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September 2021 No. 16 $9.95

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MARVEL SUPER HEROES TV CARTOONS OF 1966

AN INTERVIEW

Who’s your friend when things get rough?

H. R. Pufnstuf

IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND

LOGAN’S RUN’S MICHAEL YORK

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FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury

RetroFan:

Pop Culture You Grew Up With! If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!

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Interview with Bond Girl and Hammer Films actress CAROLINE MUNRO! Plus: WACKY PACKAGES, COURAGEOUS CAT AND MINUTE MOUSE, FILMATION’S GHOSTBUSTERS vs. the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, Bandai’s rare PRO WRESTLER ERASERS, behind the scenes of Sixties movies, WATERGATE at Fifty, Go-Go Dancing, a visit to the Red Skelton Museum, and more fun, fab features!

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, catching up with singer B.J. THOMAS, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more fun, fab features! 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.

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Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of WhamO’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Zoo, lava lamps, and more with FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY!

Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-thescenes photos of many of your favorite Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished interview with Green Hornet VAN WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning television, TV’s Zoorama and the San Diego Zoo, The Saint, the lean years of Star Trek fandom, the WrestleFest video game, TV tie-in toys no kid would want, and more fun, fab features!

Sixties teen idol RICKY NELSON remembered by his son MATTHEW NELSON, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., rural sitcom purge, EVEL KNIEVEL toys, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Saturday morning’s Super 7, The Muppet Show, behind-the-scenes photos of Sixties movies, an interview with The Sound of Music’s heartthrob-turnedbad guy DANIEL “Rolf” TRUHITTE, and more fun, fab features!

Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER, sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview. Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNABARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, and MICHAEL EURY.

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CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY— and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s 1960s U.S. invasion, and more!

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The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

CONTENTS Issue #16 September 2021 Columns and Special Features

Retro Sci-Fi Interviews with Logan’s Run’s Michael York, Dean Jeffries, and William F. Nolan

Too Much TV Quiz Game show hosts

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon The Marvel Super Heroes

RetroFad The Mullet

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Retro Hollywood Drive-in Theaters by Jim Trautman

Super Collector Collecting Comic Art by David Mandel

Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum My Weekly Reader

Retrotorial

Retro Remembrance My Friend, Tanya Roberts by Mike Pingel

Ernest Farino’s Retro Fantasmagoria Sue “Miss Landers” Randall

Departments

Oddball World of Scott Shaw! Wolfman Jack

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning H. R. Pufnstuf

RetroFanmail

ReJECTED RetroFan fantasy cover by Scott Saavedra

RetroFan™ #16, September 2021. Published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: RetroFan, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $68 Economy US, $103 International, $27 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Marvel Super Heroes © Marvel. H. R. Pufnstuf © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions. Michael York photo courtesy of Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com/Wikimedia Commons. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2021 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. ISSN 2576-7224

by Michael Eury

PUBLISHER John Morrow CONTRIBUTORS Michael Eury Ernest Farino David Mandel Andy Mangels Brian Martin Will Murray Mike Pingel Scott Saavedra Scott Shaw! Anthony Taylor Jim Trautman DESIGNER Scott Saavedra PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS John Ellis Hake’s Auctions Heritage Auctions David Hofstede Sid and Marty Krofft Productions Mike Lefebvre Mark Thomas McGee Charles Robinson Amy Roy VERY SPECIAL THANKS William F. Nolan Michael York

Most of us grew up in front of the television. Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers taught us morals, the funny faces of Red Skelton and Flip Wilson made us laugh, and we knew we could trust journalists Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters. We marveled at the patience the castaways maintained for Gilligan after his repeated foul-ups of their potential rescues, and were happy that Fred Sanford never really had “the big one.” No matter our gender, race, or religion, or if we were the product of a nuclear family or a broken home, or if we lived in a metropolitan high-rise or a trailer out in the sticks, TV was our common denominator. Author David Hofstede’s new book makes that very claim in its title: When Television Brought Us Together (Black Pawn Press, 2020; available from online booksellers or the publisher at blackpawnpress.com). This isn’t a traditional dossier of time-honored TV shows. Instead, through insightful essays its author explores the reasons why so many of the programs we grew up on resonated with us. Or, in the words of Family Affair’s Cissy, actress Kathy Garver—who was interviewed in RetroFan #10—as quoted in the book’s promotional materials, “David Hofstede delves into the meanings of our favorite comforting classics and compares them with the TV fare of today. You’ll be happy you stopped by to take a long breath of nostalgic fresh air and rediscover why these past shows are so classic.” Normally my Retrotorials are reserved for commentary about the issue’s features, but this time I had to take a moment to plug David Hofstede’s wonderful book, which I enjoyed NEXT ISSUE immensely and recommend to RetroFan readers. In this era of TV programs that foment division, from the argumentative curmudgeons of sitcoms and reality shows to the divisive rhetoric of demographic-skewed cable news, When Television Brought Us Together is a much-needed reminder of happy days and good times. Dark There’s a ton of TV history in this issue of Shadows’ LARA PARKER RetroFan, by the way, including the first animated Aurora Monster Model Kits adventures of the mighty Marvel super-heroes, the wonky Saturday morning kid-vid H. R. Pufnstuf, and a retrospective of actress Sue Randall, known to many of you as Beaver Cleaver’s teacher Miss Landers. Beyond TV, we also look at a host of other subjects… It’s a and what other mag would dare co-bill Wolfman Mad Monster ’re Jack and My Weekly Reader? There’s something for Party and you invited! everyone here, so get ready for another groovy grabThe Haunting • Drak Pack • George of the Jungle • James Bama • TV Dads’ Jobs & more! bag of the crazy, cool culture we grew up with!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

November 2021 No. 17 $9.95

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape!

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RETROFAN

September 2021

comes alive in an exclusive interview!

FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury

RETRO SCI-FI

RRRUUUNNNNNNIIINNNGGG Revisiting A Counterculture Icon

with

Logan by Anthony Taylor There is nothing run-of-the-mill about Logan’s Run; from its origins through the grandiose spectacle of the 1976 feature film, the story of the future cop running from his own mortality has always stood apart from the crowd. Spawned in a Malibu hotel in August of 1965 by two no-name (at the time) short fiction and television writers, Logan has gone on to inspire a big budget movie, a television series, several sequel books, and no less than three comic-book adaptations, not to mention hundreds of fanzines, amateur films, and other derivative works. Plans for a film remake have been in place for no less than 24 years as of 2021, and two additional sequel novels are ready to publish. My own involvement with Logan began as a 12-year-old, when the movie came to my town. I was blown away by the art direction, costumes, special effects, and sheer other-worldliness of the environments I saw onscreen. It first resonated with me on a visual level, but it also sank deeper as I began to understand the implications of the plot and situations and relationships I was shown. I recall seeing it five or six times in the theater—I was enthralled. As rumors of a remake began to take shape around 2006, I had the idea that a book on all things Logan—The Complete Logan’s Run was my working title—might be a decent seller if it could be released at the same time as the new film, or even better, in conjunction with it. I was surprised to hear that Bryan Singer was attached to direct it, and that I had some connection to him through a mutual friend. I contacted my friend and asked if he could see if Bryan could put me in touch with the correct people at Warner Bros. to whom I could pitch my idea.

(ABOVE) Your time is running out, Logan! Logan (Michael York) and Jessica As luck would have (Jenny Agutter), from the 1976 sci-fi it, I then bumped classic, Logan’s Run. © Warner Bros. Courtesy into Bryan on the of Ernest Farino. floor of San Diego Comic-Con and discussed it with him in person briefly. At that point, it was so early in the process that there wasn’t anyone yet assigned to merchandising a film that was still on the drawing board, but I got some positive feedback and felt the project was worth pursuing. I began gathering information and scheduling interviews. Luck continued on my side as I made a connection to Michael York and found an email from him in my inbox soon after. He was very happy to speak to me about the film and even invited me to come to his home for an afternoon. We spent almost two hours talking about Logan, his other films, art collecting, and so many other subjects. He is a fascinating fellow and one of the smartest people I’ve met. On that same trip to Los Angeles, I was also able to interview custom car king Dean Jeffries), who created the futuristic vehicles for the Logan’s Run television series that ran on CBS in 1977. Dean was a legend; he had created the Black Beauty for The Green Hornet, the Monkeemobile for The Monkees, the Moonmobile for Diamonds Are Forever, the cars for Death Race 2000, the Landmaster for Damnation Alley, and countless other show cars and hot rods. He had a long career as a stuntman and vehicle rigger for hundreds of films and TV series, and I was able to hang out with him at his shop situated at the bottom of Cahuenga Boulevard and the 101 Freeway in Hollywood and talk about cars.

