Alter Ego #118 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!

2012 EISNER AWARD Nominee Best Comics-Related Journalism

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

ALTER EGO #108

ALTER EGO #109

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

BL AVAILA

ALTER EGO #105

ALTER EGO #106

ALTER EGO #107

See comic art and script BEFORE and AFTER the Comics Code changes, with art by SIMON & KIRBY, DITKO, BUSCEMA, SINNOTT, GOULD, COLE, STERANKO, KRIGSTEIN, O’NEIL, GLANZMAN, ORLANDO, WILLIAMSON, HEATH, and others! Plus: FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, JIM AMASH interviews Timely/Atlas artist CAL MASSEY, and a new cover by JOSH MEDORS!

DICK GIORDANO through the 1960s—from freelance years and Charlton “Action-Heroes” to his first stint at DC! Art by DITKO, APARO, BOYETTE, MORISI, McLAUGHLIN, GIL KANE, and others, Dick’s final convention panel with STEVE SKEATES and ROY THOMAS, JIM AMASH interviews Charlton artist TONY TALLARICO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and ROY ALD, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, & DITKO/GIORDANO cover!

Big BATMAN issue, with an unused Golden Age cover by DICK SPRANG! Interviews SPRANG and JIM MOONEY, with rare and unseen Batman art by BOB KANE, JERRY ROBINSON, WIN MORTIMER, SHELLY MOLDOFF, CHARLES PARIS, and others! Part II of the TONY TALLARICO interview by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

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(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

ALTER EGO #110

ALTER EGO #111

ALTER EGO #112

1970s Bullpenner WARREN REECE talks about Marvel Comics and working with EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, STAN LEE, MARIE SEVERIN, ADAMS, FRIEDRICH, ROY THOMAS, and others, with rare art! DEWEY CASSELL spotlights Golden Age artist MIKE PEPPE, with art by TOTH, TUSKA, SEKOWSKY, TALLARICO Part 3, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, cover by EVERETT & BURGOS, and more!

Spectre/Hour-Man creator BERNARD BAILY, ‘40s super-groups that might have been, art by ORDWAY, INFANTINO, KUBERT, HASEN, ROBINSON, and BURNLEY, conclusion of the TONY TALLARICO interview by JIM AMASH, MIKE PEPPE interview by DEWEY CASSELL, BILL SCHELLY on “50 Years of Fandom” at San Diego 2011, FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, PÉREZ cover, and more!

SHAZAM!/FAWCETT issue! The 1940s “CAPTAIN MARVEL” RADIO SHOW, interview with radio’s “Billy Batson” BURT BOYAR, P.C. HAMERLINCK and C.C. BECK on the origin of Captain Marvel, ROY THOMAS and JERRY BINGHAM on their Secret Origins “Shazam!”, FCA with MARC SWAYZE, LEONARD STARR interview, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

GOLDEN AGE NEDOR super-heroes are spotlighted, with MIKE NOLAN’s Nedor Index, and art by MORT MESKIN, JERRY ROBINSON, GEORGE TUSKA, RUBEN MOIRERA, ALEX SHOMBURG, and others! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, more 2011 Fandom Celebration, and part II of JIM AMASH’s interview with Golden Age artist LEONARD STARR! Cover by SHANE FOLEY!

SUPERMAN issue! PAUL CASSIDY (early Superman artist), Italian Nembo Kid, and ARLEN SCHUMER’s look at the MORT WEISINGER era, plus an interview with son HANK WEISINGER! Art by SHUSTER, BORING, ANDERSON, PLASTINO, and others! LEONARD STARR interview Part III—FCA—Mr. Monster—more 2011 Fandom Celebration, and a MURPHY ANDERSON/ARLEN SCHUMER cover!

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ALTER EGO #113

ALTER EGO #114

ALTER EGO #115

ALTER EGO #116

ALTER EGO #117

MARV WOLFMAN talks to RICHARD ARNDT about his first decade in comics on Tomb of Dracula, Teen Titans, Captain Marvel, John Carter, Daredevil, Nova, Batman, etc., behind a GENE COLAN cover! Art by COLAN, ANDERSON, CARDY, BORING, MOONEY, and more! Plus: the conclusion of our LEONARD STARR interview by JIM AMASH, FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

MARVEL ISSUE on Captain America and Fantastic Four! MARTIN GOODMAN’s Broadway debut, speculations about FF #1, history of the MMMS, interview with Golden Age writer/artist DON RICO, art by KIRBY, AVISON, SHORES, ROMITA, SEVERIN, TUSKA, ALLEN BELLMAN, and others! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER and BILL SCHELLY! Cover by BELLMAN and MITCH BREITWEISER!

3-D COMICS OF THE 1950S! In-depth feature by RAY (3-D) ZONE, actual red and green 1950s 3-D art (includes free glasses!) by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT, MESKIN, POWELL, MAURER, NOSTRAND, SWAN, BORING, SCHWARTZ, MOONEY, SHORES, TUSKA and many others! Plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Cover by JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY!

JOE KUBERT TRIBUTE! Four Kubert interviews, art by RUSS HEATH, NEAL ADAMS, MURPHY ANDERSON, MICHAEL KALUTA, SAM GLANZMAN, and others, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY’s Comic Fandom Archive, FCA’s Captain Video conclusion by GEORGE EVANS that inspired Avengers foe Ultron, cover by KUBERT, with a portrait by DANIEL JAMES COX!

GOLDEN AGE ARTISTS L.B. COLE AND JAY DISBROW! DISBROW’s memoir of COLE and his work on CAT-MAN, art by BOB FUJITANI, CHARLES QUINLAN, IRWIN HASEN, FCA (Fawcett Collector’s of America) on the two-media career of Captain Video, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom history, Cat-Man cover by L.B. COLE!

