Alter Ego #145 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas’ Star- Crossed Comics Fanzine

LORDIE, LORDIE!

“THE COMIC THAT SAVED MARVEL” TURNS

40!

9.95

In the USA

No.145 March 2017

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A

STAR

BE CAREFUL YOU DON’T WIND UP WITH

WARS

NOW!

100

PAGES IN FULL COLOR!

"MAKIN' WOOKIEE" with CHAYKIN & THOMAS

82658 00092

Vol. 3, No. 145 / March 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 Artist Howard Chaykin

Cover Colorist Unknown

With Special Thanks to: Rob Allen Jim Kealy Heidi Amash Paul King Pedro Angosto Todd Klein Richard J. Arndt Michael Kogge Rodrigo Baeza Paul Kupperberg Bob Bailey Vicki Crites Lane Mike W. Barr Dominique Leonard John Benson Charles Lippincott Al Bigley David Mandel Earl Blair, Jr. Mike’s Amazing Roy Bonario World (website) Christopher Boyko Mike Mikulovsky Robert Brown MinuteMenBernie Bubnis DarthScanner Mike Burkey (website) John Caputo morgangraphix Nick Caputo (website) Howard Chaykin Brian K. Morris Chet Cox Mark Muller Brian Cremins Barry Pearl Katie Delia Stéphan Petit Leonardo de Sá Jay Piscopo Mark Evanier Gene Reed Lance Falk J.W. Rinzler Jean-Michel Steven Rowe Ferragatti Steve Sansweet Shane Foley Tom Sawyer Stephan Friedt Mitchell Senft Martin Gately Tim Stroup Jeff Gelb Jeff Taylor Janet Gilbert Tenth Letter of the Golden Age Comic Alphabet (blog) Book Stories Dann Thomas (website) Steven Thompson Victor Gorelik Jim Van Dore Michael Grabois Jim Van Hise Grand Comics Robert Wiener Database (website) Steven G. Willis Lee Harsfeld William Wray Rick & Aleta Hoberg Mike Zeck Douglas Jones (“Gaff”)

Contents Writer/Editorial: Star Wars—The Comic Book—Turns 40! . . . 2 Makin’ Wookiee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Roy Thomas tells Richard Arndt about the origins and pitfalls of Marvel’s 1977 Star Wars comic.

Howard Chaykin On Star Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The artist/co-adapter of Star Wars #1-10 takes a brief look backward.

Rick Hoberg On Star Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 From helping pencil Star Wars #6—to a career at Lucasfilm.

Bill Wray On Star Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Rick Hoberg dragged him into inking Star Wars #6—and Bill’s glad he did!

The 1978 Star Wars Comic Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Lee Harsfeld takes us on a tour of veteran comics artist Charles Nicholas’ version of Star Wars.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Comics And All That Jazz! . . . . 73 Comics and jazz—two American creations! So what happened when they got together?

Comic Fandom Archive: Earl Blair, Jr., Remembers G.B. Love & Houston Fandom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Bill Schelly concludes A/E’s multi-part look at the fan/entrepreneur behind RBCC.

re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 84 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #204 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 P.C. Hamerlinck completes a look at African-Americans in Fawcett’s Golden Age comics. On Our Cover: So what do you do when (as will be explained in our “writer/editorial” on the very next page) you’re doing a Star Wars issue of Alter Ego and you can’t use an actual Star Wars image on your cover? Well, you consider the fact that the major illustrator of Marvel’s Star Wars #1-10 was none other than future American Flagg! writer/artist Howard Chaykin… then you recall that, just about the time he was really diving into work on Star Wars, his somewhat HanSoloish space-hero “Monark Starstalker” was making his one and only appearance, in Marvel Premiere #32 (Oct. 1976)—and you go with that cover image, which can be seen as originally published on p. 14 of this issue! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: On the Internet, A/E’s editor stumbled upon this lone panel from a German edition of Star Wars #10 (April 1978). Thus, since Jaxxon the “green rabbit” was writer Roy Thomas’ principal creative addition to the Star Wars mythos (even if the Lepi from Coachelle Prime was almost immediately exiled therefrom by George Lucas himself), a panel featuring the space lapine seemed a fitting image to hover above this contents page. Art by Howard Chaykin & Tom Palmer. [TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.] 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. Six-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

