Comic Book Creator #31 by TwoMorrows Publishing

™

No. 31, Summer 2023

82658 00511

Batman, Robin TM & © DC Comics.

A TwoMorrows Publication

Cover art by Graham Nolan

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MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, singer B. J. THOMAS in one of his final interviews, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet JULIE NEWMAR, the purr-fect Catwoman! Plus: ASTRO BOY, TARZAN Saturday morning cartoons, the true history of PEBBLES CEREAL, TV’s THE UNTOUCHABLES and SEARCH, the MONKEEMOBILE, SOVIET EXPO ’77, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Surf’s up as SIXTIES BEACH MOVIES make a RetroFan splash! Plus: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, ZORRO’s Saturday morning cartoon, TV’s THE WILD, WILD WEST, CARtoons and other drag-mags, VALSPEAK, and more fun, fab features! Like, totally! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet the stars behind the Black Lagoon: RICOU BROWNING, BEN CHAPMAN, JULIE ADAMS, and LORI NELSON! Plus SHADOW CHASERS, featuring show creator KENNETH JOHNSON. Also: THE BEATLES’ YELLOW SUBMARINE, FLASH GORDON cartoons, TV’s cult classic THE PRISONER and kid’s show ZOOM, COLORFORMS, M&Ms, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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Interviews with Lost in Space’s ANGELA CARTWRIGHT and BILL MUMY, and Land of the Lost’s WESLEY EURE! Revisit Leave It to Beaver with JERRY MATHERS, TONY DOW, and KEN OSMOND! Plus: UNDERDOG, Rankin-Bass’ stop-motion classic THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, Christmas gifts you didn’t want, the CABBAGE PATCH KIDS fad, and more! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview! Celebrate Rambo’s 50th birthday with his creator, novelist DAVID MORRELL! Plus: TV faves WKRP IN CINCINNATI and SPACE: 1999, Fleisher’s and Filmation’s SUPERMAN cartoons, commercial jingles, JERRY LEWIS and BOB HOPE comic books, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The saga of Saturday morning’s Super Friends, Part One! Plus: A history of MR. T, TV’s AVENGERS (Steed and Mrs. Peel), Daktari’s CHERYL MILLER, Mexican movie monsters, John and Yoko’s nation of Nutopia, ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (the actress who almost played Emma Peel), and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, & MICHAEL EURY.

Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The BRITISH INVASION of the Sixties, interview with Bond Girl TRINA PARKS, The Mighty Hercules, Horror Hostess MOONA LISA, World’s Greatest Super Friends, TV Guide Fall Previews, the Frito Bandito, a Popeye Super Collector, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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The story behind BOB CLAMPETT’s Beany & Cecil, western queen DALE EVANS, an interview with Mr. Ed’s ALAN YOUNG, Miami Vice, The Sixties’ Wackiest Robots, Muscle-Maker CHARLES ATLAS, Super Powers Team—Galactic Guardians, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster SuperHeroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Magic memories of ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY for the 60th Anniversary of TV’s Bewitched! Plus: The ’70s thriller Time After Time (with NICHOLAS MEYER, MALCOLM McDOWELL, and DAVID WARNER), The Alvin Show, BUFFALO BOB SMITH and Howdy Doody, Peter Gunn, Saturday morning’s Run Joe Run and Big John Little John, a trip to Camp Crystal Lake, and more fun, fab features!

Featuring a profile of The Partridge Family’s heartthrob DAVID CASSIDY, THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN, LEGO blocks, Who Created Mighty Mouse?, BUCKAROO BANZAI turns forty, Planet Patrol, Big Little Books, Disco Fever, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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Summer 2023 • The Graham Nolan Issue • Number 31

T A

GRAHAM NOLAN Portrait by KEN MEYER, JR.

Ye Ed’s Rant: Sometimes it takes decades for Ye Ed’s projects to reach fruition!................. 2

About Our Cover

COMICS CHATTER Up Front: Marvel Invades Carnegie. An in-depth examination of the fellow who bought the license to the Marvel Universe for $2,500 in 1971 and his two subsequent endeavors, the calamitous Carnegie Hall show and the totally rad Spidey Rockomic!.... 3

Cover art by GRAHAM NOLAN Colors by GREG WRIGHT

Industrial Artifact: Vintage 1974 trade journal piece on DC’s production department... 17 The Borth Files: Part one of our three-part look at the best cartoonist you never heard of, Frank Borth, on his Golden Age start and friendship with the great Reed Crandall....... 26

Batman, Robin, Detective Comics TM & © DC Comics.

Once Upon Long Ago: Everything’s coming up Archie with Our Man from C.B.C.!.......... 35 Ten Questions: Darrick Patrick gets the lowdown from big talent Rodney Barnes........... 36 Comics in the Library: Richard Arndt gets stirred up by that saucy Bandette!................ 37 Incoming: Readers on Dauntless Don McGregor getting his due in the pages of CBC..... 38 Cooke’s Column: Three notable books received worth mentioning by Ye Ed................... 39 Old Friends, New Horizons: Greg Biga talks to Dan DiDio about Frank Miller Presents.40 Above: Graham Nolan, our man of the ish, recreated — and vastly improved — his grand cover art for Detective Comics #0 [Oct. 1994] (seen at left) with the awesomely sublime assist of colorist Greg Wright. Graham, of course, drew a significant run of Batman tales in the ’90s.

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THE MAIN EVENT Graham Nolan: Charting His Own Course The co-creator of Batman’s back-breaking villain, Bane, talks about his life in comics, long stint as newspaper comic strip artist, and reinvention as publisher of his own imprint, Compass Comics. The career-spanning conversation covers his Kubert School start, participation in the “Knightfall” saga, frequent teaming and friendship with writer Chuck Dixon, and decision to quit the “Big Two” and set out on his own direction and achieve creative independence (and make money while doing it!)........ 50 BACK MATTER Creators at the Con: Kendall Whitehouse’s pix of folks working Baltimore Con 2022.... 78 Coming Attractions: A double-header with William Stout and the late Byron Preiss...... 79 A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Tom Ziuko’s gritty hues on the Sandman........ 80 Right: A detail of a Bane versus Batman commission piece by Graham Nolan

Comic Book Artist Vol. 1 & 2 are available as digital downloads from twomorrows.com Comic Book Creator ™ is published quarterly (more or less) by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Dr., Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Jon B. Cooke, editor. John Morrow, publisher. Comic Book Creator editorial offices: P.O. Box 601, West Kingston, RI 02892 USA. E-mail: jonbcooke@aol.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Four-issue subscriptions: $53 US, $78 International, $19 Digital. All characters are © their respective copyright owners. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter ©2023 Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows. Comic Book Creator is a TM of Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows. ISSN 2330-2437. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Bane, Batman TM & © DC Comics.

COMIC BOOK CREATOR is a proud joint production of Jon B. Cooke/TwoMorrows

Hembeck’s Dateline: Forget the Emissaries of Evil! Here’s the Midgard Mob!............... 47

This issue is dedicated to the memories of CAROL STEVENSON, JACK BENDER, CHRIS BROWNE, and DAVID SUTHERLAND ™

Dreaming Metal JON B. COOKE

Editor & Designer

JOHN MORROW

Publisher & Consulting Editor

GREG BIGA

Associate Editor

GRAHAM NOLAN Cover Artist

GREG WRIGHT Cover Colorist

RICHARD J. ARNDT TOM ZIUKO STEVEN THOMPSON MICHAEL AUSHENKER Contributing Editors

J.D. KING

CBC Cartoonist Emeritus

TOM ZIUKO

CBC Colorist Supreme

RONN SUTTON

CBC Illustrator

KEN MEYER, JR.

