Issuu

Roy Thomas’ Tarzanic Comics Fanzine

8.95

In the USA

No.129 November 2014

THE COMIC ART WORLDS OF

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

10 1

82658 27763

All art © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

Edited by ROY THOMAS The first and greatest “hero-zine”—ALL-NEW, focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America], MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY’S Comic Fandom Archive, and more!

EISNER AWARD Winner Best Comics-Related Periodical

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

ALTER EGO #120

ALTER EGO #121

��ED�IT�IO��NS� E

BL AVAILA

ALTER EGO #117

ALTER EGO #118

ALTER EGO #119

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!

AVENGERS 50th ANNIVERSARY! WILL MURRAY on the group’s behind-thescenes origin, a look at its first decade with ROY THOMAS, STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, THE BROTHERS BUSCEMA, TUSKA, ADAMS, COLAN, BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, MERRY MARVEL MARCHING SOCIETY, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, FCA, Golden Age Blue Beetle artist E.C. STONER, unused Avengers cover by DON HECK!

MARC SWAYZE TRIBUTE ISSUE, spotlighting FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America)! Salutes from Fawcett alumnus C.C. BECK and OTTO BINDER, interview with wife JUNE SWAYZE, a full Phantom Eagle story from Wow Comics, plus interview with 1950s Dell/Western artist MEL KEEFER, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and a SWAYZE Marvel Family cover art from the 1940s!

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

ALTER EGO #122

ALTER EGO #123

ALTER EGO #124

X-MEN SALUTE! 1963-69 secrets, rare ‘60s BRAZILIAN X-MEN stories, lost ‘60s XMen “character sheet” by STAN LEE, ROY THOMAS on the 1970s revival, art and artifacts by KIRBY, ROTH, ADAMS, HECK, FRIEDRICH, and BUSCEMA—plus the MMMS fan club story, interview with Golden Age writer ED SILVERMAN, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, and JACK KIRBY’s unused X-Men #10 cover!

GOLDEN AGE JUSTICE SOCIETY ISSUE! Features on JOHN B. WENTWORTH (Johnny Thunder), LEN SANSONE (The Atom), and BERNARD SACHS (All-Star Comics inker), art by CARMINE INFANTINO, BOB OKSNER, HOWARD PURCELL, STAN ASCHMEIER, BEN FLINTON, and H.G. PETER, plus FCA, Mr. Monster, and more! Cover homage by SHANE FOLEY to a vintage All-Star image by IRWIN HASEN!

Farewell salute to the COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE! TBG/CBG history and remembrances from ALAN LIGHT, MURRAY BISHOFF, MAGGIE THOMPSON, BRENT FRANKENHOFF, “final” CBG columns by MARK EVANIER, TONY ISABELLA, PETER DAVID, FRED HEMBECK, JOHN LUSTIG, classic art by DON NEWTON, MIKE VOSBURG, JACK KIRBY, MIKE NASSER, plus FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

DENNY O’NEIL’s Silver Age career at Marvel, Charlton, and DC—aided and abetted by ADAMS, KALUTA, SEKOWSKY, LEE, GIORDANO, THOMAS, SCHWARTZ, APARO, BOYETTE, DILLIN, SWAN, DITKO, et al. Plus, we begin serializing AMY KISTE NYBERG’s groundbreaking book on the history of the Comics Code, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY and more!

We spotlight HERB TRIMPE’s work on Hulk, Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D., Ghost Rider, Ant-Man, Silver Surfer, War of the Worlds, Ka-Zar, even Phantom Eagle, and featuring THE SEVERIN SIBLINGS, LEE, FRIEDRICH, THOMAS, GRAINGER, BUSCEMA, and others, plus more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s Comics Code history, M. THOMAS INGE on Communism and 1950s comic books, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

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

TwoMorrows. A New Day For Comics Fans!

ALTER EGO #125

ALTER EGO #126

ALTER EGO #127

ALTER EGO #128

Golden Age “Air Wave” artist LEE HARRIS discussed by his son JONATHAN LEVEY to interviewer RICHARD J. ARNDT, with rarely-seen 1940s art treasures (including mysterious, never-published art of an alternate version of DC’s Tarantula)! Plus more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s exposé on the Comics Code, artist SAL AMENDOLA tells the story of the Academy of Comic Book Arts, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

Second big issue on 3-D COMICS OF THE 1950s! KEN QUATTRO looks at the controversy involving JOE KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, BILL GAINES, and AL FELDSTEIN! Plus more fabulous Captain 3-D by SIMON & KIRBY and MORT MESKIN— 3-D thrills from BOB POWELL, HOWARD NOSTRAND, JAY DISBROW and others— the career of Treasure Chest artist VEE QUINTAL, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

1940s WILL EISNER/”BUSY” ARNOLD letters between the creator of The Spirit and his Quality Comics partner, art and artifacts by FINE, CRANDALL, CUIDERA, CARDY, KOTZKY, BLUM, NORDLING, and others! Plus Golden Age MLJ artist JOHN BULTHIUS, more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s History of the Comics Code, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, cover by DANIEL JAMES COX and JASON PAULOS!