Star Wars —The Comic Book—Turns 40! T

en years ago, back in Alter Ego #68, I wrote what I thought was my “final word” about my personal connection to George Lucas’ 1977 filmic fantasy, on the 30th anniversary of both movie and comic. However, as the comic’s 40th anniversary loomed (I didn’t worry about the movie’s birthday—there’d be plenty of folks eager to celebrate that), I decided I should expand on that earlier piece, and try to bring everything I could remember about my Star Wars experience between 1975-78 together in one place, so that anytime in the future I was asked about it, I’d be able to hand the person a copy of that issue of A/E and tell him/her: “Just read this!” Richard Arndt was amenable to interviewing me on the subject, and added supplementary information on his own.

cover art for this issue (though you can see that illustration on p. 23). But, as explained on the preceding page, Chaykin’s cover for his 1976 “Monark Starstalker” story for Marvel served as an excellent stand-in. The one-shot hero even has a metallic “millennium falcon” all his own. Too bad HC didn’t continue that potential series!

A very special thanks to artists Howard Chaykin, Rick Hoberg, and Bill Wray, all of whom labored on the six-issue adaptation of the film, for providing brief interviews to augment ones printed in #68. Now, on to the coverage that, as much as possible, will deal with events related to the Star Wars comic in chronological order, from 1975 through 1977 or so—along with necessarily discussing a couple of controversies of more recent vintage.

One factor in the re-examination was that, in late 2014, I was surprised to be contacted by Charles Lippincott, Lucas’ latter-’70s media projects director—the gent who in early ’76 convinced me to talk Stan Lee into having Marvel adapt the upcoming movie in comics form. The e-mails between Charley and me quickly veered off into directions I wouldn’t have anticipated… as you’ll see in this issue. As a result, my interview wound up a bit longer than originally envisioned.

This issue of Alter Ego may amount to “more about the genesis of Marvel’s Star Wars comic than you could possibly want to know.” If so, you’re welcome to simply look at the pictures, where I suspect you may find a few surprises, as well.

I’m glad that circumstances, including the outreach from Charley, pushed me to delve more deeply than ever before into my memories of that time, and of the comic book that former editorin-chief Jim Shooter and publisher Jim Galton have each proclaimed as being of great importance to Marvel’s financial health, and perhaps even survival, in the late 1970s.

P.S.: Before I forget—you won’t find any reference anywhere in this issue to “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope.” The name of the 1977 movie was Star Wars, period… and I for one will never refer to it as anything else. Thanks for letting me get that rant off my chest, before the magazine proper begins.

Unfortunately, we were not able to get official permission in time to utilize Howard Chaykin’s exciting 1976 Star Wars poster as the

Bestest,

P.P.S.: This is the first issue of our switch to a 100-page bi-monthly magazine, and you know what? We still didn’t have room to squeeze everything in!

COMING IN APRIL EACH ISSUE NOW 100 PAGES!

146

DOUG MOENCH IN THE 1970s!