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retro SCI-fi

RF: What about the props? MY: Those guns were constantly misfiring, they were an absolute pain. And you know, they looked good but they ran on gas cylinders and they just weren’t very hightech, you could see all the wires running down the sides of them. But they worked. I’m sure that any remake would have to be very high-tech indeed and be driven by special effects, because that’s what people expect. You can’t deny them. Ah, you know, we were lucky in that everything was kept in a balance between the narrative, the acting, and the effects. RF: Do you think Logan’s story still has relevance? It’s a very different time than in the Seventies. MY: Yes, but there are still those people who want to see something worthwhile, something special, something you know, over and above the materialistic things. You know, that spiritual quest, which is in a long line from grail legends to King Arthur… all of that it’s again, tapping into. It’s a sort of modern equivalent. And even using the ankh, the ancient Egyptian thing, sort of plugged that in as well as a sort of visual shorthand. RF: After an early screening, there were around 23 minutes cut from the film before it was released. Have you ever seen the original edit? MY: No, but I’ve been approached about it at these conventions. They’ve asked my why something from the trailer wasn’t in the film, and I say I have no idea. That’s the whole point of a test screening; to see what works and what doesn’t. Maybe, who knows, it will reappear as a director’s cut again, I don’t know. RF: You and the rest of the cast gave performances that really transcended the material, in my opinion. What remembrances do you have of working with Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, and Peter Ustinov? MY: We were very much a team. I remember that everyone was more or less on the same page. I do think there’s a sort of discipline with British actors; you tend more to just get on with it. If you have problems, you don’t agonize about them in public, you tend to take that off the set. So you had three of us, me and Jenny and Peter and you know, Michael 6

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(ABOVE) York (Logan), Farrah Fawcett-Majors as Holly, and Agutter (Jessica), in a scene from the film. Courtesy of Ernest Farino.

(RIGHT) Her bestselling swimsuit pin-up wasn’t the only Farrah poster hanging on walls in the Seventies. Courtesy of Heritage. © Warner Bros.

Anderson, too, there were so many of us. So we weren’t bedeviled with “Diva-dom.” And I think that’s again, a very British thing. That they’re going to take it very seriously, and behave seriously, and maybe they’re not going to show you who they are but what they can do. You have to take the material seriously and really give it your best shot and 100 percent concentration, and if it works—fabulous. If it doesn’t, at least you tried and you can walk away from it honorably. And also, in the knowledge that what works in the moment many not survive the ages. So I think that’s the nature of movies. RF: You said Peter Ustinov improvised many of his lines—how was that to deal with as someone who is a little more structured in your approach to the script

and story? How do you respond when take two is nothing at all like take one? MY: I loved it! Because you knew it wasn’t to throw you, it was all in a creative interest because he’d found his muse and he was just going with it. And it was very enjoyable, too, being around him. Peter was the most delightful person, he was a very civilized man. He had a wealth of the most incredible stories to

retro SCI-fi

enjoy. But equally, he took it seriously with the work. To come across T. S. Eliot’s Cats before Andrew Lloyd Webber… if you have that sort of literary repertoire and can bring it to bear…. He was amazing. RF: Tell me about the fight between Logan and Francis. It looked like you and Richard Jordan were just wailing on each other. I know there were stuntmen, but there are shots where it’s clearly the two of you. How long did it take to shoot? MY: Oh, yes. These things always take longer than you think they will. We had several close calls, but it’s par for the course, you know. It was quite strenuous.

(TOP) Shiny costumes (except for the dark, utilitarian garb of the Sandmen, like Logan) dazzled Logan’s Run’s audience. Shown here is concept art by costume designer Bill Thomas for the film’s character Doc (played by Michael Anderson, Jr.), with attached fabric samples. © Warner Bros. Courtesy of Heritage. (ABOVE) Logan and Jessica discover a brave new world as Logan’s Run builds to its climax. © Warner Bros. Courtesy of Ernest Farino.

RF: Any idea that Farrah Fawcett was going to become the biggest thing in the world two years later? MY: Well, you know she was my discovery. She owes me everything! I saw her playing tennis, and found out she

was an actress and recommended her to the producer. RF: Do you like to watch your work or do you avoid it? MY: If the director wants you to watch dailies, I’ve always gone along with it. You have to be objective. It’s very hard, it’s cruel, sometimes. But I think it’s important to make sure the point is coming over. I’ve mentioned working with Bob Fosse on Cabaret; that was the most creative part of the day. We’d watch them and discuss them creatively and he’d say that’s not going to work and your version worked better, we’ll use that. But I know [Three Musketeers director] Dick Lester wouldn’t go to the dailies, because he was constantly discouraged and couldn’t see what had been achieved or not achieved. No, I think there’s always a time for that [feedback]. RF: During production, did you begin to get a sense of how the film was going? Whether it would be successful or possibly a train wreck? MY: You know, I had a weird experience when I first came to Hollywood. I was actually in New York, and Bob Evans asked me to do Love Story. And again, I thought that wasn’t for me and it ended up becoming a gigantic phenomenon and it sort of gave me pause, and I thought, well, you can’t stand too far outside of this, and I think it made me much more proactive, and I’ve done many more things. I know there’s a whole school of actors that are much more careful about what they commit themselves to, but it’s part of my Aries nature to wade in and I’ve been proved right on so many occasions. The things that you thought were surefire were the things that went belly-up, and the unlikely things—this modest little comedy called Austin Powers explodes—so after all these years now, I go on instinct. That’s all you have to go on. RF: Had you read the book when you did the film? MY: No, but I’ve dipped into it since. It’s substantially different. And a lot of people were upset that we got the age wrong! [Last day occurs at age 21 in the novel, 30 in the film.] The purists. RETROFAN

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retro SCI-fi

First collected edition of Nolan and Johnson’s Logan: A Trilogy (Maclay & Associates, 1986). Courtesy of Heritage.

Clayton Johnson passed away on Dec. 25th, 2015, several months after this interview]. We’ve got editions around the world, and audio versions, we’ve had three different comicbook versions of it, the latest from Blue Water Productions. Marvel did an adaptation of the film, and then Malibu Graphics did a version of the first two [books]. So yeah, it’s become a classic and an icon. People know the name Logan’s Run that have never seen the movie or read the book, but they’ve heard of that title. So we’ve been very lucky.

months to get an answer. We weren’t going to wait that long, and Dial Press was the one that came through with the offer. So in almost every way you can look at it, Logan’s Run was unique in one way or another. It just wasn’t the average science fiction idea or the average science fiction novel. RF: I think it’s more akin to something like Fahrenheit 451. It’s had that sort of impact on society. WFN: Well, there’s been hundreds and hundreds of science-fiction books published since Logan, and yet it remains one of the top ten classics of science fiction, right up there with 1984 and Brave New World. That’s something that George and I never expected, and we’re delighted it happened, of course. I went on to write Logan’s World and Logan’s Search on my own, and I’ve also done another book called Logan’s Journey with a writer named Paul McComas that’s out with our agent right now [Author’s note: The book remains unpublished as of 2021, as does Logan Falls, co-written with Jason Brock], so the Logan saga is still going on and I’m still controlling it. George has pretty well given me the reins to this thing and said to take it anywhere I want to go, but George is still my close friend, I still split everything that comes from Logan’s Run, the novel, with him [Author’s note: George 14

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RF: What do you think is the future for Logan and the Logan franchise? WFN: Well, it’s difficult to hang on to it in one way, because the bigger it gets… it’s like a giant fish. Trying to beach a giant fish, and the bigger the fish is, the harder it is to bring it up on the beach. There’s going to come a day when the book rights will be out of our hands and there’s going to be all kinds of other writers being brought in to write other versions of it and that’s going to dilute the thing. So far, we’ve been able to hold onto the book rights exclusively so that nobody can write a book on Logan without our permission. But that may fade away, so I don’t know what the future of that is going to hold. RF: I’d be interested in seeing an anthology based in Logan’s World, with other writers contributing stories. WFN: Possibly, that’s one idea. A lot of fans did write their own fan stories and published them in mimeographed fanzines. I remember I went to San Diego for WesterCon as the guest of the Logan’s Run Organization of Fans, run by Faye Metz, and posed with them; they had costumes, and guns, and everything. So there were fan clubs, there were artifacts, there were crossword puzzles, there were cartoons, an enormous amount of merchandise that became available at one time or another. And if the movie they’re trying to make at Warner Bros.

goes through, it could all come back and in a much bigger way. If we can hang on to merchandising [rights], we could make a lot of money! We’ve got lawyers working on getting the television rights back, and other things in the works. So the answer is that I really don’t know what the future holds… only that we want to keep Logan running. The author acknowledges the assistance of R. Yancey in the preparation of several interview questions. ANTHONY TAYLOR is the licensing and brand manager for the Bram Stoker Estate, and a writer. He is the author of Arctic Adventure!, an Official Thunderbirds™ novel based on the iconic British television series by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. He has also written episodes of the animated Paddle Pop Adventures series from Monk Studios. In addition, Anthony wrote Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Complete Series – Volume 2, which includes reprints of the classic Gold Key comic-book stories, and The Future was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim, chronicling artist Mike Trim’s career designing models and special effects for Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO, and illustrating the cover for Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds album. He was a monthly columnist for Toy Shop Magazine for 12 years, covering garage kits and genre collectibles. Anthony was a regular contributor and editor for the British magazine Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models International, and contributed a chapter on the Flying Sub miniatures from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea for the book From Sketch to Screen. His articles have appeared in SFX, Video WatcHDog, Fangoria, Screem, HorrorHound, Famous Monsters of Filmland, FilmFax, Amazing Figure Modeler, Effects Special, Modeler’s Resource, and many other magazines. Anthony also designed and co-edited CultTVMan’s Ultimate Modeling Guide to the Jupiter II as well as CultTVMan’s Ultimate Modeling Guide to Classic Sci-Fi Movies. He is the force behind ATLRetro.com’s film and disc review column “Apes on Film.” His website is Taylorcosm.com.

