$5.95In the USA

$5.95In the USA

Roy Thomas’Batty

Comics Fanzine

Roy Thomas’Batty

Comics Fanzine

No.51August2005

LEW SAYRESCHWARTZLEW SAYRESCHWARTZ

THE SECRET SAGA OF

AUSTRALIANSUPER-HEROES!

AUSTRALIANSUPER-HEROES!

MARK(BOB) KANE!

--PLUS--The Golden & Silver Ages of

DAVE BERGDAVE BERG

BATMAN ARTIST 1946-1953!

EXTRA:

PLUS:PLUS:

The OF

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Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344.Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA.Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues:$8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. All characters are ©theirrespective companies. All material ©their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter ©Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy& Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

™

This issue is dedicated to the memory ofEd Furness

ContentsWriter/Editorial: The Mark of (Bob) Kane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Batman, Dr. Strangelove, And Everything In Between . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Lew Sayre Schwartz tells Jon B. Cooke (and us) about his multi-media career.

Shooting Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31The life and death of the original Australian comics industry, by Michael Baulderstone.

“He Left This Planet Too Soon To Go To Artists’ Heaven!” . . . . . . . . 53Dave Berg talks to Jim Amash about his days at Fawcett, Timely, Quality, and Mad.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: Remembering Will (Part Two). . . . . . . . 61Michael T. Gilbert has more to say about the late great Will Eisner.

“The Stuff Of Our Personal Nightmares”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Master artist Alex Toth’s further word on night, shadows, and mood in comics.

Ed Furness: “A Witty, Multi-Talented Man” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69A brief tribute by Robert Pincombe to a top artist of Canada’s Golden Age of Comics.

A Talk With Writer, Educator, And Comics Fanatic Glen Johnson . . .71Bill Schelly goes one-on-one with an All-Star from the Golden Age of Comic Fandom.

re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Stan Lee & Michael Uslan on that fabled 1961 golf game—and that’s just for starters!

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #110 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83P.C. Hamerlinck presents Jim Engel, Marc Swayze, Otto Binder, & C.C. Beck.

On Our Cover: “Mea culpa!” Yeah, that’s Latin for “I’m guilty!”—and that’s what Ye Editorconfesses re this issue’s cover. You may have noticed that, both in TwoMorrows titles and in othercomics-related mags, A/E #51 was advertised with a cover showing Batman and Robin attackedin a bat-infested cave by (supposed) Native Americans. The source of that art was the splash of“The Origin of the Bat-Cave!” from Detective Comics #205 (March 1954), which presumablyshowcased the talents of this issue’s major interviewee, Lew Sayre Schwartz. Only thing is,while the ish was in the final stages of preparation, Roy was suddenly seized by a fear that, sinceLew was superceded as Bob Kane’s personal Batman ghost sometime in 1953 by SheldonMoldoff, the penciling might actually be Shelly’s, instead—as indeed was the case, he soonlearned from art expert Craig Delich. Fortunately, a week or two earlier, Lew had mailed Roy aphotocopy of a 1993 re-creation he’d done of the “Gorilla Boss” cover of Batman #75 (Feb.-March 1953), so Roy and publisher John Morrow decided to bite the bullet and go to the extratrouble (and expense—sob!) of making it our cover, instead. You can read more about bothprojected A/E covers on pp. 8 & 18. [Art ©2005 Lew Schwartz; Batman TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

Above: A Lew Sayre Schwartz panel from p. 7 of our cover-featured story, “The Gorilla Boss ofGotham City!” Thanks to Bob Cherry for the scan. Inking by Charles Paris. [©2005 DC Comics.]

Vol. 3, No. 51 / August 2005EditorRoy Thomas

Associate EditorsBill SchellyJim Amash

Design & LayoutChristopher Day

Consulting EditorJohn Morrow

FCA EditorP.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt EditorMichael T. Gilbert

Editors EmeritusJerry Bails (founder)Ronn Foss, Biljo White,Mike Friedrich

Production AssistantEric Nolen-Weathington

Cover ArtistLew Sayre Schwartz

Cover ColoristTom Ziuko

And Special Thanks to:Arthur AdlerHeidi AmashManuel AuadMichael

BaulderstoneAlberto BecattiniJohn BellDominic BongoRoy Bottorff, Jr.Jerry K. BoydGary BrownEddie CampbellArthur

ChertowskyBob CherryGraeme CliffeJon B. CookeHoward Leroy

DavisDwight DeckerCraig DelichJoe DesrisAl DellingesJim EngelShane FoleyRon FrantzRichard FurnessCarl GaffordJanet GilbertTom GillDon GlutAndreas

Gottschlich

JenniferHamerlinck

Bob HughesLarry IviePeter JonesJeffrey KipperHenry J. KujawaJon JensenGlen JohnsonStan LeeStephen LipsonCarol MaundBrian K. MorrisKevin PatrickRobert PincombeDorothy

SchaffenbergerLew Sayre

SchwartzDavid StudhamMarc SwayzeDann ThomasSteve TiceAlex TothMichael UslanDr. Michael J.

VassalloHames WareMorris WeissPaul WheelahanBill Wormstedt

2 writer/editorial

The Mark Of (Bob) Kanehis issue underscores, about as clearly as anything could, theofttimes frustration of putting out a magazine devoted to theGolden and Silver Ages when one is determined not to slavishlypander month after month to fans of the same tiny “A-list” of

artists, writers, companies, and characters whose names they’llrecognize.

Lew Sayre Schwartz, this issue’s major interviewee, is hardly ahousehold name—even in those rather atypical households made up ofreaders of comic books.

The reason is simple, yet paradoxical: Although he drew hundreds ofpages of stories starring Batman and Robin between 1946 and 1953, aspan of seven key years in the early life of one of the most famousfictional heroes of all time, he would never have been allowed to sign asingle story, even if he’d wanted to. Instead, each splash page sported thename “Bob Kane”—and, while Kane apparently did contribute to manyof these tales, it was Schwartz who was their principal artist, as thefollowing interview will detail. (Schwartz went on to do a lot of goodnon-comics work in TV and film and advertising, but though we’repleased to cover it herein, that won’t draw readers to Alter Ego #51.)

So I hope TwoMorrows and I can be forgiven—by the readers andby Lew—for adding Kane’s name to this issue’s cover, since that name iswell-known to comics readers and even, to a certain extent, to thegeneral public. Yet, another irony of the situation is that, according toour publisher, John Morrow, even Kane’s name may not necessarily be a

big draw for today’s comic fans or even to the nostalgically- orhistorically-inclined, because, after all, in artistic stature he isn’tgenerally considered to be in the same league with Will Eisner and JohnBuscema and Jack Kirby and such.

Well, the hell with it. From the moment Comic Book Artist editorJon B. Cooke offered me the opportunity to run his interview with LewSchwartz in A/E, I was sold on the idea. After all, A/E’s franchise isprimarily the hero-oriented comics of the 1940s through the mid-1970s.My mission, if you want to call it that, is to put out a certain kind ofmagazine, not to try to figure out how to make that magazine sell themaximum number of copies. I already did that for years, at places withnames like Marvel and DC.

