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Let’s roll, Kato!

Spring 2019 No. 4 $8.95

The Green Hornet in Hollywood

Thunderbirds Are GO!

Creature Creator RAY HARRYHAUSEN SAM J. JONES Brings The Spirit to Life

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Saturday Morning’s

Beam Aboard the Star Trek Set Tour! TM

Martin Pasko • Andy Mangels • Scott Saavedra • and the Oddball World of Scott Shaw!

It’s GROOVY, baby! Follow-up to Mark Voger’s smash hit MONSTER MASH! All characters TM & © their respective owners.

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! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • Digital Edition: $13.95 • ISBN: 9781605490809 Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JUL172227

LOU SCHEIMER

CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION Hailed as one of the fathers of Saturday morning television, LOU SCHEIMER was the co-founder of FILMATION STUDIOS, which for over 25 years provided animated excitement for TV and film. Always at the forefront, Scheimer’s company created the first DC cartoons with SUPERMAN, BATMAN, and AQUAMAN, ruled the song charts with THE ARCHIES, kept Trekkie hope alive with the Emmy-winning STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, taught morals with FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS, and swung into high adventure with TARZAN, THE LONE RANGER, ZORRO, HE-MAN, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, live-action shows SHAZAM!, THE SECRETS OF ISIS, JASON OF STAR COMMAND and others. Now, LOU SCHEIMER tells the entire story to best-selling author (and RETROFAN columnist) ANDY MANGELS, including how his father decked ADOLF HITLER, memories of the comics of the Golden Age, schooling with ANDY WARHOL, and what it meant to lead the last all-American animation company through nearly thirty years of innovation and fun! Profusely illustrated with PHOTOS, MODEL SHEETS, STORYBOARDS, PRESENTATION ART, looks at RARE AND UNPRODUCED SERIES, and more—plus stories from TOP ANIMATION INSIDERS about Scheimer and the story behind Filmation’s stories!

By RetroFan’s ANDY MANGELS!

(288-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.95 • ISBN: 9781605490441 Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JUL121245

HERO-A-GO-GO!

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

Welcome to the CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, good guys beat bad guys with a pun and a punch, and Batman shook a mean cape. HERO-A-GO-GO celebrates the camp craze of the Swinging Sixties, when just about everyone—the teens of Riverdale, an ant and a squirrel, even the President of the United States—was a super-hero or a secret agent. BACK ISSUE magazine and former DC Comics editor MICHAEL EURY takes you through that coolest cultural phenomenon with this all-new collection of nostalgic essays, histories, and theme song lyrics of classic 1960s characters like CAPTAIN ACTION, HERBIE THE FAT FURY, CAPTAIN NICE, ATOM ANT, SCOOTER, ACG’s NEMESIS, DELL’S SUPER-FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA, the “Split!” CAPTAIN MARVEL, and others! Featuring interviews with BILL MUMY (Lost in Space), BOB HOLIDAY (It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman), RALPH BAKSHI (The Mighty Heroes, Spider-Man), DEAN TORRENCE (Jan and Dean Meet Batman), RAMONA FRADON (Metamorpho), DICK DeBARTOLO (Captain Klutz), TONY TALLARICO (The Great Society Comic Book), VINCE GARGIULO (Palisades Park historian), JOE SINNOTT (The Beatles comic book), JOSE DELBO (The Monkees comic book), & more! (272-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1 Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JAN172100

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

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

By M EURY ICHAEL , edito r of

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

The crazy cool culture we

Columns and Special Features

CONTENTS

Martin Pasko’s Pesky Perspective The Green Hornet in Hollywood

Issue #4 | Spring 2019

Retro Interview Jan and Dean’s Dean Torrence

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Mornings Shazam!

Retro Interview The Spirit’s Sam Jones

Retro Television Thunderbirds Are Still Go!

Ernest Farino’s Retro Fantasmagoria Ray Harryhausen: The Man Behind the Monsters

The Oddball World of Scott Shaw! Pacific Ocean Park

grew up with

Departments

Retrotorial

RetroFad King Tut

Retro Collectibles Shazam! Seventies Merchandise

Too Much TV Quiz

Retro Travel Star Trek Set Tour – Ticonderoga, New York

Super Collector The Road to Harveyana, by Jonathan Sternfeld

RetroFanmail

ReJECTED RetroFan fantasy cover by Scott Saavedra

RetroFan™ #4, Spring 2019. Published quarterly 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. Four-issue subscriptions: $41 Economy US, $65 International, $16 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Shazam!, the original Captain Marvel, and Billy Batson TM & © DC Comics. The Green Hornet © The Green Hornet, Inc. Thunderbirds © ITV Studios. The Spirit © Will Eisner Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2019 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. ISSN 2576-7224

DC and Marvel Comics have, introduced space-age superhero. for decades, waged a war with This made perfect sense as a their comic universes and, more business move for the so-called recently, film and television House of Ideas, but it mothballed franchises. Their characters have tradition—something that so permeated the popular culture Marvel was apt to do at the time that even the uninitiated nonwith its sassy superhero comics geek recognizes who’s who in rife with soap opera. The Captain their respective universes—just Marvel appellation would get about anyone can tell you that recycled in later Marvel continuity, Superman’s a DC guy and Spiderand very recently Captain Marvel, TM & © DC Comics. Man’s a Marvel guy. starring Brie Larson as space But then there’s Captain warrior Carol Danvers, has become Marvel. Who’s he? Or she? the latest entry in Marvel Studios’ film offerings. For purists, there’s only one Captain Marvel, And what of the original Captain Marvel? the first superhero to bear the name, coverWhile DC Comics is allowed to quietly use spotlighted in live-action form this issue. First the character’s name inside its publications, appearing in late 1939 from Fawcett Publications, the publisher finally gulped this hard pill to Captain Marvel was actually an orphaned boy swallow and sidestepped Cap’s identity crisis by named Billy Batson whose utterance of the magic rechristening their lightning-charged champion word “Shazam!” magically transformed him, as “Shazam.” Warner Bros. appropriated that title in a flash of lightning, into the red-and-yellow/ with its new live-action film starring Zachary Levi, gold-costumed “World’s Mightiest Mortal.” This which will be hitting theaters around the same original Captain Marvel was a smash sensation time as this issue arrives on the stands. during the Forties and Fifties and even outsold But such matters as copyright infringement Superman, leading to copyright infringement lawsuits and franchise rebranding are the stuff of lawsuits from the company we know today as adulthood. Filmation Studios’ live-action Shazam! DC Comics. Courtroom battles ultimately armseries is a product of our childhood, and that’s wrestled publisher Fawcett into retiring Captain where RetroFans choose to hang out. You may Marvel and his extended family of like-powered be a Mentor as an adult, but in these pages you superheroes. By the time the Sixties rolled around, can forever be a Billy Batson (although we can’t the only people who remembered Captain Marvel guarantee you’ll get a customized motor home as were comic historians and TV’s slack-jawed smallyour ride). town mechanic-turned-U.S. Marine Gomer Pyle, Last issue, I teased that a new columnist will who often exclaimed “Shazam!” when amazed. be joining the RetroFan line-up with issue #5. I’m In the early Seventies, DC Comics, which once happy to announce that it’s Will Murray! The regarded Captain Marvel a threat, now considered talented Mr. Murray is no stranger to fans of pulps him an asset as the publisher revived the hero in and adventure fiction, but if you’re unfamiliar with a new comic book, which spawned the live-action his work, Google him… and be prepared to meet Saturday morning TV series that Andy Mangels so Will next issue. He’s got a Tarzan tale to share. thoroughly covers in this edition of RetroFan. But this issue, we’ve also got the return of But it’s here where the World Mightiest columnist Martin Pasko—welcome back, Marty! He Mortal’s identity crisis began, as his new DC joins columnists Ernest Farino, Andy Mangels, Scott title and TV show could not bear his actual Saavedra, Scott Shaw!, and yours truly, plus guest name, instead being branded “Shazam!” During contributors Robert Greenberger, P.C. Hamerlinck, the Sixties, when the original Captain Marvel Dan Johnson, Bill Spangler, and Super Collector lay dormant, Marvel Comics trademarked the Jonathan Sternfeld, for another groovy grab bag of “Captain Marvel” name and used it for a newly the crazy, cool culture we grew up with.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow CONTRIBUTORS Michael Eury Ernest Farino Robert Greenberger P.C. Hamerlinck Dan Johnson Andy Mangels Martin Pasko Scott Saavedra Scott Shaw! Bill Spangler Jonathan Sternfeld DESIGNER Scott Saavedra PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Ron. V. Borst Sam Calvin Mike Hankin Heritage Comics Auctions Arnold Kunert Craig Reardon Rose Rummel-Eury Steven Thompson VERY SPECIAL THANKS John Davey Michael Gray Sam J. Jones Dean O. Torrence

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MARTIN PASKO’S PESKY PERSPECTIVE

Hornet, Where is Thy Sting? (From Trendle to Treacle: Part I) by Martin Pasko “He’s baaaaaaaaack...” And, man, is his face red! My last column, about the early superhero the Phantom, was entitled “The Ghost Who Stumbles.” In retrospect, that title was both ironic and prophetic, as I’ve been a mere “ghost” in these pages for two issues, having stumbled off into a world of circumstances beyond my control. I’ll leave it at that, because my esteemed editor has already accounted for my temporary absence in better language than I myself could craft. Suffice to give a huge and grateful shout-out to the wonderful writers who filled in: Dan Johnson, Mark Vogel, and editor Michael Eury himself. So if you’ve missed RetroFan #2 or 3, check out the backnumber order page elsewhere in this issue, or go to www.twomorrows. com. Otherwise, you’re missing out on a lot of fun—and certainly not just from this column, either, LOL. My previous pesky screed was an (I hope entertainingly snarky) analysis of the Phantom that tracked the character’s development from its debut through recent efforts to reboot it. The evidence begged the conclusion that the first Spandex-ed superhero is an unsalvageable product of its time; a character whose appeal to contemporary audiences is limited by its lack of relevance to the modern world. In this issue, I’ll be returning to that theme, having found that a similar problem besets my current subject, the Green Hornet franchise. But first... I don’t want this column to be just a collation of data you can just as easily Google for yourselves. Why would you need me for that? I’d much rather make these columns ever more personal, and in the course of that, I hope to sneak in some thought-provoking critical analysis. I’ve gone on record that I’m suspicious of nostalgia because I think indulging in it impairs objectivity and helpful analysis. But this magazine is called RetroFan, after all. So, rather than try to swim totally against the tide, I’ll personalize this column by connecting my subjects,

Hang on, Green Hornet! It’s Kato we’re really watching. Van Williams and Bruce Lee as producer William Dozier’s other dynamic duo in a 1966 photo. The Green Hornet and Kato TM & © The Green Hornet, Inc.