Plus THE CLOCK & A Never-Before-Seen GOLDEN AGE SUPER-HERO!

s, Inc. Art TM & © Marvel Character

• Cataclysmic, color-splashed cover by peerless PAUL GULACY! • DOUG MOENCH tells RICHARD ARNDT—and us, of course—about his early career in the 1970s: horror and The Spook for Warren Publishing—and, for Marvel, Master of Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes, Deathlok, Werewolf by Night, Morbius the Living Vampire, Moon Knight, Ka-Zar, Weirdworld, etc.! Art by GULACY, PLOOG, BUSCEMA, BUCKLER, ZECK, DAY, PERLIN, GRAHAM, HEATH, TRINIDAD, TUSKA, et al.! • GEORGE BRENNER, artist/writer/creator of The Clock, comic books’ first masked hero—as remembered by his son RICHARD BRENNER! Plenty of rare, unseen art! • “BILL OF RIGHTS!” A never-before-published 1942 super-hero tale written & drawn by MARV LEVY, presented in full color by LARRY GUIDRY! • FCA presents “The Marvel Family’s South American Adventures”—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on EC’s oddball “variant covers”—BILL SCHELLY on early comics fan (& SF writer & editor) TED WHITE, Part 1—& MORE!!

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“ The Comic That Saved Marvel” Turns 40!

Makin’ Wookiee

Part One

ROY THOMAS Tells All—& We Do Mean All— About Marvel’s 1977 Star Wars Comic Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: After co-founding the original fanzine edition of Alter Ego with Jerry G. Bails in 1961, Roy Thomas labored briefly for Charlton Comics and DC Comics in 1965, then segued to a 15-year role as a writer and editor at Marvel Comics. During that time, he scribed numerous titles there, including The X-Men, Dr. Strange, The Avengers, The Invaders, and Conan the Barbarian. The latter title is considered by many fans to signal the end of the Silver Age of Comics and the beginning of the Bronze Age. Roy became Stan Lee’s first successor as Marvel editor-in-chief (from 1972-1974), then served under contract as a writer/editor at Marvel through 1980. In 1977 he scripted and edited the first ten issues of Marvel’s Star Wars comic. In 1980 he Roy Thomas & Howard Chaykin moved to DC, for whom, during that decade, (left to right) onstage in July 1976 at the San Diego Comic-Con, in a program/panel that clued many young he developed such titles as Arak, Son of attendees in for the first time that a film called Star Wars would open in theatres the following spring. Thunder; All-Star Squadron; Infinity, Inc.; Projected behind the lads is Chaykin’s poster for the film, which will be seen a bit more clearly on p. 23. Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Also on the stage was ringmaster Charley Lippincott. Thanks to Steve Sansweet. Crew!, Young All-Stars, and a new series of At right is Chaykin’s cover for Marvel’s Star Wars #1 (July 1977), which despite the usual dated-ahead Secret Origins. Over the years, he’s been look actually went on sale circa March 8th of that year. There were later variants of that cover with a 35¢ price tag. [TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.] noted for his adaptations of literary properties to comics, including Robert E. Howard, than me, and a former film student, who had a grant to make a Edgar Rice Burroughs, Bram Stoker, and various science-fiction and film about some major comics creators—Kirby, Barks, and Eisner fantasy authors. In 1998-99, he revived Alter Ego for TwoMorrows were on that short list. We became good friends for a time. He also Publishing. His comics-history magazine has done yeoman service in had a lot to do with the fact that there was a Conan the Barbarian providing oral histories of 1930s-70s comic book writers, artists, editors, movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early ’80s, and he and publishers. It has also made this writer both richer (spiritually) and and I even worked poorer (financially) while he tracked down great stories and titles I’d together on that overlooked or simply never even heard of. This interview was conducted one in its earliest by phone in June 2016, with follow-ups in September. stages. RICHARD ARNDT: When did you first become aware that there was Ed had told me going to be a movie called Star Wars? that George Lucas ROY THOMAS: It happened while I was having dinner, sometime was his silent in the winter or early spring of 1975, with George Lucas, my friend partner in his Ed Summer, and probably a third person. For a long time, I Supersnipe Comic mistakenly thought that other person must’ve been George’s Art Emporium— merchandising man, Charley Lippincott; but Charley himself not in Ed’s recently made me aware that it couldn’t possibly have been him, Supersnipe comic and was probably Gary Kurtz, the [eventual] producer of Star book store, but in a Wars. separate business that sold original I’d gotten to know Ed Summer earlier. He’d opened a comics art. At that time, I Gary Kurtz & George Lucas store, called Supersnipe, only a couple of blocks south of [thenknew of George (left to right). Kurtz would produce Star Wars, wife] Jeanie’s and my apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “only” as the while Lucas, of course, was the creator, director, and He was a knowledgeable comics fan, a half-dozen years younger director of what writer of the screenplay. Pic found on the Internet.