CBC Color Portrait Artist

ROB SMENTEK CBC Proofreader

GREG PRESTON

CBC Contributing Photographer CBC Convention Photographer

RICHARD ARNDT FRED HEMBECK DARRICK PATRICK STEVEN THOMPSON TOM ZIUKO CBC Columnists

To contact CBC, please email jonbcooke@aol.com or snail-mail Comic Book Creator c /o Jon B. Cooke, P.O. Box 601 West Kingston, RI 02892 2

Here’s the secret: have a lot of projects Steady as she goes at Casa going at the same time, in various Cooke, thus far in 2023. If The stages, and you’ll keep active and feel Charlton Companion is nominated useful, though ya gotta stay committed for an Eisner Award, I’ll probably to finishing the furshlugginer things! attend the Comic-Con International: Maybe one or two of my myriad San Diego this year and the missus ventures won’t ever make it to the finish and I are planning on a visit to line (unless you know someone willing Raleigh to spend time with John to publish respective histories of Dell/ and Pam Morrow. Allan Rosenberg Gold Key Comics and Treasure Chest!), invited yours truly to attend the next but the constant refining of the various Big Apple Con as a guest at the end books I simultaneously work on keep of March, so my brother Andy and I things lively and engaging. will get an all-too infrequent chance But I will be honest and confess to hang out together. And, while Beth that some of the books were previously and I will take one more road trip in one-time stalled endeavors — such as the late fall to visit friends in sunny Swampmen, The Book of Weirdo, and Florida, otherwise it’s work, glorious The Charlton Companion — where I had work for Ye Ed.! previously dropped the ball to varying I just received the edited trandegrees and, years later with a change of script to a truly spectacular interview attitude, I finally worked up the energy to I conducted with writer Mary Skrenes resurrect and finish them. way, way back on Super Bowl Sunday, Maybe my oldest unfinished tome in 2005. Mary was a frequent colwas initially called Heavy Metallurgy, laborator with brilliant comics writer something I started with my French Steve Gerber — they created Omega historian-cohort, Jean Depelley, around the Unknown together and she was 2001. It was to be a deep look at the deeply involved with the Howard the “Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine” Duck series, where she helped develop started by the folks at National Lampoon the Beverly Switzler character. Mary Graham Nolan in 1977, and a publication that’s been on the started out in the comics industry under by Ronn Sutton stands ever since. From the start, we planned to the mentorship of editor Dick Giordano, include HM’s inspiration and the one that started it all, Métal during his first tenure at DC Comics, where she used the panHurlant. At some point, Kevin Eastman, then publisher of name Virgil North! Anyhoo, look for her interview in our Steve HM, was sponsoring my project, but, consumed with family Gerber tribute issue, that also includes a chat with (and cover matters and a deep ennui, I let Heavy Metallurgy fall by the by) Val Mayerik, co-creator of the fearless fowl himself, in CBC wayside after lots of false starts. #33, coming at the end of this year! Now, during the varied bouts of energy when I’d delve I am very saddened to hear that Carol Stevenson, Ron yet again into the history, I’d accumulate troves of material, Turner’s wife and mother of their two children, Colin and interviews and artifacts shared by participants, and with deep Claire, passed away on the last day of February, after a 22-year dives into newspapers and other archival matter. Anyhoo, the battle with ovarian cancer. The Turner family is important to study has morphed quite a bit and is now titled Forging Metal, me and I am indebted to Ron and Colin not only for publishand it casts a wide net on HM and MH, and also the many, ing The Book of Weirdo and Slow Death Zero, but for their many magazines they inspired in Europe and South America, constant encouragement and faith in me. I had the pleasure as well as the U.S. and Canada. We’re limiting the scope to of chatting with Carol at the Columbia University TBOW event 1975–1985 (though lots of attention is paid to the pre-history that took place in Oct. 2019, and my wife had a chance to sit of SF/fantasy comics mags), and the deeper I dig, the more with her and Ron through the event. Love and peace to the profound I perceive the influence of both MH and HM and Turners and Godspeed to Carol. how they expanded the notion of what comics could be. Hope you dig this ish. I authored two in-depth pieces Of course, I’m fitting this book (which has no publisher herein, one starting on the page opposite and the other the as of yet, but Jean and I will make the final production too beginning of a three-part look at the wonderful yet forgotten irresistible!) in among my other commitments, but I promise comic book artist Frank Borth. I’ll be writing a lot more in the it’ll be an outstanding history of a little-covered subject. issues to come, so keep ye eyes peeled! — Ye Crusading Editor jonbcooke@aol.com

cbc contributors

M. Beauchamp Alex Bennett Frank Borth Steven Borth

Tom Brevoort Gerry Conway Craig Dawson Linda Fite

Ian Gittler Gary Groth Roger Hill Sean Howe

Paul Levitz M. Klickstein Graham Nolan Caroline Pintoff

Peter Sanderson Cory Sedlmaier Skinner Roy Thomas

Michael Uslan B. Wechtenhiser Glenn Whitmore Greg Wright

#31 • Summer 2023 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

KENDALL WHITEHOUSE

The French revolution of 1975 was just the beginning for comics

up front

Marvel’s Folly of 1972

The chaotic “Marvel-ous” night Stan Lee and the Bullpen stumbled on stage at Carnegie Hall

Characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Color by Glenn Whitmore.

by JON B. COOKE Gerry Conway, who had joined the ranks of Marvel Comics after selling his first script to the publisher in 1970, was recently telling a story about his now ex-wife. “Carla was Stan’s secretary, and she had a legal background of her own, growing up with lawyers,” he said. “And Stan asked her to go through some paperwork that he inherited when he became publisher, and one of the papers was this contract. She said, ‘Y’know, Stan, there’s no performance guarantee in this contract. [The licensor] has these rights for five years, whether he does anything with them or not!’ Stan blew up! By this point, he was in charge of the company, the publisher, the guy who was supposed to make money for the company. And he was ham-strung for any possibility for selling these characters to TV for cartoons… songs… nothing! It was all controlled by this one guy.”1 The only projects to come out of the agreement was a “Rockomic” record album and “A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee,” a multi-media event held on Jan. 5,1972, at a prestigious Manhattan setting. A live show devoted to Lee wasn’t a bad idea, Conway said. “On its face, it made kind of sense, because Stan, at that point, was becoming a pop culture figure. He wasn’t yet the Stan Lee of the [Marvel Cinematic Universe] days, but he had been written up in a number of articles and was well-known by college students.”2 In fact, only months prior, Marvel made it onto the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, proof that Lee’s company was hip and charting high in the zeitgeist of American youth. “And there was a big Marvel fan base, and the idea of some kind of live performance made perfect sense, and doing it at Carnegie Hall was a natural to feed Stan’s ego. And it would have been great if there had actually been anyone involved who had any theatrical or producer experience, and if there had been any way to actually create a cohesive whole out of a bunch of random things that got thrown together. Like a lot of Stan’s work, he needed strong collaborators, for someone to give shape to the material to the ideas that Stan had. And there was no one, as far as I am aware, who had, even remotely, a part of that.”3 Actually, the shaggy-maned 28-year-old who signed with Marvel was a seasoned producer by the time he put on the Carnegie show. In fact, he had learned on the job as concert promoter for national acts playing Madison Square Garden, including The Doors, Janis Joplin, and The Band, and as onetime stage manager of fabled rock venue Fillmore East. The dude could also boast a long association with theatre, albeit mostly of the amateur variety. His name: Stephen Howard Lemberg.