CAROL L. TILLEY on Dr. Fredric Wertham’s falsification of his research in the 1950s, featuring art by EVERETT, SHUSTER, PETER, BECK, COSTANZA, WEBB, FELDSTEIN, WILLIAMSON, WOOD, BIRO, and BOB KANE! Plus AMY KISTE NYBERG on the evolution of the Comics Code, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLEY, and a new cover by JASON PAULOS and DANIEL JAMES COX!

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

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

Vol. 3, No. 129 / November 2014 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication,

P.C. Hamerlinck

PLEASE READ THIS:

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 Artists

Tom Grindberg, Gil Kane, Dave Cockrum, Joe Kubert, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Jesse Marsh, Russ Manning, & Alan Weiss

This is copyrighted material, NOT intended for downloading anywhere except our website or Apps. If you downloaded it from another website or torrent, go ahead and read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal download, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT ANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publications enough to download them, please pay for them so we can keep producing ones like this. Our digital editions should ONLY be downloaded within our Apps and at

www.twomorrows.com

Cover Colorists

Tom Grindberg, et al.

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash William Aronis Bob Bailey Robert Barrett Alberto Becattini John Caputo Nick Caputo Dewey Cassell Cristian Docolomansky Cerda Sean Clancy Mike Conran Diversions of the Groovy Kind (website) Chuck Dixon Lawrence Dunn Mark Evanier Tom Floyd Shane Foley Henry Franke III Stephan Friedt Nancy Gershwin Janet Gilbert Jennifer T. Go Oscar Gonzales Steven Gordon Grand Comics Database (website) Dan Green Scott Tracy Griffin Tom Grindberg Bill Hillman Rick Hoberg

Sean Howe Jim Kealy Gary Kwapisz Dominique Leonard Rick Leonardi Diana Leto Mark Lewis Salvador López Bob Lubbers Richard A. Lupoff Pablo Marcos Ron Marz Sean Menard Lee Moder Barry Pearl Pegaso (Rodolfo Pérez Garcia) Jay Piscopo Nik Poliwko Irwin Porges Martin Powell Guadalupe Rivera Erik Roman Carolina Sánchez Randy Sargent Olivia Peña Soto William Stout James Sullos Dann Thomas Steven Thompson L. Jamal Walton Ken Webber Cathy Wilbanks Tyler Wilbanks Lynn Woolley

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Edgar Rice Burroughs,

one of the most influential writers who ever lived

Contents Writer/Editorial: From Missouri To Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Edgar Rice Burroughs In The Funnies! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A history of adaptations of ERB’s work in newspaper comic strips, by Alberto Becattini.

Edgar Rice Burroughs In The Comic Books (1929-1972) . . 23 Alberto Becattini on ERB in comic books, from United Features through Dell & Gold Key.

ERB—Beyond The Silver Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 ERB comic books from 1972 to the present—examined by Scott Tracy Griffin.

“The Tarzan Art Studio”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

The short, happy life of the ERB, Inc., comic book company, chronicled by Henry Franke III.

ERB—Online! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The birth and development of the ERB, Inc., web comics line, revealed by James Sullos.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Whatever Happened To The Boy Of Tomorrow? (Part 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Michael T. Gilbert presents the conclusion of Shaun Clancy’s interview with William Aronis.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #189 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

P.C. Hamerlinck presents memories by “Captain Marvel” teammates Otto Binder & C.C. Beck. On Our Cover: A monumental montage of some classic Edgar Rice Burroughs comic book moments from the 1940s through the 1970s, framing a sensational centerpiece by Tom Grindberg, artist of the current online Tarzan comic strip written by A/E’s ever-pluggin’ editor. From top right, clockwise: Gil Kane’s John Carter of Mars done for Marvel (and inked by Dave Cockrum)… Joe Kubert’s DC Tarzan (Ye Ed’s personal favorite of comic book incarnations of the ape-man)… Michael Wm. Kaluta’s Carson of Venus (likewise for DC)… Jesse Marsh’s Tarzan riding a gryf, from his classic Dell comic work of 1947-65… Russ Manning’s Tarzan and Jad-Bal-Ja the Golden Lion from the Gold Key years of 1965-72… and Alan Weiss’ DC rendition of David Innes battling for his life “at the Earth’s core.” A real murderer’s row of ERB illustrators! [© Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.] Above: One more iconic ERB comic book image to go with all those on our cover—John Buscema’s splash page art, penciled and inked for Marvel’s Tarzan #1 (June 1977), with text by Roy Thomas. Amazingly, although he was a big fan of Hal Foster’s Tarzan comic strip, Buscema felt that after Foster and Kubert had done the character, there wasn’t much left for him to contribute. Fans begged to differ, even though, after the first two issues, they had to settle for Big John being inked by other hands. [© Edgar Rice Burroughs, 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: $67 US, $85 Canada, $104 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

From Missouri To Mars

ne of any number of reasons I was lucky to grow up in the small town of Jackson, Missouri (1950 census population 3694), is that at that time the local public library had a nearly complete first-edition collection of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Thus, I got to read virtually all of them, and to pore over all that gorgeous artwork, before I reached high school. Well, all but Tarzan of the Apes, which for some reason the library didn’t have; I had to wait another decade or so to read that one.

