RetroFan #30 by TwoMorrows Publishing

January 2024 No. 30 $10.95

It’s out of the bag!

THE UNKNOWN COMIC—REVEALED!

Here’s the story of a lovely lady…

The indisputable leader of the gang…

TOP CAT

The first lady of fashion…

BARBIE

The Brady Bunch’s

FLORENCE HENDERSON The coolest holiday cartoon… FROSTY THE SNOWMAN Dell Comics’ Monster Super-Heroes • The Brain-Freezing Story of Slushy Drinks & more! 1

82658 00508

Featuring Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Mark Voger • Michael Eury

New from TwoMorrows!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #88

KIRBY COLLECTOR #89

ALTER EGO #184

ALTER EGO #185

BRICKJOURNAL #82

KIRBY CONSPIRACIES! Darkseid’s Foourth World palace intrigue, the too-many attempted overthrows of Odin, why Stan Lee hated Diablo, Kang contradictions, Simon & Kirby swipes, a never-reprinted S&K story, MARK EVANIER’s WonderCon 2023 Kirby Tribute Panel (with MARV WOLFMAN, PAUL S. LEVINE, and JOHN MORROW), an extensive Kirby pencil art gallery, and more!

Known as one of the finest inkers in comics history, the late TOM PALMER was also an accomplished penciler and painter, as you’ll see in an-depth interview with Palmer by ALEX GRAND and JIM THOMPSON. Learn his approach to, and thoughts on, working with NEAL ADAMS, GENE COLAN, JOHN BUSCEMA, and others who helped define the Marvel Universe. Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

Presenting MARK CARLSON-GHOST’s stupendous study of the 1940s NOVELTY COMICS GROUP—with heroes like Blue Bolt, Target and the Targeteers, White Streak, Spacehawk, etc., produced by such Golden Age super-stars as JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY, CARL BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, BASIL WOLVERTON, et al. Plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

Celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary in LEGO! Disney Castles with MARTIN HARRIS and DISNEYBRICK, magical builds by JOHN RUDY and editor JOE MENO, instructions to build characters, plus: Nerding Out with BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

THE COLLECTORS! Fans’ quest for and purchase of Jack’s original art and comics, MARV WOLFMAN shares his (and LEN WEIN’s) interactions with Jack as fans and pros, unseen Kirby memorabilia, an extensive Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER moderating the 2023 Kirby Tribute Panel from Comic-Con International, plus a deluxe wrap-around Kirby cover with foldout back cover flap, inked by MIKE ROYER!

BACK ISSUE #147

BACK ISSUE #148

BACK ISSUE #149

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #32 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #33

Great Hera, it’s the 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF BACK ISSUE, featuring a tribute to the late, great GEORGE PÉREZ! Wonder Woman: The George Pérez Years, Pérez’s 20 Greatest Hits of the Bronze Age, Pérez’s fanzine days, a Pérez remembrance by MARV WOLFMAN, a Wonder Woman interview with MINDY NEWELL, and more! With a stunning Wonder Woman cover by Pérez!

DC SUPER-STARS OF SPACE! Adam Strange in the Bronze Age (with RICHARD BRUNING & ANDY KUBERT), From Beyond the Unknown, the Fabulous World of Krypton, Vartox, a Mongul history, the Omega Men, and more! Featuring CARY BATES, DAVE GIBBONS, DAN JURGENS, CURT SWAN, PETER J. TOMASI, MARV WOLFMAN, and more! Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO & MURPHY ANDERSON!

’80s INDIE HEROES: The American, Aztec Ace, Dynamo Joe, Evangeline, Journey, Megaton Man, Trekker, Whisper, and Zot! Featuring CHUCK DIXON, PHIL FOGLIO, STEVEN GRANT, RICH LARSON, SCOTT McCLOUD, WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS, DOUG MOENCH, RON RANDALL, DON SIMPSON, MARK VERHEIDEN, CHRIS WARNER & more superstar creators. Cover by NORM BREYFOGLE!

WILLIAM STOUT is interviewed about his illustration and comics work, as well as his association with DINOSAURS publisher BYRON PREISS, the visionary packager/ publisher who is also celebrated in this double-header issue. Included is the only comprehensive interview ever conducted with PREISS, plus a huge biographical essay. Also MIKE DEODATO on his early years and FRANK BORTH on Treasure Chest!

STEVE GERBER biographical essay and collaborator insights, MARY SKRENES on co-creating Omega the Unknown, helping develop Howard the Duck, VAL MAYERIK cover and interview, ROY THOMAS reveals STAN LEE’s unseen EXCELSIOR! COMICS line, LINDA SUNSHINE (editor of early hardcover super-hero collections), more with MIKE DEODATO, and the concluding segment on FRANK BORTH!

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3 The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

Issue #30 January 2024

Columns and Special Features

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Cartoon Line-Up Network Ads

Voger’s Vault of Vintage Varieties The Brady Bunch’s Florence Henderson

Oddball World of Scott Shaw! Dell Comics’ Monster Super-Heroes

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon Top Cat

Departments

Retrotorial

Retro Toys Barbie

Too Much TV Quiz TV series’ cities

Retro Interview Murray Langston, the Unknown Comic

Super Collector Knight Rider’s KITT

Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum The Mystery of Mr. Misty

RetroFanmail

Retro Animation Rankin/Bass’ Frosty the Snowman

ReJECTED

63 RetroFan™ issue 30, Janurary 2024 (ISSN 2576-7224) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RetroFan, c/o TwoMorrows, 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: $73 Economy US, $111 International, $29 Digital Only. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Top Cat © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Barbie © Mattel. Frosty the Snowman © Miser Bros. Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2023 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BY MICHAEL EURY

Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow CONTRIBUTORS Shaun Clancy Michael Eury Rick Goldschmidt Katherine Kerestman Michael Knight Andy Mangels Will Murray Scott Saavedra Scott Shaw! Mark Voger DESIGNER Scott Saavedra PROOFREADER Eric Nolen-Weathington SPECIAL THANKS Dairy Queen Hake’s Auctions Heritage Auctions Mattel Paramount Pictures Television Rose Rummel-Eury VERY SPECIAL THANKS Murray Langston

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RETROFAN

My “RetroFad” column is on hiatus this issue. I had every intention of writing it, but got distracted from calling out “Hey, good lookin’!” to groovy chicks with my Mr. Microphone. My wife wasn’t amused and beaned me with a Pet Rock. At least her hurled projectile didn’t muss my Mullet or topple my lava lamp. I love each of our issues, but this one has my Fanboy Sense tingling double-time! Any time we can reference The Brady Bunch in our pages is a joyous occasion for ye ed. You see, my secret fantasy (no longer a secret since I’m blabbing here) is that I’m a long-lost member of the Brady family—Billy Brady, a name probably inspired by Peter Parker or some other super-hero’s alliterative alter ego. So this issue, please welcome my “mom,” Carol Brady—the fabulous Florence Henderson—to our pages. Although she passed away in 2016, Ms. Henderson was previously interviewed by our own Mark Voger, who’s written a wonderful portrait of the beloved Brady Bunch matriarch. We’re unsure if Mr. Voger has Ms. Henderson’s patented “Wessonality,” but his column this issue has earned him a 30 percent discount on pork chops at Sam’s Butcher Shop. (He’ll still have to pay full price for applesauce, though.) Florence Henderson isn’t the only blonde icon in this issue. Love her or hate her, Barbie is the queen of fashion, the toy biz, and the global box office, and writer Katherine Kerestman returns to our pages with a charming history of Mattel’s popular doll. (All you fellas who grew up playing with G.I. Joe and Captain Action can thank Barbie for introducing the doll-with-costumes-sold-separately concept to the toy market.) And then there’s the Unknown Comic, that wild and wacky funnyman whose face was hidden behind a sack on The Gong Show. He’s actually Murray Langston, and he tells his story this issue in a hilarious Q&A conducted by Shaun Clancy. Anyone who flips through this mag’s pages can clearly see how talented our designer, Scott Saavedra, is. But as he proves each ish in his “Secret Sanctum” department, despite his quick wit (really, the guy cracks me up; publisher John Morrow, too) Scott is an ace researcher with a knack for writing tasty articles about junk food. A reader-suggested topic of the slushy drink Mr. Misty inspired Scott to commit himself to an embarrassing orgy of Slurpee sucking that spiked his blood sugar a laser-focused mission of information gathering. We guarantee that you can read his article without suffering brain freeze. (Man, how I loved those days in the Seventies chasing down baseball NEXT ISSUE and super-hero Slurpee trading cups at 7-Eleven… just like so many of you!) Scott Shaw!, overlord of oddball comic books, writes this issue about Dell Comics’ oft-maligned super-hero monsters. If you didn’t know that Frankenstein and Dracula were costumed crimefighters during the era of LBJ’s Great Society, you’ve got the zaniest history lesson you can imagine in store. And it’s columnist Will Murray, not the aforementioned Mr. Shaw!, who writes about HannaBarbera Productions this ish with his history of the prime-time (at least that’s how it started) toon Top Cat. Our other columnist who sometimes writes about Hanna-Barbera, Andy Mangels, shines another spotlight on those fun network ads promoting cartoon shows. Plus, we’ll take a ride in Knight Rider’s KITT. So get ready for another groovy grab-bag of the crazy, cool culture we grew up with!

January 2024

VOGER’S VAULT OF VINTAGE VARIETIES

Florence Henderson Here’s the story of a lovely lady

Florence Henderson created the role of Carol Brady. © Paramount Television.

BY MARK VOGER TV moms in the Sixties were a mixed bag: perfect housewives (June Cleaver), nose-twitching witches (Samantha Stevens), neurotics in Capri pants (Laura Petrie), vampires (Lily Munster). Along came Carol Brady in the blonde, lithe person of Florence Henderson. Carol was sexy (she took good care of Hubby #2), talented (she sang in the Christmas recital), and above all, she effortlessly slid into the treacherous role of Understanding Stepmother to three rambunctious adoptive boys. I interviewed Indiana native Henderson (1934–2016) on two occasions, in 1993 and 2000. During our first conversation, I found myself apologizing after the fifth or sixth Carol Brady question. But Henderson put me at ease. “I realize that it’s such a part of our culture, of our television culture,” the actress said. “It seems to mean so much to people.”

