Alter Ego #103 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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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!

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Celebrates the 50th anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1 and the birth of Marvel Comics! New, never-beforepublished STAN LEE interview, art and artifacts by KIRBY, DITKO, SINNOTT, AYERS, THOMAS, and secrets behind the Marvel Mythos! Also: JIM AMASH interviews 1940s Timely editor AL SULMAN, FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, and a new cover by FRENZ and SINNOTT!

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Vol. 3, No. 103 / July 2011 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

NOW WITH 16 PAG ES OF COLOR!

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 Rob Smentek

Writer/Editorial: A Long Day’s Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “I Think [Having Been An Artist] Gave Me An Edge In Writing Comics” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Writer Steve Englehart talks to Richard Arndt about his career through the mid-’70s.

Cover Artists Gil Kane, Sal Buscema, Jim Starlin, & Frank Brunner (plus inkers)

Cover Colorist

“I Come From A Very Primitive Background” . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Early comics artist (and Beat novelist) George Mandel interviewed by Jim Amash.

Jim Miele – A Gentle Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 An artist’s life among castles, ogres, and fair princesses—by Golden Age editor Herb Rogoff.

Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to: Rob Allen Heidi Amash Sal Amendola Richard Arndt Mark Arnold David Bachman Rodrigo Baeza Bob Bailey Robert R. Barrett John Benson Jerry K. Boyd Chris Boyko Frank Brunner Ken Bruzenak Ed Buchan Nick Caputo Jeff Clem Mickey Coalwell Jon B. Cooke Chet Cox Michaël Dewally Steve Englehart Shane Foley Janet Gilbert Goldengraphics.net Grand Comics Database David Hajdu Jennifer Hamerlinck John Haufe, Jr. William Henley David J. Hogan Brandon Huigens Sid Jacobson Eric Jansen

Contents

Todd Klein David Anthony Kraft Alan Kupperberg Marv Levy Mark Luebker Jim Ludwig Pat Mason Jim McLauchlin Brian K. Morris Frank Motler Charles Novinskie Kevin Nowlan Tom Orzechowski Barry Pearl George Pérez Rita Perlman John G. Pierce Gene Reed Charlie Roberts Herb Rogoff Don Rosick Eric Schumacher Ken Selig Steven Smith Robin Snyder Desha Swayze Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Michael Vance Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Lynn Walker Hames Ware Eddy Zeno

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Joanne Siegel, Louise Altson, Joe Vucenic, & Ed Lahmann

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “The Mystery Of The Missing Letterer!” – Part 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Michael T. Gilbert presents Spirit letterer Abe Kanegson in his own words.

Comic Fandom Archive: Last Salute To A Pair Of Prominent Early Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Bill Schelly presents tributes to Joe Vucenic and Ed Lahmann.

Tributes To Louise Altson & Joanne Siegel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 “Everyone Deserves A Golden Age” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The inspiring story of The Hero Initiative (née ACTOR).

re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 68 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #162 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 P.C. Hamerlinck hosts Marc Swayze and the thunder gods of Fawcett Publications. On Our Cover: Thanks to Christopher Day, our layout wizard, for assembling this montage of Marvel heroes who were scripted by Steve Englehart in the early ’70s so skillfully that it’s hard to tell they came from a half dozen or more different comics. And thanks to John Morrow for providing the photo of Steve, which may be of a slightly later vintage than the art. No matter. Steve, like the four-color super-stars, is timeless, right? The figures were penciled, at various times and places, by Gil Kane, Sal Buscema, Jim Starlin, and Frank Brunner, and were inked by myriad hands. [Art of Beast, Mantis, Falcon, Captain America, Shang-Chi, Valkyrie, Hulk, Silver Surfer, & Dr. Strange ©2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: The Woman in Red, as noted in the interview with her premier artist, George Mandel, is probably the first masked female in comic books, preceding a certain Amazon by a good year and a half! Of course, the Better/Nedor heroine had no super-powers, let alone a magic lasso or invisible plane, and it must’ve been hot in that robe—but being first has to count for something. Mandel says that Black Terror/Fighting Yank-creating writer Richard Hughes originated the character; but the issue of Thrilling Comics from which this panel is taken is, alas, unknown. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.] 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 Long Day’s Journey W

e’re proud as a puffed-up peacock, this time around, to present the first part of a two-tiered interview with lateSilver Age/Bronze-and-beyond scripter Steve Englehart, conducted by Richard Arndt. (The second installment will appear in our sister mag Back Issue #51, dated September.)