I was fascinated by ERB’s imagination, even if I soon realized his Tarzan was very different from the Johnny Weissmuller version I had been enjoying at Jackson’s Palace Theatre ever since the age of three, when I’d seen Tarzan’s Desert Mystery and been terrified by that clunky giant spider in the film’s climax. I never felt I had to choose between the movies’ Tarzan and the novels’ Tarzan. I don’t recall ever seeing the Tarzan newspaper strip back then, and I rarely bought the United Features comic books that reprinted it, since they contained so few pages of the ape-man. But I bought the Dell Tarzan comic after it started coming out when I was about seven (picked up the Jesse Marsh John Carter of Mars issues the first time around, too), and later was enthusiastic about the adaptations drawn by Russ Manning. When the Burroughs book boom began in the early ’60s, I bought all the Canaveral Press editions as they came out, even if I winced at their Mahlon Blaine art. More to my taste were the later illustrations by Larry Ivie and the erstwhile EC artists. The Ace paperbacks with their Frazetta and Krenkel covers, of course, I devoured. Naturally, since Joe Kubert was my favorite comic book artist, I followed his early-’70s Tarzan, as well as the other ERB material published by DC. And while it was John Carter I particularly lusted after writing in the latter 1970s when the rights passed to

Marvel, I was still thrilled to become comics’ Tarzan scribe for a time.

I remember Stan Lee asking me to write a several-page proposal suggesting other ERB creations that could become Marvel comics if Tarzan and John Carter, Warlord of Mars took off. I covered all the bases—Carson of Venus, Red Hawk vs. the Moon Men (Gil Kane had set me off about that one), Pellucidar, The Land That Time Forgot, and several others. For a short time after that, I was ERB, Inc., head Marion Burroughs’ favorite person at Marvel because of that paper. Alas, that didn’t last… nor did Marvel’s incarnations of ERB’s heroes meet with any greater sales success than DC’s had, so that the licensing fees soon made continuation of even those two comics unfeasible. But I’ve always retained my feeling (matching that of the oftquoted Ray Bradbury) that Edgar Rice Burroughs was one of the most important fiction writers of the 20th century… and I’ve long wanted to devote an issue of Alter Ego to his work. Once I began writing one, two, then three online comic strips for ERB, Inc., it was only a matter of time. Not because I have any great vested economic interest in the success of the online strips—I’m just a hired hand, having a ball like several others are—but because, in addition to his own virtues, ERB was a powerful influence on Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (even if “Krypton” is an even better inert gas to use as a name for a piece of alien geography than “Helium”), and because Tarzan rivals the Man of Steel as the greatest pop fantasy creation ever. The only impossible part was trying to cram the whole thing into one issue! Even Richard A. Lupoff’s announced piece on the Canaveral artists will have to wait, alas, for a future edition. Bestest,

COMING IN DECEMBER

130

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM CAPTAIN MARVEL & CO.!

• Classic C.C. BECK Christmas cover featuring some of Fawcett’s greatest Golden Age heroes! • Special FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America] spectacular! P.C. HAMERLINCK spotlights founder CAPT. BILLY FAWCETT and his family (a photo-album flashback with rare art & Christmas cards)—a C.C. BECK essay, with his unpublished cover for Captain Marvel Adventures #2!—OTTO BINDER’s memoirs—& a 1997 PBS-TV interview with the late great MARC SWAYZE! • DAN BARRY, legendary artist of Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Crime Does Not Pay, Daredevil, Crimebuster, Airboy, The Heap, Johnny Quick, Vigilante, Captain Midnight, et al.— showcased by ALBERTO BECATTINI!

r Fawcett heroes TM & © Shazam hero & most othe

DC Comics.

• Plus—AMY KISTE NYBERG’s Seal of Approval (“The Evolution of the Comics Code”) —MICHAEL T. GILBERT and some “twice-told covers”—BILL SCHELLY introduces JIM HARMON writing about his 1957 celebration of comic books—& MORE!!

Edited by ROY THOMAS • SUBSCRIBE NOW! Eight issues in the US: $67 Standard, $82 First Class • (Canada: $85, Elsewhere: $104 Surface, $242 Airmail). • NEW LOWER RATES FOR INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS! SAVE $4 PER ISSUE!

TwoMorrows. A New Day For Comic Fans!

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: store@twomorrows.com • www.twomorrows.com

The Comic Art Worlds Of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS — Part I

Edgar Rice Burroughs In The Funnies!

Adaptations Of ERB’s Work In Newspaper Comic Strips by Alberto Becattini

UTHOR’S INTRODUCTION: It is not easy to synthesize more than 70 years of history in a relatively few pages; however, I have tried to do precisely that for one of the trailblazing characters of American newspaper comic strips—and also, in the second article in this issue, of comic books. This is not so much the story of Tarzan—who existed for more than a decade and a half before he first found his way into a newspaper strip of any kind—but of the creative artists and writers who contributed to his long and glorious career in daily strips and Sunday pages. In various ways, I am indebted to Bob Barrett, Dan Barry, Nick Cardy, John Celardo, Bill Hillman, Bob Lubbers, Sean Menard, Irwin Porges, Mike Royer, William Stout, and Roy Thomas.

