RetroFan #37 by TwoMorrows Publishing

March 2025 No. 37 $10.95

May the Farce be with you!

STAR WARS COPYCATS

They’re the modern Space Age family…

The

Jetsons It’s a far-out foray of

Freaky Frankensteins!

Everything’s Archie, Josie, and the

Saturday Morning Rockers!

The Glam... The Slam... of GLOW! with HOLLYWOOD

Build Your Own Adventure books • Crazy kitchen gadgets • Toymaker Marvin Glass & more! Featuring Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Mark Voger • Michael Eury Battle Beyond the Stars © 1980 Orion Pictures/New World Productions, Inc. The Jetsons © Hanna-Barbera Productions. The Archies © Archie Comics Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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All characters and properties TM & © their respective owners.

Behind a previously unpublished cover, CBC #40 celebrates the life and art of the great DAVE STEVENS in a special double-sized issue completely devoted to the late artist! For this deluxe issue, friends, fans, and family share testimonials, photos, and fascinating artifacts, plus a gallery of amazing artwork by the Rocketeer creator, some never before seen. There’s also three interviews with Dave conducted by CBC editor JON B. COOKE, two Q+A’s with Dave by guest associate editor STEVEN C. RINGGENBERG, and JEFF GELB’s conversation with the artist recorded during the making of The Rocketeer motion picture. Dave’s sister JENNIFER BAWCUM shares about her brother in an exclusive chat, and we also interview some of Dave’s closest friends, including MICHAEL W. KALUTA, about their memories of the man. Plus: a conversation with KELVIN MAO, the director of the 2022 film documentary, Dave Stevens: Drawn To Perfection, about making the movie and its recent success on streaming services, which has resulted in an entirely new generation of Dave Stevens fans. And, of course, no such tribute would be complete without a heartfelt salute to America’s sweetheart BETTIE PAGE!

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LEN WEIN’s life as writer/editor from creating Swamp Thing and Wolverine, to MOORE and GIBBONS’ Watchmen, and more! Plus the sad demise of WILL EISNER’s P*S Army Preventive Maintenance magazine, interview with romance and pin-up artist JAY SCOTT PIKE, more of STEVE WILLIS, and SHAUN CLANCY reveals the saga of ADRIAN LOPEZ’s Harpoon/Apple Pie humor mags! FRANK CHO cover!

PAT BRODERICK discusses his career, from the Crusty Bunkers to unforgettable work on Firestorm, Micronauts, Captain Marvel, and more! Plus JACK KIRBY’s humiliating return to Marvel in the ’70s, the 1940s KKK-crushing district attorney FIGHTING LAWYER, profile of PAUL BUHLE, SHARY FLENNIKEN interview, 1972 heroes by WRIGHTSON, REESE, WINDSOR-SMITH, and others for Esquire magazine, and more!

Informative conversation with “Big” JOHN BUSCEMA and a biographical essay about the Marvel legend by JON B. COOKE, including an awesome art gallery. Plus we share about the life and tragic fate of BILL MANTLO (co-creator of Rocket Raccoon and Cloak and Dagger), inside comics printer Eastern Color Printing by SHAUN CLANCY, more with SHARY FLENNIKEN, chat with RIC ESTRADA, and more!

CARMINE INFANTINO radio interview by KEN GALE and ED MENJE, JON B. COOKE on Carmine’s stint as DC editorial director/ publisher, ROBERT KANIGHER’s 1989 conversation with STEVE WHITAKER and TIM BATEMAN, World War 3 Illustrated with PETER KUPER and SETH TOBOCMAN, DAVE COCKRUM’s Aurora model kit pamphlets, GLEN CADIGAN’s interview with horror comics writer JOE HILL, and more!

GENE COLAN showcase with TOM FIELD, Gene’s 75th birthday celebration from Comic-Con 2001, MARK WHEATLEY spotlights former boss MYRON FASS’ Heavy Metal rip-off GASM, JON B. COOKE’s visit to defunct comics publisher CROSSGEN, CAROL LAY interview, more with JOE HILL, SHAUN CLANCY’s look at HILLMAN PERIODICALS (publisher of Crime Does Not Pay and Airboy), HEMBECK, and more!

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The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

Issue #37 March 2025

Columns and Special Features

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon The Jetsons

Voger’s Vault of Vintage Varieties Freaky Frankensteins

Retro Sci-Fi Star Wars Copycats

Retro Reading Choose Your Own Adventure Books

Retro Sports Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and Hollywood

Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum Amazing! Incredible! Unbelievable! Kitchen Gadgets

Departments

Retrotorial

Too Much TV Quiz Brady Bunch guest characters

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Fictonal Rock Bands

RetroFad By Jim Beard

RetroFanmail

Oddball World of Scott Shaw! Marvin Glass, Troubled King of Toys!

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RetroFan™ issue 37, March 2025 (ISSN 2576-7224) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RetroFan, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Ed Catto, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Michael Eury, Editor Emeritus. Editorial Office: RetroFan, c/o Ed Catto, Editor, 304 N. Hoopes Ave., Auburn, NY 13021. Email: retroed@twomorrows.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $76 Economy US, $117 International, $29 Digital Only. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. The Jetsons © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Battle Beyond the Stars © 1980 Orion Pictures/New World Productions, Inc. The Archies © Archie Comics Publications. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2025 Ed Catto and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BY ED CATTO

Ed Catto

PUBLISHER John Morrow

CONTRIBUTORS Jim Beard Jon B. Cooke Michael Eury Robert Jeschonek Andy Mangels Will Murray Scott Saavedra Scott Shaw! Mark Voger

DESIGNER Scott Saavedra

ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR Tommy Zieger

PROOFREADER Eric Nolen-Weathington

SPECIAL THANKS Jeanne “Hollywood” Basone Kathe Catto

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions! C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at