Photo by Roger Davidson. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

RetroFan

Spring 2019

MARTIN PASKO’S PESKY PERSPECTIVE

the continuity and what medium you get your Hornet sting from. In most media, Casey is one of only two people who share Reid’s secret, but in some versions, there are one or two others, such as Police Commissioner James Higgins on radio in the late Forties and D.A. Scanlon in the 1966 TV show. One of Reid’s inner circle who does not know is an older gentleman named Mike Axford, a close associate of Reid’s father. Reid, Sr., again depending on which interpretation of the property, is either still alive and waiting for Britt to clean up his act before turning the Sentinel over to him, or has died and left the newspaper to what Axford fears is a ne’er-do-well who will run it into the ground. Either way, Axford’s nuisance-some job is to be Reid, Jr.’s bodyguard—read: babysitter—and he is either a bumbler played for comedy relief or a tough-as-nails old Fourth-Estater who brooks no nonsense that interferes with the running of the Sentinel. Axford always tends to be a problem of some kind for the rest of the cast—with only Casey getting away with reprimanding him. In all versions, however, first and foremost among those in Reid’s inner circle, and ultimately the crux of the Hornet franchise’s problems, is: Kato. As with all things Hornet, Kato’s backstory varies as much as his description—valet? sidekick? partner? employee? friend?—and national origin. The basic idea is the same in all iterations except the 2011 Green Hornet feature film: Britt Reid had saved Kato’s life while traveling in the Far East, though, given Kato’s hand-to-hand combat skills, that always seemed specious. And, of course, the details change from version to version. Before the television series, he wasn’t explicitly a martial artist, and the first suggestion of this came, not on radio, but in the first Hornet serial, in 1940, when he delivers a “judo chop” to a villain. Curiously, no reference text on the Hornet tells us today if the radio series, not all episodes of which survive, ever did an origin story per se, or even answered the questions, “Why a hornet? And why green?” That would be lef t to the first of two serials made by Universal Pictures, in 1940. And it comes at answering those questions through the car. By the second commercial break on that Friday night, Cousin Mike was in the bathroom, loudly running water to drown me out as I told him about something else I’d learned. One of the first and biggest producers of serials since the Twenties, Universal released “chapter plays” that, while still low-budget affairs, looked slicker than those of the two other leading serial producers of 1940, Columbia and Republic. This, because Universal was a bigger and more “full-service” studio, meaning that its serials had access to more sophisticated stock footage, wardrobe, and so on.

(TOP) The Green Hornet (1940) movie serial poster. (LEFT) Gordon Jones and Keye Luke as our heroes, from the first serial. (ABOVE) Anne Nagel as Lenore Case and Jones as Britt Reid. © The Green Hornet, Inc./Universal Studios. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

RetroFan

Spring 2019

As the studio’s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials demonstrate, Universal generally was fairly faithful to the source material, and acceded to Trendle’s demand that it treat the Hornet more respectfully than Republic had treated the Ranger. And so they did: on The Green Hornet, though with no creator credit other than “…owned and

MARTIN PASKO’S PESKY PERSPECTIVE

copyrighted by The Green Hornet, Inc.,” the screenwriters teamed with two of the series’ actual writers. In this case, the studio’s fidelity also finds a strange expression: 39-yearold Gordon Jones, who is billed as playing both Reid and the Hornet, is dubbed by Al Hodge, who played the character on radio, whenever Reid dons the full-face mask. Here, Reid is trying to win his father’s trust that he’s no mere playboy adventurer by developing an experimental car that will eventually become the Black Beauty. As is established in the very first scene of the first chapter, however, it’s actually Kato who has invented it and seems to be doing all the work. He also seems to be overly humble, unwilling to take credit for his accomplishments. This, because of how Reid saved his life in Singapore, rescuing him from a band of racist thugs who were about to kill him for being a Korean. Note that they’re getting rid of the “He’s not a dirty Jap” problem without wasting a moment. Kato demonstrates the new horn that he’s designed, which for no apparent reason sounds like a buzzing insect. Britt remarks, “Why, it sounds just like that giant green hornet we encountered in Africa!” (There is no such thing, by the way. There are 22 known species of Vesta, and none of them is green.) Later, when Casey suggests that the city needs a “modernday Robin Hood” and Reid takes up the challenge, the Hornet is born. It also seems as if Universal realized that Kato was more important to the series than even Trendle did: of all the cast, the actor best known to audiences of the day was Keye Luke, popular as Charlie Chan’s Number One Son. Arguably, Luke, who reprises the role in the sequel, gives one of the serials’ best performances, especially next to Jones, who plays Reid with a goofy charm that makes him seem more like Dagwood Bumstead than a crusading publisher, and 52-year-old Wade Boteler, who plays Axford with a cartoon Irish brogue that makes him sound like the Lucky Charms leprechaun. But the one member of the main cast who doesn’t return for the sequel, 1941’s The Green Hornet Strikes Again!, is Jones, who is replaced by the equally unmemorable, and miscast—as well as, at 38, equally long-in-the-tooth—Warren Hull in the title role. If you’ve seen the first serial, you’ve seen the second, whose most remarkable feature is that the credit now reads, “Based on the radio dramatic adventure serial by Fran Striker … owned and copyrighted,” etc. Strikes Again! was also the last serial; tellingly, the character would not be incarnated onscreen again for another 25 years. In the intervening period, the only medium in which the Hornet appeared, albeit intermittently, as it had since 1940, was in comic books, which are beyond the purview of this column. But I’d dug up a few of those, too, and they had made me all the more eager for the TV show. And so, by the time the closing credits came onscreen that Friday night in 1966, in which the Hornet is now unambiguously “Created by George W. Trendle” with no mention of Fran Striker, I was in heaven. By the time I was tapping my feet to the theme song that became a Top-40 hit—Billy May’s up-tempo version of “Flight of the Bumblebee,” performed by the legendary jazz trumpeter, Al Hirt—I had irritated Cousin Mike by explaining how the TV adaptation differed from the radio show. As on radio, “Casey,” here played by the long-forgotten ingénue, Wende Wagner, is in on Reid’s secret, but the Hornet’s new confidant in the law-enforcement community is now not Commissioner Higgins, but District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon, played with brisk efficiency by Walter Brooke. Allegedly, Dozier wanted to downplay comparisons between the Hornet and Batman, which had Commissioner Gordon.

(TOP) The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940) movie serial poster. (BOTTOM) From the second serial, Warren Hull as Reid and Luke as Kato. © The Green Hornet, Inc./Universal Studios. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

RetroFan

Spring 2019

MARTIN PASKO’S PESKY PERSPECTIVE

FAST FACTS The Green Hornet (movie serial) `` Premiere date: January 9, 1940 `` No. of chapters: 13 `` Directors: Ford Beebe, Ray Taylor `` Cast: Gordon Jones, Keye Luke, Anne Nagel, Michael Axford The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (movie serial) `` Premiere date: December 24, 1940 `` No. of chapters: 15 `` Directors: Ford Beebe, John Rawlins `` Cast: Warren Hull, Keye Luke, Anne Nagel, Michael Axford

Cast-spotlighting poster for the uneven Green Hornet movie of 2011. © The Green Hornet, Inc./Columbia Pictures Corp.

The Green Hornet (TV series) `` No. of seasons: one `` No. of episodes: 26 `` Original run: September 9, 1966–March 17, 1967 `` Cast: Van Williams, Bruce Lee, Wende Wagner, Lloyd Gough, Walter Brooke `` Network: ABC

man.” Kato interrupts, saying he’s Britt’s executive associate. Britt has come to insist on more coverage for the mysterious green criminal. Recalling his father’s death, Britt suggests they call him “The Green Bee.” The Board reacts negatively. Kato suggests “Green Hornet” and they all light up: Green Hornet it is! The one-upmanship continues after Casey—here played by Cameron Diaz in her high-strung screamer mode—shows up to apply for the job of Reid’s executive assistant. She takes an instant dislike to Britt, who greets her in terms that would make Harvey Weinstein blush. But she finds herself attracted to Kato, and they start dating. And on and on it goes, through a silly plot involving a ridiculous villain, at the climax of which the “heroes” save themselves with what Kato concedes was Britt’s other good idea: ejection seats in the Black Beauty. By final fade out, with endcredits that reaffirm George W. Trendle as the Hornet’s sole creator, the film has revealed itself to be a deconstruction, not only of the Hornet mythology but of superhero tropes themselves. In so doing, the film probably tried to be too many different things to too many different people, and in the end, pleased no one. What’s so sad is that, as a result of all this, whatever Green Hornet fans may still be left aren’t going to see the character on the big or small screen anytime soon. But if, after this fiasco, any producer does have the temerity to try to tackle a reboot, I would suggest they start with a new title for the property: Kato. I’d bet that would be something even Cousin Mike would pay to see.

