Issuu

Roy Thomas’ Foxy Comics Fanzine

7.95

No.101

In the USA

May 2011

WHO’S AFRAID OF

VICTOR FOX? STARRING: EISNER • IGER BAKER • FINE • SIMON • KIRBY TUSKA • HANKS • BLUM et al.

82658 27763

EXTRA! THE GOLDEN AGE OF

JACK MENDELSOHN

Edited by ROY THOMAS The greatest ‘zine of the 1960s is back, ALL-NEW, and focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America, featuring the archives of C.C. BECK and recollections by Fawcett artist MARCUS SWAYZE), Michael T. Gilbert’s MR. MONSTER, and more!

2011 EISNER AWARD Nominee Best Comics-Related Journalism

Other issues available, & an ULTIMATE BUNDLE with all issues at HALF-PRICE!

ALTER EGO #90

ALTER EGO #91

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #92

ALTER EGO #93

ALTER EGO #89

HARVEY COMICS’ PRE-CODE HORROR MAGS OF THE 1950s! Interviews with SID JACOBSON, WARREN KREMER, and HOWARD NOSTRAND, plus Harvey artist KEN SELIG talks to JIM AMASH! MR. MONSTER presents the wit and wisdom (and worse) of DR. FREDRIC WERTHAM, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with C.C. BECK & MARC SWAYZE, & more! SIMON & KIRBY and NOSTRAND cover! (100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #94

BIG MARVEL ISSUE! Salutes to legends SINNOTT and AYERS—plus STAN LEE, TUSKA, EVERETT, MARTIN GOODMAN, and others! A look at the “Marvel SuperHeroes” TV animation of 1966! 1940s Timely writer and editor LEON LAZARUS interviewed by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, the 1960s fandom creations of STEVE GERBER, and more! JACK KIRBY holiday cover!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL! Big FCA section with Golden Age artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO, and interviews with the FAWCETT FAMILY! Plus Part II of “The MAD Four-Color Wannabes of the 1950s,” more on DR. LAURETTA BENDER and the teenage creations of STEVE GERBER, artist JACK KATZ spills Golden Age secrets to JIM AMASH, and more! New cover by ORDWAY and SQUEGLIO!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY, PART 3! DC’s Sword of Sorcery by O’NEIL, CHAYKIN, & SIMONSON and Claw by MICHELINIE & CHAN, Hercules by GLANZMAN, Dagar by GLUT & SANTOS, Marvel S&S art by BUSCEMA, KANE, KAYANAN, WRIGHTSON, et al., and JACK KATZ on his classic First Kingdom! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER’s fan-creations (part 3), and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo—1961 to 1985!” with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, ANDERSON, DELBO, ANDRU, BUCKLER, APARO, GRANDENETTI, and DILLIN, interview with Golden/Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and a new cover by INFANTINO and AMASH!

“Earth-Two Companion, Part II!” More on the 1963- 1985 series that changed comics forever! The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #95

Marvel’s NOT BRAND ECHH madcap parody mag from 1967-69, examined with rare art & artifacts by ANDRU, COLAN, BUSCEMA, DRAKE, EVERETT, FRIEDRICH, KIRBY, LEE, JOHN and MARIE SEVERIN, SPRINGER, SUTTON, THOMAS, TRIMPE, and more, GEORGE KASHDAN interview conclusion, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more! Cover by MARIE SEVERIN! (84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #96

Focus on Archie’s 1960s MIGHTY CRUSADERS, with vintage art and artifacts by JERRY SIEGEL, PAUL REINMAN, SIMON & KIRBY, JOHN ROSENBERGER, tributes to the Crusaders by BOB FUJITANE, GEORGE TUSKA, BOB LAYTON, and others! Plus an interview with MELL LAZARUS, FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more! Cover by MIKE MACHLAN! (84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

ALTER EGO #97

ALTER EGO #98

ALTER EGO #99

The non-EC Horror Comics of the 1950s! From Menace and House of Mystery to The Thing!, we present vintage art and artifacts by EVERETT, BRIEFER, DITKO, MANEELY, COLAN , MESKIN, MOLDOFF, HEATH, POWELL, COLE, SIMON & KIRBY, FUJITANI, and others, plus FCA , MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, and more, behind a creepy, eerie cover by BILL EVERETT!

Spotlight on Superman’s first editor WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, longtime Krypto-editor MORT WEISINGER remembered by his daughter, an interview with Superman writer ALVIN SCHWARTZ, art by JOE SHUSTER, WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN, AL PLASTINO, and NEAL ADAMS, plus MR. MONSTER, FCA (FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA), and a new cover by JERRY ORDWAY!