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Vol. 3, No. 118 / July 2013 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

Proofreaders

Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding

Cover Artist Don Heck

Cover Colorist Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to:

Heidi Amash Henry Kujawa Sal Amendola R. Gary Land David Bachman Mark Lewis Bob Bailey Alan Light Blake Bell Michael Maikowsky Jerry K. Boyd Michel Maillot Tom Brevoort Jim McLauchlin Bernie Bubnis Mike Mikulovsky Rich Buckler Kurt Mitchell Brian Buniak Stephen Mitchell David Burd Will Murray Mike Burkey Michael Netzer Nick Caputo Owen O’Leary Mike Catron Jake Oster Shaun Clancy Barry Pearl Ernie Colón Ken Quattro Leonardo de Sa Lisa Ray Mark Evanier Ethan Roberts Wendy Everett Francis A. Justin Fairfax Rodriguez Bill Field Rich Rubenfeld Danny Fingeroth Joe Rubinstein Michael Finn Randy Sargent Shane Foley Arlen Schumer Janet Gilbert Ronn Sutton Grand Comics Ty Templeton Database (website) John D. Trawick Golden Age Comic Dann Thomas Book Stories Jim Vadeboncoeur, (website) Jr. Hero Initiative Dr. Michael J. Jennifer Hamerlinck Vassallo Heritage Comics Hames Ware Archives Len Wein Allan Holtz Robert Wiener Sean Howe Barry WindsorTony Isabella Smith Samuel Joyner Pat Yanchus Lou Kanegson Marv Wolfman Roz Kirby Estate Everson “Bud” Zell

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

E.C. Stoner

Contents Writer/Editorial: Of Peaks and Panthers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Daredevil Vs. The Avengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Will Murray explores the likelihood that the Man without Fear was due to come out first!

Assembling The Avengers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Kurt Mitchell takes a look at the first decade of Marvel’s real answer to the Justice League.

The Origin Of Jack Kirby’s Black Panther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

An art-essay by Arlen Schumer on Marvel’s (and the U.S. comics industry’s) first black super-hero.

E.C. Stoner – The Forgotten Trailblazer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Ken Quattro surveys the career of an early African-American comic book artist.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Evil Twins Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Michael T. Gilbert points out the doppelgängers of Gabby Hayes & Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Comic Fandom Archive: “I Started To Remember…” . . . . . 61

Bill Schelly invites Bernie Bubnis to tell us about the first comics convention—& Steve Ditko.

re: [correspondence, criticism, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . 69 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #177 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 P.C. Hamerlinck presents the last comics story ever drawn by Marc Swayze.

On Our Cover: We thought it’d be cool to utilize the cover art that Don Heck penciled and inked for The Avengers #37 (Dec. 1966)—but which was not used at that time—as the cover of this issue that celebrates 50 years, and especially the first ten of those, of the super-hero group that was created specifically to incorporate several of Marvel’s greatest solo stars. But what to do about the somewhat narrower proportions of a comic book cover from that of Alter Ego? One answer, we decided, was to keep the Avengers art at its natural proportions—but to photograph an actual hand holding it. (That hand, by the way, belongs to TwoMorrows co-publisher John Morrow.) And so Dashin’ Don’s art was finally used as a color cover—47 years after it was originally drawn, with brand new coloring by veteran Tom Ziuko. [©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: Because we wanted to toss you some Avengers art that hasn’t been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks hardcovers, Essentials softcovers, and/or myriad comic books, we latched onto this cover for the 1976 Avengers Annual (#1), published in Great Britain by World Distributors. Because it’s composed of figures that look to us like the work of Jack Kirby, John Buscema, and quite possibly one or two other U.S. artists, pasted up into a reasonably coherent whole, we thought it might be a good representation of the team’s first decade. But where’s the ever-Incredible Hulk? Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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 China. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

Of Peaks And Panthers

hose 50-year anniversaries are piling up way too fast.

First, 2006 was the five-decade mark for Showcase #4 and the Silver Age of Comics, courtesy of “Flash” reinterpreters Julius Schwartz, Robert Kanigher, and Carmine Infantino. Then, for me personally, it was my 50-year high school reunion in 2008, where I reveled with old friends I hadn’t seen in a few (or more than a few) years, even if I was inevitably saddened to learn that one or two I had expected to see were no longer with us. Next it was the half-century mark of the early-1961 birth of comics fandom, at least in its not-just-EC phase, a landmark happily saluted at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, thanks to Jackie Estrada, Bill Schelly, and others. That same year saw the even more significant 50th anniversary of Fantastic Four #1, the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby flashpoint of what became a new way of writing and drawing super-heroes which still has echoes in virtually every comic book of that genre that comes down the pike—and now on the silver screen, as well.

Then came 2012 and the 50-year mark for Amazing Fantasy #15.

Now it’s 2013; and, along with another significant comics milestone—the first meeting of the Justice League and the Golden Age Justice Society—we come to the twin peaks of two 50-year Marvel anniversaries: the first-issue debuts of two (eventual) blockbuster franchises, The Avengers and The X-Men, who premiered in the selfsame week, no less! This time we’re honoring The Avengers; two issues from now, we’ll give Marvel’s merry mutants their due. I had hoped to complete in this issue my personal memories of the 70-plus issues I scripted of The Avengers, an account I began way back in A/E #13—but I’m knee-deep in writing a humongous account of Stan Lee’s life and times for the German publisher Taschen, and just couldn’t spare the time right now. Fortunately, Kurt Mitchell, who masterfully covered DC’s Earth-Two in A/E #93-94, has stepped into the breach and given us

an exciting overview of The Avengers’ first ten years. I also persuaded Will Murray to scribe an account of how The Avengers seems to have been an 11th-hour replacement for a totally different Marvel mag.