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Geez, that’s a tough act to follow. Hi! I’m the new sheriff in town. My name is Ed Catto and I’m thrilled to be the new editor-in-chief of RetroFan. I’m not thrilled, however, to be following in the footsteps of my great pal, Michael Eury. He, along with his many collaborators, established and built RetroFan and Back Issue Magazine. He did it all with grace, panache, and made it all seem easy. (I’ve already learned it’s not!) Like all of you, I still miss seeing Michael’s thumbprints on this one. Being the kind of guy he is, we’ve installed a blinking red Hotline phone between our two offices so I can call on him as needed. So don’t worry. I’ve been in this retro mindset for some time. A number of years ago, my business partner and I relaunched the beloved ’60s toy—the world’s first super-hero action figure—Captain Action. This toy was, for me, one of the best birthday presents ever. Our idea was to honor the original efforts, be respectful of the nostalgia, but build something new. And in many ways, we’ve been doing just that. When it came time to put a title on the business cards, I could have used something like “Founding Partner” or “Co-CEO”, but instead I named myself a retropreneur. I admit it, this is one of those clever-but-annoying made-up words that summed up my ongoing efforts in helping Captain Action ensure “Justice is Done”. And through our Captain Action efforts, I met Michael, as he was one of the leading authorities on the figure’s history and background. That led to Michael inviting me to write for Back Issue magazine, and to this eventual handoff of the editorial reins to RetroFan. I love nostalgia and I love to read, but I think that RetroFan is more than that. The magical thing about this magazine, I feel, is the way it allows fans to re-engage with properties, trends, and events that they loved with fresh new eyes. It’s more than just watching an episode of a favorite TV show— it’s to better understand the hopes and dreams of the creators behind it. It’s learning about the ups and downs of these efforts that have become immortalized as classics. RetroFan is about discovery. It’s about discovering new topics that you might not have been exposed to before. Topics that may be right up your alley, with articles written and researched by passionate, professional writers. It’s a big tent that RetroFan pitches. There’s so NEXT ISSUE much to include, so much to re-view and so much to learn. There’s a wide-open vista just waiting for all of us—to research and to celebrate! I’m so glad you’re along for the ride and I am eager to keep looking ahead as we look to the past. One last thing: drop me a line and let me know what you want from RetroFan. Back in my advertising and marketing days, we were all about understanding what the customer wanted. That’s baked into the way I work, and I want to hear from you. Email me anytime, or all the time. I’m at RetroEd@twomorrows. com. We’ve got a great issue for you this month and some amazing articles coming up in the months to come. So glad you are along for the ride.

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RETROFAN

March 2025

Looking forward, Retro-Ed Catto

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

Meet the Jetsons The Jetsons crowd into the family’s flying car in this promotional cel circa 1980s. © Warner Bros. Entertainment. Courtesy of Heritage.

BY WILL MURRAY More than sixty years ago, a futuristic cartoon predicted Zoom calls, flat-screen TVs, telemedicine, remote office work, online classes, FaceTime, household cleaning robots and a host of other innovations that didn’t materialize until well into the 21st-century. That show was ABC’s The Jetsons, and it was the second Hanna-Barbera Productions cartoon to be telecast in prime time. The Flintstones had debuted two years before as the first ever animated sitcom, and was a solid hit for ABC. Joe Barbera recalled, “Somebody said, ‘What’s next?’ And we went from the rock era into the future.” “It was very simple,” explained partner Bill Hanna. “We just thought, “Let’s do the flip side of The Flintstones and go into the future.” The Jetsons premiered Sunday night, September 23, 1962, in the 7:30 time-slot. One of the staff artists who worked on the project, Iwao Takamoto, remembered how it all began: “One day Joe called a group of us in and said, ‘There’s going to be a new series about a family in the future,’ and that was the beginning of The Jetsons. It was to be similar to The Flintstones in the respect that the episodes were built on gimmickry and gags, only this time the gags are all futuristic spoofs on everyday life instead of stoneage ones.”

The Flintstones was consciously modeled after Jackie Gleason’s Honeymooners sitcom, which was then out of production. Hanna-Barbera took their inspiration for The Jetsons from an entirely different medium.

INSPIRED BY BLONDIE

“The inspiration for this show was the old Blondie movie series,” revealed Takamoto, “which also had a husband dealing with both his family at home and a demanding boss at work. Whereas the stories in The Flintstones were often driven by Fred’s bombastic over-enthusiasm about one thing or another, The Jetsons was structured in a more farcical way, with misunderstandings between the characters often driving the plots.” No question that The Jetsons borrowed the template originated by artist Chic Young in his long-lived comic strip, Blondie. George Jetson was Dagwood Bumstead, and his wife Jane stood in for Blondie. The futuristic couple had two children, a young boy named Elroy and a daughter, Janet. The Bumsteads had Alexander and Cookie. George was often at odds with his boss, Cosmo G. Spacely of Spacely Space Sprockets, just as Dagwood struggled to please his boss, Mr. Dithers. Blondie, the vintage movie series, served as the inspiration for The Jetsons. © King Features Syndicate, Inc. RETROFAN

March 2025

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

(ABOVE) Hey, whatever happened to “Work from Home”? The morning commute of the future! (RIGHT) Jane Jetson prepares dinner with the Jetson’s Foodarackacycle in this publicity cell. © Warner Bros. Entertainment.

(ABOVE) The flying car was routinely dreamed about in pop culture. This from Arthur Radebaugh’s Closer Than We Think Atomic Age comic strip published April 6, 1958. © Chicago Tribune.

“Although we’ll be loaded with gags,” Barbera promised 1962 viewers, “these are basically warm stories about a family. We promise them no two-headed monsters, no violence, just an honest glimpse of what lies ahead mixed with humor and fantasy. Each week it will be a member of the family who finds himself in the starring role. Even Astro has his own starring segments.”

Joe Barbera cited the labor-saving miracle of the electric dishwasher as an example of how technology spoils people. “But now nobody wants to have it start or put the clean dishes away,” he observed. “In 100 years even if housekeeping is nothing but button pushing, women will want someone else to push the buttons.” STILL MAN’S BEST FRIEND George drove a flying saucer-style Astro was the family dog, voiced by Don Messick, who later aerocar, which didn’t require a parking became the actor behind the even more famous H-B cartoon dog, space. Instead, it collapses into a briefcase. Scooby-Doo. Astro was introduced in the fifth episode when Elroy Sight-gags like that were integral to The brought the stray canine home. Jetsons’ projection of future society. “He was evolved enough in rover intellect to actually “It wasn’t that brilliant really,” allowed communicate in English with his owners, despite his inescapable Barbera, “but we used a lot of gimmicks and (ABOVE) 1975: And the Changes to Come gadgets, and it worked.” by Arnold N. Barach was orginally As he remembered it, the first thing published by Harper and Row in 1962. Barbera did as conceptual artist was to (RIGHT) “Ruh-roh, Reorge!” Astro is visualize the America of 2062. “What I did the dog of the future. © Warner Bros. was I created living quarters that were based Entertainment. actually on the remnants of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Circular buildings up on a staff. So I converted those to apartments with hydraulic lifts. In case the smog was up there, you’d just lift the apartment above it. So what I was doing was looking into the future.“ The world of The Jetsons was also modeled on the futuristic Googie architecture that sprang up in Southern California after World War II. Futurist Arnold N. Barach’s 1962 book, 1975: And the Changes to Come, was another huge influence. It depicted the kinds of household appliances and other inventions expected to be common in that decade yet to come. But The Jetsons was not centered around gadgets, although there were plenty of those. It was the characters who drove the animated sitcom. 6

RETROFAN

March 2025

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

(LEFT) The hardest working family member: Rosie the Robot. (BELOW) Rosie the robot sketches from 1962. © Warner

tendency to begin every word with the letter “r”—“Rots of ruck!” explained Bill Hanna. Messick once observed, “Both Scooby and Astro have these gravelly, what I call ‘dog-produced voices.’ But they’re different. Astro has a voice in the mid-range, whereas Scooby’s voice comes from a little deeper down. Joe Barbera envisioned both Astro and then later Scooby as not being too articulate. It wasn’t really my decision to make.”