music. Britt is in awe, and Kato stonefacedly remarks, “Yes, I am a genius.” An impulsive prank leads the buddies into an encounter with muggers. The exhilaration of accidentally driving the muggers off and saving their victim The Green Hornet (film) becomes a life-changing experience for the pair. Because Britt is wearing a green`` Release date: January 14, 2011 `` Director: Michel Gondry colored disguise and Kato his chauffeur’s `` Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, goggles, they are mistaken for a rival gang Cameron Diaz, Edward in the press, and inspiration strikes. It’s James Olmos, Christoph Britt who comes up with the idea of acting Waltz like criminals while secretly being heroes. It’s one of only two good ideas he has in the film. But the second one is definitely not his decision to reverse himself and become the hands-on Coming soon: I’ll be following up with Part II of “From Trendle publisher of the Sentinel, where Axford, here played with growling, to Treacle,” entitled “Who Was That Masked Man with the Stuffed withering contempt by Edward James Olmos, finds Reid’s sudden, Crow on His Head?” But for RetroFan #6, my next appearance: incompetent meddling infuriating. Next Stop: The Twilight Zone. At this point, Rogen and Goldberg use their impossibly talented Kato as a jumping-off place for pushing the Reid/Kato relationship MARTIN PASKO writes and has, for over 40 to extremes, to the extent that for most of the film they are more years been writing, professionally, comics, rivals than partners. And so the Kato gags come fast and furious. animation, television, prose fiction, and Britt balks when Kato produces a gun to shoot out the Black non-fiction. If you’re into comics—DC’s in Beauty’s tires, by way of demonstrating they’re self-reinflating. particular—and you’ve never heard of him, Kato replies, “Don’t be a p***y.” you’re probably not the kind of reader who Britt and Kato walk into a meeting of the Sentinel editorial will be interested in what he has to say in the board. They ask who Kato is, and Britt splutters, “He’s my… he’s my first place. 10

RetroFan

Spring 2019

RETRO FAD

King Tut TV Tut © DC Comics/20th Century Fox/Greenway Productions. SNL © NBC.

by Michael Eury ’Fess up, RetroFans… your introduction to the heralded Egyptian king was as a Batman villain. Or a Steve Martin novelty song. For kids of the Sixties, King Tut was a recurring rascal on television’s live-action Batman series, in the stout form of character actor Victor Buono, who must have been born with teeth of steel considering his ability to chew scenery. TV’s Tut was actually a college professor who, once bonked on the noggin, fancied himself as the Golden King, a toga-ed troublemaker and perpetrator of crimes that only the Dynamic Duo could derail. In the Seventies, “King Tut” was a comedy song recorded by wild-and-crazy-guy Steve Martin, accompanied by the “Toot Uncommons.” It was a million-selling single that walked (like an Egyptian) up the Billboard charts to the Number 17 slot in 1978. Martin performed “King Tut” before an eager late-night TV audience on the April 22, 1978, episode of Saturday Night Live. Martin’s tune opened, “Now when he was a young man, he never thought he’d see, people stand in line to see the boy king,” referencing the Tutmania that was sweeping the U.S.A. at the time. Tutmania? It seems hard to believe that in 1978, the fastforwarding year that gave us Space Invaders, the first Test Tube Baby, the cell phone, alien close encounters, and John Travolta’s pulsating pelvis, Americans squinted through the dazzle of shimmering disco lights long enough to appreciate the antiquity of an Egyptian crypt. Tut-tut… surely it made more sense to drop $400 on the exciting new Tandy TRS80 Computer from Radio Shack than to waste your time and hard-earned cash standing in sloth-paced lines that snaked around several city blocks to view this musty collection at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art! Yet over eight million people ventured through the museum’s “Treasures of Tutankhamun” exhibit, which ran from November 17, 1976, through September 30, 1979. Before and after that, during the years of 1972 to 1981, the exhibit wound its way across the globe, also being shown in London, Moscow, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities, attracting everyone from Joe Average to movie Cleopatra Elizabeth Taylor. There was no doubt about it—in the Seventies, Tut was king! Who was this Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty-turnedhot ticket item of the 20th Century? And why, during an era when most Americans regarded Egypt as a faraway land in a region of the world that made headlines for tribal wars and oil production, would anyone even care? Tutankhamun, the son of King Akhenaten, ruled his people from 1332–1323 B.C. in a prosperous period called the New Kingdom. During his brief reign, the monarch erected temples to gods that had fallen out of favor and improved economic and diplomatic dealings with nearby kingdoms. Not bad for a kid.

Yes, Tutankhamun (herewith “Tut,” since that’s easier to type) was a mere nine or ten years of age when he assumed the crown. When you were nine or ten, you were watching King Tut on Batman or singing lyrics like, “Born in Arizona, got a condo made of stone-a.” But the real Tut shouldered the burden of governance at that age… while also being saddled with physical deformities that some believe required him to walk with a cane. The cause of the young king’s death, at age 18, has driven historians batty. Conspiracy theorists once suspected that Tut was assassinated, while most experts have dismissed that, citing instead malaria as the cause of death. Or sickle cell disease. Or a litany of other possible ailments. Or a chariot accident. (It was tough staying healthy in those days. Even if you had the Regal Medical Plan.) One thing that they can agree on is, after his death, Tut received an entombment that was, well, fit for a king. While there has been evidence that his burial wrap was hastily, and perhaps haphazardly, prepared, his sarcophagus was festooned with adjacent rooms of riches, from gold to statues to chariots to weapons. Luckily, as our story’s real-life Indiana Jones, archaeologist Howard Carter, first uncovered in November 1922, Tut’s ossuary had miraculously escaped the plunderers who had robbed the graves of so many other monarchs… although a half-century later, when Tut’s ancient riches and teen mummy were theatrically staged in a re-created tomb and hawked like a sideshow attraction, a commercial plundering exploded, catering to people’s dual fascinations with wealth and youth. As the “Treasures of Tutankhamun” (okay, I typed it again) made its way across the U.S.A., so did King Tut T-shirts and posters, “Boy King” View-Master reels, and Sphinxburgers and Queen Nefertiti Salads—plus the “King Tut” song, which was actually Steve Martin’s satirical lament of the crass commercialization of what should have been regarded as an historical phenomenon. Did you know that President Richard M. Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, played a role in the Seventies’ King Tut fad? In June 1974, when Nixon was squirming from the hot breath of Watergate on his sweat-beaded neck, he inked an accord with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, improving relations between the two nations and paving the way for Tut’s treasures to travel throughout the U.S.A.’s major metropolitan areas. Soon, Nixon would resign in disgrace, but a long-dead Egyptian boy king would ascend to a new throne of popularity. Next issue’s RetroFad: Moon landing mania!

(TOP RIGHT) Tutankhamun’s burial mask, the most popular exhibit in its current, permanent location, Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Roland Unger/Wikimedia Commons.

RetroFan

Spring 2019

MONSTER MASH

The Creepy, Kooky Monster Craze In America, 1957-1972 Time-trip back to the frightening era of 1957-1972, when monsters stomped into the American mainstream! Once Frankenstein and fiends infiltrated TV in 1957, an avalanche of monster magazines, toys, games, trading cards, and comic books crashed upon an unsuspecting public. 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) and others, with a Foreword by TV horror host ZACHERLEY, the “Cool Ghoul.” Written by MARK VOGER (author of “The Dark Age”). (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $11.95 • ISBN: 9781605490649 Diamond Order Code: MAR151564

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ANDY MANGELS' RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

by Andy Mangels

TM & © DC Comics.

Welcome back to Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning. Since 1989, I have been writing columns for magazines in the U.S. and foreign countries, all examining the intersection of comic books and Hollywood, whether animation or live-action. Andy Mangels Backstage, Andy Mangels’ Reel Marvel, Andy Mangels’ Hollywood Heroes, Andy Mangels Behind the Camera… nearly three decades of reporting on animation and live-action—in addition to writing many books and producing around 40 DVD sets—and I’m still enthusiastic. In this new RetroFan column, I will examine shows that thrilled us from yesteryear, exciting our imaginations and capturing our memories. Grab some milk and cereal, sit cross-legged leaning against the couch, and dig in to Retro Saturday Morning! In the mid-Seventies, live-action superheroes on television were almost non-existent. Common reruns of the Fifties The Adventures of Superman or late Sixties Batman series were the only choices for kids and comic-book fans outside the realm of animation. But on September 7, 1974, all of that changed, when lightning struck… Over an image of swirling clouds, the announcer—ironically, the voice of an uncredited Batman star Adam West—stoically intoned, “Chosen from among all others by the immortal elders—Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury—Billy Batson and his mentor travel the

highways and byways of the land on a never-ending mission: to right wrongs, to develop understanding, and to seek justice for all. In time of dire need, young Billy has been granted the power by the immortals to summon awesome forces at the utterance of a single word: Shazam! A word which transforms him in a flash into the mightiest of mortals… Captain Marvel!” Viewers were riveted to the opening visual of Billy Batson—played by Michael Gray—shouting “Shazam!” before lightning struck him and he magically transformed into the red-suited Captain Marvel—played by the strong-jawed Jackson Bostwick. The show would become a hit on Saturday mornings, inspiring a spin-off series, changes to the comic books that had inspired it, and mentoring young viewers with moral lessons. But behind the scenes, ominous thunder rumbled… Now, let’s take a drive down the highways and byways of memory to the days when Shazam! flew high!

The Old Wizard Beckons

In the pulpy newsprint pages of comics, superheroes were still in their toddler days in 1939; Superman had only first appeared in April 1938, followed by Batman, Blue Beetle, Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner. During the summer of that year, Fawcett Comics staff writer Bill Parker was tasked with creating superheroes for the popular company, and he devised six characters RetroFan

Spring 2019

ANDY MANGELS' RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

(LEFT) Theater poster for the 1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel serial. (BELOW) Cover with Captain Marvel and Billy Batson from Whiz Comics #22 (Oct. 3, 1941). TM & © DC Comics.

who each held powers granted to them by mythological figures. Parker eventually combined the sextet into one character he called “Captain Thunder,” and artist Charles Clarence (“C. C.”) Beck illustrated the first story. Unable to trademark the name of Captain Thunder, the new hero was dubbed first “Captain Marvelous,” then, finally, “Captain Marvel.” In a red bodysuit and white cape, with a yellow lightning bolt insignia splashed across his chest, Captain Marvel made first appearance was in Whiz Comics #2 (cover-dated Feb. 1940). In the hero’s origin, young orphaned Billy Batson is summoned into the bowels of nearby subway station, where he emerges in the presence of an ancient wizard named Shazam. The wizard bequeaths Billy some of his powers, which he must use to keep the world safe from evil. All he must do is shout the wizard’s name, “Shazam!”, and he would be transformed into an adult with superpowers and a flashy costume. His powers originated from six mythological figures who granted him some of their own powers, and his battle cry powers came from the first initials of their names: wisdom from Solomon, strength from Hercules, stamina from Atlas, power from Zeus, courage from Achilles, and speed from Mercury! The adventures of Captain Marvel were immediately popular, partially due to the magic-based adventures in which anything was possible, partially due to the light-hearted humor imbued by the comic creators, and partially because the character was the ultimate in wish fulfillment for young readers, who could only dream of saying a magic word to become bigger, faster, stronger, and able to fly! With the comics’ sales skyrocketing, a second series soon debuted, titled Captain Marvel Adventures (debuting Mar. 1941). Captain Marvel books were often the bestselling titles of what is known as the Golden Age of Comics. Within the first year of publishing, Republic Pictures optioned the character of Captain Marvel from Fawcett for a movie serial. 16

