By Michael Eury
Dedication
To Adam West, the best Batman. Ever. Writer and editor: Michael Eury Cover and book design: Scott Saavedra Proofreader: Rob Smentek Publisher: John Morrow TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 www.twomorrows.com • 919-449-0344 twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • April 2017 Printed in China ISBN 978-1-60549-073-1
Hero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, and Culture of the Swinging Sixties © 2017 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. All rights reserved under international and Pan-American copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, Photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. All reproductions in this historical overview of comic books and popular culture are copyright by the respective copyright holders, and are used here strictly for historical purposes. Attempts have been made to properly attribute copyrights for use in this book; if you are a valid copyright-holder and have not been properly credited, please contact TwoMorrows so that this can be corrected in any future printings. The viewpoints expressed in the text are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TwoMorrows Publishing.
Abbott and Costello TM & © RKO General Inc., Jomar Productions Inc., and Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. Aqualad, Aquaman, the Atom, Batgirl, Batman, Blackhawk, Blue Beetle, B’Wana Beast, Detective Comics, Dial H for Hero, Ding-A-Lings, Doll Man, Eclipso, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Inferior Five, Jimmy Olsen, Justice League of America, King Faraday, the Maniaks, Mera, Metamorpho, Mr. Terrific, Peacemaker, Plastic Man, Robin the Boy Wonder, Sarge Steel, Shazam! (the original Captain Marvel), Showcase, Super-Hip, Superman, Swing with Scooter, Teen Beam, Teen Beat, Teen Titans, Ultra the Multi-Alien, Waverider, Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman, and related characters TM & © DC Comics. Archie, the Archies, Captain Sprocket, Little Archie, the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Pureheart the Powerful, the Shield, Steel Sterling, and related characters TM & © Archie Publications, Inc. Atom Ant, Birdman, Dino Boy, the Flintstones, Frankenstein, Jr., the Galaxy Trio, the Herculoids, the Impossibles, Jonny Quest, Mighty Mightor, Moby Dick, Samson and Goliath, Secret Squirrel, Shazzan, Space Ghost TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions. The Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, the Mighty Thor, Millie the Model, Nick Fury, Not Brand Echh, Pussycat, Sgt. Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D., Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, and related characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. The Avengers (John Steed and Emma Peel) TM & © ABC Television London. Batfink, Fearless Fly, Milton the Monster © Hal Seegar Productions. Beach Blanket Bingo, Sinbad Jr. TM & © AIP. The Beagles TM & © Total TeleVision. The Beatles TM & © Apple Corps. Captain Action TM & © Captain Action Enterprises, LLC. Captain Klutz TM & © Don Martin. MAD logo TM & © E.C. Publications, Inc. Illustrations (pp 145, 146, and 147) © Don Martin. Photograph (p. 145) © Don Martin. Captain Nice, T.H.E. Cat TM & © NBC. Casper the Friendly Ghost, Fruitman, Lone Ranger and Tonto, Nightmare, Wendy TM & © DreamWorks Classics. Charlie Chan TM & © Fox Film Corp. Circus Boy TM & © Norbert Productions/Screen Gems. Cool McCool TM & © King Features. Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse TM & © Trans-Artists Productions. Cowboy in Africa, Flipper TM & © Ivan Tors Films, Inc. The Cowsills TM & © Cowsills-Stogel, Inc. Danger Man/ Secret Agent TM & © Independent Television Corporation (ITC). Dick Tracy TM & © Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Doc Shadow and the Shadow TM & © Condé Nast Publications, Inc. Dynamo, Menthor, NoMan, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Undersea Agent TM & © Radiant Assets, LLC. Fearless Frank TM & © Trans American Films. The Fighting American, Fly Man, Sick Magazine, Young Jack Kennedy TM & © the Joe Simon estate. George of the Jungle, Super Chicken TM and © Bullwinkle Studios. Get Smart TM & © Home Box Office, Inc. The Great Society Comic Book, Bobman and Teddy TM & © D. J. Arneson and Tony Tallarico. The Green Hornet and Kato TM & © The Green Hornet, Inc. Hashimoto-San, Dinky Duck, The Mighty Heroes, Mighty Mouse, The Wild, Wild West TM & © CBS. Herbie the Fat Fury, Magicman, Nemesis TM & © Roger Broughton. I Spy TM & © 3F Productions. James Bond TM & © Danjaq and Eon Productions. Jet Dream, John Steele, Space Family Robinson TM & © Random House, Inc. King Kong, The Mighty Hercules, Roger Ramjet, Underdog TM & © Classic Media. Land of the Giants, Time Tunnel, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TM & © Irwin Allen Properties, LLC/20th Century Fox Film Corporation. Lost in Space® TM & © Legend Pictures, LLC. MAD Magazine TM & © E.C. Publications, Inc. The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. TM & © Warner Bros./Turner Entertainment. Mickey Mouse, the Phantom Blot, Super Goof TM & © Disney Enterprises, Inc. The Misfits TM & © Wallace Wood Properties, LLC. Mission: Impossible TM & © Paramount Pictures. Mr. Terrific, The Return of the Original Yellow Tornado TM & © Universal Television/Universal Studios. The Monkees TM & © Rhino Entertainment Company. The Owl and Owl Girl TM & © Dynamite Characters, LLC. Rocket Robin Hood TM & © Centaur Distribution Corporation. Sad Sack, G.I. Juniors, Super Kids, and related characters TM & © Sad Sack, Inc. Sea Hunt TM & © United Artists Television. The Spirit TM & © Will Eisner Studios Inc. Super 6, Super President TM & © DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Tarzan TM & © Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB), Inc. The Adventures of Bob Hope, The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, B-Man, Blast Off, Dracula (Dell), Fatman the Human Flying Saucer, Frankenstein (Dell), Go-Go, Jack Quick Frost, Jigsaw, Magic Agent, Miracles Inc., Pirana, Spyman, Super Green Beret, Superheroes (Dell), Super Luck, Teen-In, Tiffany Sinn, Tiger Boy, Tiger Girl, Tippy Teen, Werewolf (Dell) TM & © the respective copyright holders.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: Goin’ to a Go-Go
