$5.95In the USA

$5.95In the USA

THE ATOMwas CREATED by:

A) Gil Kane

B) Gardner Fox

C) JulieSchwartz

D) Jerry G.Bails

E) All of the Above

Don’t answer Till you read this issue’sExtensive ExEgesis of the Tiny Titan--&

Mike W. Barr’sAwEsome Addendum!

A Surprise-FilledInterview with

LarryLieberFirst scripter of THOR,IRON MAN, et al.!

A Rare Photo Gallery

Fandom’sFAN-tasticPast!From the ’60s to the ’90s!

PLUS RARE ART BY:

Michael T. Gilbert

Jerry Ordway

Gil Kane

John Romita

And much more!

BLOCKBUSTER BONUS!

Mr. MonsterPresents a Never-Reprinted

SPIRIT story by

Will Eisner!

No.2AUTUMN

1999

Roy Thomas ’Legendary Comics Fanzine

Roy Thomas ’Legendary Comics Fanzine

SILVER AGE-- GOLDEN AGE--

& BEYOND!

C o n t e n t sSilver Threads among the Gold (& Bronze, & Beyond!) . . . . . . . . . 2Our Only Writer/Editorial This Ish.

Splitting The Atom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Roy Thomas Tells All (We Hope!) about the 1960-61 Origins of the Tiny Titan, starring Gil Kane, Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Jerry Bails.

Splicing The Atom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Mike W. Barr’s Fearless Footnote to the Previous Piece.

“Stan Made Up the Plot... and I’d Write the Script” . . . . . . . . . 18A Conversation with Larry Lieber, Spidey Comic Strip Artist—and One of the Most Important Scripters of the Silver Age.

Mr. Monster Introduces “The Spirit”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Michael T. Gilbert Presents an Ultra-Rare 1966 Spirit Story by Will Eisner.

Hark, The Herald Tribune Sings! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Ye Editor Examines an Extraordinary Issue of the Trib’s New York Magazine.

Fandom’s FAN-tastic Past—from the ’60s to the ’90s! . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Bill Schelly’s Guided Tour of Photos and Other Artifacts of the Early Movers and Shakers of Comics Fandom.

Golden Age Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us!Our sincere thanks to Gil Kane for giving us his blessing to print as our cover the little-seen, undatedillustration of himself and The Atom. Thanks also to Mike Barr for making us aware of it, and JohnDacey at Hi-De-Ho Comics in Santa Monica, California. [Atom ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.]

Alter EgoTM is published quarterly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919)833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St.Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@oburg.net. Send subscription funds toTwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $20 US, $27 Canada, $37 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies.

All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & DannThomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Alter and Captain Ego ©1999 Biljo White. The Atom, Batman, Billy Batson,Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Doll Man, Dr. Mid-Nite, The Flash, Green Lantern, Infinity, Inc., JSA, Mary Marvel,Mr. Mind, Rex the Wonder Dog, Robin, Rose & Thorn, Shazam, Sivana, Starman, Steamboat, Superman, Wonder Woman©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Ant Man, Captain America, Captain Britain, The Hulk, Iron Man, Mr. Morgan’s Monster, RawhideKid, Spider-Man, Thor, Wasp, Watcher ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.; The Destructor, Tiger-Man, Warhawk ©1999 AtlasComics; Xal-Kor ©1999 Grass Green. Mr. Monster © Michael T. Gilbert. The Spirit ©1999 Will Eisner; The Eye, The Eclipse©1999 Bill Shelly; The Viper ©1999 Ronald E. Foss. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING

™ Silver Age Section

Background image: The Silver Age Atom dukes itout with the G.A. Atom in this cover detail by GilKane from The Atom #36. [©1999 DC Comics, Inc.]

Volume 3, No. 2Autumn 1999

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate EditorBill Schelly

Consulting EditorsJohn MorrowJon B. Cooke

FCA EditorP.C. Hamerlinck

Contributing EditorMichael T. Gilbert

Editors EmeritusJerry G. Bails, Ronn Foss,Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover ArtGil Kane, Jack Burnley

Cover ColorTom Ziuko, Jack Burnley

Design & LayoutJon B. Cooke/GREAT SWAMP GRAPHICS

Mailing CrewRuss Garwood, D. Hambone, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker

And Special Thanks to:Neal AdamsMike W. BarrJack BurnleyErnie ColonCraig & David DelichAl DellingesWill EisnerNancy FordRon GoulartGrass GreenMark HanerfeldRoger HillGil KaneRobert KanigherDavid Anthony KraftStan LeeLarry LieberRuss MaherasLou MouginWill MurrayJerry OrdwayJon E. ParkJulius SchwartzJ.E. SmithMarc SwayzeDaniel TesmoingtJoel ThingvallMarv Wolfman

by Roy Thomas

LAST YEAR AT RASHOMON DEPT.: Back in A/E V2#2, YeEditor offered the classic 1950 Akiro Kurosawa film Rashomon,

whose theme is the impossibility of ever knowing the whole truth aboutany event, as a template for comics (or any other kind of) history. Thenthere’s New Wave director Alain Resnais’ 1961 masterpiece Last Year atMarienbad, in which the male protagonist confronts the heroine again andagain to insist the two of them had an affair “last year at Frederiksbad,perhaps at Marienbad.” In its own way, the French film plays with truthand memory every bit as much as does Rashomon—which, believe it ordon’t, brings us to the creation of the Silver Age Atom.

Ray Palmer wasn’t the first DC hero called The Atom, of course.The original one appeared from 1940-1951 in All-American Comics,

Flash Comics, Comic Cavalcade, and All-Star Comics.The Mighty Atom, as he

was called in his origin in All-American #19 (Oct. 1940), was

a short, red-headed CalvinCollege student named AlPratt who had been trainedto physical perfection. Until1948 this Atom had no super-powers, just a rather odd,leather-girdled outfit with a

full face mask. Then, still earlyin the Atomic Age, DC decid-ed a crimefighter with so

timely a name needed powersto match; soovernight,with no expla-nation, hegained “atom-ic strength”

and, soon afterward, a new costume with a stylized atomemblazoned on its tunic.

The first Atom’s last Golden Age appearance was inAll-Star #57 (Feb.-March 1951).

A few facts about the creation of the second Atomare pretty much set in concrete:

Scripted by GardnerFox, penciled by Gil Kane(with Murphy Andersoninks), and edited by JuliusSchwartz, he debuted inNational/DC’s Showcase

#34 (cover-dated Dec. 1961, but actually on sale several months earlier).After appearing also in #35-36, he graduated at once to his ownbimonthly magazine, The Atom (#1, June-July 1962).

Alas, almost everything else about theorigins of the six-inch stalwart is up for grabs.

Fact is, a study of The Atom’s less thanimmaculate conception is a textbook exampleof how difficult, if not downright impossible,it is to reconstruct comics history—even whenmost of the people involved in a particular cre-ation are still alive. Maybe especially then,because it’s harder for anyone to make sweep-ing assumptions without someone else arisingto vociferously deny them!

Offered for your consideration:

The Silver Age versions of Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman,for all the science-fictional trappings which set them apart them fromtheir 1940s forebears, were still basically “revivals,” as DC editors andfans alike called them back then.

However, the star of Showcase #34 was destined to have virtuallynothing in common with the old Atom except his name. The new hero’smain schtick would be that he fought crime while shrunk to a height ofsix inches. For the first time, DC would take one of its “revivals” off ina radically different direction from the original, making him in effect atotally new character.

Ever wonder why?

In attempting to reconstruct the creationof the Silver Age Atom, we must examinethe potential contributions of four princi-

pals. In alphabetical order:

Jerry G. Bails, in 1960 ayoung associate professor ofnatural science at Wayne StateUniversity, Detroit, and soon

to become the firsteditor/publisher of Alter

Ego (Volume 1) and afounding father of

comics fandom;

Gardner F. Fox(1911-1986), writer/co-creator

of the Golden Age Flash,Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Justice

Society, among others—who by late 1960 had likewise co-createdthe Silver Age Justice League, Hawkman, and Adam Strange;

Gil Kane, a professional comics artist since 1942, best known inlate 1960 as the illustrator of the Silver Age Green Lantern—a perennial

Splitting The Atom 5

Splitting The AtomMore Than You Could Possibly Want to Know about the Creation of the Silver Age Mighty Mite!

The original, non-super-powered Atom,in a 1945 page drawn by Jon ChesterKozlak. [Art courtesy of Jerry Bails;

Atom ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

The first Mighty Mite gained “atomicstrength” in 1948: a detail from the cover

of All-Star #52 (April-May 1950) byArthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs. [Atom

©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Jerry G. Bails, circa1960-61. [Reprintedfrom Alter Ego V1#5by way of the 1997

trade paperback TheBest of Alter Ego.]

Background image:Jerry Bails’ 1960 con-cept of The Atom—

like the one that eventually appeared

in this panel fromShowcase #35—calledfor a hero who shrank

from 6’ tall to 6”![Original artwork by

Kane & Andersoncourtesy of Mike W.Barr; Atom ©1999 DC

Comics Inc.]

talent who remains active in the field eventoday;

Julius Schwartz, in 1960 the editor and defacto co-creator of comics starring the newFlash, GL, JLA, and Hawkman, and a DCeditor from 1944 until—well, I was about tosay “until he retired,” but in 1998 he editedthe first Green Lantern Annual ever, thusextending his editorship into a second half-century.