And, since The Black Panther joined The Avengers in 1968, we’re thrilled to include a piece produced by Arlen Schumer (who in A/E #112 gave us a singular study of Superman editor Mort Weisinger) on the origins of T’Challa. Still, as I’ve told Arlen, I feel obliged to state up front that I have reservations about one of his key assumptions—namely that, because Jack Kirby’s drawing of a Panther-like character called The Coal Tiger (probably) pre-dates FF #51, it can be inferred that the idea of introducing a black super-hero into Marvel’s flagship title was necessarily Jack’s rather than Stan’s. Because Arlen believes that can be inferred, I had little choice but to respond to that assumption. I strongly maintain that no assumption of Kirby priority can or should be made. For one thing, we know virtually nothing about the Coal Tiger concept except its visual aspect. To presume that Jack rather than Stan was the initiator of The Black Panther ignores the fact that Stan had long been instructing Marvel’s artists to include African-Americans in crowd scenes. I’ve no proof the impetus for a black super-hero came from Stan—but one can’t automatically assume it came from Jack, either. It’s equally possible that Stan came up with the idea, maybe even the name “Black Panther”—and if and when he did, there right in front of him was Jack with his very un-African “Coal Tiger” concept drawing (since there ain’t no tigers in Africa), ready to alter it in an instant into the dark garb of T’Challa, son of T’Chaka. That caveat aside, I think you’ll relish Arlen’s thoughtprovoking spotlight on the Wakandan Avenger… just as we hope you will the tours de force of Will Murray and Kurt Mitchell. Put on a CD of “The Anniversary Waltz”—and enjoy! Bestest,

COMING IN JULY

119

An FCA & Alter Ego Celebration Of

The Late Great MARC SWAYZE —Plus A Fabulous Fawcett Phantasmagoria!

• Color-splashed cover by SWAYZE—featuring art from his origin of Mary Marvel! • Special giant-size FCA section! A deserved and art-studded 100th-birthday tribute to MARC SWAYZE—who passed away in 2012 and has been an integral part of each of our first 118 issues! Re-presenting his very first “Phantom Eagle” story, from 1944—a photo album prepared by daughter JUDY & P.C. HAMERLINCK—and an interview with wife JUNE SWAYZE! Plus: the final FCA interview with SHELDON MOLDOFF—Captain Marvel scribe OTTO BINDER’s Memoirs of a Nobody—CM artist C.C. BECK’s advice for young artists—and a great interior cover by MARK LEWIS! • MEL KEEFER, artist for Dell (Zorro, Texas Rangers, etc.) & Toby Press, interviewed by ALBERTO BECATTINI—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on “The Men Who Would Be Kurtzman!”—BILL SCHELLY is interviewed for Comic Fandom Archive—& MORE!!

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Vs. And The Winner Was—The Marvel Readers! An Historical View by Will Murray

The Man Without Fear— Or Even A Boomerang

ne of Marvel’s mightiest adventure titles came about through a misadventure.

The Avengers debuted in the summer of 1963—on the very same day as The X-Men. (It was a big summer for super-hero teams. Over at DC, the first of the annual JLA-JSA team-ups was launched, as well.) Marvelites have long wondered why Stan Lee would make poor Jack Kirby, already burdened with Fantastic Four, Sgt. Fury, and other features, draw two additional team books.

Actually, as comics and TV writer Mark Evanier learned long ago from Kirby and from Marvel production head Sol Brodsky, that was not the original plan.

Seeing the FF and Amazing Spider-Man racking up solid sales, publisher Martin Goodman wanted editor Lee to replicate those successes. Goodman himself had an idea for the Spider-Man clone. The old Lev Gleason/ Charles Biro character called Daredevil had fallen out of trademark. He had been one of the top sellers of the Golden Age of Comics. Goodman instructed Lee to revive him—lock, stock, and boomerang.

was a great name. And if the name was free, that was terrific. So I just tried to come up with another character.” (Some of the Stan Lee quotations in this section of the article appeared in my piece “Daredevil Origins” in the April 2003 issue of the magazine WizBang, others in my survey “The Untold Origin of Daredevil,” in The Official Overstreet Price Guide, Vol. 37, from Overstreet Publishing.) Since Goodman was looking for another Spider-Man, Lee turned to the artist who had been so crucial to making Spider-Man a success: Steve Ditko. Ditko turned him down flat. The artist’s reasons are not known, but apparently he had no interest in the revival. Or perhaps he didn’t want to do a character who was calculated to be another Spider-Man. He was already doing Spider-Man! “I was sorry,” Lee admitted in 2003. “Steve would have been great. But I was lucky to get Everett.”

CAN THE COMBINED POWER OF

THE AVENGERS DAREDEVIL?

DEFEAT THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR—

The Avengers... Bah! I’ll Destroy You All!

When I asked Lee about this by phone in 2003, at the time of the release of the Daredevil movie, he remembered Goodman’s edict and his response to it. “So my first thought would be,” Lee explained, “‘Well, let’s do the character again.’ But I didn’t want to steal somebody else’s character. So I figured I’d use the name, but I’ll dream up something different for him. I didn’t want to use the same costume. I thought it

[Daredevil #1 art by Bill Everett & The Avengers #1 art by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers ©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Daredevil & Avengers logos TM & ©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.; text adaptation by Chris Day]

DAREDEVIL! Prepare For Battle!

And The Winner Was--The Marvel Readers!