Henderson continued to perform live in her post-Brady years.

RETROFAN

January 2024

Voger’s vault of vintage varieties

That’s not hyperbole. Despite five seasons of The Brady Bunch— and the myriad reunions and remakes that followed—Brady lovers still can’t get enough of the ultimate extended sitcom family: easygoing dad Mike (Robert Reed); his hit-the-jackpot second wife Carol; and their combined offspring groovy Greg (Barry Williams); popular Marcia (Maureen McCormick); wise guy Peter (Christopher Knight); middle-child-syndrome sufferer Jan (Eve Plumb); little squirt Bobby (Michael Lookinland); and lisping kewpie doll Cindy (Susan Olsen). No “Brady” roster is complete without name-checking plainspoken housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis); doggie Tiger (himself, at least for most of Season One); and Alice’s beau Sam the butcher (Allan Melvin) who, to be honest, seemed to view Alice more as a bowling buddy than the object of his desires. “The show keeps coming around,” Henderson said. “It’s never been off television since it began. It’s on in 150 countries around the world. I think it represents what everyone dreams of: a family that works. A family that loves you unconditionally. A family that takes the time to tell you what’s right and what’s wrong.” Born in Dale, Indiana, Henderson studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and appeared in four Broadway productions between 1953 and ’63, including Oklahoma! and in the title role of the musical Fanny. She also toured with the national company of Oklahoma! Henderson was hired as the “Today girl”—then a coveted gig for an aspiring actress, but which nowadays has a whiff of sexism— during the 1959–1960 season of NBC’s morning TV institution Today. In 1969, she landed the role of Carol Tyler Brady (nee Martin) when the show’s creator-producer, Sherwood Schwartz, cast her in the pilot episode. “I had four small children at the time,” Henderson recalled. “I was a parent, and I was struggling with a career and motherhood. But I was just determined that I wanted to be in the business, I wanted to be a good mother and a good citizen.” The look of Carol Brady evolved over the five seasons of the show. Henderson recalled: “When we started, I had just come back from Norway, where I did the movie Song of Norway (1970). My hair was very, very short. I had so little time. I had to catch up on six episodes. So they were saying, ‘Wear this, wear that.’ They put this big wig on me. I called it my ‘Miami bubble ’do.’ I mean, it was just not me. And then they wanted me to wear aprons, and I said, ‘No, I won’t wear aprons.’ And then little by little, I was able to establish more of myself. “Of course, when you look back on the Seventies, you go, ‘My gosh, what were we thinking?’ But, yeah, I created those hair-dos. Some of those clothes, I was not totally responsible for. But certainly, by the last year, I was much more comfortable and able to bring more of myself to what I was doing.” As for her influence on the personality of Carol Brady, Henderson believed she brought her own love for life. 4

RETROFAN

January 2024

(TOP) Henderson in the title role of “Fanny” on Broadway (1954). (ABOVE) Opening credits show Henderson (right) “interacting” with McCormick (from top), Plumb, and Olsen. © Paramount Television.

Voger’s vault of vintage varieties

(LEFT) Henderson and Robert Reed as Carol and Mike Brady. (BELOW) (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams, Robert Reed, Eve Plumb, Maureen McCormick, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen, and Christopher Knight. At center is Florence Henderson. © Paramount Television.

“I just feel that every day is a great day, and tomorrow is going to be an even better one,” she said. “I’m not a Pollyanna; I’ve had a lot of hard times in my life, a lot of tragedies in my life. But I’ve never really lost that joy. I think that comes across. You can only build on your character from what you are, and Carol Brady was not so dimensional.” Henderson was also able to make Carol a sexy mom, no small feat considering the era. “That was kind of tough,” she said, “because we were restricted by the times and the codes of television. There were many things we couldn’t do and many things we couldn’t say. “But I could infer, for instance, when we would have a scene in bed, that Mike and I were going to go to bed and have sex, and that Carol Brady was really going to enjoy it.”

ON THE ROAD

Among Henderson’s fondest memories of shooting the original series were those episodes filmed on location. “At King’s Island [an amusement park in Cincinnati], we came to realize the popularity of the show,” she said. “Because that park was filled with people, and we simply could not leave our rooms! They had to get security guards when we were in the park performing. They [fans] would find out our hotel rooms and come banging on the doors. We were totally surprised by that, because we were pretty insulated in the studio. “Then we went to the Grand Canyon. I loved that, because I love mountains. It was my first trip there. I couldn’t get over the beauty of it.” Still, there were downsides. “They made us get on those mules,” Henderson said. “Have you ever seen those mules? They’re gigantic! I thought it was going to be this little mule. I had to get on a ladder to get on it. “They put the mule skinner first, then Robert Reed, then Ann B. Davis, then the six kids, and I was last. And when we started down the trail, you look straight down to the bottom of the canyon. My mule kept leaning over and eating, chewing leaves and things. I thought, I can see the headline: ‘Florence Henderson Falls Off Mule to Her Death in Grand Canyon.’ RETROFAN

January 2024

BRITMANIA

by MARK VOGER

Remember when long-haired British rock ’n’ rollers made teenage girls swoon — and their parents go crazy? BRITMANIA plunges into the period when suddenly, America went wild for All Things British. This profusely illustrated full-color hardback, subtitled “The British Invasion of the Sixties in Pop Culture,” explores the movies (A HARD DAY’S NIGHT, HAVING A WILD WEEKEND), TV (THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR), collectibles (TOYS, GAMES, TRADING CARDS, LUNCH BOXES), comics (real-life Brits in the DC and MARVEL UNIVERSES) and, of course, the music! Written and designed by MARK VOGER (MONSTER MASH, GROOVY, HOLLY JOLLY), BRITMANIA features interviews with members of THE BEATLES, THE ROLLING STONES, THE WHO, THE KINKS, HERMAN’S HERMITS, THE YARDBIRDS, THE ANIMALS, THE HOLLIES & more. It’s a gas, gas, gas! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-115-8 • NOW SHIPPING!

GROOVY also by MARK VOGER

From Woodstock, “The Banana Splits,” and “Sgt. Pepper” to “H.R. Pufnstuf,” Altamont, and “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.” Revisit the era’s rock festivals, movies, art, comics and cartoons in this color-saturated pop-culture history! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

CHARLTON COMPANION

TEAM-UP COMPANION OUR ARTISTS AT WAR AMERICAN TV COMICS (1940s-1980s)

THE LIFE & ART OF

DAVE COCKRUM

JON B. COOKE’s all-new history of the notorious all-in-one comics company, from the 1940s to the ’70s, with GIORDANO, DITKO, STATON, BYRNE and more!

MICHAEL EURY examines team-up comic books of the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics in a lushly illustrated selection of informative essays, special features, and trivia-loaded issue-by-issue indexes!

Examines US War comics from EC, DC COMICS, WARREN PUBLISHING, CHARLTON, and more! Featuring KURTZMAN, SEVERIN, DAVIS, WOOD, KUBERT, GLANZMAN, KIRBY, and others!

History of over 300 TV shows and 2000+ comic book adaptations, from well-known series (STAR TREK, PARTRIDGE FAMILY, THE MUNSTERS) to lesser-known shows.

GLEN CADIGAN’s bio of the artist who redesigned the Legion of Super-Heroes and introduced X-Men characters Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Logan!

(272-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-111-0

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-112-7

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-108-0

(192-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-107-3

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 HC: $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-113-4

REED CRANDALL

Illustrator of the Comics

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER

JOHN SEVERIN

HERO-A-GO-GO!

Documents the life and career of the master Golden Age artist of Captain Marvel Jr. and other classic characters! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

History of Crandall’s life and career, from Golden Age Quality Comics, to Warren war and horror, Flash Gordon, and beyond!

Career-spanning tribute to the Legion of Super-Heroes & Warlord comics art legend!

Biography of the EC, MARVEL and MAD mainstay, co-creator of American Eagle, and 40+ year CRACKED magazine contributor.

Looks at comics' 1960s CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV's Batman shook a mean cape!

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-102-8

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

(272-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES

FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SERIES

documents each decade of comics history!