The Golden Age, too, is, well represented herein—by Jim Amash’s conversation with early-’40s artist George Mandel, who after World War II became first a comic book writer, then the author of a number of wellreceived novels… as well as by 1950s Ziff-Davis editor Herb Rogoff ’s piece on writer/artist/editor Jim Miele… Michael T. Gilbert and Mr. Monster scaring up the Spirit of vintage letterer Abe Kanegson for a third time… and tributes to Joanne Siegel and Louise Altson.

deadline. I know that I, for one, have come to take him too much for granted… ’cause that’s what tends to happen when somebody is so good at what he does, makes it look so easy to come through like a champ time after time. We sang his praises briefly back in A/E #50, but he deserves more. As Arthur Miller wrote, “Attention must be paid.” Even if only for the inadequate space of a half-page editorial. Recently, Chris informed publisher John Morrow and me that, after ten years at the layout helm, he was stepping aside so he’d have more time to pursue other, more personal life goals. Typically, thoughtfully, he gave us several issues’ advance notice of his departure. And, naturally, John and I did exactly what you’d expect us to do in such a situation: namely, we tried to bribe him into staying by offering him a few more bucks.

But what I want to talk about just this minute, right up here at the front of the magazine, is a guy named Chris Day.

But we knew even as we did so (to no avail) that Chris was right to go, and we bear him nothing but good will.

Christopher Day (to use his full appellation, as we do on our contents page) has been in charge of “design & layout” on Alter Ego since issue #8 way back in the spring of 2001.

Oh, yeah, and we’re also giving him a lifetime subscription to Alter Ego.

He came aboard a decade ago to put the magazine together from the text files and art scans and photocopies that I sent him… on a tricky issue in which he had to squeeze an obscene number of Wally Wood drawings into far too little space. He managed it, and he’s been working wonders on A/E ever since, even as he occasionally changed residences from Chicago to Rhode Island and back to Chicago… without ever missing a beat, or a

Because that’s the kind of guys we are. Best of luck to you always, Chris—or, as Jerry Bails and I tended to put it, Bestest,

COMING IN AUGUST

104

STAN LEE ON 50 YEARS OF MARVEL COMICS! THE LANDMARK LEGACY OF FANTASTIC FOUR #1—1961 TO 2011! • Great brand-new JACK KIRBY homage cover by RON FRENZ & JOE SINNOTT! • Never-before-published in-depth interview with STAN THE MAN about the Marvel Age of Comics—and about working with the likes of JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOHN ROMITA, JOHN BUSCEMA, GENE COLAN, GIL KANE, JIM STERANKO, JIM STARLIN, FRANK BRUNNER, DICK AYERS, MIKE PLOOG, ROY THOMAS, & other top talents—with never-previously-revealed art & anecdotes! • JIM AMASH interviews 1940s Timely/Marvel editor (and Blonde Phantom co-creator/writer) AL SULMAN! Art by JOESEPH SULMAN, SYD SHORES, et at.! • FCA with MARC SWAYZE & an interview with Fawcett editor ROY ALD— MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s Comic Crypt—& MORE! Edited by ROY THOMAS

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“I Think [Having Been An Artist] Gave Me An Edge In Writing Comics” Part I Of An Incredible Interview With Star Writer STEVE ENGLEHART Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Steve Englehart (b. 1947) is one of the best-known and most influential comics writers to come out of the 1970s. But, though this fact is not as well-known, Steve actually began his career as an artist, drawing horror stories for Warren and Skywald and a few romance tales for DC and Marvel. He soon focused exclusively on writing, however, beginning with the adventures of the just-turned-blue-and-furry Beast in Marvel’s Amazing Adventures. He quickly earned credits on such Marvel titles as The Avengers, The Defenders, Hero for Hire, Doctor Strange, Master of Kung Fu (which he cocreated), and, probably most notably, Captain America, which he took from being a modest seller to one of Marvel’s top titles. He also created the cult hero “Star-Lord” for Marvel’s black-&white magazines. This first part of the interview, which was conducted in May and June of 2010, covers Steve’s work through the mid’70s; the conversation will be concluded in Back Issue #51 (Sept. 2011).