For Stan Lee’s second choice was Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett, then drifting back into comics after a sabbatical. But all did not go swimmingly there, either. “I know [Stan] had this idea for Daredevil,” Everett told Roy Thomas in the early 1970s, in an interview published in 1978 in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #11. “He thought he had an idea. And we tried to talk it over the phone, and it just... wouldn’t work. With a long distance phone call, it just wasn’t coming out right, so I said, ‘All right... I’ll take a day off and come down to New York.’” Conceptually, they reimagined a modern Daredevil. The character soon diverged from the Golden Age incarnation until all resemblances were gone. “Originally, I wanted him to be a great gymnast,” Lee recalled. “So I thought maybe I’d make him a circus acrobat. But I somehow decided that was a little unoriginal.”

Jack Kirby told Mark Evanier that he was brought in in an advisory capacity, which was confirmed by Sol Brodsky. “Kirby had a lot of input into all the looks of all these things,” Lee explained. “If I wasn’t satisfied with something and Kirby was around, I would have said, ‘Hey Jack, what do you think of this? How would you do it?’”

Daredevil Vs. Daredevil: The Prequel

While the circus background was eventually dropped, DD’s original yellow-and-red costume design, clearly modeled after a traditional circus acrobat’s outfit, survived as the new hero’s basic look.

Martin Goodman (on left) and Stan Lee (on right) eye, from quite different perspectives, the cover of Lev Gleason Publications’ Daredevil Comics #9 (April 1940), whose art is attributed to editor Charles Biro. The original Daredevil’s battle with an imitator foreshadows Goodman’s desire for a Marvel takeover of that character, while Lee would move increasingly toward creating a new hero simply sporting the same name. Still, by common consensus, the Golden Age DD had one of the coolest costumes ever; it was designed by his first artist, Jack Binder! [Daredevil cover ©2013 the respective copyright holders.] Incidentally, although the 1940s DD had a sometime secret identity (Bart Hill), the chances are that, even if his costume and boomerang had been retained, the Marvel incarnation would’ve had a different alter ego, since it was only the “Daredevil” trademark that had been abandoned by 1963, not necessarily every existing copyright, which would cover story materials. At least, that’s how the Marvel version of another earlier hero would be handled in 1966-67, when Magazine Enterprises’ Ghost Rider concept and even costume were appropriated by Marvel, but Rex Fury, roving U.S. marshal, became Carter Slade, schoolteacher. The photos of Goodman and Lee are from Marvel Tales Annual #1 (1964); with thanks to Justin Fairfax & Bob Bailey. [©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Mount Everett (Near right:) Bill Everett, in a photo that first appeared in 1969’s Fantastic Four Annual #7. Thanks to Fairfax & Bailey. [©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Far Right:) Wendy Everett signs copies of Blake Bell’s 2010 biography of her father, titled Fire & Water: Bill Everett, The SubMariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics, from Fantagraphics Books. We dunno who wrote Wendy’s name on that signboard, but note that the “E” in her last name—and even the “W,” turned sideways— echo Bill’s famous signature. Photo by Blake Bell. Not mentioned in Will Murray’s account, because it isn’t germane to the Daredevil/Avengers matter, is Wendy’s recorded statement that, since she has been legally (though not totally) blind since childhood, it was her father’s idea that the Marvel DD be sightless. While it’s also quite possible that the blindness and compensating radar sense were Stan Lee’s concept quite separately, it’s not unlikely that Bill could’ve tossed that idea into the mix when the two men were discussing ways to differentiate the new hero from the old one.

Soon enough, Lee and his artists worked up a conception Goodman approved. Matt Murdock would be a blind lawyer with a radar sense similar to Spider-Man’s spider sense. The original Daredevil’s trademark boomerang became a fighting billy club. The latter was one of Kirby’s contributions.

Daredevil Vs. The Avengers

Earth’s Mightiest Stand-Ins Then, complications set in. Drawing issue #1 nights while he held down a day job, Bill Everett was falling inexorably behind schedule. When it appeared that Everett couldn’t make the summer release deadline, Lee brainstormed an emergency replacement title, one that used pre-existing characters and a villain already in inventory. It required no extensive preparation. Just an action plot and instructions for Jack Kirby to give it everything he had. Again, this story comes from Mark Evanier, who recently expanded upon it: “Kirby told me the story. When I interviewed Brodsky, he said, ‘Yeah, that’s how it happened.’ He also told me that he [Sol] had inked a lot of the backgrounds on [Daredevil], not just Ditko as is usually reported. “I asked Stan about it. Stan had, you may be surprised to hear, no memory of it... but when I took him through it step by step, he said something like, ‘Yes, now I seem to recall that.’ Based on all that and the fact that Dick Ayers recalled inking Avengers #1 in a great hurry, I concluded the story was so.” Thus was created a comic starring “Earth’s Mightiest SuperHeroes”—The Avengers. And Martin Goodman finally got the Justice League of America clone he had originally requested back in 1961! Stan Lee has never talked in much detail about the genesis of The Avengers. The earliest foreshadowing of the group appeared in the news-fanzine The Comic Reader #14 (Feb. 22, 1963), when editor Jerry Bails hinted: “EXPECT TO SEE: A meeting of all the Marvel Comics superheroes.” This may have been the first glimmering of the team.