Quite a cast! With talents like thosebehind him, small wonder the Small Wonderhas endured for nearly four decades! And cer-tainly the last thing I’d want to do is denigrateany of them: I began corresponding with Julie,Gardner, and Jerry (in that order) in late 1960,several years before I met any of them in per-son; and Gil has been both collaborator andfriend since 1969. For that reason, all four aregenerally referred to below by their firstnames.

In the interests of full disclosure, I shouldstate here that I myself played a part in events,though hardly one to rank with these fourfathers (forefathers?) of the incredible shrink-ing Atom. Think of me more as a spear-carrier,at most a supporting character with an interest

in comics history.

Much as the fourprotagonists ofRashomon relatewidely varying recol-lections of the sameevent, the saga of theSilver Age Atom isfraught with questionsabout precisely whatwas done when, bywhom, and how impor-tant it was to the devel-opment of the new hero.

Fortunately, wedon’t have to rely over-much on current memo-ries of an episode nownearly four decades old,because there exists a sur-prising amount of relevantcorrespondence from late1960 and early 1961. Rarelybefore or for some yearsafterward was the develop-ment of any comics charac-ter so well (if contradictori-ly) documented. To wit:

Jerry Bails saved mostletters he received fromGardner Fox (beginning in1953!), Julius Schwartz (start-ing in mid-1960),

and myself (as of November1960). He also kept carboncopies (remember them?) ofsome of his early missives toGardner and Julie.

Gardner Fox, too, tendedto save letters he received,though seldom carbons ofthose he wrote. Many ofthe former are nowarchived in the libraryof the University ofOregon (in Eugene).Letters in this collec-tion from Jerry andme were photocopied for us by Mr.Monster creator Michael T. Gilbert,bless him, while working on hisown Fox-related pieces for A/E,Volume 2.

Gil Kane’s initial but crucialcontribution to the Atom’sdevelopment was a series of con-ceptual illustrations, long sincescattered to the winds; fortu-nately, we have access to 1961comments made by Gil,Gardner, Julie, and Jerry aboutthose drawings. I also discussedthe hero’s creation with Gil byphone in 1998.

Julius Schwartz generally didn’t save cor-respondence, but he’s well represented any-way—by early-’60s letters squirreled away byGardner and Jerry. In addition, he spoke withme at length by phone in spring of 1998 aboutthe “Atomic Matter.”

And me? Isaved relatively lit-tle correspondence,but luckily, in 1964,Jerry mailed backmy early letters tohim so I could usethem to write apiece called “TheAlter Ego Story.”Among otherthings, that unfin-ished history ofA/E’s first incarna-tion recounted hisand my connectionwith The Atom’s genesis, then a mere 3-4years in the past. Most of my article finallysaw the light of day in the 1997 Best of AlterEgo volume from Hamster Press, but much ofthe Atom-related material was omitted thereas irrelevant; so some of it is printed here forthe first time.

6 Splitting The Atom

In Strange Adventures #140 (May 1962), writerGardner Fox and editor Julius Schwartz got

caught up in one of their own stories. [Specialthanks to Mike W. Barr; ©1999 by DC Comics.]

Roy Thomas circa 1961(not that he’s particularly

proud of the photo).

Below: Detail from the cover of The Atom #1(June-July 1962). [©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Splicing The Atom 15

by Mike W. Barr

[NOTE: This short piece serves as a foot-note to the foregoing article—but what afootnote! —R.T.]

I’m told that a 19th century scientistnamed John Dalton was the first man

to gather evidence for the existence of theatom, although many had theorized of itfor centuries.

In a way, I know how he feels.

In October 1977 I moved from mynative Ohio, leaving my job as night main-tenance man at a local Sears & Roebuck(which taught me the real value of a B.A.in English) to take a position as the staffproofreader at DC Comics in New York.The hours were long; the pay was, to bediplomatic, meager ($125 a week—which,after taxes, shrank to about $99 a week—to live in New York? I was making lessthan that in Ohio, but the money wentfarther there); and the benefits weren’tmuch. But, like many before me, I wasglad to have made at least a foothold inbecoming a fulltime comics pro.

I realized much later that I had comeinto comics at a crucial time. In 1977 thebusiness of comics—printing, distribution,payment, rights—had remained essentiallyunchanged since the dawn of comics, overforty years before. It could not have beenpredicted with any reliability that within afew years the entire business—with theadvent of the direct market, some tentativesteps toward creators’ rights, the paymentof royalties, among other, long-overdueinnovations—was about to change forever.(More to the point, several old pros wereconvinced the business was dying. Andfrom the quality of the work they wereturning out, you couldn’t say they werewrong.)

As remarked, my lowly job didn’thave much in the way of perks. I had toproofread the original art for each andevery DC comic (which, in the days of100-page all-new comics, 99 of whichoften seemed cranked out by the afore-mentioned “old pros,” was not ipso facto abed of roses, though it was better than waxing floors at Sears), as well asmake copies for the editors, fetch lunches, and run errands for the higherechelon of the editorial staff. (Remind me to tell you the time DC artdirector Vinnie Colletta tried to get me fired because I refused to do hisjob by writing critiques on a seeming mountain of unsolicited art sam-ples and signing his name to them. [Hey, I guess I just did.])

But the job did have its advantages, though none of them were of afinancial nature. I really wanted to be a fulltime writer, so meetingscripters I’d always admired, like Robert Kanigher, was a genuine thrill.I was also in charge of returning original artwork, which I enjoyed, as itput me in direct contact with a number of pencilers and inkers who sup-plied a different perspective on comics from that of the writer. And if a

Splicing The Atom

This double-page pinup by Gil Kane from The Atom #26 (Aug.-Sept. 1966), Mike tells us, is quite similar to the late-1960 concept drawing which he returned to the artist while on staff at DC. (©1999 DC Comics Inc.)

“Stan Made Up the Plot...and I ’d Write the Script...”“Stan Made Up the Plot...and I ’d Write the Script...”

A Conversation with Artist-Writer Larry LieberConducted & Edited by Roy Thomas, Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson

A Conversation with Artist-Writer Larry LieberConducted & Edited by Roy Thomas, Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson

It’s hardly a secret that Marvel’s premier writer/editor, Stan Lee,was born Stanley Lieber… or that Larry Lieber, early Marvel

artist and writer, is his younger brother. The splash pages of a numberof major early-1960s Marvel super-hero tales give Stan credit for “plot”and Larry credit for “script.” However, what this actually means, andthe brothers’ method of working together, has only rarely been touchedupon, even in passing. Over the years, even after becoming the artist ofthe long-running Spider-Man newspaper comic strip written by Stan,Larry has preferred to keep a low profile, but I will readily admitthat, besides liking Larry on a personal basis, I have always felt acertain kinship with him because he was the only person besidesStan to write any real volume of Marvel stories before I wan-dered in in July of 1965. Alter Ego is grateful for the privilege ofinterviewing Larry. —R.T.

ROY THOMAS: Larry, when did you decide—if you ever did,exactly—that you wanted to be an artist?

LARRY LIEBER: Oh, God, that would be years before I wasdoing it professionally. I must’ve been a kid, a teenager, inschool. I guess it was when Stan was a young man, first work-ing for Timely Comics. I knew my brother was a writer forthat company, and I was interested in comics—all the kidswere. It was during the war, and I remember Kirby, whenCaptain America began. I remember having a “Sentinels of Liberty” card

andbadge.

As a kid Iliked to draw, and for

most kids, liking to drawthen—maybe it’s thesame thing today—I turned to comics.So that was thebeginning of it.

RT: Where wereyou born?

LIEBER: In Manhattan,in 1931. Six months later wemoved to the Bronx. I lived there

until I was about ten and a half, thenwe moved back to Manhattan, up inWashington Heights. During that time,Stan went into the Army, and I was justgoing to school and drawing. When I was injunior high, I tried to get into the High School ofMusic and Art, but I couldn’t. I asked the teacher why, and he saidsomething about my attendance not being good. It wasn’t true; I wasalways there. Anyway that was a big disappointment, because I felt Icould probably draw as well as the other guys. So I went to GeorgeWashington High School in Manhattan, and the years passed….

RT: It’s been reported you did your first professional work around 1950,when you were nineteen or twenty.

LIEBER: In 1951 I went into the Air Force, for four years, during theKorean War. I spent two of them on Okinawa. Before I went in, I wasworking for Magazine Management….

RT: When I walked in the door there for the first time in 1965, I’d neverheard the name “Magazine Management.” Turned out that was theumbrella name for Martin Goodman’s company, which included MarvelComics, which then was at most one-third of the company… but alsomen’s magazines, true confessions, detective, puzzles, movie mags, a lit-tle bit of everything.

LIEBER: Right. Back then Marvel was Timely Comics. At the time Iworked there, Magazine Management was big when the comics werebig… it was small when the comics were small. At one time in thelate ’50s it was just an alcove, with one window, and Stan was doing allthe corrections himself; he had no assistants. Later I think Flo[Steinberg, secretary] and Sol Brodsky [production manager] came in.But a few years before, I was working for Magazine Management, doing

A sketch of our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, bythe man who’s drawn his newspaper comic stripadventures longer than anyone else. [Spider-Man

©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Larry may have had a Sentinels of Liberty badge, but within a year or twoUncle Sam—who outranked even Captain America—had commandeered the

metal in them. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Larry Lieber 19

paste-ups, and I wanted to be an artist, an illustrator. I was workingduring the day, and I went to Pratt Art Institute the evening.

RT: In ’50-’51, would you have been drawing or writing or both?