Drawn To Writing Steve Englehart, according to Jon B. Cooke (to whom “Stainless Steve” had provided the above photo several years back for JBC’s mag Comic Book Artist), is seen here “hanging off a bridge… about the time when the writer was hitting his stride as a scripter at Marvel Comics in the mid-1970s. Steve told us to dig the funky glass frames!” Below are images of his early work as first artist, then writer: (Left:) The p. 2 splash of “Demona” in Skywald Publications’ black-&white comic Psycho #7 (July 1972), penciled by Englehart from a Gardner Fox script. Inks by Vince Colletta. Thanks to Rob Allen. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.] (Right:) The moody splash page of Steve’s very first outing on Captain America (#153, Sept. 1972). Art by Sal Buscema & Jim Mooney. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [©2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Part I Of An Incredible Interview With Star Writer Steve Englehart

All In Color For A Crime A trio of Steve’s favorite early memories of comic books (clockwise from above left): Dick Sprang’s “Batman” of the 1940s & ’50s is, for many, the definitive artistic rendition, as per this splash from Detective Comics #165 (Nov. 1950). Inks by Stan Kaye; script by Edmund Hamilton. Reproduced from the hardcover DC Comics Classic Library: The Batman Annuals Volume One (2009). Just imagine—along with the original comics, they’re even reprinting Annuals now! [©2011 DC Comics.] A “Mickey Mouse” mystery splash panel drawn by Paul Murry for Dell/Western’s Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #236 (May 1960). Script attributed to Carl Fallberg. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [©2011 Disney.] As Steve reports, Harvey’s reprints of Chester Gould’s comic strip Dick Tracy often ran afoul of the Comics Code Authority. In these panels from issue #112 (June 1957), the nice folks at the Code apparently “asked” the company to delete black line art, and even some color, depicting a woman’s corpse in the first panel (as can be seen in the printed comic by an empty white shape against the purple background of the street), yet let the body remain in the second. That reprint title was a treasure trove of censored artwork, more of which will be seen in our special Halloween feature “Tales from the Code,” coming in A/E #105! Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [©2011 Tribune Media Services or successors in interest.]

“I Wanted To Be An Artist” RICHARD ARNDT: We’re here with Steve Englehart, whose fourdecade-long career has endeared him to comics readers. First, thank you for agreeing to this interview, Mr. Englehart. Second, can you tell us something about your early life and where you encountered comics for the first time? STEVE ENGLEHART: I read comics as a kid, of course. There were three titles that I remember now as liking particularly. One was Batman. Dick Sprang was the main artist in those days. I thought his art was amazing to look at.

Another was Dick Tracy, which really was a reprint of the newspaper strip. I first read Dick Tracy in the comic books. I liked that world, Chester Gould’s world. The interesting thing about those comics, though, was that they had first been reprinted by Harvey during an earlier comics era, and the version I was reading was the second or third reprinting. The Comics Code had come into existence between these editions, so whenever something came up that would offend the Code, such as a gun or a hand being crushed in a door, they would take the offensive image out of the black printing plate. However, they didn’t touch the red, blue, or yellow plates. Even as a child, I understood the concept of how comics were done—and here you could see the blue shape where a gun would be and a red streak where the bullet was flying, but there was no black outline around it. Or you could see the flesh-colored spot where the hand would be crushed in the door, but there’d be no outline of the hand. It didn’t confuse me, but it sort of sensitized me, maybe not directly at the time but later, how cool stuff could be taken away or censored from you. The third comic was the “Mickey Mouse Mysteries” by Paul Murry that ran in the back of Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories. I loved Carl Barks’ “Donald Duck,” which was up front, but, in fact, the “Mickey” stories were actual mysteries—three-part serials—and the art was really nice to look at. I think what attracted me to those three titles was that they had a particularly juicy ink line to them. I always like black-&-white art, and [noticing] the missing black lines in the Dick Tracy thing make it clear that that’s what I was focusing on. RA: How did you get involved in comics to begin with? You started off as an artist… ENGLEHART: Right. I wanted to be an artist, and when I was going to college in Middletown, Connecticut, at Wesleyan, Dick Giordano was the editor at Charlton Comics in Derby, Connecticut, which was some

“I Think [Having Been An Artist] Gave Me An Edge In Writing Comics”

“Kiss” And Tell Pages 1-3 & 10 of the very first story on which Steve Englehart assisted artist Neal Adams, for Vampirella #10 (March 1971)—and got his first credit! Thanks to Kevin Nowlan. [©2011 DFI.]