8 Volumes covering the 1940s-1990s

MAC RABOY

Master of the Comics

TWO-FISTED COMIC ARTIST

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History. Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

The Most Effectual

Top Cat BY WILL MURRAY When I was growing up in the early Sixties, the big name in cartoons was Hanna-Barbera Productions, a partnership headed by William Hanna and Joe Barbera, who transitioned from doing Tom and Jerry movie cartoons to animated shows produced especially for television when the market for theatrical short subjects collapsed in the Fifties. Starting with The Ruff and Reddy Show in 1957, the dedicated duo steadily built an animation empire. Then they got an unusual idea: prime-time TV cartoon shows. Taking Jackie Gleason’s Honeymooners as a template, they came up with the prehistoric program they called The Flintstones. It was an unqualified hit and ran six seasons. Naturally, they attempted to duplicate that success. But The Jetsons and Jonny Quest lasted only one season each. Another animated character Hanna-Barbera launched in primetime also flopped in the evening time slot. Strangely, that marked only a prologue to the career of Top Cat. Inspired by Phil Silvers’ Fifties sitcom You’ll Never Get Rich (a.k.a. The Phil Silvers Show), Top Cat took the concept of a conniving but lovable peacetime U.S. Army hustler to the urban streets of New

York City. Tricked out only in a straw boater and purple vest, Top Cat—aka T. C.—hung out in Hoagy’s Alley, near the 13th Precinct Station, with his “Cat Pack” of assorted alleycat moochers, hangers-on, and swindlers, which included Benny the Ball, ChooChoo, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, and Brain. Their perennial nemesis was Officer Charlie Dibble, whose Broadway beat included the trash-can-strewn alley where T. C. and his boys plied their sneaky trade, mooching doorstep milk and free phone calls from Dibble’s police call box. Joe Barbera recalled that the series was launched from the flimsiest of triggers. An ABC executive was visiting the Hanna-Barbara studios and asked to use Barbera’s office to make a phone call. “While he was there,” Barbera related, “I saw this drawing of Top Cat. One drawing, just standing sideways looking, and it said ‘Top Cat’ at the bottom. We never used it. All I remember is this one drawing at the time, in color. And I went in to Ollie [Treyz, TV executive] and I said, ‘Here’s a terrific character.’ He just looked at it and said, ‘Yeah. Looks good. We’ll buy it.’ That’s the end of it. So a prime-time show with one drawing. Then after that, we had to go in and develop all the characters and go to storyboard, but it was sold.” RETROFAN

January 2024

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

CLOSE FRIENDS GET TO CALL HIM ‘T. C.’ Archie Andrews radio program. As an adult, he started coming to Originally, the show was provisionally titled J. B. and Company, with prominence as a sidekick on both Milton Berle’s and satirist Henry J. B.—as he was originally named—dressed like a stereotypical Morgan’s radio shows, playing nerdy, easily excitable characters for hobo. Willie Ito developed the show with fellow veteran animators whom he coined expressions that captured the public imagination and character designers Iwao Takamoto, Jerry Eisenberg, and and were often repeated. Tony Benedict. Jerry’s father, Harvey Eisenberg, drew the original “One of the biggest yocks I ever got,” Stang recalled, “was from presentation storyboards, which became the second-aired episode, an ad lib on Morgan’s radio show—my first ‘Ikkhh!’ On the Berle “The Maharajah of Pookajee.” show ‘chip-chip-chip’ stopped the show cold, and I had to use Finding the right voice actor to play the yellow-furred tomcat it from then on. I even had fan clubs that called themselves the proved to be more Three Chip Clubs. I used challenging than getting ‘You’re sick!’ with Berle on the show on the air. Some radio, and suddenly ‘sick’ 80 actors auditioned. Talent was all over and Frank ranging from Mickey Rooney Sinatra was taking out ‘Sick, to Jack Oakie were tested, Sick, Sick’ ads.” and Larry Storch and Andy Moving over to television Devine were considered. during its golden age, Stang Hanna-Barbera turned to played Francis the wiseDaws Butler, who was Yogi cracking stagehand Bear and other H-B characon Milton Berle’s ters, but after recording a test Texaco Star Theatre episode with him, they show, frequently decided he wasn’t heckling the star, a good fit for the a characterization new character. he repeated on Butler was Henry Morgan’s Great unable to Talent Hunt, where he make Top Cat played the irascible Gerard. sound distinctly “Hoo-hah!” “What’s to different from like?” “Big man, big deal!” his other voice roles, and “Oh, I’m dying!” were specifically Hokey Wolf, Stang TV catchphrases that the canine conman of The took off. Huckleberry Hound Show, Previously, Stang had which he had done in a faux played, without credit, Phil Silvers voice. Herman the Mouse in the Hanna-Barbera next Herman and Katnip theatrical cast Michael O’Shea, a cartoons. “I’ve gone from a former vaudevillian turned mouse to a cat,” he quipped, Hollywood actor who was “so I guess that’s progress.” near the end of his career, For Top Cat, the actor suggested by ABC. But wanted to experiment with he didn’t work out either. a different voice, and get O’Shea couldn’t read his lines away from the types of roles fast enough, according to he was known for. director Alan Dinehart. “We convey character “Instead of the normal three hours to do a half-hour through our tones,” Hanna-Barbera’s Benny the Ball and episode, it was taking O’Shea six hours, so we had to explained Stang. “For Top Cat were thinly disguised versions drop him.” example, as Top Cat, I have a of TV’s Pvt. Doberman (Maurice Although five episodes were recorded, the produclow, throaty voice, one that Gosfield) and Sgt. Bilko. Photo cover tion was forced to start over, star-wise. suggests a lovable con man. to DC Comics’ Sgt. Bilko #12 (Mar.–Apr. In desperation, they turned to veteran radioBut I’m not using the ‘Stang’ 1959). Top Cat © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Sgt. Bilko © CBS. Courtesy of Heritage. turned-TV actor, Arnold Sidney Stang, who had voice for the Top Cat series. I auditioned for the role several times. Tired of pointless won’t sound like me. When callbacks, Stang told the producers to call his lawyer. we first started making Hanna-Barbera did and finally landed him. them, the question came up as to whether I shouldn’t voice T. C. Stang broke into radio at the age of nine, and soon progressed in my natural manner, but I talked them out of it. I don’t think my to teenage parts, including playing Jughead for a time on the natural tone quite fits the character of T. C. 16

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Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

“I’ve made up my mind—and with the blessings of Hanna and Barbera—that this is one role that won’t be played into another ‘Arnold Stang character,’” Stang added. “Top Cat will be different. He’ll be my first hero. He will be authoritative—a decision maker, a leader. What I want to do with T. C. is to give him a certain seedy grandeur. Unlike the characters I’ve played in the past—some sympathetic and some not so—T. C. is an expert at making big, big plans; he’s a lovable rogue with an eye for the shortcut to pleasure.” According to the actor, the original Top Cat design was scrapped when he took on the role, although this may have been limited to a change in outfit. “When they decided to use me,” revealed Stang, “they discarded the earlier animation. They felt I brought a new quality to the part, a sort of seedy grandeur, a shabby aristocracy. So they changed and redrew the character. Instead of a torn hat, he wore a straw with an Ivy League band. Instead of old clothes, he was given a colored weskit and an old school tie, so that he achieved a kind of shabby sophistication.”

(TOP) Early sketches of the Top Cat’s feline cast. (BOTTOM) In a later developmental drawing attributed to Ed Benedict, Benny and T. C. begin to take more recognizable shape. © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Courtesy of Heritage.

HE’S THE BOSS, HE’S A VIP, HE’S A CHAMPIONSHIP

T. C. kept his vagrant lifestyle, however. “Top Cat lives in an alley behind the bowling center and next to a policeman’s call box,” explained Joe Barbera. “The policeman is Officer Dibble, who is always admonishing him about using the

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January 2024

TwoMorrows 2023 www.twomorrows.com • store@twomorrows.com

THE BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S

MAINLINE COMICS

by JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY Introduction by JOHN MORROW

In 1954, industry legends JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY founded MAINLINE PUBLICATIONS to publish their own comics during that turbulent era in comics history. The four titles—BULLSEYE, FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE—looked to build off their reputation as hit makers in the Western, War, Crime, and Romance genres, but the 1950s backlash against comics killed any chance at success, and Mainline closed its doors just two years later. For the first time, TwoMorrows Publishing is compiling the best of Simon & Kirby’s Mainline comics work, including all of the stories with S&K art, as well as key tales with contributions by MORT MESKIN and others. After the company’s dissolution, their partnership ended with Simon leaving comics for advertising, and Kirby taking unused Mainline concepts to both DC and Marvel. This collection bridges the gap between Simon & Kirby’s peak with their 1950s romance comics, and the lows that led to Kirby’s resurgence with CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN and the early MARVEL UNIVERSE. With loving art restoration by CHRIS FAMA, and an historical overview by JOHN MORROW to put it all into perspective, the BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S MAINLINE COMICS presents some of the final, and finest, work Joe and Jack ever produced. NOW SHIPPING! (256-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-118-9

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

DESTROYER DUCK GRAPHITE EDITION

by JACK KIRBY & STEVE GERBER Introduction by MARK EVANIER

In the 1980s, writer STEVE GERBER was embroiled in a lawsuit against MARVEL COMICS over ownership of his creation HOWARD THE DUCK. To raise funds for legal fees, Gerber asked JACK KIRBY to contribute to a benefit comic titled DESTROYER DUCK. Without hesitation, Kirby (who was in his own dispute with Marvel at the time) donated his services for the first issue, and the duo took aim at their former employer in an outrageous five-issue run. With biting satire and guns blazing, Duke “Destroyer” Duck battled the thinly veiled Godcorp (whose infamous credo was “Grab it all! Own it all! Drain it all!”), its evil leader Ned Packer and the (literally) spineless Booster Cogburn, Medea (a parody of Daredevil’s Elektra), and more! Now, all five Gerber/Kirby issues are collected—but relettered and reproduced from JACK’S UNBRIDLED, UNINKED PENCIL ART! Also included are select examples of ALFREDO ALCALA’s unique inking style over Kirby on the original issues, Gerber’s script pages, an historical Introduction by MARK EVANIER (co-editor of the original 1980s issues), and an Afterword by BUZZ DIXON (who continued the series after Gerber)! Discover all the hidden jabs you missed when DESTROYER DUCK was first published, and experience page after page of Kirby’s raw pencil art! NOW SHIPPING! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $31.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-117-2

ALTER EGO COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS

By overwhelming demand, editor ROY THOMAS has compiled all the material on the founders of the Marvel Bullpen from three SOLD-OUT ALTER EGO ISSUES—plus OVER 30 NEW PAGES OF CONTENT! There’s the STEVE DITKO ISSUE (#160 with a rare ’60s Ditko interview by RICHARD HOWELL, biographical notes by NICK CAPUTO, and Ditko tributes)! The STAN LEE ISSUE (#161 with ROY THOMAS on his 50+ year relationship with Stan, art by KIRBY, DITKO, MANEELY, EVERETT, SEVERIN, ROMITA, plus tributes from pros and fans)! And the JACK KIRBY ISSUE (#170 with WILL MURRAY on Kirby’s contributions to Iron Man’s creation, Jack’s Captain Marvel/Mr. Scarlet Fawcett work, Kirby in 1960s fanzines, plus STAN LEE and ROY THOMAS on Jack)! Whether you missed these issues, or can’t live without the extensive NEW MATERIAL on DITKO, LEE, and KIRBY, it’s sure to be an AMAZING, ASTONISHING, FANTASTIC tribute to the main men who made Marvel! NOW SHIPPING! (256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $35.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-116-5

CLIFFHANGER!