4
CHAPTER 1: Campfire
6
Eclipso............................................................................................................................................7 Superman and the Giant Cyclops..............................................................9 Magicman and Nemesis.........................................................................................12 The Teen Titans...............................................................................................................14 Metamorpho, the Element Man...................................................................17 AN INTERVIEW WITH RAMONA FRADON.........................21 Dial H for Hero....................................................................................................................23 Harvey Thrillers............................................................................................................... 25 Captain Action................................................................................................................31 Dell’s Monster Super-Heroes.........................................................................36 Palisades Park....................................................................................................................41 AN INTERVIEW WITH VINCE GARGIULO..........................43 Batman All Star Dairy Products................................................................45 Batman Mini-Comics.................................................................................................47 Super-Hero Paperbacks.......................................................................................50 Blackhawk, Junk-Heap Heroes ...................................................................60 Aquamania...........................................................................................................................63 B’Wana Beast................................................................................................................... 67
CHAPTER 2: Camptown Revivals
68
I.W. Super Comics.........................................................................................................69 The Shadow..........................................................................................................................71 Captain Marvel ................................................................................................................73 Doc Savage.........................................................................................................................77 The Spirit................................................................................................................................ 79 Fighting American.........................................................................................................81 Plastic Man .........................................................................................................................83 The Owl..................................................................................................................................... 87
CHAPTER 3: Campus Clowns
90
Jerry Lewis, One-Man Justice League.................................................91 Herbie the Fat Fury...................................................................................................98 Super Goof.........................................................................................................................100 Pureheart the Powerful & Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.........101 The Inferior Five............................................................................................................ 104 Go-Go.........................................................................................................................................110 The Mighty Heroes ...................................................................................................115 AN INTERVIEW WITH RALPH BAKSHI...............................118 Super Luck..........................................................................................................................125 Miracles, Inc. ......................................................................................................................126 Super Presidents ......................................................................................................128 AN INTERVIEW WITH TONY TALLARICO.......................136 The Nice–Terrific War.............................................................................................. 138