An issue of Cash Box relayed a different version of the tale: “He got the idea for the whole Marvel project while browsing in a San Francisco book shop. ‘I saw these comics while I was just hanging out there and I bought a few, and then it came to me.’”5 The initial notion was for him to license Marvel characters for radio serials only. In their book, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book [2003], Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon described the negotiations between Lemberg and Charles “Chip” Goodman, who was representing Marvel while his father, publisher Martin Goodman, was out of town:

“MORE IN THEM THAN MEETS THE EYE” The origin story of “A Marvel-ous Night…” is a little hazy, either starting in a buddy’s pad or at a bookstore. One 1971 newspaper article shared about Steve Lemberg: A friend of his is a comic book freak. He spends some time at his friend’s apartment reading comic books. “I realized there is more in them than meets the eye,” he says. “I decided they would make really good theater.”4 COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Summer 2023 • #31

In 1971, rock promoter Steve Lemberg sat down with Chip to negotiate for the radio rights to several Marvel characters. Lemberg was only interested in radio serials, but then a strange thing happened. “I just kept asking for more rights,” Lemberg recalls. “Every time I asked for something, they gave it to me. I’d say, ‘Does anyone have the rights to do movies?’ They’d say, ‘No,’ because at the time no one really wanted to do movies. And I’d say, ‘Okay, I’ll give you a few hundred dollars… for

Below: The Man himself in 2012, posing with the Carnegie Hall show poster.

Top: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Go to 881 Seventh Avenue in midtown N.Y.C., between West 56th and 57th Streets! Above: Ad in The New York Times and The Village Voice, in December 1971. Our own Glenn Whitmore added colors at Ye Ed’s request.. 3

those rights, too.’” Lemberg says he walked away with an exclusive option to license the majority of the company’s heroes — including Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four — for motion pictures, television, and radio. The total price: $2,500, plus an annual fee to renew his option.6

was derived from a mention in a New York Daily News article.

* As for choosing the Kirby-Lee version of the Norse mythological god of thunder, Lemberg told Broadcasting magazine, “I chose Thor for the first series for a couple of reasons. First of all, Thor is the prettiest of all the Marvel characters. And there is a lot of love interest that runs through the comic. The language in the strip also lends itself well to dramatization. And, because it all takes place in space, that lends itself to the use of electronic music and the like for backgrounds.”13

ENTER THE METALLIC MAMA Ten years older than Lemberg, Barbara Gittler preferred to think of herself as the “Jewish Mother” of the Manhattan society of specialized agencies that found work for advertising professionals — Madison Avenue “mad men” headhunters, if you will. “But not only is Barbara a Jewish mother,” New York Magazine explained in 1968, “she is a Jewish mother who understands pot.”16 She also was a member of the “Metallic Mamas,” which New York described as “a group of hungry ladies who look like you could be their lunch.”17 By the time Gittler, the mother of three young kids, met Lemberg, she’d already established Barbara Gittler Associates, which then signed to handle National Copacetic’s dealings involving radio, television, theater, and records. The newlyformed professional team immediately became entwined personally, as well, and together they started work on Copacetic’s inaugural Marvel gig: “A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee.”

#31 • Summer 2023 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

The Hulk TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. God Woke TM & © the estate of Stan Lee.

Lemberg utilized his company, National Copacetic, Ltd., for the licensing deal, and, in later years, he told Sean Howe, “I owned more rights to Marvel than Marvel had. The only decision that Chip ever made was to give me all the rights to his comic books. They gave me a 20-page contract with interlocking rights and options; I could do anything I wanted. I could make movies, records, anything. It was really a trip.”7 Above: The Man himself in (In comparison, since Iron Man was released in 2008, the 2012, posing with the Carnegie MCU films have (as of June 2022) thus far generated $26.6 Hall show poster before it was billion in box office receipts, making it the highest grossing auctioned. Below: At the Carnegie movie franchise of all time. This does not include the books, the Hall show, Stan and his wife and toys, the clothing, and all of the myriad licensing revenue, as daughter recited stanzas from well as the original source from whence all of this intellectual his epic poem, God Woke, which property sprang, the Marvel Comics Group.) was eventually published with In late 1971, Lemberg told a reporter that he had spent illustrations by Mariano Nicieza in eight months pursuing the licensing arrangement with Marvel a limited edition book. Published and its corporate owner, Perfect Film and Chemical. “He borby William Shatner’s imprint, God rows on everything he owns, sells stock, accepts help from his Woke was adapted as a graphic parents. It has cost him $80,000 so far,” related an article.8 novel in 2016, with the assist of Lemberg’s plans were wildly grandiose, to say the least. writer Fabian Nicieza. Inset bot- One was to conquer the radio airwaves, both AM and FM, by tom right: From the “Best Bets” embracing the logic of “Youngsters are geared to listening to section of New York Magazine, Jan. three-minute [vinyl] records,” he told The Daily News. “That’s 3, 1972, plugging the event. Com- why I’m using five-minute serials.”9 With a target date of late ment on the magician’s monkey February to start, he was planning a radio series starring Thor,*

four five-minute episodes a day, five days a week, to be broadcast on as many as 400 commercial and college stations. For the Thor series, Lemberg projected 65 episodes to start and estimated the overall investment at more than $100,000 (costing $1,500–2,000 per episode). Plans were to follow Thor with a series starring T’Challa, the Black Panther. “Because T’Challa is Black and lives in Harlem,” Lemberg told media trade magazine Broadcasting, “that will give me a chance to use some R&B for the music.”10 Aiming for the early months of 1973, Lemberg was forecasting an investment of $2.5 million into an arena show that would tour the country, “a combination circus, light show, and rock ’n’ roll concert spotlighting comic characters,”11 described as presenting a storyline “about the end of the universe.”12 Also set for ’73, the young producer envisioned a fulllength feature film, The Silver Surfer, to star Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson (who had, at that point, a single movie role to his credit). Also in the planning stages were individual movies to feature Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the thunder god. Additionally, Lemberg spoke of plans for a giant trade paperback, as large as The Whole Earth Catalog (11" x 14") that will “stretch [the] comic form to its limits,” which he planned to sell for less than $10. Estimated release date: Christmas 1972.14 And there also was a proposed TV special featuring French film director Alain Resnais, as well as a line of half-music, half-dramatic record albums, the first to star Spider-Man. The cocky, self-assured Lemberg, described as “a fellow with long, curly black hair and a black, bushy moustache,” boasted to a journalist, “I figure within the next five years, my company should make — and it’s a conservative estimate —some $50 million.”15 But, to accomplish this stratospheric goal ($361 million in 2023 dollars), the confident young man needed promotional help. Apparently, devising global conquest by way of the Marvel universe was too big a job for just one person.

