Alter Ego #144 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Roy T Thomas homas’ Ace Ace Comics Comics F Fanzine anzine

ACES HIGH!

MAGNO • LASH LIGHTNING THE RAVEN • UNKNOWN SOLDIER VULCAN • THE FLAG • MR. RISK CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS

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No.144 January 2017

The Far-Flying Heroes of Golden Age

ACE COMICS!

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RRIOSR BILLR AHGA E EDIT

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SILVE EY & OF GOLD K ICS! KING COM PLUS: FCA, YPT, COMIC CRDOM COMIC FANE, ARCHIV & MORE!

Vol. 3, No. 144 / January 2017 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck J.T. Go (Assoc. Editor)

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

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B. Currie (colorist unknown)

With Special Thanks to: Bill Harris Heidi Amash Hermes Press Richard J. Arndt Larry Houston Mark Arnold Alan Hutchinson Alberto Becattini Douglas Jones Rod Beck (“Gaff”) Allen Bellman William B. Jones, Jr. John & Friedel Jim Kealy Benson Adele Kurtzman Earl Blair, Jr. Art Lortie Roy Bonario Mark Lewis Jay Boyar Richard Lieberson Chris Boyko Jim Ludwig Robert Brown Doug Martin Frank Brunner Robert Menzies Nick Caputo Mark Carlson-Ghost Mike Mikulovsky Patrick Moreau Shaun Clancy Brian K. Morris Comic Book Plus Mark Muller (website) Bill Pearson Comics Kingdom Matthew Reynolds Blog (website) Rip Jagger’s Dojo Chet Cox (website) Brian Cremins Charlie Roberts Craig Delich David Saunders Michaël Dewally Eric Schumacher Digital Comics Museum (website) Jeff Taylor Dann Thomas Shane Foley Maggie Thompson Stephan Friedt Gerry Turnbull Janet Gilbert Dr. Michael J. Grant Geisman Vassallo Grand Comics Database (website)

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Gary Brodsky

Contents

Writer/Editorial: Change And Hope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Coming Up Aces!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Mark Carlson-Ghost writes of Ace Periodicals’ comics line—its heroes and (esp.) its villains!

From Dell—To Gold Key—To King—With The New York Times In Between! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Bill Harris tells Richard Arndt about editing—and writing—for three 1960s comics companies!

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Michael T.: The Fanzine Years (Part 3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Fresh out of college in ’74, Michael T. Gilbert faced the greatest horror of all—the workplace!

Comic Fandom Archive: Earl Blair, Jr., Remembers G.B. Love & Houston Fandom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The 7th chapter of Bill Schelly’s salute to the legendary editor/publisher of RBCC.

re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 69 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #203 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Brian Cremins on Captain Marvel & his controversial pal Steamboat. On Our Cover: We really didn’t have that much choice about the matter. The only illustrations that would telegraph up front the contents and feel of early-’40s super-hero comics published by Ace Periodicals would be one lifted from the cover of an issue of Four Favorites. But which one? Publisher John Morrow and I finally settled on that of FF #4 (March 1942), which featured large figures of four major heroes (The Unknown Soldier, Lash Lightning, Magno, and The Raven) and one kid sidekick (Davey). It’s signed by the artist who has been identified as “B. Currie,” of whom little is known. Ye Editor has read in one place that it was a pen name of artist Harry Anderson, but we’ve never seen any confirmation of that—so “B. Currie” it is! See more of his and others’ work on the colorful Ace covers in this issue’s first offering. [© the respective copyright holders.] Above: Sy Barry’s cover for The Phantom #22 (May 1967) was done for King Comics editor Bill Harris, who also wrote the issue’s tale of The Ghost Who Walks—one of the first costumed heroes in the history of comic strips, let alone of comic books. Barry was then the long-running strip’s artist; Bill Lignante drew the story inside. More about Harris’ work for King and two other comics companies in this issue! [TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published 6 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. Sixt-issue subscriptions: $65 US, $102 Elsewhere, $29.70 Digital Only. 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

Change And Hope

’ll have to let this issue’s feature articles—and our regular and much-acclaimed departments—pretty much speak for themselves this time around.