CINEMATIC SUPERHEROES OF THE SERIALS: 1941–1952 by CHRISTOPHER IRVING

Hold on tight as historian CHRISTOPHER IRVING explores the origins of the first on-screen superheroes and the comic creators and film-makers who brought them to life. CLIFFHANGER! touches on the early days of the film serial, to its explosion as a juvenile medium of the 1930s and ‘40s. See how the creation of characters like SUPERMAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SPY SMASHER, and CAPTAIN MARVEL dovetailed with the early film adaptations. Along the way, you’ll meet the stuntmen, directors (SPENCER BENNETT, WILLIAM WITNEY, producer SAM KATZMAN), comic book creators (SIEGEL & SHUSTER, SIMON & KIRBY, BOB KANE, C.C. BECK, FRANK FRAZETTA, WILL EISNER), and actors (BUSTER CRABBE, GEORGE REEVES, LORNA GRAY, KANE RICHMOND, KIRK ALYN, DAVE O’BRIEN) who brought them to the silver screen—and how that resonates with today’s cinematic superhero universe. NOW SHIPPING! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-119-6

RETRO TOYS

Takes America —and the World!

BY KATHERINE KERESTMAN

It was 1959. The war was over. America was prosperous and people felt secure. Making do and doing without were out, and fun was in. Hawaii joined the Union. Nixon engaged in a Kitchen Debate with Khrushchev. The Guggenheim temple to modern art opened in New York City. Twilight Zone and Bonanza were on those new little screens in people’s living rooms, while on the big screen Charlton Heston was Ben Hur and Doris Day and Rock Hudson shared some Pillow Talk. On March 9, at the Toy Fair in New York, the First Lady of Fashion debuted—Barbie, whose career, more than a billion dolls later, is still in the ascendant. At the beginning, Barbie’s career had seemed less than promising, for when Ruth Handler (who died in 2002 at the age of 85) had first presented her idea for a grown-up fashion doll with a wardrobe, she had been informed by the condescending engineers at Mattel that little girls would rather play with baby dolls. Ruth was not easily discouraged, though. She, with her husband, Elliot, owned Mattel, a company which they had created in their garage (Elliot made housewares out of Plexiglas) and which would grow into a multi-billion-dollar corporation. The vision which Ruth had presented to the engineers—a lady doll with a fashionable wardrobe—was born of her observation of her daughter Barbara’s play: little RETROFAN

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retro toys

Barbara shunned baby dolls, preferring to play role-playing games with her adult paper dolls. Ruth thought that it would be nice for her daughter to have a three-dimensional adult doll, rather than only paper dolls with which to play. And then, in 1956, while vacationing in Switzerland, Ruth happened upon a Bild Lili doll in a shop. Lili was an adult gag gift, a shapely Betty Boop, produced in Germany from 1955–1964. Ruth purchased the doll, brought it back to Mattel, and told the engineers that she wanted them to create a doll the same size (11 1/2″) with a different face and personality. At the next Toy Fair, in 1959, the wholesale buyers—who were looking at Barbie for the very first time—also told a frustrated Ruth that little girls would rather play with baby dolls, and their orders were not what she had hoped for. Ruth knew little girls better than they did, though, and through a massive advertising campaign on television’s The Mickey Mouse Club, Mattel introduced Barbie directly to the little girls of America, rather than to parents and buyers. Up until this time, manufacturers had not marketed directly to children. Little girls went wild—and demanded that their parents buy them Barbie!

MARKETING TO CHILDREN “Barbie, you’re beautiful. You make me feel My Barbie doll’s really real. . . Someday I’m gonna be Exactly like you. ’Til then, I know just what I’ll do, Barbie, beautiful Barbie, I’ll make believe that I am you.”

These lyrics are sung as Barbie’s first devotees catch their first glimpse of a Number One blonde ponytail, wearing “Suburban 30

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(LEFT) Barbie® creator Ruth Handler and friends, in the Mattel office, mid-Sixties. Courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections. (CENTER) Reproductions of the original 1959 Barbie continue to be valued by collectors to this day. © Mattel. (RIGHT) This 1959 newspaper ad promoted Mattel’s new “living doll,” Barbie—retailing for a mere three bucks! Shopper” and holding a bouquet of roses. The camera pans away to reveal a Ziegfeld-esque staircase on which other Barbies pose in “Nighty Negligee,” pink satin “Enchanted Evening,” and sporty ski cabin “Winter Holiday” ensembles. A girl’s hand reaches for—grasps—and lifts the Enchanted Evening doll! The singer continues her serenade, as Barbie is presented dressed in the other outfits in her wardrobe. Barbie sold for $3.00 and her fashions for $1.00–$5.00. As the commercial ends, a brunette Barbie is shown in a full-skirted wedding gown. Ruth Handler’s sales plan was based on the “razor and blade” concept—when a doll was sold, sales of her fashions and accessory play sets would continue indefinitely. In 1962, a commercial introduces “Barbie’s Boyfriend,” Ken (“He’s a Doll!”), the voice-over letting us know that the couple met at a dance, have lunch at school, go to dances, and “just relax together… Think of all the fun you’ll have taking Barbie and Ken on a date.” Ken requires a full wardrobe, too, to complement each of Barbie’s ensembles. A fantasy world has been established for generations of young girls (and their brothers, who often join their sisters in Barbie games). The commercials conclude with the mantra, “You can tell it’s Mattel: it’s swell!” Mattel employed Ernst Dichter, a pioneer of psychology-based marketing, to develop their direct-marketing-to-children campaign. Their target cohort was girls ages 7–12, on the brink of

retro toys

becoming teenagers. In one ad, two little girls playing dress-up go to a posh department store—where they are treated to a fashion show by Barbie! Another commercial announces Barbie Sings, a collection of three 45rpm records, which includes six swing and cha-cha dance tunes sung by Barbie and Ken; they sing about Barbie’s first date and her dreams, accompanied by a 22-piece orchestra. In “The Busy Buzz,” a jealous Ken wonders to whom Barbie is talking—because her phone is always busy when he calls: It turns out that his phone is busy, too, because she is trying to call him at the same time. In 1968, children could talk to Barbie on a pink rotary phone that came with five discs containing 40 minutes of conversation. Barbie, Queen of the Prom (a board game), the Barbie Dream House, the Barbie Fan Club and magazine, as well as a full line of Barbie label children’s clothes followed upon the initial successes. The narrator of the children’s clothing advertisement states, in a confidential tone, “Just between the two of us, don’t you think it’s high time you dressed as well as your doll?” In another early commercial, Barbie and Ken are shown attending the Olympic Games in Japan, wearing costumes from their line of international fashions. Soon, Haute Couture gives way to Carnaby Street in the Sixties—and a new, hipper mod Twist-n-Turn Barbie comes onto the scene. Maureen McCormick (Marcia, on The Brady Bunch) tells little girls that the new doll can be purchased for only $1.50 with a trade-in of their old Barbie. P.J.—a mini-skirted, pigtailed Barbie friend—is introduced in a commercial featuring groovy Yellow Submarine–style graphics. In 1966, younger, mod cousin © Mattel. Francie (and her friends) are

Read all about it—Barbie, that is. In her own magazine! From 1961, issues #1 and 2 of Barbie Magazine. © Mattel. Courtesy of Shaun Clancy.

introduced with a slightly smaller body, so they require a complete line of fashions of their own. Little Black girls play Barbie with little White girls in some of these commercials. Yes, just as Ruth Handler was a woman ahead of her time—a corporate officer who rejected the role of stay-at-home mom and who shared management of Mattel with her husband—Barbie was ahead of her time. In 1962, Barbie owned her own house and car; real women, however, needed their fathers’ or husbands’ co-signature to make major purchases at this time. In 1959, when women were discouraged from working outside the home, Barbie was a fashion editor, and in 1965 she was an astronaut! In 1968, she had a Black friend named Christie, even as Civil Rights demonstrations were breaking news on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Barbie wore real, miniature fashions—not “doll clothes.” Hand-sewn seams, fabrics made with prints to scale, buttons and zippers to scale, linings, and labels characterized her clothes. Charlotte Johnson was her first wardrobe designer, an art school design instructor who based Barbie’s original wardrobe on French Haute Couture. The 1965 American Girl Barbie wore a Doris Day Dutch cut hairdo and fashions inspired by Jackie Kennedy, Dior, and Balenciaga. Barbie came with a booklet illustrating additional fashions, a stand, (LEFT) Early Barbie products like this doll case bore colorful and her famous wrist tag. Barbie has always been a artwork imagining a world of fashion possibilities for the progressive gal, a step ahead of the world—but Beauty dress-up favorite. © Mattel. (RIGHT) Charlotte Johnson, Barbie’s is a universal value for which she has never apologized. original clothing designer, on May 13, 1964, with a 1965 Barbie The Sixties saw the Beatles invasion, rock-n-roll, doll. Photo credit: Tiffany Nelson, Los Angeles Times. Courtesy of the UCLA Digital Library/ sit-ins, the Pill, and Twiggy. Barbie now dressed in Wikimedia Commons. RETROFAN

January 2024

RETRO INTERVIEW

The Unknown Comic… Revealed! An interview with Murray Langston BY SHAUN CLANCY

My first introduction to Murray Langston, the Unknown Comic, was from watching his performances on The Gong Show in the mid-to-late Seventies. Back in 1981, my junior high school had a talent show in which anyone from the seventh or eighth grade could participate. A buddy of mine suggested that we do a stand-up comedy act since we were considered the class clowns at the time. There were five of us in the group and we came up with the idea of going as “Unknown Comics.” We tried doing the rehearsals with paper bags over our heads, but due to the heat the bags would make us sweat profusely and make it hard to breathe. When it was closer to the date of the performance, we decided that maybe it was best with only two or three of us doing the act, and so yours truly and one other sat in the audience and watched our three other friends bomb with bad jokes. 36

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Years later, I decided to look up the real Unknown Comic on the internet. I discovered him on Facebook under his real name of Murray Langston. So I reached out to him in early 2022, and to my surprise he was willing to give me an hour on the phone to answer my questions. The below interview, conducted on June 16, 2022 and transcribed by Rose Rummel-Eury, is the result of that chat. As you’ll read, today Murray Langston is still doing stand-up at comedy clubs in his area. Hopefully one day he’ll take it on the road for the rest of us RetroFans. RetroFan: I see that you were born in Canada… Murray Langston: Yes, I was actually born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on the upper coast, but was raised in Montreal and Toronto in my early years. Then I came to the States to see if I could break into show business.