The pair realized they also needed a press agent for the show and enlisted the services of Abby Hirsch, who shared about her experiences with the two in a 1974 memoir, The Great Carmen Miranda Look-alike Contest and Other Bold-Faced Lies. Hirsch described the “couple of hustlers”18 thusly: Still in his twenties, a one-time production manager for Fillmore East, Steve combined the qualities of a friendly St. Bernard and a snake-oil salesman. His girlfriend/partner Barbara was a Jules Feiffer creation come to life, a gaunt woman with stick-straight salt-and-pepper hair. Even at the time, she was a bit long in tooth to qualify for the Pepsi generation.19

Hirsch, the onetime “publicity girl” of Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann, confessed, “When I worked on ‘A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee,’ shame dogged my every step. In between blushes, however, there were a lot of laughs.”20 The publicist’s first challenge, Lemberg explained to her, was to hype the Carnegie Hall event, which he described as “an evening of light entertainment with audience participation.” Then Gittler chimed in on the discussion: “This is very heavy,” Barbara told me, lighting one of an unending chain of cigarettes and taking a deep drag. “Stan Lee’s creations are human beings, throbbing with life, aching with pain. Iron Man has a heart condition. Spider-Man has a junkie roommate. Ben Grimm is an outsider because of his bad skin. Thor, in his mortal state, is very vulnerable.” “That’s just part of the story,” Steve added. “Stan Lee might be the Homer of this generation. His Silver Surfer is the new Messiah sent by a far-reaching cosmic power with the potential to solve modern man’s dilemma: yet he is rejected by those whom he would save. Stan Lee is defining our culture. He is a Maker of Myths.”21

(Meanwhile, over on the West Coast, Lee’s ex-myth-making partner, Jack Kirby, now creating legends for Marvel’s rival, had skewered “Stan the Man” in a savage caricature named “Funky Flashman,” within the pages of Mister Miracle #6. That had gone on sale November 11, less than a week after Lee posed with Lemberg examining a copy of Thor for a Newsday photographer. Lee biographer Abraham Reisman described the brutal portrayal: “Funky loves himself even more than he hates doing real work, and he tries to get [Mister Miracle] on his side by showering him with insincere, alliterative compliments, while repeatedly showing cowardice in the face of battle.”22 Reportedly, Stan was “kind of hurt” after seeing the comic book.)23

the nine-foot, eight-inch man, will improvise poetry dedicated to his Marvel heroes and in the lobby the audience will be surrounded by 128 huge panels, an exhibit created by Stan Lee to show the evolution of the comic book.”24 Lee, who hit it off on a personal level with fellow self-promoter Lemberg, had signed on as creative consultant for the many National Copacetic plans, and he likely suggested certain people to participate in the show. Among them was probably Federico Fellini, the avant-garde Italian film director, who had visited the offices of Magazine Management for an hour in late 1965. Lee had thereafter professed that Fellini was a fan of Marvel Comics and so, among a breath-taking list of celebrities tied to the show that Lemberg and Gittler rattled off to their PR person, there was the director’s name. But, when Hirsch by chance encountered the revered filmmaker at Sardi’s restaurant a day after she had sent out a press release announcing his participation, Fellini hadn’t the foggiest idea what she was talking about when she casually mentioned the upcoming show. She soon realized, “Most of the people they had mentioned hadn’t been signed. A lot of them hadn’t been approached. And a good many of those who hadn’t yet been approached hadn’t even bothered to respond to invitations….”25 Still, there were a couple of impressive names among those who did sign up, including noted “new journalism” author Tom Wolfe and French film director Alain Resnais, both actual real-life fans of Marvel Comics, as well as funnyman Chuck McCann and actor René Auberjonois (who would later achieve a measure of fame playing the alien, Odo, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Two other featured performers have their own fascinating backstories worth examining here.

Above: Stan Lee (left) and producer-promoter Steve Lemberg, who told the authors of Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book [2003], “If you’re going to produce things, you want them to be right. You’d have to be nuts not to utilize Stan, because he’s the brains behind Marvel… I thought he was wonderful.” Below: News item appearing in the June 1972 cover-dated Marvel comics mentioning the event.

MIRACLE MONGER EXTRAORDINAIRE Besides Stan Lee, perhaps the one person to appear more frequently on stage in the final production was Australian Geoff Crozier, STAGING THE MARVEL UNIVERSE who had been twice named “Top Magician “Kirby-esque” might be a perfect description for Steve Lemberg’s of the Year” back in his home country. After vision of the one-nighter scheduled for 8:00 p.m., Wednesday arriving in the United States in September night, January 5th. “The center of the Carnegie stage will be a 1971, he practiced in a tiny shed on Staten giant Mylar throne,” Lemberg disclosed to Cash Box, a music Island, a New York City borough, where he biz trade magazine, “around which will weave the weird and worked out some spectacular tricks for his wonderful works of Peter Nevard, who will create a cacophony onstage debut at Carnegie Hall. of Asgardian effects with film, slides, and lighting. Magician The eccentric 24-year-old, who would Crozier has devised some never-before-seen illusions for the go on to make a name for himself as a show, which will be the most elaborate production ever staged flamboyant performer in New York City’s at Carnegie Hall. Two Marvel artists, John Bessman [sic] and rock scene, was discovered by The Daily Herb Trimbe [sic], who originated the Fantastic Four and the News to be living in a 10-foot square shack Hulk, will animate a fight sequence on the spot. Eddie Carmel, with “a friendly mutt named Schroeder, an COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Summer 2023 • #31