GEORGE TUSKA showcase issue on his career at Lev Gleason, Marvel, and in comics strips through the early 1970s—CRIME DOES NOT PAY, BUCK ROGERS, IRON MAN, AVENGERS, HERO FOR HIRE, and more! Interview with 1950s Timely/Marvel editor AL SULMAN (“personal associate of STAN LEE!”), MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and more!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

Vol. 3, No. 101 / May 2011 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich

Proofreader

NOW WITH 16 PAG ES OF COLOR!

Rob Smentek

Cover Artist

Contents

David Williams

Cover Colorist Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to: Rob Allen Heidi Amash Bob Andelman Henry Andrews Ger Apeldoorn Jim Beard Robert Beerbohm John Benson Dominic Bongo Bill Bossert & Ulla Neigenfind-Bossert Glen Cadigan Dewey Cassell Mike Catron “Tim Comic” Chet Cox Al Dellinges Leonardo De Sá Michaël Dewally Jay Disbrow Don Marstein’s Toonopedia Jules Feiffer Michael Feldman Shane Foley Stephan Friedt Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database Ernesto Guevara David Hajdu Jennifer Hamerlinck Heritage Comics Archives Daniel Herman/ Hermes Press

Allan Holtz/ “Stripper’s Guide” Sean Howe Bob Hughes Greg Huneryager Paul Karasik Denis Kitchen Richard Kyle Susan Liberator Edgar Loftin Jim Ludwig Richard & Pat Lupoff Bruce Mason Jack Mendelsohn Brian K. Morris Frank Motler Will Murray Jake Oster Ken Quattro Barry Pearl Matthew Peets Gene Reed Tony Rose Eric Schumacher Darci Sharver David Sim Desha Swayze Marc & June Swayze Daniel Thingvold Dann Thomas Dorothy Tuska Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Greg Whitmore David Williams cat yronwode

Writer/Editorial – A Fanzine Is As A Fanzine Does . . . . . . . . 2 The Education Of Victor Fox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Richard Kyle’s acclaimed 1962 look at Fox Comics—and some reasons why it’s still relevant!

Superman Vs. The Wonder Man 1939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Ken Quattro presents—and analyzes—the testimony in the first super-hero comics trial ever.

“Cartooning Was Ultimately My Goal” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Jim Amash commences a candid conversation with Golden Age writer/artist Jack Mendelsohn.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! The Mystery Of The Missing Letterer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Michael T. Gilbert begins his quixotic quest in search of classic Spirit letterer Abe Kanegson.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #160 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 On Our Cover: Recently, alert reader Greg Whitmore sent us a commission drawing done for him by pro artist David Williams, who has drawn such features as Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and X-Men: First Class (though not Spider-Man, as we mistakenly wrote last issue). Ye Editor contacted David, who was kind enough to pencil and ink a grouping of 1940s Fox Comics heroes for us, complete with a nice angle on the most aesthetically pleasing of the company’s logos. To contact David, see p. 74. [Blue Beetle & Phantom Lady now TM & ©2011 DC Comics; art of Wonder Man, The Flame, Samson & David, & Rulah ©2011 David Williams.] Above: Okay, so Blue Beetle and Phantom Lady are the longest-lasting heroes launched by Victor Fox’s 1940s line… and The Wonder Man raised the first super-hero brouhaha as early as ’39—but in the last few years it’s been the mysterious and unique artist Fletcher Hanks and his creations, especially “Stardust,” who’ve caused the biggest stir, seven decades after the fact—thanks to a pair of books by Paul Karasik (as noted on p. 17). So we decided Stardust belonged on our contents page. Thanks to Paul for this panel from Fantastic Comics #11 (Oct. 1940). Believe it or not, the hoodlum above was still alive in the next panel! [©2011 the respective copyright owners.]

Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year 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. Eight-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $85 Canada, $107 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 & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

A Fanzine Is As A Fanzine Does M aybe, as we begin our second hundred issues, it’s finally time to answer the musical question: Exactly what is a “fanzine,” anyway—and does this third volume of Alter Ego really fit the description? Let’s start out with a trio of definitions:

Wikipedia: “A fanzine (portmanteau of ‘fan’ and ‘magazine’ or ‘-zine’) is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest.” www.messageinabox.tacticaltech.org/glossary: “A small-circulation print publication of original or appropriated texts and images usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock, made by people who are not professional magazine book publishers but want to communicate their passion for the subject.” Vet.com’s encyclopaedia: “Fanzine is slang for a cheaply produced specialist magazine.” Alter Ego certainly passes most (though not all) of those tests. “Nonprofessional”? We’ll have to get back to you on that one. “Nonofficial”? We’ve got that well covered. We’ve no axe to grind either for or with Marvel, DC, or any other company, past or present.

So why did I keep the word “fanzine” when reviving A/E in 1998?

Because I wanted to communicate that the spirit of a fanzine—a term coined circa 1940-41 by a nascent science-fiction fandom and adopted by comics fandom in the early ’60s—was alive and well. We think it still is— even if we try to combine that spirit with a genuine interest in historical scholarship beyond pure fannishness.