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Serials were told in quarter-hour-plus segments that ended in a dramatic cliffhanger so that audiences would have to return to the movie theater the following week to see how their hero managed to escape death. The Adventures of Captain Marvel debuted on March 28, 1941, and continued weekly thereafter for 12 installments. The cast included leading man Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel, Frank Coghlan, Jr. as his radio announcer alter ego Billy Batson, and Nigel de Brulier as the ancient wizard named Shazam. It’s probable there would have been a sequel to the serial, if Detective Comics (the company known today as DC Comics) hadn’t launched a lawsuit against Fawcett, alleging that Captain Marvel was based on Superman. The protracted lawsuit between the two companies ran from 1941 to 1953, and Captain Marvel made a final appearance in The Marvel Family #89 (Jan. 1954). The character might have faded into obscurity, except for actor Jim Nabors, who exclaimed “Shazam!” throughout many of his appearances as the comic book-reading character Gomer Pyle on the TV series The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Lightning Strikes Twice

In 1972, National Periodical Publications (the latest name of the company yet to become DC Comics) publisher Carmine Infantino licensed the characters of Captain Marvel and his cast of friends and foes from what was left of Fawcett. Because Marvel Comics had been publishing their own character named Captain Marvel since 1967, National was forced to name their new comic Shazam! A new comic series debuted in December 1972, with original artist C. C. Beck back to illustrate the stories. It wasn’t long before Hollywood came looking for Captain Marvel again. Based in Reseda, California, Filmation Associates had been known mostly as an animation company, and they had a history with National. They had produced the popular Superman, Aquaman, and Batman animated series from 1966–1970, and even gave Wonder Woman her first animated appearance, in a 1972 episode of The Brady Kids. Filmation was headed by producers Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott, and they wanted to try something new. “We had our previous relationship with National/DC, but they had now licensed Superman and many of their other superheroes over to Hanna-Barbera for Super Friends,” said Scheimer in my interviews with him for the 2012 TwoMorrows book, Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation. “So we licensed the animation rights to Captain Marvel and planned to do it animated. He was the closest thing to Superman that they had available, but for legal reasons we couldn’t call the show Captain Marvel—although we could call the character that—so it had to be titled Shazam!”

ANDY MANGELS' RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

Filmation did a presentation for an animated Shazam! in 1974, which they showed to NBC, ABC, and CBS. At CBS, Fred Silverman liked the concept, but asked Scheimer to do the show in live-action instead. Scheimer agreed, but changes had to be made from the comics, as putting other Shazam! characters such as Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., Tawky Tawny, and Mr. Mind would be costprohibitive. “When we developed the show, we had to develop something that we could afford to do on Saturday morning, so we decided to do it all on location. We came up with the idea of Billy Batson and Mentor travelling around in a motor home. It worked because, with them travelling, we didn’t have to use stages for much of anything, and we could shoot it all outdoors.” The Shazam! bible developed by Filmation was only three pages long, but it hewed to established lore to a point. Young Billy Batson was summoned by Mister Mentor to a secret underground lair, because he had been selected in “mystical fashion by the Six Elders.” Mentor had previously been Captain Marvel, but now needed to pass his powers on. According to the bible: “But, in accordance with the directives of The Elders, Billy’s “training” was soon to take on greater challenge: “Life,” itself—its problems; its peculiarities; its ramifications—was to become his “teacher” and his testing ground, supplemented by his regular meetings with The Elders and the constant companionship of Mister Mentor, who was to accompany Billy on his “missions.” Mentor was never to directly interfere, and was to “serve as an intermediate counsel and overseer, but would offer no solutions to the problems facing young Billy.” The show bible also introduced the idea that Billy would receive cryptic wisdom and omniscient parables from the Elders about whatever adventure he was about to encounter. Billy would recite before a blinking brazier a magic couplet: “Oh, Elders, fleet, and strong, and wise, appear before my seeking eyes!” The Elders would be animated—albeit mostly only their mouths moved, with some optical effects on top—with Billy to appear before them in live-action. Producers Scheimer and Prescott eventually provided the voices for the Elders. “I did most of the voices for the Elders,

and Norm did a couple, like Solomon,” said Scheimer. “By the way, if you’re wondering why the characters were called ‘Elders’ instead of ‘Gods’—despite some of them being mythological gods—you can blame the network’s Standards and Practices.” Another element of the show planned from the beginning was a social conscience. According to the show bible, “The themes of the individual episodes will be pertinent, in terms of “contemporary” life, and will reflect the types of “people” problems with which today’s youngster comes face-to-face in his daily life; Billy’s constant resourcefulness and demonstrated ability to “cope” with most of the problems presented to him will testify to the fact that, “there’s something each of us can do.” ” Filmation also made the decision to add tags to the end of each show, with the actors speaking directly to the viewers about the “morals” of the episode; these educational tags were not only due to changed rules about content for children’s television, but also because Scheimer felt it important to teach viewers something while entertaining them. “We wanted them to have super-adventure elements, but we also wanted them to have educational stuff in them. We wanted to have Captain Marvel be the first superhero who would teach young people essentially the same kind of lessons that we were doing in Fat Albert, with a little bit more of interpersonal relationships and real-world issues. They were targeted to a slightly older viewer—junior high and high schoolers. The stories dealt with drug abuse, prejudice, peer pressure, stealing, handicapped people, cheating, lying, and all sorts of moral issues that kids grappled with. And, at the end of the episode, we’d have Captain Marvel or Billy come out and talk directly to the viewer in a ‘morals’ segment that reinforced whatever the message of the episode had been.” At the end of March 1975, CBS announced their Saturday morning schedule, and Shazam! was on it. Warner Bros., who owned international distribution rights, immediately began marketing the series worldwide, without a frame having been shot! Now, Filmation had to start on their first-ever live-action

(LEFT) Color Filmation presentation art for CBS for the Shazam! series, pre-casting. (ABOVE) Shazam! producers Norm Prescott (l) and Lou Scheimer (r). (INSET) Filmation’s 1970s logo. TM & © DC Comics.

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Spring 2019

ANDY MANGELS' RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

SHAZAM! REUNION Michael Gray and John Davey will reunite to greet fans at Denver Pop Culture Con from May 31–June 2, 2019 in Denver. While there, they will be part of a Shazam! tribute panel, moderated by this article’s author, Andy Mangels!

Reunited for a group interview in 1991, Les Tremayne, John Davey, and Michael Gray are all smiles. (INSET) The first poster for 2019’s Shazam! feature film.

Gray is reflective and thankful as he looks at the series’ legacy. “I didn’t appreciate then how good of a show it was until I look back at it now. Over the last 15 or 20 years, I realized how good the show was, the quality was, and what the show meant to a lot of people. I’ve talked to a lot of people over the years. They came from abusive families; they were beaten or abused, parents were drunk, and Shazam! made them get through a terrible, terrible life and they ended up good people because of it. People tell me that and I hear it all the time. That makes me feel really good. I am very appreciative of the fans to begin with. If it wasn’t for the fans, the show wouldn’t have been successful. That’s one reason I want to do the personal appearances, is to see the fans and thank them. They’ve told me from the few personal appearances I’ve done, that they don’t usually have actors thank them for showing up.” With that sentiment relayed, Michael Gray and John Davey are startled to find the rounddomed brazier lighting up on the dashboard of a nearby motor home. It’s the Elders calling, and our heroes of yesterday are needed!

brought Gray in for a 2018 episode, regaling him with questions about his role, and wearing matching red sweatshirts with yellow collars to homage his Billy Batson. Another fan of Shazam!, filmmaker Vincent J. Roth, cast Gray in his superhero film Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel, as newscaster “Will E. Bee,” who wears a red shirt and yellow tie. The Billy Batson analogue reappears in a few episodes of the online series Surge of Power: The Big City Chronicles, and in the third Surge film, Surge of Power: Surge of Dawn, due out in 2019. Davey jokes that today, he is retired, but “I could be lured back down to Holly-weird and show TM & © DC Comics/ Warner Bros. up on a set if anybody shows any real interest, but I’m not really pursuing that.” He does want fans to know that he’s Unless otherwise credited, the quotes from Lou Scheimer been working on a novel for a few years, and expects it to be listed are from the autobiography he wrote with Andy Mangels, for Lou on Amazon sometime in 2019. “I hate the term ‘coming of age,’ but Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation. Mangels interviewed it’s kind of a coming of age story and set in the background of the Michael Gray for Amazing Heroes #194 (Sept. 1991), and Gray, Les professional boxing world.” Tremayne, and John Davey for Amazing Heroes #203 (July 1992), while Prior to his death in 2013, producer Lou Scheimer said, “The Gray and Davey were reinterviewed for this article in November 2018 fans tell me that Shazam! is one of their favorite of the Filmation [transcription for the latter by Rose Rummel-Eury]. Artwork and photos shows, and I’m glad that memories of it still survive, but, boy, was are courtesy the collection of Andy Mangels and P. C. Hamerlinck. it a tough show to get going.” The late Les Tremayne noted, “I had a wonderful time on it. I enjoyed the producers, Norm [Prescott] ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today and Lou and [Art] Nadel. I loved the crew. No matter where we bestselling author and co-author of 20 went they made it as pleasant for us as they could. And as I said books, including the TwoMorrows book before, the producers fed us beautifully!” Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Looking back on Shazam!, Davey says that, “When I started Generation, as well as Star Trek and Star Shazam! I thought, ‘This is something I’m going to have to overcome.’ Wars tomes, Iron Man: Beneath the It turns out there wasn’t anything to overcome. It’s something I Armor, and a lot of comic books. He recently can point to with extreme pride today. Personally, I was very proud wrote the bestselling Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic having been a part of that, especially with what’s on television Woman series for Dynamite and DC Comics. Additionally, he has now. We had a moral lesson every week without preaching. I was scripted, directed, and produced Special Features and documentaries for over 40 DVD releases. He is now working on a book about very proud of it. I have had people come up and relate to me about the stage productions of Stephen King and a second book about how much the show meant and how the show affected their lives Filmation. His moustache is infamous. www.AndyMangels.com in a good way. Pretty empowering, I guess you could say. It is very and www.WonderWomanMuseum.com gratifying that the show meant so much to people.” 28