YOU JUST CAN’T GET GOOD HELP

The premiere episode, “Rosie the Robot,” introduced the Jetson’s rotund robot maid, who was described at the time as “an old demonstrator model named Rosie, who has one foot in the junkyard.” But Rosie is also “very warm, efficient and aggressive—a sort of mechanical Hazel.” Hazel was the lead in the popular 1961–66 sitcom of that name, starring Shirley Booth as a bossy household maid, and was based on Ted Key’s long-running Saturday Evening Post panel cartoon. Jean Vander Pyl, who did her voice, created Rosie’s pushy personality. “I really had to rack my brain for Rosie. I thought and I thought. Then, it came to me. I said, “Wait a minute… Hazel.’ This was the gal. She was older and a bit intimate with the boss, she told folks off, but she wasn’t too bad about it. That’s perfect for Rosie. That’s where I got the idea for ‘OK, Mr. J. Never fear when Rosie’s here.’ They liked it and went with it.” Vander Pyl recalled that she had played several minor Jetsons roles before receiving the “Rosie the Robot” script, indicating that it was not the first episode filmed. Despite her prominence in Jetsons lore, Rosie appeared in only two original episodes. “I don’t think anyone expected Rosie to go as far as she did,” Vander Pyl reminisced. “Rosie was born in 1962. I had worked on The Jetsons several times before she was introduced. The Jetsons went to a robot store to hire a maid. All the robots were paraded out in front of Jane, for her to select from. Rosie was not old and broken down, but she was not the new French model.” Elroy Jetson may have sounded like a boy, but Daws Butler contorted his adult voice to bring him to life. “Everybody always assumed Elroy was really a kid,” he remembered. “For me, it’s like self-hypnosis. You must convince yourself you’re nine years old again; let it go through your whole body.”

THE EVOLUTION OF HANNA-BARBERA

The Jetsons was an important evolutionary step for Hanna-Barbera, which had started producing Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons during the pre-television era. Their early TV efforts continued in the same vein with anthropomorphic cartoon animals. But while Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear were popular with kids, the company had to think outside that juvenile talking-animal cartoon box if it wanted a place in prime time. “As we discovered in The Flintstones,” reflected Barbera, “the man must be humorous, but the woman (even in a cartoon) must be human.” “The important thing is that its characters are human, i.e. not animals, and that the program has an appeal to the whole family,” echoed Hanna. “This is what we have to do today,” Barbera admitted frankly. “We can’t make a cat and mouse cartoon today. There’s nothing new to do.”

Bros. Entertainment.

This thinking led to the more realistic Jonny Quest the next TV season and a host of super-hero shows like The Fantastic Four, Space Ghost and The Herculoids in the years that followed. The partners had developed a system that enabled them to manage the grueling schedule of producing 25-minute weekly cartoon shows. “What I would do is concentrate on getting the material and recording,” revealed Joe Barbera. “And Bill would concentrate on getting the work done in production and give it to the animators, and check the layouts and the timing. Thank goodness, because the system worked.” Barbera also cast the shows and directed the episodes.

THE FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT

Although declining ratings are often cited for the cancellation of The Jetsons after one season, the reason for that decline is an ironic one. The 1962–63 season was the first one in which the Flintstones and the new Jetsons show were telecast in color.

The Jetsons paved the way for another family in the future: The Herculoids. © Warner Bros. Entertainment

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Interviews with Lost in Space’s ANGELA CARTWRIGHT and BILL MUMY, and Land of the Lost’s WESLEY EURE! Revisit Leave It to Beaver with JERRY MATHERS, TONY DOW, and KEN OSMOND! Plus: UNDERDOG, Rankin-Bass’ stop-motion classic THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, Christmas gifts you didn’t want, the CABBAGE PATCH KIDS fad, and more! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview! Celebrate Rambo’s 50th birthday with his creator, novelist DAVID MORRELL! Plus: TV faves WKRP IN CINCINNATI and SPACE: 1999, Fleisher’s and Filmation’s SUPERMAN cartoons, commercial jingles, JERRY LEWIS and BOB HOPE comic books, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The saga of Saturday morning’s Super Friends, Part One! Plus: A history of MR. T, TV’s AVENGERS (Steed and Mrs. Peel), Daktari’s CHERYL MILLER, Mexican movie monsters, John and Yoko’s nation of Nutopia, ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (the actress who almost played Emma Peel), and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, & MICHAEL EURY.

Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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The BRITISH INVASION of the Sixties, interview with Bond Girl TRINA PARKS, The Mighty Hercules, Horror Hostess MOONA LISA, World’s Greatest Super Friends, TV Guide Fall Previews, the Frito Bandito, a Popeye Super Collector, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The story behind BOB CLAMPETT’s Beany & Cecil, western queen DALE EVANS, an interview with Mr. Ed’s ALAN YOUNG, Miami Vice, The Sixties’ Wackiest Robots, Muscle-Maker CHARLES ATLAS, Super Powers Team—Galactic Guardians, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster Super-Heroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Magic memories of ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY for the 60th Anniversary of TV’s Bewitched! Plus: The ’70s thriller Time After Time (with NICHOLAS MEYER, MALCOLM McDOWELL, and DAVID WARNER), The Alvin Show, BUFFALO BOB SMITH and Howdy Doody, Peter Gunn, Saturday morning’s Run Joe Run and Big John Little John, a trip to Camp Crystal Lake, and more fun, fab features!