Birth Of A Comic Strip An historic meeting took place in Tarzana, California, in 1927. Edgar Rice Burroughs met with Joseph H. Neebe, founder of Famous Books and Plays, Inc. Neebe thought it was high time that Tarzan, the ape-man hero created by Burroughs in 1912, made his entry into newspaper comic strips. Seeing the potential of the growing comics medium, Burroughs okayed the project, and Neebe approached J. Allen St. John, who had been the major cover artist and illustrator for the Tarzan novels since 1915, to draw the strip. After St. John declined, Neebe’s second choice was Harold Rudolf Foster, a 36-year-old commercial illustrator for the Palenske-Young Studio in

Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan—and many other fantastic worlds and concepts.

Chicago. Cleveland-based writer R.W. Palmer adapted Burroughs’ novel Tarzan of the Apes, and Foster broke his script down into a 10week, 60-strip daily series. It was Foster’s choice to separate the text from the pictures. Curiously enough, the Tarzan comic strip made its debut not in the U.S.A., but in Britain, where it appeared as early as October 20, 1928, in the weekly magazine Tit Bits, billed as “A Serial Story in Pictures: Tarzan of the Apes.” Each issue ran three strips, through March 1, 1929. Thirteen American newspapers began running the strip, which was produced by FBP and released by the Metropolitan Newspaper Service, on January 7, 1929—an historic date that marked the beginning of the modern adventure strip. As it happened, Dick Calkins and Phil Nowlan’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century started on the very same day. Buck Rogers was a science-fiction strip and, unlike Tarzan, utilized dialogue balloons. Foster drew those first 60 Tarzan strips with great dedication, carefully researching every element, which was then rendered with formidable brush-strokes, powerful and graceful at the same time. After concluding his stint with the March 16, 1929, strip, Foster went back to his advertising accounts. Eager to continue the Tarzan daily series, the Metropolitan Newspaper Service found Foster’s successor in its own bullpen. Nebraska-born Rex Hayden Maxon (1892-1982) was supposed to take over the drawing when, after a three-month hiatus, writer R.W. Palmer’s adaptation of the second Tarzan

J. Allen St. John, master illustrator.

Two For Tarzan Two of the most important early Tarzan illustrators were (on left) Clinton Pettee, whose cover for The All Story magazine for Oct. 1912 was the first visualization ever (and a powerful one) of the ape-man… while the work of J. Allen St. John would soon become forever identified with the creations of Edgar Rice Burroughs, as epitomized by his cover painting for the 1927 novel Tarzan and the Golden Lion. [Tarzan art TM & © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

Adaptations Of ERB’s Work In Newspaper Comic Strips

“Mars Ain’t The Kind Of Place To Raise Your Kids…” (Above:) John Carter of Mars Sunday page for June 9, 1942, written and drawn by John Coleman Burroughs. The lady in costume in the circa-1942 photo is Jane Ralston Burroughs, wife of JCB and his model for Dejah Thoris. (Below:) Burroughs’ page for Feb 28, 1943. Reproduced from original art. [© Edgar Rice Burroughs.]

The Comic Art Worlds Of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS — Part II

Edgar Rice Burroughs In The Comic Books (1929-1972) by Alberto Becattini

Tarzan The Reprinted

n 1929, just a few months after the first sixty Tarzan dailies by Harold L. Foster had been released in U.S. newspapers, the book publisher Grosset & Dunlap reprinted those strips in The Illustrated Tarzan Book No. 1. It is therefore considered the first Tarzan comic book, although it was in fact a black-&-white hardcover. Foster also did the original illustration that was featured on both the cover and the dust jacket. While that book was reprinted in 1934, Foster’s strips also reappeared in Saalfield Publishing’s Tarzan of the Apes to Color #988 (1933) and in Whitman’s Tarzan of the Apes – The Big Little Cartoon Book #744 (1933).