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

Marvel Super Heroes by Will Murray In the 21st Century, the Marvel Universe is a cultural juggernaut. But it wasn’t always so. Back in the Sixties, Marvel Comics was an upstart publisher staffed by a tiny team of artists and writers whose titles were printed so poorly that news dealers often stuck them behind the better-looking DCs and Dells. Yet by the decade’s end, Marvel was the industry leader. I know. I was there, buying every title as it hit the racks of assorted variety stores and smoke shops, a proud part of that generation whose dimes sustained Marvel as it crawled up from the ghetto of infamy to which it had been consigned during the dark decade of the Fifties. By 1966, I was a total Marvelite, having given up on my earlier favorite titles, the Superman-DC line. They were for kids. I was a teenager now. Stan Lee was the new king of the four-color jungle.

animation work; programs and commercials as well. And the comic books intrigued me. I’m not a comic book reader per se, but the artwork to me was absolutely alluring. We decided to see if we could animate a book. Now, if you recall, at that particular period, the business was in a slump, and the Goodmans, papa and son [Marvel publisher Martin Goodman and son Chip], were fighting to stay alive. And fortuitously, I was able to make contact with them.” Not so fast. Producer-distributor Steve Krantz of Krantz Films credited his young sons, Nicholas and Anthony, whose Marvel collection was overwhelming the Krantz home. “In desperation,” Krantz explained, “I picked one of the comics up and started to read it, and I realized that no one on television at that time was doing any of the comic books. My sons picked out a number of their favorite characters for me, and I went out and got the rights to them, and that’s how Super Heroes began.” Coming Your Way on TV! Stan Lee settled the question when he Imagine my thrill when Stan announced said, “As far as I know, the deal was made that some of their top super-heroes between Martin Goodman and Grantraywere coming to TV. Grantray-Lawrence Lawrence. I’m sure it was Bob who decided Animation acquired the rights to Captain Kids lost their minds when they which characters to use.” America, Iron Man, Prince Namor the spotted this house ad in Marvel Comics “Originally, my concept was to use Sub-Mariner, the Mighty Thor, and the titles in 1966, announcing the forththe original art and try to utilize that as Incredible Hulk for release as a syndicated coming Marvel Super Heroes cartoon the basis for the production,” recalled anthology show, The Marvel Super Heroes. I and some of the stations broadcasting Lawrence, “but it proved to be too costly could hardly wait. the program. TM & © Marvel. and too complicated. We learned that Grantray-Lawrence’s Bob Lawrence Disney had acquired a machine where you explained the show’s genesis. can copy cels, and if we’d all been smart, we “I was associated with a fascinating would’ve bought stock in that company––that was the beginning group of amateurs in Hollywood,” he said. “Some of the best of Xerox. They had it locked up in a room, in Disney’s facility. ones were Ray Patterson and Grant Simmons, and we were doing RETROFAN

September 2021

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

But Hollywood is like a sieve––so we got one. And we locked ours up in a room. And it made all the difference in the world. It was really a lifesaver.” Here, Lawrence and Krantz were on the same page. “It was set up as a ‘living comic book,’” Krantz said at the time. “We used the original comic book art, and animated only limited portions of it. It worked quite well, because you get very dramatic poses in comic books. Nothing is static. And we use the Pow! and Smash! words right on the screen.” Batmania was in full swing, so the parties were hoping to cash in on the Sixties super-hero craze. Having the foundation of Jack Kirby’s dynamic artwork, as well as those of Steve Ditko, Bill Everett, Don Heck, Gene Colan, and others to work from, gave the team confidence that the episodes would work for television. “One of the secrets of Marvel’s success is its ability to draw action right into its panels,” Lawrence observed. “Marvel’s art is like no other penciling in comics, because its artists and production people understand the principle of arrested motion. Iron Man doesn’t just stand there. He tenses, or relaxes, or jumps, or recoils. The characters don’t actually move, and yet their actions seem to flow, catching the reader up in a current of activity. Since we wanted to retain this flow for our film, we decided to let their artists carry the ball— and the viewer—just as they do their own readers.” “We were fortunate to have such fantastic art to work with,” added GrantrayLawrence President Ray Patterson. “In blowing up these drawings to 18x14, in order to do touch-ups on them, we found very little that our artists had to tinker with. Let’s face it, the comic book created the illusion of action very successfully. We merely helped it along a little.” Lawrence recruited Stan Lee to assist with the inevitable challenges arising from adapting serialized comic stories into three-part cartoons. “Stan Lee lived out in Hewlett Harbor on Long Island,” recalled Lawrence. “I rented a penthouse apartment for him in New York City to keep him near us so that we could work with him on a daily basis. You have no idea. This man could work 24 hours a day. Absolutely writes dialogue that makes all kinds of sense. So we had that ability.” At the time, Lee was thrilled. “They’ve been an absolute joy to work with. They check with us on everything and they’re tremendously anxious to keep with the spirit of our strips and stories. The original stories have been hanged to some degree because some of them aren’t complete in themselves. And the animation studio has to change the ending so it seems like it’s a complete episode.” Early in the development phase, Stan Lee recorded a video pitch/pilot for the show. “And that is what really sold the concept,” revealed Lawrence. 16

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Marvel Comics artwork by Jack “King” Kirby and Gene “The Dean” Colan was used in these Grantray-Lawrence promos produced to syndicate The Marvel Super Heroes. TM & © Marvel.

Producing the Series

Steve Krantz farmed out the production work to five separate animation outfits, beginning with a fading Paramount Cartoon Studios, then headed by animator Shamus Culhane. Paramount selected Captain America’s origin for its shakedown episode. “Krantz was using Xeroxed illustrations from the comic books, only animating the eyes and mouths of the characters,” Culhane explained. “By adding special effects like death rays, explosions beefed up by camera moves, he had put together a sample film of a Captain America story which had been accepted by the networks.” Accepted––after a near-disaster of a first attempt, Culhane later admitted. “It was very easy work; the comic-book illustrations were Xeroxed directly onto cels and painted like normal animation drawings, so the animators had nothing complicated to do except for the special effects. The rest of the animation, the eye movements and mouth action, were so simple that even a novice animator could have finished a whole picture in three weeks.” Simple, but not foolproof. “Because the action was so simple nobody bothered to examine the drawings of the first two pictures,” Culhane recounted in his 1998 autobiography, Talking Animals and Other People. “Animators took the stock scenes as soon as they were animated, noted the drawing numbers of the characters, mouth actions, and special effects, and returned them to the inking department as quickly as possible because as long as they were in reuse the first two pictures were being delayed.

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

“I had screened the Captain America sample reel for all the animators, pointing out the judicious use of blinks and the perfect synchronization of mouth action and dialogue tracks. The animation was so basic that I had elected to dispense with the normal routine of checking each scene before photography. It seemed a needless expense. I also had omitted shooting a pencil test for the same reason.” You can guess where this is going…. “When the first two pictures were ready to be screened,” Culhane recalled, “I sat in the projection room with complacence. The first two films have been done within the budget and on schedule. A few seconds later after the first picture started, I was jolted into shock. The mouth moves were a mess; often they were completely out of sync. In some cases the mouths were so distorted that the characters looked as if they were in a class for speech therapy. All the eyes blinked and blinked. Thor looked like a junkie in great need of a fix. Practically nothing was usable except for the basic Xerox cells of the characters. Even the special effects were terrible! The second picture was only slightly different in that the mouths, in addition to being out of sync, slid all over the face. Needless to say, there was no usable animation in this one either.” Back to the drawing board the team went, $10,000 poorer. Eventually, they got it sorted out. Culhane was given responsibility for The Mighty Thor, which aired appropriately on the day named after him, Thursday. Four other Hollywood studios handled the other characters. Jonny Quest’s creator, Doug Wildey, took on Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, which replaced Spider-Man in an 11th-hour decision to hold him back for his own show. Wildey was art director at Hanna-Barbara, which would soon produce a Fantastic Four cartoon.

Sample storyboards from two different Thor episodes. The Mighty Thor © Marvel. Courtesy of Heritage.

Wildey related, “I art-directed that Sub-Mariner show, and across the street they were doing some of the other shows in which they would take the drawings out of the comic books and animate them from that. I wrote and laid out a number of bridge segments for the Iron Man segments as well.”

Wildey was assisted by artists like Sparky Moore, Herb Hazleton, and Mel Keefer, and well as inker Mike Royer, who extended and re-inked the comic-book panels where necessary. “I wound up doing some original drawings of Tony Stark in the cockpit of his jet plane and things like that,” Royer related, “because there wasn’t comic-book art to fill it out. And on the SubMariner stories, not enough Sub-Mariners had been published at that time, and so we did a whole bunch of original stories.” Marvel writer Roy Thomas recalled pitching in. “I met and talked with Robert Lawrence, one of the GrantrayLawrence partners, once or twice,” he said. “Mainly, I was ‘asked’ by Stan to come up with a short plot or two for ‘Sub-Mariner,’ since that series had far fewer episodes from which to extrapolate plots and/or illustrations than the other four. I’ve no recollection, however, of how many plots I wrote (not many) or if they were used in any form. I do know that I was tempted to see if I could turn any of Bill Everett’s [Forties] or especially [Fifties] stories into MSH episodes, although none of the

earlier art would’ve been usable… but I’ve no recollection whether I actually did it or not.” Comic-book artist Jerry Grandenetti storyboarded an original Sub-Mariner episode that never moved into production. As a fan, I was startled to see at least one Sub-Mariner story on TV weeks before it appeared on Tales to Astonish. Marvel and Grantray-Lawrence worked very closely. Roy Thomas stated, “I’m sure that MSH was given plots for upcoming stories, which would’ve been just several ahead of what was then currently on the stands. Stan may have thought up an idea or two and then carried through in both places, because he’d have figured that MSH could pick up Gene Colan’s art for it later perhaps.” Stan Lee was the unsung hero of the harried production process, juggling his Marvel editorial duties while he rewrote his older stories for the unfamiliar medium. As Bob Lawrence explained, “Ray Patterson’s wife June was brilliant as an editor, and we would create storylines from the comic books. And Stan would edit. And that man could edit all RETROFAN

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

ED AND EXP COND SE ION! EDIT

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

MAC RABOY

25th anniversary retrospective by publisher JOHN MORROW and COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors!