Look at Richard Kyle’s “Education of Victor Fox,” from a 1962 sf fanzine. He had nothing but his own memory and a few moldering Fox comics to draw on, yet made it far more than just a nostalgia piece, which is why it’s reprinted here—albeit with 2011 captions to relate a bit of what we’ve learned in the past half century. (And although it merely made me determined to carry a true Fox Comics history in A/E sometime soon!) As for Ken Quattro’s study of the 1939 DC-vs.-Fox lawsuit, I suspect few if any writers could’ve done a better job analyzing that case, providing context related to Victor Fox and other participants. Ken had also helped bring the testimony to light, yet he originally approached the subject as a fan of Will Eisner—and he published his first findings on his blog The Comics Detective, the online equivalent of a fanzine. And he did it without even the slight profit motive that TwoMorrows and I have.

“Fans of a particular cultural phenomenon”? Yep—of comic books in general—and heroic comics in particular.

(That’s another aspect of some definitions of “fanzine”: that it shouldn’t be intended to turn a profit. By those lights, A/E and indeed most comics fanzines lost their virginity back in the 1960s.)

“Small-circulation”? A relative term. The recent DC incarnation of Infinity, Inc. sold just a few times better than an average A/E issue.

So, with your indulgence—I think Alter Ego will go on using the appellation “fanzine” through issue #200.

“Want to communicate their passion for the subject”? Yeah, that’s us.

Bestest,

“[C]heaply produced”? Well, “cheap,” too, is a relative term. So A/E passes muster in most areas—till you get to that matter of “nonprofessional.” TwoMorrows, though a small-press publisher, sells some of its product in regular bookstores. And of course neither Michael T. Gilbert, Jim Amash, nor I can be considered “nonprofessionals” in the comics field.

P.S.: In light of the above, it’s ironic that we must offer our apologies to Bill Schelly that the conclusion of his interview with 1960s fan-artist Rudi Franke had to be delayed till next issue, due to the volume of Fox coverage. Our letters section, too, had to be bumped.

COMING IN JUNE

102

THE EMERALD SPOTLIGHT FALLS ON

GREEN LANTERN —TWICE!

• Cover featuring the Green Lanterns of two eras! Previously unpublished drawings by 1940 co-creator MART NODELL—and 1959 co-creator GIL KANE (inked by TERRY AUSTIN)! • MART NODELL tells his story in his own words, with unseen art (and no, we haven’t forgotten BILL FINGER & SHELLY MAYER)! WILL MURRAY relates the creation of the Silver Age GL by GIL KANE, JOHN BROOME, & JULIUS SCHWARTZ! • Rare GL art and artifacts by INFANTINO • REINMAN • HASEN • ADAMS, et al.! • JACK MENDELSOHN on Ziff-Davis, Panic, Mad, Jackys Diary, et al.—Part II of the interview conducted by JIM AMASH! • BOB (Archie creator) MONTANA & the model for BETTY COOPER—by SHAUN CLANCY! · Plus—FCA—MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s Comic Crypt—RUDI FRANKE Part II by BILL SCHELLY (at last!)—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS DC Green Lantern TM & ©2011

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The Education Of Victor Fox Number Eight In The Series “All In Color For A Dime” (1962) by Richard Kyle

A/E

Editor’s Introduction: As I stated back in A/E #20’s extensive coverage of Dick & Pat Lupoff ’s landmark science-fiction/comics fanzine Xero and its seminal comics history/nostalgia series “All in Color for a Dime,” Richard Kyle’s article “The Education of Victor Fox” in Xero #8 was in many ways the best of the lot. And that’s going some, since it had competition from “AICFAD” pieces written by Don Thompson, Ted White, Jim Harmon, and Lupoff himself, among others. Most amazing about Kyle’s piece was the way it carried you along with it even while, by his own admission, the author was making deductions on the fly about a little-known, long-defunct comics company and its enigmatic publisher. When I finished reading the article that day in 1962, I felt as if I’d been given a guided tour of both Fox Comics—and the devious mind of its somewhat shady head honcho.

In the second half of the ’60s, when I’d become a Marvel writer and editorial assistant, I learned from production manager Sol Brodsky that he had once worked for Victor Fox. I loaned him my copy of Xero #8 and suggested he read its article on Fox Comics. He did—and he told me a few days later that he felt Richard Kyle had captured what Sol felt was the essence of both seedy publisher and seedy comics company. It was high praise—for a considerable accomplishment. For all the reasons suggested above, I decided that, even though Bill Schelly had reprinted the vintage study in his trade paperback Comic Fandom Reader (Hamster Press, 2002), “The Education of Victor Fox” should be re-presented in the pages of Alter Ego, just as originally published— though with beaucoup art from the original comics, while the 1962 version was accompanied only by a few mimeographed drawings. It would be reprinted not simply as an example of primo comics nostalgia from nearly a half century ago—for I could easily add tidbits from the mound of information learned about Fox Comics since 1962—but as a blueprint of how to write stirringly and evocatively and even informatively about a comics line and its chief puppeteer— even if you have zero inside information and are simply inferring from a handful of decades-old comics to which you happen to have access. How to write that way, that is… if you happen to be Richard Kyle. —RT. 2011 Introduction by the Author: Sometime in late 1961, on a warm day in a small town on the edge of the California desert, a Post Office truck pulled up in my driveway. The driver beeped his horn, called out, “Got something for you, Richard!” and dropped a cardboard box in my arms. A couple of months earlier, I had seen a review of Xero, a new