(ABOVE) Reading material in a brown bag is usually the kind of stuff you’d hide from your mother, but not Journey Thru the Unknown…, the memoir of Murray Langston—better known to most RetroFans as the Unknown Comic. © Murray Langston. Courtesy of Shaun Clancy.

RF: As a child, were you interested in comedy? ML: As a child, I was very young, as I recall. [laughter] You know, I was heavily influenced by [Dean] Martin and [Jerry] Lewis. I was about ten or 11 when they broke out and I was mesmerized. I said, “That’s what I want to do; I want to go to Hollywood.” That was my goal from that point on. I had to figure a way to get there, but that took

me years. You can’t just cross the border, especially at ten years old. Years later, the only way I figured out how to go was to join the military. At first, I joined the Canadian Army for a time, but I got discharged. They found out I was a coward. I literally couldn’t take those 50-mile marches with those 50-pound backpacks, so after nine months in the Canadian Guard, they discharged me. I decided then to cross the border and go to Hollywood. So, first I crossed the border and joined the U.S. Navy. They did the physical and held my arches up. Then I was flown to Chicago for basic training. This was the time when all the Americans were fleeing to Canada during the Vietnam War. They were trying to escape the war, and here’s an idiot crossing the border to join up! Even the recruiter, said, “You should put a bag over your head,” and that sort of stuck. So I spent four years in the military on an aircraft carrier called the U.S.S. Shangri La that was stationed in Philly, but I ended up in Jacksonville. When I went into the military and went on the ship after basic, they asked me, “What do you want to do?” I didn’t have a clue. I wanted to serve my time and then go out to Hollywood and see what was happening there. So when I boarded the ship they stuck me in radar. It was CIC (Combat Information Center), so that’s where they put me. I was a radar guy and after a year, I took the test to be a petty officer. When I came back, they said they had made a mistake putting me in the Combat Information Center because it was all confidential information and they didn’t know I was still a Canadian. They immediately took me out of there, even though I was the only one who passed the petty officer test. They had me cleaning toilets, which pissed me off, and so I jumped ship and went back to Canada. After a month of being AWOL, I thought, “Oh, sh*t; I’ve made a mistake. How am I going to get into Hollywood now?” I crossed the border again and went to the recruiters but my ship was out to sea, so they stuck me in the brig, which was close to the airport. I was there for two weeks waiting for my ship to come back. When it docked, they put me on the ship and had me waiting for the captain. I explained the whole story to him and told him that I’d studied my ass

off, but they had discovered that I was a Canadian and reassigned me to cleaning toilets, which made me very upset. Luckily the captain was understanding of my situation and he offered: “You can do one of three things; you can either stay in the CIC but you’d have to extend another couple of years of military service because they’d have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get you a background clearance, or you can have any job you’d like on the ship, or we can let you go with an honorable discharge.” There was a radio/TV station on the ship, and I asked if I could work there and the captain said, “You got it,” and because of the time spent in the brig, that was more time served, so suddenly I was there. I had my own radio show. You know the movie, Good Morning, Vietnam, with Robin Williams? That was me, way before the movie. For the next couple of years, I worked in Special Services

and ran my own radio show and movies. It was a great introduction into show business, although a different kind of show biz, so I was a mini-celebrity on the ship. Murray’s Musical Murray-Go-Round of Music is what it was called. Then I started a band on the ship and when my time was up in Philly, I formed a band and worked in a band as a drummer for a couple of years. I was still trying to figure out how to get to Hollywood. There was no way I was going to take that option of extending for a couple of years, so I lucked out in that respect. I still couldn’t

(ABOVE) We wonder how many art film roles did Murray Langston snag from this teaser ad for an appearance on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In? Laugh-In © NBCUniversal.

wait to get out. To me, the problem with the military is this: You have to listen to people you know are dumber than you. Because of the longevity of careers in the military, you know there are people who are idiots. That’s one thing I really disliked about the military. My goal was to get out of the military and when I did get out, I found myself playing drums in a band called the Bounty Hunters for a couple of years. RF: Were you a French-speaking Canadian? ML: I don’t speak it well, but my family is fluent—my brothers and sisters. I lost interest early on because I knew I would be doing something else. I can carry on a limited conversation, but I’ve lost so much because I’ve been here [in the United States] so long. My mother was fluent. My mother was French. RF: Growing up so close to the U.S., were you listening to New York radio or TV? ML: I listened to local stations in Montreal. At one time, I wanted to be a disc jockey. I remember Dave Boxer was a disc jockey in Montreal. I ended up calling up and going there. I remember being a 13-year-old or 14-year-old kid and being completely enthralled with that. Who knows where this came from; maybe my genes, because that’s all I could think about from a young age—doing stuff in show business, whether it was acting or being a disc jockey or playing drums. That all came out and progressed. RF: Do you have a dual citizenship? ML: I do now. Interesting enough, when I got out of the military, in those years, in 1962–1966, when I got out, you had to choose between being a Canadian or being an American. What happened, after being here for 50 years, I found out that you can have dual citizenship, so I became a citizen about five or six years ago. It was real easy; they rushed me through because I’m a veteran. Officially, I am both. As soon as I became a citizen, I got jury duty! I got to vote, so that was great. RF: So, you were interested in music, but not in comedy at that time? ML: I was interested in comedy—I just didn’t know in which area. All I knew was RETROFAN

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retro interview

Freeman King and I started working all the clubs—again, for nothing. We were pretty good. RF: Who was the straight man? ML: Freeman was the straight man and I was the crazy white kid. We’d do jokes like, “Don’t go away, we’ll be right Black.” We were together about six months at the time, and [Sanford and Son star] Redd Foxx had a club. I said, “Let’s go over there.” We opened for Redd Foxx. He was already famous because of his records. We formed a team with two girls— Norma and another one who recently died, and some other guys. We formed the opening act for Redd Foxx. They were very dirty comedy acts! He was very dirty. Flip Wilson hung out there; the Temptations. They were all there to get their drugs. This was the drug culture and it was going full

force. I wasn’t into drugs. I never did drugs or drank. I only got drunk once in my life, and that was in the military and is a whole other story! Anyway, bottom line is, we’re opening for Redd Foxx, doing dirty acts. All of a sudden, Sue Golden, an agent, takes us aside and says, “Sonny and Cher are putting together a summer show and I might be able to get you an audition for it.” We said, “What?? Yeah!” We go down and she sets us up with an audition at CBS. [Freeman’s] still delivering telegrams and I’m selling shoes. I’d been in Hollywood for three or four years now. Working my ass off! Next thing, we go to Chris Bearde and Allan Blye, the producers. One guy looks at me and says, “Are you the guy who did the fork on Laugh-In?” I said, “Yeah!” He said, “I was one of the writers.” They had moved up to the Sonny

and Cher show. Me and Freeman do a few really nasty sketches. They didn’t laugh or anything. They said, “Thank you for coming,” and we left. Two days later, “You got the Sonny and Cher show.” That was all of a sudden and we’re going on one of the hottest shows. I became a regular on that show for four and a half years. I was in heaven going to work at CBS. It turned out to be really great for me. I became a comedy actor—doing sketches with all these guys and Teri Garr. Me, Freeman, Teri, and Peter. They’re all Canadian, except for Freeman and both producers. Purely coincidence. I was living the good life—going to a great job and dating Playmates that came on the show. After that show folded, I became a comedy actor on all kinds of shows. I did a show with Bobby Vinton, I did a series with Wolfman Jack, Lola Falana, and series with a whole lot of comedy acting. I’m not that well known, but have done over 800 TV shows and 18 or 20 movies. I bought a nightclub for some reason. I wanted a place that didn’t just do comedy—it was all kinds of entertainment. I had never done just stand-up. I was terrified. That’s why I liked being part of a team—you could rely on the other person. If you didn’t get laughs—no big deal, you were just doing sketches. The place was called Show Biz and I invested all my money—it wasn’t a lot of money, but it was all of it. Interesting place: David Letterman got his start there; Michael Keaton (who was Michael Douglas back then); Debra Winger was one of my waitresses. A lot of people hung there for two years. After two years, I was broke on my ass. I lost everything because, to be a nightclub/restaurant owner, you have to be a prick. You can’t be nice to people because they will eat you. I lost the club. RF: Oh, no! What happened next? ML: Next thing I knew, I was broke and needed money, and a show called The Gong Show was on the air and had been for about six months or so. I heard from a friend, if you were in the union they had to pay you— like $300 back then. I had done a couple of shows for [Gong Show producer and host]

From the collection of Shaun Clancy, an autographed photo of the Unknown Comic. © Murray Langston. 40