The Other Nice–Terrific War...........................................................................143 The Return of the Original Yellow Tornado.................................144 The MAD Adventures of Captain Klutz .........................................145 AN INTERVIEW WITH DICK DeBARTOLO....................... 147 Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer....................................................... 148 Not Brand Echh..............................................................................................................151 Fruitman................................................................................................................................156 Sinistro, Boy Fiend....................................................................................................158 Fearless Frank................................................................................................................ 159 Captain Costello and Captain Splendid........................................160
CHAPTER 4: Camp Runamuck
162
Bondmania.......................................................................................................................... 163 Irwin Allen’s Fantastic Voyages ..............................................................174 AN INTERVIEW WITH BILL MUMY...................................... 178 Batmania...............................................................................................................................182 Jan and Dean Meet Batman ......................................................................190 AN INTERVIEW WITH DEAN TORRENCE........................ 192 It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman........................................198 AN INTERVIEW WITH BOB HOLIDAY............................... 200 Tarzan, TV’s Most Famous Swinger...................................................205 The Green Hornet....................................................................................................206 Dick Tracy, Sixties Super-Cop...................................................................209 Wonder Woman TV Pilot....................................................................................212 Saturday Morning Super-Heroes.............................................................214 Hanna-Barbera Heroes.......................................................................................225 Filmation’s DC Super-Hero Cartoons...............................................237 Marvel Super-Hero Cartoons......................................................................239 America’s Best TV Comics............................................................................ 242
CHAPTER 5: Band Camp
244
Beatlemania.....................................................................................................................245 AN INTERVIEW WITH JOE SINNOTT................................ 249 Swing with Scooter.................................................................................................251 Super-Hip.............................................................................................................................253 Surf’s Up!.............................................................................................................................255 Monkeemania and Comic Books............................................................257 AN INTERVIEW WITH JOSE DELBO................................. 263 The Cowsills ...................................................................................................................265 The Archies .....................................................................................................................268 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................. 270 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................. 270 ABOUT THE AUTHOR...................................................................... 271
Chapter 1
CAMPFIRE Uh-oh ... Now I know how toothpaste feels! YEEOW!
Detail and dialogue from The Brave and the Bold #68. TM & (C) DC Comics.
HAW! I’ll squeeze the elemental juice out of you, fella!
THE SUPER-HERO EXPLOSION ECLIPSO
Split personality! Gordon vs. Eclipso on the Toth-drawn House of Secrets #67 cover.
Let’s get this out of the way from the get-go: Eclipso scared the heck out of me when I was a kid. In 1966, I had just started buying comics at age eight when the “Hero and Villain in One Man!” was winding down his original three-year blip of fame. As I scoured the racks searching for Batman funnybooks, I’d avert my eyes when stumbling across those issues of House of Secrets starring Eclipso. As drawn by Jack Sparling, Eclipso was horrifying, with his pointy demon ears, blue half-moon face, and swollen-lipped evil snarl. But I scared easily back then. Bette Davis gave me nightmares (those were her What Ever Happened to
TM & © DC Comics.
Hero and Villain in One Man
Baby Jane? years, when her makeup was gruesomely applied like Herman Munster’s). Who was Eclipso? Created by writer Bob Haney and artist Lee Elias, this high-concept character— “Hero and Villain in One Man!”—debuted in issue #61 (July–Aug. 1963) of House of Secrets, one of DC Comics’ eerie anthologies. His premiere only garnered a headshot inset at the bottom of the comic’s cover, with HOS’ Mark Merlin considered a better draw for the spotlight. But over time Eclipso would… yes, eclipse the other stars of the book (Merlin and, later, Prince Ra-Man) to become House of Secrets’ dominant cover feature. Issue #61’s inaugural tale, “Eclipso, the Genius Who Fought Himself,” introduces solar-energy scientist Dr. Bruce Gordon, the feature’s hero who would also become its villain. While studying an eclipse of the sun on an island sinisterly named Diablo, Gordon is scratched by an uncanny black diamond wielded by a loco jungle shaman named Mophir. From that moment on, Gordon becomes a modern-day Jekyll
LEFT: Original Jack Sparling art, with monsters galore, from HOS #80. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.