Well, maybe I’ll say just a few words about them up front... Mark Carlson-Ghost’s well-researched and spellbinding history of Ace Periodicals and its decade-and-a-half-lived comics line shines a spotlight on a company that in general has been little noted nor long-remembered, but which nonetheless carved out an intriguing identity for itself on the color-splashed newsstands of two-thirds of a century ago. Richard Arndt has conducted a gem of an interview with Bill Harris, who in the 1960s was an editor for three comics companies too rarely covered in these pages: Dell, Gold Key, and King. As for Michael T. Gilbert on his fanzine years, Bill Schelly with the latest segment of his coverage of major 1960s-70s fanzine editor/publisher G.B. Love, and P.C. Hamerlinck and Brian Cremins dealing with the time when racial relations played a prominent role in the legend of the original Captain Marvel—well, let’s just say I’m proud of each and every one of ’em, as always. And, now that I don’t have to needlessly ballyhoo the quality of this issue’s colorful contents, I can spend the rest of this half-page on the format change being made re Alter Ego… effective with our very next issue. For the past few years, I’ve found myself increasingly hardpressed to devote the time to Alter Ego that I want to. This is partly because of the two humongous books I’ve been writing for the German publisher Taschen—2014’s massive 75 Years of Marvel: From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen, and a forthcoming tome on the career of Stan Lee. Those duties have been on top of my work with Stan on the Spider-Man newspaper comic strip, for Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., on a trio of weekly strips for that entity’s website,

on a series of “Roy Thomas Presents” comic book reprint volumes for PS Artbooks in the UK, on the occasional article or introduction for a book or The Hollywood Reporter or whomever... and even writing an actual comic book now and again. Plus, oh yeah… did I forget to mention that I’ve been happily married for well over a third of a century to a ravishing and otherwise level-headed redhead who for some unfathomable reason would like to see more of me than she does? The problem, by and large, has been the eight-times-a-year schedule I’ve been trying to maintain on A/E, as a whimsical salute to DC’s eight-times-a-year “monthlies” back in the day. The bimonthly issues that took up approximately half of each year weren’t that much of a problem—but, in the first half of every annum, I’d find myself putting together an 84-page issue (counting covers) each and every month… with an inflexible deadline every thirty days. In the end, something had to give. So, in concert with wife Dann and publisher John Morrow, I worked out a compromise that I hope will keep everyone reasonably happy. Beginning with our very next issue, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of Marvel’s Star Wars comic that debuted in early March of 1977, Alter Ego will become a straight bimonthly—but with 100 pages (again, counting covers) in each full-color, slickpaper issue, which will cost just $1 more than the current edition. That’ll mean slightly fewer pages per year that I (and of course my collaborative cohorts) will need to produce… but it’ll mean that deadlines will now always be 60 days apart instead of often just 30. Hopefully, that won’t make too much difference to you… but I assure you, as I chalk up 76 years on this planet, it’ll make a helluva lot of difference to me! See you in sixty! And then sixty more… and then sixty more…! Bestest,

STARTING NOW! GES EACH ISSUE 100 PA ! LY TH & BI-MON

COMING IN FEB.

145

THE SECRET ORIGIN OF MARVEL’S

STAR WARS

COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION! • Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN, featuring his 1976 Marvel creation Monark Starstalker! s, Inc. Art TM & © Marvel Character

• Writer/editor ROY THOMAS tells RICHARD ARNDT the full, unfettered story behind Marvel’s 1977 four-color comics adaptation of the STAR WARS film—boldly going beyond what’s been previously revealed! Also—new interviews with artists HOWARD CHAYKIN, RICK HOBERG, & BILL WRAY—and some truly rare STAR WARS-related art! • Plus—FCA spotlights “Fawcett & African Americans,” Part 2—MICHAEL T. GILBERT explores comics’ jazz connections—BILL SCHELLY’s finale of A/E’s tribute to G.B. LOVE—& MORE!!

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Coming Up ACES! A History Of Ace Periodicals—Their Heroes & (Especially) Their Villains by Mark Carlson-Ghost