The Quick Bruns Fox Victor Fox—or rather, his roman à clef dopplegänger “Vincent Reynard” in Will Eisner’s 1985 graphic novel The Dreamer—eyes a house ad from Mystery Men Comics #10 (May 1940) which showcases Fox Comics’/Bruns Publications’ brightest stars plus a few minor asteroids. As to which of these stalwarts is represented by “Heroman” on the poster behind Reynard, the answer is: none of the above. For his secret identity, see Ken Quattro’s article “Superman vs. The Wonder Man 1939,” which begins on p. 27. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [Dreamer art ©2011 Will Eisner Studios, Inc.; Fox art ©2011 the respective copyright holders.]

science-fiction fanzine that also published articles on old comic books, and had immediately sent off for a sample copy. It arrived with surprising swiftness. A subscription and a long fan letter to Dick and Pat Lupoff, its editors and publishers, were in the mail the next day. Until that copy of Xero 4 arrived, I had no idea of how much I missed comic books. Like a lot of adults, I’d stopped reading them after EC Comics closed up shop in the face of Comics Code Authority censorship. Now Xero had made me realize how much I’d loved them— trashy, sensational, or merely great. Dick’s response to my first letter was to ask for an article on the Fox Comics line—I’d reminisced about the early issues of Wonderworld

Richard Kyle’s Classic Study from Xero #8 (1962)

Comics with their covers and stories drawn by “Basil Berold”— and to arrange for Cleveland comics fan, collector, and dealer Bill Thailing to ship me all the Fox issues that he had in stock.

Barbecued Fox (Left:) Richard Kyle in 1961. Reprinted with permission from Bill Schelly’s 2010 study Founders of Comic Fandom. (Above:) Under the pen name “Jim Moriarty,” Richard provided several illustrations for “The Education of Victor Fox” in Xero #8 in 1962—including the above fanciful “Fox barbecue party,” which was accompanied by this legend: “Who’s who at the bar-b-cue: With Green Mask looking on, ‘News’ Blake (with pipe) and ‘News’ Doakes (with cigarette) decide who’ll be the Mask’s aide. Pipesmoking Blake clearly has the inside track. In the background, Samson and Joan Mason, Blue Beetle’s girl friend, return from a firewood hunting expedition. While Blue Beetle jealously awaits Joan, Domino (clutching a bottle of pop from a case he’s just filched at a deserted soft drink stand nearby), the Green Mask’s boy assistant, miffed because the Beetle has been upstaging them in Mystery Men Comics, tries to conk him on the head with his boomerang. As usual, it goes astray, and Green Mask is going to get it in the neck again. At the barbecue, the Flame, his Flame Gun set on full automatic, is attempting with little success to get the charcoal burning. Meantime, Rex Dexter of Mars, tempted beyond human endurance, prepares to give the Flame a hotfoot. That bright star shining above the Flame heralds Stardust the Super Wizard, who is travelling as usual on highly accelerated light waves. Stardust is in a quandary. He has perceived Dexter’s dastardly intent but he left his Hotfoot Extinguishing Ray at home, and his allpurpose Fire Extinguishing Ray would put out the barbecue as well. Decisions. What’s for barbecue? Fox, of course....” [Art ©2011 Richard Kyle.]

It was a curious experience, going through that box of comics. More than twenty years had passed since I’d seen a lot of them. Some I remembered with photographic accuracy. Some I didn’t remember at all. The drawing by “Basil Berold” (actually, the great Lou Fine) was everything I remembered and more. But then, I now remembered, he had left Fox Comics and “The Flame” after only a few issues, and a very different line of Fox Comics had emerged. And that left me with a problem.