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retro interview

Chuck Barris for The Dating Game, so I knew the talent person. I asked her if could get on the show, because I was broke. My idea back then was, because I’d been on a lot of shows, I didn’t want them to see my face. “Why don’t I put a bag over my head and call myself ‘The Unknown Comic’?” My intention was to do one show and get that money. I went on and went up to Chuck Barris and said, “Hey, Chuckie.” He said, “You gotta insult me again.” He insulted acts on the show that he liked because it gave him a certain amount of vulnerability. So, I wound up getting on a lot of [Gong Show episodes]. I did that for a year and a half, and then Chuck asked me to be one of the writers, so I did that. I was making a living doing this character on TV, which was pretty cool, but I needed to move on. I got offered a gig in Las Vegas—$5,000 a week to do a show in the lounge in the Sahara Hotel. I’d never heard of that kind of money. Even on the Sonny and Cher show, we were getting $1200 a show, which is nothing. That was a lot of money back then,

but nowhere near money today. Bottom line, when they offered Las Vegas, I’d never done stand-up—they wanted an hour show. I said, “I don’t know.” I knew I had to do it and put my brain together and said, ‘I’ll take the gig.” I went to the Comedy Store and started doing stand-up to see how it worked. I started with the bag and then I started doing stand-up without the bag. It was scary and troubling. I put together 15, 20 minutes of material at the Comedy Store, because I knew I had the gig coming in three or four months. I put a band together called the Brown Bags, and they all wore bags. I hired two girls called the Bagettes. They started the show, dancing and introducing me. The show ended up being really, really good. I don’t know how. Truth is, the show was costing me six to seven thousand a week and I was making five! But I had a show with great reviews. I did half the show with the bag and the other half without. They offered me a three-year contract. They had Reno, Tahoe, and Vegas, and I now had a three-year contract. Two weeks at each hotel. That was a good living,

When Chuck Barris’ gonzo game show jumped to the big screen with 1980’s The Gong Show Movie, the Unknown Comic made the scene! © NBCUniversal. Lobby card courtesy of Shaun Clancy.

but it wasn’t because I had to pay all these people—hotel, food. I did that for two or three years and it was my learning ground. I spent many nights on the third show with four people, struggling. Great learning experience and I had to adapt. RF: Was there a point where you revealed yourself as the Unknown Comic? ML: Just to the girls I picked up. I’d reveal myself in my hotel room. It was great! [laughter] In the clubs, I would reveal myself right away—20 minutes in, I would take off the bag. I’d have my father come in—with a bag. I’d have a girl in the audience yell, “He’s the father of my child!” I’d say, “Prove it,” and she’d show the baby—with a bag over his head. It was Broadway-esque. It was a RETROFAN

January 2024

TwoMorrows 2023 www.twomorrows.com • store@twomorrows.com

THE

PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION

by STEPHAN FRIEDT & JON B. COOKE

Author STEPHAN FRIEDT shares the story of the meteoric rise of the Schanes brothers’ California-based imprint PACIFIC COMICS, which published such legends as JACK KIRBY, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, STEVE DITKO, NEAL ADAMS, MIKE GRELL, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and DAVE STEVENS. From its groundbreaking 1981 arrival in the fledgling direct sales market, to a catastrophic, precipitous fall after only four years, THE PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION reveals the inside saga, as told to Friedt by BILL AND STEVE SCHANES, DAVID SCROGGY, and many of the creators themselves. It also focuses on the titles and the amazing array of characters they introduced to an unsuspecting world, including THE ROCKETEER, CAPTAIN VICTORY, MS. MYSTIC, GROO THE WANDERER, STARSLAYER, and many more. Written with the editorial assist of Eisner Award-winning historian JON B. COOKE, this retrospective is the most comprehensive study of an essential publisher in the development of the creator’s rights movement. Main cover illustration by DAVE STEVENS. NOW SHIPPING!

WORKING WITH DITKO by JACK C. HARRIS

WORKING WITH DITKO takes a unique and nostalgic journey through comics’ Bronze Age, as editor and writer JACK C. HARRIS recalls his numerous collaborations with legendary comics master STEVE DITKO! It features never-before-seen preliminary sketches and pencil art from Harris’ tenure working with Ditko on THE CREEPER, SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, THE ODD MAN, THE DEMON, WONDER WOMAN, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, THE FLY, and even Ditko’s unused redesign for BATMAN! Plus, it documents their work on numerous independent properties, and offers glimpses of original characters from Ditko’s drawing board that have never been viewed by even his most avid fans! This illustrated volume is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the creative comic book process by one of the industry’s most revered creators, as seen through the eyes of one of his most frequent collaborators! NOW SHIPPING!

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-121-9

(128-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-122-6

THE CHILLINGLY WEIRD ART OF

MATT FOX

by ROGER HILL

MATT FOX (1906–1988) first gained notoriety for his jarring cover paintings on the pulp magazine WEIRD TALES from 1943 to 1951. His almost primitive artistry encompassed ghouls, demons, and grotesqueries of all types, evoking a disquieting horror vibe that no one since has ever matched. Fox suffered with chronic pain throughout his life, and that anguish permeated his classic 1950s cover illustrations and his lone story for CHILLING TALES, putting them at the top of all pre-code horror comic enthusiasts’ want lists. He brought his evocative storytelling skills (and an almost BASIL WOLVERTON-esque ink line over other artists) to ATLAS/MARVEL horror comics of the 1950s and ’60s, but since Fox never gave an interview, this unique creator remained largely unheralded—until now! Comic art historian ROGER HILL finally tells Fox’s life story, through an informative biographical essay, augmented with an insightful introduction by FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER also showcases all of the artist’s WEIRD TALES covers and interior illustrations, and a special Atlas Comics gallery with examples of his inking over GIL KANE, LARRY LIEBER, and others. Plus, there’s a wealth of other delightfully disturbing images by this grand master of horror—many previously unpublished and reproduced from his original paintings and art—sure to make an indelible imprint on a new legion of fans. NOW SHIPPING! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-120-2

SCOTT SAAVEDRA’S SECRET SANCTUM

BY SCOTT SAAVEDRA

I’m a Retro Investigator. It’s a bit like being a hard-boiled private investigator but with a lot less gunplay. Or sexy clients. Or action. But like a P.I., I’m the kind of gumshoe that pokes his nose into other people’s retro interests, and not everyone likes that kind of scrutiny. But it pays cold, hard cash, and a little scratch keeps the whiskey cabinet stocked. But if I’m being honest (sure), Retro Investigating is thankless, backbreaking work full of long hours staring at Wikipedia and the Internet Archive. The kind of activity that gets you shunned at high society affairs, where the elite meet to laugh at the little guy. But it’s them fancy folk who lose. I got lots of interesting stories. Like this one case that really stumped me. There were too many suspects, not enough facts, and when it all finally came together, the whole thing just left me cold…

FROM THE SECRET SANCTUM CASEBOOK: THE CHILLING CONUNDRUM OF THE MYSTERIOUS MR. MISTY

Love and loss. I know it as well as anyone. I am, of course, talking about the kind of grub that gives us that faraway look—you know, the kind you get when you remember a former flame: the snacks

(ABOVE) Mr. Misty, cornered at last! TM & © Am. D. Q. Corp. (RIGHT) The author attempted to satisfy a nostalgic food craving with some “home-made” Flaky Flix. Results were mixed.

and treats we used to crave when we were younger but aren’t around anymore. Like a sweet and craveable Judge Crater, they just disappear and no one hears from them again. Mother’s Brand Flakey Flix cookies were my snack tragedy. Gone but not forgotten. Do you have a lost treat love? You’re not alone. There are plenty of hollow-eyed Retro Food Fans hoping against hope that one day their yummy delight will return. Searching for lost treats…? Well, that’s just part of my job. The latest SUI (Snack Under Investigation) is Mr. Misty. It was a semi-frozen drink that was part soft-serve ice cream and part flavored slushy (think Slurpee), served up at Dairy Queen, an international chain of cold-treat and fast-food outlets. It was popular, and then… Pow! Gone to the Big Sleep. But I ain’t convinced. The scuttlebutt is that Mr. Misty never went anywhere. The crazy part is that you won’t find it on any menu. Fans act as if it skipped town years ago. So, is Mr. Misty with Elvis (if you take my meaning), or is Mr. Misty still around? Maybe it’s a ghost. The official Dairy Queen timeline makes no mention of Mr. Misty at all. I pop some gum in my mouth. It’s bubblegum flavor and aspartame free. You’re expecting that I booze up while writing? That’s RETROFAN

January 2024

scott saavedra’s secret sanctum

President Lyndon Johnson (CENTER) stops off for some soft serve for he and his wife at a Dairy Queen in Lewiston, Maine on August 20, 1966. He is joined by (LEFT) Senator Edmund Muskie. Courtesy of the LBJ Library.

end up just being a fad. He sold territorial rights to operate Dairy Queen stores to others. The company’s growth was modest, but this was more due to the war effort during the Big One making important components of the business difficult to get than a lack of interest. Added to these obstacles a stronger plan for growth was not only needed, but Grandpa, now 72, wanted to skip out from the day to day of the biz and take it easy. Another random discovery during a drive would allow Grandpa to retire.

HARRY A.

The war was leaving farm equipment sales manager Harry W. Axene without enough product to move. He was open to other opportunities when he happened across a busy Dairy Queen. Harry liked the product and wanted a piece of the action. After a face-to-face conversation with Grandpa on his porch, Harry (who must have been a heck of a pitchman) walked away with a deal for ownership of half of Dairy Queen’s business and his own Dairy Queen territories. Once the war ended, Harry oversaw huge growth for the company. Soft-serve ice cream was a definite hit. But Dairy Queen was not a franchise in the top-down way for which McDonald’s would eventually become famous. The various store owners were not required to adhere to total menu sameness. This product fluctuation between the different outlets was confusing to customers and owners alike. But I gotta admit, it did allow for some tasty experimentation. And at a Dairy Queen outlet that had seen better days a simple discovery would lead to the second component of the Mr. Misty.