The Lord of the Jungle made his first four-color comic book appearance in 1936, as one of the stars in United Features’ Tip Top Comics from its very first issue, which came out with an April cover-date. The monthly comic magazine reprinted Tarzan Sunday pages by Foster (#1-40 and #44-50), Rex Maxon (#41-43), and Burne Hogarth (#57, 59, & 62). Bob Lubbers’ daily strips, reframed and colored, began appearing in #189 (Nov.-Dec. 1954), by which time Tip Top had become a bi-monthly. As of #211 (Nov. 1957-Jan. 1958), Tip Top Comics was published by Dell/Western, and Tarzan concluded its tenure in that comic with its final issue, #225 (MayJuly 1961). Comics on Parade was another United Features comic that counted Tarzan among its stars. Foster’s strips made their debut in #1 (April 1938), and daily reprints kept running until Tarzan left the comic with #29 (Aug. 1940), after the conclusion of the reprint of Rex Maxon’s adaptation of The Return of Tarzan. One issue of Single Series (#20) was published the same year, featuring 64 pages of Foster’s strip reprints from 1932-33 that had already appeared in Tip Top Comics #1-13. Dell Comics had since shown interest in Tarzan, and in 1938 it published “Tarzan of the Apes… and the Hidden Treasure,” a 6page text/illustration story in Famous Feature Stories #1. The illustrations were most likely the work of Henry E. Vallely. Several 3page text-plus-illustration stories followed in issues #38-43 (JuneSept. 1939) of Popular Comics. More “Tarzan” text/illustration stories were then featured in Crackajack Funnies #15-36 (Sept. 1939June 1941). Some of the illustrations look like the work of Bill Ely. In 1939, Dell also issued a new reprint of Foster’s dailies in the 72page, black-&-white Large Feature Comic #5, titled “Tarzan of the

Tarzan—Graphic Like A Novel Hal Foster’s cover for The Illustrated Tarzan Book No.1 (1929). All art and photos accompanying this article, unless otherwise noted, have been supplied by Alberto Becattini. Foster’s Tarzan comic strip work was entirely reprinted in hardcover form a couple of decades back by NBM/Flying Buttress. [© Edgar Rice Burroughs.]

Apes.” Each page featured one strip by Foster and an additional illustration by Henry E. Vallely, who also drew 10 full-page chapter drawings. As of July 1941, reprints of Burne Hogarth’s Tarzan Sundays began appearing in Sparkler Comics, another monthly (and later bimonthly) comic published by United Features. The ape-man was in every issue from #1 to # 86 (March-April 1949). During 1945-46, the U.S. Army giveaway comic book Jeep Comics, published by R. B. Leffingwell & Co., featured Tarzan Sunday page reprints among its contents.

Tarzan The Original ERB, Inc., and the Whitman Publishing Company (a subsidiary of Western Printing and Lithographing Company) had been collaborating since 1934, issuing Big Little Books and Better Little Books devoted to Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. Producing comic books together with Dell Publishing, Western had also hosted Tarzan reprints in Large Feature Comics, as previously mentioned. By mid1946, three original Tarzan one-shots were scheduled to appear in the Four Color Comics series, with Eleanor Packer doing the editing at Western’s Los Angeles office. In a letter dated May 7, 1946, Burroughs’ secretary Cyril Ralph Rothmund wrote to Western that: [W]e were successful in securing a writer for [Packer] by the name of Rob Thompson, who has written our Tarzan phonograph album scripts we have produced for Decca Records, as well as several of our Tarzan radio serials. He knows Tarzan, is not occupied with anything else at the present, and so he can swing right into the job.

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books 1928-1999 Online Edition Created by Jerry G. Bails FREE – online searchable database – FREE www.bailsprojects.com – No password required

$500,000 $500,000 PAID PAID FOR FOR ORIGINAL ORIGINAL C COMIC OMIC A ART! RT! COLLECTOR COLLECTOR PAYING PAYING TOP TOP DOLLAR DOLLAR FOR FOR “ “ANY ANY YA AND ND A ALL” LL” O ORIGINAL RIGINAL C COMIC OMIC B BOOK OOK A AND ND C COMIC OMIC S STRIP TRIP A ARTWORK RTWORK FFROM ROM T THE HE 1 1930S 930S T TO OP PRESENT! RESENT! C COVERS, OVERS, P PINUPS, INUPS, P PAGES, AGES, IIT TD DOESN’T OESN’T M MATTER! ATTER! 1P PAGE AGE O OR RE ENTIRE NTIRE C COLLECTIONS OLLECTIONS S SOUGHT! OUGHT! CALL CALL OR OR EMAIL EMAIL ME ME ANYTIME! ANY YTIME!

3 330-221-5665 30-221-5665 m mikeburkey@aol.com ikeburkey@aol.com O OR RS SEND END YOUR YOUR LIST LIST TO: TO:

MIKE MIKE BURKEY BURKEY

No room for a “re:” section this issue—but here is Shane Foley’s dynamic depiction of two of our miraculous “maskots,” in the style of John Buscema’s drawings for the 1st and 2nd issues of Marvel’s Tarzan (1977). Colors by Randy Sargent. [Captain Ego TM & © Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; created by Biljo White. Alter Ego hero TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas; costumed designed by Ron Harris.]

H4 4266 P.O. P .O. BOX BOX 455 455 • RAVENNA, RAVENNA, O OH 44266 CASH IS IS WAITING, WAITING, S O HURRY!!!!! HURRY!!!!! CASH SO

The Comic Art Worlds Of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS — Part III

ERB Beyond The Silver Age Burroughs Comic Books From 1972 To The Present by Scott Tracy Griffin

DC Ascends

s the 1970s dawned, two giants battled for supremacy in the comics jungle. Longtime fan-favorite DC comics, home of a super-hero pantheon that included Batman and Superman, was dogged by upstart Marvel, whose editorial team had injected a grittier, more real-life humanity into its characters, among them Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and The Incredible Hulk. As the two companies’ super-hero comics began to dominate the spinner racks, siphoning sales from other genres (including funny animals, Westerns, and pulp-magazine hero holdouts), it was natural that the best of the licensed properties would migrate to the ascendant rivals. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated (ERB, Inc.), the family business overseeing the licenses of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, and a variety of pulp heroes, was unhappy with its

(Above:) Robert M. Hodes, president of ERB, Inc., 1966-1976. Photo scanned from the fanzine ERB-dom #22 (date uncertain) by Mike Conran; thanks to Henry Franke III.