LIEBER: The writing I didn’t do. When I came out after the service, Iwent to the Art Students’ League, and I still wanted to be an artist anddo comics, but I had in mind to even-tually become an illustrator. I wasdrawing, but I was slow. I didn’t havethe skill to draw quickly, and in 1958I had to earn a living. And Stan, atthe time—well, things were bad. Hehad almost nobody working for him.

RT: That was right after theAmerican News collapse, whenGoodman’s comics almost closeddown for about a year.

LIEBER: Wait a minute—I did dosome comics then. I did someromance comics. I was pencilingthem. And there was a point where Idid writing, because I remember Stansaying to me, “You write romancesreally well,” so I must have writtensome. In 1958 Stan said he wantedsomebody to help him write, and hehad nobody then; he was doing it allhimself. I said, “I’m really not awriter.” He said, “Oh, I’ve read yourletters.” So I probably wrote theromances sometime after that.

RT: When the comics were just get-ting started up again.

LIEBER: Well, they were puttingout… let’s see… Journey intoMystery… Tales to Astonish.… Iremember Jack Kirby was usually

doing the lead story, and Don Heck was there. Ditko used to do thestory at the end of the books, and later he and Stan did Amazing AdultFantasy. At the time I had a room in Tudor City, and I was writing sto-ries for Jack to draw. Jack was so fast, and I was learning to write. Youcan appreciate this, I’m sure: I didn’t really know how, and Stan wasgiving me a writing course!

RT: I had that advantage, too—as only oneor two other people did—of workingclosely with Stan, in the mid-’60s. I got theimpression that, as he was developing thisnew mutation of his style, he just had anirresistible impulse to teach you to write inhis style, or just in general.

LIEBER: Just in general. The change in hisstyle really came, I think, with FantasticFour and Spider-Man. Before that, he didn’thave that kind of style; and with me, it wasjust the principles, you know: just howyou write, and “This is too many words”and “Put in less words, because even if it’swell-written they won’t want to read it,”that kind of thing. I learned a lot of thebasics.

Later on, he got his style, and I didn’tparticularly want to go with that stylemyself. I continued to write whatever wayI did write. Later, when I did the westerns,they were not written in Stan’s style. Iremember that Kirby was so fast he coulddraw faster than I was writing! Stan wouldsay to me, “Jack needs another script!” Iwas on 41st, and I used to sit thereSaturday and Sunday, and there was theGrand Central Post Office that was openall the time.

RT: I used to take cab rides down therefrom the East 80s at midnight or later,

Three splashes from Strange Tales #99 (1962)—by Kirby & Ayers, Heck, and Ditko. Only the latter had a writer’s credit for Stan Lee, so the other two were quiteprobably dialogued by Larry Lieber. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

20 Larry Lieber

In 1961-62 Amazing Adult Fantasy became the outlet for the Lee-Ditko “O. Henry”-style tales. [©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt 33

—The “Found” Spirit Section 35

We very definitely wanted to reprint the two preceding pagesprepared by Michael T. Gilbert in this Digital Edition—as

well as the short piece by Ye Editor which appears on page 38.However, we aren’t re-presenting the five-page 1966 Spirit storyitself, because Denis Kitchen, on behalf of the Will Eisner Estate, has

informed us that DC Comics intends to reprint it as part of its excellent ongoing Spirit Archives. So we’re featuring just a tantalizingforetaste of panels from that epoch-marking tale below—and, on the following two pages, some additional Eisner art that wasn’t in A/E V3#2….

The “Found”Spirit Section

[Spirit story & art ©2006 Will Eisner Studios, Inc.]

by Roy Thomas

[An Informational Addendum to What Has Gone Before]

By the start of 1996, the New York Herald Tribune was nearing theend of a long and colorful career as a daily newspaper, but it was

still a force to be reckoned with.

The so-called New Journalism, for example, was represented in itspages by the irrepressible Tom Wolfe, whose 1965 article about HughHefner’s life style and revolving round bed had made a strong impres-sion on neo-Manhattanite R.T. (not to mention a lot of other people).

The paper’s Sundaysupplement magazine NewYork, in fact, would—afterthe Herald Trib itself fold-ed its U.S. tents a few yearslater, leaving only its famedInternational edition—spin off into a separate andinfluential monthly maga-zine.

But on Sunday,January 9, 1966, as docu-mented earlier by MichaelT. Gilbert, New York dis-covered comic books ingeneral… and The Spirit inparticular.

“The Great ComicsRevival,” heralded theTrib’s cover, although thephoto there was merely of aNew York skyline.

There were six comics-oriented pieces in that landmark issue, and all but three of them—articleson the campy Batman TV show set to debut the very next night, and onthe upcoming Broadway musical It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’sSUPERMAN, set for a March 29 opening, and the infamous Lee-Kirbyinterview reprinted in The Jack Kirby Collector #18—had at least a tan-gential connection with Will Eisner’s quirky plainclothes super-hero,who had been out of the public limelight for a decade and a half.

The magazine’s lead article, accompanied by a photo of “Batman”reading a newspaper on the subway, was written by cartoonist/satiristJules Feiffer, whose groundbreaking 1965 book The Great Comic BookHeroes had made writing about old comics almost respectable in somecircles. His “Pop-Sociology” listed Jerry Siegel, Bob Kane, Jack Cole,and Will Eisner (“authors” of Superman, Batman, Plastic Man, and TheSpirit, respectively), as “the writers who influenced me,” in contrast tothe usual list of respectable men of letters such as “Blake, Lawrence,Emerson, and Whitman.” Simply stated, Feiffer’s theme was: “To knowthe true temper of a nation’s people, turn not to its sociologists, but toits junk.” He maintains that “there is room, important room, for junk inour culture… But good Lord, let’s not make it respectable!”

Nowhere in Feiffer’s article, however, does the playwright of LittleMurders and the future screenwriter of Carnal Knowledge bother tomention that he was once Eisner’s assistant on the weekly Spirit strip.

That was left to his and Eisner’s onetime colleague, MarilynMercer, who may well have been the catalyst for getting the old gang

The Spirit just goes on… and on… and on. Roy Thomas’ wife Dann boughtthis cover for him because of his own love-hate relationship with his aracari

toucan, Gonzo. [1990 Kitchen Sink Spirit comics cover ©1999 Will Eisner; from the collection of R.T.]

Will Eisner—“reasonably young and stillreasonably grand,” in Marilyn Mercer’s

pithy phrase—in 1965.

38 Hark, the Herald Tribune Sings!

Hark, the HeraldTribune Sings!A Look at a Very Special Issue of New York Sunday Magazine

If few people once thought that old comic books would ever be sought after as prized items, fewer still ever anticipated that photographic images ofthe early gatherings of comics fans would be treasured as they are today—let alone that these photos, often taken with early portable cameras “on

the fly,” are studied like rare artifacts of an ancient culture.Almost forty years have passed since Jerry Bails set in motion the twin wheels that became comics fandom and Alter Ego. Before this, no one except

the late Don Thompson seems to have imagined that a fandom for admirers of comic art could exist apart from science-fiction fandom—let alone that itwould become a self-sustaining phenomenon, with sufficient impetus to propel us into the next millennium.

Such photos provide a portal to a time before anyone had heard of price guides, autograph fees, or signed editions—or the word “comicon”! In theearly 1960s, just bringing together a handful of fans from different cities was an unbridled thrill. A new fraternity of comics aficionados was busy beingborn.

Or, as a well-known troubadour of the day sang, “The times, they area-changing!”

Let us begin our travels back in time with…

Fandom ’s FAN-tastic Past...from the ’60s to the ’90sPhotos and Other Artifacts of the Founders of Comics FandomCommentary by Bill Schelly

Spring1963. Bill J.(“Biljo”) Whitewas visited athis new homein Columbia,Missouri, byfan-artist RonnFoss, whoshowed him aGrass Greendrawing whichinspired Biljo tolaunch his ownsuper-hero, TheEye. (Ronn andwriter Drury

Moroz’ creation, The Eclipse, would debut in the Foss-edited A/E #5,which was at the printer even as Ruth White snapped this photo.)

In the cinder-block “White House of Comics” built in his backyardto house his collection of rare comics and art, Biljo showed Ronn theoriginal Kubert cover of The Brave and the Bold #35.

Only a fewdays later, Biljohosted the firstface-to-face meet-ing of A/E co-founders JerryBails and RoyThomas. Thisphoto appearedpostage-stamp sizein Voice ofComicdom #4(Apr. 1965) from Golden Gate Publishers. Reproduction is far fromideal, but it remains the only photo of the three and their ladies together.(L-to-R: Roy Thomas, Linda Rahm, Jerry & Sondra Bails, Biljo & RuthWhite.) Surprisingly, Biljo also has home movie footage of the visits ofRonn, Jerry, and Roy!

[Above] As Jerry and Sondra examinethe White House treasures, can you identifythe pieces of original art adorning the walls?(Biljo ruefully informs us he has parted withmost of this artwork in the ensuing years.)

[At right] “Fannish Love in Bloom.”Ronn Foss and Illinois fan Coreen Caseymarried in 1965 and co-edited the fanzinePandora: The Romance of Adventure. Theirown romance produced two talented chil-dren, Scott and Alexandra, now grown andliving in Oregon.

Fanzine writerGlen Johnson loungeson the porch ofMagnus artist RussManning in 1964, soonafter assuming editor-ship of The ComicReader from JerryBails. Then a schoolteacher, Glen nowmakes his home inBrigham City, Utah.