“ The Comic That Saved Marvel” Turns 40!

HOWARD CHAYKIN On Star Wars

Part Two

The Artist/Co-Adapter Of Marvel’s Star Wars #1-10 Takes A Brief Look Backward

Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Howard Chaykin started his comics career working as an assistant to Gil Kane, then moved on to assist Wallace Wood, Neal Adams, and Gray Morrow in the early 1970s. By 1972 he was doing short pieces for DC’s various anthology titles and fill-ins at Marvel on “Man-Thing.” His first major assignment was drawing Fritz Leiber’s sword-&sorcery characters Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser in DC’s adaptation of their adventures in 1973’s Sword of Sorcery. Following that short-lived series, he created “Ironwolf” for DC and his creator-owned “Cody Starbuck” for the early independent title Star*Reach. Throughout the 1970s he largely appeared as a utility player for the mainstream publishers, drawing and sometimes writing material for World of Krypton, “War of the Worlds,” “Enemy Ace,” and various anthology titles. In the late ’70s and early ’80s he did a series of highly acclaimed, fully painted graphic novels adapting The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester and original works by Michael Moorcock and Samuel Delaney. He hit his stride in 1983 with his own creation, American Flagg!, which ran for over 40 issues, although he would prefer you ignore anything he didn’t write and draw. Since then, he’s worked as either writer/artist or as writer or as artist on The Shadow, Time (Squared), Blackhawk, Black Kiss, Twilight, Pulp Fantastic, American Century, Mighty Love, City of Tomorrow, the online 24 College Ave., Hawkgirl, Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage, Blade, War Is Hell: The First Flight of The Phantom Eagle, Supreme Power, Rawhide Kid, Buck Rogers, and many more. In the 1990s he worked as a scriptwriter for the first Flash television series. In 1976 he began work with Roy Thomas on the adaptation for Marvel Comics of the forthcoming and then largely unknown film Star Wars. This interview was conducted by phone on January 17, 2016. RICHARD ARNDT: How did you get involved in doing the adaptation for the first movie? HOWARD CHAYKIN: I really don’t remember. I think I was asked to do it because [George] Lucas had seen the “Cody Starbuck” stories I’d done for Star*Reach. That was through Ed Summer, who ran the comic art business that

Howard Chaykin in a recent convention photo—plus a fabulous commission piece of Luke and Leia. Thanks to Howard for the latter—and to Hero Initiative, the comics charity of whose disbursement board he’s a long-time member, for the former. Learn more about Hero Initiative on p. 57. [Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

Howard Chaykin On Star Wars

RA: Did you do your page breakdowns off the original screenplay? CHAYKIN: I broke the screenplay down into six issues. Roy then wrote dialogue to accompany that material. RA: The reason I asked was that there’s a minor character in the comic who doesn’t really appear in the movie. CHAYKIN: You’re talking about Biggs Darklighter. Well, that happens a lot. You know, stuff just disappears between greenlighting the script and actually filming. RA: I noticed the same thing in the 1979 Alien adaptation by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson. There’s an interesting scene in the book that explains the fate of the captain which doesn’t actually appear in the film. CHAYKIN: Darklighter wasn’t all that important a character, so

Trust The Force, Luke! A fairly recent Luke Skywalker commission illustration, courtesy of artist Chaykin. It’s a bit easier to find stills from the movie these days than it was in 1976! [Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