OMAR

Following his discharge from the Army, Omar Knedlik tried a number of businesses before purchasing a previously owned Dairy Queen in Coffeyville, Kansas. There are two versions of what happened next. The first, spread wide like butter on toast, is that his shop didn’t have a soda dispenser, so he put bottles of soda in his freezer where the beverages only sort of froze. The second is that Omar did have a soda machine but it broke, so he gathered 48

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up bottles of soda and put them in his chest freezer. His widow confirmed the later version in an Associated Press story in 1991. In either scenario, customers really liked the icy drinks. The sodas didn’t freeze solid due to the sugar content and the carbonation remained in the drink. Omar felt he was on to something, but it took five years of work and the eventual help of the John E. Mitchell Company in Dallas, Texas, to develop the proper equipment. With the technical problems solved, a name for the new frozen treat was needed. Early suggestions were “Fizz” (already trademarked) and “Scoldasice” (!). Omar may have lacked a bit as a marketer, but thankfully a friend, artist Ruth Taylor, came up with the “Icee” name and its logo. At first ICEEs were a tough sell. A Coke dispenser in the early Sixties cost less than $800, while the ICEE machine cost a few thousand. But the drink caught the attention of the Southland Corporation, which then owned the 7-Eleven convenience store business. In 1965 they licensed the ICEE dispensers but called their product Slurpees, which were a hit. After that, ICEE’s also began to take off.

(ABOVE) Omar Knedlik, creator of the ICEE®, the precursor to the Slurpee® and another piece of the Mr. Misty puzzle. Knedlik family. (UPPER RIGHT) The ICEE logo. (RIGHT) The ICEE machine as seen on the trademark application. Both © ICEE. All Rights Reserved.

scott saavedra’s secret sanctum

The main components of a Mr. Misty, the soft-serve ice cream, and the slushies were now in hand. All that was needed was for some goose to get off their keister, use their noodle, and make with the inventin’.

JIM

Selling cold treats was a seasonal business. Some Dairy Queen operators expanded their offerings in order to attract customers all year round, selling hot dogs, chicken, or sandwiches (what is now professionally known as “middle of the plate protein”—ain’t words a hoot?). James “Jim” Cruikshank was up to his honker in Dairy Queens in Georgia. In many tellings of the DQ story Jim is sometimes identified by name, but often as a “Georgia franchisee” or “owner of several Dairy Queens.” He would be very active in the company and had a big impact when he devised the “Braizier” menu. The tale is that Jim was in New York and saw flames blasting out from a restaurant’s open charcoal grill. He wanted to standardize the grub found at Dairy Queens across the U.S. of A. He had the notion that could happen if the idea was good enough. Brazier is French for a thing that holds coal or other heat source for cooking. Jim thought that what soft-serve ice cream shops located mostly in rural and small town America needed was to sell burgers and other cooked food under a French name. It wasn’t a lousy scheme, since a good plan to make some scratch all year long was a cinch, right?

WILD BUNCH

While many Dairy Queens served up the “Brazier” menu, not everyone went along with Jim’s concept. Worse, not all (ABOVE) A newspaper ad from 1970 for Mr. Misty. TM & © Am. D. Q. Corp.

(LEFT) A 1979 Dairy Queen sign in Dodge City, Kansas, highlights the short-lived Queen’s Choice menu. Photo: John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. (RIGHT) The Brazier concept was an attempt to create more commonality to menus across the country. The Brazier has a secret connection to Mr. Misty. This DQ is in Fenwick Island, Delaware. Photo: Lee Cannon/Flickr.

customers knew what a brazier was. And besides, some of the franchisees had their own ideas, coming up with food and treats that were adopted by other franchisees. Robert Litherland of Minnesota introduced the Dilly Bar (round ice cream on a stick) in 1955. In 1962, David Skjerven created the Buster Bar (soft serve with nuts in a cup). The Peanut Buster Parfait from 1969 was thought up by Patsy Franks. And, of course, Jim Cruikshank, in 1957, conceived the Brazier menu, which is now being phased out in favor of “Grill and Chill.” And then there is the great state of Texas. The Lone Star State has more Dairy Queens than any other. They even have their own unique menu items like the “Dude,” a chicken-fried steak sandwich that intrigues my curious but foolish taste buds. This is all easy-to-find information. There has to be a record somewhere somehow of the brains behind Mr. Misty. A thought grabs my noggin… The name “Mr. Misty” was surely trademarked. Who was behind that? A dig RETROFAN

January 2024

RETRO ANIMATION

Happy Birthday! The Real Story of Rankin/ Bass’

BY RICK GOLDSCHMIDT 52

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Rankin/Bass’ Frosty the Snowman was “born” on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network. This year, 2023, marks its 54th annual airing, making it the longest-running annual TV special on the same network (with Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, which premiered in 1970, being second, on ABC-TV). Happy Birthday! Both Rankin/Bass’ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [which originally premiered in 1964 on NBC; see RetroFan #12—ed.] and Frosty the Snowman get high ratings annually on CBS-TV.

NOT AN ‘ANIMAGIC’ SPECIAL

As the official Rankin/Bass historian/biographer, I am often asked: After the success of the stop-motion (“Animagic”) Rudolph, why did Rankin/Bass Productions choose cel animation for the Frosty special? “I wanted it to look like a Christmas card,” said producer Arthur Rankin, Jr., “and [MAD magazine artist] Paul Coker, Jr. was actually doing art on Christmas cards for Hallmark. Paul’s art was also more animat-able in traditional cel animation than, say, Jack Davis’ art, which was more detailed than Paul’s style.” Another reason for Frosty the Snowman’s cel animation was the that Rankin/Bass’ MOM Animagic studios in Japan was already busy doing an Animagic production, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, after completing The Little Drummer Boy. [Editor’s note: See RetroFan #24 for the Little Drummer Boy story… and join us next Christmas for Rick Goldschmidt’s look at Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, in RetroFan #36!] For Frosty, Rankin/Bass Productions hired Mushi Studios in Japan, after doing many projects with Toei Studios (The King Kong Show, Cricket on the Hearth, The Mouse on the Mayflower, etc.). Mushi was far better at capturing the Paul Coker, Jr. art style in animation than Toei. For Frosty, Coker not only designed the characters, he also did the lettering in the credits, on buildings, etc. With this special, Paul’s art became the look with which Rankin/ Bass Productions would be closely linked. It was at this point that the illustrator began doing yearly Variety magazine ads for the studio. “When I told people I worked on Frosty the Snowman, their ears would perk open,” Coker said. “People (OPPOSITE) Merry were so enchanted by the Christmas! Or should we Rankin/Bass TV specials. I say, Happy Birthday? Meet began working with MAD Frosty, Karen, and Hocus magazine in 1962, but it was Pocus from Rankin/Bass the Rankin/Bass work I did Productions’ Frosty the that really caught people’s Snowman! © Miser Bros. Press/Rick attention!” Goldschmidt Archives.

(LEFT) Holiday ratings bragging rights from Rankin/Bass, from a 1969 Variety ad. (RIGHT). Five years later they were at it again! Both ads feature art by MAD’s Paul Coker, Jr. © Miser Bros. Press/ Rick Goldschmidt Archives.

Artist Paul Coker, Jr. chills out with Frosty in this sketch illustrated for Rick Goldschmidt. (INSET) Coker flashes a smile during a promotional appearance. © Miser Bros. Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives.

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NEW! IT ROSE FROM THE TOMB by PETER NORMANTON

Rising from the depths of history comes an all-new examination of the 20th Century’s best horror comics, written by PETER NORMANTON (editor of From The Tomb, the UK’s preeminent magazine on the genre). From the pulps and seminal horror comics of the 1940s, through ones they tried to ban in the 1950s, this tome explores how the genre survived the introduction of the Comics Code, before making its terrifying return during the 1960s and 1970s. Come face-to-face with the early days of ACG’s alarming line, every horror comic from June 1953, hypodermic horrors, DC’s Gothic romance comics, Marvel’s Giant-Size terrors, Skywald and Warren’s chillers, and Atlas Seaboard’s shocking magazines. The 192-page full-color opus exhumes BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s darkest constructs, plus artwork by FRANK FRAZETTA, NEAL ADAMS, MIKE KALUTA, STEVE DITKO, MATT FOX, WARREN KREMER, LEE ELIAS, BILL EVERETT, RUSS HEATH, THE GURCH, and many more. Don’t turn your back on this once-in-alifetime spine-chiller—it’s so good, it’s frightening! (192-page SOFTCOVER) $31.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-123-3 • SHIPS MARCH 2024!

THE

CHARLTON COMPANION by JON B. COOKE

An ALL-NEW definitive history of Connecticut’s notorious all-in-one comic book company! Often disparaged as a second-rate funny-book outfit, Charlton produced a vast array of titles that span from the 1940s Golden Age to the Bronze Age of the ’70s in many genres, from Hot Rods to Haunted Love. The imprint experienced explosive bursts of creativity, most memorably the “Action Hero Line” edited by DICK GIORDANO in the 1960s, which featured the renowned talents of STEVE DITKO and a stellar team of creators, as well as the unforgettable ’70s “Bullseye” era that spawned E-Man and Doomsday +1, all helmed by veteran masters and talented newcomers—and serving as a training ground for an entire generation of comics creators thriving in an environment of complete creative freedom. From its beginnings with a handshake deal consummated in county jail, to the company’s accomplishments beyond comics, woven into this prose narrative are interviews with dozens of talented participants, including GIORDANO, DENNIS O’NEIL, ALEX TOTH, SANHO KIM, TOM SUTTON, PAT BOYETTE, NICK CUTI, JOHN BYRNE, MIKE ZECK, JOE STATON, SAM GLANZMAN, NEAL ADAMS, JOE GILL, and even some Derby residents who recall working in the sprawling company plant. Though it gave up the ghost over three decades ago, Charlton’s influence continues today with its Action Heroes serving as inspiration for ALAN MOORE’s cross-media graphic novel hit, WATCHMEN. By JON B. COOKE with MICHAEL AMBROSE & FRANK MOTLER. NOW SHIPPING! (256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-111-0

THE

TEAM-UP COMPANION by RetroFan’s MICHAEL EURY

THE TEAM-UP COMPANION examines team-up comic books of the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics— DC’s THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD and DC COMICS PRESENTS, Marvel’s MARVEL TEAM-UP and MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, plus other team-up titles, treasuries, and treats—in a lushly illustrated selection of informative essays, special features, and trivia-loaded issue-by-issue indexes. Go behind the scenes of your favorite team-up comic books with specially curated and all-new creator recollections from NEAL ADAMS, JIM APARO, MIKE W. BARR, ELIOT R. BROWN, NICK CARDY, CHRIS CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, STEVE GERBER, STEVEN GRANT, BOB HANEY, TONY ISABELLA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, PAUL LEVITZ, RALPH MACCHIO, DENNIS O’NEIL, MARTIN PASKO, JOE RUBINSTEIN, ROY THOMAS, LEN WEIN, MARV WOLFMAN, and other all-star writers and artists who produced the team-up tales that so captivated readers during the 1960s, ’70s, and early ’80s. By BACK ISSUE and RETROFAN editor MICHAEL EURY. (272-page SOFTCOVER) $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-112-7 • NOW SHIPPING!