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RETRO COLLECTIBLES

The Definitive Guide of Seventies Merchandise by P.C. Hamerlinck

SHAZAM! After nearly a 20-year absence from public conscience, the original Captain Marvel returned to a new world just ten days shy of Christmas Day, 1972. DC Comics actively acclimated the World’s Mightiest Mortal into Seventies pop culture with his own comic book (drawn by Cap’s co-creator, artist C. C. Beck)… a Saturday morning live-action television series… and an abundance of licensed products that brought a beloved character that had long ago outsold Superman into prominence once again. Almost two decades before all that transpired, a settlement had finally been reached with the prolonged National Comics (DC Comics) v. Fawcett Publications copyright infringement litigation, on August 14, 1953. The agreement stated that Fawcett discontinue publication of all “Captain Marvel” and related comic magazines and cease all commercial activity associated therewith. It specifically stated that Captain Marvel Adventures #150 and Marvel Family #89 were to be the two last issues published by Fawcett. With no admission of guilt that Captain Marvel had imitated Superman in any way, the ’53 agreement mandated that Fawcett was permanently prohibited from producing anything involving Captain Marvel without DC’s consent… until DC itself brought Cap back in the Seventies! (As explained in this issue’s editorial, the usage of the Captain Marvel name was never on the table, as Marvel had snapped up the rights to it during the Sixties.) However, prior to purchasing the rights to Captain Marvel and family outright in 1991, DC Comics had made an agreement

with Fawcett back on June 16, 1972, where DC would pay a royalty to Cap’s former publisher for each usage of the Captain and related characters in all media, according to the late DC associate editor, E. Nelson Bridwell. It joyously set the stage for copious amounts of Shazam! commodities to be produced during those initial years of Cap’s return.

Books

Books and related items published in the Seventies with Captain Marvel’s participation were integral in heightening the public’s awareness of the World’s Mightiest Mortal by introducing (or reacquainting) the character to the general public beyond the comic-book spin racks and television screens and into malls, bookstores, and local libraries. These tomes helped to quickly establish Captain Marvel, after years lost in superhero limbo, as an important inclusion to DC’s enduring pantheon of heroes. Captain Marvel’s 1940 debut tale reprinted in Harmony Books’ 1976 Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes trade paperback furthered the cause to assimilate the hero with the rest of the DC gang. Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell, the book was made available in both hardback and softcover editions. For many readers it was their first exposure to the original Captain Marvel. Even more impactful was the Bridwell-edited Shazam! From the 40s to the 70s (Harmony Books, 1977), a hardcover compilation of some of the greatest Marvel Family tales from the Fawcett era to the new stories by DC. Most importantly, it firmly situated

(TOP) Detail from official DC merchandising art circa 1975. (INSET) Shazam! From the 40s to the 70s could be an eye-opening introduction or welcome reunion. TM & © DC Comics.

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Spring 2019

COMICS MAGAZINES FROM TWOMORROWS BACK ISSUE

BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments, including Pro2Pro interviews (between two top creators), “Greatest Stories Never Told”, retrospective articles, and more. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

BACK ISSUE #113

ALTER EGO

ALTER EGO, the greatest ‘zine of the ‘60s, is all-new, focusing on Golden and Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews and unseen art. Each issue includes an FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) section, Mr. Monster & more. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

ALTER EGO #160

COMIC BOOK CREATOR

COMIC BOOK CREATOR is the new voice of the comics medium, devoted to the work and careers of the men and women who draw, write, edit, and publish comics, focusing always on the artists and not the artifacts, the creators and not the characters. Edited by JON B. COOKE.

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #19

DRAW!

DRAW! is the professional “How-To” magazine on cartooning and animation. Each issue features in-depth interviews and step-by-step demonstrations from top comics professionals. Some issues contain figure-drawing instruction nudity; Mature Readers Only. Edited by MIKE MANLEY.

DRAW #36

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR celebrates the life and career of the “King” of comics through interviews with Kirby and his contemporaries, feature articles, and rare & unseen Kirby artwork, showcased in dynamic full-color! Edited by JOHN MORROW.

KIRBY COLLECTOR #75

REMEMBERING STEVE DITKO! Sturdy Steve at Marvel, DC, Warren, Charlton, and elsewhere! A rare late-1960s Ditko interview by RICHARD HOWELL— biographical notes by NICK CAPUTO— tributes by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, PAUL LEVITZ, BERNIE BUBNIS, BARRY PEARL, ROY THOMAS, et al. Plus FCA, JOHN BROOME, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Spider-Man cover by DITKO!

Celebrating the greatest fantasy artist of all time, FRANK FRAZETTA! From THUN’DA and EC COMICS to CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPIRELLA, STEVE RINGGENBERG and CBC’s editor present an historical retrospective, including insights by current creators and associates, and memories of the man himself. PLUS: Frazetta-inspired artists JOE JUSKO, and TOM GRINDBERG, who contributes our Death Dealer cover painting!

MIKE HAWTHORNE (Deadpool, Infinity Countdown) interview, YANICK PAQUETTE (Wonder Woman: Earth One, Batman Inc., Swamp Thing) how-to demo, JERRY ORDWAY’s “Ord-Way” of creating comics, JAMAR NICHOLAS reviews the latest art supplies, plus Comic Art Bootcamp by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY! May contain nudity for figure-drawing instruction; for Mature Readers Only.

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID! The creators of the Marvel Universe’s own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and TV interviews, painting a picture of JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE’s relationship—why it succeeded, where it deteriorated, and when it eventually failed. Includes a study of their solo careers after 1970, and recollections from STEVE DITKO, WALLACE WOOD, & JOHN ROMITA SR.

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RETRO TELEVISION

Thunderbirds Are Still Go! by Bill Spangler Back in the late Sixites, there was fab, and there was F.A.B. “Fab” was short for fabulous, a common piece of counterculture slang. F.A.B. was slang, too, but it was used by a very different group: the cast of Thunderbirds, an unusual sciencefiction TV show that is still attracting fans more than 50 years after its debut. Thunderbirds, a creation of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (who were, at the time, married), originated in Great Britain. One of the things that made it unusual was that it was produced with a combination of elaborate sets and sophisticated marionettes, a process the Andersons dubbed “Supermarionation.” According to a behind-the-scenes featurette made at the time, the average Supermarionation puppet was roughly one-third lifesize. The head of each puppet contained switches that enabled

the mouth movements to be synchronized with pre-recorded dialogue. The Andersons produced Supermarionation series both before and after Thunderbirds. Some of them—most notably Supercar, Fireball XL-5, and Stingray—received exposure here in America. However, Thunderbirds was probably the most popular of the shows; many consider it the best. It inspired toys, movies, and a

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s enduring Supermarionation sci-fi classic Thunderbirds made its television debut in 1965, followed in 1966 by this theatrical movie, Thunderbirds Are Go. © ITV Studios Limited. Movie poster courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

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RETRO TELEVISION

International Rescue was created and run by retired astronaut Jeff Tracy, who used his family fortune to build the Thunderbirds and a secret base for them on a South Pacific island. The Thunderbirds themselves were created by Tracy’s scientist, a man known only as “Brains.” By the time the show begins, Jeff is a widower, but he has five adult sons who operate the various ships. Scott is the pilot of Thunderbird 1, Virgil commands Thunderbird 2, Alan pilots Thunderbird 3, Gordon is in charge of Thunderbird 4, and John is the primary resident of Thunderbird 5 (although the other Tracys also do take shifts there). Despite what that line-up suggests, International Rescue was not entirely a family business. Two other major characters were Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, and her chauffeur Parker, a reformed safecracker (well… almost reformed). They usually handled security-related issues. Parker took Lady Penelope around in F.A.B. 1, a pink, six-wheeled Rolls Royce, loaded with gadgets and weapons, that became as iconic as the Thunderbirds themselves. Other residents of Tracy Island who appeared regularly were Kyrano, Jeff Tracy’s major domo; his daughter Tin-Tin; and Grandma Tracy, who was apparently Jeff’s mother. Some of the disasters that International Rescue faced were Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet Supermarionation relatively mundane, like cave-ins. Others were more exotic, like puppets by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, on exhibition at rescuing a manned space probe from falling into the sun. Often, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, these missions were complicated by the presence of the Hood, an Evil Oriental Mastermind who wanted to steal the organization’s West Yorkshire, England. Chemical Engineer/Wikimedia Commons. secret technology. Sometimes, the Hood seemed to be working on his own; other times, he was working for some foreign power. It seems that even Evil Masterminds have bills to pay. well-received revival that started in 2015 and as of this writing has If this sounds like a lot for a TV show, that’s because it is. But completed its third season. Moreover, elements of the original the people who made Thunderbirds made it work. show have become part of the British pop-culture vocabulary. One of the attractions of all the Supermarionation shows was Why did this show have such an impact? Glad you asked… simply to see how elaborate the puppets, vehicles, and sets could get. Thunderbirds took this element to new levels, with distinctive Welcome to Tracy Island and detailed vehicles and sets. In addition, the launching bays for Thunderbirds chronicled the adventures of International Rescue, a Thunderbirds 1, 2, and 3 contained ornate, almost Rube Goldbergprivate organization that used advanced vehicles and technology style ways of transporting each pilot to his ship. to… well, rescue people. (Gerry Anderson, who died in 2012, said he The model work for this show, and was inspired by a high-tech mine rescue in Europe.) The original show was set in 2065 A.D., which, when other Supermarionation projects, were it premiered, put it a full 100 years in the future. supervised by Derek Meddings. He told an The title characters were, in fact, the primary interviewer that he liked to keep track of vehicles that International Rescue used. Thunderbird small details, like making sure that a model 1 was a high-speed jet that was usually the first boat was leaving a wake in the water. on the scene of a disaster. Thunderbird 2 was a Viewers knew when a scene was wrong, he huge cargo plane that could carry any one of a said, even when they couldn’t recognize what was bothering them immediately. number of pods containing specialized equipment. Here’s another example of the sort of Thunderbird 3 was a spaceship. Thunderbird 4 was details that Meddings and the others kept a small submersible that was usually brought to track of: video phones were common in the danger zone in one of Thunderbird 2’s pods. this world, but there were still times that Thunderbird 5 was an orbiting space station the plot demanded that an anonymous call monitoring the world’s communications, looking be made. When that happened, the same for possible trouble. graphic, with the same notation, SOUND A manned drilling machine that could burrow 1996 promotional photo of ONLY SELECTED, would appear. beneath the surface was used more than once, Gerry Anderson. Photo © David The Thunderbirds crew also made sure but, for some reason, it never reached Thunderbird Finchett, 1996. status. vehicles that were used regularly looked 42