For a time, I didn’t know what to write. Except for those earliest issues, I couldn’t write a nostalgia piece. And how did I tell about what I’d found in that box? Then, as I stared at the pile of yellowing magazines, I realized that I wasn’t looking at a stack of old comic books. I was looking at a man’s life. I’ve corrected a grammatical error, deleted two or three excess words, and fixed a few typos. Otherwise, “The Education of Victor Fox” is as it appeared in Xero 8 for May 1962. —RK.

omewhere among the backwaters and bayous of the comic world must stand an old false-fronted shack, roofless, broken-windowed, almost tumble-down now, overgrown with weeds and musty with decay. Hanging precariously above the sagging front door will be a faded and checkered sign: “Fox Feature Syndicate, Victor S. Fox, Owner & Prop.” If you go inside, pushing your way through the weeds and the empty cola bottles and mildewed premium coupons and broken cameras and rusty cap guns, you will find heaped against one of the far corners, and interrupted now and again by taller, wider, Esquire-sized magazines, a ragged stack of old comic books—none of them well preserved, not even the newest issues. In fact if you thumb through them, you will notice a peculiarity of the climate here. Only the older magazines are in passable condition, the newer ones are the ones that smell of decay. By now, you’ll probably have seen enough to satisfy you. You’ll edge your way back to the door and watching the sign doesn’t drop on you you’ll shake your cuffs and then you’ll go on your way You shouldn’t. You should stay a while. Something important happened here…

I. In April 1939, just a few days short of one full year after Superman had picked up his first automobile, Fox Publications, Inc., issued Wonder Comics, the pilot model of the Fox chain, shortly to become Wonderworld. By the end of 1941 Victor Fox was publishing a string of nine comic books, had placed one of his heroes on radio coast to coast, was competing monthly with Esquire in a men’s magazine featuring such writers as Jerome Weidman, Chester B. Himes, and Irving Wallace, and was energetically promoting a “new thrill” soft drink containing vitamin Bl. Offhand, you’d say Victor S. Fox was a success. Wonderworld certainly was, anyhow. At a time when most comic book art was cartoonish, Wonderworld’s feature, “The Flame,” was rendered with a skill and style that has seldom been surpassed—maybe it never has. And mixed in with the usual hack work of the period were such strips as “Yarko, the Great – Master of Magic,” “Spark Stevens – of the Navy,” and “Dr. Fung – Master Sleuth of the Orient,” all substantial secondary features. None of them were great characters, and only the Flame was a memorable one—but the other day, when I came upon them after an absence of more than twenty years, I recalled each one with a fidelity that nostalgia alone cannot evoke. A world that is gone came back to me. It was the eleventh issue, March 1940…. The cover, of course, was by

The Education Of Victor Fox

And, naturally, the cover caption reads: “Clinging to the wing-tip the Flame unleashes a blast of fire.” Well, they managed to be half-right this time, anyhow.... The back cover is almost as interesting. It’s the Johnson Smith & Co. advertisement. A lot of times that ad meant the difference between putting down a dime for a comic book or waiting a couple of weeks or a month and borrowing it from a friend, or—if he hadn’t bought it, either, because the ad was old or not there at all—trading for it two for one at Chick’s or Dave’s or Chester’s Magazine Exchange down on the avenue, where in that heyday of the pulps they had every kind of magazine you could name. (Including the Spicy series of pulps, which Chick or Dave or Chester wouldn’t let you look at.) DIVING U-boat SUBMARINE … Only $1.19 … Powerful … Dives or Rides On & Under Water … Adjustable Diving Fins … Ice Breaker Rudder … Adjustable Ballast Chamber … Realistic Gun … Conning Tower & Periscope … Grey Color with Trimmings … 10½ Inches Long… A real beauty … Zips Along On Top Of the Water, Will Dive or Raise Itself and Travels Under Water By Its Own Powerful Motor … All Metal... FIELD GLASSES … 25¢ … Live CHAMELEON … BUILD FLYING PLANE FROM CHEAP PARTS … Fly

A Fine Romance It’s well known today by aficionados that the “Basil Berold” who drew the “Flame” story in Wonderworld Comics #11 (March 1940), as well as this cover, was none other than the brilliant Lou Fine—who’s seen at right in a photo taken by his friend and fellow artist Gill Fox, circa 1942. In the early ’60s, however, few comics fans knew Fine’s name—but he’d long been a legend among his fellow professionals, though he had long since abandoned comics for advertising. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database (see ad on p. 78). For more on Fine, see especially A/E #17. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.]

the illustrator of “The Flame.” His name was given as Basil Berold, and because it is a curious name, it may have been his real one. (Most of the pseudonymously drawn Fox strips were signed by good old Americansounding names, no matter what the artists really called themselves. Floyd Kelly, Charles Nicholas, and Arthur Dean were, at one time or another, actually George Tuska, Larry Antoinette, and S.R. Powell.) As usual, the cover was marvelously complex and beautifully rendered. In the upper-left, the Flame, clad in his skin-tight yellow uniform and the distinctive red mask that fitted snugly over his eyes and head, his red, calf-length boots striding in the air, his red cape billowing behind him, dangles by one gauntleted hand from a chain thrown over the side of his speeding airplane as it roars through the logotype. In his free right hand, drawn from its red, cylindrical holster is the massive Flame Gun. It spews out a great comber of fire at two enemy soldiers and at the fanciful but grimly realistic cannon-sized weapon rearing up between them, its stubby muzzle trained full on the Flame’s chest and on the flame symbol there. One of the men, in the cap and brass of an officer, futilely levels a ponderous hand gun on the Flame’s mid-section; the other, crouching desperately below the searing fire, attempts—frantically—to manipulate the controls of the weapon. In the background, other soldiers, infantrymen, race toward him across the smoking, barbwired battlefield, rifles at the ready—and a metallic-blue enemy plane circles in toward the kill.