Lew Schwartz—and, yes, Bob Kane—and, for that matter, the pre-Mad Dave Berg and Australian super-hero comics of the past and OttoBinder and Marc Swayze and Canadian artist Ed Furness—all thesepeople and things deserve your attention, and mine. Frankly, if andwhen the day comes that not enough readers are interested in this typeof material, then ’twill be time to fold A/E’s four-color tents and moveon to other endeavors. Thankfully, that day is not yet… and I hope itwill never come…but I felt I needed to get the above feelings off mychest. Thanks for indulging me.

And now, enjoy the interview with Lew—and all that follows!

Bestest,

• Brand-new color cover by JOE GIELLA, done especially for A/E!

• JOE GIELLA—legendary inker of 1960s Flash, Green Lantern, & “New Look” Batman—and artist on the Batman, Phantom, Flash Gordon, & Mary Worth comic strips—talksabout the Silver Age at DC, the Golden Age at Marvel, JULIE SCHWARTZ, & lots moregood stuff in a great JIM AMASH interview! Featuring rare & lavish art by CARMINEINFANTINO, GIL KANE, MIKE SEKOWSKY, CURT SWAN, DICK DILLIN, SHELLYMOLDOFF, FRANK GIACOIA, DAN & SY BARRY, KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, et al.!

• Artist JAY SCOTT PIKE on STAN LEE & the Timely/Marvel years (Jann of the Jungle,Black Rider, Lorna the Jungle Girl, Kid Colt, & Cold War spy comics)—on Dolphinat DC—and on CHARLIE BIRO’s Crimebuster!

• MARTIN THALL on drawing comics with ROSS ANDRU & MIKE ESPOSITO (Get Lost!),GEORGE EVANS (Captain Video),WALLY WOOD, SIMON & KIRBY, AL WILLIAMSON,CHARLES SULTAN, MAURICE WHITMAN, etc.!

• FCA with MARC SWAYZE & the Fawcett/Charlton Connection—MICHAEL T. GILBERTonWILL EISNER (Part 3)—BILL SCHELLY with GLEN JOHNSON (Part 2)—& MORE!!

TwoMorrows. Bringing New Life To Comics Fandom.TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

#52

A Triptych Of Titanically Talented Golden/Silver Age Artists!

A TERRIFIC TRIO:GIELLA, PIKE, & THALL!

™

Edited by ROY THOMASSUBSCRIBE NOW! Twelve Issues in the US: $60 Standard, $96 First Class (Canada: $120, Elsewhere: $132 Surface, $180 Airmail).

NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE SUB, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

TT

COMING IN SEPTEMBERCOMING IN SEPTEMBER

[Art ©2005 Joe Giella; characters TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

OTE: From 1946 to 1953, Lew SayreSchwartz worked for Bob Kane, ashis ghost on the art to “Batman”stories for DC Comics. But that

was only one phase of a career in the artsthat has spanned half a century. We’ll letJon plunge right into the interview, whichwas conducted more than two years ago,with Lew’s wife Barbara present andoccasionally adding her own perspective—-and we’ll learn about that eventful lifeat the same time you do. Oh, and unlessotherwise noted, all art and photos weresupplied either by Lew, Jon, or —Roy.

“We Piled Into Mauldin’s Jeep”JON B. COOKE: It’s the 18th of March,2003. Saddam Hussein has 24 hours to getout of town.

LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ: [laughs] AndI wish we could turn around and say thesame thing to George Bush: give him 24hours to get out of the White House.

JBC: We’ll see. Where were you born?

SCHWARTZ: I was born in New Bedford,Massachusetts, on July 24, 1926, close to 77years ago. I had one older sister, but shepassed away a few years ago. Other than

that, I have very little in the way of family.My mother and father got divorced when I was

NN

Batman, Dr. Strangelove,And Everything In Between

A Talk With LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZInterview Conducted by Jon B. Cooke Transcribed by Steve Tice

From “Batman” To “Sherlock”A recent photo of Lew Sayre Schwartz in his studio—above two quite variant examples of his artwork.

(Left:) His pencil roughs for the action-packed splashof “The Penguin’s Fabulous Fowls!” in Batman #76

(April-May 1953). (Right:) Lew writes: “I did this seriesof ads [for Blue Streak products] for years.” This oneappeared in the Jan. 1960 issue of Motor magazine.

[Batman art ©2005 DC Comics; Blue Streak art©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

3

ten or 11 years old, and I grew up in not a great neighborhood in NewBedford. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good. Then I went to art school in NewBedford. I’m not sure they’re still in operation; it was called the SwainSchool.

There I met a very interesting young man by the name of RodneyDutcher, whose father had been an extremely well-known columnist forNEA. He was a Washington reporter, I guess. Anyway, Rod wasenormously talented. This was a kid who was reading Nietzsche whenhe was 12. When I thought Chic Young was a fantastic artist—I still do,by the way, in his own way—Rod was already looking at Terry and thePirates, and he really got me into Milt Caniff and, subsequently, NoelSickles and David Stone Martin (who was a spin-off of Ben Shahn).Really, the relationship fed itself, because we loved the same things. Hecertainly helped me develop an appreciation for things I might not havegotten to for another four or five years. I was 13, he was 12, at that time.

Anyway, he was the guy who went to New York with me—in fall of1946, or something like that—when Caniff invited me to come to theNational Cartoonists Society dinner. That was the eventful night wherewe wound up shooting pool with [editorial cartoonist] Bill Mauldinuntil 2:00 in the morning. Mauldin offered us a ride home in his jeep. Wewere grateful, because it was late, thus hard to get a cab, so we piled in.None of us are feeling any pain, and Mauldin takes off down 5thAvenue, against the traffic, and there was enough traffic to make it quitean exciting ride. He went from the Illustrators Club on 63rd Street allthe way down to 34th Street, to the old Prince George Hotel. Mauldingoes down to 34th Street, hangs a right at the hotel, and drives the jeepup onto the sidewalk, up the steps to the hotel, and tries to get the jeepin the revolving door. That’s when we got out. [laughter]

JBC: Did you know Bill Mauldin well?

SCHWARTZ: Not at all. Just from that one night. It was the last time Iever saw him, as a matter of fact. That afternoon, he told us, he hadripped out something like 15,000 dedication pages inscribed to hiswife—printed pages in his latest book—because he found out she hadcheated on him while he was overseas. So that was the Mauldin story.

They had a dinner out in California for Mauldin some years ago, andI had told this story to Ed McGeehan, the editor of CAPS magazine. SoEd approached Mauldin, related my tale, and Mauldin said, “Well, Idon’t really remember it, but it sure as hell sounds like me.”