Featuring a profile of The Partridge Family’s heartthrob DAVID CASSIDY, THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN, LEGO blocks, Who Created Mighty Mouse?, BUCKAROO BANZAI turns forty, Planet Patrol, an encounter with SONNY AND CHER, Disco Fever, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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Meet the Bionic Duo, LEE MAJORS and LINDSAY WAGNER! Plus: Hot Wheels: The Early Years, Fantastic Four cartoons, Modesty Blaise, Hostess snacks, TV Westerns, Movie Icons vs. the Axis Powers, the San Diego Chicken, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Take a ride with CHiPs’ ERIK ESTRADA and LARRY WILCOX! Plus: an interview with movie Hercules STEVE REEVES, WeirdOhs cartoonist BILL CAMPBELL, Plastic Man on Saturday mornings, TINY TIM, Remo Williams, the search for a Disney artist, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Saturday morning super-hero Space Ghost, plus The Beatles, The Jackson 5ive, and other real rockers in animation! Also: The Addams Family’s JOHN ASTIN, Mighty Isis co-stars JOANNA PANG and BRIAN CUTLER, TV’s The Name of the Game, on the set of Evil Dead II, classic coffee ads, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

Feel the G-Force of Eighties sci-fi toon BATTLE OF THE PLANETS! Plus: The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.’s STEFANIE POWERS, CHUCK CONNORS, The Oddball World of SCTV, Rankin/Bass’ stop-motion Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, TV’s Greatest Catchphrases, one-season TV shows, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

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VOGER’S VAULT OF VINTAGE VARIETIES

Freaky

Collage: Mark Voger.

Forgive them, Mary Shelley, for taking your creation’s name in vain

BY MARK VOGER In the Frankenstein films of the Thirties and Forties, there was much talk of the “Frankenstein family name”—how it was disgraced by the murderous monster, not to mention malicious gossipers and torch-wielding villagers. But the true cause of Frankenstein’s fall from grace is the fact that Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel fell into the public domain. As a result, there have been many Frankenstein movies wherein the family name is exploited, if not downright disrespected.

Much as we revere Universal Studios’ canon, the series was the first to commit this crime against classic literature. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man? Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein? Admit it: Universal took liberties. Subsequent film titles got even crazier, though they are catnip to shlock aficionados. Yes, there’s a movie titled Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter. Yes, there’s a Frankenstein Island. These have little to do with Shelley’s novel, even as they depict (alleged) descendants of her antihero Victor Frankenstein. My Top 10 picks for the freakiest Frankenstein movies follow, plus a “dishonorable mention” list. So, tighten up those neck bolts ...

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

Whit Bissell as Professor Frankenstein—a first name is never given—is the real monster in this quickie follow-up to AIP’s surprise hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf. He slaps and emotionally abuses his fiancé (Phyllis Coates). He coerces a colleague (Robert Burton) into becoming an unwilling accomplice in his mad experiments. He imprisons his creation, a weirdly buff teen monster (Gary Conway), in a darkened morgue. Gary Conway in monster mode gets rough with Angela Austin in I Was a Teenage Frankenstein. © American International Pictures.

RETROFAN

March 2025

Voger’s vault of vintage varieties

“It’s immortal,” he tells Kawai (Yoshio Tsuchiya), the young naval officer who has delivered the locker. Indeed, the heart is still beating. Explains the scientist: “The heart is a living thing. I can learn from its cellular structure, whether wartime or peace. Illness or injury, we would be able to help everyone.” He adds that by studying Frankenstein’s heart, he hopes to learn how to grow body parts and organs for transplanting—a crackpot idea in the Forties. Later, as the scientist begins work on this experiment, a title card tells us the date: Aug. 6, 1945. We see a plane (presumably The Enola Gay) and hear sirens. Then comes the big flash, followed by fireballs and a mushroom cloud. Hiroshima has been decimated by an atomic bomb. Flash-forward to 1960. In the Hiroshima International Institute of Radiotherapentics—as the sign at the building informs us—we see American doctor James Bowen (Adams) interacting with patients and staff. A dying girl whose parents were killed by radiation from the bomb has made an embroidered pillow for James as a thank-you. “The story of Hiroshima is tragic,” James tells his Japanese co-workers. “But it has given us a new opportunity to study the cellular tissue of the body. It’s ironic, but science progresses this way. We’ve got to work on turning that tragedy into hope for the future.” James and his work crush Sueko (Kumi Mizuno) have a romantic dinner at her place, wearing kimonos, no less. They spot a wild vagrant boy (Koji Furuhat) who has been eating local pets. The boy is later captured and studied, and it is learned that he grew up alone in an area of high radiation—in fact, near the destroyed laboratory at which Frankenstein’s heart was last seen. While in captivity, the boy grows increasingly larger. He also develops a flat-top and protruding brow like Karloff wore in the 1931 Frankenstein. Hmmm ... James makes a confession to his sort-of girlfriend: “Sueko, I was one of the people involved with the A-bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. That’s why I came here. I wanted to devote my life to rehabilitating mankind, not destroying it.” (So, this means James worked for the Manhattan Project under J. Robert Oppenheimer.) Why is the boy becoming a giant? Why is he looking more and more like the original Frankenstein? Could it have something to do with the fact that he found and ate Frankenstein’s heart? And how weird is it that Frankenstein Conquers the World is only the third Japanese 20

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(TOP) A wayward boy (Koji Furuhata), who has become a Frankenstein-like giant due to atomic radiation, fights the monster Baragon in Frankenstein Conquers the World. (CENTER LEFT) Sueko (Kumi Mizuno) is menaced by a boy (Koji Furuhata) who has been slowly evolving into a Frankenstein-like creature in Frankenstein Conquers the World. © Toho Co., Ltd. (CENTER RIGHT) Famous Monsters of Filmland #39 (1966), with its cover painting by Vic Prezio, is surely the only cover story about Frankenstein Conquers the World in American publishing history. © Warren Publishing. (LEFT) Frankenstein Conquers the World—also known as Frankenstein vs. Baragon. © Amazon MGM Studios.

Voger’s vault of vintage varieties

(TOP LEFT) Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell) and Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) are Martian leaders in Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965). (TOP RIGHT) The space monster itself. (LEFT) An advertisement promises protection from being abducted into outer space. (RIGHT) Scientist Karen Grant (Nancy Marshall) tries to help an astronaut-turned-“Frankenstein”-monster (Robert Reilly). © Allied Artists Pictures.

movie to depict the bombing of Hiroshima? (The previous films are 1952’s Children of Hiroshima and 1953’s Hiroshima.) You’d think such a movie would be accused of trivializing the tragedy of Hiroshima by exploiting it as a plot device. But has FCTW ever been called out for this? I’ve never found a murmur of criticism. In my heart of hearts, I believe it’s because the movie came from Japanese filmmakers who were earnestly addressing an unthinkable real-life tragedy, which they disguised as a childfriendly monster story.

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER (1965)

“We have here, for all practical purposes, a normal human being created out of normal parts transplanted, except for his synthetic skin and the electronic sensory control system, of course.” No, those aren’t the words of Dr. Frankenstein.