t was the summer of 1940. No one could deny that Superman was flying high or that The Human Torch was catching fire in more ways than one. More than a few kids were whispering “Shazam!” on their way to school, just in case there was a little leftover magic in the air. Pulp specialists like Fiction House, Standard/Nedor, and Street & Smith had already placed their chips on comic books as the next big thing in the lower echelons of the publishing domain. But one publisher was holding back. He had a reputation for being a bit conservative and, yes, a little cheap. His name was Aaron A. Wyn. His company, when he finally took the leap in June, was known as Ace. Perhaps it’s this late entry, and the relatively small number of super-hero titles that Wyn produced, that account for the historical neglect his company has suffered. It surely isn’t that his comic books were boring. Magno, Lash Lightning, The Unknown Soldier: these were elemental forces devoted to confronting evil. Half of Wyn’s heroes didn’t even bother with dual identities, with so many fiendish villains to be fought. No time to waste tearing free of unnecessary civilian guises. And what villains they were, wildly colorful and extremely deadly! To note but one example, the maniacal Clown tried to dissect his arch-enemy alive to learn the secret of his magnetic power. These bad men turned on each other as easily as on the heroes. Ace villains were often legendary figures of horror: The Mummy, The Were-Wolf, and a Japanese vampire known only as Drako-Saki. Ace’s Vulture, Toad, and Professor Octopus preceded their more famous Marvel namesakes by decades. The Ace line-up of comic books may not have always been the best-written or the best-drawn, but the heroes and villains are well worth revisiting. And Ace’s output during the 1950s, long after the costumed-hero craze had crashed, include some forgotten gems. Now that most issues of the Ace family of comic books are available on-line for interested readers, a detailed assessment of their output is long overdue.

If little has been written about the origins of these characters, even less has been said about the publisher and editorial team that oversaw them. The article that follows is the result of a fair amount of digging and a little educated speculation. The result is the first extensive history of Ace Periodicals, its comic books, and how they came to be.

A.A. Wyn & The Pulps

Aces Full (Above:) The Ace comics symbol, as it appeared from beginning to end of the company’s existence—and future Mad artist/writer Dave Berg’s cover for the company’s Four Favorites #5 (May 1945). The various heroes who shared the Ace covers often seemed to be sharing a very Justice Society-like adventure… but inside, there was nary even a two-hero team-up in sight. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [© the respective copyright holders.]

A.A. Wyn Pulp, comics, & paperback publisher, 1898-1967. Thanks to David Saunders & www.pulpartists.com

A.A. Wyn may have been cautious, but he was hardly stupid. Born Aaron Weinstein in 1898, Wyn (occasionally spelled Wynn)

arrived at pulp publishing through a rather circuitous route. Time magazine had this to say about him in a Sept. 16th, 1935, article entitled “Pulp Pride”: “Aaron A. Wyn, a strapping six-footer… has been a newshawk on the Pacific Coast, a schoolteacher in Idaho, a cowhand in Wyoming, an able seaman on freighters, a hobo, a writer.” According to Time, Wyn first stuck his toe in the pulp magazine business circa 1925, soon becoming an editor for Dell Magazines.

Circa 1930, Wyn—only 32—jumped at the opportunity to become a publisher in his own right. Harold Hersey had founded

A History Of Ace Periodicals—Their Heroes & (Especially) Their Villains

Donald A. Wollheim would later helm Ace’s paperback science-fiction line—and see an example of his innovative “Ace Doubles” on p. 26. In the late 1960s, he would found DAW Books, which became a major SF paperback publisher. Above is a detail from a circa-1930s photo that appeared on the site thewaythefutureblogs.com. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Magazine Publishers two years earlier but had run into trouble with his financial backers. The backers were looking for a new man to lead what still seemed to be an operation with considerable potential for profit. They enlisted Wyn. By 1935, when the Time article ran, Wyn was running a booming business, publishing titles as varied as Sky Birds, Western Aces, Ten Detective Aces, Secret Agent “X,” Spy Stories, and Love Fiction Monthly. Wyn’s wife Rose served as one of his editors from almost the beginning, as did a young fellow who became well known in science-fiction circles, Donald A. Wollheim. How did Wyn come to the attention of a national news magazine? By writing an “eminently newsworthy” letter to The New York Times in defense of pulp fiction. The Times had run a rather desultory editorial regarding the medium. Wyn noted that “the story’s the thing.

You’re Aces With Us, A.A.! A pulsating potpourri of early Ace pulp-mag covers: Sky Birds (Sept. 1931)… Western Aces (Sept. ’35)… Ten Detective Aces (April ’38)… Secret Agent “X” (date unknown)… Love Fiction Monthly (Sept. ’35). Wyn surely would’ve named his aviation pulp Aces High, if there hadn’t already been a pulp or two with a similar title. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Good writing never has spoiled a wellplotted pulp story, but it never made a bad one good.” Wyn valued fast-paced plotting above all else. Well, perhaps not above everything…. Wyn had a reputation for being stingy in the extreme. Many years later, during the 1960s, the author of a Man from U.N.C.L.E. paperback novel played a clever prank on his employer. David McDaniel had the first letters of the chapter titles in his book’s table of contents spell out “A.A. Wyn is a tightwad.”