Live Chameleons, Anyone? This Johnson Smith ad took up the entire back cover of Wonderworld Comics #9 (Jan. 1940)—and the one Richard Kyle mentions from #11 wouldn’t have been much different. These ads lasted in comics for several decades. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert for the scan. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.]

DC Comics Vs. Victor Fox

See You In The Funny Pages! However successful or un- Victor Fox’s newspaper ad to lure artists away from Eisner & Iger may have been, these ads, which ran in a trade publication (probably Newsdealer), soon ballyhooed Fox’s new Sunday comics supplement—eight features in 4 pages, spearheaded by The Blue Beetle—more or less along the lines of the Spirit Comics Section that would debut in June of ’40. Clockwise from above left, the ads appeared on Oct. 21, ’39; Nov. 4, ’39; and Jan. 6, ’40. Unlike the ten-year run of Eisner’s comics insert, the Fox section didn’t last long. Thanks to Allan Holtz (and his “Stripper’s Guide” website) & Ken Quattro. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.]

Iger shop, so this was an apparent appeal to their artists. This attempt to recruit the departing shop’s creators is a sure sign that a split had occurred, and most likely, not amicably. Given all of this, it’s probable that a dispute—probably over money owed and not paid—led Eisner and Iger away from Fox. But not in April 1939, and probably not due solely to the outcome of the trial. In any case, Iger and Fox resolved their differences to the point that Iger became the main provider of material for Fox’s comics throughout the several incarnations of his company, nearly to its end in the early 1950s. While, on his own, Eisner, in a strange twist, would find himself years later at the plaintiff ’s table in another copyright infringement case. Eisner had left the newsstand comic book field, and The Spirit was becoming a mere sideline when he formed his American Visuals Corporation to produce promotional comics in the late ’40s. In 1952, AVC created Killer in the Streets, a proposed giveaway comic about auto safety aimed at the insurance industry. A salesman for American Visuals named Frederick Holland took copies of the dummy of this comic to an insurance convention, but was unable to secure any agreements. Holland quit his position soon afterward and started his own publishing company. He was then contracted by one of those insurers to produce a giveaway comic similar to the American Visuals proposal. Holland hired Sam Schwartz, the Archie Comics stalwart who had until recently been the art director at Eisner’s company, to draw his own automobile safety booklet, It Can’t Happen to Us. This comic was published and 319,000 copies were distributed throughout the insurance industry, resulting in a tidy profit for Holland. Eisner found out about the comic and sued in June 1954 for copyright infringement and misuse of confidential information. The case went to trial, Eisner prevailed, and Holland subsequently appealed. “Schwartz admitted that on his deposition he had testified that he saw Killer in the Streets while he was working on It Can’t Happen to Us, the booklet sold and copyrighted by Holland,” noted the appellate decision of December 12, 1958. Schwartz’s words and the Court’s opinion that “From the beginning to the end of each booklet the points of similarity are continuous and striking” resulted in a judgment that awarded Eisner $5,000. [American Visuals Corp. vs. Holland, 261 F.2d 652 (1958) ] American Visuals was eventually merged into the Koster-Dana Corporation, and on January 17, 1964, Eisner became president of its Bell-McClure Syndicate. In perhaps the ultimate irony, one of the properties he oversaw at Bell-McClure was the Superman comic strip.

Afterword It was my admiration of Will Eisner that initiated my quest of this trial transcript, and it was his apparent fall from grace that has garnered the most attention since its discovery. What was understandably pragmatic and possibly heroic testimony that day in 1939 is viewed far less charitably today. From the distance afforded by time, it is easy to be shocked at Eisner’s aplomb and consistency on the stand, in apparent contradiction of his later remembrances. But it is obvious that Eisner was just a part of the story. When the transcript is considered as a whole, questionable testimony occurs throughout. The one inarguable truth that comes from reading this document is that nearly every name on the witness list had a lasting effect on the history of the industry. All were present in the nascent years of a new medium, and chances are that none of them knew at the time that it would evolve into an art form. This was a business—the lowest end of the publishing industry—and it’s likely that few of them viewed it as anything more than a way of making money. That was something all of the participants could agree upon. From our perspective, it’s hard to separate the legends that surround these men and the fact that they were only men—susceptible to pressure, to telling half-truths, to blatant lying. No better, nor worse, nor different than anyone else. Just men. Not a Superman among them.