Lucas was a part owner of. They felt I was the right guy to do it. There was a lot of influence from my Cody Starbuck character on Han Solo. RA: Yes, I remember thinking the same thing when I first saw the movie in 1977. Now, you inked the first issue solo, but after that you had either Steve Leialoha (#2-5) or Rick Hoberg and Bill Wray (#6, which concluded the original adaptation) as inkers. Was that because of a deadline problem? CHAYKIN: I think it was hubris, more than anything else. In retrospect, and as I’ve said more than once, I don’t think I did the best possible job that I could have. I did do the best job I was capable of at the time on the material but, in looking back, I wish I’d done better work. Frankly, Steve Leialoha saved my ass.

Not A Biggs Deal (Above:) This early all-Chaykin-art page from Marvel’s Star Wars #1 (July 1977) illustrates a scene that was in the more or less final screenplay—but was eventually left on the cutting-room floor. Naturally, the artist and scripter/editor Roy Thomas (and Marvel Comics) got blamed by unsophisticated fans for “not being faithful to the movie”— even though that issue went on sale more than two months before the movie’s world premiere! Thanks to MinuteMen-DarthScanner website—or is that counted as a blog? (Left:) Garrick Hagon (on left) as Biggs Darklighter and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, either in a scene set on Tatooine, or else conversing between shots. [TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

“ The Comic That Saved Marvel” Turns 40!

Part Three

RICK HOBERG On Star Wars

From Finishing Star Wars #6—To A Career At Lucasfilm

Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Rick Hoberg’s first big break in comics came with his cover art for the original adaptation of the Star Wars movie for Marvel Comics. Both before and after that, he assisted Russ Manning on the newspaper strips Tarzan and Star Wars. He’s also worked for various comics companies on such titles as The Invaders, Kull the Destroyer, Savage Sword of Conan, What If, Batman, The Brave and the Bold, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!, Eternity Smith, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Justice League, DNAgents, and New Gods. He currently works on licensing merchandise for Star Wars. The interview was conducted by phone on January 21, 2016.

Buck Rogers. I loved the science-fiction of the 1950s. What Lucas was doing seemed to fit in with those things. Somewhere along the line I expressed this to Roy, and he very quickly gave me a tumble with #2, doing the cover. I’m not quite sure exactly why I got the nod. It may have had something to do with Roy wanting Chaykin to continue working on the interior and he wanted to get the covers out ahead of time. That’s how Marvel used to work. You did the cover much ahead of the actual books. So I was doing the cover way ahead of the interior art that Chaykin was doing.

RICHARD ARNDT: How did you get involved with the Star Wars comic in the first place? You were drawing the covers before you did any of the interior artwork you did on #6. RICK HOBERG: In two words—Roy Thomas. Roy Thomas literally gave me my big break in comics by allowing me to work on Star Wars. What I understood from Roy was that he had a real interest in this property, as did I. I’d actually been following news of it for several years, as a fan, in the local media. The L.A. Times in particular, as that paper’s Charles Champlin had been following George Lucas’ career. I was enthralled with Lucas’s first film—THX 1138—as well as American Graffiti. When I found out that Lucas was making this kind of a film, I was very excited. I was a huge fan of things like Flash Gordon and

The covers reflected the fact that Roy was trying to do a more “Marvely” approach to the story. I drew the covers for #2, 4, 5, and 6 of the adaptation, as well as #10 and the first two Treasury editions. For some reason, fans really like those two Treasury edition issues. Tom Palmer inked the covers of [regular issues] #2 and 6, Frank Giacoia inked #4, Dave Cockrum did #5 as well as the two Treasury editions, while Tony DeZuniga inked #10. I just got the Artifact Edition of the Star Wars issues from IDW, and I didn’t realize until I saw that what a spectacular job Tom Palmer did inking #6’s cover. The coloring, no offense to the colorist back then, was just terrible on the original printing and it didn’t represent what a fine job Tom did on that issue. It’s just beautiful. On those covers, mind you, none of us at that point knew exactly what