Fandom’s FAN-tastic Past! 41

Like other cities across the country, Chicago spawned its own comicsclub in response to the fan movement spearheaded by Alter Ego, ComicArt, Xero, and a few other early fanzines. The 1962 World ScienceFiction Convention held in the Windy City also helped bring area comicsfans together.

Don Glut (later thewriter of novelization ofThe Empire Strikes Backand creator of Dr.Spektor, et al., for GoldKey) and his friendDick Anderson (right)flank Forrest JAckerman, editor ofFamous Monsters ofFilmland, at the ’62ChiCon. Forry’s prob-ably displaying a copyof Don’s movie fanzineShazam!

{Above] Members of the ChicagoComics Club, 1964. (L-to-R:) EdNavarrete, Bob Noga, Paul

Thompson, GregFeldoman, Ronn Foss, Ann

Foss, Ross Kight (behindAnn), Marti Beck, BillPlaczek, John-somebody(behind Bill), and (kneeling)

Alex Almaraz.

[Left] The Eclipse (created byDrury Moroz & Ronn Foss; TM1999 Bill Schelly)

[Above] Many out-of-towners weredrawn to Chicago’s fan meetings. (L-to-R:)Bob (Keith) Greene, Bob Butts, Alex Almaraz,Chuck Moss, Russ Keeler, and LarryRaybourne. Those who visited Ross and Larryin Cleveland never failed to be shocked upon

meeting their pet python!

[Left] Don Glut was known for his CaptainAmerica costume, but here’s a rare look at him garbed asanother Golden Age hero. Yet another publicity shot forhis fanzine Shazam!?

[Left] LaterWarren/Marvel/DC writerDoug Moench at a mid-’60smeeting of the ChicagoComics Club. Like just abouteveryone else, Doug publishedhis own fanzine, calledReview. Copies are as scarceas hen’s teeth!

[Right] Bill (thenBilly) Placzek and EdNavarrete pose withsome vintage comics,circa 1964. Bill hadbeen given a huge col-lection by a familyfriend, and his smallattic couldn’t accom-modate many peopleat one time, lest some-one step on a vintageissue!

42 Fandom’s FAN-tastic Past—

Roy Thomas ’ LegendaryComics Fanzine

$5.95In the USA

$5.95In the USA

With Special Bonus:

No.2AUTUMN

1999

Star-Spangled Interview with

Jack Burnley

Roy Thomas ’ LegendaryComics Fanzine

AN A/E EXCLUSIVE! THE MYSTERies Behind the first two Wonder Woman stories!

Plus Rare Art By:

Joe Kubert

Marc Swayze

C.C. Beck

Mac Raboy

R.D. Taylor

Ernie Colon

H.G. Peter

EXTRA!

Kanigher on Kanigher!

Marv Wolfmanon Saving Golden Age Art Treasures!

INSIDE:

Will Murrayon The Lost Origin of theSky Wizard!

Plus Rare Art By:

Joe Kubert

Marc Swayze

C.C. Beck

Mac Raboy

R.D. Taylor

Ernie Colon

H.G. Peter

and MUCH More!

EXTRA!

Kanigher on Kanigher!

Marv Wolfmanon Saving Golden Age Art Treasures!

INSIDE:

Will Murrayon The Lost Origin of theSky Wizard!

GOLDEN AGE--SILVER AGE--

& BEYOND!

GOLDEN AGE--SILVER AGE--

& BEYOND!

Star-Spangled Interview with

Jack Burnley1940s Artist of

Starman, Batman,Superman & the JSA!

C o n t e n t sRe: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Letters from Stan Lee and lots of other folks.

“It Was Only Starman I Paid Attention To!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Actually, Golden Age great Jack Burnley lavished attention on all aspects of his art, as shown in this stunningly illustrated interview.

How Marv Wolfman and Company Saved (a Bit of) the Golden Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19You don’t believe us? Read it and see!

The Sky Wizard’s Lost Origins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Will Murray’s unearthed the detailed documentation of a Golden Age hero. So how come most of us never heard of him?

Kanigher on Kanigher (and Everything Else!). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25We mean what we say.

An All-Star Sensation! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Roy Thomas examines curiosities behind the first two Wonder Woman stories.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35P.C. Hamerlinck presents another edition of FCA—with a C.C. Beck cover!

“We Didn’t Know... It Was the Golden Age!” (FCA). . . . . . . . 36Captain Marvel artist Marc Swayze regales us with tales of the creation of Mary Marvel—and of going off to war.

The Richard Deane Taylor Interview (FCA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40A conversation with a noted Fawcett alumnus.

The Captain’s Chief (FCA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44The late Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. Beck’s history lesson on Fawcett Publications and a certain Big Red Cheese and his friends and relations.

Silver Age Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us!Our thanks to Jack Burnley for allowing us to use his great Adventure Comics #71 cover recreationas our cover illo, to Jerry Bails for loaning us the art from his collection, and to Craig and DavidDelich, who first published it in black-&-white in the 1977 All-Star Comics Revue. [Starman ©1999DC Comics, Inc.]

Alter EgoTM is published quarterly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919)833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St.Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@oburg.net. Send subscription funds toTwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $20 US, $27 Canada, $37 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies.

All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & DannThomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Alter and Captain Ego ©1999 Biljo White. The Atom, Batman, Billy Batson,Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Doll Man, Dr. Mid-Nite, The Flash, Green Lantern, Infinity, Inc., JSA, Mary Marvel,Mr. Mind, Rex the Wonder Dog, Robin, Rose & Thorn, Shazam, Sivana, Starman, Steamboat, Superman, Wonder Woman©1999 DC Comics Inc.; Ant Man, Captain America, Captain Britain, The Hulk, Iron Man, Mr. Morgan’s Monster, RawhideKid, Spider-Man, Thor, Wasp, Watcher ©1999 Marvel Characters, Inc.; The Destructor, Tiger-Man, Warhawk ©1999 AtlasComics; Xal-Kor ©1999 Grass Green. Mr. Monster © Michael T. Gilbert. The Spirit ©1999 Will Eisner; The Eye, The Eclipse©1999 Bill Shelly; The Viper ©1999 Ronald E. Foss. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING

Golden Age Section

Background image: Detail of Adventure Comics#65 cover featuring Jack Burnley’s Starman.

[©1999 DC Comics, Inc.]

Volume 3, No. 2Autumn 1999

Editor Roy Thomas

Associate EditorBill Schelly

Consulting EditorsJohn MorrowJon B. Cooke

FCA EditorP.C. Hamerlinck

Contributing EditorMichael T. Gilbert

Editors EmeritusJerry G. Bails, Ronn Foss,Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Cover ArtGil Kane, Jack Burnley

Cover ColorTom Ziuko, Jack Burnley

Design & LayoutJon B. Cooke/GREAT SWAMP GRAPHICS

Mailing CrewRuss Garwood, D. Hambone, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker

And Special Thanks to:Neal AdamsMike W. BarrJack BurnleyErnie ColonCraig & David DelichAl DellingesWill EisnerNancy FordRon GoulartGrass GreenMark HanerfeldRoger HillGil KaneRobert KanigherDavid Anthony KraftStan LeeLarry LieberRuss MaherasLou MouginWill MurrayJerry OrdwayJon E. ParkJulius SchwartzJ.E. SmithMarc SwayzeDaniel TesmoingtJoel ThingvallMarv Wolfman

™

As a kid in the late 1940s, I ran across an “old” (i.e., 1942)copy of Superman #19 at my grandparents’ farm. Insidewere advertised the covers of other DC comics—including

All-Star Comics #13, wherein the Justice Society were “Shanghaiedinto Space.” I spent years yearning to see the comic that went withthat ad. But it would be more than a decade before I’d see it—orwould learn that the artist of that stunning cover (and, as it hap-pened, of quite a few pages inside) was one Jack Burnley… who wasalso responsible for some of the most beautiful Superman, Batman,and Starman artwork ever done, including much of the 1940sSuperman and Batman newspaper comic strips.

In the final, 150th issue of his pace-setting Comics Interviewmagazine in 1995, David Anthony Kraft presented a lengthy talkwith the artist, ably conducted by Lou Mougin, and I urge readers to

seek out a copy. I was temptedto reprint it here, with Dave’spermission, but decided that,

because I had a few ques-tions of my own, it wouldbe better to accept JackBurnley’s kind offer to beinterviewed again.However, Lou’s interview

for CI blazed the trail I fol-lowed, and I hereby acknowl-

edge that debt, with thanks.Thus, on July 10, 1999, I phoned

Mr. Burnley (who quickly insisted Icall him “Jack,” which Ifound a bit difficult,given my upbringing)

and taped the following inter-view.—RT.

ROY THOMAS: You were born Harden Burnley. How did you get“Jack” out of that?

JACK BURNLEY: Well, my middle name is John, so I used Jack.Harden Burnley’s a family name. When I first became a syndicatedsports cartoonist with King Features, I was eighteen. That sports car-toon, which was syndicated to the Hearst newspapers, or to any news-paper throughout the country, used the name “Harden Burnley” for ayear or two. But then I had them change the byline to just “Burnley.”By two years before I went into comics, I was using the name “JackBurnley” professionally.

RT: Where were you born?

BURNLEY: New York City. We lived in a large apartment house onRiverside Drive, just across from Grant’s Tomb. It’s been torn down,and now there’s the Riverside Church there.

RT: You were born in 1911. Your older brother, Depree, who was calledRay….

BURNLEY: I’d like to correct that, if I may. His name was Dupree.With a “u.” It’s pronounced “dew-pray.” It’s a French name. He didn’tuse “Ray” until he went into comics with me.