(Above:) Joe Kubert. This photo originally appeared in Comics Interview magazine in the 1980s.

relationship with Western Publishing and its Gold Key imprint. Sales of the two Burroughs titles, Tarzan of the Apes and Korak Son of Tarzan, were losing ground; too, Western wasn’t producing enough pages to keep up with a hungry foreign market, a vital source of revenue for ERB, Inc. The corporation retained copyright on the Gold Key material, which was then resold overseas for foreignlanguage comics. However, the 24 Tarzan novels accounted for only about 30% of the late author’s output, and the company desired to elevate its other properties to the decades-long high profile Tarzan enjoyed.

Between Beauty And The Beast-Man Because all of Kubert’s Tarzan work has been collected in three beautiful hardcover volumes by Dark Horse, we’ve visually emphasized the various other DC/ERB series—though you’ll find several Kubert covers in this chapter. Here, the ape-man finds himself facing the “beast-man” and his mate Balza in the final chapter of Kubert’s adaptation of Burroughs’ novel Tarzan and the Lion Man, from the 100-page Tarzan #234 (Dec. 1974-Jan. 1975). Thanks to Bob Bailey. More DC Tarzan art can be found in A/E #116, our Kubert tribute issue.[© Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

Robert M. Hodes, Vice-President of ERB, Inc., mulled the idea of establishing the company’s own comicspublishing concern, but realized that obtaining domestic distribution on

ERB Comic Books From 1972 To The Present

Like We Said: Tarzan Meets Everybody! (Far left:) Dark Horse published a series of cross-over tales, including the four-part Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-Woman, with cover art by Dave Dorman. Issue #1 was dated Sept. 1999. (Near left:) This was followed up by Superman/Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle, with covers by Humberto Ramos. Shown is the cover of the third issue, dated Oct. 2002. [Superman & Batman TM & © DC Comics; Tarzan TM & © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

zan” (fire-skin) and growing to discover his powers in a distinctly different environment than that offered by Metropolis—though he crosses paths with Lois Lane, Jane Porter, and a certain Lord Greystoke in that African jungle Between these series appeared Tarzan: Rivers of Blood, #1-4, in 1999-2000; like A Tale of Mugambi, it was a holdover from the Malibu era, written by Neven Anticevic and Igor Kordey, illustrated by Kordey. Only four of the planned eight issues were published before the miniseries was cancelled.

Tarzan Tomorrow (Above:) The 2012 one-shot The Once and Future Tarzan, with covers and interior art by Thomas Yeates, points the way to the Tarzan of tomorrow—as well as of today and yesterday. Combine this with Dark Horse’s ambitious reprint schedule (11 volumes to date of Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years, the three volumes of Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years, The Unauthorized Tarzan [with the Charlton stories], and the first volume or two of Tarzan: The Russ Manning Years), and you have to wonder—can re-presentations of the Marvel and Malibu Tarzan yarns be far behind? [© Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

Dark Horse’s Burroughs publishing in the succeeding decade was restricted to Archival editions reprinting the Tarzan comic book work of Joe Kubert, Jesse Marsh, and Russ Manning. In 2012, Dark Horse marked the ape-man’s centennial anniversary with the release of “The Once and Future Tarzan,” scripted by Alan Gordon, with concept and art by Yeates, serialized in Dark Horse Presents #8-10 (vol. 2, #165-167) and republished in the oneshot The Once and Future Tarzan with tweaks to the final chapter and two additional pages. This story takes the eternally youthful Tarzan into a future England decimated by climate change; future books are planned by the creative team.

Any Planets Left To Conquer? Tarzan and Carson Napier team up to slay a Tongzan in the stories collected as Tarzan/Carson of Venus. Script by Darko Macan; art by Peter Doherty. [© Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

Scott Tracy Griffin.

Scott Tracy Griffin is the author of Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration (Titan Books, 2012), the only authorized commemorative visual history of American author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ famed ape-man.

The Comic Art Worlds Of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS — Part IV

“The Tarzan Art Studio”

The Short Happy Life Of The ERB, Inc., Comic Book Company by Henry G. Franke III

dgar Rice Burroughs’ novels experienced a renaissance in publishing in the early 1960s, with paperback book editions selling at phenomenal numbers for the rest of the decade and into the 1970s. The reinvigorated ERB, Inc., headquartered in Tarzana, California, hired a new general manager, Robert M. (Bob) Hodes, in 1966 to better market the company’s properties, with Tarzan its centerpiece. A key part of Hodes’ business strategy was to revitalize the graphical interpretations of the ape-man, starting with the Tarzan newspaper comic strip and then on to comic books.