“When I Met Bob Kane…”SCHWARTZ: [cont’d] In 1946, when I met Bob Kane, who hired me, atthe time he said he and Will Eisner were doing this little baseball comicbook project. Bob paid for it. I never saw a check from Eisner, and I justassumed what Bob said was accurate. It was called Dusty Diamond. Butthe strip didn’t sell. We did both a strip and a comic book. However,two or three years later, Eisner came out with his own baseball comic,with a character named Rube Rookie, quite similar to Dusty Diamond,without a doubt. So that reaffirmed what Kane had said to me, at least inmy own mind. 2H years ago, Will Murray queried Eisner, who said, “Iwould remember very clearly: I never did a damned thing with BobKane.” Now, at that point, I hadn’t met Eisner. My first meeting withhim was about two years ago, when he was a guest speaker inConnecticut, at an NCS dinner.

JBC: You were there? I was there, too!

SCHWARTZ: Were you really? In fact, I have a little videotape I shot.But at any event, I was so thrilled, I acted like a jerk with Eisner.[laughs] It’s funny, but even when you get as old as I am, you can meetsomeone from your past whom you’ve always looked to as a hero, and itbecomes such a dumb, “gee-whiz” conversation. I had a much morecomfortable dialogue with him at the comic con, where I could settle inand talk to him like a human being. But Eisner, right or wrong, does notremember any project, though there certainly are great similarities.

I go back to the business with Jerry Robinson and Bob Kane aboutthe origin of The Joker. I love Jerry. I think I once owned a page of thefirst Joker story. Of a certainty, Jerry lettered it—it looks like hiswork—and maybe he even inked it. But the drawing was pure Kane.Kane drew arms coming out of the hip half the time, and there it was.But that doesn’t diminish the fact that Jerry, being a very bright guy,could have contributed or solidified the whole idea of The Joker. Hetells the story about bringing in the playing cards, etc., but we also haveBill Finger to consider in that character’s creation. [NOTE: See JerryRobinson interview in A/E #39.]

Anyway, Kane gave so damn little credit to Bill Finger over the years,and only reneged and confessed that he should have done more for Billthan he did not long before he [Kane] died. The more I think about Bob,it saddens me. Because he became successful as a kid. He was ten yearsolder than I, but the facts are that, in spite of the fame and the money

“Tinkers To Evers To Chance” (Er, We Mean “Kane To Schwartz To Eisner”!)Lew tells of working on a baseball feature called Dusty Diamond with Bob Kane, who told him that Will Eisner was also involved—though Eisner later insisted he“never did a damned thing with Bob Kane.” In his magazine Egomania, comics artist Eddie Campbell (From Hell, etc.) reprinted this strip which he says “was

produced for Eisner’s Tab – The Comic Weekly, of which only one issue was ever published, in 1947. Dusty Diamond presumably evolved into Rube Rookie by wayof Fireball Bambino. I asked Will about this but remain none the wiser.” Neither are we—but note that the strip is signed at right by both Bob Kane—and “Lew

Sayre.” [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

4 A Talk With Lew Sayre Schwartz

and everything else, it only made him more andmore insecure, because he couldn’t give credit toanybody.

I remember in 1992 or ’93, the last time Ispoke to him, he’d finally got a publisher forBatman & Me, and I said, “Bob, sign a copy andsend it to me.” Then dead silence. I said, “Don’tyou want to send me a copy?” He said, “Well,I’ll send you a copy, but… you’re not in thebook.” I said, “Look, Bob—I only worked foryou for seven years, so it’s perfectly under-standable you could forget seven years. Besidesthat, I had another career and it doesn’t matter tome. But I wonder who else you forgot in thebook.” But credit doesn’t mean anything to me,to be quite honest with you. I mean, I’ve gone onto another life, another existence.

“You’ll Be On TheFlagship”

SCHWARTZ: [cont’d, pointingto photo] This is me in 1947. I’min “The Chair.” [NOTE: Seenext page.]

JBC: Wow! Is that a destroyer?

SCHWARTZ: Yes. I was being transferred to a battleship fromthe aircraft carrier I had landedon, and we went into theDominican Republic, allegedlyto rescue some Americans,because there were a wholebunch of dissentingDominicans who had trained inCuba. Maybe a hundred ofthem. I hitched a ride on one ofthe planes.

I watched this little,unbelievable thing: one hundredguys coming out of these LCIs[Landing Craft Infantry]running up on the shore; half ofthem are only carrying machetes.I’d say maybe 20 of them gotshot down, the rest disappearedinto the jungle. [laughs] That wasthe end of the invasion of theDominican Republic. I’ve neverread anything about it, but I wason a Naval Reserve cruise here,which is what this is all about.

I was working for Rod Willardon Scorchy Smith and came homefor the weekend. I got off the busand was walking home. A buddy

of mine picked me up, said, “Do you want me to take you home?” Isaid, “Yeah, that’d be great. Where are we going, Bernie?” He said,“Well, I’m going down to the Naval Reserve office to look into thiscruise they’ve got to Scandinavia.” So by a strange twist of fate, whenmy friend and I walked into the recruiting office, there were two guys: aboatswain’s mate with all the hash marks, who was running the place,

and there was a full Navy commander.

Well, my friend Bernie had been an aerialphotographer, and he flew over Iwo Jima,Guadalcanal, all those places. I had a much morereserved kind of career in the Navy, although Ispent 90 days flying in the belly of a TPF, whichis not the best duty in the world. But I had aspecialist X rating, which is a journalist. Berniehad a photographer’s rating.

So the commander is standing there listeningto us, comes over and says, “Listen, we coulduse you guys on the admiral’s staff.” Bernie wasan expert on color photography; this is 1947.The fact I was a cartoonist, they all loved that.So he said, “Sign on, I’ll make all the arrange-ments for you, and you’ll be on the flagship, onthe admiral’s staff.” Well, that turned into a B-movie I won’t bless you with here. [laughs] Butif you can imagine, the following week, all our

friends threw a big farewellparty, gave us some luggage, etc.

We go down to Norfolk tosign up to go on the carrier, andthey signed us onto the wrongship. So they put us on abattlewagon. I can’t evenremember the name of it now,but to make a long story short,

Batman, Dr. Strangelove, And Everything In Between 5

The Joker Is WildLew Sayre Schwartz’s (officially Bob Kane’s) splashes for two famous Jokerstories. On the left, from Batman #53 (June-July 1949)—on the right, fromthe tale in Detective Comics #168 (Feb. 1951) that belatedly turned out to beThe Joker’s long-delayed origin. The latter art was also used as the issue’s

cover—one of the relatively few Schwartz covers. Almost all covers featuringLew’s work were splashes which were pressed into double duty. Inks

by Charles Paris & George Roussos, respectively, and the writer of Detective#168 was Batman’s (and The Joker’s) co-creator, Bill Finger—with thanksto Craig Delich & Joe Desris for numerous IDs in this piece. The writer of

the “Hairpin” story is unknown. [©2005 DC Comics.]