Rick Hoberg is seen on the left with wife Aleta, circa the late 1970s—the era when he had his first (but far from last) artistic assignment related to Star Wars: namely, penciling the cover of issue #2 (Aug. 1977), which was inked by Tom Palmer. As Rick surmises, he was tapped instead of Howard Chaykin so that the latter could plunge ahead with the interior penciling of #3. On right is a photo of Rick more recently, speaking at the San Diego Comic-Con. Thanks to Rick & Aleta for the first photo. [Cover TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

Rick Hoberg On Star Wars

Rick Had Them Covered! Rick also penciled the covers of the first two tabloid-sized “Treasury” editions, titled Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars, each of which collected three issues of the film adaptation. The first was inked by Dave Cockrum, the second by Tony DeZuniga. Little did Rick realize, when he did all these covers, that he was prepping for his future career with Lucasfilm! [TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

the movie was going to look like. The only issue that I had really good reference on and had seen a small portion of the film was the final issue of the adaptation—#6. Even then I knew very little about the actual movie. We had still pictures, but not that much of a sense of where the story was going visually. RA: I was thinking about that, because Howard Chaykin had mentioned that he had a hard time with Darth Vader because the stills he had didn’t show a whole lot. HOBERG: People take it for granted these days as to what Darth Vader looked like, but remember, we had no digital information back then. The photos were black, white, and gray static images. Well, you take a character like Darth Vader, who’s dressed all in shiny black, and all you can see in a black-&-white photo is reflections. I totally understand where Howard was coming from on that. Unlike Howard, I was a young guy in the business who had the advantage of living on the West Coast and was able to go up to Lucasfilm and get reference materials directly from the studio. They wanted me to have it and work from it. I believe I became pretty adept at drawing Darth Vader by the time I did the final adaptation issue. RA: Before you began working for Marvel, is it correct that you worked as an assistant for Russ Manning for a while? HOBERG: I’d worked for Russ as a penciler for some overseas Tarzan comic books. I was a young and really terrible artist at that point, but I had to ape Russ’ style, which I was able to do. So I worked for Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., for a while. Within six months of that, Roy took a chance on me and started feeding me work.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Ink! (Left:) Rick’s introduction to interior art on the Star Wars comic came with this splash page for issue #6 (Dec. 1977)—a full-blown space battle scene! Note that Bill Wray is given co-credit as one of the “embellishers” (finishing inkers); although the assignment was officially Rick’s, he wanted to share credit with Bill. Dave Stevens contributed to a few pages, as well. Script by Roy Thomas. (Right:) By the time Rick and company inked #6, it was easier to get reference on exactly what Darth Vader looked like—and the issue benefited from that. Thanks to Paul King for both scans. [TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

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 #136

ALTER EGO #137

DIEDGITIIOTANSL E

BL AVAILA

ALTER EGO #133

ALTER EGO #134

ALTER EGO #135

Gentleman JIM MOONEY gets a featurelength spotlight, in an in-depth interview conducted by DR. JEFF McLAUGHLIN— never before published! Featuring plenty of rare and unseen MOONEY ART from Batman & Robin, Supergirl, Spider-Man, Legion of Super-Heroes, Tommy Tomorrow, and others! Plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Celebrates SOL BRODSKY—Fantastic Four #3-4 inker, logo designer, and early Marvel production manager! With tributes by daughter and Marvel colorist JANNA PARKER, STAN LEE, HERB TRIMPE, STAN GOLDBERG, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT, TONY ISABELLA, ROY THOMAS, and others! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Cover portrait by JOHN ROMITA!

LEN WEIN (writer/co-creator of Swamp Thing, Human Target, and Wolverine) talks about his early days in comics at DC and Marvel! Art by WRIGHTSON, INFANTINO, TRIMPE, DILLON, CARDY, APARO, THORNE, MOONEY, and others! Plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MR. MONSTER’s Comic Crypt, the Comics Code, and DAN BARRY! Cover by DICK GIORDANO with BERNIE WRIGHTSON!