When Western Publishing ended its partnership with Dell Comics and established Gold Key Comics, they continued on with their license from ERB, Inc., to publish Tarzan comic books. Starting in late 1963, Russ Manning, a fan-favorite artist at Western for his work on the Tarzan Vs. Tarzan science-fiction comic Magnus – As Henry Franke reveals in this surprising behind-the-scenes article: European audiences that had reveled in artist Robot Fighter, helmed the new title Russ Manning’s (and writer Gaylord DuBois’) version of the climactic scene in ERB’s novel Tarzan of the Apes in Korak, Son of Tarzan; and in 1965 he which the young jungle lord rescues Jane Porter from the great ape Terkoz (above left) did not exactly embrace took over the flagship Tarzan of the artist/writer Joe Kubert’s (above right) rendition of the same event—and not just because there’d been less than a Apes title from his long-time decade between the two adaptations. From Gold Key’s Tarzan #155 (Dec. 1965) and DC’s Tarzan #209 (June 1972). mentor Jesse Marsh, due to Both stories can be found these days in beautiful hardcover reprint volumes from Dark Horse. [© Edgar Rice Marsh’s failing health. Manning’s Burroughs, Inc.] Tarzan quickly set the standard for With the loss of Manning, Gold Key tried out other artists on the comic book readers around the world, as these four-color stories Korak and Tarzan titles, but with limited success. At the end of 1971, were reprinted in dozens of overseas comic books. While Gold Hodes decided to transfer the license for their U.S. comic books Key’s Tarzan titles were bestsellers in the U.S., foreign sales of from Gold Key to DC Comics. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: See previous reprints meant major profits. article.] His aim with DC was to reach more mature audiences with Hodes first targeted the long-running Tarzan newspaper strip, stories faithful to ERB’s own storytelling, and to add titles from distributed in the U.S. by United Feature Syndicate. By the midERB’s canon beyond just the Tarzan novels. Joe Kubert was the 1960s, the daily and Sunday strips were showing serious wear. The editor of the DC titles and personally took on writing and illusnumber of newspapers carrying them in the U.S. had dropped trating the “Tarzan” stories. substantially. Again, it was foreign sales, either in newspapers or as What Hodes didn’t expect was the backlash in overseas markets reprints in comic books, that kept the UFS strips profitable. over Kubert’s interpretation of Tarzan. Writer Mark Evanier, who Manning was interested in taking over the daily and Sunday would later play a major role in ERB, Inc.’s, overseas comic book newspaper strips as writer and artist. Hodes concurred, believing production, explained several reasons for this. The demand for that not only would Manning create stories much closer to ERB’s “Tarzan” stories in foreign comics was substantial, but Kubert was own vision of the ape-man, but his name and artistic style would producing a quite limited number of stories. At the time, most help boost sales with the introduction of the artist most in demand overseas comics were reprinting Manning from Gold Key stories overseas. Manning’s first Tarzan daily appeared on December 11, and the newspaper strips, and supplementing these with locally 1967, and his first Sunday on January 14, 1968; he soon left Gold produced material that imitated Manning’s style. Kubert’s form Key to concentrate on the newspaper comics. was significantly different from Manning’s and didn’t fit in. It did

The Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Web Comics Line

Superboys (Above:) Wayne Boring penciled and Stan Kaye inked this classic Superboy #1 cover (March 1949). [© DC Comics.] (Right:) Young William Aronis holds his trophy at the New York World’s Fair, 1940.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt

Whatever Happened To The Boy of Tomorrow? (Part 2) by Michael T. Gilbert

ast issue, we presented a fascinating interview with Bill Aronis (rhymes with Adonis!). Currently in his late 80s, Bill won the title of Superboy as part of a Superman Day contest at the 1940 New York World’s Fair. This time, Shaun Clancy concludes his interview with Mr. Aronis, discussing Bill’s visit with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster back in ’40!

William Aronis Interview 11/11/13 by Shaun Clancy Transcription by Steven Thompson SHAUN CLANCY: Did you have a regimen of diet? Are you a vegetarian? WILLIAM ARONIS: No, I like to eat; but my wife, she’s kind of a dietician, I guess. SC: Any broken bones? ARONIS: I fell about 9 years ago in my back yard, dislocated my shoulder but its okay now. I never had a broken bone. SC: Can you tell me what your workout regimen was? Was it twice a week? Was it every day? ARONIS: We had a club, called the [unintelligible] Weightlifting Club. John Davis used to work out at our club from time to time, and we produced Dave Sheppard. I started him weightlifting, and he became world champion. But unfortunately, he died a few years ago. I don’t know why, what happened to him.