“Batman & Me—And Several Other People I Don’t Mention”Bob Kane’s 1989 autobiography Batman & Me is, in many ways, a dishonest book,

starting with the fact that there’s probably as much Jerry Robinson and evenGeorge Roussos in the Batman figure on the cover as there is of Kane. Any claimsmade in the book by Kane (through his surprisingly-acknowledged co-writer TomAndrae) must be taken with a ton of salt. Maybe it’s just as well that there’s noindex, since names like “Schwartz, Lew” and “Moldoff, Sheldon” wouldn’t show

up in it. Even so, the book is worth having for the combination of a few unalloyedfacts and its monumental chutzpah. [Batman ©& TM 2005 DC Comics.]

we come aboard wearingcivvies. Everybody elsewas in uniform becausethey had signed up forthis thing earlier. In thosedays, I was wearingbrown-&-white saddleshoes. Well, the nextmorning, they line up2,000 guys at 5:30, 6:30 inthe morning, forinspection… and there’sone pair of brown-&-white saddle shoes. Wewere on the wrong damnship. [Jon laughs] Theywanted to get at usbecause they claimed wewere impersonatingofficers to begin with. Itwas hell.

By the way, this was 1947, when the Russians were beginning tocrack knuckles. This was a “goodwill” mission with two Essex-classcarriers, four battlewagons, and eight destroyers. It looked like anarmada from World War III, you know? And away we went. Well, whenwe got to Annapolis to pick up the midshipmen, Bernie and I managedto get ashore. I called the commander, and he said, “You guys are on thewrong ship!” So he called the PR guy at the Naval Academy and got ustransferred just in the nick of time. They’d have killed us. [Jon laughs]They hated the Reservists to begin with. There was always a breachbetween regular Army and the Army Reserve, regular Navy andReserve. They didn’t look at you as being “real Navy” guys or “realArmy” guys. I’m sure that condition exists right to now.

By the way, speaking about the Armed Forces, I have a clipping Icame upon from a 1964 or ’65 write-up that Milton Caniff did. It willsurprise you, because you’re well aware that Caniff became a hawkduring Vietnam—he was always supporting the military, but he waswrong and we lost that war. I was with Milton very often in those last

years, and it waspainful to see.Anyway, he hurtbad. He thought

he was a patriot. But what is very, very interesting is the fact that, whenyou read this piece, it’s Caniff’s overview of any war. And it’s completelyperpendicular to everything you may have thought about Caniff.

“Comic Books Were Comic Books”JBC: I was very impressed with the documentaries you produced onNorman Rockwell and Caniff.

SCHWARTZ: Well, they were labors of love. I paid for the Caniff filmwith my own money. [laughs] I owed him, because Milt taught me somuch, and basically was a good guy. I can only think of one instance inthe whole relationship that shocked me a little bit. It had to do with thefact that I could have gotten Canyon back on television very easily. You

know how popular [the military TV drama]JAG is today? Well, I had the right people inCalifornia who wanted to do Steve Canyon.

Good old Toni Mendez, Caniff’s agent,was not part of the deal. I got CliffRobertson and Milton together. At that time,Robertson would have made a great SteveCanyon. Mendez screwed the whole deal.The Mirish Brothers had an option, and sheimmediately called them and killed the wholething. [shuffling through papers] Does thatlook familiar to you?

JBC: That’s it! “Gorilla”! [laughs][NOTE: Lew and Jon are referring tothe much-remembered story “The GorillaBoss of Gotham City!” in Batman #75(Feb.-March 1953). See pp. 8-9. —Roy.]

SCHWARTZ: This is one of my favoritesplashes. I love that one.

JBC: When you were a kid, did you read

Cronkite & Caniff(Above:) Lew with CBS newsman/anchor WalterCronkite. In the magazine VideoPro, this photo is

captioned: “Video Information Applications presidentLew Schwartz directing Cronkite’s introduction of a

video profile on Milton Caniff.” Lew stated in a recentfax to Ye Editor: “Cronkite was notorious for editingeveryone and didn’t change one word of his intro (or

end) of the Caniff profile. I was very flattered.”

(Right:) The cover and spine of the Milton Caniff: A 75thBirthday Tribute video filmed and produced by

Schwartz. [Art ©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

Lew In “The Chair”—& Batman On A Rope Ladder!Sailor Lew being transferred from one ship to another on a

Midshipmen’s Cruise, 1947—plus his semi-finished pencils fora nicely-designed “Batman” splash. [Art ©2005 DC Comics.]

6 A Talk With Lew Sayre Schw

A Local Vacuum (1900-1940)magine if the government banned all ofyour favorite comic books and theydisappeared off the shelves. Imaginewhat might spring up in their place!

Imagine you are a publisher and all of thecompetition suddenly disappears … imaginethe possibilities.

This was no totalitarian censorshipfantasy, but the birth, boom, and bust of theAustralian comics industry.

Comics first appeared in Australia in theearly part of the 20th century, at a time when the country still felt astrong attachment to the mother land of England. Thus the earlyAustralian comics appeared in boys’ papers in the tradition of theirestablished English counterparts. The small tabloid-sized paperscontained text stories, jokes, and competitions as well as comics. Theshort-lived Vumps (1908) may qualify as the first original Australiancomic.

At this time there were no restrictions on the importation of UScomic books, and all of the major titles from the burgeoning USindustry were highly popular in Australia. By the late 1930s a few localpublishers had tried to produce original Australian comics but could notcompete with the volume and comparatively slick production of the USproduct. The relatively small population of Australia could not providethe print run necessary to sustain such competition. Aside from compi-lation annuals of popular newspaper strips like Ginger Meggs and FattyFinn , in essence there was no Australian comics industry in existence atthe time. For local artists and writers, this was a vacuum waiting to befilled.

A Captive Market (1940-1945)The situation changed with the advent of World War II, when comics

in Australia were given an unexpected boost due to the homelandpolitics of war. In 1940 the government evoked the Australian IndustriesPreservation Act, which banned the importation of all US publications.This law, a major act of tariff protectionism, was prompted by severalperceived necessities. Predominantly it was intended for the preservation

of the local publishing industry, but this didnot really include comics, as there was verylittle local product at the time. The act wasalso designed to conserve the country’sstocks of US currency, which were neededfor other wartime purchases and to protectthe scarce supply of paper available forprinting.

By July 1940 all American magazineshad disappeared from the shelves, leaving aheartbroken nation of comic readers. Localpublishers of newspapers, books, andmagazines suddenly recognized the oppor-tunity and responded with a flurry ofactivity. A sudden deluge of locally-created

comics filled the newsstands. The new Australian publications wereimmediately noticeably different from their American predecessorsparticularly in their lack of internal color. All but a very few of thebooks of the period would be published in black-&-white.