Fred Gardener Editor of the early Ace pulp magazines. Courtesy of David Saunders & www.pulpartists.com

The aforementioned Wollheim worked for Wyn for decades, overseeing many of his pulp magazines and later the sciencefiction division of his paperback line. Wollheim painted a more nuanced but still sharply delineated description of Wyn after his death in 1967: “Aaron Wyn, like many writers, was basically a shy man; most of his education had come from his own reading, and he was confident only of his own judgment…. He was a man to be respected, of high intelligence, undoubted literary ability within strict limits, but always a tough, opinionated businessman for whom few ever acquired a warm affection.”

Coming Up Aces!

a story and villain lifted from a 1934 tale from Secret Agent “X,” another Wyn/Ace pulp. A master of disguise, The Phantom Fed was a less dynamic version of the far more successful original. Wyn and his art editor, Fred Gardener, encouraged early writers to borrow freely from pre-existing Ace pulp-mag plots in an effort to reduce costs. Trost speculates that the names of the pulp heroes were changed to avoid paying the original writers royalties. But since the original author was occasionally credited, it seems equally likely that Wyn and Gardener felt the need to modify their pulp heroes for a younger comic book readership. Other heroes appearing in Sure-Fire #1 were rather nondescript. The Raven, an otherwise unremarkable masked mystery man, distinguished himself only by being a special friend of the poor. Rounding out the line-up, Marvo the Magician barely distinguished himself from the newspapers’ Mandrake by having a monkey named Tito for an assistant instead of a muscle-man named Lothar. Hap Hazard, a juvenile adventurer, was played mostly for laughs. Wyn’s second effort, Super-Mystery Comics, appeared on the newsstands a scant month after Sure-Fire. Its lead hero, Magno, master of magnetism, emerged full-blown, with neither an origin nor a secret identity to slow him down. “Mysterious and mighty,

Squeezing The Pulps Two of Ace’s early pulp heroes—who’d have their adventures translated in one way or another into Ace’s comics line—were Captain Hazzard (a Doc Savage imitation who starred in a single 1938 issue) and the masked “Moon Man,” who moonlighted in 38 stories in Ten Detective Aces. Artists unknown. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Wyn’s experiences during his younger years, if Time and his own self-report are to be trusted, may have given him good reason to be cautious with his money. For an established publisher of pulp magazines, his entry into comic books was rather late in the game. When Wyn finally gave the green light for the enterprise, he appears to have entrusted many of the details to his longstanding art editor, a fellow named Fred Gardener (not to be confused with “Zatara” artist/creator Fred Guardineer). In those early years, Wyn would reserve the honor of being listed as editor for himself.

The Early Comic Books Wyn started his comic book division with Sure-Fire Comics, cover-dated June 1940. Sure-Fire starred a multi-powered superhero named “Flash Lightning.” (His first name was generally put in quotation marks in the logo.) Flash was able to use the power of lightning to fly really fast and send forth bolts of electricity, all powers granted him by an ancient Egyptian mystic known only as the Old Man of the Pyramids. His first opponent, The Phoenix, along with his nefarious schemes, was directly borrowed from 1938’s one-and-only issue of Captain Hazzard, a pulp magazine also published by Wyn through Magazine Publishers, Inc., which bore an “Ace” logo on its Jim Mooney cover. Pulp historian Mark Trost notes By the year this pic was that, with the exception of the featured taken, the artist had hero, the comics story was a fairly established himself on faithful, if truncated, adaptation. Another feature in that first issue of Sure-Fire, “X, The Phantom Fed,” starred

features like “Batman,” “Supergirl,” and “Amazing Spider-Man.”

He’s Got A Train To Catch! Top-notch “Lash Lightning” splash page from Lightning Comics, Vol. 2, #4 (Dec. 1942). Art by Jim Mooney; scripter unknown—after Flash had changed his first name to Lash. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [© the respective copyright holders.]