Neal Adams, from the 1975 Marvel Con program book.

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“I Come From A Very Primitive Background” An All-Encompassing Interview With Golden Age Artist & 1950s Novelist GEORGE MANDEL Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: I’ve interviewed a lot of colorful people in the pages of Alter Ego, but few as fascinating as George Mandel. The late Dan Barry once described George as a real individualist (as was Dan himself), and credited him as being very helpful in Dan’s early days in comics. While George worked for several companies such as Cinema Comics (later known as Better/Standard publications) and for Lloyd Jacquet’s Funnies, Inc., shop, the truth of the matter is that George’s life and career outside of comics is a much more fascinating story. While we do talk about George’s time in comics and some of the people he knew (Mickey Spillane, Ray Gill, Richard Hughes, etc.), this interview focuses at least equally on other aspects of his life, including George’s friendship with Joseph Heller, the celebrated author of Catch-22. Special thanks goes to my friend David Hajdu (the exceptional writer of books like Positively 4th Street and The Ten-Cent Plague) for giving me George’s contact info. —Jim.

“All My Life, I’ve Been Drawing” JIM AMASH: I’m going to ask you the hardest question anyone’s ever asked you. When and where were you born? GEORGE MANDEL: That’s a real hard one, but don’t worry: I may not remember. I was born in New York City, February 11th, 1920. And I’ll tell you who else was born that day: Thomas Edison, the fighter Max Baer—but on my very day: King Farouk, the big fat king of Egypt. JA: What got you interested in writing and drawing?

Slug The Angry Stranger! George Mandel circa 1952—flanked by covers that trumpet his accomplishments first as artist, then as writer. The photo is from the dust jacket of his first novel, Flee the Angry Strangers (published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company, ‘52). [©2011 the respective copyright holders.] (Left:) The cover of Harvey’s Champ Comics #13 (May 1941) is signed with his pen name “Geo. [for George] Van Dell.” The pictured hero is “Duke O’Dowd,” a.k.a. “The Human Meteor.” Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2011 Harvey Publications or successors in interest.] (Right:) The cover of the 1953 Bantam paperback edition of Flee the Angry Strangers, which sports an applauding blurb from Norman Mailer, then celebrated as the author of The Naked and the Dead. It has been called the first “Beat” novel (referring to the so-called Beat Generation). Cover artist unknown. Thanks for both this cover and the photo to Don Rosick & Pat Mason of Five Points Bookshop in Columbia, South Carolina. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.]

JIM MIELE— A Gentle Giant An Artist’s Life Among Castles, Ogres, And Fair Princesses by Herb Rogoff A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: Herb Rogoff, who was a comics editor at Hillman Periodicals from 1949 to 1952 and at Ziff-Davis from 1952 to 1956, was interviewed by Jim Amash in Alter Ego #42 about his career… in the course of which he mentioned his relationship with editor/writer/artist Jim Miele at the latter company. In A/E #75, interviewed artist Marv Levy also mentioned Miele. Recently, Herb sent this expanded reminiscence of Jim Miele and related matters, which we’re delighted to print as an insight into comics of the late Golden Age.

learned from Alter Ego (#89, Oct. 2009) that artist Jim Miele had dropped dead at his desk some years ago. This bit of sad news came as a complete surprise to me, because from the time I left Ziff-Davis in 1956, I was unaware of anything that had happened to the industry. Early in 2004, Jim Amash called to interview me for a magazine I had never heard of. It was called Alter Ego. After many hours (I think the number was nine), Jim had the material for an article. He turned out a superlative Q&A piece that subsequently appeared in issue #42 (Nov. 2004).

When I read of Jim Miele’s demise and where it took place, it reminded me of my dear friend, illustrator-cartoonist Lou Priscilla. Lou was an anatomy whiz who supplemented his teaching income with sales of cartoons to the leading journals of the day; Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post were two of them. He eventually realized the culmination of a lifelong dream: his own art school, which he ran right up to the day he died in 1957. At an art exhibition on 57th Street, a good six months later, I found out that Lou had not hit any sidewalk with a mighty thud. In truth, he cashed in his chips, so to speak, in the sack of his girl friend and art student, a lovely young thing who was incredibly talented as an artist. She told me of Lou’s last minutes, and when she did, I beamed with delight. Of course, it did not make it any easier for me to reconcile with Lou’s death. I merely glowed upon learning about the change in venue. Jim Miele’s death at his desk was a bitter-sweet incident, because his entire life was wrapped up in his work. What was more fitting than for him to breathe his last while in the rapture of another fairy tale where he was among imaginary friends who had nourished his mind and exhilarated his soul for years and years? A good story always raced through his mind. Jim had a vivid imagination; his stories were fanciful, designed to delight readers of all ages. But he was an awful writer. His manuscripts were replete with clumsy sentences, horrible grammar, and wretched spelling. His art was equally atrocious; his drawings were too awful to even be called “primitive.” But he loved every day he spent working on