Rather, it’s scientist Adam Steele (James Karen) describing astronaut Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly), who only a select few NASA insiders know is part-man, part-machine. Frank is poised to become the first Earthling to walk on Mars—that is, until his rocket is shot down by Martians who are in desperate need of “good breeding stock.” Frank becomes “Frankenstein” when one of the Martians blasts him with a ray gun, turning half his face into a Stouffer’s Lasagne. Adam warns that Frank may become violent as a result. “What you’re saying is, he could turn into a Frankenstein!” exclaims Karen (Nancy Marshall), Adam’s fellow scientist. And that’s all the connection to Mary Shelley’s novel that you’re going to squeeze out of this movie. Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster is low-budget sci-fi, without question, but it is savvy low-budget sci-fi. It rarely bores. It integrates visuals with sound design. It has two songs produced by legendary hitmaker Bob Crewe. (Both are heard twice each.) RETROFAN

March 2025

retro Sci-fi

Spacehunter’s Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald as they adventure in the Forbidden Zone. RetroEd took a date to this movie. It clearly wasn’t a good date movie. © Sony. Needless to say, the dynamite concept and resulting film were all in on making the most of the 3-D effects. And Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone did not deliver on Columbia’s high hopes to horn in on George Lucas’s turf.

YOU GOT FANTASY IN MY SPACE OPERA

With so many failed clones in the rearview mirror, Hollywood continued to seek new twists to enliven their Star Wars copycats. Such was the root of Krull, another post-Return of the Jedi release with a twist. This time, the creators decided to lean into epic fantasy as a way to freshen the space opera genre. The result, according to Variety, was a “hodgepodge of Excalibur meets Star Wars.” Sounds like it might just work, doesn’t it? Especially with accomplished British director Peter Yates at the helm, a score by James Horner, a fat budget, and the marketing might of Columbia Pictures (hedging their bets by releasing Krull just two months after Spacehunter). But then audiences found themselves spending two hours on the dull, distant planet of Krull, and the not-so-magic spell was broken faster than the movie’s trademark “Glaive” throwing star weapon could chop the braids off horny Kegan (played by Liam Neeson, who ironically went on to play Qui-Gon Jinn in an actual Star Wars movie, Episode I – The Phantom Menace). The fantasy and sci-fi elements just didn’t gel in a crowdpleasing way. Like so many other copycat efforts of the era, it couldn’t hold a lightsaber to the Star Wars franchise. Though there are those who might argue that even the Star Wars franchise itself couldn’t do that, at least when it came to the prequels.

“LUKE, I AM YOUR COPYCAT”

In the decades since the release of the original Star Wars trilogy, the tide of space opera and sci-fi films and TV shows has continued to rise, not always with spectacular results. 34

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Liam Neeson in Krull. © Sony Pictures

Even films guided by George Lucas himself—the Star Wars prequel trilogy, for example, starting in 1999—have suffered by comparison with the original films. In a way, Episodes I–III—and the sequel trilogy of Episodes VII–IX—were the ultimate copycats, trying to recapture the magic of Star Wars from within the same cinematic universe. But perhaps that magic has been best realized elsewhere, in big-budget, trailblazing films like Blade Runner, Aliens, Avatar, and Dune Parts 1 and 2… movies that might not have happened when they did without the widespread interest in science fiction spurred by the original Star Wars trilogy. We still have that trilogy to thank—along with some of the not-so-great copycats from Corman, De Laurentiis, and the rest— for giving us visions of worlds beyond our own and futures filled with excitement, hope, and laughter. Not all of it intentional. ROBERT JESCHONEK is an envelopepushing, USA Today bestselling author whose articles, fiction, and comics have been published around the world. He has written official Star Trek, Doctor Who, Captain Midnight, and Green Hornet fiction and has scripted comics for DC, AHOY, and others. His stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Pulphouse, Black Cat Weekly, and many other publications. His slipstream novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth. He won an International Book Award, a Scribe Award for Best Original Novel, and the grand prize in Pocket Books’ Strange New Worlds contest. Visit him online at www.bobscribe.com.

RETRO READING

“As contagious as chicken pox.” That’s how New York Times correspondent Aljean Harmetz described a paperback book series she observed her daughter becoming obsessed with reading at the time—the time being the early 1980s and the series, Choose Your Own Adventure. In the years that followed, CYOA would become jaw-droppingly popular among eight- to 13-year-olds. It proved to become a children’s book phenomenon of epic proportions—is it a game? Is it a book? Is it a… gamebook? Put simply, the CYOA franchise totally blew the freakin’ minds of young readers, mainly Gen X middle-schoolers who feverishly bought copies during the late ’70s and through the ’80s in droves. In that dawning age of Atari and Nintendo, the real miracle of CYOA was to divert, however fleetingly, the collective attention span of kids away from the allure of video games and to get girls and boys to read actual books. And, in retrospect, the CYOA publishing legacy is nothing less than staggering. CYOA was the fourth most successful kids book series of all time, which, by the

end of the 20th Century, would sell 250 Can you find the million copies worldwide. Between 1979 unicorn? An amazand 1998, those millions, more than a few ing array of Choose translated into as many as 40 languages, Your Own Advenincluded 184 different titles in the primary ture covers. series published in paperback by Bantam— © Chooseco LLC. not to mention (take a breath) 52 volumes in the Bantam Skylark CYOA series for readers 7–10; 12 CYOA Walt Disney books; a pair of Choose Your Own Super Adventures; six CYOA: Passport; and, perhaps inspired by the ’90s Goosebumps craze, 18 Choose Your Own Nightmare selections. There were also 18 Young Indiana Jones tie-ins; three Star Wars versions; a six-volume science fiction spin-off called Space Hawks; and even a kiddie series under the umbrella title, Choose Your Own First Adventure.1

1 Those listed here reflect only the Bantam catalog’s original CYOA trademarked series and their spin-offs, and none from subsequent publishers.

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retro Reading

More recent editions of CYOA books. (LEFT) Secret of the Ninja and (CENTER) The Magic of the Unicorn. (RIGHT) The story map of The Magic of the Unicorn gives a bit of a peek at the choices ahead. © Chooseco LLC. balloons. It was formatted as a mass market-size paperback, and it was an interactive game within a book. “The promotion for the series described it as a video game in a book. Those books were a tougher sell, because at that time, around 1982, teachers and librarians were still reluctant to embrace comic books. I think that Byron broke that barrier in so many ways and paved the way for the acceptance of graphic novels in schools and libraries… I worked with him because of my experience with Choose Your Own Adventure.” She added, “We also worked together on the Time Machine books, which were more like CYOA, but historically accurate. Byron and I had a similar need for things to be accurate, true, and real.” Though Bantam’s CYOA line came to an end in 1998, the concept lives on in the book world and beyond, as we see CYOA’s innovations manifested in other forms, as well, including as inspiration for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, a movie whose storyline is so clearly swiped from CYOA that Netflix was compelled to settle out of court with CYOA’s current trademark holder. Why exactly the once-raging CYOA fever broke is up for speculation, but, by the ’90s, Gen Xers moved

Note: This writer acknowledges his deep gratitude for the able and expert assist of editor extraordinaire Judy Gitenstein in the fine-tuning of this piece.