A History Of Ace Periodicals—Their Heroes & (Especially) Their Villains

But the Code itself was not the end of the comic book publisher. Ace continued to issue all six of their romance comic books under the new censorship guidelines. They had less success in keeping comics going in other genres. Wyn shortened the name of Crime Must Pay the Penalty to simply Penalty—to no avail. The title still died two issues later. Trapped! did no better. Ace also briefly tried to ride the Davy Crockett craze with Heroes of the Wild Frontier, an effort that only lasted two issues. Then, with comics cover-dated November 1956, the romance line closed shop as well. Why did A.A. Wyn give up comic books? His burgeoning paperback line increasingly generated the kind of profits that demanded his full attention. Kenneth Davis notes that Wyn sold off his hardcover book-publishing enterprise to focus exclusively on paperbacks in 1956. It is likely that he shut down his comic book line for the same reason. By the time of Wyn’s death in 1967, his comic books were a fading memory. Ace paperbacks, on the other hand, would continue going strong long after his death. Ace’s costumed heroes have made a minor comeback in the last few years, in the pages of retro-themed comic books Under editor Don Wollheim, the Ace Double Novels became a big deal, with two short like FemForce and Project: Superpowers. But, frankly, it’s books printed upside down from each other, each with its own cover. This 1955 Ace another glimpse of the Ace villains that I’m hankering for. Double of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Conqueror (the first reprinting ever of REH’s One would hope a madman named The Mummy might know The Hour of the Dragon from 1930s Weird Tales magazine) and Leigh Brackett’s at least a few ways to return from the dead. Surely Dark Eyes The Sword of Rhiannon featured covers painted by pulp great Norman Saunders. and Madame Death could have found a way to immortalize [© the respective copyright holders.] their homicidal passion. Nor would the embittered Adolf Krimetz pass on one final chance to lash out at the salacious comic books had emerged as a national issue. Even world that so betrayed him, howling fiercely at the moon. though Ace was far from being one of the most sensationalistic After all, any hero worth his salt needs such villains. publishers, the industry’s self-imposed Comics Code effectively Abner Sundell said so. put the kibosh on Ace’s horror titles.

Double Whammy!

Louis Zansky in the 1940s. Thanks to William B. Jones, Jr., author of Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History.

Wild Shots Penalty #48 (Jan. 1956), the second issue after the title was rechristened, sported a cover by Louis Zansky… Heroes of the Wild Frontier #2 (April ’56) an uncredited one. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Coming Up Aces!

Bonus Feature (by Mark Carlson-Ghost):

A Who’s Who of Ace Villainy 1940-46

Captain Nippo (foe of Captain Courageous). Nippo was a Japanese patriot whose right hand had been replaced by a barbed hook. An excellent fighter, Nippo wore a formfitting green uniform with a rising-sun insignia on the chest and cowl of his uniform. Even after the war, Caption Nippo was “still battling the despised conquerors of his aggressor nation.” In Four Favorites #23, Nippo managed to escape capture once again, but the closing story caption promised that, in the following issue, “Captain Courageous sets out to bring Captain Nippo to trial before the war crime commission!” Nippo did indeed end up standing trial and, after over a dozen struggles with Courageous, was finally executed with a hangman’s noose. Four Favorites #9-14, 1618, 20-24 (years active 1943-46).

Captains Outrageous Captain Nippo battled on after the fall of Japan in the “Captain Courageous” yarn in Four Favorites #23 (May 1946). Since this issue deals with Nippo’s attempt to sabotage the testing of an American atomic bomb on obsolete ships, it must’ve been prepared not long after Japan had surrendered in September of ’45. He had made his four-color debut in 1943. Scripter & artist unknown. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost (with the Digital Comics Museum), to Doug Martin, and to Comic Book Plus. [© the respective copyright holders.]

The Clown (foe of Magno). This maniacal master criminal wore a yellow and green clown suit, black eye-mask, and white face makeup. The Clown possessed exceptional strength and agility and exhibited a remarkable ability to recover from seemingly fatal injuries. Over the years, The Clown utilized his scientific genius to invent a degravitating solvent, a deadly death spray, and a demagnetizing fluid with which to coat his weapons. The Clown also once utilized a “mentabelt” of his own devising to turn Davey into his willing slave. The fiend made the youth wear a matching clown suit as they fought Magno in deadly combat. The Clown often surrounded himself with underworld lowlifes like Old Annie and the brutish Jock, but on one occasion mesmerized a beautiful woman to be his servant. Extremely treacherous, The Clown often killed (or attempted to kill) criminal allies once their usefulness to him had ended. Super-Mystery Comics, Vol. 1/#5-2/3, Vol. 3/#2-4/5, Vol. 5/#3; Four Favorites #8-18 (1940-45).

Still Clowning Around Magno and Davey tackle The Clown yet again, in Super-Mystery Comics, Vol. 3, #2 (July 1942). Writer & artist unknown. Thanks to Comic Book Plus. [© the respective copyright holders.]