Two For The Road (Left:) Writer/artist Jim Miele at the typewriter, probably in the 1950s; photo courtesy of Marv Levy. (Right:) Ziff-Davis comics editor Herb Rogoff, circa the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Herb.

comic books. Jim was a kid who never grew up. I thought his death at his desk was a fitting end to this man who would, with cigarette in one hand, drink in the other, fervently relate his latest tale of castles, ogres, and princesses to one and all in a circle of interested listeners.

Paradoxically, he would, every once in a while, casually boast that he was half Indian and half Italian. When asked from what tribe he was descended, he would answer that he was a Chippe-Wop. Today, in our politically correct environment, we wince at this, but we must remember that he voiced this joke back in the ’50s. In view of this, I have to mention that, as far as I knew, this was Jim’s only indiscretion. I’d never heard any other remark from him about anyone’s background and heritage. Actually, Jim Miele was an uncommonly fair person. The following incident illustrates this character trait. Louis Zara, who was a vice president at Ziff-Davis, ran the comics division during this time. He had been hired to take charge of the company’s book-publishing division when they were still in Chicago. Zara was a published novelist (This Land Is Ours, Rebel Run, and Ruth Middleton were three of his titles that I remember), and Ziff hired him because he must have thought that Zara’s experience as a novelist, one constantly dealing with his editor, would make him ideal as executive editor of the book division at Z-D.

Jim Miele—A Gentle Giant

Fairy Tales Can Come True—But, Alas, Not For Long! The five “kiddie comics” edited by Jim Miele had gorgeously painted covers—a Ziff-Davis specialty. Their artists, alas, are unknown. (Clockwise from top left:) Fairy Tales #11 (June-July 1951)… Nursery Rhymes #1 (JulyAug. ’51)… Alice #10 (July-Aug. ’51)… Dolly #10 (ditto)… and Kiddie Karnival (1952, no number). The first three titles lasted only two issues each, the latter pair just one… but spring of 1951 must’ve been a real Pied Piper of a time up at ol’ Z-D! Thanks to the Grand Comics Database; see ad on p. 76. [©2011 the respective copyright holders.] “Jim,” says Herb Rogoff, “was an idea man. He would come up with very good plots for kiddie comics. He wrote and drew very few of them. Those he did were published because he was the editor and he had final say. He assigned most of the work to his stable of writers and artists to work on his ideas. He saved ‘The Snowman’s First Christmas’ for himself. I think it ran in Kiddie Karnival.”

When I joined the company, the book division was already gone; it bit the dust while they were still in Chicago. Zara was kept on, however, as vice president, and he was put in charge of the rapidly growing, and increasingly important, comics division. He was my boss and, furthermore, was a very nice guy. Everyone in the division worked well with him. Not long after this, Jim Miele joined the company. While with Harvey Comics, he had worked on Casper the Friendly Ghost, which made him a natural to edit the “kiddie” books we were publishing: Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, Alice, and Dolly. He was tailor-made for the position. We had two other editors on hand to help us prepare the 25-plus titles we had at the time. They were Ben Martin and Harry Stein. Ben came to us from the New York Herald Tribune, where he had served as comics editor until the newspaper folded its Sunday comics section. Harry’s reputation, and quite a checkered one, I heard, was made at Quality Comics, where, according to Harry, he buddied with publisher “Busy” Arnold. The books I edited were G.I. Joe, Z-D’s best-selling comic, along with Wild Boy, Crime Clinic, Bob Feller’s Baseball Thrills, Red Grange’s Football Thrills, Bill Stern’s Sports Book, and a few others whose titles escape me. The way I worked with writers was to have them write synopses, which I would then approve or turn down. Of those I approved, I would ask the writer to give me the number of pages I thought the story merited. All the other Ziff-Davis editors worked the same way. One morning, Lou Zara came to my desk with a large manila envelope. “Herb,” he said, “here’s a script for G.I. Joe. It’s from a neighbor of mine. She’s a housewife-writer.” With this he shrugged, as if to say, “What can I do? She’s a neighbor.” Then, tossing the envelope onto my desk, he added,