SC: What about your joints… the cartilage on the joints and such? ARONIS: I’m okay. I’ve got that stiffness that comes with old age. Still working on it, cutting trees down and things like that. I have a handicapped wife, and I don’t have any time to work out because she needs my almost constant attention. SC: Well, at 87 it’s fine to be okay. When did you stop entering contests? ARONIS: I was still entering local contests when I was 70 years old. But they had to be nearby, because I couldn’t travel very far because I was taking care of the wife. SC: When you mentioned that you met Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, was that the same weekend as the World’s Fair event, or did they schedule you to come by their offices? ARONIS: It must have been within that week. I really don’t remember. They showed me how they made the cartoons and things like that, and they showed me that file cabinet. I remember them pulling it out, showing me a whole bunch of 8 by 20s... I guess they were photos or drawings, something like that. Like I said, after that I never saw them again. SC: When you went to meet them, were your parents with you?

ARONIS: No, I went by myself. For some reason or other, my parents didn’t take much interest in it. I think I went during the day, and they both worked. SC: Did you read comics at that time? Or at all?

Whatever Happened To The Boy Of Tomorrow (Part 2)

ARONIS: I didn’t read them as a habit. But the Superman comic, on the back, had a coupon to enter the contest. Have you ever seen that? SC: Yes, I have seen that. ARONIS: If you could make a picture and send it to me I’d like to see it. SC: Sure. I have a flyer for the Superman event, too. So that’s what made you want to do this contest? You read it in a comic book, decided, “I wanna try this” and you went. Did you have to pay to go? ARONIS: No! Everything was free. SC: Do you remember anything about the event itself? ARONIS: No. I remember getting on the train. I lived in Astoria, which was only about 20 miles from the Fair, and that’s it. Do you know where LaGaurdia Field is now? It’s a short distance from the World’s Fair grounds. Remember Shea Stadium? SC: Of course. ARONIS: Well, that all used to be swamp when we were kids, and we used to swim in the swamp. [Shaun laughs] The World’s Fair was held on Flushing Meadows. It’s a waterlogged area. SC: Did you meet the actor dressed up as Superman? ARONIS: No, I don’t think we ever met him. SC: The Macy’s Parade? You never saw the Macy’s Parade? ARONIS: Well, I’ve been to several Macy’s Parades. We took our children. SC: Right. But not that day. Not that weekend. Okay. I’ll make you a copy of this video I have. It’s about 9 or 10 minutes. It’s not out there for sale, but I’ll send it to you and I’d love to hear your reaction to this event. Maybe there’s something that’ll spark a memory for you. There was also a Superman puppet show. There was an elephant ride with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster… and of course Charles Atlas is there on Superman Day. I want to re-look and see if he’s actually there handing out the awards. Was Charles Atlas there when the award ceremony happened? ARONIS: Yeah, he’s the one that picked me out. They were up on this pavilion thing, a round one, like a bandstand, and he picked me out. I could tell he was the actual person doing the judging. The other people, they didn’t know anything about physical culture.

Young Clark! Jeffrey Silver played a young Clark Kent in the 1952 Adventures of Superman TV pilot, “Superman on Earth!” Francis Morris did the honors as Sarah Kent. [© DC Comics.]

Was he alone, or did he have other people involved with his company there? Did you go to his office? ARONIS: When I went to his office, it was just a dinky little office with a desk, about 12 by 12. SC: He was already dead when I joined in ’84 or ’83. I sent away for it. I still have mine. It’s just isometrics, where you’re pulling against your own muscles. That’s what his whole basis was. That course hasn’t changed. The pictures of him are from the 1920s and ‘30s... so it’s a course that’s regurgitated over and over again. ARONIS: He used to go to Coney Island on what they called Bay 15, which was Coney Island’s Muscle Beach. I never saw him there, myself, but I learned from other Superboy On TV Sort Of! people that he used to go We finally got to see a live Superboy in there before my time. costume when Johnny Rockwell donned the Something else I have to super suit for a 1961 TV pilot. Unfortunately, tell you... the Charles the show wasn’t picked up and a Superboy TV Atlas company is still in show didn’t hit the small screen until 1988. business in New Jersey Oddly enough, in the first episode of the 1952 and, about three or four Adventures of Superman TV series, Jor-El was years ago... I don’t know played by another Rockwell, Robert Rockwell how they found me, but (no relation to Johnny). Like father, like son! they contacted me. They [© DC Comics.] asked me a bunch of questions and they talked me into sending them the pictures that I’m telling you about, and after that I’ve never heard from them again. SC: [laughs] Everybody’s trying to look for you now, huh? ARONIS: They’re trying to capitalize on me. I never get anything, and right now we need it. SC: Well, would you ever sell the trophy? The Superman trophy? ARONIS: [laughs] Who would I sell ‘em to?

SC: Did he give you any advice on working out?

SC: The Superman Day trophy has got to be some type of collectible, even broken. I’m sure it’s worth something.

ARONIS: No, no advice. He just wanted to sell me his course. [laughs]

SC: If you want me to check into it, I can.

SC: Geez!

ARONIS: I never thought of that. ARONIS: I’ll have to ask my children if they want my leftover stuff. I doubt they will. SC: You never had any more involvement with Superman after this event? There was nothing else? ARONIS: No. No more. You know, our oldest son is a retired Green Beret. He’s 63 years old. Our daughter died. We raised her

Alter Ego #129