A History Of Ace Periodicals—Their Heroes & (Especially) Their Villains

the Ages website. Jim Mooney’s recollections are culled from an interview/article by Mark Heike at the AC Comics website, while Lou Cameron’s verbal description of Fred Gardener is from Alter Ego #79. Material on the non-comics portion of Wyn’s career came from various sources. Details about various Ace pulps and their dates of publication are available in the Adventure House Guide to the Pulps by Doug Ellis, John Locke, and John Gunnison. The Time magazine article on Wyn from its September 16th, 1935, issue was found in their online archive. Wollheim’s posthumous remembrance of Wyn is similarly available through the Internet. Mark Trost’s article on Ace’s adapting pulp stories into comic books appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of Blood ‘n’ Thunder. Information on Wyn’s venture into paperbacks came largely from Kenneth C. Davis’ TwoBit Culture: The Paperbacking of America. Finally, I want to thank my husband Jason for his remarkable patience during my quixotic quest to write a comprehensive compendium of Golden Age heroes and villains. Mark Carlson-Ghost is a long-time comic book collector and part-time historian. He has written for Comics Buyer’s Guide, Nostalgia Zone, and Robert Jennings’ Comic World, where he wrote the first historical treatment of the romance comics genre. Drawn to neglected subject matter, he has also written about the history of comic book sales and a three-part series on educational comic books in the 1940s and ’50s. Mark is currently working on cataloguing the appearances of recurring Golden Age villains, which is what drew him to the neglected gold mine that is the Ace comic book universe. Professionally, Mark is a psychology professor who teaches the history of psychology, among other subjects. He lives in Minnesota with his husband and their occasionally villainous cat.

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A very Human Torch-like panel from the “Vulcan” story in Ace Periodicals’ Super-Mystery Comics, Vol. 2, #3 (Aug. 1941). The hero generates heat from his body without himself bursting into flame. The Grand Comics Database attributes the script to Robert Turner, the art to Jack Alderman. Thanks to Mark Carlson-Ghost for the scan. [© the respective copyright holders.]

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From Dell—To Gold Key—To King— With The New York Times In Between! A Candid Conversation With Writer & Editor BILL HARRIS About His Comics Career

Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Bill Harris was an editor first at Dell, then at Gold Key Comics, in the early 1960s, where he worked on such titles as Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom. Following that period, he was hired by King Features to edit their new line of comic books, some of whose titles had been taken back from Gold Key, such as The Phantom, Flash Gordon, and Mandrake the Magician. Harris also wrote The Phantom for the entirety of its comic book runs at both Gold Key and King. This interview was conducted on January 25, 2013.

The Phantom Of The Comics Convention (Center:) Bill Harris at the 1965 “Academy Con” in New York City, flanked by comics fans Bobby Van (on his left) and Mark Hanerfeld (on his right). This con was held at a time when Harris was in between comic book editorial gigs. He’d recently resigned the one at Western/Gold Key, and the one at King Features was still a year away; but in July of ’65 he was still scripting The Phantom comic book for Gold Key. Thanks to Bill Schelly. (Left:) The Phantom was visually introduced to Gold Key’s readers on the second page of its The Phantom #1 (Nov. 1962), as written by Harris, drawn by Bill Lignante, and lettered by comic strip veteran Ben Oda. The yarn was a riff on Richard Connell’s famous 1924 short story “The Most Dangerous Game.” Note that Gold Key at first eschewed the use of inked borders for its panels. Repro’d from Hermes Press’ 2014 hardcover The Phantom – The Complete Sundays: Volume Two 1942-1945; Hermes Press has reprinted the Gold Key, King, and Charlton comic book runs of The Phantom. (Above right:) Splash page of King Comics’ The Phantom #22 (May 1967), with script by Harris and art by Lignante. Thanks to Eric Schumacher. [Both Phantom pages TM & © King Features, Inc.]

FEA F EAT ATU AT TUR RING T THE COMPL CO C OM MP PL P LET ET TE T 73 7 3--IS IS SS SU UE S SE ER RIE ES FR F RO OM 1194 94 40 40-1119 953 53

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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Michael T.: The Fanzine Years! (Part 3) by Michael T. Gilbert

ike Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, I found myself in limbo after graduation. By December 1973, I’d completed my student-teaching requirements (a sop to my parents while I took art classes and drew comics on the side). While technically qualified to teach art, I had zero interest in actually doing so. I wanted to draw comics. In 1974, that wasn’t going to be easy. In the indulgent ’70s, schools’ standards weren’t as rigorous as they’d been decades earlier. As a result, my cartooning skills were mostly self-taught. The School of Visual Arts only began offering cartooning classes in September 1973, and the Kubert School didn’t open until 1976. But by then it was too late for me. With diploma in hand, I was anxious to earn a living.

