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MAC RABOY

Master of the Comics Written by Roger Hill Design, Production, and Editorial Consultation by Jon B. Cooke Proofreading by John Morrow & Eric Nolen-Weathington • Published by John Morrow Cover art by Mac Raboy • Cover colors by Glenn Whitmore Editor’s note: Main cover image reproduced from Master Comics #27 (June 1942) original cover art

Portions of this book originally appeared in altered forms in Alter Ego Vol. 3, #6 and #7 and are featured here with the blessing of A/E editor Roy Thomas. Dedicated to the family and descendants of Mac Raboy. Editorial package © 2019 Roger Hill and TwoMorrows Publishing. Text © 2019 Roger Hill. Introduction © 2019 Roy Thomas. Special thanks to Drew Friedman, Keif Fromm, Shaun Clancy, and Ronn Sutton.

The Black Condor, Bulletgirl, Bulletman, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Captain Nazi, Freddy Freeman, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Ibis the Invincible, The Marvel Family, Mary Marvel, Master Comics, Minute Man, Mr. Scarlet, More Fun Comics, Phantom Eagle, The Ray, Shazam!, The Spectre, Spy Smasher, Whiz Comics, Wow Comics TM & © DC Comics. Tuk Caveboy TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Flash Gordon TM & © Hearst Holdings, Inc. Alter Ego TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas. Atoman, Banner Mysteries, Dr. Voodoo, Double Detective, Dynamic Comics, The Golden Lad, Green Lama, Love Diary, Morak the Mighty, Stars and Stripes Comics, Super-Magic Comics, Toytown Comics, Wanted, The Westerner Comics, Zoro the Mystery Man TM & © the respective copyright holders. Hopalong Cassidy © & TM U.S. Television Office, Inc.

TwoMorrows Publishing

10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 USA www.twomorrows.com • email: twomorrow@aol.com

First Printing • August 2019 • Printed in China Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-090-8

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION by ROY THOMAS Raboy Ruminations — 6 FOREWORD by ROGER HILL Now the Story Shall be Told — 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 14 CHAPTER ONE Origins & Upbringing — 15 CHAPTER TWO The Sidewalks—and Sweatshops—of New York — 18 CHAPTER THREE Early Days at Fawcett — 21 CHAPTER FOUR Little Boy Blue — 26 CHAPTER FIVE Helping Hands — 34 ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Bob Rogers/Rubin Zubofsky — 40 CHAPTER SIX Mac Raboy Makes Three — 60 SPOTLIGHT BEHIND THE SCENES The Style of Mac Raboy — 66 Fawcett’s Capt. Marvel Jr. Guidelines — 78 ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Gene McDonald — 81

ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Marc Swayze — 92

CHAPTER SEVEN A Spark of Green — 98 CLOSER LOOK Ken Crossen and the Comics of Spark Publications — 102 CHAPTER EIGHT A Flash of Gold — 116 ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW Bob Rogers/Rubin Zubofsky — 119 CHAPTER NINE Life in Goldens Bridge, NY — 134 CHAPTER TEN The Final Chapter — 136 EPILOGUE David Raboy: The Son of Mac Raboy Speaks — 138 REFERENCE Mac Raboy Cover Index — 159

Foreword by Roger Hill

Now the Story Shall Be Told Next page: Raboy’s original cover art for Master Comics #27 (June 1942), acknowledged as one of the most iconic, patriotic World War II covers ever created. Saved from oblivion by fellow artist/Fawcett employee Pete Costanza, the cover art is reproduced here for the first time, with paste-overs removed, showing the pure, overall beauty of an uncluttered Raboy masterpiece. Hand-written notes in the borders are from the editor and colorist. The dimensions of this incredible piece are 10" x 14". Below: The only photo known to exist of Mac Raboy, taken in the Fawcett offices in 1942, courtesy of Bob Rogers, a.k.a. Rubin Zubofsky, who assisted on Captain Marvel Jr. backgrounds in that year.