RT: I understand both of you got into comics around the same time, in1939.

BURNLEY: He never settled into any particular art line. He was inter-ested in fine arts. He liked the French impressionists, and he liked to do

A Conversation with Jack BurnleyConducted & Edited by Roy Thomas

Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson

“It Was OnlyStarman I Paid

Attention To!”

“It Was OnlyStarman I Paid

Attention To!”

A Conversation with Jack BurnleyConducted & Edited by Roy Thomas

Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson

This page: Superman, Batman, and Starman—the Big Three of Burnley’scomic book career. [Superman-Batman illo ©1999 Jack Burnley; Superman,

Batman, Starman ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

illustrations, but he was neverreally successful. When I leftKing Features and went intocomics, I took him with me,and he worked as my assistant.He did penciling and inking ofsome of the backgrounds.

RT: He was never interested ina separate comics career forhimself?

BURNLEY: He just got intoit with me; he didn’t have aregular job otherwise, and itjust turned out he was able tobecome a successful inker. Butthat was only through theassociation with me. He knewnothing about comics other-wise.

RT: Comics Interview men-tioned that some of yourinfluences included one of myfavorites, George Herriman,who did Krazy Kat, and BillyDeBeck on Barney Google…also Alex Raymond on FlashGordon, and WilliamGould….

BURNLEY: Will Gould was asports cartoonist. He spent ayear at King Features before Itook over the job. He later dida Dick Tracy type of strip calledRed Barry. But his influence onme was only as a sports cartoonist.

RT: You also mentioned Bill Ripley….

BURNLEY: He was originally a sports cartoonist with the New YorkGlobe in the ’20s. I was still a sports cartoonist when he started doingBelieve It or Not, which started out as a sports cartoon. But it became sopopular that he dropped the sports part.

RT: You did a lot of boxing cartoons. Was boxing a special favorite, ordid you like all kinds of sports?

BURNLEY: When I was quite young, I was interested in boxing andbaseball. I’m one of the only persons around who can say they saw TyCobb, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, and of course Babe Ruth. I used togo to ballgames at Yankee Stadium; we weren’t living too far from there.It was the old Polo Grounds where the Yankees played, and from thetime I was around nine or ten years old, I used to go there, sitting in thebleachers.

RT: The 1920s are often called “The Golden Age of Sports.” Do youagree that it was a particularly golden time?

BURNLEY: I think it was probably the most colorful time….

RT: You’ve said you saw Jack Dempsey fight.

BURNLEY: I saw him work out in an open air stadium, when he wastraining for a fight with Bill Brennan in 1921, and I saw him a number of

times after that. I didn’t see hisactual fights—I was tooyoung—but I saw him workout in the gymnasium.

RT: Jim Steranko’s History ofComics says you got intosports cartoons professionallybecause your sister took youup to King Features.

BURNLEY: Her name wasMartine. My other sister,Elizabeth—who goes by thename of Betty—did the letter-ing for several years.

RT: So you were an artisticfamily.

BURNLEY: I guess. Martinehad done some modeling foran illustrator who used to dowork for The SaturdayEvening Post and Collier’s,which had short stories withsome illustrations. She showedan artist some of my cartoonswhen I was about thirteen. Heliked them and suggested shetake them to Jack Lait, whowas an editor at King Features.Lait liked the stuff. He said,

“Just sit in the art departmentthere, and do whatever youwant. Watch the cartoonists

work; eventually you’lllearn and go on fromthere.” It was just like an

apprenticeship.

RT: Was it your idea,or your sister’s, toshow your cartoons?Were you pushingthis, or was it justsomething shesaw and said,“People oughtto see this”?

BURNLEY:I wanted tobe a cartoon-ist! I wantedto get out ofschool! I felt Icould go rightin and start acomic strip

A past master holding a past masterpiece: This photo, taken a few years ago, showsJack Burnley holding a copy of the 1940 edition of World’s Fair Comics—the first time

Superman and Batman appeared on a comic cover together, and containing his first Superman story.

Jack Dempsey,heavyweight

champion 1919-1927, as drawn by

Jack Burnley.

Jack Burnley 5

right off the bat. I was prettypugnacious at that time.

RT: One of your cartoonsthey printed in Comics Interview was a “So long, old pal” to Babe Ruth.I presume this was done when he died, around 1948?

BURNLEY: Yes. After I left comics in 1947, Hearst offered me a job asstaff sports cartoonist forthe Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. So that was eas-ier for me than comics.Comics were always a dif-ficult thing for me.

RT: Well, you had to drawsix pictures on everypage….

BURNLEY: It was diffi-cult, and I wanted to getout of it, so when I had theoffer to go back to thenewspapers, I took it.

RT: I was surprised to readin Comics Interview thatyou did up samples for astrip called Charlie andJoe, whose boxer hero hadthe last name “Palooka”—it was Charlie Palooka.When was that?

BURNLEY: I was 15 or 16at the time, so it would bearound 1925 or 1926.Anyway, it was before JoePalooka.

RT: And you think there’s a

possibility Ham Fisher saw those strips, beforehe created Joe Palooka?

BURNLEY: That can’t be proved, but I hadgiven some of those strips to Harry Hirschfield,the cartoonist. Hirschfield was a very goodfriend of Ham Fisher. Fisher at that time was asalesman, but he wanted to be a cartoonist. He’dgo in to see Hirschfield often, and I’m sure hesaw those strips. He might have claimed healready had the idea before he saw the strips, butit is a coincidence.

RT: Quite a coincidence. Did you remain asports fan as you grew up, or did you just getmore interested in drawing?

BURNLEY: I was a sports fan. Originally I wasdoing the humorous strips of the ’20s, not theadventure type of thing. I switched to sports car-tooning, which would be more serious, not acartoony thing, but an actual drawing of the ath-lete.

RT: You also illustrated some Damon Runyonshort stories for newspaper syndication….

BURNLEY: That was around ’37 or ’38, just about the time my sportscartoon was discontinued at King Features. My wife Dolores was a verygood friend of Damon Runyon’s. She was a famous dancer and musical-comedy actress. She was a big star in the ’20s. I recently wrote a bookabout her that you might be interested in seeing.

RT: I read mostly history and biography, so I’d love to read it.

6 Jack Burnley

Burnley’s 1948 farewell to The Babe.

Illustrations by “the brilliant Hardin Burnley”—that’s “Jack” to us—done to accompany syndicated stories by Damon Runyon,today remembered primarily because of movies, including the musical Guys and Dolls, based on his fiction.

We can’t get around it. We have to begin with whatseems like an unabashed plug. And maybe it is:

In the works is a new book from TwoMorrowsPublishing: The All-Star Companion, compiled by Ye Editorwith the help of several other prominent fans of the JusticeSociety of America.

One of the highlights of that volume will be more thana dozen pages’ worth of art panels from a never-publishedJSA story written and drawn circa 1946: “The Will ofWilliam Wilson,” with script by JSA co-creator GardnerFox, and art by Martin Naydel, Jon Chester Kozlak, StanAschmeier, and Paul Reinman.

The story of how so many pages of this story—and lit-erally hundreds of other pages of Golden and even SilverAge art—came to be salvaged and preserved is virtually acomic book epic in and of itself.

It’s a story that deserves telling.

Circa 1967-68, a young New York fan named MarvWolfman was just edging into the comic book field. Suchscripting triumphs as Tomb of Dracula and The New TeenTitans still lay several years in his future. In the late ’60s heworked for a couple of summers as an “intern” (gopher) atDC Comics, performing whatever odd jobs needed doingaround the offices.

One of which was to cut up original comic book art-work to prepare it for incineration.

For, believe it or not: Until the early 1970s, DC (anddoubtless other companies, as well) routinely burned alloriginal art once it had been printed, presumably so that nounscrupulous artist or writer (or editor!) could sell entirecovers and stories to some Godless foreign land whichmight re-publish same without paying for the privilege.Also incinerated on such occasions was unpublished art-work, which was often stamped “WRITTEN OFF”: i.e.,DC had decided not to print it, either because a feature hadbeen canceled or for some other reason.

Actually, we need to back up a little, because the

You’ve Heard of the Book Titled “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” Now read—

How Marv Wolfman and Co. Saved (a Bit of)The Golden Ageby Roy Thomas

How Marv Wolfman & Co. Saved (a Bit of) the Golden Age 19

This “Written Off” page of a 1940s Dr. Mid-Nite story, most likely by Arthur Peddy (pen-cils) and Bernard Sachs (inks), is unusual in having four tiers rather than three, but was

rescued during the episode recounted here. Only one piece at the bottom right was miss-ing from the photocopies sent to A/E by Mark Hanerfeld. [Dr. Mid-Nite ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Controversies aside, the stories behind the creations of the majorGolden Age super-heroes are pretty well documented. We know

how Superman, Batman, Captain America, The Human Torch, and TheSub-Mariner were created, among others.

But what about the also-rans and the second-stringers?

Come on, admit it. Wouldn’t you just love to have been a fly onthe wall when they were brainstorming the likes of The Red Bee orSpider Widow? Bulletman or Bob Phantom? Not to mention The Clawand The Comet?

We’ll probably never get the inside scoops on the more minorsuper-heroes of that era. But once in a while, we do get lucky.

It just so happens that the lost origin of one obscure super-charac-ter of the Golden Age of Comics was documented.