7
Chapter 2
CAMPTOWN REVIVALS SPLIT!
eek! Detail from M.F. Enterprises’ Captain Marvel #1. (C) the respective copyright holder.
UNSUCCESSFUL COMEBACKS SUPER COMICS
Israel Waldman’s Unauthorized Comic Book “Revivals” The Fifties were a bad time for the comic-book business. The boom of World War II and the Forties had faded, the new innovation of television was siphoning readers, and the entire industry found itself under siege “thanks” to a fussy psychologist who blamed the comic books for juvenile delinquency. Golden Age startups like Avon, Fiction House, and Fox closed shop, leaving behind a ton of inventory. Then came the Silver Age, where reboots (the Flash, Green Lantern) and upstarts (Martian Manhunter) trickled into print in the late Fifties. Soon, the business was booming again, opening a door for one of comics’ most inglorious opportunists. Publisher Israel Waldman gobbled up artwork from those shuttered comics houses and started publishing random issues of series reprinting material from the Golden Age of Comics. Beginning in 1958, his immodestly named I.W. Enterprises cranked out a barrage of irregularly released comic books in every imaginable genre, dusting off former stars like Sheena (Queen of the Jungle), Ka’a’nga (Jungle King),
Torchy, and Phantom Lady, and also-rans like SuperBrat, Apache, Kat Karson, and Man O’Mars. I.W. avoided cover dates, a gimmick to keep its books on display longer. Most kids who stumbled across these titles had no clue that they were reading reprints. I.W.’s production costs were minimal, with an occasional new cover being the only fresh material commissioned. And thus, Israel Waldman became the Big Lots of comic books, offering remaindered product to consumers. As the Camp Age emerged in the mid-Sixties, Waldman renamed his funnybook line Super Comics, ramping up his super-hero output by reissuing more golden oldies. Here’s where a trio of once-famous super-heroes got another moment in the spotlight once Waldman repackaged issues of their magazines from Quality Comics: Plastic Man, the Spirit, and Doll Man. Super Comics’ Plastic Man—tagged “The Flexible Man with the Power of Steel!”—ran for three issues, starting with #11 (1963), under an uncredited cover possibly drawn by Jack Abel and Sol Brodsky. It reprinted the contents of Quality’s Plastic Man #13 (Mar. 1949): two Plas stories by the character’s creator, Jack Cole (“Gazelle Van Gander” and “Say It Ain’t So, Plas!”), plus a Woozy Winks tale. Super’s next Plas issue was numbered #16 (1964), with a cover by Gray Morrow. It reprinted Quality’s Plastic Man #21 (Jan. 1950), another issue with two Plas tales (“Kra Vashnu” and “Where is Amorpho?”) and a Woozy short. Lastly, Super published Plastic Man #18 Three of Super Comics’ unauthorized reprints: Plastic Man #11, Spirit #11, and Doll Man #17. Plastic Man and Doll Man TM & © DC Comics. The Spirit TM & © Will Eisner Studios Inc.
69
Chapter 3
CAMPUS CLOWNS
LOOK! Up in the ever-lovin’ sky!
It’s a Goony-Bird! Naw! It’s nothin’ but STUPORMAN!
Detail and dialogue from Not Brand Echh #7. TM & (C) Marvel Characters, Inc.
It’s a Jefferson Airplane!