Mac Raboy’s artistic abilities and accomplishments in the four-color medium have already been well recognized and acknowledged in many of the history books that have come out over the past 40 years. A little over two decades ago, when I first decided to write an article on Mac Raboy for an issue of the CFA-APA (Comic and Fantasy Art Amateur Press Association), I quickly discovered that since the second volume of Jim Steranko’s History of the Comics had been published in 1972, nothing new had been presented about this amazing artist. It struck me rather odd that, as popular as Raboy’s work has always been for comic aficionados, that no one had apparently pursued further research on him, let alone publish it. Luckily, around that time, I had run across a copy of the 1949 King Features Syndicate promotional booklet titled Famous Artists & Writers. This publication, featuring biographical

entries on 67 artists and 28 writers who worked for the syndicate, preserved quite the historical record for historians and collectors. This excellent source of information is somewhat rare and not easily accessible to the folks most interested in learning about these early pioneers of newspaper strip 10

Chapter Two

The Sidewalks—and Sweatshops—of New York After leaving the WPA, Raboy decided to try his hand working in the commercial art field. He secured a job with a small art company, where he became adept at lettering and paste-ups, among other chores. In his own words, his duties consisted of “all kinds of the usual dirty work.” In 1940, after seeing a newspaper ad, he applied for work and was hired at once as a staff artist with the Harry “A” Chesler comics shop in New York City. Chesler’s outfit, located at 23rd Street, just west of Eighth Avenue, was one of the earliest “sweatshops” responsible for packaging comic books for publishers. More than likely, Chesler foreman Jack Binder also had a say in Raboy’s hiring. Binder had been employed by Chesler in early 1937 to take charge of a staff of artists that included Charlie Biro, Jack Cole, Lou Fine, Gill Fox, Fred Guardineer, Robert McCay Jr., Mort Meskin, Guspano Ricca, Charlie The Green Lama, created by Ken Crossen, made his debut in the pulp magazine Double Detective, in April 1940, published by the Frank A. Munsey Company. Above is the cover of Vol. 5, #5 (Apr. 1940). Inset right is the cover of Prize Comics Vol. 1 #8 (Jan. 1941), headlining the Green Lama, now featured as a comic-book hero. Below is an early panel by Raboy depicting the cloaked portrait of the Green Lama, uttering the power-giving prayer—“Om! Ma-ni pad-me hum!”—from that same issue. The next page is also from Prize #8. This early work clearly shows an emerging talent.

Sultan, George Tuska, and many others who would eventually move on to greater fame in the comic book industry. Mac Raboy was now surrounded by a team of talented artists, inkers, and writers who, under Binder’s supervision, would crank out completed comic art for some of the largest comic book publishing companies of the day. This included Centaur, National/DC, Fawcett, Quality, and Timely/Marvel, all of

Chapter Two

THE SIDEWALKS—AND SWEATSHOPS—OF NEW YORK

Chapter Four

Little Boy Blue Ed Herron had come to Fawcett with a successful track record of writing and creating comic book characters that had gone on to greater popularity, including work on the earliest stories of Timely’s colorful Captain America— and his kid sidekick Bucky. It was during the fall of 1941 that Herron came up with the idea of a new addition to the Fawcett family. With Captain

Explosive is the best way to describe this iconic, colorful cover (on opposite page) by Mac Raboy, whose renditions of a teen-age super-hero with a realistic physique was nothing less than perfect. Captain Marvel Jr. #4, (Feb. 19, 1943). Inset bottom is Raboy’s first cover for Fawcett and the first of the CMJr origin trilogy, Master Comics #21 (Dec. 1941). Below is a vignette derived from Raboy’s cover art for Captain Marvel Jr. #26 (Jan. 1, 1945).

Marvel sales increasing dramatically since his debut in February 1940, Fawcett management figured a teenage version of the “Big Red Cheese” would only increase their profits. Herron liked Raboy’s art very much, and wanted a more illustrative style for the new addition, as opposed to the C. C. Beck or Pete Costanza simplified approach on Captain Marvel. The new boy-hero was ably dubbed Captain Marvel Jr., and it was Mac Raboy who was given the job of visualizing him for the very first time. Jr.’s basic attire was blue, with a red cape. His boots, sash, and trim, were the same as Captain Marvel’s: gold! A brilliant costume of color if ever there was—and with Raboy’s superb draftsmanship, coupled with stories written by Otto Binder, Joe Millard, Manly Wade Wellman, and Bill Woolfolk, a sure-fire success on the newsstands was in order.

LITTLE BOY BLUE

Chapter Five

Helping Hands Even though he was the slowest artist working for Fawcett in those days, the company obviously thought a lot of his work. They especially loved his covers, which were always well-designed and attractive. In 1941 and ’42, Mac produced some classic cover images for other Fawcett titles besides Master, including America’s Greatest Comics, Bulletman, Captain Midnight, Spy Smasher, and Xmas Comics. With the increased workload it became obvious to the Fawcett editors that Mac would never be able to keep up with the growing amount of work. The decision was made to hire someone who could give Mac some help on backgrounds. That help came almost immediately from a young man by the name of Rubin Zubofsky, who at age nineteen came knocking at Fawcett’s door in January of 1942. Zubofsky was interviewed by editor Herron Above house ad from Fawcett touting the massive semi-regular annual Xmas Comics, which consisted of 324 pages and sold for 50¢! The first issue’s cover (seen here, from 1941) was illustrated by Mac Raboy.