The Sky Wizard,Master of Space, had a rel-atively short run as acomics character. Hedebuted in Hillman’sMiracle Comics #1 (Feb.1940). The strip wassigned Emile C.Schurmacher. The SkyWizard was not exactlythe most illustrious cre-ation of the Golden Age.He lasted only fourissues—the entire run ofthat brief title, which hap-pened to mark Hillman’sfirst, brief foray into thefour-color field.

But The Sky Wizard’sorigin has come down tous, thanks to an articlepenned by Schurmacher

himself—not an artist, as you might expect from his prominent signa-ture, but a forgotten writer of that period who scripted large chunks ofMiracle Comics.

In “Action, and How!” (Writer’s Digest, Feb. 1940), Emile C.“Schnurmacher” (note that here his last name is spelled with an “n”)

gives his contemporaries aglimpse of what it’s like tobe a comic book scripterduring the early GoldenAge:

“After some fifteenyears of freelancing on fourcontinents, doing featuresfor newspaper and maga-zines, I thought, reasonablyenough, that I knew whataction meant. I’ve bumpedguys off in anything from500-word shorts to 7,500-word features, depending onwhat the traffic would bear.But that was before I beganwriting for the actioncomics, a field which duringthe past year or so haszipped along almost as fastas the contents of its own publications.

“Take that phone call this morning from Tony Field’s. Tony, whoordinarily seems like a nice quiet gent, edits the new line of actioncomics for Hillman Publications, 7 East 44th Street, New York, an out-fit which started with Crime Detective a couple of years ago and hasbranched out plenty.

“‘That last installment of Sky Wizard is static, no action at all,’Tony growled. ‘Hop over and fix it up!’

“‘Look here,’ I answered indignantly. ‘On page one the terriblegiant Snow Men abduct the heroine. On page two, three of them areblown to bits by sky mines. On page four the villain makes a 50,000-foot parachute jump, and on...’

“‘Yeah!’ hooted Tony. ‘But page three! What about page three?Whatcha trying to do, cheat our readers?’”

Incredulous? A couple of months ago I would have said so, too.But that was before I discovered this new and fast-moving marketwhich pays decent prices and pays ’em promptly for reasons which I’llpoint out.

Tony Field was one of the many pseudonyms for the improbably-

22 The Sky Wizard’s Lost Origins

The Sky Wizard ’s Lost OriginsThe Golden Age Hero That Time—and Everybody Else—Forgot!by Will Murray

Miracle Comics #1 cover.

Miracle Comics #2 cover.

One of the foremost writers from the 1940sthrough at least the 1960s, no doubt about

it, was Robert Kanigher, longtime DC editor andwriter.

Recently, via e-mail, JSA expert Jerry Bailsand I were discussing 1947’s All-StarComics #36 (“Five DrownedMen”), when Jerry came up witha tentative theory about itsauthorship—generally attributed asone of three JSA stories scriptedby RK—as well as a few thoughtson what counts as “creating” acomic book hero. Jerry felt thatinternal evidence indicated that in #36 Kanighermight have been rewriting an earlier, unpublished Gardner Foxscript called “The Men of Magnifica.” (For more about this, seeTwoMorrows’ and my forthcoming trade paperback The All-StarCompanion.)

I duly sent a copy of Jerry’s musings to RK, hoping to prod him intothinking a bit about those bygone days, and received a lengthy mis-sive—a welcome one, despite some of its more arguable opinions. Hereis that letter, followed by a few comments from Ye Writer/Editor.—R.T.

Dear Mr. Thomas:

I received your deluge of detritus yesterday. I’m restless. SoI’m going to reciprocate in my own fashion....

Mr. Bails’ objection that creator-writers’ opinions about theirwork isn’t carved in stone and that readers can disagree segues with anobjection that Rich Morrissey raised in the latestedition that [Robin] Snyder sent me of his Comics. Iwas moved to reply.

To Mr. Rich Morrissey:

I read your highly intelligent and challenging questionin Robin Snyder’s Comics—shot into the air like a bowman atAgincourt. Since of two writers you mention my name, and Ihad my first short story titled “The Night God Rode the El,”published in the Phoenix, a literary magazine in New York,when I was an American schoolboy of eleven and I have beenwriting ever since, I owe you this answer:

I light the lampIn the darknessAnd leave the light behind meFor you to see.

RK

My father was destroyed by the Great Depression. At 12 I had to

work part-time. Later it becamefull-time. I supported them in theirown flat (without their asking me),paying for everything from chew-ing gum to their coffins, 28 yearslater. I didn’t mind the money.My wife Bern’s income as a prin-cipal of a NYC high school wasalways greater than mine.

What haunted me all thoseyears was that I had become theparent of my parents. I was forcedto make decision of life and deathat any moment without warning.

Economic circumstances forced meto answer [Victor] Fox’s ad in the

New York Times for a writer. Afterone sentence from me, he sent me to

W.W. Scott, his editor, as he “liked a manwho can think on his feet.” It was 1940.

I never plotted. One summer I wrote100 pages a week. I never forgot to write

poetry, short stories, plays, novels. And later topaint oils and water colors. Fox eventually fold-

ed, and I was introduced to Dick Hughes [atBetter/Standard/Nedor/Pines]. All I knew is that he

never rejected any of my ideas; but I grew tired of hishaving to go somewhere in the back and get permis-

sion to give me the assignment; so I left.

Snyder knows the name of the woman editor whocalled me to write for Fox again. We “plotted” in her

brownstone apartment in the Village and had a merry time,with her hilarious tales of the people she lived with in the

Florida Keys, who became addicted to Coca-Colaand waited for each ship’s delivery like pantingsheep dogs.

Fox failed again, and I walked into Fawcett’soffices on Broadway. I wrote for Stanley J. Kauffman. Captain Marvel.No plotting. He quit when Fawcett in an economy move made editorsout of secretaries. And I with him. He became drama critic, temporarily,for the New York Times, and I don’t know how I wound up at theabbatoir that Harry Shorten conducted at MLJ.

One day I came in—Shorten was hysterical. Irv Novick was on thephone. He hadn’t received his Steel Sterling script. Shorten asked mewhether I could dictate a finished script over the phone to Irv. I said:“Give me a chair and a glass of water.”

The script is reprinted in my book on writing, asked for by myfriend (whose name escapes me for the moment) who was the generalmanager for Cambridge House, New York, in 1943. My title wasBreakthrough. The publisher changed it to How to Make MoneyWriting for Newspapers and Magazines, Radio, Movies, Stage, Comics

Kanigher on Kanigher 25

Kanigher on Kanigher(and Everything Else!)A Long Letter from “RK”—and Ye Editor’s response

Robert Kanigher, as depicted by artistErnie Colon. [Art ©1999 Ernie Colon]

Magazines, Popular Novels. I could regurgitate when I think of the sheernerve of it. And yet, each paperback sold out at one dollar each. And sodid the following hardcover at three dollars for all of them. Robin toldme some time ago that it cost him thirty dollars for a single tatteredpaperback. I loaned him my only copy until he could xerox it. I haven’tread it.

My friend Ben Raeburn quit and became general manager of ArcoPublishers, whose offices were next door to National’s. Bails saysthey’re “AA” [All-American]. So be it. What did I know about comics?I never heard of Marvel! Either Ben—or Ben induced one of the part-ners at Arco, Dave (whom I later met socially) to do so—introduced meto Shelly Mayer. Ted Udall had quit. His editors were Larry Nadle andJulius Schwartz. There were no assistant editors or secretaries or even aswitchboard operator. We received our calls from Phyllis Reed, in the

waiting room at DC at the other end of thehall. Larry handled the funnies.

I wrote super-characters for Schwartz.Less than two or three minutes for plotting. Idon’t plot. I don’t use a computer. My mind isa computer. Ben timed me. I composed scriptsat sixty words a minute. With two fingers.Hardly any errors. Except when two keyscame up at the same time and got entangled.Bern said I could always get a job as a typist.

Yes, Larry mentioned to me that he had abrother he called Marty, a cartoonist, who diedat the age of fifty from a heart attack. Larryfollowed in his heartbeats much later.

Everyone worshiped Shelly. I thought hewas more of a performer than creator. When hewanted us, he blew on a police whistle. Whenhe asked for more visual dramatics, accordingto my Comics Journal interview (on Page 70,illustrated): “Kanigher’s first use of a ‘cinematicdevice,’ a series of panels that is part pan, partzoom.”

On Page 7 [of that same interview]: “Thetriptych, another classic Kanigher cinematicdevice: three panels consecutive in time, butwith a continuous background. (From OurArmy at War #150.)”

We moved. Larry had an office to himself.Schwartz and I shared the same office, ourdesks back to back. I erected a “Chinese Wall”of books so I wouldn’t have to see his lemonface each morning. But, unlike Mort andSchiff, we never quarreled. We simply hadnothing in common. Except when he neededscripts. An Eskimo and a polar bear had morein common.

We never co-edited a single book. BecauseI created and wrote the western JohnnyThunder and The Trigger Twins, and designedall the covers, fans thought we co-edited All-American Western. But Schwartz was the edi-tor. Toth illustrated Johnny Thunder. He usedto come in at lunchtime for his check, whenSchwartz was playing cards with MiltieSnappin. Toth’s check was in Schwartz’ deskdrawer. It would have taken him two secondsto open it and give Toth his check. A yellingmatch ensued. Schwartz gave Toth his checkand fired him. Thus did DC lose a great talent.

A demonology began to spring up aboutme. Fans thought I fired Toth. Schwartz kept a

craven silence. Snyder finally questioned Toth about what happened.Alex agreed with me. If the fans had a brain they would have seen Icouldn’t fire Toth. (Schwartz was the editor, not I.)