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like they were used regularly, with some dirt and some rough edges, an approach that was later popularized with the original Star Wars. Meddings went on to do special effects work for two James Bond films, Moonraker and Goldeneye, and the first Superman film starring Christopher Reeve. It should probably be noted that, in this case, “elaborate” and “distinctive” are not interchangeable with “realistic.” There were certain, basic limitations with using puppets that were never really overcome. Director David Lane, who worked regularly with the Andersons, said once, “As soon as you got into moving them, you got into trouble.” Mary Turner, one of the lead puppeteers, said, “We never could get the walk to look convincing.” This—well, let’s call it “stylized”—look was easy to parody, and it was parodied. One relatively recent, well-known parody is the 2004 movie Team America: World Police. Still, Thunderbirds did things with characterization that had never been seen in a Supermarionation series before. These differences start with the cast’s names. Previous Supermarionation heroes had names like Steve Zodiac and Troy Tempest. The names of the Tracy family sounded like they might actually belong to real people. The fact that the Tracy boys were named after five of the Mercury astronauts was not only plausible—Dad was a former astronaut, after all—it tied into the public interest in the space race, which was, at that time, very high.

(INSET) A British collection of Thunderbirds comics. (BELOW) A fab F.A.B. original art page by the incomparable Frank Bellamy, featuring Brains, Scott, Virgil, and Thunderbird 2. Originally published in 1967’s TV Century 21 #146. © ITV Studios Limited. Courtesy of Bill Spangler and Heritage, respectively.

Double Your Pleasure

Other parts of the character work stemmed from a last-minute change in format. The Andersons’ shows were distributed by ITV, which was led at time by Lew Grade. Thunderbirds, like the previous shows, was scheduled to be a half-hour long. However, when Grade saw the first episode, he decided that the show should be an hour long. That meant that the Andersons had to add new footage to ten episodes that they thought were completed. Many of these new scenes consisted of these characters bantering with each other, not unlike the closing scenes of the original Star Trek. In the process, we learned things like Virgil

played the piano and that many of the characters smoked. Of course, public attitudes toward smoking have changed radically since then, but, at the time, it was an extra detail that connected the characters to the real world. It was also an example of the crew’s dedication to adding little touches. You could actually tell which characters were smoking cigarettes and which ones were smoking cigars. You could also see the smoke occasionally. Three characters that may have stood out before the extra scenes were added were Brains, Lady Penelope, and Parker. RetroFan

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(ABOVE) Thunderbirds novelist Joan Marie Verba. (LEFT) Publicity image from the CGI television series Thunderbirds Are Go, which launched in 2015. © ITV Studios Limited.

The Tracys are still wearing sashes, but now they’re more like utility belts, studded with pouches filled, no doubt, with Useful Things. In one episode, Gordon finds one of the garrison caps but tosses it aside with a rueful “I can’t believe we used to wear these things.” It’s the only time I’ve found so far where TAG pokes any sort of fun at the original show. Thunderbirds Are Go is a solid success, but interest in Supermarionation itself is still high. In the summer of 2017, cable channel Comet TV ran a day’s worth of Supermarionation shows, including Thunderbirds. The streaming service Twitch was scheduled to run a Thunderbirds marathon, along with a project that can only be called a labor of love. A group of filmmakers have been producing new Supermarionation footage in order to dramatize three stories that existed only in audio form: “Introducing Thunderbirds,” “The Stately Home Robberies,” and “The Abominable Snowman.” Each story was directed by a different person. These stories might be called audiobooks now, but when they were originally released they were called mini-albums. They enable the filmmakers to use the original voice performances as the soundtrack, but some new actors have been hired for additional scenes. 48

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THUNDERBIRDS NOVELS FROM FTL PUBLICATIONS By Jean Marie Verba: Countdown to Action! Deadly Danger! Situation Critical! Extreme Hazard! Danger Zone! By Anthony Taylor: Arctic Adventure! Availability: www.amazon.com

One such performer, Sanjeev Bhaskar, summed up the appeal of the series this way: “On the one level, you just have good stories that are engaging and thrilling and exciting. But also they had humor and the heart of it was a family.” Joan Marie Verba said she thought the series was still popular because it had “action, adventure, altruism and a positive view of the future.” At this point, you may be asking, yeah, but, what does F.A.B. mean? It may have been used to acknowledge a message or express approval, but there never was an official explanation for what it meant. Gerry Anderson said he coined the term to play off “fab.” Fans have suggested that it stands for “Fully Advised and Briefed,” but it’s a question that may never be resolved. BILL SPANGLER has been writing science-fiction comics for longer than he’s going to admit here. His credits include licensed properties, like Robotech, Alien Nation, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, along with original creations. His adaptation of H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine, with art by John Ross, was recently reprinted by Pulp 2.0 press. Bill and his wife Joyce live in Southeastern Pennsylvania, with their two dogs.

ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA

Ray Harryhausen The Man Behind the Monsters

by Ernest Farino Most RetroFan readers know the name Ray Harryhausen (1920– 2013)—the cinema magician and stop-motion animator who gave us such unforgettable fantasy films as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Mysterious Island, First Men “in” the Moon, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and the original 1981 Clash of the Titans. Ray’s fantastic imagery is at once seared into the viewer’s brain—the Cyclops thundering out of the cave at the beginning of

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, an Allosaurus attacking the cave people in One Million Years B.C., and the charge of seven sword-wielding skeletons in Ray’s own personal favorite and arguably his magnum opus, Jason and the Argonauts. It is significant—and highly unusual, in the history of movies—that in the same way we can identify “a Hitchcock film” or a “Sergio Leone Western,” we refer to any of these movies RetroFan

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(LEFT) Ray, in cap at center, has lunch on the location in Italy during the filming of Jason and the Argonauts. He is flanked by cinematographer Wilkie Cooper and producer Charles Schneer. (ABOVE) Ray’s home in London, now occupied by others.

Will naively asked, ‘Really! How did you do that?’ Upon which Ray’s eyes open wide, light up, and he practically bounds out of his chair with joy and excitement! ‘AHA!’ he cheers! ‘Something you DON’T KNOW! Ahh… now I’ll have to go back and put in all kinds of shadows in my scenes just to confound you!!!’ What an absolute riot! “I perused the Jason [scrapbook] thoroughly. At one moment, I was staring at a shot of Ray and Charles Schneer sitting on the steps of the temple whose pillars are seen on the shots of the skeletons approaching Jason. Well, there’s Ray in this photo, sitting and contentedly munching a sandwich. Will Porter suddenly leans over and mumbles: ‘Hey, Sam. He eats.’ Then Ray leaned over and said: ‘Yes! And sleeps, too… just like a REAL HUMAN BEING!!!!!’ We were all rolling in the aisles after than one!!” That fall of 1972, I had my own opportunity to visit Ray, having signed up for the semester in Rome. We had a two-week break, so I took the train up to London. After figuring out how “the penny drops” in the pay phone, I called up Ray from Leicester Square in London (which I pronounced LIE-kester and which, after a moment of puzzlement, he politely corrected me that it’s pronounced “Lester” Square). He and his wife Diana invited me over for Sunday dinner. Like Craig Reardon, the anticipation was almost unbearable and that night, Saturday, I took the “tube” to his place and found it so I’d have no trouble the next day. But the next day I arrived 30 minutes early anyway. So I walked about Holland Park 54

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next to his home until 11:55, humming the theme to Jason and the Argonauts to myself. I took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. It seemed the longest time before the door opened and I was greeted by Diana Harryhausen. Diana: “Oh, hello, do come in. Very pleased to meet you. Please sit down. Ray will be down in two shakes.” I sat in the living room and waited, quite nervous. Presently, Ray entered. He was dressed casually, and we shook hands. Diana said, “Well, lunch around 1 or 1:15, okay?” Ray said, “Fine.” Diana continued, “I’ll leave you two alone, as I’m sure you have things to talk about,” and she left. Later we went into the living room to watch Laurel and Hardy! I discovered that everything comes to a screeching halt at 2:30 on Sunday afternoons while they watch Laurel and Hardy. So at 2:30 we all got up and Ray turned on the set. Turns out that he’s a big fan of L&H and we had a good talk about comedy teams through the ages. He couldn’t make heads or tails out of this new British comedy team, something with the unlikely name of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Since Monty Python didn’t hit the U.S. until about 1974 (first in Dallas, conveniently, where I lived), I couldn’t comment. After some commercials and other introductory programming, the Laurel and Hardy film for that day started up. Ray and his wife (and I, for that matter) were just in constant hysterics throughout (Ray would exclaim, “I can’t bear it!”). There doesn’t seem to be anything that Ray doesn’t enjoy to the utmost. I found out years later that Ray had taken an active part in several clubs when he attended Manual Arts High School in

ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA

Los Angeles. The Masquers Club was a dramatic acting group that would occasionally present plays in the school and despite excessive opening-night jitters, Ray found himself with a major role in the senior play Shadow of the Rockies. At the end of the play he uncharacteristically performed a song and dance act with the play’s student director, Virginia Weddle, giving his own unique rendition of In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a song sung by Laurel and Hardy in their film Way Out West. And only recently I found out that Ray was utterly addicted to the Angela Lansbury TV series Murder, She Wrote, and harbored a permanent yearning for a Big Mac hamburger. Anyway, I knew that Ray had things to do at around 4:00 and it was getting to be that time, so I asked him if he’d sign some autographs. He smiled and said, “Of course,” and took a seat at his desk. I pulled out a color still of Talos from Jason and the Argonauts and explained that Sam had forgotten to ask for it. Well, he signed it with the felt-tip pen but the photo had a strange, glossy emulsion because all it did was bead up and wipe off! Ray said, “Uh-oh. That’ll never do…” He tried writing over it, but no results. I suggested wiping it off and using an ink pen, and I pulled out my handkerchief. Ray jumped up and said, “Oh, no. Don’t use your handkerchief. I have some cotton downstairs.” And so he dashed downstairs and soon returned with some cotton. He dipped it in some solution that was over with his art supplies and carefully wiped it off. He then said, “Now, I had a bigger marker somewhere around here that might work…” and he proceeded to scrounge around his desk and tables for it for five minutes (“Oh, good heavens! What did I do with it…?!”), finally producing a red felt marker with a rather thick tip. He tried that but it reacted the same way, so he wiped it off, too, but it did stain a bit (lower right

corner). “Oh, no. Now it has a red spot…” I assured him that I didn’t think you’d mind about the use of a red-colored marker. We finally decided to try an ink pen, so I pulled out mine and, pressing hard, he produced the autograph. I said, “Sam’s going to die with I tell him Ray Harryhausen ran all over his house for ten minutes to get a decent autograph!” Ray laughed and said, “Oh, no, it’s quite all right.” Then I pulled out a still of the Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and explained that since we included an actual 8x10 still with every copy of FXRH, the idea of the 8x10 still for issue #3 was to have Ray sign it, “To another reader of FXRH, Best wishes, Ray Harryhausen.” He said, “Fine.” (“FXRH…?”—he seemed a bit puzzled at our acronym, but smiled when I explained that it meant FX— “effects”—and his initials, RH). He then placed the slip of paper on the still using its edge as a guide to keep his writing straight (previously he took his cotton, dipped in the liquid—I think maybe alcohol—and wiped clean the corner he was going to write on), and carefully wrote out the autograph. He then examined it very closely to see if it was dry, and blew on it a number of times. While he was signing, after he had written “Best wishes,” he stopped, looked up at me, smiled, and said, “They’ll think all I do is read my own magazine!” and we both cracked up. Following that meeting, I don’t think my feet touched ground again for days. Like others before and since, meeting Ray was better than one could ever imagine, and that first encounter will always remain a cherished memory. In the years following we met numerous times, exchanged letters and Christmas cards, and spoke on the phone. He was very encouraging about my own burgeoning career, as he was with many other fans that were trying their hands at stop motion. Over the span of several years I

(BOTTOM LEFT) The color still of Talos that Ray signed for Calvin. (INSET) Detail of Ray’s signature. © 1963 Columbia Pictures. (BOTTOM RIGHT) The 8x10 still that Ray autographed “to another reader of FXRH.” An 8x10 negative was made of the original and bulk copies printed to include with each copy of issue #3 of the magazine.

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(LEFT) Ray with a King Kong poster. Photographed at the home of Ron V. Borst, the premier movie poster collector and archivist. (ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT) Diana, Vanessa, and Ray Harryhausen, c. 1990s. (BELOW LEFT) The wreath placed on Ray’s “star” on the Walk of Fame by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on May 7, 2013, the day of Ray’s passing. Photo by Ernest Farino.

and the huge media attention on that event. Unfortunately, that took the conversation to a darker place, and Ray, at age 89, was having thoughts of his own mortality. He said to me, “Michael Jackson was only 50. I’m 89. Why am I still around…?” A few minutes earlier I had joked about one of his unproduced projects, Sinbad Goes to Mars. Desperate to lighten the mood, I played on being “here” and said, “Well, Ray Harryhausen Goes to Mars!” Sounds pretty lame now, but I was happy—and relieved—that Ray burst out laughing, and was back to his jolly self. So it turns out that Ray was not the Ogre Under the Bridge after all, or any kind of standoff-ish, secretive Guardian of the Visual Effects Gate. Everyone has their own personality, life experiences, and temperament, and sometimes “celebrity” can have a bearing on a person’s demeanor and behavior. Those can be 58

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difficult waters to navigate. But I am pleased to say, and I’m sure I am joined by legions of fans worldwide, that Ray Harryhausen the “Magician” was not so much a Sorcerer as he was a Genie… Thanks to Ron V. Borst, Sam Calvin, Mike Hankin, Arnold Kunert, and Craig Reardon. ERNEST FARINO recently directed an episode of the SyFy/Netflix series Superstition created by and starring Mario Van Peebles, as well as serving as Visual Ef fects Consultant. Previously Farino directed Steel and Lace starring Bruce Davison, episodes of Monsters starring Lydia Cornell and Marc McClure, ABC’s Land of the Lost starring Timothy Bottoms, and extensive 2nd Unit for the miniseries Dune starring William Hurt, Noah’s Ark starring Jon Voight, and Supernova starring Luke Perry. A two-time Emmy-winning Visual Ef fects Supervisor for SyFy’s Dune and Children of Dune miniseries, Farino supervised and produced the Emmy-nominated visual ef fects for the Tom Hanks/HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon; James Cameron’s The Terminator, The Abyss, and T2; as well as Starship Troopers, Snow White–A Tale of Terror, Creepshow, and many others. His publishing enterprise, Archive Editions, has published Mike Hankin’s elaborate three-volume hardcover book set Ray Harryhausen – Master of the Majicks, The FXRH Collection, and more.

THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

P.O.P. Go the Bubbles

at… Pacific Ocean Park! by Scott Shaw!

Growing up in Southern California is a unique experience. And having done so in the Fifties and Sixties, I can report that it was particularly unique. I was too young to appreciate the fact that SoCal was a national tourist destination. San Diego had the wonders of the former site of a World’s Fair, Balboa Park (which held a number of museums), art galleries, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo. We also had the Wild Animal Park (now known as “Safari Park”), Sea World, Belmont Park, the Scripps Aquarium, and, for a few years, Dinosaur Land (see RetroFan #2). But, as late night infomercial announcers intone, “that’s not all…!” About a fourth of a tank of gas further north in SoCal, there was Orange County. Knotts’ Berry Farm and its neighbor, an alligator farm, were the first tourist attractions. In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, and that was enough to qualify Orange County as the amusement capital of America. There were also museums dedicated to waxen depictions of celebrities, cars known for their cinematic appearances, and even “planes of fame.” An hour further north would take you to Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. That’s where Marineland, Universal Studios, the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, the Hollywood Wax Museum, Busch Gardens, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Science and Technology, and the infamous Old Trapper’s Lodge were located. (And then there were a handful

(ABOVE) Move over, Disneyland! These Sixties postcards reveal an aerial view of Pacific Ocean Park and its breathtaking waterfront, and the park’s entrance.

of newly opened retail stores in Hollywood in the mid-Sixties that sold nothing but vintage comic books? Hmmm…) Therefore, if your parents could afford tickets and fuel to any of these attractive destinations, you had your pick of some of the most memorable childhood experiences available in postwar America. Kids, adolescents, and tourists were offered a ridiculously wide range of places to have fun. But none of them were as uniquely and memorably weird as Santa Monica’s Pacific Ocean Park, or as it became known, “P.O.P.”

Worth a Trip to L.A.

You may have even heard a reference to “P.O.P.” on the Beach Boys’ Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!) LP (1965). In the song “Amusement Parks U.S.A.” there’s a line that goes, “Disneyland and P.O.P. are worth a trip to L.A.” And if you never realized what those letters referred to, I can assure you that it definitely was worth a trek to Los Angeles to experience P.O.P. for yourself. But decades before Pacific Ocean Park was a glimmer in its creators’ eyes, Santa Monica was a very popular destination for Angelenos and tourists to enjoy a day—or night—at the beach. The beachfront area itself had a long history of amusement parks. In 1905, developer Abbot Kinney created “Venice of America,” based on the shoreline exposition of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The innovations included a Spanish galleon, fun zones, a scenic railway ride, two lagoons, ballrooms, canals navigated by authentic Italian gondoliers, and a “pleasure pier.” It became known as “The Coney Island of the Pacific.” Nearby was the “Ocean Park Pier,” a similar but far less spectacular amusement endeavor. Kinney had once co-owned RetroFan

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Palisades Ocean Park became a staple in Sixties cinema, from (LEFT) the ratings-smash conclusion of The Fugitive to (RIGHT) the 1966 Herman’s Hermits movie, Hold On! The Fugitive © United Artists Television. Hold On! © MGM. Courtesy of Heritage.

and the food was of such poor quality that it was dangerous to eat. It was no longer attractive to families. There were attempts to reinvent P.O.P. as a mecca for rock ’n’ roll, and “The Cheetah” (the former Aragon Ballroom) managed to lure some major acts such as the Quicksilver Messenger Service, Steppenwolf, Pink Floyd, Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Byrds, the Grateful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors, James Brown, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Eric Burdon and the Animals, the Standells, Electric Flag, the Chambers Brothers, Country Joe and the Fish, and the Seeds, among many others. But it was a sad case of too little, too late.

P.O.P. Goes Pop!