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

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

ALTER EGO #138

ALTER EGO #139

ALTER EGO #140

BONUS 100-PAGE issue as ROY THOMAS talks to JIM AMASH about celebrating his 50th year in comics—and especially about the ‘90s at Marvel! Art by TRIMPE, GUICE, RYAN, ROSS, BUCKLER, HOOVER, KAYANAN, BUSCEMA, CHAN, VALENTINO, and others! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’s Comic Crypt, AMY KISTE NYBERG on the Comics Code, and a cover caricature of Roy by MARIE SEVERIN!

Incredible interview with JIM SHOOTER, which chronicles the first decade of his career (Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman, Supergirl, Captain Action) with art by CURT SWAN, WALLY WOOD, GIL KANE, GEORGE PAPP, JIM MOONEY, PETE COSTANZA, WIN MORTIMER, WAYNE BORING, AL PLASTINO, et al.! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Cover art by CURT SWAN!

Science-fiction great (and erstwhile comics writer) HARLAN ELLISON talks about Captain Marvel and The Monster Society of Evil! Also, Captain Marvel artist/ co-creator C.C. BECK writes about the infamous Superman-Captain Marvel lawsuit of the 1940s and ‘50s in a double-size FCA section! Plus two titanic tributes to Golden Age artist FRED KIDA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

JIM AMASH interviews ROY THOMAS about his 1990s work on Conan, the stillborn Marvel/Excelsior line launched by STAN LEE, writing for Cross Plains, Topps, DC, and others! Art by KAYANAN, BUSCEMA, MAROTO, GIORDANO, ST. AUBIN, DITKO, SIMONSON, MIGNOLA, LARK, KIRBY, CORBEN, SALE, SCHULTZ, LIGHTLE, McKEEVER, BENDIS, and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

Golden Age great IRWIN HASEN spotlight, adapted from DAN MAKARA’s film documentary on Hasen, the 1940s artist of the Justice Society, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Wildcat, Cat-Man, and numerous other classic heroes—and, for 30 years, the artist of the famous DONDI newspaper strip! Bonus art by his buddies JOE KUBERT, ALEX TOTH, CARMINE INFANTINO, and SHELLY MAYER!

(100 FULL-COLOR pages) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(100 FULL-COLOR pages) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

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TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

ALTER EGO #141

ALTER EGO #142

ALTER EGO #143

ALTER EGO #144

From Detroit to Deathlok, we cover the career of artist RICH BUCKLER: Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Black Panther, Ka-Zar, Dracula, Morbius, a zillion Marvel covers— Batman, Hawkman, and other DC stars— Creepy and Eerie horror—and that’s just in the first half of the 1970s! Plus Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, FCA, and comics expert HAMES WARE on fabulous Golden Age artist RAFAEL ASTARITA!

DAVID SIEGEL talks to RICHARD ARNDT about how, from 1991-2005, he brought the greatest artists of the Golden Age to the San Diego Comic-Con! With art and artifacts by FRADON, GIELLA, MOLDOFF, LAMPERT, CUIDERA, FLESSEL, NORRIS, SULLIVAN, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, GROTHKOPF, and others! Plus how writer JOHN BROOME got to the Con, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

DON GLUT discusses his early years as comic book writer for Marvel, Warren, and Gold Key, with art by SANTOS, MAROTO, CHAN, NEBRES, KUPPERBERG, TUSKA, TRIMPE, SAL BUSCEMA, and others! Also, SAL AMENDOLA and ROY THOMAS on the 1970s professional Academy of Comic Book Arts, founded by STAN LEE and CARMINE INFANTINO! Plus Mr. Monster, FCA, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

MARK CARLSON documents 1940s-50s ACE COMICS (with super-heroes Magno & Davey, Lash Lightning, The Raven, Unknown Soldier, Captain Courageous, Vulcan, and others)! Art by KURTZMAN, MOONEY, BERG, L.B. COLE, PALAIS, and more. Plus: RICHARD ARNDT’s interview with BILL HARRIS (1960s-70s editor of Gold Key and King Comics), FCA, Comic Crypt, and Comic Fandom Archive.