SUPER-HERO SPOOFS JERRY LEWIS
One-Man Justice League Move over, Snapper Carr! Step aside, Captain Action! Although Snapper had a key to the JLA’s Secret Sanctuary and the good captain was an ideal substitute for the world’s greatest super-heroes, there was one non-powered DC Comics character that was both stooge to and stand-in for the Justice League of America: Jerry Lewis! Google “Jerry Lewis DC Comics” and you’ll find links to blogs written by incredulous fanboys befuddled over how a TV and movie comedian could have his own comic book in the first place. Those bloggers were born too late to get it, and from their youthful vantage point, the idea of a Jerry Lewis comic book seems as peculiar as a contemporary comic book starring Amy Schumer. But as with all matters historic, to fully understand why something happened, you have to couch your thinking in the culture of the day. So before we explore Jerry’s encounters with Justice Leaguers, let’s look back at how he joined the line of DC super-stars in the first place—and his brushes with comics characters outside of DC’s pages.
JERRY LEWIS’ EARLY COMIC-BOOK ENCOUNTERS In 1946, debonair Dean Martin, a nightclub crooner, and jumpy Jerry Lewis, a stage funnyman, joined forces as a musical-comedy act. Over the next ten years, they graduated from stage to radio, to television, and to movies, and became one of entertainment’s dynamic duos, with Martin playing the womanizing straight man to Lewis’ bungling man-child. Meanwhile, in the mid-Fifties, shrinking comic-book sales were partially being blamed on the advent of the Television Age. So the big daddy of funnybook publishers, DC Comics, snatched up a handful of
licenses to create comic books based on popular TV shows and celebrities in an effort to lure back readers. Among them was an Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis humor comic launched in 1952. As the world of comic books borrowed from Hollywood, Tinseltown returned the favor with the 1955 Martin–Lewis musical comedy Artists and Models, directed by Frank Tashlin. Here, Jerry is Eugene Fullstack, the comic book-obsessed roommate of struggling artist Rick Todd, played by Dean. Eugene dreams of comic stories and blabs in his sleep, spouting freakish fantasies which eavesdropping Rick puts to paper. Romantic interests are in the form of Dorothy Malone as artist Abby Parker, and Shirley MacLaine as Bessie Sparrowbrush, the model for Abby’s signature character, Bat Lady—which happens to be Eugene’s favorite comics hero. Topping it off is a Bill Gaines-like comic-book editor played by Eddie Mayehoff, whose other super-hero connection is his co-starring role with Mickey Rooney in the illfated spoof The Return of the Original Yellow Tornado. Bat Lady comic books were dummied up for the movie and are spotted in several scenes, including a few original art pages believed to have been drawn for the film by Arthur Camp and Neil Wheeler. It’s noteworthy that Eugene’s favorite character, Bat Lady, predates DC Comics’ own Batwoman! Artists and Models premiered on November 7, 1955, and Batwoman first appeared in Detective Comics #233, cover-dated July 1956. The Martin–Lewis partnership dissolved in 1956, and soon, Dino was removed from the DC Comics title. It became The Adventures of Jerry Lewis with issue #41 in 1957. At the box office, Jerry—without Dean—starred in a flurry of screwball comedies built around witless but affable protagonists including The Delicate
One of the campiest comics of the Camp Age: The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #97, teaming Jerry with the Dynamic Duo! Batman, Robin, and Joker TM & © DC Comics. The Adventures of Jerry Lewis © the respective copyright holder.
91
RIGHT: Original C. C. Beck cover art to Fatman #1. Courtesy of Heritage. © the original copyright holder.
FATMAN, THE HUMAN FLYING SAUCER The Original Captain Marvel’s Creators Reunite
When everyone and their brother was getting into the super-hero comic-book game in the Swinging Sixties, Will Lieberson and Bernie Miller and their brothers— Martin Lieberson and Joe Miller—decided to jump in. As Milson Publishing Company, Inc. (its name derived from merging their last names), the Liebersons and Millers were thinking big: they chose a plus-sized super-hero who one-upped the traditional caped crusader by being “the only comic hero with 3 identities” and put him in a giant-sized, 64-page title, twice the size (and price) of the average comic book. Published under the “A Lightning Comic” imprint, Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer #1 (Apr. 1967) appeared roughly one year after the debut of M.F. Enterprises, Inc.’s new Captain Marvel comic—although
Fatman becomes the Human Flying Saucer! From Fatman #2. © the respective copyright holder.