“Cartooning Was Ultimately My Goal” Part I Of A Candid Conversation With Writer & Artist JACK MENDELSOHN Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

ack Mendelsohn certainly has had a variety of jobs in his professional career as a writer/artist! From the 1940s through the 1960s, he wrote humor comics at Archie, DC, Dell, EC [Panic and Mad magazine], Quality, Tower, Standard, and Ziff-Davis. Among the many things he has written for which he did not receive official credit were comic book stories scripted for his close friend and former studio mate, the late Howard Post (whose interview will be printed in an upcoming issue of Alter Ego). His newspaper strip credits include Felix the Cat and the fondly remembered Jackys Diary. His animation writing includes The Beatles, The Impossibles, Milton the Monster, Wacky Races, “Fearless Fly,” and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; he also co-scripted the movie Yellow Submarine, among other cartoon features. In addition, he wrote for The Carol Burnett Show, Laugh-In, Three’s Company, Chico and the Man, and Carter County, as well as many other television series.

As is our usual wont, we focused on Jack’s comic book days and the people with whom he worked then—but we did not neglect the other parts of Jack’s career, and, judging by the quality of the stories he told me, you’ll be glad we didn’t. Special thanks to David Hajdu (author of The Ten Cent Plague) for giving me Jack’s phone number a few years back. And thanks to Jack for his patience in granting such a long interview, and waiting for us to get this into your hands! —Jim.

Jacky In Wonderland Jack Mendelsohn wrote and drew the Jackys Diary Sunday comic strip (seen at left) for Feb. 21, 1960—and he scripted the above “Alex in Wonderland” tale from Prize’s Wonderland Comics, which was drawn by his longtime pal Howard Post. The latter may be from issue #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1946); Ye Editor couldn’t be sure from his coverless copy. Thanks to Jack for the mid-1950s pic photo at top left; unless otherwise noted, all photos accompanying this interview were provided by the writer/artist. [Jackys Diary ©2011 Jack Mendelsohn; “Alex” page ©2011 the respective copyright holders.]

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The Mystery Of The Missing Letterer

The Mystery of the Missing Letterer! by Michael T. Gilbert “I had a fellow named Abe Kanegson, who was one of the great letterers of all time. I credit Abe for an awful lot of what was turned out in The Spirit.” —Will Eisner, from a 1973 interview, printed in John Benson’s Panels #1, 1979.

or sixty years, little was known of this talented mystery man. The Who’s Who of American Comics states that Kanegson lettered for Eisner Studios and that his work appeared in Quality publications in the ’40s (most likely in Spirit reprints). He also lettered other Eisner projects, most notably Fiction House’s “Dr. Drew” series. The Who’s Who also noted that Kanegson was a guitar player and folk singer.

Not much to go on. Abe worked on The Spirit from 1947 to about 1951, taking the expressive Eisner-designed lettering to a whole new level. There were other talented artists lettering The Spirit before and after Kanegson—Martin De Muth, Sam Schwartz, and Ben Oda among them. For that matter, Eisner himself laid out The Spirit’s lettering throughout much of its twelve-year run. But in Will’s eyes, Kanegson was clearly in a class by himself. Eisner discussed their relationship in a panel transcription that appeared in NMP’s Golden Age of Comic Books #2. The event took place in July 1982, at a Chicago-Con panel with Will Eisner, Maggie Thompson, cat yronwode, and former Eisner ghost Andre Le Blanc. Here, Eisner discusses how he and Kanegson planned out the lettering: “I was telling Maggie, we would discuss problems. I came in one day and would say, ‘You know what I’d like to see if I could do… I’d like to get sound.’ You know, a fellow like Glenn Miller looking for the sound… Glenn Miller always looking for the sound. Remember we tried to get another dimension and we’d talk about it and I’d say, “Well, couldn’t we make it like a large ‘Boom!’?” and Abe would say ‘I’ve got the solution; we got big balloons and little letters. When people are far away the letters are smaller. I’ll try that.’ And he would come back and he would do it. Or I had this idea for a comic only in poetry, you know, the entire one was in verse. And Abe said, ‘You can’t do regular comic book lettering. Let me

work up a lettering style.’ So he would develop the lettering. So we all worked together.“ But Abe was valuable to the Eisner Studio beyond lettering. He became a trusted mentor to a young Jules Feiffer. In his book Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, Bob Andelman writes: “Abe Kanegson, Will’s staff

Lose Eyesight! (Above & right:) According to Jules Feiffer in an interview published in 1979 in John Benson’s Panels, Abe drew as well as lettered these phony ads that appeared in The Spirit Section for April 25, 1948. He may have written them, as well. The art on the previous page is from the same story. [©2011 Will Eisner Studios, Inc.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

letterer, helped Feiffer develop quality control standards. Kanegson and Feiffer both came from the Bronx and both went to James Monroe High School. Feiffer would show Kanegson a ‘Clifford’ cartoon (Feiffer’s one-page filler in the Spirit Section) and Kanegson would say, ‘You can do better.’ Feiffer, whose ego may have been more fully formed than his art skills at that point, would grouse at Kanegson, but that’s how he learned to make demands of himself.” “Abe was a lefty, as many of us were,” recalled Feiffer, whose liberal politics marked much of his work, “but he was hard left, doctrinaire. And quite a stutterer. It would be painful to hear him get a sentence out. But he was well read, quite smart. As a response to his stutter, he took up and became quite good at singing Gilbert and Sullivan songs.” When Jerry Grandenetti left the studio, Kanegson took over as background artist for the Spirit stories.