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ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA

Yes, Miss Landers…

How Sue Randall Became Every Boy’s Teacher-Crush

Sue Randall as “Miss Landers” poses with Jerry Mathews “as the Beaver.” Leave It to Beaver © NBCUniversal Television.

And Starring as—Kitty, Ruthie, Hope, Kathy Taylor Johnson, Kathy O’Hara, Lucy, Susan, Elaine, Anna, Phyllis, Lois, Elizabeth, Mimi, Chick, Kay, Evelyn, Peggy, Ellen, Effie, Bianca, Hardi, Sabina, Jen, Ann, Louise, Sarah, Virginia, Carrie, Diane Emerson Soames, and Mary Ann, to say nothing of Miss Turner, Miss McNulty, Miss Franklin, Mrs. Wilson, Nurse Thompson, Sgt. Addie Malone, an FBI Clerk, the Union Boss’ Daughter, the Bride’s Friend, a College Girl Holding a Newspaper, and— Wait a minute! What actress could possibly play all those divergent roles? Barbara Stanwyck? Meryl Streep? Sally Field? Nope. It’s our favorite elementary school teacher, “Miss Alice Landers”— Sue Randall. Like Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, I, along with an uncountable number of schoolboys in the late Fifties and early Sixties, had a deep-seated crush on “Miss Landers,” experiencing on a weekly basis numbness too far down to be heartburn. It didn’t matter that when Miss Landers made her first appearance in 1958 Sue Randall was 23 and I was six. A kid that age lives in blissful ignorance of age and time, and I was confident we’d be married one day soon. The only bubble-bursting downside was the splash of reality I confronted on a daily basis at school: none of my teachers looked like Miss Landers! Or possessed her calming, pleasant manner. (Astrologically, Sue was a Libra, a personality that fits hand-in-glove to Miss Landers: “A considerate and thoughtful nature with understanding and sensitivity who puts the needs of others above her own, always available to offer a non-judgmental ear or supportive words, and likely described as the ‘perfect friend.’”). I would later reconcile this disparity between reality and art by chalking it up to the old adage, Life Isn’t Fair. And if you think it was just me borne away on the wings of schoolboy naiveté, here are comments posted on the IMDb: “Sue Randall, with those big, beautiful eyes and girl-next-door

Written and captioned by Ernest Farino presence…” and, in reply, “I agree absolutely about Sue Randall— it’s easy to see WHY Beaver had a crush on her; if you didn’t you weren’t normal,” as well as “Sue Randall is forever etched in my memory as Beaver’s crush-worthy schoolteacher, Miss Landers.” Years later, along with many other interests, I casually collected photos of Sue, helped by the advent of the internet and eBay. I always wanted to find out more about her, so an article for RetroFan seemed like the perfect excuse to knuckle down. Sue Randall was born Marion Burnside Randall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 1935. Her father was Roland Rodrock Randall, a well-known real estate consultant. The Randall family was one of the prominent families of Philadelphia at that time and Sue’s parents supported her ambitions to pursue theater arts. At the age of ten Sue began acting on stage in a production of Dear Ruth by the Alden Park Players in the Germantown area of Philadelphia, and in 1953 finished her early education at the Lankenau School for Girls. Then it was on to New York, where she graduated with honors from the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. By then, though, she was so busy with theater work she was unable to attend her own graduation and receive the “Best Actress” award. In an article in the May 19, 1956 issue of TV Guide (vol. 4, #20, issue #164), Sue recalled that she had “read in the paper that [producer Richard Aldrich] was looking for apprentices for his summer theater in Falmouth, Massachusetts.” So she simply arrived, unannounced, at his office. There was no one else there except Aldrich. “We began talking and he said I could have a job.” Sue painted scenery and read for the director. She met Helen Hayes, who was to star in What Every Woman Knows, and was given a part. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/producer Howard Lindsay (who, with frequent collaborator Russel Crouse, would write the book for the Tony Award-winning musical The Sound of Music) saw Sue in the role and hired her for a production of RETROFAN

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ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria

co-starring actor. Yet, she only appeared in one feature film; we’ll never know if she was content with her TV career or yearned for bigger projects on the silver screen. From my own experience in the film industry over the years, my sense is that, given the unpredictable and sometimes volatile nature of the business, she was likely content to be a working actress. Her only feature film was Desk Set in 1957, starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Sue was the third of three assistant

researchers, along with Joan Blondell and Dina Merrill, who made up the staff of the Research Department at a fictitious television network. The film was adapted from the Broadway play The Desk Set written by William Marchant that originally starred Shirley Booth for 296 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York from October 24 to July 7, 1955. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Booth would repeat her role in the film, which ultimately did not happen.

…And Along Came Beaver

Leave It to Beaver was created by writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher and broadcast initially on CBS (then ABC) from October 4, 1957 to June 20, 1963, for six full 39-week seasons (234 episodes). The series centered around Theodore “The Beaver” Cleaver (Jerry Mathers), and his adventures at home, school, and around his neighborhood. Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont starred as Beaver’s parents, June and Ward Cleaver, and Tony Dow as Beaver’s brother, Wally. We assume that RetroFan readers are familiar with this iconic series in general [and if not, the show and three of its stars will be featured in a forthcoming issue—ed.], so I will keep the focus on Sue Randall as Beaver’s schoolteacher, Miss Landers. Actually, Sue wasn’t Beaver’s first teacher. That was “Miss Canfield,” played by Diane Brewster for four episodes when the show first went to series. Miss Canfield: “Theodore...” Beaver: “My name’s ‘Beaver’.” Miss Canfield: “‘Beaver’? Is that your given name?” Beaver: “Yes ma’am. [pauses] My brother gave it to me.” Sue Randall came on board as Miss Alice Landers in “Ward’s Problem” (S2/Ep42, October 16, 1958). Diane Brewster was

(TOP LEFT) Print ad for Desk Set, a rare version that features the full cast, including Sue Randall (FAR LEFT). (TOP RIGHT) Sue Randall as Ruthie Saylor. (CENTER) Sue Randall and Katharine Hepburn. Turns out Hepburn was something of a mentor to Sue, which is likely how she came to be in the film. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Director Walter Lang pours tea during a break in filming. Known for her sharp wit, it appears from the delighted expressions on the faces of (LEFT TO RIGHT) Dina Merrill, Spencer Tracy, and Sue Randall that Joan Blondell (in black dress) has cracked-wise at the expense of a chagrined Mr. Lang. Desk Set © 20th Century Fox.

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The Leave It to Beaver first season opening title. Each subsequent season had a new opening. The theme music is “The Toy Parade,” written for the series by Dave Kahn, Melvyn Leonard, and Mort Greene. Although the song had lyrics, the show always used an instrumental version. For the third season, the tempo was quickened and the tune whistled by a male chorus, and the final season featured a new version arranged by prolific jazz composer Pete Rugolo (who also wrote for Thriller, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, Felony Squad, Alias Smith and Jones, and Family). Leave It to Beaver © NBCUniversal Television.

ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria

unavailable to continue as Miss Canfield due to a scheduling conflict with the production of Torpedo Run (1958), in which she appeared as Glenn Ford’s wife. Sue stayed on for a total of 29 episodes through 1962. An interesting side note is that like many TV series that required contemporary wardrobe (and may have been on a tight budget), Sue Randall was required to buy or provide her own clothes for her role as Miss Landers.

The Plot Thickens…

Two “Miss Landers” episodes stand out. The first is “Teacher Comes to Dinner” (S3/ Ep9, November 28, 1959). Beaver expresses joy at being in Miss Landers’ class so his mother, June, invites Miss Landers for dinner. Beaver: My mother invited Miss Landers to dinner. Larry: To eat? Beaver: Sure. You can’t invite somebody to dinner without letting them eat. Larry: Boy, Beaver, this could be the worst thing that ever happened to you in your whole life.

(LEFT) (LEFT TO RIGHT) Sue Randall (Miss Landers), Stephen Talbot (Gilbert), Jerry Mathers (Beaver), and Lelani Sorensen (“Classmate”) in “The School Picture” (S4/Ep30, April 22, 1961). (RIGHT) Jerry Mathers and Sue Randall display good ol’ American values throughout the series. At one point in the series Beaver muses, “I wouldn’t wanna do anything to hurt God. He’s got enough trouble with the Russians and all.” © NBCUniversal Television.

Beaver’s concern mounts, and as June is fixing the dinner, Beaver looks on:

BEAVER GIVES MISS LANDERS THE SLIP In the episode “Last Day of School” (S3/Ep38, original airdate June 18, 1960), June buys a gift for Miss Landers on Beaver’s behalf, since he can’t think of what he should give her. June settles on handkerchiefs, a sensible, “neutral” choice, but the purchase gets accidentally switched for lingerie at the department store. Wally and Beaver sneak an advance look and— Wally: “Boy, Beaver, it’s a slip!” Beaver: “That’s some kind of ladies’ underwear, isn’t it?” Wally: “Sure, it’s some kind of ladies’ underwear!” Beaver: “Gee, Wally, I can’t give Miss Landers underwear in front of the whole class!” Wally: “Well, maybe you could. You’re just a little kid.” Beaver: “Yeah, but I’m not that little of a kid!”