Shelly asked me to write a Wonder Woman. I did. He threw it onthe floor and jumped up and down on it. (My first rejection!) He did hisJumping Jack routine on my second and third scripts publicly. I said:“F—- you!” And left. He phoned me that night and said he andLiebowitz wanted to see me. I deliberately waited a few days and thencame in.

Shelly and [co-publisher Jack] Liebowitz wanted me to be the edi-tor and sole writer of Wonder Woman. They offered me the same salaryas Nadle and Schwartz. I said: “I could make more money at home,writing, without getting out of my pajamas.” Liebowitz said: “We want

This page and next: Two pages from the unpublished third meeting of the Golden Age Flash with firstThorn, then her alter ego Rose, circa 1948. Alas, the glitches in copy and art exist in the photocopies

which are all that remain of the story; they were printed in Robin Snyder’s The Comics! a few years ago.Note that Thorn retains here original, scantier costume on p. 4, panel 4. Doubtless it would have been

changed if the story had seen print. [Story by R. Kanigher, art by J. Kubert. Flash, Rose & Thorn ©1999 DCComics Inc.]

26 Kanigher on Kanigher

When Wonder Woman burst uponthe comic book scene in autumn of1941, she quickly became one ofthe hottest tickets in the field.

As noted last issue, theamazing Amazon was con-ceived by Dr. William MoultonMarston, eminent psychologistwho briefly held an officialposition on DC’s “EditorialAdvisory Board” made up ofeducators, psychologists, special-ists in children’s literature, and ex-heavyweight box-ing champ Gene Tunney. Her exploits were drawn,in a studio operated by Marston, by H.G.Peter.

Her debut came in All-StarComics #8 (cover-date Dec. 1941-Jan.1942), as a nine-page backup to the leadfeature, The Justice Society of America.

Within a few weeks at most,Sensation Comics #1 (Jan. 1942) went onsale, with Wonder Woman as the issue’scover (and longest) feature. Sensation was the right word,because her rise was almost unprecedented. By spring of ’42(with a “Summer” cover date) she already had her own four-story Wonder Woman quarterly. She had started out a year ortwo behind The Flash and Green Lantern, but would soon haveevery DC hero except Superman and Batman eating her ParadiseIsland dust!

And yet…

One lingering mini-mystery of Wonder Woman’s beginnings is thatfirst story in All-Star #8.

Its existence raises several intriguingquestions… and it seems that, at last, wemay be able to answer some of themwith a bit more than guesswork and far-fetched surmises.

The premier question about thatorigin has long been:

If publisher Max C. Gaines trulybelieved Wonder Woman was going to bethe hottest thing since sliced bullets, thenwhy was her origin put into the backpages of another comic before her firstregular story saw print—unlike anyother “star” feature DC introduced in

the Golden Age, either before or after?

That move, after all, cost DC good money.

In a day when a dime was all it could charge for 64 interiorpages, the page count of All-Star #8 was raised by one half-signature to 72 pages.

(A “signature” is a printing term which refers to a sheetof newsprint which, in the process of printing, becomes 16 dif-

ferent pages of a comic; thus, a half-signature would be eightpages. This is why most comics, by the early 1950s, had dropped

from 48 interior pages to 32, and not 40 or some other number inbetween. When a half-signature was used, I’ve been told the other

half-sheet of newsprint often had to be thrown away aswastage. Even if it weren’t, DC was definitely spending

extra money to add eight interior pages to All-Star #8.)

The inclusion of Wonder Woman’s origincouldn’t have been done to “help” All-Star. Not

only was the JSA-starring title one of DC’s new smashhits, but—even more tellingly—there isn’t the slightestmention of the Amazon on the cover, let alone a pic-

ture!Nor was there any announcement at the end of the

56-page Justice Society story about the backup feature.You simply turned the page—and there it was. (Many a

regular All-Star reader must have been quite surprisedto see a backup feature of any kind in All-Star, sincethere had never been one before.)

So what does the lack of fanfare both on thecover and even inside All-Star #8 indicate?

Most likely, that Wonder Woman’s originwas a last-minute inclusion, with no opportuni-ty—maybe even no inclination—to change anycover copy or interior captions.

So whyin All-Star,and not insome othercomic?

Well, for one thing, Gaines waspartnered with DC publisher Harry A.Donenfeld in his All-American Comicsline, which was published under the DCsymbol. Thus, the pure-DC titles (suchas the five Superman and/or Batmanmags, but also Adventure, More Fun,and Star Spangled) were probably off-limits, since Wonder Woman (likeGaines’ two mainstays, The Flash and

30 An All-Star Sensation!

An All-Star Sensation!An Examination of the First Two Wonder Woman Storiesby Roy Thomas

Wonder Woman©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

©1999 DC Comics, Inc. ©1999 DC Comics, Inc.

Green Lantern) was strictly an AA character. All-Star had orig-inally been created to showcase the DC/AA heroes who didn’thave their own titles, so it was an even more logical choice thanFlash Comics or All-American, let alone All-Flash or GreenLantern Quarterly.

If Gaines was hedging his bets by shoehorning the firstWonder Woman story into the back of one of his most populartitles, that suggests he had perhaps a bit less faith in theAmazon’s pulling power than he could have had.

I can see why.

After all, Wonder Woman wasn’t the first costumed hero-ine in comics: August 1941, for instance, had been the coverdate of comics introducing (a) Quality’s Miss America (inMilitary Comics #1); (b) Quality’s Phantom Lady, as well, inPolice Comics #1; and (c) Holyoke’s Miss Victory in CaptainFearless #1. Phantom Lady’s had even been one of severalcameo heads featured on the Police #1 cover.

However, Princess Diana was the first super-heroine whowould be the star of both cover and comic—the focal point, theobvious raison d’être of the new magazine.

She might well bomb. Gaines and company could hardlyhave failed to know that the main audience for comic booksuper-heroes was young boys. Would they relate to a super-heroine—especially since, in those days, she couldn’t be drawnwith her eagle and star-spangled panties barely covering whatthe law disallowed? DC clearly had no intention of trying to

appeal to the possible prurient interests of pre-adolescent (oreven older) males, as Phantom Lady and others would do a fewyears hence.

Ah, but if those selfsame little boys just happened tostumble upon Wonder Woman’s origin in the same book as theall-male JSA, they might get intrigued by her before they had achance to think, “Hey, she’s a girl!”—let alone “Hey, she’s onlya girl!”

This, in turn, might make them more predisposed to pur-chase, shortly afterward, the first issue of Sensation, withWonder Woman emblazoned on its cover.

In addition, it may have occurred to Gaines and/or Mayerthat Diana only appears as Wonder Woman in the origin storyin the final panel. While, in 1940, Green Lantern hadn’tappeared in costume till the end of his first story (and TheAtom not till his second one), Gaines may have wanted thereaders to see more of Wonder Woman in her colorful costumewhen they picked up Sensation #1, not a lot of derring-do bySteve Trevor and some nondescript Amazons running aroundchasing deer and stopping bullets with their bracelets.

Okay, so let’s say the decision to forcefeed WonderWoman’s origin into All-Star #8 was made more or less alongthese lines—and that Gaines figured the extra expense for theeight-page half-signature was a necessary business expense.

Let’s assume he didn’t even mind that, because of a 1/3-page ad for a Lionel Trains Catalog, for the first time the house

An All-Star Sensation! 31

Two slightly marred photocopies of Marston’s script for whatbecame the Wonder Woman tale in Sensation Comics #2.

no. 61

C.C. Beck

From 1941 through 1953, Marcus D. Swayze was a major artist forFawcett Publications, specializing in Captain Marvel and The PhantomEagle, but also being the first artist to visualize Mary Marvel—as hedetails below. His ongoing professional memoirs have been an importantpart of FCA since #54 in 1996.—PCH

When I was a schoolboy, I got a job with the city, painting signs.An uncle, who just happened to drive along where I was cre-

ating some “Caution, Men Working” masterpieces, stopped with a littleadvice. All my uncles had advice.

“D—” (he called me “D”) “—when you paint a sign, first plan it.Decide which word or words are of greatest importance and emphasizethose most… then, the next in importance, and so on. That way you’llhave some parts of your message in big letters, in the more prominentlocations, and others on down the line.”

Uncle Delly was right. He had never painted a sign or rendered awork of visual art in his life, but he was smart. He was talking about anorder of emphasis. I finished my signs that morning with “CAUTION”in big red letters and “Men Working” in smaller black letters.

That incident has stayed with me. Some years later, in packaginggraphics where the “order” was important, I translated it as: “Get theshoppers’ attention first… then tell them the good things about the con-tents.”

What does all this have to do with comics? Well,Uncle Delly’s advice came to mind when I wasdrawing Captain Marvel. C.C. Beck and I weretalking about the heavy contour line… as it, inour work, took prominence over detailswithin the contour. We got around to shad-ing the figure. Beck, the number one pro-ponent of the bold contour, said, “Whentoo many muscles are put on the guy,he’s gonna look more like a CharlesAtlas ad than a super-hero… and thereader is gonna pay more attention tothe muscled figure than what the mus-cled figure is doing! Heh, heh, heh!”Beck rarely failed to throw in that littlechuckle.

My uncle’s advice carried with it anoth-er thought: “First, plan it!” In our businessthat translated to layout, preliminary composi-tion… to thinking before you act.

Of course, there are instances where there is no timeto plan… where you just have to do the best you can in the time

you have to do it.

That was the case in the creation of Mary Marvel.