References

erry Conway, interview [Jan. 19, 2023]. G Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Mark Finston, “Super-heroes young promoter’s newest venture,” Chillicothe [Ohio] Gazette [Jan. 15, 1972], pg. 17. 5 Ed Kelleher, “New York: What Hath Roy Lichtenstein Wrought?,”Cash Box V.31, #29 [Jan. 8, ’72], pg. 16. 6 Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book [2003], pg. 190. 7 Stephen Lemberg, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story [2013], pg. 121. 8 Finston. 9 Stephen Lemberg, “Superheroes may sandwich America,” Sunday Daily News Magazine [Jan. 2, 1972], pg. 22. 10 “Comic book series slated for radio,” Broadcasting V. 82, #3 [Jan. 17, 1972], pg. 24. 11 Bob Lardine, “Superheroes may sandwich America,” Sunday Daily News Magazine [Jan. 2, 1972], pg. 22. 12 Dan Geringer, “Marvel Mania: The Hulk is Searching for a Place in the Sun,” The Palm Beach Post [Jan. 29, 1972], Poster section, pg. B-6. 13 Broadcasting. 14 Lardine, pg. 22. 15 Finston. 16 Julie Baumgold, “Up Against the (Judy) Wald,” New York Magazine V.1, #32 [Nov. 11, 1968], pg. 33. 17 Ibid. 18 Ann Hirsch, The Great Carmen Miranda Look-alike Contest and Other Bold-Faced Lies [1974], pg.186. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Hirsch, pg. 187. 22 Abraham Riesman, The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee [2021], pg. 175. 23 Roy Thomas, The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee [2021], pg. 175. 24 Stephen Lemberg, “New York: What Hath Roy Lichtenstein Wrought?,” Cash Box V.31, #29 [Jan. 8, 1972], pg. 16. 25 Hirsch, pg. 189. 26 “Aussie Magician to Hide His Stuff in Capt. Marvel,” The Daily News [Staten Island and New Jersey edition, Jan. 2, 1972], Section 2, pg. 1. 27 “For Hulk Heads,” Best Bets section, New York Magazine V.5, #1 [Jan. 3, 1972], pg. 49. 28 Rob Greaves, “The Moon Rock Circus,” Dunkworld website, https://www.dunkworld.com/Crozier_2.htm. 29 Duncan Fry, “The High Priest of Magik,” Dunkworld website, https://www.dunkworld.com/Crozier_story. htm. 30 Ibid. 31 Richard Metzgher, “The Magick & Madness of Geoff Crozier, Psychedelic Shaman, Trickster, Evil Court Jester,” Dangerous Minds website [Jan. 19, 2015], https://dangerousminds.net/comments/ the_magick_madness_of_geoff_crozier_psychedelic_shaman_trickster_evil_court. 32 Ibid. 33 Steve Mecca, “Moon Rock Circus,” performance review, The Aquarian [Oct. 8–22, 1975] (Jpeg of clipping available at https://www.dunkworld.com/ pix-pdfs/crozier_review1-75.jpg). 34 Ibid. 35 Bob Luliucci, “Magic: Moon Rock Circus,” performance review, Raunchy Rock [1975], pg. 20 (Jpeg of page available at https://www.dunkworld.com/ pix-pdfs/crozier_review2-75.jpg). 36 Stephen Lemberg, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of 1 2

the American Comic Book [2003], pg. 133. Dorothy Carchman, “The Jewish Giant,” transcript, Story Corps website [Oct. 6, 1999], https://storycorps. org/stories/the-jewish-giant/. 38 “Health A to Z: Acromegaly,” National Health Service website [Oct. 12, 2020], https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acromegaly/. 39 Mention of many of these items can be found at the Escape Act: A Holocaust Memoir website, “Circus Jews” blog, Stav Meishar, “Past: Eddie Carmel” [Apr. 15, 2020], http://www.theescapeactshow.com/blog/ past-eddie-carmel. 40 The event’s playbill can be viewed at the Heritage website, “John Romita Sr. — Spider-Man Head Illustration Original Art” [1972] ,https://comics. ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/john-romita-sr-spiderman-head-illustration-original-art-c-1971-/a/12163611083.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515. 41 Hirsch, pg. 192. 42 Roy Thomas, email [Dec. 3, 2022]. 43 Herb Trimpe, “Super-Heroes are So Damned Boring,” interviewed by Dewey Cassell, Alter Ego #124 [May 2014], pg. 34. 44 Ibid. 45 Dean Latimer, “A Marvel-lous Evening with Stan Lee,” review, Monster Times #3 [Mar. 1, 1972], pg. 28. 46 Ibid. 47 Jake Jenkins, “Stan Lee at Carnegie Hall: Did Funky Live?,” Comic Fandom Monthly #6 [Feb. 1972], pg. 8. 48 Ibid. 49 Jenkins, pgs. 8–9. 50 Peter Ainslie, “57th Street’s answer to Disney World,” review, Women’s Wear Daily [Jan. 7, 1972], unknown page. 51 Jenkins, pg. 9. 52 Alex Bennett, Facebook message [Jan. 21, 2023]. 53 Jenkins, pgs. 9–10. 54 Roy Thomas, “The Heir Apparent,” interviewed by the writer, Comic Book Artist V.1 #2 [Summer 1998], pg. 32. 55 Peter Sanderson, Facebook message [Jan. 22, 2023]. 56 Jenkins, pg. 10. 57 Hirsch, pg. 193. 58 Linda Fite, email [Jan. 23, 2023]. 59 Barry Windsor-Smith, “A Conversation with a Dream-Designer,” interview, Ragnarok #3 [1973], pg. 44. 60 Thomas, email [Dec. 3, 2022]. 61 Fite. 62 Tone Forrest, “A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee,” reply to blog post [Jan. 5, 2023], https://tombrevoort.com/2021/06/13/a-marvel-ous-eveningwith-stan-lee/. 63 Thomas, email [Dec. 3, 2022]. 64 Jenkins, pg. 10. 65 Hirsch, pg. 193. 66 Ibid. 67 Thomas, email [Dec. 3, 2022]. 68 Conway. 69 Jenkins, pg. 10. 70 Craig Dawson, interview [Jan. 18, 2023]. 71 Ibid. 72 Ibid. 73 Ibid. 74 Conway. 75 Jenkins, pg. 10. 76 Conway. 77 Danny Fingeroth, A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee [2019], pg. 235. 78 Conway. 79 Raphael and Spurgeon, pg. 131. 80 Conway. 81 Scott Edelman, A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story 37

of Stan Lee [2019], pg. 236. A drienne Roy, “Tell It to Fury,” letter of comment, Sgt. Fury #100 [July 1972], nn. 83 Ibid. 84 Sanderson. 85 Hirsch, pg. 193. 86 Ainslie. 87 Latimer. 88 Stephen Lemberg, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book [2003], pg. 133. 89 Lemberg, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall…, pg. 132. 90 Stan Lee, “Stan’s Soapbox,” Marvel Bullpen Bulletins, Captain America #151 [July 1976], nn. 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid. 93 Thomas, email [Dec. 3, 2022]. 94 “Marvel Mania: The Hulk is Searching for a Place in the Sun,” The Palm Beach Post [Jan. 29, 1972], Poster section, pg. B-6. 95 Ibid. 96 Ronin Ro, Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution [2004], pg. 179. 97 Geringer. 98 Sam Sutherland, “Buddah Bowing ‘Rockomic’ LP’s,” Billboard V.84 #40 [Sept. 23, 1973], pg. 1. 99 Ron Dante, email to Bruce Wechtenhiser [July 2, 2020]. 100 Tony Camillo, email [Feb. 25, 2014]. 101 Mark McDermott, “Finding the Mileu of the Spider-Man Music LPs,” Web-Spinning Heroics: Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man [2012], pg. 228. 102 John Romita, “John Romita on Milton Caniff,” interview, Comic Book Creator #21 [Fall 2019], pg. 26. 103 René Auberjonois, Web-Spinning Heroics…, pg. 224. 104 Raphael and Spurgeon, pg. 138. 105 Mike Jahn, “Super-hero cuts a disc,” Sounds of the Seventies review, The Baltimore Sun [Oct. 22, 1972], Family section, pg. C-10. 106 “Spiderman — scourge of evil,” review, The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix [Mar. 22, 1973], After 4 section, pg. 2. 107 Dan Greenfield, “Spider-Man: A Rockomic” Celebrates 50 Years of Being Groovy,” 13th dimension website, https://13thdimension.com/spider-man-arockomic-celebrates-50-years-of-being-groovy/. 108 Don Weller, “Comic Book Joins Rock Album,” review, Honolulu Star-Bulletin [Jan. 11, 1973], pg. C-12. 82

Above: The Asbury Park Press newspaper included a feature on “Singin’ Steve” Lemberg in its December 8, 1993, edition.