Beaver: Nothing in here could poison anybody, could it, Mom? June: Why, of course not, Beaver! Beaver: Larry said Miss Landers might eat something and get toenail poisoning. June: You mean ptomaine poisoning? Beaver: Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, he said if she got it, she might get mad and flunk me and stuff. The thing I related to in this episode, and I think is a good example as to why the series has endured, is the notion of the teacher out of her element and out in the real world. And on top of that, in your own house. I think we’ve all experienced that from time to time: your regular bank teller seen at the grocery store prompts that dilemma, “Where do I know her from…?” and that sort of thing. Our family never had a teacher over for dinner, but I do remember that my science teacher in the Fifth Grade was dating a woman from the front office and there they were at the movie theater together! I can’t tell you the name of the movie to save my life—I spent more time stealing sideward glances across the aisle than I did looking at the screen… The second memorable episode is “Miss Landers’ Fiancé” (S4/Ep7, November 12, 1960). As the title suggests, this was the heartbreaker Beaver is shocked to see the wedding announcement. © NBCUniversal Television.

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SCOTT SAAVEDRA'S SECRET SANCTUM

Weekly Reader

12+

By Scott Saavedra

d do such a thing? Let's find out!

A newspaper for school children? Who woul

Special Introduction

Our week has seven days. That is a lot. We need so many days because we are all so very busy. On Monday the school days of the week begin. All week long we study and learn

and boys get their very own copy of My Weekly Reader. My Weekly Reader is full of stories about important events just like your father’s newspaper but without extra words that

not a school day so you can watch television cartoons and eat sugar cereal until your head feels funny? No! Friday is the best day because that is the school day all the girls

of all, there are no words that will make you sad. Well, except for the part of this story where My Weekly Reader dies…

and have lunch and milk. The last day of the school week is Friday. It is the best school day. Is it because the next day is Saturday and that is

would make you sad. RetroFan is a magazine that is almost the same as My Weekly Reader. RetroFan has stories about important old television shows and good toys and best

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Scott Saavedra's secret sanctum

In the interest of full disclosure: I do MWR referred to itself as “The Children’s Newspaper,” but not recall getting My Weekly Reader in they managed to leave out important details and even stay elementary school. I remember getting a away from upsetting topics, so wanting “to know more” competitor’s magazine, Junior Scholastic, in was entirely understandable. Weekly Reader: 60 Years of middle school. I liked Junior Scholastic a lot News for Kids, 1928–1988 (World Almanac, 1988), a book and even kept several copies for decades prepared by the then-current staff of Weekly Reader (the until finally returning them to the earth. But word My having been dropped by then), admitted as much, RetroFan didn’t get requests from readers indicating their policy was designed to “avoid difficult or for an article about Junior Scholastic… they controversial discussions in the classroom.” wanted to read about My Weekly Reader, so It’s true that there would be stories the newspaper felt here we are. could be safely overlooked (Did an eight-year-old in 1929 My Weekly Reader was a slim magazineabsolutely need to hear about the stock market crash?— sized newspaper for elementary school probably not), while others couldn’t passed over. The children. It was between four and eight pages long. The writing shattering assassination of President John F. Kennedy was too and design were clear and basic. There were eventually editions big a story to ignore, and yet their four-page “Special Memorial geared for all elementary school grades featuring news stories Section” (Dec. 1963) was mostly photos and a transcript of his and other information of interest. There was often a comic strip inaugural speech. It doesn’t mention the assassination at all. or some other cartoon, and a study guide on the last page. Special Kennedy was simply not alive anymore. Even as news for kids, it’s sections were sometimes included for the areas of science, health, a very elemental fact to not address. etc. Twenty-five issues were published during the school year and Despite such weak spots in its news coverage over the years, a Summer edition was available during, you know, the Summer. the desire to drive young minds to an interest in current events Judging from comments online, getting the latest My Weekly was a solid one. That goal, and My Weekly Reader’s story, began Reader (MWR) was also a nice break from the classroom routine nearly 120 years ago with a publication called, quite sensibly, for many students. If you were Current Events. lucky, the teacher would pass out copies and let everyone read Twin Births in class and then answer the Separated by Years study guide questions at their Current Events was the creation own speed. A quiet time for all of Charles Palmer Davis, a (especially the teacher). That former journalist and school method of distribution may have board member. When visiting been common. But RetroFan reader classrooms he noted that the school children were largely Doug Abramson wrote to share that unaware of the greater world during his elementary school years around them, not even able (1977–1984) Weekly Reader appeared to identify the then-serving in with the Sunday comics section of president of the United States his local newspaper. Unfortunately, (the sadly doomed William as we shall see, there are some McKinley). Davis was unsettled areas of MWR history that remain and felt that an education that somewhat murky. didn’t “prepare young people In whatever way they got their for better citizenship” needed copies, former children recalled to be fixed. His proposed the satisfaction of having their own solution was to create a news source like mom and dad newspaper for public school did. Some just enjoyed reading the kids. news, while others would sit with The first issue of Current friends later to discuss the stories Events was published May 20, from the latest issue. Early in 2020, 1902. Only a few hundred were author Rick Houser wrote in The printed, but the newspaper, Clermot Sun that “the Weekly Reader designed for middle and was the foundation of moving me This special section of My Weekly Reader (Dec. 1963) was high school students, grew towards growing into a thirst to intended for second grade students (note the number 2 in in popularity. That first issue want to know more.” He wasn’t the masthead). Nothing inside even alludes to President put down a marker that would alone. Kennedy’s assassination. Unless otherwise mentioned, all also apply later to MWR. Each However, not to be too snarky images are from the collection of the author. Junior Scholastic & issue would provide “prompt, about it since we are talking about My Weekly Reader TM ® & © 2021 Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved. reliable, fresh, clean” news news for children here, MWR could without “harmful features come up short as a news source. 38

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Scott Saavedra's secret sanctum

of the daily press.” It would also be affordable so that it could certainly a component of the newspaper’s success. Johnson be read by all students and present “a broader view of life.” The had experience writing educational material for children with success of Current Events led to the formation of the American some 50 workbooks to her credit in a variety of subjects, so her Education Press, Inc. (AEP) around the First World War. About a commitment to education is not in question. decade later, My Weekly Reader would find a home there. The reason Johnson did not immediately join the staff was The credit for the creation of MWR is generally given to that she already had jobs in education during MWR’s early years. educator Eleanor Murdoch Johnson. Much like Davis before her, So while she was not initially an employee of the American Johnson noticed that elementary school students were getting Education Press, she did meet with its editors and have input on an incomplete education. She felt weekends until 1934 when she that “pupils had no idea of what became MWR’s editor-in-chief. was happening in the world—not Johnson would remain in that a flicker.” The innovation for her role until 1971 while consulting for conception of a newspaper for years after that. students was in creating a targeted As with any publication, edition for each elementary grade. success is never truly the result of The first issue of MWR was released just one person. The first editor of with a cover date of September 21, MWR was Martha Fulton. Fulton 1928 and was quickly successful. was the principal writer as well. The best available biographical The managing editor of MWR information about Johnson (and and AEP’s president, Harrison the source of the preceding quote) Sayre, felt that Fulton’s work was a is an extended excerpt—in the definite source of the newspaper’s York Daily Record (Dec. 31, 2007)— success. from Legacies, an out-of-print York, Though he died in 1921, well Pennsylvania, history of the area’s before MWR was published, notable women. the impact of Charles Palmer Despite MWR’s success, Johnson Davis was also important to the was not employed by AEP in the publication. He devised Current newspaper’s early years. It would Events’ mission statement, which be this absence that, for some, was also used for My Weekly contributes to undermining her Reader: “To awaken [children’s] claim to being not just a founder interest in the great world in which but of having a significant influence they live… prepare them for good on the early days of MWR. citizenship… and help equip them Some of the car safety innovations discussed in For such a beloved publication for success.” this May 4, 1966 issue eventually became standard, there has been very little written on MWR’s own success was like airbags and shoulder straps. Sliding passenthe subject beyond business-centric immediate, a rare beacon of good ger doors? Not so much. TM ® & © 2021 Scholastic Inc. All (adult) newspaper articles and business news once the Great Rights Reserved. random blog posts and comments Depression unfurled its dark (“I looooved it!”). Most everything tentacles across a wounded nation of significance about the history of MWR has come from a short (you’d never see that kind of purple prose in MWR). No matter mid-Sixties booklet, History of American Education Publications, Inc., the events of the day, MWR tried to stay positive. Bad news was 1902–1965, by Charles E. Martz, an AEP editor. History does give diminished and ways to overcome obstacles were presented. Johnson credit for founding MWR. However, an academic thesis, The first headline from the first issue provides not just a prime The Weekly Reader: A Corporate History, 1965–1995, by Cindi Lee example of MWR’s style but is often a component of articles about Weldy, notes that Charles Palmer Davis’ son Preston Davis thought the newspaper (ahem): “Two poor boys who made good are now that some of Martz’s work was flawed (with some details “the running for the highest office in the world!” The candidates were product of someone’s imagination”). Exactly what was wrong and Herbert Hoover and Al Smith. how is unknown. Weldy also suggests that Johnson’s contributions The thought that two poor boys, proxies for many children (so were “over emphasized.” Meanwhile, the Wikipedia entry (yeah, long as they were boys), was a powerfully hopeful message. Of yeah) for MWR under its more modern name, Weekly Reader, doesn’t course, it wasn’t very inclusive, but it was a reflection of the time. even mention Johnson as having the idea for the newspaper in the But times change. And to their credit, the writers and editors did first place. attempt to keep up. Despite the contradictions of what meager historical record The world grew more connected and complex as the there is, Johnson herself said she came up with the idea for the turbulent Sixties made way for the political and financial publication of news for students, and there doesn’t appear to be upheaval of the Seventies before landing in the “greed is good” any bold contemporary contradiction of that fact. Her concept Eighties. MWR did eventually address tough subjects that might of a specialized edition for each of the elementary grades was have been given a pass in the Forties and Fifties, as well as RETROFAN