In his 1974 book Origins of Marvel Comics, Lee wrote:

“After kicking it around for a while, we came up with what seemed like a perfect combo. We’d start with the Hulk, just to make it difficult. Then, we’d include Thor, ’cause there’s always room for a

“Action!” Jack Kirby, as he appeared in the photo section of the 1964 Marvel Tales Annual—and the 4th page of Daredevil #12 (Jan. 1966). Besides Kirby’s having reportedly served in an “advisory capacity” on the creation of that Marvel hero, John Romita has stated that editor/writer Stan Lee felt that John, then a new returnee to the bullpen, hadn’t put enough excitement into his pencils for this first Daredevil story he drew—so Stan had Jack (who else?) do layouts for the entire issue, over which Romita then did finished pencils and inks. Of course, it didn’t take Jazzy Johnny long to get the hang of things again! Thanks to Fairfax & Bailey for the photo scan, and to Barry Pearl for the DD page. [©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

God of Thunder. Iron Man would be able to supply them all with weapons and bread whenever they needed it, and we’d toss in Ant-Man and the Wasp just for the sheer lunacy of it.” Jack Kirby provided the greatest insight into the sheer improbability of the hastily welded together team when he told Ray Wyman (for the latter’s book The Art of Jack Kirby, Blue Rose Press, 1992):

From Sol’s Lips To Mark’s Ears Mark Evanier (left) says that Marvel production manager Sol Brodsky (right) confirmed to him years ago what Jack Kirby had told him: that The Avengers was put onto the schedule in a hurry when Daredevil #1 was running very, very late. Mark sent the 1982 photo of himself by Alan Light, while the photo of “Jolly Solly” is from the 1964 Marvel Tales Annual. [Brodsky photo ©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Here were several personalities that were designed to be solo heroes, and we had to produce an effective portrayal of them working together—closely. Of course, they’d argue. They might even come close to killing each other, but the idea worked and we managed to make a convincing story out of a very improbable situation.” It was so improbable that, as soon as Lee and Kirby got the inaugural issue to press, they started tweaking their weaker individual heroes.

And The Winner Was--The Marvel Readers!

have him join The Avengers,” Lee wrote in either his introduction to Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty or one of the Marvel Masterworks: Captain America volumes: “It would give Steve a new group of familiar characters to relate to and play off. Also, I had dreamed up a way to bring him back to life that really knocked me out, and it would need The Avengers to do it properly.”

“The Old Order Changeth!” The impromptu nature of the series, conceivably its greatest weakest link, ultimately proved to be The Avengers’ main strength.

“One great thing about the Avengers team is the fact that we could always change the line-up of heroes,” Lee has said. “We were able to send Iron Man on vacation and have Captain America come in to replace him. Then we had them kick out the Hulk because he became too unmanageable. Since kicking a Hulk out isn’t easy to do, it became the basis for an action-packed story.” Within sixteen short issues, the core team was dispersed when newcomer Captain America presided over the first of what would ultimately become many lineup changes, bringing in reformed villains from “Iron Man” and The X-Men.

It was a shocking turn of events, as experienced by first-generation Marvel readers back in 1965. Lee explained his reasoning this way: “I was finding it too difficult to seem to be realistic,” he related. “For example, in his own book, Thor might have been trapped in Asgard somewhere, and yet in The Avengers book, he’s here attending a meeting. I seem to remember, I did get mail from a lot of readers about that point, and I felt, ‘Maybe it’s destroying the pseudo-realism of the stories, where a character is dying in one story and in the other story he’s the chairman of the Avengers meeting.’”

And Here He Comes Again! In this day of Photoshop and the like, comics readers can digitally reimagine classic covers—and that’s what A/E reader Henry Kujawa has done with the cover of Daredevil #1 (April 1964), flopping the figures (and Karen Page’s head) and dropping the Spider-Man and FF material he considered superfluous. Nice work, Henry—although I doubt if you’d have gotten this version of the cover past Martin Goodman back in ’64! [Art, logo, & copy ©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“So I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to say he had been frozen in ice for these two decades or whatever it was, and now he’s back?’ I’m always trying to think of some way to give them a personality hook or a character trait that would make them unique, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great? Here’s a guy who’s been out of it for 20 years, and suddenly everything is changed!’ He never knew what a hippie was. There are hippies, there are guys smoking marijuana, and those things.... “And here’s a guy who’d be considered totally square. He believes in liberty and freedom and the flag. It was the Vietnam War, and nobody was interested in war any more. People were turned off. So I figured. ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ So that was the reason for that man out of time, out of sync.”

Captain America returned for real in The Avengers #4—actually several years, of course, before the U.S. became truly engaged in a war in Vietnam. “The first thing I decided to do was

Ironically it was the evolving “Thor” strip that seemed to be the trigger for this. His stories increasingly became Asgard-oriented, and even a thunder god cannot be in two places at once. Thor was embroiled in the “Trial of the Gods” sequence in Journey into Mystery, his early life as Dr. Donald Blake temporarily abandoned. The thunder god had no time for The Avengers.

As for Daredevil, he finally appeared early in 1964. Years later, he even became an Avenger for a time. But that’s no rare distinction. Almost every major Marvel hero has joined at one time or another. Both titles are still going strong fifty years later.

Will Murray is the co-creator of the unbeatable Squirrel Girl and the author of The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage series, whose most recent release, Skull Island, pits the Man of Bronze against the immortal King Kong.

Assembling The Avengers

A Look Back At The Formative Years of “Some Of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” by Kurt Mitchell

UTHOR’S INTRO: As a fan since the day the six-year-old me first read a tattered, coverless copy of The Avengers #4, I was jazzed when assigned the task of writing a brief history of the team’s first decade for this special issue of Alter Ego commemorating the 50th anniversary of the comic book’s premiere. To keep this article’s length and complexity within reason, I’ve assumed the average A/E reader has a nodding familiarity with the Marvel Comics super-heroes. And now, without further ado: Avengers assemble! (I’ve always wanted to say that!) —Kurt.