#31 • Summer 2023 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

industrial artifact

Nostalgia Age of Comics Re-presenting a 1974 rarity: a trade journal article on DC Comics’ production department by JON B. COOKE Here’s a charming, informative, and rarely-seen item that Ye Ed discovered while surfing the interweb for something entirely different: a printing industry trade journal dated July 1974 that discussed the laborious process the DC Comics production department developed to reprint their Golden Age comics. Included are some great staged pix of DC staffers, including Carmine Infantino, Sol Harrison, rarely-seen Gerda Gattel, and a kid looking over Plop! production stats — the late Alan Kupperberg! Paul Levitz, who was editor Joe Orlando’s assistant at the time, remembered Wayne Seelal, the technician extensively photographed in the piece: “Wayne was the darkroom guy, running the stat camera in a space that would probably fail any modern OSHA ventilation standard.” (The only other reference we found in regards to Wayne was his name in the production credits in an issue of the Amazing World of DC Comics prozine, as well as in the Amazing World of Superman treasury edition (which gets a shout-out in the article). He also was thanked for his photographic skills by author Michael Fleisher in the writer’s Batman Encyclopedia and Great Superman Book. Of particular interest is Ms. Gattel examining the legendary bound volumes of DC Comics’ output from over the decades. Plus there are some tidbits of trivia about a seminal 1965 super-hero reprint book, as well as a certain short-run science fiction Broadway play art directed by DC’s then-top artist! Of course, the star of the feature article was none other than production head Sol Harrison’s number two man, Jack Adler, who was well-regarded in the comics industry for his coloring

innovations and particularly his fabulous “washtone” covers of the 1950s. If you take a gander at the last page of this piece, make note of stats of the DC mystery comics covers, including Weird Mystery Tales #2 [Oct. 1972], clipped up above the assistant production manager in the photo of Jack in his office, all covers of which he worked his coloring magic onto.

COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Summer 2023 • #31

Below: Cover of the July 1974 edition of trade journal Industrail Art Method, featuring Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson’s Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder, colored swinging ’70s style! 17

the borth files

The Man Called Borth

Part one of CBC’s deep look into the life and work of the best cartoonist you never heard of looking every one of his 85 years of age, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, a gray mustache, and a smile. I honestly couldn’t tell you why. Under impossibly blue skies, we greeted one another and Since the mid-1970s, a few stood, side by side, on the Borth lawn, both enjoying the gentle years after the last issue of the ocean breeze, and the cartoonist spoke about his longtime title was published, I have had attachment to the area and I asked if he got along with his a considerable fascination with decidedly more affluent neighbors. Frank confessed the only Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact complaint he had was every Saturday morning, when his neighafter stumbling upon a back bor from across the street, a fashion designer by the name of issue of the Catholic comic Ralph Lauren, would have his fabled collection of Lamborghinis book title. Maybe it was the taken out of the garage to have their engines run. The noise of kitsch factor of such earnestly multiple revving sports cars, a little-realized downside of living religious content that initially among the super-rich, could be annoying, he explained. captivated, despite viewing it Frank told me he was associated for a time with Funnies, with a somewhat cynical, then Inc., so I switched on my mini-cassette recorder and started mildly agnostic hindsight. But, peppering him with names while we were still in his yard. Joe in those days, when I was exGill? No. The Glanzman brothers, Lew or Sam Glanzman? Nope. posed to the artwork of Crumb, “How about Bill Everett, the guy who created Sub-Mariner?” I Corben, and Moebius, a big ask. He replies, “Oh, yeah, I bumped into him,” but then Frank factor was the cartooning there- corrected me. “See, I never worked for these guys,” he said. “I in of one Frank Mellors Borth didn’t have a desk there, so if I went in to deliver work, I got my which just knocked my socks paycheck… and next assignment (you would hope).” off. Maybe the artist — who, at the time, unbeknown to me, Did Frank have his art table in his apartment? “Yeah,” came had a comics career stretching back to the Golden Age — didn’t the reply. “It was just a drawing table. So there were people that necessarily possess an artistic talent equal to those giants, but I met [in comics], but when you don’t have any working relahis was certainly one which needed to be reckoned with. tionship with them, it’s hard to remember.” But one he recalled So, while I can’t recall how I got his phone number, I had a vividly was his best friend from art school, Reed Crandall. lovely conversation with the man and followed up with a letter sent to his post office box in Montauk, New York, in the final days of spring 2003. I was writing to confirm my coming visit to interview him about his nicely rendered work for Ohio-based Geo. A. Pflaum, Publisher, Inc. Frank’s positive reply, dated June 19, 2003, enthused, “I am really appreciative of the fact that you are more interested in my 23 years of publication in Treasure Chest. I know that it has a very low collector’s value interest because it was sold by subscription only to students attending Catholic schools. Ipso facto, it wasn’t a real comic book.” As the crow flies, my abode was a mere 35 miles away from the Borth homestead situated in the tony Long Island neighborhood of East Hampton. But the journey by car and ferry boat from my southern Rhode Island town was 121 miles — a whopping 250 miles if I declined to pay for the pricey Cross Sound Ferry tickets! — and Frank kindly prepared for me hand annotated maps and succinct directions to his dwelling near the beach, which he and wife Bobbie had built on land purchased in 1949 for some ridiculously small price.* Thus, on Tuesday, July 8th, a brilliant and sun-splashed summer’s day, I arrived at 6 Birch Drive, following Frank’s final instruction to “park in the double driveway and beep horn — welcome!” Out from the front door came the six-foot tall artist, by JON B. COOKE

This page: Above is Frank Borth’s splash panel from Feature Comics #57 [June 1942]. Inset right is Frank during Ye Ed’s 2003 visit holding framed Police Comics #18 [Apr. 1943] splash page. Below, Frank self-caricature from Treasure Chest Vol. 18 #20 [#346, June ’63].

#31 • Summer 2023 • COMIC BOOK CREATOR

* My not always accurate memory has Frank saying they purchased the lot in ’49 for $400, where the Borths’ modest cottage (with adjoining studio) was constructed and where, by the time of my 2003 visit, they would be surrounded by multi-millionaires’ chichi Hampton estates.