“I’ve already read the story and it looks okay. See what you think. If it’s all right, let me know. I’ll put it through for payment.” And he walked away. I fished out the stapled script. There was, at the top of page one, a typewritten name: “Bertha Robbins.” But no address. No phone number. I was a bit miffed, because I was presented by a finished script rather than a one-page synopsis such as I was accustomed to work with. I read the story. It was awful. The most terribly-written script I’d ever seen, either at Hillman or with Ziff-Davis. Since it was getting on to five, I cleaned up my desk and motioned to Jim Miele, giving him the internationally recognized sign for a drink by forming my fingers to make a cup, then bringing it to my lips. Some minutes later, at the bar of our favorite restaurant, I told him about Zara and the script. He listened intently, and then said, “Put the story through.” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Didn’t you hear me?” I asked. “I heard every word. Now, put the story through.” “For what reason?” I asked. “I can’t say any more,” Jim answered. I didn’t take Jim’s advice. The following morning, I walked into Zara’s office and handed him the story. “Mr. Zara, this is positively the worst story I have ever read. I can’t okay it.” Zara didn’t say a word. He just nodded, lifted his attaché case onto his

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In Memoriam

Joanne Siegel (1917-2011) “[She And Jerry] Were Made For Each Other” by Eddy Zeno

olan Kovacs, daughter of Hungarian immigrants, lived from Dec. 1, 1917, until Feb. 14, 2011. She died at age 93 on Valentine’s Day. A fitting irony, because she was part of a great love story— a union of three. That included Jolan, who became Joanne Siegel, wife of Jerome “Jerry” Siegel, the writing half of the originators of Superman. The third team member was Joseph “Joe” Shuster, Superman’s artist-half. Joanne and Jerry were practically joined at the hip with Joe through both good and bad events. They even followed each other from East Coast to West, not too far apart in time.

As a teenager looking for a few Depression dollars, circa 1935, Joanne placed a modeling ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, to which Joe responded. Posing for Joe for the character of Lois Lane, she developed a budding friendship with Jerry when he showed up to chat with them. Many who knew Joanne called her spunky and tenacious in that investigative-reporter sort of way.

It didn’t matter that she and Jerry came from previous marriages before they were reunited and wed in 1948. They were made for each other, he being the nerd, and she a fighter and his champion. A decade after Jerry and Joe had been cut from National (DC Comics) for their unsuccessful lawsuit to regain ownership of the Man of Steel, Joanne contacted publisher Jack Liebowitz. Asking how it would look if the cocreator of Superman died from starvation after filling DC’s coffers with millions of dollars, she landed Jerry a job chronicling new “Superman” tales. The gig lasted from 1959 until 1965, when Jerry sought to regain ownership of the Man of Steel yet again.

As a young man, Jerry admired Edmond Hamilton, a noted sciencefiction author who, ironically, would himself write many “Superman” tales, beginning in the late 1940s. Hamilton admitted that, after marrying fellow sf writer Leigh Brackett in 1946, his writing flourished as he developed richer personalities for the characters who inhabited his stories. While Joanne herself was not an author, it can be argued that her influence had a similar effect on her husband. Certainly, a different Jerry Siegel appeared (sans byline) on the “Superman” stories of the Silver Age. He’d always been a punster who maintained a sense of whimsy; now he was equally adept at injecting pathos and romance into his tales. This is when he earned the title of “the most competent” “Superman” scripter, given by editor Mort Weisinger in a lettercol response to a fan. Jerry and Joanne had a daughter, who grew up calling Jerry’s old partner “Uncle Joe” until Shuster’s death in 1992. After her father’s passing in 1996, Laura Siegel Larson helped her tenacious mother