Inset right is a Mighty Midget Comic edition— this one, Bulletman (#11)—which are 5" x 4" miniature reprint comics sold in sets of four by publisher Samuel E. Lowe & Co., in 1942.

Next page is Mac Raboy’s work on the cover of America’s Greatest Comics #1 (Fall 1941), a 100-page quarterly, demonstrating Raboy’s special talent for drawing the human figure.

and co-editor John Beardsley, who, during the course of the interview, requested him to produce a drawing in their presence. After completing it, he was hired at a salary of $35 a week as an assistant to Mac Raboy. This meant providing pencils and inks on backgrounds for Raboy’s covers or stories.

Chapter Five

HELPING HANDS

Associate Interview

Bob Rogers/Rubin Zubofsky, Man in the Background AUTHOR’S NOTE Bob Rogers was born Rubin L. Zubofsky in Brooklyn, New York, on January 15, 1923. Raised in that borough, he attended the High School of Music & Art, from where he graduated in 1941. That summer, quite by chance, he was introduced to artist Myron Strauss (1917–99) by a girlfriend he was dating. Rubin, who was anxious to get into an art business of any kind, began working with Strauss on a feature called “Liberty Scouts” for the Comic Corporation of America, also known as Centaur Publications. His first collaborative efforts with Strauss, penciling and inking backgrounds, showed up in Liberty Scouts #3, dated Aug. 1941. Strauss was renting studio space at a photostat firm and, right after Pearl Harbor, received his Army draft notice from Uncle Sam. Rubin—going by the nick name of “Ruby”— finished his last job with Strauss, assisting on Stars and Stripes Comics #5 (Nov. 1941). Strauss left for military duty on Jan. 1, 1942, and, a month or so before leaving, introduced Ruby to Lou Fine, a good friend of Strauss, who was also in need of a background man. Fine was already familiar with Ruby’s work for Strauss and hired him right away, without reviewing his samples. At that time, Fine’s studio was located in a high-rise residential building in Manhattan, called Tudor City, where Ruby began assisting on features such as “Uncle Sam,” “The Ray,” “Hercules,” and “Black Condor.” Within months, the young assistant had moved on to Fawcett Publications, where he was hired to specifically work with Mac Raboy on backgrounds. From then on, it was a mad dash to keep up with deadlines turning out Captain Marvel Jr. stories and covers, with Mac directing the action. This frantic pace continued until Ruby was also drafted in the Army, in late 1942. After his discharge from military service in Sept. 1945, he anglicized his last name to Rogers, following family wishes, and changed his first name to Bob. He and his brother Hank opened a photography store for a short period of time. By November of that year, Bob was back at Fawcett doing background work, only now for Bud Thompson who had taken over the majority of art chores on Captain Marvel Jr. following Raboy’s departure.

ROGER HILL: I can’t tell you just how surprised and happy I was to find out that you are, or were, the original Rubin Zubofsky. I was looking for you two years ago, at the beginning of my research on this whole Raboy project, and couldn’t find any Zubofsky listed anywhere! After what I had read in Steranko’s History of the Comics about you, and from a letter by [Fawcett editor] Wendell Crowley [published in Alter Ego Vol. 1, #8], I knew you were one of the key figures in the scheme of things. BOB ROGERS: Rubin Zubofsky… nicknamed Ruby! That is my real name. During the war, my parents anglicized it. At some point, my mother wrote and told me they had changed the name to Rogers, and I thought, “Gee whiz, I’d like to go along with the family.” But I decided not to do it until after I got out of the service or I’d screw up my records. So I waited until after the war. RH: You were using the nickname “Ruby” at Fawcett, right? You know, it was originally believed that Mac Raboy had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Raboy. ROGERS: I guess a lot of erroneous data gets thrown around out there. It’s funny how little bits and pieces have come back into my recollection that I had forgotten about. I only recently remembered that I had shortened my name to “Zubof” for Fawcett! [laughs] I even went out and got myself a separate Social Security card, which said “Rubin Zubof,” which was legal then. RH: We’ve been discussing by email the “mystery artist” who helped you get started in the comic book business as his apprentice; but so far we haven’t been able to come up with a name, right? You seem to think it was someone called Myron. And your son-in-law Dan and I suggested to you that it might have been