You did it! You found the sword of destiny! Now turn to page 86.

JON B. COOKE is an editor, designer, writer, and the founder of Comic Book Creator from TwoMorrows Publishing.

RETROFAN

over to find a similar empowering experience in interactive digital gaming. And, as demand started to cool, Gitenstein herself would move on. “I passed the baton after editing 22 of the CYOA books. I moved to another publisher, wrote one of the books during that time—Summer Camp, #18 of the Skylark Choose Your Own Adventure titles—and then moved back to Bantam as editorial director of the young readers department. I didn’t actively edit the series after that, but I was there to help those who were. “In 1992, I left Bantam to go freelance, and Choose Your Own Adventure continued to be my ticket for many years, as consultant and for credibility.” And Gitenstein would grow to recognize CYOA, an iconic series she had helped shepherd through its golden age—an important and beloved cultural artifact vividly recalled by an entire generation—would be embraced as lovingly by the next one. “I was at a tech and marketing conference one year, clearly the oldest person in the room,” she confided. “The conference was small enough to allow each person to introduce themself. When it was my turn to speak, everyone started fidgeting. What could I, so much older, share that would be of value? That’s what they wondered, not what I wondered. I began with, ‘Chances are I edited some of the books you read when you were younger, like Choose Your Own Adventure.’ At that moment I became the wise elder of the conference. Nowadays, I use that intro quite a lot.”

March 2025

ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

Fake It

(LEFT) Please, Christmas, don’t be late! Alvin and the Chipmunks sing “The Christmas Song.” (BELOW) The proto-Alvin album: The Witch Doctor! © Bagdasarian Productions.

Till You Make It Fictional

Rock Bands

fabricated musical groups, who appeared in animation and live action, as studios and networks tried to grasp the tenuous ages when kids became tweens became teens. Our story will take us from 1960 to 1988, and will attempt to be a comprehensive look… although I will no doubt miss someone’s favorite!

THE NUTTY SQUIRRELS VS. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (1960/1961)

BY ANDY MANGELS WELCOME BACK TO Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning, your constant guide to the 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! This issue, gimme a beat, as we’re taking a look and listen to the rock-and-roll world of Saturday mornings, with the fictional bands that used to dazzle you with their catchy songs and repetitive dance moves! Two issues ago, I took a rare issue off, and Mark Arnold gave readers a look at the “real world” musicians who had made it onto Saturday morning. But this time, we’ll search instead for the first

In the world of music, novelty records were an interesting and unusual way to sell records; similar today to short Tik-Toks or joke memes. One of the most unusual of these came about due to a method that all kids with record players knew. Records rotated at 33 1/3 rpm (rotations per minute), but singles rotated at 78 rpm. If one played a regular record at 78 rpm, the voices were sped up and sounded silly and high-pitched. Armenian-American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor Ross Bagdasarian (known onstage as David Seville) used this sped-up effect in 1958 on a novelty song called “Witch Doctor,” which hit #1 on the charts. Bagdasarian was inspired to do more in the format, and created a trio called The Chipmunks, naming them Simon, Theodore, and Alvin after the three record producers who managed him at Liberty Records. His first song with them was “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late),” released in November 1958. It hit the #1 spot by New Year’s Day. More Chipmunk songs followed, as well as toys and plans for an animated television series. A rival for The Chipmunks was soon created by jazz musicians Don Elliott and Granville Alexander “Sascha” Burland, who titled their virtual band The Nutty Squirrels. They began releasing music that was similar to The Chipmunks, but had more scat singing and RETROFAN

March 2025

andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

(LEFT) Dig it, Daddy-O! The Nutty Squirrels on vinyl. © Transfilm-Wylde Productions. (BELOW) The Beagles, inspired by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. © DreamWorks Classics/ DreamWorks Animation.

bebop jazz elements. As the Squirrels rose in popularity, a race ensued to see who could get on television first. The Chipmunks were having troubles with their designs, so in September 1960, The Nutty Squirrels Present debuted on syndicated television stations all over the world. Filmed in color, the show was transferred into black-and-white for some countries. Thirty half-hour episodes were created, comprised of 150 six-minute shorts, with Elliott and Burland supplying their voices. Although The Nutty Squirrels Present is the first animated series about a music band, it was not original to animation, nor was the second such series, The Alvin Show, the animated television series featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks that aired on CBS from October 4, 1961, to 1965. Each episode of The Alvin Show featured a sevenminute Chipmunks adventure, a seven-minute Clyde Crashup story, and one or two musical sequences of a Chipmunks song. Broadcast in black-and-white during its first season, The Alvin Show moved to color in 1962, when CBS moved it to Saturday morning broadcast.

(LEFT) This made it tough for their secret identities—the band was also called the Impossibles. (RIGHT) The Impossibles original production cel title card. © Warner Bros. Entertainment 44

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THE BEAGLES AND THE IMPOSSIBLES (1966)

CBS decided to double down on musical cartoons in 1966, introducing two music-based shows to the nascent Saturday morning schedule. The Beagles was produced by Total Television, a company affiliated with the General Mills food corporation. Although the name would imply a Beatles pastiche, the show instead featured a duo inspired by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, rather than a quartet. The Beagles ran for one year on CBS before cancellation; ABC picked it up for reruns from 1967–1968. None of the Beagles’ musical numbers made it to record shops. The second music show on the CBS docket was Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, which included a segment about a trio of super-heroes named The Impossibles—Coil-Man, Fluid-Man, and Multi-Man—who were also as a popular rock-and-roll group when

andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

they weren’t out saving the world. The trio all played guitars from atop a bandstand that could secretly transform into the Impossimobile, the Impossi-jet, and other motorized vehicles! Each of the 18 episodes were only six minutes long, so the music that was played was often very short snippets of five total songs, and did not result in any ancillary records.

THE ARCHIES AND THE BANANA SPLITS (1968)

With their musical appetite whetted, CBS wasn’t about to quit. On September 14, 1968, Saturday morning television was given a seismic jolt when Filmation Studios’ The Archie Show debuted. Adapting the comic characters from Archie Comics Group, the animated series soon became one of the highest-rated TV shows on the air, with its combination of comedy, teenage players, music, and dancing. Not only were the kids from Riverdale obsessed with (ABOVE) Tra la la, la la la la… The Banana Splits! (BELOW) Making up a mess of fun! The Banana Splits #4 from Gold Key, Oct. 1970. © Warner Bros. Entertainment. Courtesy of Heritage.