148
Fatman was much closer to being a Captain Marvel revival than M.F.’s Captain Marvel was. Credit for that can be ascribed to the creative talent behind Fatman, starting with the Liebersons and Millers. They formed Milson Publishing “after lamenting the glory days of Captain Marvel’s supremacy on the newsstands,” as P.C. Hamerlinck, editor of FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), wrote in FCA #147, which appeared in Alter Ego #88 (Aug. 2009). Earlier, Will Lieberson and Bernie Miller had bird’s-eye views of the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s heyday as staffers at the hero’s publishing house, Fawcett Publications. Milson scored a major talent coup for Fatman that might have benefitted Myron Fass and Carl Burgos’ ill-fated Captain Marvel: the hiring of writer Otto Binder and artist C. C. Beck, hyped on Fatman’s covers as “the creators of the original Captain Marvel.” That pedigree might not have carried weight for the gradeschool-aged kids who saw Fatman #1 racked along-
side other April 1967-cover-dated titles like Amazing Spider-Man #47, the 80-Page Giant The Flash #169, and Richie Rich #56, but for those with familiar with comic-book history, it was like, well, catching lightning in a bottle. Fatman is one of those campy comic books that a contemporary audience will find hard to swallow. An obese super-hero?? Depending upon your personality, that’s worthy of social-media ridicule or politically correct disgust. And his third identity (Fatman was his second) was that of Saucerman, a “human flying saucer,” into which he morphed after running up a good steam. If you’re tempted to post a smarmy meme mocking a guy who shape-shifts into a UFO, let me ask you, would you poke fun at the Transformers? Fatman’s other identity was his real one: Van Crawford. As Fatman’s corpulence defied the iconic image of the super-hero, Crawford similarly was not what one would expect from a secret identity. He was a wealthy idler, sort of Bruce Wayne as a couch potato, an unfocused rich guy who sponged off the family fortune (his parents were alive, and disappointed in him) and wasted away his days with pursuits such as stamp collecting, culinary delights, and raising orchids. Fortunately, Van’s heart was in the right place—he was prone to helping those in need. Crawford is bird watching during his origin in issue #1 when he waddles to the aid of a quavering flying saucer. This near-crash is actually an alien’s test of Van’s super-hero-worthiness. Crawford is awarded a chocolate drink that gives him superpowers: boosted strength, speed, and agility, and
when those don’t quite cut the mustard, the ability to become Saucerman. Much of Van’s crimefighting is done in his Fatman identity, in a costume clearly inspired by the Big Red Cheese’s. And speaking of cheeses, food is Fatman’s weakness. The scent of a bologna sandwich or hamburger can take Fatman’s eye off the ball. From there, Fatman begins his crimefighting career. Also in issue #1, he meets a teen stringbean named Lucius Pindle who uses a magic spell to become Tinman, Fatman’s super-hero sidekick. They tangle with that issue’s cover-featured sea-monster Anti-Man, who turns out to be more henpecked husband than “Scourge of Mankind.” Fatman #2 (June 1967) puts the hero into conflict with the villain team the Awesome Foursome in a five-part serial. While this evokes memories of “The Monster Society of Evil” for longtime Captain Marvel fans, Binder and Beck are also spoofing Marvel’s Fantastic Four: Brainman, Menace from Mars is their stand-in for the super-smart Mr. Fantastic; Lunita, the Moon Witch is Fatman’s Invisible Girl; the subterranean gnome with heat-generating hands, Grollo, is
DA-NA-NA-NA-NANA-NA-NA FATMAN!
TM & © DC Comics.