September 2021

Scott Saavedra's secret sanctum

female is a flapper-style hat with a skirt and legs. The wizard hat doesn’t like trade reporting because he’s “going to mix up import and export again!” The flapper hat lets two farmer hats explain that import means bringing goods in and export means shipping goods out. The flapper hat then belabors the point by telling the wizard hat that “Out is ex-, in is im-, get it?” The wizard hat gets it. (I love that joke.) Stop the presses: In an unusually lurid (“Jeremy wipes the blood from his mouth…”) story, “Knocked-Out Tooth Can Be Saved,” Jeremy Miller gets a hole in his smile thanks to a well-

thrown baseball to the face. A dentist returns the tooth to the kid’s mouth. “Thousands of Searches are Held Yearly to Find Missing Youngsters” is the sub-head to the story “Missing Children.” There is good advice here (we’ve all heard it), but this kind of reporting had to unnerve kids. (The V. P.’s weigh in as a propeller beanie asks, “Is kidnapping a child sleeping?”) A human baby gets a baboon heart transplant. Little Baby Fae lived for 20 days, which was actually the good news as previous primate transplant patients didn’t live past three and a half days following surgery. There was no word on just how the baboon was persuaded to donate its heart. In other stories, Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman to be a Supreme Court judge, unemployment reaches 10.1% (“it’s like death,” according to one out-of-work man), and a story about AIDS is both humane and informative.

News You Can Lose

BEYOND MY WEEKLY READER Both Scholastic and Weekly Reader had book fairs that would bring to schools what amounted to a pop-up, kidfriendly bookstore. At Rhoda Street Elementary School, our book fairs were in the auditorium. The sensation of anticipation and excitement as I walked with my mom down the center aisle toward the front of the stage where all the beautiful books were remains one of my strongest childhood memories (that and the whole ketchup package thing). Book publishing was another project. There were Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club editions of a number of popular books including Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion; Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by Bernard Waber; and Snoopy and the Red Baron by Charles Schulz. General book collector advice is to avoid book club editions, but apparently Baby Boomers get all nostalgic for these. READ magazine was for older students (grades 6–10) and featured both non-fiction and fiction. READ ended in 2012 with Scholastic’s purchase of Weekly Reader Corp. Based on the number of volumes published at the time, 61, the magazine had been around since 1950–1951. A solid run for sure. (ABOVE) Weekly Reader Book Club catalog. Many thanks to Shawn Robare (Brandedinthe80s.com) for the scans. (RIGHT) READ magazine reached the upper-grade students that Junior Scholastic did (and does, it’s still around). TM ® & © 2021 Scholastic Inc. Star Trek © CBS. All Rights Reserved.

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September 2021

Weekly Reader celebrated its 60th birthday in 1988. WR continued to be published for years but suffered from the same challenges that other publications faced in a changing media environment. Adding to their difficulties was the shrinking of school budgets. Shifting ownership also affected WR. The original publisher was Charles Palmer Davis’ American Education Press. AEP became American Education Publications in 1949 when it was sold to Wesleyan University. From there it was sold to Xerox Corporation in 1965. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is often mentioned as an owner of WR, but a specific date of acquisition could not be found. Ripplewood Holdings bought what was now Weekly Reader Corp. in 1999. Ripplewood then merged with Reader’s Digest (at one time having a circulation of many millions) in 2007. Reader’s Digest declared bankruptcy in 2009, affecting WR’s resources, and circulation dropped dramatically. In 2012 Scholastic Inc. purchased both Weekly Reader and Current Events. The company merged the newspaper with its version of WR, Scholastic News, to create Scholastic News Weekly Reader (a name change that didn’t last). Current Events joined with Junior Scholastic. All but five of WR’s 60-person staff were laid off. Like many, many MWR stories, I saved the worst news for the end of the report. The idealistic creations of Charles Palmer Davis and Eleanor Murdoch Johnson were now gone. For all those who look back fondly to My Weekly Reader and, better still, those who found the publication lifeenhancing, the good memories live on. That may not be news, but it is a fact. Of special help in finding otherwise difficult to track down information about My Weekly Reader was Walter Duane Carpenter’s dissertation “Values, leaders and My Weekly Reader: An historical study.” I am grateful for his research. SCOTT SAAVEDRA is a Retro Explorer operating from his Southern Californiabased Secret Sanctum. He is a writer (more or less), artist (occasionally), and graphic designer (you’re soaking in it). Check out his Instagram thing, won’t you, at instagram/scottsaav/

THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

“Bitten by the Curse of Radio, It’s WOLFMAN JACK, Baby!” “If someone was to nominate me for the Supreme Court it would be a shame, because with my two-tone wolfish goatee and all I’d probably look great in those dignified robes. But I would never get past the preliminary phase, where they check your closet for skeletons. ’Cause I’ve got enough bones kicking around in there to build my own dinosaur.” – Robert Weston Smith, a.k.a. “Wolfman Jack”

Wolfman Jack through the years: at KUXL, in the movie American Grafitti, a publicity shot (with fangs!), on TV’s Midnight Special, and as the subject of a 1995 memoir, Have Mercy!, co-written by Byron Laursen. Photos courtesy of Scott Shaw! American Grafitti © Universal Pictures. Midnight Special © NBC. Have Mercy! © Grand Central Pub.

by Scott Shaw!

As a kid, I liked beatniks, outlaws, eccentrics, and weirdos. I still do. Many of them inspired what eventually became part of my oddball personality. Growing up in San Diego, California, a border city, in the mid-Sixties, I raptly listened to a raspy, outrageous, and hilarious fellow who went by the “air name” of “Wolfman Jack” on XERB, a megawatt “border blaster” radio station in nearby Mexico that broadcast prerecorded shows. While in 11th grade, I spoke like Wolfman Jack for a week just to see if I could get away with it. I drove my parents crazy, especially when my Spanish teacher, a guy from Germany, met with my parents on PTA Night and informed them that I “spoke like a colored person.” (My parents were much more upset with that racist comment than my entire week of Wolfmanning.) In 1966, during a family weekend vacation in Los Angeles, after Wolfman Jack was doing his radio show live from Hollywood, I had a five-minute conversation with him from a phone booth outside our motel one Saturday night. (I’ve been told that our session was included on one of his many LP-record-album collections of his on-air phone calls.) He was a complete mystery to me, my friends, and most of the teenagers in San Diego. Who was this Wolfman Jack? What did he look like? Where did he come from? Was he a put-on? Why was his voice so raspy? Was he black or was he white? RETROFAN

September 2021

THE MAGAZINE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES! ®

BRICKJOURNAL magazine (edited by Joe Meno) spotlights all aspects of the LEGO® Fan Community, showcasing events, people, and models every issue, with contributions and how-to articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more. Available in both FULL-COLOR print and digital editions. Print subscribers get the digital version FREE!

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Head SPACE-ward with starship builders NICK TROTTA and ATTILA GALLIK, see TIM GODDARD’s space builds (and more) from the book LEGO Space: Building the Future, plus STEVEN SMYTH of Bantha Bricks returns with more intricate Star Wars builds! With step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization secrets by JARED K. BURKS, & more! Edited by JOE MENO.

LEGO® brick-built Edwards Island by DALE HARRIS of HarrisBricks! The hot rods of PAUL SLUITERS! Rocket to outer space with SCOTT BOWMAN and JOE CHAMBERS’ Space Shuttle Discovery set! Plus, Star Wars builds with STEVEN SMYTH of Bantha Bricks, BrickNerd, step-by-step building instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

LEGO® photography with Toy Photographers Blog founder SHELLY CORBETT, and photographers ASTRID HEYLAND, NATASJA VOS, and MARCO ZANCONI offer their favorite tips and tricks to make your creations look great! Plus, STEVEN SMYTH’s Star Wars builds, instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

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Pop Culture Books HOLLY JOLLY Celebrating Christmas Past In Pop Culture

MONSTER MASH

GROOVY

Time-trip back to the frightening era of 1957-1972, when monsters stomped into the American mainstream! This profusely illustrated full-color hardcover covers that creepy, kooky Monster Craze through features on FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine, the #1 hit “Monster Mash,” Aurora’s model kits, TV shows (SHOCK THEATRE, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, THE MUNSTERS, and DARK SHADOWS), “MARS ATTACKS” trading cards, EERIE PUBLICATIONS, PLANET OF THE APES, and more! It features interviews with JAMES WARREN (Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella magazines), FORREST J ACKERMAN (Famous Monsters of Filmland), JOHN ASTIN (The Addams Family), AL LEWIS (The Munsters), JONATHAN FRID (Dark Shadows), GEORGE BARRIS (monster car customizer), ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH (Rat Fink), BOBBY (BORIS) PICKETT (Monster Mash singer/songwriter), with a Foreword by TV horror host ZACHERLEY. By MARK VOGER.

