substitute some of my recent work for that early stuff! [laughs] Anyway, Warren Kremer blew me away with his versatility and speed. Any artist who has seen him work would say the same thing. I would draw my five pages, Warren would edit or correct them and I would get new work. Then in 1959, I got married June 2002

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to Ruth and they said I could go freelance and mail my assignments in. That’s when we headed back to upstate New York. That being the case, I never really knew any of the other Harvey artists, although I met Howie Post one time in the office but that was about it. I did, of course, work with Sid Jacobson, Warren Kremer and saw Leon Harvey occasionally but didn’t really come in contact with anyone after I left. Shawn: You were saying that when you went in, you met with Warren. Did Warren have a hand in hiring the artists? Sid: I have no evidence of it but I just assumed that if you didn’t pass muster with him, you weren’t hired. They just turned me over to him to begin with to try and shape me up. Shawn: So when new artists came in, he would be the one to look them over and give the okay? Sid: To my knowledge, that’s the way he did it. I never actually saw him do it with anyone else but that was my assumption. From my experience, Warren was the guy who worked with the artists. Shawn: You drew Little Lotta and Little Dot? Sid: That’s right, I did those titles for a while before I did Richie Rich. Shawn: Wasn’t Richie Rich introduced in one of those titles? Sid: Yes, in Little Dot, but that was long before I arrived. I drew Richie Rich from about 1961 or ’62 into the ’70s, but I had drawn Little Dot and Lotta during the ’50s. Anyway, here are some of the experiences I had at Harvey, although it mainly involved getting scripts. I would draw lots of things to amuse myself in the backgrounds. I’d put in signs saying “Essex High School,” ”Willsboro Bowling Alley,” “Lake Champlain Ferry.” All local stuff. I have probably a hundred books that have local references in them. One time, there was this ferry that went between Essex, New York, and Charlotte, Vermont. The Ferry Company got a letter one time saying that they had read in a comic book that Richie Rich had taken a ferry on this local New York to Vermont connection. Curious how Richie got into our area, the company sent the letter to Harvey asking for an explanation. Sid Jacobson apparently checked the files and returned a letter to the affect that Richie was very wealthy, could show up anywhere, and furthermore they had their spy (presumably me) in the area so watch for further “Harvey” activity! [laughter] One time I put a

Inset left: Detail of Lotta by Sid Couchey, the character most closely associated with the artist (though he also drew Little Dot and Richie Rich for as many years). From Richie Rich #7. ©2002 Harvey Entertainment, Inc. Below: The man himself in a recent portrait. Courtesy of Sid.