Roughly a decade before Milson’s Human Flying Saucer premiered, another Fatman made the comics scene. Writer Bill Finger, penciler Sheldon Moldoff, and inker Charles Paris introduced the Dynamic Duo to Fatman, a hefty circus clown who dressed up as Batman for laughs, in the pages of Batman #113 (Feb. 1958). Luckily for our heroes, this Corpulent Crusader saved Batman and Robin’s bacon while still eliciting chuckles. The Fatman story was reprinted in late 1975 in Batman Family #4.
the Human Torch analog (who would reform and end up grilling Van Crawford’s cheese sandwiches between his palms); and lastly, Syntho, the Patchwork Man, represents the Thing. In lesser hands, Fatman could have deteriorated into an insensitive series of fat jokes—and granted, those were there, along with Van Crawford’s foodrelated euphemisms such as “Holy Salad Dressing!” and “Great Stewed Rhubarb!” But lightning struck a second time with the re-teaming of Binder and Beck. Their dormancy since Captain Marvel went into a court-induced coma in the early Fifties had not weakened their efficacy as a collaborative team. Under the editorship of “Kenneth Dennis” (actually, Will Lieberson), Beck’s art was as clean, crisp, and all-ages friendly as ever, and Binder not only displayed his expected flair for whimsical adventures but a gift for Camp Era prodigious puns. Apparently, their real-life professional relationship on Fatman was not as harmonious as their output. According to P.C. Hamerlinck, “former Captain Marvel/Marvel Family editor Wendell Crowley received a pressing call from Lieberson to edit and write stories for Fatman’s third issue in order to help smooth over Binder and Beck’s first-ever battles with ‘creative differences.’” In Fatman #3 (Aug.–Sept. 1967), the Binder/Crowley/Beck combo offer six stories, the first three a serial involving “the most sinister villains in comics”—Gung Ho, whose “evil eye of deadly crystal” is reminiscent of Eclipso’s black diamond; Bug, a masked, round-headed tech whiz; and the terrible Shroud, master of darkness and cold—all operatives of S.A.T.A.N. (Sabotage Agents To Annihilate Nations). The remaining trio of tales share nothing in common outside of their hero and creative team: Fatman meets an out-of-control “impractical joker” named Franky Prankster, a Soupy Sales takeoff; a cutie named Sugar Cane enlists Van’s help with her candy store; and a tiny UFO forms a bond with Saucerman that’s too close for comfort. A fourth issue was in the works, apparently without Binder’s involvement. Rod Reed, another former
Rock ’emsock ’em rogues in Fatman #2 and 3. © the respective copyright holder.
Writer Otto Binder. Courtesy of P.C. Hamerlinck.
Artist C. C. Beck. Courtesy of P.C. Hamerlinck.
149
GHOST!
Detail from cover of Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes #7. TM & (C) Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Chapter 4
CAMP RUNAMUCK SPAAAAA --
-- AAAAAAAAA --
-- AAACE
MEDIA HEROES OF THE CAMP AGE BONDMANIA
The Spy Craze and Comic Books Author Ian Fleming, who introduced the world to James Bond in his 1953 novel Casino Royale, originally intended his British secret agent 007 to be a bland, unnoticeable “blunt instrument” who covertly navigated the worlds of espionage and violence. A decade later, the shag-carpet-chested Sean Connery—who was about as bland and unnoticeable as a bikinied Ursula Andress glistening from an ocean dip—made the name “Bond, James Bond” internationally known in the first 007 motion picture, 1962’s Dr. No.
Bond certainly wasn’t the first fictional spy— nor was Connery the first actor to play 007—but Connery’s interpretation of the character spawned enough imitators to shake a nuclear warhead at, from clever (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) to chic (Honey West) to campy (Our Man Flint) to crazy (Get Smart) to corny (“Double-Naught Spy” Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies). Stirring the mania was the realworld anxiety of a Commie-launched nuke shower, with U.S. President John F. Kennedy dancing the Cold War-tusi with the shoe-slamming Soviet supervillain Nikita Khrushchev. But the end result was that secret agents became a genre that infiltrated Sixties novels, movies, television, cartoons… and comic books.