From WOODSTOCK to THE BANANA SPLITS, from SGT. PEPPER to H.R. PUFNSTUF, from ALTAMONT to THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, GROOVY is a far-out trip to the era of lava lamps and love beads. This profusely illustrated HARDCOVER BOOK, in PSYCHEDELIC COLOR, features interviews with icons of grooviness such as PETER MAX, BRIAN WILSON, PETER FONDA, MELANIE, DAVID CASSIDY, members of the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, CREAM, THE DOORS, THE COWSILLS and VANILLA FUDGE; and cast members of groovy TV shows like THE MONKEES, LAUGH-IN and THE BRADY BUNCH. GROOVY revisits the era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, MOVIES, ART—even COMICS and CARTOONS, from the 1968 ‘mod’ WONDER WOMAN to R. CRUMB. A color-saturated pop culture history written and designed by MARK VOGER (author of the acclaimed book MONSTER MASH), GROOVY is one trip that doesn’t require dangerous chemicals!

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TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

HOLLY JOLLY is a colorful sleigh ride through the history of Christmas, from its religious origins to its emergence as a multimedia phenomenon. It explores movies (Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life), music (White Christmas, Little St. Nick), TV (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), books (Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol), decor (1950s silver aluminum trees), comics (super-heroes meet Santa), and more! Featuring interviews with CHARLES M. SCHULZ (A Charlie Brown Christmas), ANDY WILLIAMS (TV’s “Mr. Christmas”) and others, the story behind DARLENE LOVE’s perrennial hit song Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), and more holiday memories! By MARK VOGER, the profusely illustrated HOLLY JOLLY takes readers on a time-trip to Christmases past that you will cherish all year long!

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RETRO HOLLYWOOD

FROM FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT TO TEENAGE PASSION PIT AND BACK AGAIN by Jim Trautman Each day the American flag flies over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., it is to recognize an important event, person, or organization. On June 6, 2008, it was flown to recognize the 75th anniversary of the first drive-in movie theater, opened by Richard Hollingshead in Camden, New Jersey, on June 6, 1933. The admission charge was 25 cents per person and car. The first night at Hollingshead’s Drive-in movie drive-in featured the long-forgotten Adolphe speaker being Menjou movie Wives Beware (1932), which hooked onto car ran a mere 61 minutes and was so short window. Photo by that the movie was shown three times that Bob Matti. first night. After each showing the parking lot was cleared and new customers were admitted. The coming and going to this new novelty brought in 600 customers on that opening night. Sounds like doubleheader baseball games of today. The sound system was actually behind the movie screen, since what we remember as the speaker in the car was not invented by RCA until the mid-Forties. The screen measured 40 feet by 50 feet. In the Fifties, actress Natalie Wood would appear in print advertising for in-car, silver-aluminum speakers, two to a pole, a new innovation for the drive-in. You’d roll down your window and clip the speaker onto the door to bring the movie’s audio into your car.

Much of life is based on events that become part of the “myth culture” of society. It is said that Hollingshead founded the drive-in for a simple reason: his mother was too fat to fit in a traditional theater seat. Fact or not? In addition, it is believed that a version of a drive-in existed in the Twenties, and since the movies were all silent at that time it would seem that could be a fact. No matter the real story of the drive-in’s beginnings, a social culture was created around the venue that has taken us through various phases of life: young families and their children, then the “teenage passion pit,” to (TOP) Ad from the Leamington, Ontario, Drive-In. Movies at the drive-in changed quickly to keep the customers coming in. (BOTTOM) This ad for the Skyway in Malvern, Ohio, promoted not only its feature but also the facility’s concession stand and playground. Courtesy of Hake’s Auctions.

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retro hollywood

Along with the coming attractions there was always the announcement: “If you should accidentally tear a speaker loose, please return it to the snack bar or box office.” (My father was guilty of doing that one night, but his excuse when he returned it was there were several others inside with him who were equally guilty of his “crime.” For some reason he thought he was at the White Castle Hamburgers drivein restaurant, where a carhop removed your food tray when you started your car and began to back out of your spot. This is why wives often claim that husbands are a “special breed.”) Drive-in patrons who were short of cash at times would stuff the trunk of the car with four or five friends who hopped out once the car was parked. (We’re lucky we survived!)

The Airway Drive-In, St. Louis, Missouri, could accommodate 800 cars. It opened on September 23, 1948 with Walt Disney’s Song of the South. It has been closed for over 36 years, but the beautiful neon sign with the female drum major has been preserved. (BOTTOM LEFT) The Campus Drive-In Theatre, San Diego, California. Many driveins were simple in appearance but used neon lights to attract attention. (BOTTOM RIGHT) The painted back of the movie screen of the Olympic Drive-In, Los Angeles, California. John Margolies Roadside America Collection, The Library of Congress.

Crank ’em Out

The major movie studios—MGM, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Warner Bros.—controlled distribution and did not provide their films to drive-ins for a simple reason—money! The large, indoor movie houses could show the same movie several times a day, generating more profit from the number of tickets sold. Drive-ins were limited to one nighttime showing, or on some special days, all-night shows. And rainouts could be a problem. If you look at old advertising for drive-ins, big studio movies are rarely listed. Distributors would not send a major Hollywood production to drive-ins until it had run for a year or two in the usual permanent city theaters and it was determined that the maximum number of tickets had been sold. Thus, in the beginning, most of the movies shown at drive-ins were old releases, many Westerns starring the likes of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, or comedies like Blondie and Dagwood. A new movie industry was developed to create low-budget entertainment focused on the drive-in movie market, a genre that could be called B-movies, or grindhouse or exploitation movies. With the rise in popularity of drive-ins, the demand was unlimited for new releases each week. There was money to be made on these low-budget flicks by companies, directors, producers, and new actors or actresses looking to break in. The key to their production was keeping costs low, which sometimes led filming to take place in environments less costly than Hollywood, such as the Philippines or Hong Kong. 60

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As the number of drive-ins and Baby Boomers grew, more movies were needed to fill the demand. The new motto of Hollywood became “Make them fast, make them cheap, make them fun.” One take… and if someone forgot their lines, no retake. Once on an Al Adamson movie there were six takes, but he was so overjoyed when he got that useable take that he forgot to put film in the camera. (Saved money on that one.) Adamson became famous for rereleasing the same movie three times. His mindset was, change the feature’s name and its posters, and it was a “new” movie. Sometimes, movie plots were recycled. If you watch CatWomen of the Moon (1953) and Missile to the Moon (1958), you’ll notice there are different casts but the storylines are the same. Susan Morrow, who starred in Cat-Women, became famous for two things: being married to Gary Morton, who would become Lucille Ball’s husband, and being the sister of Judith Exner, who was gangster Sam Giancana’s girlfriend and rumored to be connected to JFK. Movies were shot in six days, some less, on shoestring budgets. On a Roger Corman movie, one actress remarked that oxygen tanks were needed for an underwater scene, but Roger

retro hollywood

Ads for drivein horror shows like these packed ’em in on weekend evenings.

(ABOVE) From the author’s collection, a lobby card for a tawdry 1964 release filmed in “Voluptuous Color,” definitely indicative of standard drive-in fare. © Dominant Pictures of the Carolinas.

(LEFT) The ad for this 1956 release implied more sex than actually happened in the movie… sort of like the sensationalized cover of a comic book you bought as a kid but soon discovered misrepresented the story inside. Two in a Sleeping Bag starred Susanne Cramer, who sadly took her life when she was in her early thirties. © Holt International. Courtesy of Heritage.

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retro hollywood

(LEFT) The Mendon Drive-In, Mendon, Massachusetts, where the author’s daughters saw Disney movies in Eighties. The drive-in is still operating and even has shows in the winter months. Courtesy of the Mendon Drive-In. (RIGHT) The Mustang Drive-In, Guelph, Ontario. The theater sits in the middle of a cornfield and still operates, although its former grandeur is gone. Photo by Jim Trautman.

The drive-ins might have inspired a Seventies TV hit. In 1973, director Ted V. Mikels released The Doll Squad, about a group of sexy female government agents. Watch it today, and then watch Charlie’s Angels. Was Angels’ producer Aaron Spelling in the drivein audience? Three years later, his similar show premiered. (And the main character in The Doll Squad was named Sabrina.)