CRANDALL THE GREAT One year older than Frank, Indiana-born though Kansas-raised Crandall was among the truly finest artists of the Golden Age, best known for his Blackhawk work at Quality in the ’40s; exemplary art within EC Comics’ horror and crime titles of the ’50s; and, by the ’60s, his lush, illustrious story pages gracing the horror and war stories appearing in Warren Publications. During his later years, Reed also contributed to Treasure Chest, introduced to the editor by his pal Frank, returning a favor from years earlier. Through the decades, the two remained in and out of contact. Frank shared, “Actually, when he first came to New York, Reed worked for Eisner and Iger, but then they split up. He would so laid back that he didn’t care, he could sit in a room that was all kinds of chaos [at “Busy” Arnold’s Quality Comics office] and so forth… and he would just sit there and draw. He would draw with a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other, and he was constantly molding his drawing. That’s why it was so three-dimensional. And he knew his anatomy. We did have a good instruction in anatomy, we had a whole skeleton to refer to.” COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Summer 2023 • #31

Then I asked how he and Reed met. “He had originally won a scholarship because his art teacher back in Wichita had sent in samples of his artwork to the Cleveland School of Art and asked if they had any [opening],” Frank said. “His father was still living at that time and Reed got the scholarship, went to the school of art in one year before I did. I didn’t go in until 1937, ’36. So he was originally in the class before me, but in the spring of the first year, he got word that his father died, so he had to leave to go home for the funeral, and it was too late to go back. So he skipped the second year. (I don’t know whether it was finances or what.) But the scholarship was still available. He had [the scholarship] for four years. So he came back and rejoined. I was in my freshman year during the year he was out, and then the next year, all of a sudden, there’s this stranger, but he knew all the upperclassmen.” With a laugh, Frank added, “They were all glad to see him.” This page: These splash pages are from (clockwise from top left) Police Comics #17 [Mar. 1943]; Police Comics #18 [Apr. 1943]; and Feature Comics #57 [June 1942]. 27

day of didio

Old Friends, New Horizons

A conversation about the launch of the Frank Miller Presents line with publisher Dan DiDio Interview Conducted by GREG BIGA

This spread: Above is the Frank Miller Presents logo sporting the trademark FM fedora in rainy milieu. Inset right is cover art for the debut issue of Ronin: Book II, Frank’s follow-up to his 1980s classic saga. This version is written by FM and drawn by artists Phillip Tan and Daniel Henriques. On opposite page is Dan DiDio and Frank Miller outside Manhattan’s Society of Illustrators Museum of Illustration, in early Sept. 2022. Below, pic of Dan with his caricature by Art Balthazar that appeared in Tiny Titans #13 [Apr. 2009], inscribed to manservant Alfred Pennyworth!

go back to New York, I’d stop by and visit, see how he’s doing, see how he’s feeling, and just see how he’s going. And we used to sit there and just spend a couple of hours a day just talking comics, and having fun doing it, you know. And then, when it actually came time to actually do something, it just seemed to make the most sense to find a way for us to work together. Because there wasn’t overlapping skill sets, you know. I mean, his creative craft is spectacular, I have organizational business skills that are pretty good with some creativity, that I can help be able to have a strong creative conversation with him. So, it was a nice pairing that came together. And honestly, Frank doesn’t need to do this. But part of him and part of what he feels is part of his own personal legacy is to put his money where his mouth is. All his conversations about the yeses and noes of what it takes to publish, he’s actually going to put that forward for himself. And when we approached this, the first thing he said to me was, “I can’t become what I’ve railed against my entire career,” meaning publishers that abuse timelines, or abused creative environments. So, we had a pact about how we would approach things creatively. And how, more importantly, we have to make sure that there’s a level of fairness delivered to the people that are participating in our process. Even if it might be a detriment to the profit line or the profit margins, you know. We’re not going to make choices that are built on profitability more so than what we believe is important to the craft and the creativity of the process.

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[Beginning in August of 2022, Frank Miller Presents has been publishing new works written or inspired by Frank Miller. The industry legend has partnered with former DC Comics executive Dan DiDio and his brand CEO Silenn Thomas, as well as Philip Tan, Alex Sinclair, John Workman, and several other members of a creative collective, to launch this brand-new comics company. It’s a unique collaboration and venture into the ever-changing world of comic book publishing. Dan DiDio takes time leading into that launch (as well as bringing us up to speed after the first six months of publishing) to talk us through his first energy-filled project following his exit from DC. He also shares some insight on his first prose novel.—GB] Comic Book Creator: When this process with Frank started to get underway you were under contract. This is something that couldn’t be in conversation at all about, correct? Dan DiDio: Exactly. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons why because I was still in the contract. For an extended period of time I was kind of sitting on my hands. So that’s why, when I was helping people, it was all gratis, because, first of all, I was under contract. So, it was more personal health than anything. And it wasn’t that much. It was just some conversations here and there. So, it wasn’t until my time with DC officially ended, that I really wanted to return calls. But as I got through it I just kept everybody in abeyance until I was able to discuss things, you know. CBC: So, with Frank, obviously, for people who know his stuff, it’s easy to sit back and say, ‘If I’m going to partner with somebody who’s got living legend status, but who also has properties that really could be put to use in the current medium,’ he’s a name that is automatically going to come up. How and when did this process start? Dan: Frank was interested in doing Ronin. I guess he was in discussions with DC, something along those lines. He asked me if I wanted to be the Ronin editor. I said I don’t think DC would love that idea. But if you do this on your own, I’ll be more than happy to work with you in finding ways to get it published. That’s how I started and it just blossomed from there. It’s interesting because we have a lot of respect for each other. He’s one of the people that I just love to sit and talk comics with. That’s what we do. I mean, realistically, we used to spend hours, even when I used to

Photo courtesy of Dan DiDio.

CBC: And, as you’re building that, how did the company process start coming together? Because obviously it’s not just the two of you and talent. How are you making that happen? Dan: It’s because ultimately, he’s already worked with publishers. He has a very long and healthy relationship with Dark Horse, with so many of the properties… worked at DC… worked at Marvel. Yes, he had to end both. This was the last step. It wasn’t just about getting something published; it’s actually publishing it yourself, which is two different things. And when you sit and have a day long conversation about barcodes, you realize it really is two different things. CBC: Sure. So, is this like a full-staff? How does this process work? Dan: Yeah, there’s three. [laughs] I created what I call production cells. Each book has a production cell, a team that’s responsible for the creation of the book. And I manage the coordination of that. Frank is overseeing all the creative of all that. So, he literally signs off on every single property. We had a couple of creative mandates that we have put in place, which is interesting. We’re only having one variant cover per book. As much as a lot of retailers already contacted me for custom covers, and things like that, I had to just graciously explain that that’s not available. We want people to read the interior of the material, not the exterior. And that’s important to us, we want these books to be read. Our goal is not to start off with a big bang of sales, but hopefully grow sales because people get excited and jump on board, rather than pick something up and disappear. We’re also working on color plans, we’re going with unsaturated colors, we feel the books are too saturated these days, just looks like people are just filling paint on it and the books, you can see the pages soaked in so much ink that they it turns into mud on a page and we’re trying to be much more clearer and have much more definition in our art, so it feels stronger. We’re opening up with bigger panels. Ronin’s told in double-page spreads, just to make sure the art really comes to life. So we’re doing a lot of things really to bring back what we believe are the strengths of the medium, which is art, spectacle and characterization, and things of that nature that we think are what are supposed to bring people to buy comics, not just the potential of a movie being made of it to increase its collectability. Or by overstocking on variant covers in an artificial attempt to drive a sales numbers by selling the same book, many times to one person instead of many books to many people. CBC: Based off of what you’re saying here, what is different between this and what you just recently were a part of at DC? What’s the difference between this ideology and what you were part of previously? Dan: When you’re over a company [DC], you have a profit threshold that you’re always trying to achieve. And then, once you achieve it, new numbers are given that’s higher that you now have to achieve. So, you can’t really rest on your success. You’re constantly having to build on it. And it’s an interesting thought, because ultimately, you’re driven quarter by quarter, by your quarter numbers, and all that. If you see sales drop, the easiest solution to sales slipping is not finding a way to make the book better and get people more excited about the property, is to throw another cover on it with the hope that the collectability factor sells X-number of more copies to artificially inflate the sales. COMIC BOOK CREATOR • Summer 2023 • #31