What now seems a multitude of publishers entered the comic field;Frank Johnston Publications, Offset Printing Co., Larry S. Cleland,NSW Bookstall, and Henry Hoffman all experienced periods ofintensive productivity. Others such as Invincible Press, KG Murray, andAtlas Publications jumped in after the war. The boom time was a bonusfor creators, too. At one time Henry Hoffman of Adelaide was payingits key artist Doug Maxted a rate of 4 pounds 10 shillings a page—thenthe equivalent of the weekly wage.

Unlike the US with its production shops such as Lloyd Jacquet,Harry “A” Chesler, or the Iger-Eisner studio, Australia had no estab-lished tradition of comic creation. Lacking this existing structure, thenew Australian industry took on a very different approach. A fewcreative teams were formed, but in many cases one person had responsi-bility for all aspects of a given book: creation, story, art, and lettering.This led to distinctive products from each of the different companies,with certain individuals responsible for the look of a particular publisher.In some ways this resembles today’s small creator-controlled lines.

As production boomed, titles multiplied, and schedules tightened, thenecessary innovations began to develop. Alf Headley of Frank JohnstonPublications favored a system where the artist would come directly tohis office delivering the current issue’s pages. Alf would read through

II

In With The Old—In With The New!(Left:) As Michael Baulderstone relates, Australian comics

in post-World War II days were divided between U.S.reprints and down-under originals. Like many of theformer, Century – the 100 Page Comic Monthly #8

boasted a new, home-grown cover—and looked like ameeting of the All-Star Squadron! Here, DC heroes

Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, Speedy, andJohnny Quick hail the reader. One problem with assigningdates to these Australian comics is that they often containno year-dates whatever, though this one was probablypublished during the mid-1950s, since Johnny Q.’s lastGolden Age US appearance occurred in 1954. Thanks toDavid Studham. [Art ©2005 the respective copyright

holders; heroes TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

(Right:) The Panther, one of the best of the all-originalefforts, was written and drawn by Paul Wheelahan. But

again—no precise dates! From Ye Editor’s personalcollection. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

ShootingStars

The Birth, Life, And Death OfThe Original Australian Comics

Industryby Michael Baulderstone

31

these and confer with the artist, then immediately type up a synopsis fornext issue. The artist would then take it off to break down and providedialogue. This approach is very reminiscent of the “Marvel method”developed 20 years later by Stan Lee.

Without any competition in the marketplace, the previously low print runs ofAustralian publications boomed into highnumbers. Another wartime restrictionshaped the nature of the early comics: therestrictions on paper use meant that nocontinuing titles were allowed to bepublished. Thus, the Australian comics ofthe early1940s were all one-shots withexclamatory titles like Amazing, Slick,Victory, Champion, Triumph, Real, Zip,and Zoom. In these ostensible one-shots,stories would still carry over from issue toissue, despite the change of cover title. Thismade following stories difficult for readersof the day and a major headache for themodern collector.

The early comics featured very few ofthe super-heroes so popular in the UnitedStates at the time. Instead, they tended tofocus on real-life heroes, outback adven-turers such as “Trent of the Territory,”reporters like “The Strata Rocketeers,”bushrangers like “Ben Barbary,” or detec-tives like “Dick Weston.”

Although most of the comics had a true-life background, a few early super-types didappear—such as Dr. Mensana by TomHubble (1941). A fine example of better

living through chemistry, Mensanawould swallow an S+ pill when heneeded extra strength, causing hisbody to swell up to Herculeanproportions. Similarly, a M+ pillcaused the Doc`s head to swell upridiculously, giving him telepathicpowers. Clearly, Hubble’s tongue was

firmly in his cheek when he wrote Dr. Mensana: he even provided hishero with elastic-sided underwear to accommodate his growth spurts. Itmust be noted that the early creators had no background or tradition inthe use of sequential comic art. Many came from a cartooningbackground and were more comfortable with a humorous depiction thana realistic one. Hubble is typical of this grouping, and Dr. Mensana isnotable for its somewhat awkward wordiness and cartoonesqueapproach. Still, it has a worthy claim as Australia’s first super-poweredhero.

Typical of the early cartoon style was Kokey Coala and His MagicButton by Noel Cook. A mighty, magical marsupial, Kokey must countas Australia’s most indigenous hero. The little Koala possessed a magic

Diamonds Are Forever!If the hero Spy Breaker looks familiar on the coverof Koala Komics #6—ever hear of Spy Smasher?

Wonder if Fawcett Publications knew about this…!?[©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

It Goes With The TerritoryTrent of the Territory Australian Adventure Comics had a true national flavor, compared to many later

comic books. “Trent” also appeared in the intriguingly-named Cooee Comics. This image, like numerous othersin this article, was reprinted in Bonzer, the comics-history book named after an early Australian comic strip.

[©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

The Doctor Is Out—Way Out!“Dr. Mensana… has a worthy claim as

Australia’s first super-powered hero.” Thiscover of an issue of Dr Mensana, with art

by “Hub,” was featured in both thestandard books about Oz comics: JohnRyan’s 1979 Panel by Panel: A History ofAustralian Comics and Bonzer: AustralianComics 1900s-1990s, edited by Anette Shiell

for the National Centre for AustralianStudies, Monash University. (Minor

grammatical point: like the British, theAustralians generally do not put a periodafter abbreviations such as “Dr” and “Mr”

when placed before proper names.)[©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

32 The Birth, Life, And Death Of The Original Australian Comics Industry

ave Berg spoke the words of the main title aboveabout the great Lou Fine, but they could just astruly be said about Dave himself, who passedaway in 2002. He was one of a handful of

comic book artists who parlayed his talent into a recog-nizable style that made him famous. His views of theirony of life and of the “Lighter Side” of things enter-tained Mad magazine readers for generations. Sincehis comic book career is less well-known, Davefocused in this interview on that, and on his militarycareer. This interview was conducted by mail becauseof Dave’s ill health at the time, but was followed up bya brief phone interview. In order to keep the styleconsistent, I’ve combined both the written and spokenmaterial and eliminated my own questions, keeping thespotlight on a man whose work never failed to please. Dave,the floor is yours—just like it was in Mad for nearly half acentury! —Jim.

“Will Eisner [Finding] Out I Could Write…Changed My Life”

While still in art school, in 1941, I got a job with Will Eisner, doingbackgrounds. Other artists there were Bob Powell, Tex Blaisdell, ChopMazzus [Chuck Mazoujian], Al Jaffee, and Chuck Cuidera, amongothers.

Working for Eisner was an inspiration. He was more like a teacher. Itwould surprise you to know that I was paid about $25 or $30 a week. Itwas the end of the Depression. My job before that only paid $15 a week;I also went to art school at night. A year later, at Fawcett (I did “CaptainMarvel” for them), I was earning over $100 a week.

My original assignment involved doing backgrounds for the Spiritfeature. Will accidentally found out I could write, which changed mylife. He gave me a story to illustrate and I told him it wasn’t very good.Will asked me if I could re-write it. I said I’d try. When Eisner read whatI had written, he said, “You’re a writer!”