The Archies are ready to rock! (BELOW) The Archies band were frequently in Archie Comics. © Archie Comic Publications. Comic courtesy of Heritage.

typical teen things, they also were all in a rock band together! Music producer Don Kirshner created the musical sound of The Archies, utilizing singer Ron Dante, backed by Toni Wine. The Archie Show and its fictional band The Archies were soon everywhere—in magazines, comic books, toys, and even on cereal boxes! The Archie Show featured two eight-minute stories, a threeminute musical segment, and other “how to dance” or short joke segments [see a full article on The Archies TV history in our sister magazine Back Issue #108 –Editor]. The musical segment would feature The Archies as a band, singing a pop song. Because that music wasn’t specific to any of the plots, Kirshner and his team could work on their own, independent of the animation or storytelling process. Kirschner had turned The Monkees into a hit,

and now, he was using his magic on a musical super-group that wouldn’t talk back… because they were animated. “When it came to the songs, we’d tell Kirshner what we wanted to do, what the attitude should be, and what kind of stories we were doing, and then he would produce the songs and deliver them to us whole,” Filmation head Lou Scheimer said in interviews for the book Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation [also from our publisher, TwoMorrows –Editor again]. As noted, the show needed three-minute catchy pop songs, as well as brief segments that would teach kids to dance. Scheimer recalled that the music scenes were, “kind of like early music videos. We’d show The Archies playing their guitars and drums and singing, and there would be groovy effects behind them. We also taught a ‘Dance of the Week’ which were some very weird dances put together by a bunch of animators who were not teenagers… and probably not dancers either.” Although it had never been done before, The Archies’ music was planned for public release. Filmation contracted for two years with Kirshner for eight singles and two albums, to be distributed through RCA Records. The first release for record and 8-track cartridge tapes was simply to be called The Archies, and ads for the debut album appeared in TV Guide the same week as the show started on September 14, 1980. Both The Archie Show and The Archies album were monster hits. In a television first, The Archies became the first animated band to be featured on a late-night variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show! While CBS had a surprise hit on their hands, NBC decided to finally arrive at the Saturday morning party, with a HannaBarbera-produced variety series called The Banana Splits. The costumed hosts of the show were Fleegle the beagle (on guitar and RETROFAN

March 2025

THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

MARVIN GLASS Troubled King of Toys!

BY SCOTT SHAW! I’ve been lucky in many ways. One of those gifts—in my experience at least—was to be an “only child.” I didn’t have to compete with anyone but myself, and I was able to focus on my interests. I was a boy cartoonist/paleontologist/weirdo, armed with pencils, crayons, correctly-pronouncing-dinosaur-names, and Disney’s 200,000 Leagues Under the Sea introduced me to science fiction and the concept of world peace when I was three years old. Of course, I was a spoiled rotten kid. So it wasn’t any surprise that when Ideal Toys’ Mr. Machine was released to the world, I was immediately fascinated that he was a toy robot that I could take apart and reassemble. On September 4, 1960, I received him for my ninth birthday, one of the greatest toys I ever owned... until King Zor arrived on the scene. Two years later, my Mr. Machine and all of his parts were still doing fine. King Zor, a massive robot dinosaur would turn 180 degrees if you hit him in the tail, then shoot balls at you. King Zor was the coolest, most aggressive dinosaur toy up to that point in time. I rebuilt my Mr. Machine and added cardboard parts to resemble King Zor. It was a great gimmick for campaigning the message to my parents that I really needed King Zor for Xmas. And here’s a photo to prove that it worked! My nostalgia for these meaningful gifts led to researching their background. Both were produced by Ideal Toys—at the time, one of the industry’s better companies—and created and designed by Marvin Glass and Associates. The studio’s creative output definitely had an influence on my career when I was designing Hanna-Barbera and Simpsons figures for McFarlane Toys. Marvin Glass and company created imaginative toys that made millions of kids happy for decades. Unfortunately, when the man behind the fun was a kid named Marvin I. Goldberg, he was anything but happy. 54

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(ABOVE) King Zor box art. Digitally altered.

(LEFT) Scott Shaw! and his majesty, King Zor. Photo courtesy of Scott Shaw!

To flee the anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia, Marvin’s paternal grandparents and their children—the middle child of six kids was Marvin’s father Louis—joined two million other Jews to flee to America. Arriving in the U.S. sometime between 1894 and 1897, they settled in Chicago, where Louis finished his schooling and focused on the garment industry. There, he met Rose Glass, his future wife and Marvin’s mother. Rose’s family—including her four brothers: Theodore, Jacob, Frances, and Harry—came from what is now

(LEFT) Toy legend Marvin Glass thoughtfully observes a Robot Commando toy robot on the cover of the Chicago Tribune Magazine for November 5, 1961. © Chicago Tribune.

Western Ukraine. Harry eventually developed dementia and was committed to the Chicago State Hospital at the age of thirty-nine. On June 29, 1913, Louis Goldberg and Rose Glass were wed; the next year, on July 14, their son Marvin I. Goldberg was born. Six years later, the family had moved to Bucktown and into a three-story brick apartment. Louis, now a garment salesman, was often on the road for days at a time, leaving Marvin alone with his mother. It’s unknown if or how Rose’s increasingly hostile mental issues were related to her brother Harry, but one thing was certain. One day, when Louis wasn’t at home, Rose attempted to murder her only child by trying to throw him out of an upper-story window. She was committed to the “insane hospital” outside of Chicago, Dunning Institution, where Rose remained for decades. Rose’s sister Frances and her husband Louis Goldberg (no relation) took over the duty of raising Marvin. They lived in the Polish section of the Southside Chicago neighborhood known as the “Back of the Yards,” named for its location, west of the city’s Union Stock Yards. The stench of enormous slaughterhouses; miles of penned hogs, sheep, and cattle; fertilizer plants; rendering vats; garbage dumps accumulated alley trash; a few tanneries; and a fetid sewer known as “Bubbly Creek” made Marvin’s new life not much better than his old one. “Aunt Frances” and “Uncle Louis”, however, truly loved him. In Before AI, there was… Mr. Machine! TM American Classic Toy, Inc. Courtesy of Worthpoint.