An Interview with Graham Nolan of Compass Comics

From my perspective, Graham Nolan, born in Jersey, raised on Long Island and the Space Coast, and trained in Dover, I could tell the artist has a very tidy office. I could plainly see that as I interviewed him twice in one week this past winter, a conversation conducted via a Zoom-like “videotelephony” software program. Maybe he cleaned it up for the chat but, after spending three or so hours learning about him, I’m inclined to believe he’s a remarkably organized person. Graham’s career also indicates a pragmatic and methodical creator, one with a keen eye on advancement and heart yearning to take on a challenge. And you’ll learn that for

yourself reading this transcript, as you discover the man completed three years of studies in two while at the Kubert School, steadily advanced at DC Comics to become an important Batman artist, produced for numerous years daily and Sunday newspaper strips, and now completely navigates his own future by creating exciting and fun comics for his own company, Compass Comics, by appealing directly to his audience, one that crowdfunds his output, which includes Joe Frankenstein. My first question refers to a savage winter storm the city of Buffalo suffered in December, when nearly 50 people died. Graham lives only 20 miles east of New York’s second largest city. — Jon B. Cooke

Comic Book Creator: You live near Buffalo. What happened with the big storm? Graham Nolan: Well, I live in Buffalo because my wife is from this area, and we settled here rather than in “my” Florida, but I’ve been trying to get back there ever since. [laughs] As far as the storm goes, it was bad, it was heavy, but we didn’t get it where I’m at as bad as the city did. I’m about 20 minutes south and east of Buffalo, and that’s the snow belt, so typically we get more snow than they do, but this time it hit the city a lot worse than us, and that’s why 40 someodd people ended up dying. CBC: One of the most interesting little facts I just learned was you very specifically wanted to work on Detective Comics, but not only because it was Batman, but it was because your dad was a detective. Graham: Yeah, my dad was a homicide detective on Long Island. My whole family was in law enforcement, and Detective Comics was the first Batman comic I ever bought, it was the masthead of DC Comics, that’s where “DC” comes from — “Detective Comics.” At one point, Chuck [Dixon] and I were offered

Batman, which always sells better than Detective, but both of us wanted to stay on Detective just because of its history. CBC: You were born on Long Island? Graham: Technically, I was born in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. My dad at that time was working for U.S. Steel, and we were right across the Hudson. It sits right on the bluff, but I was only there for a few months before we went back to Long Island, where he was from Long Beach. CBC: I was talking to Greg Goldstein… Graham: Oh, yeah! CBC: And he, out of the blue, mentioned a bar that you’re somehow connected with…? Graham: Nolan’s Pub! It’s still there. Yeah, my dad opened up the pub and then decided to go into the police department and had to sell the pub because of a conflict of interest. So, I think around 1964, he sold it and the new owners kept the name, and it’s been that name ever since, Nolan’s Pub. It’s a typical “lifeguard and cop bar” on the east side of Long Beach…

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CBC: “Lifeguard and cop bar”? [chuckles] Are there a lot of “lifeguard and cop” bars? Graham: Well, in Long Beach, there is, because, you know, it’s a barrier island. When he was a young man, he was a captain of the lifeguards, too, so there was a lot of connections, a lot of cops and firemen were lifeguards, and so there’s a lot of that cross-over. CBC: Right. You said he worked in U.S. Steel? What was he doing there? Graham: He was in sales for U.S. Steel for a very short period of time. After he and my mom were married, he had gotten out of college and somehow got involved in sales for U.S. Steel, but it wasn’t working out for him, and I don’t think my mom cared for the lifestyle. So they went back to Long Beach, he opened Nolan’s Pub, and then decided, well, he’s going to get into the police department. His father, my grandfather, was a former chief of police there, so it wasn’t too hard to get into the police academy, and then he went from his tin shield to his gold shield, and then he retired from an injury, and then we moved to Florida. CBC: What year did he retire? Graham: Well, he was on medical leave for a few years, so we moved to Florida in 1974, so he retired probably in ’74 CBC: That must have been a big change going to Florida. Graham: It really was. It was a culture change, because the Florida of 1974 was not the Florida of 2022. There was a lot more podunk there, particularly where we were… I shouldn’t say that, I should say my mom and dad were very bright, educated people, so when we decided to move to Florida, first thing, they looked into was the schools and culture, and stuff like that. So they settled on the Space Coast because of the Air Force base there and its connection to the Kennedy Space Center. So there were a lot of engineers and scientists living on the Space Coast, and so they would demand better schools and on. CBC: Is that the east coast? Graham: Right, it’s about halfway down the east coast. Where I lived was just south of Cape Canaveral. It’s Cape Canaveral, Titusville, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, and Indian Harbour Beach, where I grew up. CBC: Did you witness the launching of the U.S. Space Shuttle? Graham: Oh, yeah! Yup, I saw STS 1 go up and I saw it on the launchpad, too. CBC: Wow! That must have been impressive. Graham: It was, and when they brought it out from Edwards Air Force Base,

we were cleaning our pool in the back yard, and we heard this noise and the 747 flew over our house with the shuttle on top of it, piggyback! It came further south of Canaveral and banked around to land at the Canaveral Air Force Base. CBC: Were you disappointed that the Apollo program was over by the time you moved there? Graham: Yeah, I was. They’d been talking about the space transport system for a while, but it was constantly being pushed back and, finally in 1981, I think it was ’81 when they finally launched the first one, but they were talking about it in ’77, so it was a long wait. But, prior to that, I saw lots of stuff go up, like satellite launches, either Apollo-Soyuz or the International Space Station launch, you know, the first part of that. We could see the launches from our backyard or go down to the beach, which is like four blocks away, and watch it there. CBC: Wow! Graham: That’s why I’m a space junkie. Growing up there, I always like science fiction and all that, but then when we moved down there and I grew up on the Space Coast, and I knew a lot of my friends’ dads that worked for [Harris Corp] or at Rockwell International and all these other subcontractors on the base. You just get caught up in the culture and stuff. And it was really cool. CBC: Very nice. Did you have siblings? Graham: Yeah, I have a brother and a sister, both younger. I’m the oldest. CBC: You’re born in 1962, so you must have been really young when the Adam West Batman show came on. Graham: Yes. I was four. CBC: Did you watch it first run? Graham: I did watch it first run, though I don’t know if I watched first season or if I caught it in the second or third season, but… yeah, definitely. I call it first run stuff. When Topps had the Batman cards, I remember getting those. I had the Corgi Batmobile and the Batboat. I had a birthday party. I’ll see if I can find that photograph and throw it into the file for you, so you can use it… It was a Batman birthday party and I had bats on the cake and a bat phone, and all that. CBC: Were you indulged as a child? Graham: No, not at all, but that stuff was cheap… CBC: Your mom was a schoolteacher? Graham: Right. Elementary school. She taught in Bethpage, on Long Island. CBC: I read an article from a Florida newspaper, about when you’re on vacation down there and she talked you into coming in and giving a talk to a bunch of kids.

Conducted by Jon B. Cooke •Transcribed by Tom Pairan

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