I wrote and drew “Death Patrol” [in Quality’s Military Comics], andlater wrote and penciled the first issue of Uncle Sam. That made me feelso proud; the rest of the staff cheered me on. On my first publication, Ireceived fan mail. The Eisner studio at Tudor City was overcrowded, soWill rented another space and sent me there. I didn’t like it, and that’swhen I transferred to Fawcett Comics.

I met Jack Cole one time when he came to tell Eisner that he wasgoing into a new line of art, and leaving comic books. He had beendoing Plastic Man.

Lou Fine had a studio in the same building as Eisner. Lou was one ofthe best artists I ever knew, and a kind gentleman. He left this planet toosoon to go to artists’ heaven.

For a little while, I worked for Ed Cronin at Hillman. He was agentleman.

“I Volunteered… But Was Still Drafted”I volunteered for the service, but was still drafted by my draft board.

In the [Army] Air Force, I was sent for special education to EdgewoodArsenal (Chemical Warfare). I was given a studio where I turned outpamphlets and posters. One very special assignment sticks out in mymind... a new radio was invented for shot-down pilots. It was my job tochoose the color. I got a block of wood, penciled the shape (which wasan hourglass), then brought it to the camp woodworking shop, where aGerman P.O.W. cut it out for me. Did you know the U.S. paid theseP.O.W.s who did a job?

I painted it a bright yellow. They threw it into the Chesapeake Bay.An airplane flew overhead and spotted it; so the correct color waschosen. It was manufactured and distributed to all airplanes. It wascalled the Gibson Girl, after the artist who drew hour-glass figures onbeautiful women.

“He Left This Planet Too SoonTo Go To Artists’ Heaven!”

Quality/Fawcett/Timely/Mad Writer/Artist DAVE BERG In His Own WordsInterview Conducted, Transcribed, and Edited by Jim Amash

53

DD

Dave Berg And His Uncle SamDave Berg in his later years—and a primo page from Quality’s Uncle Sam #1(Fall 1941), on which Dave says he did most of the artwork for and with WillEisner. Thanks to Al Dellinges for finding the Berg photo in an old issue ofthe magazine Reminisce. [Uncle Sam comic hero TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

I also made a comic book to teach chemical warfare, but I was sentoverseas and a civilian outfit took it over.

I have a dark secret and confession to make. In my Mad cartoons, Ioften satirize gun nuts. Yet, while in the Air Force, I was the championmarksman of Charleston Army Air Base. I had competed withthousands of other airmen. I did it using a carbine, but when I wentoverseas, they handed me a submachine gun—a weapon you can’t aim.You point it in a general direction, pull the trigger, and it sprays a widearea.

In the Pacific, a Japanese sub attacked our troop ship. There was apowerful battle; we finally sank the sub. On Iwo Jima, we landed undersniper fire. Air raids were our biggest danger. Our P-47 pilots foundtake-off and landing their biggest problem. I painted various insignias onthe cowlings of the fighter planes.

When the war ended, I was sent as a war correspondent to Japan.That was the most exciting thing that happened to me in the war. As asection chief, I was in charge of 15 or 100 men, depending upon thesituation. My biggest job was supplying water for 500 men; there was nowater on Iwo Jima. The Japanese lost 21,000 soldiers on this ugly little

From Fists To Fraternization(Below:) Sgt. Berg (as artist) and Pfc. Adler (as writer) produced the

mimeographed military publication Fighter Post as “a joint venture” duringthe early days of the Occupation of Japan, according to Arthur Adler. A bio

in that issue said that, “Sgt. Berg, incidentally, in civil life was the creator ofseveral comic strips.” Though this isn’t quite accurate, it probably referredto Berg’s pre-Army art for Fawcett, so below left, repeated from A/E V3#6, isthe cover attributed to him for Captain Marvel Adventures #14 (Aug. 1942).

There’s a startling contrast between the post-Pearl Harbor jingoism of 1941-42 and art drawn only a week or so after the Japanese signed the surrenderdocument aboard the US battleship Missouri in Tokyo Harbor. When Davedrew and labeled his sketches of life in Japan, of course, the unfortunatenigh-universal epithet “Jap” was still in use, alas—but things would soon

get much friendlier, and the Fighter Post cover illustrates the swift change inattitudes. Special thanks to Arthur Adler. [Capt. Marvel art

©2005 DC Comics; 1945 art ©2005 Estate of Dave Berg.]

When The Shooting StopsThe above pencil drawing was also done by Dave for Reminisce a few yearsago, and reflects Berg’s days in uniform in World War II, which were alsocovered in Alter Ego #7. The “Private Adler” mentioned is the same Arthur

Adler whose interview about his postwar comic book writing career appearedin A/E #44. Thanks to Al Dellinges. [Art & text ©2005 Estate of Dave Berg.]

54 Dave Berg In His Own Words

Dreams Of Milk And Honey…began corresponding with Will Eisner in 1978. I was living in theBay Area and drawing comics for underground and groundleveltitles like Slow Death, Star*Reach, and Quack!, which featuredmy first series “The Wraith,” a funny animal Spirit parody.

Quack! lasted six issues. Afterwards, I mailed copies to Will, who sentme a very encouraging letter in return. Will’s approval meant a lot to meas I struggled to build a comic book career.

As it turned out, I’d contacted him at a turning point in his owncareer.

After retiring the Spirit newspaper strip in 1952, Eisner had enjoyedgreat success producing educational comics for the military and otherclients. But the urge to tell more personal stories again had beenbubbling for years. In 1978 the pot finally boiled over, and in Octoberhe produced A Contract With God, sometimes called the first moderngraphic novel. The book actually consisted of four separate storiesexploring Judaism and the meaning of life.

By coincidence I’d also been working on a story with a Jewish themefor Imagine, another Star*Reach title. At 32 densely-packed pages, “ADream of Milk and Honey” was my most ambitious story to date. Itdescribed a group of Jewish settlers in the future, searching for a newhomeland in space after Israel is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. Thefirst part of my story came out a month after Will’s book. I sent him acopy, along with my comments on his own project.

To my delight, I got another note from Will, which said in part…“Congratulations! Your story ‘A Dream of Milk and Honey’ is most

of all an example of the kind of innovation and striving that ismoving sequential art … out of the primordial swamp in whichcomic books have so long wallowed.” Whew! High praise, indeed! Ididn’t know it at the time, but I’d accidentally hit upon a theme nearand dear to him.

Ever the teacher, Will added some constructive criticism to his note:“I have but one major critique: In future efforts I hope you willattempt a more disciplined ratio between art and text. I feel that thetext in some areas overwhelms the art and in some areas the artobscures the text. There should be, I believe, a very carefullyorchestrated balance between the two.”

Solid advice. I may have missed taking Will’s cartooning class in theearly ’70s, but his comments were a pretty nice consolation prize. Andif praise from Will Eisner wasn’t enough, another dream of mine wasfulfilled two years later when I finally got to draw The Spirit!