The End of the Drive-in

Sadly, drive-ins began to disappear once the late Seventies arrived. Mainstream Hollywood was making more of the type of movies that had been the bread and butter of the drive-in owners. Also, when constructed the drive-in theaters were located outside of cities, but as metropolitan areas grew and land became very valuable, the drive-ins were now B-Movies’ A-List competing with giant multiplex theaters There’s a large cast of unknowns that would which were not showing just movies, but move on to become famous and win Oscars hosting birthday parties and games—the but started out in low-budget drive-in multiplex had taken over the drive-in movies, such as Francis Ford Coppola and model. Most drive-ins disappeared. Martin Scorsese. Roger Corman met Jack There have been attempts to once Nicholson in an acting class. Reach back again market drive-ins to families. to about the first ten years of Nicholson’s When my girls were growing up, it was career and discover the many Corman like the old days, taking them to a stillmovies he appeared in until his breakout standing drive-in, both girls in their PJs, and watching Disney movies like The Fox in Easy Rider in 1969—his first appearance and the Hound and The Black Hole. And was in 1958 in The Cry Baby Killer. Same The Movieland drive-in theater toy from when the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 with other B-movie grads like Bruce Dern, Remco allowed kids to drive in past the temporarily closed many multiplexes, Peter Fonda, and Dennis Hopper. B-movie marquee and into the ticket booth, and some of the few remaining drive-ins companies employed a regular stock of park one of the six beautiful cars before a reopened, many showing older movies. actors, actresses, and cameramen. giant screen. It contained six movie reels: If you long for classic drive-in King Brothers Studios which turned out Have Gun Will Travel, Heckle and Jeckle, nostalgia, search eBay for Remco’s monster movies, crime movies, and general Mighty Mouse, Captain Kangaroo, Dinky Movieland drive-in theater toy. Made schlock, some of which was written by the Duck, and Farmer Alfalfa. Released in time in 1959, it features a screen and six film famous two-time Academy Award winner for Christmas 1959, it originally retailed strips… or, as its TV ad said, “Beautiful Dalton Trumbo in his blacklisted years. for a mere $5.98. Brian Monroe collection. Also, cars, a marquee, and ticket booth.” The Famous drive-in B-movie director Al manufacturer Selchow & Righter Co. Adamson convinced actor Russ Tamblyn, ad closed with, “Every boy wants a Remco produced Drive-In: The Money Making who had received an Academy Award® toy,” and a young actress wearing the Movie Game, a board game. nomination for West Side Story, to come ticket taker hat added, “and so do girls,” out of retirement to play in 1969’s Satan’s winking to the camera. That was a young Sadists, billed as “wild beyond belief.” Satan’s Sadists had a Patty Duke, who was featured in other Remco toy ads as well. Vietnam theme, as the hero was a U.S. Marine vet, and was a Remco’s Movieland originally cost $5.98, and can be yours today box office smash only with drive-in audiences. Adamson’s The for about $200. Female Bunch (1971), featuring a motorcycle gang of women, was filmed at L.A. County’s legendary Spahn Ranch while the Pop culture historian JIM TRAUTMAN has written about antiques Manson family was in residence. and collectibles for World Class Antiques, The Wayback If you were at the drive-in for the double feature of Bloody Times, and Antique Week. He is the author of the book The Pan Mama (1970) and Boxcar Bertha (1972), you watched a young American Clippers: The Golden Age of Flying Boats. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs accompanying this article are Robert DeNiro in the first and Barbara Hershey in the courtesy of Mr. Trautman. second. Boxcar Bertha was directed by Martin Scorsese.

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September 2021

SUPER COLLECTOR

Collecting

Comic

Art by David Mandel I was in third grade, about eight years old, and drawing a picture of the human heart for a school report on the floor of my parents’ bedroom when my stomach started hurting. It was not exactly my stomach but rather my side that hurt. I had a mild fever and I vomited once, and before I knew what was happening, they were taking out my appendix at Mt. Sinai Hospital. This was before laparoscopic surgery, which meant they made a large incision to get the appendix out, and the recovery was painful, especially at first, and I stayed in the hospital for over a week. It was kind of scary, the food was terrible, and I hated when they woke me up early in the morning to take blood. But what I remember most about my stay in the hospital was X-Men Annual #4. To cheer me up, my parents had picked up a whole bunch of comic books for me, and on top of the pile was a new issue of the X-Men, and it was a double-sized one at that. Written by Chris Claremont © Marvel.

(TOP LEFT) Star Wars Marvel Treasury Edition and (BOTTOM LEFT) the original art by Rick Hoberg and Dave Cockrum. © LucasFilm Ltd.

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super collector

drawing my own version of that cover over and over. Romita, Jr. had nothing to worry about, but it made me want to own the original art even more. There was another Miller Daredevil cover that I drew all the time: issue #189, the one with Daredevil and all the arrows flying at him. I bought the original art in the late Nineties from a collector who had a comic shop. Again, I had to have it.

Comic Art is About the Journey

Comic Art is About Artists

I have fond memories of the bar at the Oakland Marriot where WonderCon used to take place. That was one of the nice things about the comic conventions I attended in the Nineties, they were small enough that you could actually meet people. That bar is where I became friends with Arthur Adams and Joyce Chin. We started doing regular dinners that have lasted to this day and now include our kids and… Bruce Timm. I remember hanging out to all hours of the night with Dan Brereton getting watercolor lessons from him that did not quite take. And somewhere along the way, I got to know Dave Stevens, who’s friendship I miss to this day, but led to my helping getting The Rocketeer republished. I own art in my collection, drawn by my friends.

I once made my college roommate drive with me into New Jersey during rush hour to get to a comic shop that was selling a Dark Knight Returns splash featuring Superman. It should have taken 20 minutes, but it took almost two hours. Worth it! And I will never forget driving down to San Diego with my then assistant and future comic-book super collector writer JT to do a comic-art deal in a strip mall behind a grocery store. I opened my car trunk like a drug deal, so the pile of original Frank Miller Daredevil art could be loaded in, and I handed over a mix of checks and cash. And then there was the time I did a giant deal in the middle of the night, deep in the San Fernando Valley. By the time we finished negotiating, I had added some amazing gems to my collection including a Kirby Fantastic Four cover and a Ditko pre-hero story. It was the biggest deal I had ever done at that point, and the date on the check: April 1. It seemed like a joke.

Comic Art is About the Writers

If ten-year old me knew that one day I would be sitting at a poker game playing with Marv Wolfman AND Len Wein, his head would have exploded. Original comic art pages are not just about the art, they are about the words, too. I have pages that I own because of memorable lines of dialogue and story moments that future TV and movie writer in me have never forgotten. These days the lettering is sadly done later, but there is nothing like paging through my collection and stopping on an Alan Moore Swamp Thing page to “hear” Batman referring to Superman as “what’s his name.” Back to the poker game: I had gotten to know Mr. Len Wein through a mutual friend (inker/ David Mandel with comic art-collecting friends Kelvin documentarian Steve Mitchell) and Comic Art is about Mao and Joseph Melchior. And Batman. eventually got invited to play in the People his regular game. There was Len, When I look back, I realize that Marv, and Steve, and artist Jerry many of the friends I have made Bingham (Batman: Son of the Demon). It was a very serious game in my adult life are actually from comic-art collecting. for incredibly low stakes, but they took it very personally. I could The first time I spoke with Kelvin, we argued on the phone about a piece of John Byrne art and vaguely threatened each have cared less about the poker! Over the years, Len and I would other (more than vaguely). Ten years later, we were in each other’s try to meet up for a bite—usually deli, he loved Brent’s in the wedding, and we speak almost every day, starting most of our Valley—and I was honored when he decided to sell me the cover calls with “anything new collecting-wise?” to Giant Size X-Men #1, a piece of art that was as much a dream at My friend Jim and I have a standing plan to drive to San Diego the poker game. I miss our lunches. every year together, and we make sure our rooms are on the same floor of the hotel. When we first got to know each other, Jim had Comic Art is… Art young kids. Now he’s retired and has his first grandchild, and I am At the end of the day, what I love about comic art is framing a piece, the one with young kids. hanging it on the wall, and just looking at it. I see so much. As the years went by, even the dealers who I once approached so timidly have become good pals and dining compatriots. You DAVID MANDEL is the Emmy Award-winning showrunner of the could have easily set up a mini comic-con at my wedding just HBO comedy Veep and was an executive producer and director for based on the number of dealers and customers that attended. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld. 68

RETROFAN

September 2021

ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

by Andy Mangels

(BACKGROUND) H. R. Pufnstuf title card. (INSET) Promotional image for Sid and Marty Krofft's Kaleidoscope. © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions.

Television of the late Sixties and early Seventies was not without its far-out candy-colored mod/hippie-influenced shows, but rarely did the world of the counterculture creep into children’s television. Such was not the case with one series… a series that has stayed in the public eye as a psychedelic cornucopia of oddity… a series that despite everyone in the world claiming it is chock full of drug references, the creators claim it is not… That series was H. R. Pufnstuf, and its producers, Sid and Marty Krofft, built a legacy on its bizarre tales. With only one full season of shows—and a lesser-known feature film—how has H. R. Pufnstuf’s influence lasted for over 50 years?

The Krofft Kaleidoscope

In the world of Sixties/Seventies Saturday morning television, only a few companies ruled the roosts on the three networks: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Filmation Associates, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and Sid and Marty Krofft. Though Filmation had been dabbling with live-action among its H. R. Pufnstuf and Jack Wild as Jimmy. © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions.

animated offerings, the Kroffts would almost singlehandedly keep live-action alive on Saturday mornings, first designing The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera in 1968, then debuting their hallucinatory (some would say hallucinogenic) hit H. R. Pufnstuf in 1969. The Montreal-born brothers Sid and Marty Krofft were the sons of a watchmaker, and Sid worked in vaudeville as a puppeteer, eventually being featured in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus shows. His one-man puppet show, “The Unusual Artistry of Sid Krofft,” toured the world in 1940, where he worked with his father. Younger brother Marty eventually learned the puppet trade on stage, and began working with Sid. In 1957, they even produced a touring risqué puppet production called Les Poupées de Paris. The Kroffts created the costumes and world of The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera in 1968, working for the first time with a respectable budget and national audience. They decided to break off on their own the following year, and the show they created, H. R. Pufnstuf, was their first opportunity to let their fertile imaginations run wild with oversize puppets interacting with humans, kaleidoscopic colors and production design, and even crude special effects. The H. R. Pufnstuf character actually began his “life” as a character named Luther, a mascot for the 1968 World’s Fair, also known as HemisFair ’68. Held in San Antonio, Texas, from April 6–October 6, 1968, the fair included a Coca-Cola-sponsored RETROFAN

September 2021

RetroFan #16