Continued on next page

Associate Interview

an artist by the name of Myron Strauss. ROGERS: I tell you, this has been the damnedest thing. My memory at this stage is not what it used to be—and unfortunately, during those years when I first started, and up until the time I came back from the service, I never kept any records. That’s because I was on salary. It wasn’t until I started freelancing that I worked up a portfolio and actually started saving a bunch of this stuff which originally meant nothing to me. Matter of fact, the first thing I did after I came back from the war was, I found this huge pile of mint comic books that I had brought home in quantities when I worked at Fawcett—and I threw them the hell out! [laughter] RH: Don’t feel bad, Bob. A lot of the other guys who worked in comics back then did the same thing. ROGERS: You know, Roger, the only thing I have that this “mystery artist” and myself worked on is one comic. The comic was Stars and Stripes #5, dated December 1941. The feature inside that we did was called “Liberty Scouts.” RH: And you assisted him on this work? ROGERS: Oh yeah. I drew the backgrounds. We also did the cover. I saved a copy of it. Well, actually, I excerpted it. I destroyed it, and just saved the cover and the feature we did. I saved dozens of books—not the books, just the work that I did. I kept them in a portfolio so I could have samples of my work to show around. RH: How did you actually meet this “mystery artist”? ROGERS: Well, it’s a funny thing. I went to the High School of Music and Art, and that’s where I graduated from. I was dating a very lovely girl and she said a friend of hers was in the business of doing something called “comic books” and he was looking for an assistant. And I wanted to get into the field very, very badly, so I jumped at it. RH: You wanted to get into the comic book field? ROGERS: I wanted to get into the art field. Whatever aspect it was. So that opened the door for me. I became a combination background man, cleanup artist, and gofer. That was around 1941, so that date we’ve got for sure. RH: And how long after your graduation do you think it was before you started assisting this fellow?

BOB ROGERS

Above is Rubin Zubofsky (later Bob Rogers) working on the last page of the Captain Marvel Jr. story, “The Case of the Jolly Roger,” for Master Comics #35 (Feb. 1943). The photo was taken in late 1942, just before Bob left for military service. On the page opposite is the cover of Stars and Stripes #5 (Nov. 1941), published by Centaur, on which Bob Rogers assisted credited artist Myron Strauss, for whom Rogers served as apprentice when first toiling in the comic book field. Continued from previous page Bob briefly left Fawcett to work with Mac on the Flash Gordon strip from Jan.–Oct. 1949, at which time he returned to Fawcett working as an inker on various types of stories, and providing backgrounds for Bud Thompson on the “Captain Marvel Jr.” feature. He finished out his comic book career in the early 1950s working in a studio with other artists producing stories for Rae Herman at Toytown Publications. After that, Bob worked in the auto parts business which eventually led him into the antiquarian business. During the 1980s, Bob and his wife, Leatie, opened an antique shop, in New Jersey, where they bought and sold antiques of all kinds and Bob did restoration work until their retirement in the 1990s. At the time this interview was conducted with Bob Rogers, in Sept. 1999, much of his timeline information had yet to be locked down. Unfortunately, some of it is still unknown. With what we know about Mac Raboy, Bob Rogers, Gene McDonald, Red Mohler, Bud Thompson, and the other numerous supporting cast members that came and went during the Raboy years of working on “Captain Marvel Jr.,” we think the historical picture is much more clearer. That’s the best we can hope for at this very late date.

Chapter Six

Mac Raboy Makes Three Captain Marvel Jr. was introduced in Master Comics in late 1941. A year later, due to reader popularity, was given his own title, with the first issue sporting this grand Raboy cover.

In November of 1942, Captain Marvel Jr. #1 hit the newsstands of America. Raboy’s cover showed a leaping figure of the young hero, set against a brilliant yellow moon in the background, surrounded by black. A simple design, yet most effective as an eye-catcher for kids browsing the racks. Inside the book… not one page of Raboy’s art was to be found! The work was very similar to his, but was entirely provided by assistants. This style of art, produced mostly by McDonald, Mohler, or others, would cause some confusion to comic book historians and collectors for the next 50 years. Under Mac’s personal guidance, Mohler and McDonald provided most of the art for the new title and also assisted Mac, as required, on stories he was drawing for Master. To maintain the special “Raboy mystique” in their work on the “CMJr” stories, Gene and Red were shown a new time-saving device for emulating Raboy’s style of art: a projection camera! In the past,