II Michael T. Gilbert (left) and Will Eisner at Will’sFlorida studio in 2001.

Part Onentroduction: In the fanzine scene in the early 1960s, there werea number of talented artists who added the visual components tobreak up the text—but what about the text itself? This interviewwith article-writer par excellence Glen D. Johnson signals an

attempt to provide some parity to those selfless scribes whose wordsfilled the pages. I had been in touch with Glen when I wasresearching fandom history in the early 1990s, and always wanted totalk to him at greater length. So I was delighted to be able to chatwith him by phone on January 16, 2005. This long-overdue interviewwas transcribed by Brian K. Morris, and edited to final form by myfriend and colleague Jeffrey Kipper.

BILL SCHELLY: I was reading some of your past letters and pieces insome old fanzines, and noticed you referred to yourself once as “oneof the older fans in the ’60s,” as opposed to the younger fans. But youwere only 27 in 1964. When and where were you born?

GLEN JOHNSON: I was born in Mackintosh, Minnesota, March 20,1937. I’m the oldest of nine, quite a clan. My dad was a constructionworker. He died when I was in my late teens. I grew up in Superior,Wisconsin, and went to college at University of Wisconsin there. When Iwent to college, [chuckles] I had no idea what I was going to do or be. Iended up with a major in Education and a minor in P.E. I played footballin high school and starred on the team my senior year. I was somewhatathletic.

BS: What were the first comics that you were aware of?

JOHNSON: I vividly remember buying All-Star Comics #36, the issuethat guest-starred Superman and Batman with the Justice Society. I hadbought comics before that, but I don’t remember any as distinctly as Iremember buying that one, bringing it home, and reading it. So, I startedfollowing All-Star. Since this started when I was very young, it wentdeeply with me.

BS: How did your comics interests develop over time? Were youbuying them for yourself or were your parents buying them for you?

JOHNSON: I bought them for myself and, in my neighborhood, wetraded a lot. We kids would try to get the most out of our dime. When Iwas a kid, I was just a casual collector. I only became heavily involved incollecting and fandom as an adult. I started out mainly as a super-herofan, and of cowboys to a lesser degree. Westerns were a big trend in thelate 1940s. But I was always more interested in Western movies than theWestern comics.

BS: Did you write much when you were a kid?

JOHNSON: Never. I was aterrible writer. In fact, I would saythat wanting to write about comicbooks really inspired me to becomea somewhat better writer. Until Ibecame interested in comics, Inever had much interest inreading. For example, I had neverread an Edgar Rice Burroughsbook until I became interestedin comics. Once I became inter-ested in comics, I got thecomplete Burroughs series andread those. But that was much later, I think, than most people readthose. I was probably between 24 and 27.

BS: It seems that you’re a little different than most, in that your realfire for comics came after you became an adult.

JOHNSON: Right. When I was working on the railroad in ’56, I was arelief clerk. This was around the time Showcase #4 with The Flash cameout. I would be working away from home, and I’d go to the dime storeto buy the current Showcase, for example. After I would read it, I wouldleave it in a park on a bench so some little kid could come along and getsome benefit from it. I enjoyed it, but I never even thought aboutcollecting until later.

That began to change after I discovered comics fandom in the early’60s. Jerry Bails had a letter printed in an early Brave and the Bold[“Justice League of America”] comic, and he stated he had a completecollection of All-Star Comics. I wrote him and asked if he could sendme his complete All-Star collection so I could read it and I’d return it tohim. [laughs] I was a bit naïve.

BS: How did he respond?

JOHNSON: He sent me a copy of Alter-Ego #2.

BS: I see this connects up, because I have in front of me a letter thatyou wrote to Jerry on Sept. 19, 1961. He sent it to me some time ago.Were you working for the railroad at that time?

JOHNSON: Yes, and going to college. So, my correspondence withJerry started after Alter-Ego #2. When he sent it to me, it came with aletter. When I received that Alter-Ego, I saw The Spectre on the coverand I just flipped out. I was able to remember him from my childhood.Soon after that I ordered All-Star Comics #15 and 18 from Bill Thailing.I didn’t order a lot of old comics because I couldn’t afford them, butthose were the first two. “JSA” has always been my main interest. Itbranched out from there.

BS: That certainly explains your writing for Alter Ego when Roy was

71

A Talk With Writer, Educator, & Comics Fanatic

GLEN JOHNSONby Bill Schelly

Comic Fandom Archive

II

Glen Johnson—Comic Reader!This photo of Glen Johnson, looking urbane with his pipe, appeared in Alter Ego[Vol. 1] #8 in 1965. At around the same time, Glen was editing and publishingthe newszine The Comic Reader—for which fandom artist Biljo White did the

drawing at right of Pete Morisi’s Charlton hero, Judo Master. [Art ©2005 Estateof Biljo White; Judo Master TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

The Monster Society of Evil by Jim Engel[Art ©2005 Jim Engel; characters TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

No. 110August 2005

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was atop artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvelcharacter sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustratedher earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “CaptainMarvel Introduces Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures #18,Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illus-trate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics andCaptain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvelscripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving theservice in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce artand stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home.There he created both art and story for The Phantom Eagle in WowComics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip forBell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton).After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork forFawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweetheartsand Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marcmoved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comicscareer in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs havebeen FCA’s most popular feature since his first column appeared inFCA #54, 1996. Last issue Marc recalled some of the art techniques heused while working on Flyin’ Jenny with Russell Keaton. In thisissue, he tells of a time when Captain Marvel got him out of a jam!—P.C. Hamerlinck.]

A Fawcett decision in 1941 that all Captain Marvel art be prepared“in house” led to the employment of Chic Stone, Ray Harford, and BobBoyajian. They were followed by Al Fagaly and Ed Robbins.

Both Fagaly and Robbins can be remembered as having gone on togreater fame with syndicated newspaper features … Al with writerHarry Shorten on There Ought to be a Law! and Ed with MickeySpillane’s Mike Hammer.

I don’t recall seeing Al Fagaly much after thatperiod … but I do remember Ed Robbins … andone particular evening in 1944!

It couldn’t have been more than a week or soafter my discharge. I was still in uniform. So wasEd. We were on our way to visit an artist friend,Al McLean, over on the eastern side ofManhattan. On the route we stopped at a coupleof places, a bottle shop and a deli.

McLean was doing a newspaper strip featuringa little girl character called Patsy. When wearrived he put it aside as we unloaded our goodies.In a short time some cordial neighbors showedup, a guitar was brought in … and we had a grandold evening.

I don’t know where Ed Robbins was staying at thetime, but I must have been at the Dixie Hotel … becauseit was in that vicinity that I was later stopped by a coupleof M.P.s … Military Police. There followed a series ofstupid, I thought, questions during which I made themistake of smarting off. I don’t know why I did thingslike that!

“How long you been in the Service?” I was asked.