On the plus side, school was a lot cheaper then, with some help from a Regents scholarship. As a result, I graduated owing a mere $1000—$600 of which I spent printing New Paltz Comix #1! As luck would have it, Gram had given me a $1000 savings bond for my Bar Mitzvah, and it matured just at the right time. So my college was now fully paid off. Eat your heart out, Millennials!

Creepy’s Loathsome Lore! (Above & below:) Two sample pages Michael attempted to sell to Warren Publishing in 1971. The “Spawn of Mars” page never got past the pencil stage, until inked by his friend Brian Buniak years later. [© 2016 Michael T. Gilbert.]

After graduation I moved back to my parents’ home in Commack, NY. But after seeing me laze around a couple of weeks, Mom not-so-subtly informed me I’d be moving out. I’ve had my issues with my mom, who passed on a few years back, but forcing me out was actually very healthy. Mom’s mother, Grandma Anna Nurock, had an extra room in her large Bronx apartment, so I had a free place to crash. It was a good way to transition to “real life,” and made it easier to look for a job in the city. During my college days, I’d already met with James Warren a couple of times, but failed to make a sale. This time I decided to work up some samples to show DC or Marvel. I penciled a “Spider-Man” page, but the results were stiff and awkward. How did Ditko make it look so effortless? Frustrated, I tossed it, and decided to try again. Maybe I’d have better luck with “Batman”?

Commercial Art! In the meantime, I lugged my huge portfolio around town on the subway looking for work. I had no luck for the first few weeks, though at one point I stumbled onto Ken Bald’s studio. In 1974 he was drawing the syndicated Dr. Kildare comic strip and had, until recently, also illustrated the Dark Shadows strip. While he was quite friendly and encouraging, he had no work for me.

Michael T.: The Fanzine Years! (Part 3)

Then I finally hit paydirt. I’d stepped off the subway, portfolio in hand, when I spotted an odd sign in front of one door that said Vizmo. I got the idea it was some kind of graphic arts studio, so with nothing to lose, I stepped inside and asked to talk to the art director. By pure luck, he needed someone, and after looking at my portfolio, hired me to work there three days a week. Vizmo supplied graphics for NBC News in New York, which worked in the 30 Rock building next door. Their art was done by cutting up various colored papers into whatever image ran with the stories of the day. Then the art was sent to the photographers to make colored cells that could be flashed behind the news anchors. Unfortunately, it took the cameramen hours to develop the images. Many’s the time I found myself racing across the street to the NBC 30 Rockefeller Center building, grabbing an elevator to some upper floor and handing the art to the NBC crew with seconds to spare. Nowadays you’d whip something up on your computer and instantly e-mail it. But it was different back then. The hourly rate was good, but NBC only needed me for the weekend news. Still, by keeping expenses down, I made enough money to move out of Gram’s aging apartment. One of the Vizmo photographers, Jack, found an old brownstone flat on 99th and Broadway, and we agreed to split the rent. Each of us had a large bedroom, with the kitchen between us. Unfortunately, I had to go through his room to use the bathroom, adjacent to his. Well, it still beat living at Gram’s!

Got Comics? Strangely enough, comic collecting became something of a problem in the city, despite the fact that most were published there. I often found that the magazine newsstands near me stocked few comics, and rarely the ones I was looking for. At some point, I discovered Ed Summer’s Supersnipe Comic Book Emporium at

84th and 2nd, a brisk walk from my 99th street apartment. Supersnipe was perhaps the first store in New York City that sold comics exclusively. But the place was roughly the size of a closet, and I didn’t find the vibe very friendly. Years later I learned that a pre-Star Wars George Lucas was Summer’s silent partner in a comic art gallery next door.

New Paltz Comix I met some great people at Vizmo, and was finally making my living doing art. But I still had comics on the brain, and in my spare time I began work on a second issue of New Paltz Comix (subtitled Amazing Adult Fantasies). Issue two was a co-operative venture, with each of the artists drawing a story and putting up some money for the printing. Vince Kimszel, a small underground comix distributor, also invested some money. Vince introduced me to cartoonist Brian Buniak, who would later become the main “Thunder Bunny” artist. Knowing my love of all things Eisner, Brian wrote and drew a parody of Will’s Spirit. Mr. Buniak did such an exceptional job on “The Sprite” that Eisner almost sued us. Hey, even getting threatened by my idol was an honor! Jay Eisenberg, under whom I’d done my student teaching, drew a beautiful photo-realistic X-rated cover, giving the book a proper underground-comix feel. My old New Paltz cartoonist pal, Raoul Vezina, also did a fabulous flip-cover, illustrating our lead “Rubber Soul!” story. Raoul still lived in New Paltz, so I’d sometimes bus there and crash at his place while we jammed on our story. That was fun, but the old house he and his housemates rented was cold and chilly in the winter. Unfortunately Raoul had a bad asthma problem that, in 1983, killed him. I’m sure his drafty house, and the smoky local bars he played music in, didn’t help.