At the end of the 1967 tourist season, the park’s creditors and the City of Santa Monica filed suit to take control of the property due to back taxes and back rent owed by the park’s new owner since 1965. Pacific Ocean Park closed on October 6, 1967. The park’s assets were auctioned off June 28 through June 30, 1968. The proceeds from the sale of 36 rides and 16 games were used to pay off creditors. The park’s dilapidated buildings and pier structure remained until several suspicious fires occurred, and it was finally demolished in the winter of 1974–1975. So P.O.P.’s gone, and you missed it… unless you watch a lot of vintage television shows and movies. For example, Pacific Ocean Park was significantly featured as the location of the two-part finale of The Fugitive (“The Judgment: Part 2.” A whopping 45.9% of households tuned in to see the climax, which amounted to a 72%—meaning, of all the people watching TV at that time, about two-thirds of them were tuned in to The Fugitive. It would remain the most-watched TV episode until the Eighties). It was also an important location in two episodes of The Twilight Zone— Rod Serling and his family were big fans of the park—“In Praise of Pip” (with Bill Mumy and Jack Klugman) and “Perchance to Dream” (with Richard Conte). P.O.P. also turned up on TV in The Lawrence Welk Show, The New Steve Allen Show, Route 66 (“Between Hello and Goodbye”), 77 Sunset Strip (“Eyewitness”), Where the 64

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Action Is (starring Paul Revere and the Raiders), Nancy Sinatra: Who Will Buy 1967? (a TV special), I Spy (“Little Boy Lost”), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (“The Concrete Overcoat Affair: Part 1”), Get Smart (“The Wax Max”), The Mod Squad (“Bad Man on Campus”), and The Rookies. (There was even a short-lived Los Angeles TV series called The Wink Martindale P.O.P. Dance Party—later hosted by Bob Eubanks—from 1961 through 1963, that was shot at the park.) Although none of them are now considered to be classics, the Santa Monica amusement park was featured in a number of theatrical films as well: Hands of a Stranger (1962), The Chapman Report (1962), Two on a Guillotine (1965), The Money Trap (1965), Hold On! (a Herman’s Hermits vehicle) (1966), The Wild Angels (1966), and The Outside Man (1972). Other than these YouTube treasures, only a few underwater pilings and signs warning of their presence remains of Pacific Ocean Park. Ironically, “Dogtown,” as that area became known—a favorite hangout of the “Z-Boys,” outlaw surfers, and skateboarders—was the site of two films itself. A bit north of the remains of Pacific Ocean Park, the original Santa Monica Pier is now the home of “Pacific Park,” a generic small amusement park with a Ferris wheel and an iconic merry-goround as its most eye-catching aspects. It’s pleasant enough, but unfortunately, it’s about as weird as Wonder Bread. It’s clear why P.O.P. remains so memorable. The park was like a weird nautical caricature of the Magic Kingdom, swapping out the cartoon characters for a distinctly coastal SoCal vibe. The overall art direction of the park seemed sophisticated at the time, late Atomic Age “Googie” architecture and appealingly cheesy design. It was very much like “What if American-International was the studio behind Disneyland?” And whenever my family visited Pacific Ocean Park, I felt as if I was a character in an episode of The Outer Limits… a few years before that classic series even began to air on ABC! After all, how many other theme parks ever had a movie-star giant mechanical tomato worm as the jewel of their scare-ride? Unless otherwise noted, photos are courtesy of Scott Shaw! For 47 years (and counting), SCOTT SHAW! has written and drawn underground comix, mainstream comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, TV cartoons, toys, advertising, and video games. He has worked on such characters as Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew (which he co-created with Roy Thomas), Sonic the Hedgehog, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, the Simpsons, the Futurama gang, the Muppet Babies, Garfield, the Garbage Pail Kids, and yes, even Annoying Orange. His career has garnered him four Emmy Awards, an Eisner Award, and a Humanities Award. Scott is also known for his “Oddball Comics Live!” visual presentation of “the craziest comic books ever published” and for his regular participation in “Quick Draw!” with Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. He was also one of the teenagers who co-created what is currently known as Comic-Con International: San Diego, America’s biggest annual fan event. He can be reached at shawcartoons.com.

RETRO TRAVEL

STAR TREK Set Tour

by Robert Greenberger

Star Trek changed the pop-culture landscape in many ways during the turbulent go-go Sixties. The science-fiction series was the first significant subgenre to split away from science-fiction fandom, producing its own fanzines and conventions. Additionally, more than a few fans turned their basements and backyards into crude recreations of the starship Enterprise, making 8mm films, graduating to Super8 and then early videotape. Among that first generation of fans was James Cawley, a native of Ticonderoga, New York. He was a child of the era, born nine months after the series debuted, growing up in adoration of Adam West’s Batman, William Shatner’s James T. Kirk, and Elvis Presley. “I think I just absorbed all of that stuff growing up,” Cawley, 51, said from the captain’s chair aboard his recreation of the Enterprise Bridge. “That’s your childhood. I had a dad who graduated high school in ’57, so he always played that kind of music in the house. I picked up all that music. And he was an MP [Military Police], so we weren’t allowed to stay up late at night. So, the things that I watched in the reruns from the Sixties on, TV and read books about, were my totem.” Cawley went on to become an award-winning Elvis impersonator, touring the country and making a nice living. He indulged that interest by collecting whatever memorabilia

from Star Trek he could find. When he was 17, Cawley wanted to fabricate his own Kirk uniform so he called Paramount Pictures, asking to speak with William Ware Theiss, who had designed the remarkable costumes for the original show. Delighted to help, Theiss sent a pattern and the two struck up a friendship, resulting in an internship for Cawley on the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. “He was very private and sometimes you didn’t know how to take him in. He could be he could be kind of abrasive,” Cawley notes. “I got a package in the mail, probably a month before he died, and the blueprints were one of the things in there and there were badges and some odds and ends of different things from the Star Treks he worked on.” The blueprints to Desilu Sound Stage 9, where the permanent sets for the series were constructed in the Sixties, along with costume patterns were more than a gift—they were a summons. Cawley wanted to make fan films based on Gene Roddenberry’s now-classic science-fiction series. However, he

(ABOVE LEFT) While the overhead displays are computer-generated loops, the remainder of the Bridge is an almost-exact replica of the 1966 set. (INSET) What was once a grocery store is now a portal to the days of Hollywood past. RetroFan

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RETRO TRAVEL

Engineering is a two-story affair with pulsing lights to suggest the ship is in flight. The forced perspective makes you believe the room is larger than it is. (BELOW) Captain Robert Greenberger.

novelists came for a weekend, the second visit including breakout sessions held down the block in Town Hall. (The community is trusting; the crew was given a key and unfettered access.) The local businesses have embraced the costumed fans with several posting themed special meals or hanging autographed pictures from the various celebrities who appeared at the sets and dined in their establishments. It’s a small town center, a few blocks long with far too many vacant storefronts. “I think originally they didn’t know what to make of it,” Cawley admits. “And

STAR TREK SET TOUR 112 Montcalm Street, Ticonderoga, NY 12883 Open April through mid-December 7 days a week, with the exception of Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day Sunday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Last tour starts at 5:00 p.m. 518-369-9967 www.startrektour.com/ startrek.tos.tour@gmail.com Admission: Adult: (Ages 14–54) $22.50, Senior: $20.00 (Age 55+), Child: $11.00 (Ages 5–13), Child: Free, Under Age 5: No ticket required

RetroFan

Spring 2019

then we got the license and we opened the door and they see the people coming into town and not just going here but going to restaurants, staying in a motel. Motorcycles come into town and people spend money. So people that love Star Trek are coming into town dancing, [and locals] realize it is just another passion, another hobby.” A newly formed Ticonderoga Revitalization Alliance presented Cawley with a 20-year loan of $300,000, allowing him to purchase the building and plan for future expansion. At the Star Trek Experience in 2017, Cawley announced the creation of Star Trek Film Academy and followed up with plans to purchase the adjacent building where he could license and recreate the sets to Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Film Academy will be designed as a weeklong immersive course in teaching budding filmmakers how to prep and shoot a film, using the ready-made sets. “We’re going to give you the basic ropes of how to make a Star Trek film or an episode. You’re going to work with Michael Westmore on makeup, Michael and Denise Okuda, Doug Drexler, and Daren Dochterman on props and effects, and we’re working on celebrity guests to come teach directing and to teach acting,” Cawley says. “Ultimately, you’ll be able to walk out at the end of the week with your own Star Trek film. But with changes to some of the techniques, you can make any film. But specifically, we want to show people how Star Trek was made, because that’s our audience. “Then we’ll intercut it with new special effects, and they get to take it home. All of the exterior visual effects stuff is going to be done ahead of time. The shots will be in the episode and will be premade and ready to drop in. You’ll have a fan as a gaffer here, a lighting guy there. We’re going to have a professional cinematographer shooting it, teaching them how to set up a shot, how to film it so that it looks like Trek. “And then, they obviously must be working from a script that is coming from Trek writers. We’ve actually got a couple of writers working on that right now. We have [Trek novelists] Dave Galanter and Dayton Ward writing for us, and we are reaching out to Dorothy Fontana, who’s an old friend, so we’re hoping that Dorothy will be able to pen the longer thing that we want to do in person. It’s going to be fun, because how many of us wanted to be a part of the show?” Anyone wishing to step into the future merely has to take the journey to upstate New York and bring their imagination. James Cawley and his team will do the rest. Photos accompanying this article are courtesy of Bob Greenberger, David Mack, and Dave Galanter.

Writer/editor/educator ROBERT GREENBERGER blogs at bobgreenberger.com.

SUPER COLLECTOR

The Road to HARVEYANA One Collector’s Journey to Find Purpose by Jonathan Sternfeld I have been a collector for as long as I have been able to grasp things in my hands. My earliest collection that I can remember was bottle caps that I found on the street. They used to be plentiful, and I liked their bright colors. This collection ended abruptly when I tried to pick up a cork from a liquor bottle smashed in the gutter. After that it was business cards. From dry cleaners to restaurants, it used to be much more common for businesses to have a card holder near the cash register, and I would try to get cards everywhere my parents took me. One day, while leaving the supermarket, I noticed the rack of gumball machines. While the stale candy was of no interest to me, the little toys inside some of the machines were absolute wonders, treasures beyond compare to my young mind. This was the first change in my collecting habits, from items that were free to items that cost money. And while I made some efforts to get complete sets of some of the toys, I ended up with duplicates of some items while still missing others. At some point I had a small collection of baseball cards. I do not remember asking for them or going shopping for them, and I was never much of a baseball fan. I do remember trading cards

with a neighbor boy. Since I knew little about the teams or players, I probably gave away good cards while getting junk in return. This was the only time in my collecting life that I traded any part of my collections. As I got a little older, we started going on family vacations. I loved touristy gift shops and souvenirs and started collecting postcards. Going to places like Florida and Hawaii, I also started collecting seashells. Most of the shells were ones I picked up for free on the beach, but I do remember buying one basket of shells wrapped in cellophane because the shells in it were interesting and unbroken. The year 1977 saw the release of the movie Star Wars, and I was hooked. I started asking for both the Star Wars Kenner toys and Topps trading cards. While I tried to get one of each of the vehicles, and one or more of the action figures, I considered them toys, not

(ABOVE) An assortment of games featuring Harvey characters. All photos accompanying this article are courtesy of and from the collection of Jonathan Sternfeld. Characters © Universal Studios/DreamWorks Animation. RetroFan

Spring 2019

RetroFan #4