continue to press for a share of the Superman copyright. In their eyes, seeking “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” resumed with a new lawsuit in 1997 which, due to appeals and such, continues to this day. Recalling the good times for National Public Radio, one recent report stated that “the then-91-year-old Joanne recalled attending a Superman convention with her husband in Sweden. ‘We met people from China and Germany and Australia and New Zealand—all over. It was amazing,’ Siegel said in 2009. ‘Superman is known everywhere.’” Also in 2009, Michael San Giacomo reported for Comic Book Resources website how best-selling author Brad Meltzer helped an organized Siegel and Shuster Society raise enough money to restore Jerry’s boyhood home. Local and out-of-town family members of the late writer and artist congregated in Cleveland’s old Glenville neighborhood with hundreds of fans to celebrate. It was the last time Joanne would visit her hometown. Speaking to the crowd before cutting the celebratory ribbon, she joked, “If Jerry’s mother were here today, she would poke her head out this door, look at all you people, and say, ‘Oy vey, Jerome! What have you done?’” In 1986, Jerry Siegel wrote a letter in response to a query of mine. Confirming that he had, indeed, written two of my favorite 1960s “Superman” “3-part novels,” he asked his wife to include her own autograph, as the model for Lois Lane. This collector didn’t know at the time how important it was to me to have her signature, in addition to Jerry and Joe’s. Thank goodness Jerry knew!

“Everyone Deserves A Golden Age” The Inspiring Story Of The Hero Initiative (Née ACTOR)

by Brandon Huigens

ays of comic book yore brought riches to readers and made heroes of men like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—two teenage, first-generation Jewish immigrants and comic book creators who would define a medium and an entire American era with their character Superman. The catch? In 1938, the year Superman was sold to the company that would one day be DC Comics, and for many years that followed, there were very few creator-owned deals offered like those at many comics companies today—agreements that now allow comics creators to keep at least some rights to their characters while still being published by a major concern. In earlier days, there were next to zero permanent positions for creators; it was mostly, if not quite solely, work-for-hire.

This sort of business made for big, big bucks for the comics companies in the Golden and Silver Ages, but not for the creators. Keeping in mind that the Superman case is one of, if not the, highest profile cases ever to be made public, there are a perplexing myriad of similar stories about wildly inventive men and women who received little initial compensation for their work, had no effective pension or retirement programs, and even remain uncredited for creating legendary icons.

started. “And when I was a sportswriter, Major League Baseball had a program called BAT—the Baseball Assistance Team—and it was really the same kind of premise as The Hero Initiative. We all live in the day where the utility middle infielder gets $2.7 million a year, but you don’t have to go too far back in MLB history—just to the early 1970s—to find players making literally $10,000 a year. That was it. So the MLB did something to help out some of the older players, and even some of the scouts and coaches. I was always very enamored of that organization, and whenever they would have their typical $300a-plate rubber chicken dinner, I would go there and do whatever I could to support BAT. When I got into the comic business, it seemed to me that a similar organization should exist in comics. There was honestly no single comic book situation that precipitated it; it was simply a similar idea in baseball.” Since 2000, through fund-raising opportunities such as art auctions, exclusive collectibles, and charity events, ACTOR/Hero Initiative has disbursed several hundred thousand dollars to comics creators in need through grants and non-interest loans and has often helped pave the way for creators to re-enter the field and continue working.

Eleven years ago, under the twin aegis of Jim McLauchlin and CrossGen publisher Mark Alessi, a small group of comic publishers and industry veterans banded together and decided to take action on behalf of unfairly compensated comics creators like Siegel and Shuster. ACTOR—standing for “A Commitment To Our Roots”—was born. Since its original title sounded confusingly like an amalgamation of stage or screen actors, the organization’s name would be changed, in 2006, to The Hero Initiative. “I used to be a sportswriter,” says founding member (and now president) Jim McLauchlin about how it all got

Crisis On Earth-Prime One of the most active elements in The Hero Initiative has been its chairman, artist/writer George Pérez. This fabulous drawing is one of no less than four pieces he drew related to 2003’s long-awaited JLA/Avengers series. The previously-unpublished drawing above depicts the "second tier" DC and Marvel heroes—although that's some second tier that includes Plastic Man, Hawkman, The Vision, et al.! It was auctioned off for a considerable sum—all of which was donated by George to The Hero Initiative—to aid veterans of the comic book industry who could use a helping hand. [Art ©2011 George Pérez; JLA TM & ©2011 DC Comics; Avengers TM & ©2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Charlie Novinskie joined the group nine years ago as Secretary to the Disbursement Committee and has been on the Board of Disbursement for over eight years. As sales and promotions manager for Topps Comics during most of the 1990s, Novinskie had plenty of firsthand experiences with comics professionals struggling to make ends meet, even after putting in years of hard work: “I saw a lot of the Golden Age and Silver Age guys when we were doing the ‘Kirbyverse’ books—and there were people we were working with that weren’t getting by too well at the time. When Jim McLauchlin said there was going to be an organization to help out, I thought any way I could help would be great.”