When the comic was finally printed in 1974, a few of us sold it door-to-door on campus—a fairly mortifying experience. But at least I was in print again.

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Steamboat & Sabra Holbrook’s Youthbuilders Captain Marvel & African American Stereotypes During World War II by Brian Cremins [Author’s Introduction: Steamboat, a character who first appeared in America’s Greatest Comics #2 (Feb.-May, 1942), was one of Captain Marvel’s regular cast members until he vanished for good in mid-1945. In his 1960 essay “The Big Red Cheese,” Richard Lupoff described the character as “the exemplification of the racial stereotype of the era, as popularized in innumerable pulp magazine stories, radio dramas, motion pictures (perhaps there most of all), and other popular media.” Although Lupoff, Gene Arnold, and C.C. Beck himself have all written about Steamboat, and while Beck, Otto Binder, and Will Lieberson all remembered him in various interviews, very few scholars have studied the history of the Youthbuilders, a kind of after-school Early on in the process program developed by innovative social of researching my book worker and education reformer Sabra Captain Marvel and the Art of Holbrook. Why are the Youthbuilders so The World’s Mightiest… Nostalgia [available from the important? A group of New York City (Above:) Steamboat was hypnotized into believing he was Captain University Press of middle-school kids who took part in the Marvel in the ironically-titled tale “The World’s Mightiest Mistake,” Mississippi], I knew that I’d be program visited Lieberson at Fawcett’s from Captain Marvel Adventures #16 (Oct. 1942). Writer unknown; devoting an entire chapter to offices in 1945 and argued persuasively for art by C.C. Beck, Dave Berg, & the Captain Marvel art staff. [Shazam the character. Like Arnold, the character’s removal. The following hero TM & © DC Comics.] however, I had no idea “what essay (based on the fourth chapter of my (Right:) Cartoonist Keiler Roberts (best known for her autobiographical happened to him,” at least book Captain Marvel and the Art of series Powdered Milk) did the drawing and cover design for our until a good friend and fellow Nostalgia) is a tribute to those students author Brian Cremins’ book Captain Marvel and the Art of Nostalgia, comics scholar passed along a and their passion for comics—an art form recently published by the University Press of Mississippi. The article clipping from The Chicago that follows is abridged from a chapter of that book. that, for all its flaws, has again proven its [Art © the University Press of Mississippi.] Defender newspaper dated ability to bring about real and positive May 5, 1945. The headline? social change. As you’ll see, Holbrook “Negro Villain in Comic Book Killed By Youngsters.” According to encouraged her teachers and her students to compile as much research as the article, credited to the ANP (the Associated Negro Press), possible when discussing and debating an important social topic. In that “representatives of Youthbuilders, Inc.,” had “persuaded Fawcett spirit, P.C. Hamerlinck has also assembled, for next issue, a follow-up Publications to drop the character, ‘Steamboat,’ from one of their piece: a portfolio of images, information, and insights regarding favorite comic books, ‘Captain Marvel.’” Steamboat's treatment and the depiction of other African Americans during Fawcett's Golden Age. —Brian Cremins.] So, the Youthbuilders, I thought. Interesting. I made a list of questions. Who were they? How could I find out more about them? I answer a lot of those questions in what turned out to be one of or Gene Arnold, who wrote the detailed summaries of the longest chapters in the book. But, as I continue to share this Captain Marvel’s cast of characters in The Rocket’s Blast information with other colleagues, I thought I’d also give FCA Special #8 in the early 1970s, Steamboat’s disappearance readers a sneak preview, along with some material that didn’t from the hero’s adventures was something of a mystery. “There make the final cut. was no explanation of what happened to him,” Arnold writes. “He was just conveniently written out of future scripts and there was Before I go any further, I should mention that the training I no reference made to him again. It was as if he had never existed.” received while doing my Ph.D. in English at the University of Connecticut proved invaluable as I tracked down this information.