reaction, young Marvin was very “unruly,” tossing ink on the drapes, stomping his feet, and having angry tantrums. During this, Marvin’s actual father, Louis Goldberg, continued to live in Chicago, remarrying the same year his son turned ten and bearing a daughter, Sonia, when Marvin was sixteen. Louis’ son reconnected with him and his new family. Eventually, Marvin learned to ignore his situation by obsessing on the fantasy world of entertainment. His hero was the movie star and creative genius Charlie Chaplin, with whom the Chicago youngster greatly identified. They both struggled through troubled childhoods, had mothers with mental problems, and lived in poverty. He was also very interested in hypnotism. By the time he grew to be a pre-teen, Marvin had become an enterprising go-getter, selling encyclopedias at a furious rate. “I didn’t have many toys as a child,” Marvin once said, “and I became very concerned about them. I guess I never stopped thinking about toys. In many ways I’ve remained a child.” As an adult, Marvin avoided sharing information about his life or family with the public. He would alter their names, nationalities, locations, and beliefs, as well as his own history, such as schooling. He’s noted for attending many different colleges and universities, but there is no evidence that he was ever in college. He was so secretive that there is no accurate information regarding what Marvin was doing with his life during most of his twenties. It’s very possible that he was working for his biological father Louis, who by that time was involved with the liquor industry and gambling syndicate. Marvin contradicted himself in interviews so many times that he eventually became known as “The Troubled King of Toys.” Marvin’s earliest semi-professional gig was working with a freelance graphic artist named Carl Sachs, working together on “some sort of paper items,” probably for Louis’ secret partner. Marvin also had an uncle in the art business, Theodore Glass, who had worked at an engraving company in Chicago. He had moved to California, and was also an inspiration to young Marvin. In 1942, while visiting his mother in the sanitarium, Marvin met Judd Reed, a commercial artist working for an advertising company, who was there to see his wife. While the two young men chatted, Judd introduced Marvin to the toy industry. Their chemistry and backgrounds were ideal; Judd was an industrial designer, artist, sculptor, and graphic designer, while Marvin was an outstanding salesman. The two of them would be business associates for decades. Their team expanded with the addition of artist/illustrator Eoina “Joe” Nudelman. According to Marvin, “For years, we lived and worked together in Nudelman’s studio, playing Gypsy music, drinking vodka, RETROFAN

March 2025

TwoMorrows Books Now Shipping!

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: 1945-49

WORKING WITH DITKO

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S

MAINLINE COMICS

CHRISTOPHER IRVING explores the superhero serials (1941-1952) of Superman, Captain America, Spy Smasher, Captain Marvel, and others, and the comic creators and film-makers who brought them to life! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-119-6

CLIFFHANGER!

Covers the aftermath of WWII, when comics shifted from super-heroes to crime, romance, horror, and western comics, including BILL GAINES’ EC Comics!

JACK C. HARRIS recalls collaborating with STEVE DITKO on The Creeper, Shade, Demon, Wonder Woman, The Fly, & more, plus Ditko’s unused Batman design!

The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence: Two unused 1970s DC DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE & SOUL LOVE mags!

Collects JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY’s 1954-56 series BULLSEYE (the complete run), plus all the Kirby FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE stories, fully restored!

(288-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-099-1

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

(176-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

(262-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-118-9

ZOWIE!

TEAM-UP COMPANION

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

AMERICAN TV COMICS

Traces the history of the superhero genre from early films, through the 1960s ADAM WEST Batman TV superhero craze, and its pop culture influence ever since, through collectibles, and interviews with TV stars! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-125-7

MARVEL COMICS IN THE EARLY 1960s

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

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

HERO-A-GO-GO!

Presents JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE’s own words to examine the complicated relationship of the creators of the Marvel Universe! (176-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

JOHN SEVERIN

TWO-FISTED COMIC ARTIST

(1940s-1980s)

THE LIFE & ART OF

DAVE COCKRUM

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

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

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

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

ALTER EGO COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS

Master of the Comics

MAC RABOY

Issue-by-issue entries on Marvel’s 1961– 1965 output, when gunfighters traveled the West and monsters roamed the Earth!

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

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

Compiles the sold-out DITKO, KIRBY, and LEE issues, plus new material on each!

Documents the life and career of the master Golden Age artist of Captain Marvel Jr. and other classic characters!

(224-page TRADE PAPERBACK) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-126-4

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

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

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $35.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-116-5

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES

FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SERIES

documents each decade of comics history!

8 Volumes covering the 1940s-1990s

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

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

RETRO SPORTS

Campy, Kitschy, and Captivating The Rise and Fall of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

BY DAN MURPHY “We’re the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling We’re all champions in the ring We come from the streets We come from the cities We come from a world where there is no pity.” In September 1986, thousands of unsuspecting television viewers were greeted by two dozen scantily clad beauties (and one very awkward tuxedoed man) belting out this rap inside a pink-roped wrestling ring. Yes, the rap needed work; it was somehow even hokier than the Chicago Bears’ “Super Bowl Shuffle” released ten months earlier. The hair was teased high, the Lycra was tight. The dancing ranged from hip-swiveling gyrations to arrhythmic swaying and handclapping. But the pure “what the hell is this?” hypnotic spectacle of it all was enough to give pause to the most jaded of channel surfers. America had discovered GLOW. And America was captivated. The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling was the brainchild of David B. McLane, an aspiring television promoter (and the aforementioned awkward tuxedoed man) hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana. A professional wrestling fan since childhood, McLane had established

a fan club in honor of Indiana rasslin’ hero Dick the Bruiser as a teenager. Dick the Bruiser (real name William Afflis Jr.) was also co-owner of the World Wrestling Association, the regional wrestling promotion in the area. McLane’s passion, energy, and dedication caught Afflis’ attention and the grappler brought McLane onboard to help in the office and eventually become an on-air ring announcer and commentator. But the era of small regional pro wrestling territories was coming to an end. In 1982, Vince McMahon Jr. took the reins of the World Wrestling Federation from his father. Unlike Vince Sr., Vince Jr. wanted to expand the WWF outside of its base in New York and the Northeast and grow it into a national wrestling company. Over the next few years, McMahon raided talent from other promotions, bought them out, or beat them down by competing head-to-head against them in their own market. Buoyed by stars like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, and “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka—and agreements with NBC and MTV—McMahon’s WWF had garnered the lion’s share of the wrestling market. While many territorial wrestling promoters groused about McMahon’s business practices and cartoonish and gimmick-heavy presentation of wrestling, McLane saw inspiration and opportunity. Women’s wresting had been a novelty act since Mildred Burke started turning heads and kicking asses in the 1930s, but Afflis had been reluctant to push women’s matches in the WWA. The WWF had terrific success with Wendi Richter as women’s champion in 1984. Instead of having one female star, why not start a company full of them? McLane set out to establish an all-women’s pro wrestling promotion.

GLOW BEGINS

While searching for investors, McLane managed to connect with Meshulam Riklis, the multi-millionaire businessman and owner of the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and the then-husband of actress Pia Zadora. Riklis put McLane in touch with Matt Cimber, a producer, writer, and exploitation film director who had previously been married to Jayne Mansfield.

The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, ringside with David McLane in 1986. Courtesy of IMDb. RETROFAN

March 2025