Chapter Six

photostats had been cut out and pasted down to make new panels. Now, a group of photostats—showing every imaginable figure drawing of Captain Marvel Jr. that Raboy had ever done—were kept nearby so all the assistants had easy access to them. The artist could leaf through the figures, pick out the appropriate one, size it through the projector onto the new panel where it was needed, and simply trace it off. By this method Fawcett editors were able to insure that Raboy’s style of art remained visible throughout the work. Fawcett readers identified with this style and expected it to be there from month to month. In early 1943, the comic art staff at Fawcett converted mostly to a freelance status. Comics editor Rod Reed left in June and was replaced by Will Lieberson. Mac Raboy had moved into a studio space located on 42nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Occasionally Red Mohler and his wife, Duffy (a letterer), would share this space, working on the “CMJr” feature with Mac. Gene McDonald began doing work on his own, and other freelance artists started drawing “Junior” stories for Fawcett, as

The spirit of his “family patriarchs,” Captain Marvel Sr. and the old wizard Shazam loom about a ready-for-action Captain Marvel Jr. on the cover of Master Comics #23 (Feb. 1942), which featured the second appearance of the super-hero in the title. CMJr would headline the comic book until its demise, in late winter, 1953, with issue #133.

well. Dick Krause became executive editor on Master and Captain Marvel Jr., answering to Lieberson. Bernard Baily, the artist who, with Jerry Siegel, in 1940, had co-created the Spectre for National/DC, also began producing “CMJr” stories around this time. This opportunity probably resulted when Raboy and Baily formed their own commercial art studio together sometime during the early ’40s. Commercial accounts paid much better than comic

MAC RABOY MAKES THREE

Bernard Baily became a studio partner and close friend with Mac Raboy during the 1940s. Years earlier, while working with writer Jerry Siegel (best known as co-creator of Superman), he originated The Spectre, who made his debut in More Fun Comics. Seen below is Baily’s cover for issue #62 (Dec. 1940). At center is a photo of Baily taken in the ’70s.

Chapter Ten

The Final Chapter In mid-1967, Mac was diagnosed with cancer. He sought remedy at Memorial Hospital and the Sloan Ketering Institute, the top cancer treatment facility in the country. Unfortunately, doctors concluded there was little to be done for him, and a few weeks later he was moved to the Mount Kisco Hospital. Here he could be closer to family and home. Attendants tried to make him as comfortable as possible during his final hours. Manuel Raboy passed away on December 22, 1967 at the age of 53. His wife, Lulu, eventually sold the house and moved to Florida, where she died in 1975. Mac was a unique individual, maybe the slowest artist ever to find steady employment in comics. Although speed can be beneficial for any person working in the comics field, it isn’t always the determining factor for one getting hired. Raboy was undoubtedly a true artist at heart, one who had found the kind of work he enjoyed doing in life. Basically, he was a storyteller… a man who loved the idea of being able to tell stories through a series of narrative panels put in sequence on a page. There was only one way to draw pictures… his way. It may have been slow and meticulous, but he accomplished what he wanted and made a good living doing it. And he affected the people around him in different ways. An obvious question to ask about Raboy is: “Why didn’t he go into the fine arts field?” Today, as we look back over his published efforts in the work he did over a 32-year period, it is easy to see that Raboy did indeed have the overwhelming talent to have made it in the fine arts world. But he lacked one very important thing: He didn’t have the personality required for such an endeavor. No, Mac Raboy was the quiet one—the fellow who sat over in 136

Chapter Ten

the corner of the room and quietly puffed away on his cigarette and drew beautiful pictures for hours on end. Mac Raboy was also the sensitive one—someone who, reportedly, ripped up an entire page of art he had drawn because of an editor’s negative

Scan of original art of the last Flash Gordon Sunday installment drawn by Mac Raboy, dated Dec. 17, 1967. Note the signature in the lower border of the last panel. Some time before Mac became ill, he decided to sign a number of his originals, many of which had been returned to him by King Features and stored in a closet in his home in Goldens Bridge, New York.

comment. On the other hand, he was also the fellow who could not easily accept compliments from those around him. He might have been a strange

Below is an Italian album of Flash Gordon.

guy, perhaps, but definitely a talent to behold. He was a person who had strong political feelings about what was happening in a world filled with darkness and uncertainty and he apparently kept those feelings repressed inside for most of his life. He was many different things to many different people who came and went. To us, the collectors and aficionados who save and appreciate the old, yellowing, tattered comics of the 1940s and ’50s, Mac Raboy will always be one of our heroes. Without a doubt, he was an artist who envisioned a special way of drawing comics, quite unlike any other person has done it since. That Mac Raboy, he was truly unique!

THE FINAL CHAPTER

137

Mac Raboy: Master of the Comics