“How long you been?” I countered. I felt I had theright. He had asked me that!

“Five years,” he answered, squaring his shouldersproudly.

“Five years!” I responded. “And still only a Corporal?” That didn’thelp matters a bit.

Details of the discharge process were such that the official documentaccompanied the application for military pay due the serviceman. Itmeant that for several weeks following discharge, the individual carriedat best only a photostatic copy of the original. To minimize the text here,I was standing before the M.P. on 42nd Street at some weird A.M. hour,in uniform, with no pass, no furlough, and no official discharge papers.Not good.

“Hey, look at this!” the M.P. called to his companion. “A phonydischarge! We’ve got one here!”

With that we began our march up the street.

On the way to wherever we were going, we were joined by anotherpair of M.P.s with several more innocent fun-lovers in uniform.

When we reached our destination … that place! I’ll never forget thatplace! Something like an oversized second floor Manhattan apartment …done over in contemporary hoosegow! At one end were two clutteredtables behind which sat a couple of weary-looking lieutenants … busyquestioning a long line of unkempt G.I.s, one by one.

At the other end … hold on for this … chain link fencing stretchedfrom wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Behind it … oh, those poor, dismalguys! I did not want to be in that cage … ever!

From my place in the line I began a mental list of those who could becalled to identify me. But I didn’t know where the people with whom Iworked lived! The “list” rapidly dwindled to my father back home …1500 miles away! And what could Papa tell them … that I had been agood little boy? I had to face it … there wasn’t a soul I could call to getme out of this!

(c) mds[Art & logo ©2005 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2005 DC Comics]

By

[Art & logo ©2005 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel ©& TM 2005 DC Comics]

Captain Marvel saves the day, in a Swayze-drawn panel from “Capt. Marvel Gets The Heir,” in Captain Marvel Adventures #40 (Oct. 1944)…the same year Cap got Marc Swayze himself

out of a mess! [©2005 DC Comics.]

84

he following essay—written bychief Golden Age CaptainMarvel/Marvel Family scribe OttoBinder—gives an overview of Otto’s

staggering output during his comic bookcareer. The piece was originally published inDon Glut’s 1963 Shazam Annual fanzine.Don himself went on to become a prolificcomics and television writer; he even wrotefor the 1970s live-action Shazam! TV series,and in recent years has written, produced,and directed instant cult films such asDinosaur Valley Girls, et al. Thanks to Donfor granting us permission to reprint Otto’sinformative article. —P.C. Hamerlinck.

Comics CycloneIn the spring of 1941, I yelled “SHAZAM!”

and changed from a normal pulp author intothe Writing Fiend. Unlike the costumedcharacters I wrote about, I did not return to myhuman form for some twenty years.

During that incredible (even to me) time from 1941 to 1960, no lessthan 2,465 comics scripts spewed from four worn-out typewriters. Anaverage of about 125 stories per year, ranging from 6 to 18 pages each(18-page stories were not uncommon in the early days when the 64-pagecomic books flourished).

“Fantastic” is perhaps the word for the total number of pages written,with 5 to 8 panels each—32,000 pages all told, equal to 1,000 full 32-pagemagazines of recent years. My greatest productive year was 1944 (undera 1-B plus 3-A draft classification including OWI deferment), in which228 tales were churned out on a smoking machine that I last remembermelting away completely.

As to the total number of words banged down on paper—not onlythe visible few lettered in as captions and dialog but all the unseen-by-reader descriptions to the artist—I cannot guess. Nobody would believeit—including myself. I woke out of a daze around 1960, realizing I hadin effect been a one-man assembly line for stories. A Shazamivac, so tospeak, more closely related to the computer than to flesh-and-bloodpeople. I sometimes think the 7090 data processor might have brokendown under the workload.

Why didn’t I? I did, for a period of some eight months around 1950.I had a bad and confused time reorienting my bruised psyche. But thenmy rested brain circuits got to clacking again and it was back to the oldgrind. We consoled ourselves, whenever hurried scripters met, by callingit the “Golden Rut.” Name credit, no. Fame, no. Satisfaction, no. Pride,

Otto Binder wrote 144 “Marvel Family” stories(as well as many backup solo stories that

appeared in the pages of The MarvelFamily), and created Uncle Marvel. This is

the C.C.Beck/Pete Costanza cover for MarvelFamily #8 (Feb. 1947). The photo of Otto

at right first appeared in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #9in 1965. [©2005 DC Comics.]

TT

From Fiction To Factual Fantasyby Otto O. Binder

Edited for FCA by P.C. Hamerlinck

Otto Binder’s famous creation, the world’s most human-like talking tiger,Mr. Tawny, needs the help of his old friend Captain Marvel again. C.C. Beckonce said that Otto had “the soul of Mr. Tawny.” Cover of Captain Marvel

Adventures #86 (July 1948) drawn by Beck. [©2005 DC Comics.]

86

Fictionby C.C. Beck

Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

II

[Originally presented in FCA #23/FCA/SOB #12, Feb./Mar. 1982]

Fiction is not life. Fiction shows things the way they ought to be,not the way they are.

—OTTO BINDER

ccording to the dictionary, fiction is the creation of imaginationand does not imply an intent to deceive. Fabrication, thedictionary says, is definitely meant to deceive. In both cases lies

are being told, but the creator of fiction does not want anyone to believehim, while the inventor of fabrication does. Fairy tales are fiction, butmany advertising claims, political speeches, and some religions are fabri-cations.

Stories about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny arenot meant to be believed. Those who tell them with perfectly straightfaces to little children are malicious, evil people. They do not believe thestories themselves, but they expect their listeners to believe them. Storiesabout the bogeyman, the devil, guardian angels, ghosts, and such areoften believed by the storytellers themselves. Such storytellers aredangerous; they sometimes become the leaders of strange cults anddestructive movements. There are always far more people ready tobelieve any kind of outrageous fabrication than there are people ready toaccept the truth about anything.

In comics, as long as the art remains unrealistic, nobody will take thestories seriously. Even little children know that real people do not have

Quoth Beck: “In Otto’s stories the characters were not realistic…. They livedonly in the fictional world of the comics.” A scene from the Mr. Mind serial

by Fawcett’s Golden pair. [©2005 DC Comics.]

Ironically, Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger, was Otto Binder’s most human-likecharacter. A panel from Binder and Beck’s Mr. Tawny syndicated comic strip

samples. They were told it was too “comic” to be in a newspaper strip.[©2005 Estates of Otto Binder & C.C. Beck.]

AA

90

ALTER EGO #51Golden Age Batman artist/BOB KANE ghost LEW SAYRESCHWARTZ interviewed, Batman art by JERRY ROBINSON,DICK SPRANG, SHELDON MOLDOFF, WIN MORTIMER, JIMMOONEY, and others, the Golden and Silver Ages ofAUSTRALIAN SUPER-HEROES, Mad artist DAVE BERG inter-viewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WILL EISNER, BILL SCHELLY,and more!

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