“The Coming Of The Avengers!”

oki, Norse god of mischief, frames the misunderstood monster called the Hulk for a train disaster as a ploy in his ongoing war with the mighty Thor. Hulk’s teenage pal, Rick Jones, radios the Fantastic Four for help. Loki diverts the signal so that Thor, in his mortal guise of lame physician Don Blake, receives it instead. Rick’s message also reaches millionaire industrialist Anthony Stark, secretly the armored Iron Man, as well as biochemist Henry Pym and heiress Janet Van Dyne, better known as the size-changing Ant-Man and the Wasp. Loki will come to regret that colossal (and convenient!) coincidence, for it heralds the birth of a team of superhuman champions destined to frustrate not only his insidious schemes but those of scores of other evildoers: the mighty Avengers! All that lies ahead. Here and now—the summer of 1963— The Avengers #1 (cover-dated Sept. 1963) has just hit the stands, the latest in a line of innovative super-hero comics by the creative team of editor/scripter Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Not content to simply mimic DC’s Justice League of America, which also features characters who have their own solo series, Stan and Jack use the opportunity to explore, explode, and expand the possibilities of the superteam concept.

The new strip’s quirkiness owes much to the shallow pool of Marvel heroes available for duty. The stars of Fantastic Four and the debuting The X-Men already belong to teams. The loner heroes drawn by Steve Ditko, The Amazing Spider-Man and Strange Tales’ Doctor Strange, aren’t joiners. That leaves just five: Thor, from Journey into Mystery; Iron Man, from Tales of Suspense; Ant-Man and the Wasp, from Tales to Astonish; and the surly green-skinned star of the recently canceled The Incredible Hulk. Three powerhouses and a couple of human insects wouldn’t seem to make for a wellbalanced team, and any time the brutish alter ego of nuclear physicist Bruce Banner is on hand... well, Hulk’s previous encounter with super-heroes (Fantastic Four #12) was no lovefest. Therein lies the genius of Lee and Kirby: they take the awkward fit of the founding Avengers and run with it. Avengers #2 (Nov. ’63) begins with a “big” change in the

The First 115 Issues Are The Hardest! The bodacious bookends to The Avengers’ first decade: the Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers cover of issue #1 (Sept. 1963), with coloring by Stan Goldberg—and that of #115 (Sept. 1973) by John Romita & Mike Esposito. Of course, there were a few Annuals and the like during that decade, as well. Great things were yet to come, and still are—but these were the ones that set the pace, the work of only three listed writers (Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Steve Englehart—plus a pair of synopses by Harlan Ellison and a bit of ghost-plotting by Len Wein and Chris Claremont) and fewer than a dozen pencilers. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scans. [©2013 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

E.C. STONER – The Forgotten Trailblazer A Rare Look At An Early African-American Comic Book Artist by Ken Quattro

UTHOR’S INTRODUCTION: This is a piece long in development and long overdue. I couldn’t have completed it without the help of many fine people. I’d like to express my thanks to: Dr. Michael Vassallo, Will Murray, Allan Holtz, Samuel Joyner, Hames Ware, and the late Jerry Bails.

I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. —Ralph Ellison, prologue to his novel Invisible Man.

Pens & Peanuts

f you think Matt Baker was the first African-American to work in comic books, you are wrong. Elmer Cecil Stoner had him beat by the better part of a decade.

He was the son of a church sexton from the Pennsylvania coalmining town of Wilkes-Barre. Born October 20, 1897, Elmer was the eldest of three children and part of the small portion of the town’s mainly immigrant population that was black. Or, as the census-takers would describe them, “mulatto“—the vague term used for light-skinned blacks. Beyond those scraps of information there is little known about Elmer’s early years except for a story long associated with him that bears some scrutiny. According to several respected sources, Stoner was the creator of the “Mr. Peanut” character for the Planter Peanuts Company. (Hames Ware has confirmed that Stoner’s widow, Henriette, had that among his accomplishments when she filled out the questionnaire for the Who’s Who of American Comic Books database.)

Founded in 1906, the Planters company was indeed from Wilkes-Barre, where Stoner was living at the time. In 1916, it sponsored a contest to find a company logo. As the story is recounted

Art On The Walls—Art In The Halls E.C. Stoner at home—and his cover for Fox’s Blue Beetle #31 (June 1944). All art and photos accompanying this article, unless otherwise noted, were provided by author Ken Quattro. The photo was sent to him by Samuel Joyner, from an unidentified 1940s magazine piece. Blue Beetle is now a trademark of DC Comics. [©2013 the respective copyright holders.]

E.C. Stoner—The Forgotten Trailblazer

in the official history on the company’s website: Introduced in 1916, the debonair marketing image of Mr. Peanut derived from a crude drawing by a Virginia schoolboy. Prompted by a nation-wide logo contest sponsored by the Planters Company, (14-yearold) schoolboy Antonio Gentile won $5 for his design submission of Mr. Peanut. Then, a professional illustrator enhanced the youngster’s drawing, adding the top hat, monocle, and cane. While it’s entirely possible that Stoner was employed as a professional illustrator in 1916 (he would have been 18 or 19 years old), there are facts that cast some doubt. I’ve located his draft registration card, which is dated September 12, 1918. In the section of the card that notes his occupation, Stoner has written “porter” and his employer as “F. W. They Call Me Mister Peanut! Woolworth Co.” A July 24, 1917, advertisement introducing Although this is some Mr. Peanut. Whether or not Elmer Stoner was involved as a youngster in the character’s two years after the creation is a matter of controversy and creation of the Planters conjecture. [©2013 the respective copyright logo, it seems unlikely holders.] that Stoner would have gone from being an illustrator to a porter. Perhaps he was employed by the Planters company as an in-house artist at the time, maybe as a temporary worker. However, since it is still a possibility—and a great story— let it stand with a question mark in parentheses.

scholarship. When he did attend, exactly, is harder to determine.