NOBODY DOES IT BETTER Surprisingly, the detonator of this spy-craze bomb— James Bond—kept a low profile in comic books of the Camp Age. Outside of gags and cameos in parody comics like MAD and Not Brand Echh, American readers got a grand total of one James Bond comic book during the Sixties—and, like the secret agent himself, it was a British import. DC Comics’ venerable tryout title Showcase featured a tie-in to the film Dr. No in issue #43 (coverdated Mar.–Apr. 1963, going on sale January 31, 1963), the villain’s title spelled out as “Doctor” No. This 32-page, no-ads issue reprinted the Doctor No adaptation illustrated by Norman J. Nodel (and possibly adapted by Alfred Sundel, according to the Grand Comics Database) which was originally produced for the December 1962 issue of the British version of Classics Illustrated, in issue #158A. Nodel’s likenesses of nascent star Sean Connery were spot-on, and the frontispiece featured a montage of photos from the film. DC’s first Silver Age movie adaptation was brought to the company by Jay Emmett, the nephew of National Periodical Publications’ publisher Jack Liebowitz, who knew a good thing when he saw it and snagged the comic-book rights (he would continue to nurture his eye for viable properties for years to come through the Licensing Corporation of America). The stuffed shirts in the editorial department didn’t agree
LEFT: In comic books, nobody does it better than spymaster Jim Steranko, as his iconic 1968 cover for Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 proves. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
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Chapter 5
Jimmy has started a Beatle craze here in the ancient past! He’s as popular as RINGO!
Detail and dialogue from Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #79. TM & (C) DC Comics.
GREAT KRYPTON!
BAND CAMP
TEENS-A-GO-GO BEATLEMANIA
The Fab Four’s Four-Color Invasion They descended upon us like a plague, those mop-topped, madcap, musical lads from Liverpool. Evangelists had only recently stilled their tsk-tsk-ing tongues in protest to Elvis’ pelvic gyrations. Flattopped fathers’ eyes had not stopped rolling from the most recent “long hair” to drive their teenybopper daughters wild, that ginchy comb-master of 77 Sunset Strip, Edd “Kookie” Byrnes (who inspired the Justice League of America’s hipster sidekick, Snapper Carr). And now this. A second British invasion? Wasn’t that thing with the Redcoats bad enough?
WE LOVE YOU, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH Sunday, February 9, 1964 was the Day the Earth Went Shrill, as millions of American girls shrieked at such an eardrum-erupting decibel level that a nationwide outbreak of tinnitus followed. That was the night the Beatles made their first live appearance on U.S. television on The Ed Sullivan Show, attracting a viewership of 73 million and making Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr household names. The bomb that was Beatlemania had detonated, its mushroom cloud unfurling from coast to coast. No radio station, record shop, toy store, department store, or magazine rack was immune. The Beatles’ initial success was a confluence of music, attitude, and fashion. Their songs were too raucous for Grandma but catchy enough for Mom to hum along with while washing dishes. The Fab Four playfully mocked authority figures without tipping into disrespect. Their threads were straight off the rack at Carnaby Street’s hottest boutiques but presented enough polish to ready the boys for an audience with the Queen.
And then there was their hair—it wasn’t as shaggy as those unwashed beatniks but was still long enough to make Floyd the Barber wonder if his days of administering Butches and Ivy Leagues were a thing of the past. Beatlemania was everywhere. TV weathermen donned Beatle wigs for cheap laughs. Alvin and the Chipmunks cut an album of hyper-modulated Beatles hits. Network sitcoms guest-starred the Beatles’ fellow British Invaders (Patty Lane, who was known to lose control over a hot dog, flipped her wig over Chad and Jeremy) and introduced their own Fab(ricated) Fours (remember when the Mosquitoes touched down on Gilligan’s Island?). The Beatles themselves lent their likenesses and their music to a successful cartoon series that aired on Saturday mornings beginning on September 25, 1965. The Beatles, from executive producer Al Brodax, featured kid-friendly caricatures of the lads’ early-Sixties’, mop-topped appearances, ignoring the continuing evolution of the real-life Beatles’ style and music. Each episode was built around a Beatles song The Fab Four’s first official comic book, Dell Comics’ The Beatles #1, from 1964. The Beatles TM & © Apple Corps.
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