Big Balloon, Little Letters! From The Spirit, Jan. 23, 1949.

[©2011 Will Eisner Studios, Inc.] Kanegson left Eisner and comics, possibly after a pay dispute. Years later, both Eisner and Feiffer tried to find their old friend, without success. The following exchange occurred at a 1982 Chicago-Con panel that included Eisner, his former assistant Andre Le Blanc, and comic historian cat yronwode.

EISNER: So I roughed out the story idea, and Andre [Leblanc] took over. And then I came back and I inked some figures. We passed it back and forth. Abe Kanegson, was he still in the shop then? And he’d do the lettering. LE BLANC: He was great. I remember. EISNER: Fantastic. Wherever you are, Abe, we want to talk to you. CAT: This is the usual Will Eisner panel request. If anyone ever runs into a man named Abe Kanegson or anyone who has the last name Kanegson, please have him call home. EISNER: Please come home. We have chicken soup on the fire.

CAT: The man disappeared in 1952 and we’re looking for him. I regularly, every city I go to, I ask the telephone operator for anyone named Kanegson.

EISNER: That’s right. I believe Jules Feiffer actually called… he [Kanegson] had been active with the union and also he was doing square dances. And Jules Feiffer—remember he had a guitar in the shop? In the afternoon he played. It was a wonderful shop, wonderful. He played the guitar in the afternoon and we talked. Jules, I think, said that he called— that he knew somebody down in Washington in the FBI who tried to locate him—had the Federal Bureau try and locate him … all kinds of things. CAT: All of this for a lowly letterer. This is how much these guys value their letterer…

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and were surprised to learn that our families were nextdoor neighbors. Marc did most of his work at night, and when he wasn’t writing or laying out a story, I would read to him during the late hours. My mother didn’t appreciate this. For that matter, she didn’t appreciate Marc, this young artist/musician from New York who worked at home all night. So we eloped. In time, the love my mother and father felt for my husband was unquestionable.

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and stories for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been a vital part of FCA since his first column appeared in FCA #54 (1996). Last time we re-presented in the pages of Alter Ego Marc’s interview from FCA #11 (Nov. 1978). And now, for another A/E first, June Swayze, Marc’s wife, takes center stage with her warmhearted essay, “He’s My Man”—reprinted from FCA #58 (1997). —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

I knew virtually nothing about the comics … but Marc and I had music as a common interest. I had studied voice and piano and Marc played in various musical groups. It wasn’t long before I was playing and singing with them. When we moved into our first home, the new neighbors must have thought we were subversives, what with all that night-time activity. Our schedule was not exactly in accordance with the customary 9-to-5 routine. Marc’s artwork had to be supported by cardboard when it was wrapped for mailing, and we often had to scrounge around behind department stores after hours for corrugated boxes. On one occasion, we had to explain to a night policeman that we weren’t vagrants or robbers. Then he held his flashlight for us. The night staff at the post office came to know us by name and helped us with information about late plane schedules. We felt like we were teaching everybody the importance of publication deadlines! As one might suspect, our lifestyle changed somewhat when the children, five, began to come along. I dropped out of the music groups, there not being much demand for pregnant vocalists. When Judy, our

was in college when Marc and I met briefly before he entered the military. I couldn’t stand him! I thought he was fresh, rude, and conceited. Then, when he came back, I thought he was wonderful! Still conceited, perhaps, but maybe he had a right to be, I thought.

It was in the mid-’40s and Marc was drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip and the “Phantom Eagle” for Fawcett’s Wow Comics. He said that he had come home for good. We didn’t recall having met before

On The Wings Of Love (Above:) June & daughter Judy by Marc’s side as he works out of their Louisiana home in the late 1940s. Thanks to the Swayzes for the photo. (Left:) Swayze-drawn “Phantom Eagle” panels from Wow #42 (April 1946). While the Eagle’s partner Jerry may have had difficulty seeking the romantic interests of young Mickey Malone, such was not the case with Marc and June Swayze after the artist had returned from the military and headed back home with art assignments—one of them being the “Phantom Eagle” feature for Fawcett’s Wow Comics. [Phantom Eagle TM & ©2011 respective copyright holders.]

Alter Ego #101