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

TV Comic Ads BY ANDY MANGELS Welcome back to Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning, and prepare for a visual feast! Saturday morning television was appointment viewing for anyone growing up from the Sixties to the Nineties. From 8 a.m. to noon, while their parents slept in from the workweek, kids could sit in front of the television and enjoy a time just for them. Cartoons—and later, live-action series—were produced by studios like Filmation Associates, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Total Television, Jay Ward Productions, HannaBarbera Productions, Sid and Marty Krofft, D’Angelo Productions, Marvel Productions, Sunbow Productions, Ruby-Spears, DIC, Film Roman, and others. But how could the networks best reach kids to let them know when the new shows would be airing? Enter the television ads that ran in the comics, touting new and exciting Fall seasons! It made sense, since many shows were adapted from comic books! For most kids, those two-page spreads were their first looks at future TV favorites. In the second of a regular annual series, we’re offering you a rare look at every Saturday ad we can find from 1970–1974!

(ABOVE) This rare ad for ABC’s 1970 Saturday morning line-up season—beginning on September 12th—didn’t appear in any comic books; it only appeared in some color newspapers! (BELOW) Since Archie Comics had three TV series on CBS in the Fall 1970 season—debuting September 12th—the network took out double-page ads for the line-up. Archie also did its own one-page ad, challenging readers to be critics of the new shows!

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andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

By contrast to ABC, CBS knew they had to showcase their 1974 debuts in comics, so they took out this two-page ad in DC and Archie comics. Filmation’s live-action Shazam! headlined, while dinosaurs, the Partridge Family, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Archie offered verisimilitude! (LEFT) Rounding out 1974, this ad was not meant for the public, but it appeared in Hollywood industry newspapers and magazines, touting the variety of Filmation’s offerings. Speaking of Filmation, have you checked out my book from TwoMorrows, Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation? The two printings are sold out, but you can still get it digitally, online! Artwork and photos are courtesy the collection of Andy Mangels. ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today bestselling author and co-author of 20 books, including the TwoMorrows book Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation, as well as Star Trek and Star Wars tomes, Iron Man: Beneath the Armor, and a lot of comic books. He recently wrote the bestselling Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman series for Dynamite and DC Comics, and has written six Fractured Fairy Tales graphic novels for Junior High audiences, from Abdo Books. He is currently working on a book about the stage productions of Stephen King, and several graphic novels based on the Planet Xolo game series, as well as Bookazine projects (available at any grocery store checkout) on Ant-Man, Iron Man, The Little Mermaid, Chadwick Boseman, and others. Additionally, he has scripted, directed, and produced Special Features and documentaries for over 40 DVD releases. His moustache is infamous. www. AndyMangels.com and www.WonderWomanMuseum.com 66

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THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

Unusually Un-Universal

Dell Comics’ Monster/Super-Hero Mash-Ups BY SCOTT SHAW!

I taught myself how to read by the time I was five by reading comic books. That was in 1956, when there wasn’t a single genre that monopolized the mainstream comics industry like super-heroes would soon do. Not only did comics teach me to read, they were my textbooks when it came to studying how to draw and tell stories with words and pictures. I spent a lot of time reading all sorts of “funnybooks,” financed by the commissions I’d draw for my classmates, charging three cents for a head and a nickel for a fulllength figure. [Editor’s note: Those rates no longer apply to Scott’s commissions!] Of course, those were the days when most comics were a dime. After I noticed the “Still 10 cents” cover boxes, I sharpened up my math—and raised my commission rates—when the default price for the average comic became 12 stinkin’ cents. Even worse, due to a lack of ads and the revenue they generated, some of Dell Comics’ titles jumped up to 15 cents! It was the first major change in my life (clearly evidence of how sheltered, naive, and fortunate I was as a kid). In retrospect, there was never more diversity of genres on the spinner racks than in the mid-Fifties through the mid-Sixties. Other than romance comics and Harvey’s kiddie comics—welldrawn but aimed at very young kids—I liked a bit of every genre from every publisher.

Around the same time as the price switch, in July of 1962 there was a new brand at the newsstands, Gold Key Comics. Mysteriously, Gold Key was publishing a lot of the same characters and series that Dell Comics had been making the month before. Even better, the comics were as good or better than their Dell incarnations, with cool, somewhat experimental covers. Around the same time Dell Comics suddenly changed, with a few old characters and lots of new titles, original, licensed, and adaptations. Edited by L. B. Cole, many of the dramatic series were well written but extremely dark, certainly rare for the Dell that we once knew. And even more unlike the original Dell, the majority of its humorous comics looked amateurish at best. However, Dell did occasionally hire top talent, such as Sam Glanzman, John Stanley, Dave Berg, George Evans, and others. What we didn’t realize was going on behind the scenes is well explained by writer and comics historian Mark Evanier: “Western [Publishing] was a printing company with the editorial capability to create the content of the comic books. Dell was a publishing company that did many kinds of magazines and books. They bought their comic-book line from Western. In 1962, following a dispute about money, Dell and Western parted company. Dell hired editors, writers, and artists. Then they found themselves a new printer and started a comic-book division from scratch. RETROFAN

January 2024

FAMOUS FIRST EDITIONS OF DELL’S MONSTER COMICS 1. Dracula #1 (Oct.–Dec. 1962) Loose adaptation. Cover art: L.B. Cole/Vic Prezio; Interior art: Bob Jenney 2. Frankenstein #1 1st printing (Mar.–May 1963) Loose adaptation. Cover art: Vic Prezio; Interior art: Bob Jenney Frankenstein #1 2nd printing (Aug.–Oct. 1964) 3. Wolfman #1 1st printing (June–Aug. 1963) Loose adaptation. Cover artist: unknown; Interior script: Robert Bernstein; Interior art: Bob Jenney Wolfman #1 2nd printing (Aug.–Oct. 1964) 4. The Mummy #nn (Sept.–Nov. 1962) Loose adaptation. 72

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Cover artist: unknown; Interior script: Don Segall; Interior art: Jack Sparling 5. The Creature #1 1st printing (Dec. 1962–Feb. 1963) Loose adaptation. Cover artist: Vic Prezio; Interior script: unknown; Interior art: Bob Jenney The Creature #1 2nd printing (Aug.–Oct. 1964) 6. Universal Pictures Presents Dracula – the Mummy & Other Stories (Sept.– Nov. 1963) 84-pages of reprints of both adaptations and stories from John Stanley’s Tales from the Tomb and Ghost Stories. Cover art: L. B. Cole; Interior scripts: John Stanley and Don Segall; Interior art: Max Elkin, Jack Sparling, Frank Springer, Gerald McCann

The oddball world of scott shaw!

Twentieth Century world constantly on the brink of nuclear war, a lone scientist, scoffed at by his contemporaries, works diligently in his laboratory for ways to friend world peace.” And that young man is a descendant of Count Dracula, who’s isolating a serum that’s “derived from the supersensory portions of the brains of bats” intended to heal mankind and to reverse the reputation of his family. But when a released bat knocks over a flask of the serum, it drips into the as-yet-unnamed scientist’s glass of mineral water... he drinks it down and is immediately turned into a bat. While young Count Dracula’s dealing with that situation, Boris Eval, a hyper-aggressive military leader from another country invades Dracula’s quaint town with an onslaught of vehicles, rockets, and soldiers. Even worse, Eval decides to turn the Dracula Castle into his own headquarters. His soldiers break down the scientist’s door and hold Count Dracula captive, but while they plan to fire those missiles, he turns into a bat to escape. Then he transforms back to his human form to speak with fellow scientists who are being forced to do Eval’s bidding: to destroy the leaders of the world who are attending a peace conference, and then start WWIII by firing his rockets into space, which each country on Earth will assume are from its own enemy. Count Dracula heads for the peace conference as a bat, but Boris Eval is already there, disguised as the sound checker, installing high explosives in the world leaders’ microphones. Transforming into his human self, Drac attempts to crash the peace conference and convinces the committee to check their aural equipment. Observing this from afar, foiled Eval heads back to Dracula Castle in his helicopter, but Dracula flies there even faster. After the young count refuses to consider Eval’s offer to work together, he flies to the cave where he obtained wild bats for his experiments and leads them to Eval’s rockets where they perch, using their combined weight to topple the delicately positioned weapons. In a panic, Eval flees, grabs the rockets controls,

(TOP) The Fraccio/Tallarico art team dishes out trouble for Dell’s bat-man on their cover art to Dracula #4 (Mar. 1967), the final issue of the series’ original run. Courtesy of Heritage. Holy Homage! Dell’s Drac had (LEFT) his own “bat-girl” in Fleeta and (RIGHT) a secret cave that served as his headquarters. Both, from Dracula #4. RETROFAN

January 2024