Harlem Days The 1920 census reveals that Elmer was still living at home with his parents in that year. He would have been 22 at the time the census was taken. By 1922, though, Stoner was living in New York. It appears, then, that Elmer attended college sometime between the January 1920 census-taking and his showing at an art exhibit in August 1922. This exhibition of “Negro” artists was held at the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library. Among the high points hailed by head librarian Ernestine Rose were “the charcoal illustrations of Elmer C. Stoner,” which, she noted, “were splendidly planned and executed.” [The Southern Workman, pp. 542-543.] Note that Stoner’s immersion into the New York art world corresponds with the advent of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was the period of African-American intellectual and artistic flowering straddling the 1920s that centered around that New York community. This re-discovery and awakening of black culture nurtured such talents as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Duke Ellington. It’s no wonder that Stoner was drawn there: [I]t was a pretty nifty place to live. Crime, dope, and poverty were scarcely visible, protest and militancy were polite, the streets were clean, and, above all, bourgeois aspiration prevailed. [New York Times, “Harlem’s History through a Camera,” Oct. 16, 1971.] Elmer Stoner was newly married when he and his wife Vivienne befriended another couple, Nella Larsen and her husband, Dr. Elmer Imes. Larsen was a writer—with time, one of the most important to emerge from the era. It’s probable that Larsen met Stoner when she was an assistant librarian in the same 135th Street branch where Elmer had exhibited his artwork.

According to Larsen’s biography, In Search of Nella Larsen by George Hutchinson, the Stoners had moved from their home in Harlem in 1924 to Greenwich Village, where “Vi” opened a gift shop on Christopher Street. The two couples often played bridge and were part of a tight-knit circle of African-Americans who lived in The Village.

There is also significance in Stoner’s employment by the F.W. Woolworth Company. At one time, the seemingly ubiquitous fiveand-dime store was in nearly every town. One of the partners in Woolworth’s was a man named Fred Morgan Kirby. Kirby was originally a competitor of Woolworth; in 1911 their two companies were combined into one. Kirby’s original store in Wilkes-Barre location became a regional headquarters. Reading between the lines, it is a fair assumption that Kirby was aware of Stoner and his talent. Fred Kirby was a philanthropist, particularly dedicated to the early 20th-century version of civil rights. Among his charitable gifts was the establishment of the Chair of Civil Rights at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. As Stoner was known to have attended the Wilkes-Barre Academy, it is possible he did so with the help of Kirby, through a gift or a

You’re Standing In A Draft Stoner’s draft registration, dated Sept. 12, 1918. He would have been approximately 20 years old at this time.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’

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A Trio of Twins! Gabby Hayes Western #10 (Sept. 1949) with its photo cover… Gunmaster #2 (Nov 1964—art by Bill Fraccio and Dick Giordano)… and Red Mask #45 (Dec. 1954—art by Frank Bolle). [©2013 the respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Et Tu, Harvey? Not even kiddie comics are immune to the ravages of Evil Twins! Harvey Comics’ devilish Hot Stuff met his in the form of Freezy, the Blue Devil—a troublemaker who blasted ice instead of flames from his trident! Freezy almost created a new Ice Age before Hot Stuff sent him packing. So maybe our devilish hero’s Evil Twin is actually a Good Twin? Hmmm! And, while not evil, that goody-two-shoes Casper the Friendly Ghost certainly has his share of weird duplicates! Is it just me, or is that dead-babies-in-the-window cover a little... unsettling? Brrrrr!

That’s all for now. My thanks to Brian Buniak, Ronn Sutton, and Janet Gilbert. ‘Till next time…

Variations On A Theme! (Counterclockwise from left center:) The covers of Casper the Friendly Ghost #29 (Feb. 1955)… The Friendly Ghost, Casper #52 (Dec. 1962)… #112 (Dec. 1967)… and #41 (Jan. 1962). [©2013 Harvey Comics.]

Comic Fandom Archive

“I Started To Remember...” Memories Of The 1964 New York Comicon— A Very Brief Visit With Steve Ditko, & More, From

BERNIE BUBNIS

Introduction To Special Guest Edition

ne of the great pleasures of writing The Golden Age of Comic Fandom and other books about the history of fandom has been getting to know many of the people I was writing about, but had only known “in the old days” as names on a dittoed or mimeographed page. One such fan is Bernie Bubnis.

In our profile/interview with Bernie back in A/E #100, we talked about the 1964 New York Comicon he had organized with the help of a handful of friends—and which may be considered the first comic book convention—and about his exit from fandom not too long afterward. In the weeks and months after our interview, Bernie turned out to be a voluble raconteur in e-mails to yours truly, Roy Thomas, and doubtless others. Roy and I quickly realized that Bernie had just a bit (!) more to say about that 1964 con, and we invited him to write a guest column for A/E. And so, voila! —Bill Schelly.

Bernie Times Three—Plus One

A clockwise Bubnis triptych: Bernie around the time of the ’64 con—a bit later, in leather with motorcycle helmet—and Bernie today, with his granddaughter Lauren. Photos courtesy of BB, of course.

Long days and nightly commutes to the Long Island suburbs put me home after dark. Nothing disturbs the home fires like a telephone ringing. Before caller ID, I just stared at that ringing piece of plastic. Who calls at this time? This has got to be a problem. What happened next scared me. This was an unexpected call.

won’t throw things. This was surely the night I would go to Dogpatch, maybe the Fortress of Solitude; maybe I can stop crying.

t was 1995. The ever-changing economy was looking upward. After some tough times in the early ’90s, my business was booming. My business model was simple. Three New York City area showrooms that displayed windows and doors. Hell, everyone wanted to ride the upscale trolley and improve homes. The beginning of the bubble.