Creating Mary was a fairly simple task… a face,a figure, a costume… all influenced in one way oranother by Captain Marvel. And right away shewas plopped into her first story, then another,then another. There were no conferences, nojoint skull sessions of any kind. I don’trecall ever being aware of who the firstwriter was. Everybody, however, seemedhappy with the new feature.

Everybody but me. I wasn’t ready forit. Mary wasn’t ready. She had been hastilysketched for approval, but in my opinion shewasn’t ready for the road… wasn’t readyfor panel after panel of appearancesunder inconceivable comic book circumstances.

Call it methodical plan-ning. I never liked to letgo of a character until,through ample prelimi-

nary sketches, I knew the character prettywell. I suppose it was a natural

desire to take care of prob-lems likely to demand

resolution later. But,in Mary’s case,

there wasn’t time for that. It was 1942.Despite its being our first full year of par-

ticipation in World War II, CaptainMarvel was selling like the proverbialhotcakes. Things in the Fawcett comicsdepartment were hectic… but good.

My idea for Mary Marvel was thatshe be of light heart, light hand, lightstep… a wisp of a teenager, never a grim

super-person who might joy in bashingan opponent into a senseless mass, but

who pleasantly and gracefully clipped himwith her dainty fist or foot into slumberland.

In the evenings at home… I called it home, mytiny quarters up Broadway… I began to sketchand make notes… Mary’s features, expressions,angles, lighting.

Her costume… that cape! During phone conversations I

(c) mds

“C.C. Beck called us the unknowns.Rod Reed had called us the forgottenones. I am said to be the most forgot-ten of the unknowns, or the mostunknown of the forgottens. Like therest of the comic book people at thetime I had no idea it would become theGolden Age. Had we known, wouldwe have done anything differently? I doubt it.”

—Marc SwayzeFCA #54, January 1996

36 Fawcett Collectors of America

Marc Swayze on staff at Fawcett, circa 1941-42.

Marc writes: “This wasdiscovered recently in

my old sketches of1942… was never pub-lished.” Well, then, it’sabout time… becauseit’s a real beauty! [Art©1999 Marc Swayze;

Mary Marvel ©1999 DCComics Inc.]

P.C. HAMERLINCK: Richard, tell me briefly about your upbringing,schooling, and when you became interested in art.

RICHARD DEANE TAYLOR: I was born on the LowerEast Side of Manhattan in 1925, the youngest ofthree brothers and two sisters. I attendedBrooklyn Technical High School, a 45-minutetrip from my home in the Bronx. After thefirst two years of classes, studying mechani-cal and free-hand drawing among othertechnical subjects, my art teachers encour-aged me to select the art program as mymajor for the remaining two years. Theirarguments were all the more persuasive asthey had rewarded me with numerous cita-tions and a medal for my first two years ofart.

PCH: How did landing a job with FawcettPublications come about? Who were youinterviewed by? How old were you? Whendid you meet C.C. Beck and the other staffartists?

TAYLOR: During my junior year in highschool, a Dr. Aposdorf, having seen some ofmy illustrated and lettered notebooks, suggest-ed I get in touch with Frank Taggart at FawcettPublications and show him my work. Taggartwas a former student of Dr. Aposdorf and a grad-uate of Brooklyn Technical High School where Iattended. I called him a few days later and heinvited me to come up and see him at Fawcett’soffices with samples of my work. He looked at myportfolio with great interest, but what caught his eye wasmy lettering. At Tech we were required to letterall our notebooks and, needless to say, after threeyears of lettering, I could letter faster than Icould write.

Taggart was so enthused with the quality ofmy work that he suggested we both go in and meet with Fawcett’s artdirector, Al Allard. Upon reviewing my lettering samples, he asked if Iwould be interested in doing some speedball lettering for Fawcett. Hepromptly handed me a set of eight penciled pages of a Whiz ComicsLance O’Casey story, along with a typewritten script. Since I was still astudent at Tech, I did the lettering in the evenings and brought back thefinished pages to his office the following week, after school. The nextafternoon I received a call from Allard expressing amazement and plea-sure at a job well done. What delighted him was the fact that there wasnot one error or correction needed on all eight pages. Their regular let-tering man was so careless that they had to have someone on their staff

proofread all his work and devote valuable time to correcting his manyerrors and omissions.

After this initial job, Allard began giving memore and more pages to letter. During this peri-

od, which was in the early spring of 1942, Imet C.C. Beck and the Captain Marvelstaff, as well as Captain Marvel Jr. artistMac Raboy. As the months went by, Ifound myself spending more andmore afternoons at the Fawcettoffices, chatting with C.C. Beck and

the staff, while watching andstudying them closely as theyworked.

Within a few months I gotup enough courage to beginbadgering Beck about the pos-sibilities of joining the CaptainMarvel staff. At first he scoffed

at the idea, but after I wore himdown, he acquiesced and gave

me a tear sheet of directions tofollow to take “The Captain

Marvel Test,” which consisted ofshowing how I could handle a

watercolor brush with India ink.Beck wanted to see whether I could

produce an interpretative contour line,and if I could draw a figure in action, etc.

I practiced at home until I felt confident indoing a finished brush-and-ink page. When I brought

it in for Beck’s inspection, he was delighted and offered mea staff job just as the summer of 1942 began.This was my first job. I was only seventeen, andmy salary was to be $37.50 a week. Because ofmy age, an official from the state labor depart-ment came to check the working environment

to ascertain that the child labor laws were not being violated.

PCH: After joining the Captain Marvel staff, what, besides lettering,were your exact job duties?

TAYLOR: My job duties with the Captain Marvel stories were workingon foregrounds, backgrounds, villains, and minor figures, inking themfrom approved pencil layouts, and proofing the lettering to correct anyerrors with opaque white. One of the stories I worked on and stillremember was “Captain Marvel and the Lie Detector” [Captain MarvelAdventures #23, 1943]. I had a ball inking Captain Marvel tied up inrope from head to toe. This was such a memorable story that even C.C.

40 Fawcett Collectors of America

The Richard DeaneTaylor InterviewConducted by P.C. Hamerlinck

Fawcett artist Richard Deane Taylor—a recent self-portrait.

I. ABOUT MYSELFMy first paying job as an artist

was drawing cartoon figures on lamp-shades. Rather than print pictures ofpopular comic characters of the time(1928) on their custom-made lamp-shades, the company for which Iworked hired artists like myself todraw figures taken from work by thetop syndicated cartoonists, whosepermission to do so they hadobtained.

Actually, it was cheaper to drawthe characters than it would have beento print them, for the work was doneat rather low piecework rates. I made avery good living at the job, however, and got a good education in car-tooning at the same time.

This education enabled me to get a job with Fawcett Publicationslater, working on their humor magazines Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang,Smokehouse Monthly, and other titles. In 1939 Fawcett got into thecomic book field and I was assigned the job of illustrating three storiesin the first issue of Whiz Comics. These stories, featuring CaptainMarvel, Ibis the Invincible, and Spy Smasher, had all been written byBill Parker, and I simply put them into picture form.

When Captain Marvel was discontinued in 1953, I went back tobeing what I had always wanted to be: a commercial artist and copy-writer. Over thirty years later, however, people still remembered me formy work on Captain Marvel.

II. FAWCETT COMICSFawcett’s Captain Marvel was produced by writers and artists

working separately. The scripts were prepared by the editorial depart-ment, the drawing by the art department. The writers, who workedunder the supervision of a managing editor, had nothing to say aboutthe art, and the artists, who worked under the direction of an art direc-tor, had nothing to say about the stories they were given to illustrate. Inthe thirteen years I spent drawing Captain Marvel, I wrote only onestory (“The Temple of Itzalotahui,” Whiz #22), which had to be submit-ted in typed form and edited and approved before I was allowed toillustrate it.

As Fawcett’s writers, artists, and editorial and art directors were allprofessionals with years of experience in their trades, Fawcett’s comicbooks quickly took over the market, and Captain Marvel and his familyof characters became famous all over the world.

Captain Marvel was a big hit for thirteen years. Then, as timeschanged, his style of comedy and old-fashioned storytelling went out offashion. Loose morals and unrestrained behavior patterns took over, andCaptain Marvel and all the editors, writers, and artists who had worked

on his books disappeared.

III. CAPTAIN MARVEL CHARACTERSBILLY BATSON AND CAPTAIN MARVEL

The first character to appear in the first Captain Marvel story inthe first issue of Whiz Comics was Billy Batson, a homeless newsboy.(Although Captain Marvel appeared in the title splash preceding thestory, he didn’t appear in the story itself until later.) Billy Batson was,although the publisher wasn’t ever aware of it, the real hero of all theCaptain Marvel stories from the first issue till the last.

At one time, believe it or not, the publisher sent down word to dropBilly from the stories, saying that he was only taking room that couldhave been used to show Captain Marvel instead, and that he wasn’t

44 Fawcett Collectors of America

The Captain ’s ChiefThe Original, Genuine, Golden Age Captain Marvel, the World’s Mightiest MortalAs Remembered by C.C. Beck, Chief Artist, Captain Marvel, 1940-53, Fawcett PublicationsEdited by P.C. Hamerlinck (with special thanks & love to Jenny)

A previously unpublishedCaptain Marvel head by

C.C. Beck. [Captain Marvel©1999 DC Comics Inc.]

Beck drew this page especially for the 1974 Orlandocon. See later in the article for references to Dr. Sivana’s penchant for transparent disguises.

[Captain Marvel and Billy Batson ©1999 DC Comics Inc.]