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Rendezvous With Romance When Fawcett cancelled Wow Comics, Swayze moved over to illustrating their romance comics. His work appeared in ten of their romance titles for a grand total of 69 stories. The two opening pages above come from Life Story #21 (Dec. 1950), for which Marc drew all three stories. [Life Story art TM & ©2011 respective copyright holders.]

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The above is just a partial list of characters that have appeared in AC Comics’ reprint titles such as MEN OF MYSTERY, GOLDEN AGE GREATS, and AMERICA’S GREATEST COMICS. Virtually all issues published to date are available at $6.95 each. To find over 100 quality Golden Age reprints, go to the AC Comics website at <accomics.com>. AC COMICS Box 521216 Longwood FL 32752 Please add $1.50 postage & handling per order.

Sons Of Thunder Fawcett And Thor by P.C. Hamerlinck

ooooom! The mighty Mjöllnir of Thor had hammered its way into Golden Age comic books long before the thunder god of Norse legend flourished in the imminent epoch of Marveldom. These early manifestations included: Thor himself having bestowed his mystical powers upon an ordinary man to combat world strife within the pages of Fox’s Weird Comics; later on, Kid Eternity summoning Thor to come to his aid in Quality’s Hit Comics; and, in the next decade, in Charlton’s Out of This World, Steve Ditko epitomizing Thor as a weak Scandinavian Viking boy who stumbled upon a cave (what is it about those caves?) and absorbed its interior luminous beams, which bequeathed him super-strength and a hammer-like weapon with magic lightning. Fawcett Publications had likewise incorporated the god of thunder into an array of their comic book stories, including a bout between Captain Marvel and Thor—transpiring long before two stalwarts with those names would face off some 45 years later.

Warlock The Wizard Vs. Baron Gath Nickel Comics #1 (May 1940) Warlock the Wizard raised the power of Thor to defeat vampire Baron Gath in the hero’s 1940 debut. “Warlock” was drawn in the puerile yet delightfully enigmatic, anatomicallyincorrect style of Alfred Newton—the same artist who left his mark on Fawcett’s most disreputably prosaic and derivative super-hero: Master Man. Actually, Warlock himself was somewhat imitative of Fawcett’s very own Ibis the Invincible, who had premiered just three months earlier in the first issue of Whiz Comics. Whereas Ibis battled evil with a wave of his “Ibistick,” Warlock the Wizard instead displayed his “Golden Hand” (basically a fist-ona-stick) and cried out a magic word (no, not “Shazam!” but “Abraxas!”), enabling the “last of the white magicians” to usher forth

Shazam!—The Norse Beginning Artist Eric Jansen rendered this homage to Tom Mandrake’s cover for Shazam: The New Beginning #1 (April-May 1987)—with a unique twist especially for this article. [Shazam hero TM & ©2011 DC Comics; Mighty Thor TM & ©2011 Marvel Comics.]

supernatural forces for crushing all the wickedness in the world. And, whereas Ibis had been accompanied by his partner, the exquisite Princess Taia, Warlock instead collaborated with an intelligent, talking, and telepathically-communicating pet raven named “Hugin.” (Incidentally, the same name as of one of Odin’s pair of information-gathering ravens.) Hugin led the Wizard to a huge fortress where a damsel struggled to escape the wrath of Baron Gath. When Warlock displayed his Golden Hand and shouted his magic word, the fist opened up, enlarged, split (analogous to M.F. Enterprises’ disembodied “Captain Marvel” from ’66), and plucked the distressed woman from the vampire’s grasp right before the giant hand slugged the blood-sucker in the jaw. But Gath still held his former captive’s father hostage in a castle imported straight from Transylvania. In the interim, Warlock and his Golden Hand stopped a werewolf and prevented two gargoyles from the castle’s tower from coming to life (transforming one of them into a festive balloon!), while his reliable raven gobbled up gigantic spiders.

When his Golden Hand was stolen by a lizard, Warlock sent Hugin to fly over to his house and grab the “Lamp of the Gods.” (Don’t leave home without it!) The raven