The guy on the other end is asking me questions about things that happened over 30 years ago! Things I hardly ever thought about anymore. In those days, you couldn’t punch into Google and pull up a man’s life. He knew what I was doing (and thinking) in 1961. I was 13 years old. I didn’t know what I was doing in 1961. This was going to be a very uneasy conversation. This guy had to be a detective of some kind, and I was dead-on in his gun sights. I read too many Mickey Spillane novels. The guy on the other end of the phone line was (Detective) Bill Schelly, comic fandom historian. Huh? Who has this much time on his hands? He was writing a book about the very early days of comic book fandom and had tracked me down, like a trapped rat. To me, those days were long gone, and I never really wanted to relive a few of those memories. Like a scene in a horror movie, I started to remember.... If I read a story out loud, maybe that would drown out the yelling and screaming. I hid in my room. With my comic books and science-fiction magazines. If I concentrated enough, I could transport myself out of this house. Maybe tonight my parents

I hid with my books. Comics led to magazines like Amazing and Fantastic. Science-fiction fandom was alive and well. Letter columns and fanzines were the blogs of the ’60s. My father passed away, and a part of me started to breathe again. It was time to stop hiding. I boarded a Long Island Railroad train to New York City. From there, a subway ride to the Greyhound Bus Terminal, and a short time later—Newark, New Jersey. That is where the Eastern Science Fiction Society met every month and I started to realize I was not alone. Newark almost played a role in Bill Schelly’s history book, but more on that a little later. It was time I started to choose my own family.

One of my favorite fanzines was Yandro, edited and published by Buck Coulson and his wife Juanita. Most times it just rambled about this and that, but always centered on science-fiction fandom. It was a very popular fanzine at the time and (in spite of its popularity) chose to actually publish my earliest cartoons and fiction. That spotlight felt warm and comfy. I just had to start my own fanzine.

Special Edition by P.C. Hamerlinck

[Marcus B. Swayze, Fawcett comics artist and writer during the 1940s and early ’50s and a contributor to FCA since the first issue of Alter Ego, Vol. 3, in 1999, passed away on October 14, 2012, at the age of 99. The next issue of A/E (and its extra-length FCA section) will be a celebration of Marc’s 100th birthday, which was already in preparation when he left us. We felt it fitting that this special number of FCA feature the last comics story Marc ever drew—in a 1956 issue of Gabby Hayes, after that Western title had moved from Fawcett to Charlton Comics. I am honored to introduce it. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

uring the peak of the late-’40s/early-’50s cowboy genrecomics bang, Fawcett Publications believed that three B-Western-movie side-splittin’ six-shooter cinematic sidekicks were laudable and laughable enough to prosper with their own comic book titles. Smiley Burnette Western, with art generally by Stan Aschmeier (former artist of “Johnny Thunder,” “Dr. MidNite,” et al.), hit the dirt in 1950 before biting the dust after four forgettable issues, featuring the chubby comedy relief of many a Gene Autry and Durgano Kid movie. Andy Devine Western, distinctively drawn by Dick (Frankenstein) Briefer, appeared that same year; but although Devine played deputy Jingles with Guy Madison in radio and TV’s The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, that comic vamoosed from the stands after only a couple of issues. Fortunately for Fawcett, while the onscreen clowning of the above pair of sidekicks did not transfer successfully into comic books, such was not the case with its third entry in that arena: Gabby Hayes Western. George “Gabby” Hayes was the popular comedic cowboy crank who at one time or another rode devotedly alongside such rugged screen stars as John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Wild Bill Elliott, Randolph

Scott, Hopalong Cassidy, Bob Steele, et al. Before Gabby’s film career finally rode off into the sunset, he even starred in his own television series, The Gabby Hayes Show (NBC 1950-54, ABC 1956); in addition, Fawcett’s Gabby Hayes Western comic book enjoyed a remarkable 50-issue run.

Furthermore, there were a stack of 61 Gabby Hayes British black-&-white comics (Fawcett reprints) published by L. Miller & Sons from 1951-55… five different Quaker Oats GH giveaway mini-comics in ’51… and a ’53 Toby Press one-shot, before Charlton gave the eccentric sidekick one last flicker of limelight in the Western sky by using up old/unused Fawcett inventory, coupled with their own new material, for nine more issues after Fawcett dismantled their comics line at the end of 1953.

Gabby Hayes Western debuted with a November 1948 cover date and ran until the 50th issue, dated January 1953. Fawcett, who touted Gabby as “The most garrulous galoot ever to straddle a saddle” and “The rage of the purple sage,” utilized movie-style photo covers on all their issues; “Gabby Hayes” also appeared as a back-up feature for 50 issues of Monte Hale Western (even though Hayes had never appeared in a movie with Hale), and got up to numerous shenanigans in Fawcett’s anthology title Real Western Hero (a.k.a. Western Hero, beginning with #70). Gabby’s madcap misadventures at Fawcett were scripted by Otto Binder, Rod Reed, John Eric Messman, and Irwin Schoffman; artwork was by Leonard Frank as well as Jack Binder, Clem Weisbecker, Carl Pfeufer, Bob Laughlin, and Maurice Whitman.

When Charlton continued the series (along with several other former Fawcett titles), the word “Western” was dropped and the publication became simply Gabby Hayes. Charlton’s nine-issue run, from #51 (Dec. ’54) through #59 (Jan. ’57), was sporadically published over a span of 4½ years. The new material added to the Fawcett leftovers consisted of illustrated covers by Dick Giordano, and a story or two drawn by our very own Marc Swayze.

Over the course of 1954-55, Swayze edited, wrote, and illustrated various features for Charlton—at first on staff, later as a freelancer, before leaving the comics industry for good. The following story, from Gabby Hayes #58 (June 1956), which he drew and may have even scripted, is the artist’s last published comic book work.

“We Didn’t Know... It Was The Golden Age!” 75