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“ The Comic That Saved Marvel” Turns 40!

Addendum

The 1978 STAR WARS Adaptation A/E

Notes by Lee Harsfeld

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: While this issue was in the early stages of preparation, Steven Rowe and Chet Cox forwarded to me an installment of the blog “Lee’s Comic Rack” that “reprinted” highlights from a 1978 adaptation of the film Star Wars, just a year after the one Howard Chaykin and I produced for Marvel. It was published by Pendulum Press, the same company that also issued a set of comics-style adaptations of various literary classics with art by artists such as Alex Nino. The illustrator of this greatly truncated (but well-done) version was comics veteran Charles Nicholas (presumed co-creator of Blue Beetle, among other things); the writer was one Linda A. Cadrain. But, rather than rephrase what Lee Harsfeld had written in his notes accompanying various panels from this later Star Wars adaptation, we got permission to reprint the piece just as it appeared on January 20, 2015, under the title “Charles Nicholas Stayed Busy after Charlton, Part 2.” All art & story are TM & © by Lucasfilm or its successors in interest—oh, and as you’ll very soon realize, the panels were not reprinted by Lee in the order in which the events occurred in the movie. Our thanks to Lee for the whole megillah! And now, we happily turn the narration over to him... My copy of Pendulum Press’ Star Wars adaptation (Contemporary Motivators, 1978) must have been a big hit at Jefferson Middle School’s Reading Department in Meriden, Connecticut—the worn front and back covers attest to as much. Of course, for the following photo, I software-restored the front-cover border to something like its original state. I cheated, in other words.

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The Cover Of Pendulum Press’ Star Wars Comic

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Comics And All That Jazz!

Basie Loved His “Shockers!” (Left & below:) Two comics trashed by the Count: Harvey’s Chamber of Chills #25 (Oct. 1954), drawn by Lee Elias; and Farrell’s Fantastic Comics #10 (Nov. 1954), illustrated by the Iger Shop. [© the respective copyright holders.]

by Michael T. Gilbert

hat do you get the man who has everything? Well, for Christmas of 2011 my inventive wife came up with the perfect solution. Since I’m always on the lookout for unusual comics-related material, Janet decided to scour the library and online archives for some four-color goodies. On Christmas day she presented me with a most unusual gift: articles connecting two indigenous American art forms, comic books and jazz... and some swing and blues tossed in for good measure! What’s not to love? Here’s a sampling...

Count Basie (Aug. 21, 1904 - April 26, 1984) Let’s start off our comic book Hit Parade with legendary bandleader William James “Count” Basie, an avowed hardcore horror comics addict! But, with the help of Dr. Wertham and similar “experts” as seen below, our boy seems to have gone “cold turkey.” Confidentially, I’m betting he fished the comics out of the trash the second the photographer left! Here are a few comic book quotes worth noting: “Count Basie the bandleader, telephoning his wife, Catherine, at their St. Albans, L.I., home just before she left for Paris to join him on his current European tour: “Baby, bring me some comics books. I haven’t got anything to read.” — Jet, April 22, 1954.

Comics And All That Jazz!

He has a particular affection for certain kinds of comic books, not because he lacks intelligence or interest in other material, but because the horror tales to which he gravitates serve as a partial outlet for all the aggression he keeps down. “Basie was disappointed,” says a band member, “when they started to clean up the comics, because they hit most at those shockers he liked so much.” — Nat Hentoff, The Jazz Life (1961), p. 151.

Billie Holiday (April 17, 1915 - July 17th, 1959) Singer Billie Holiday was another comic book addict, though that particular addiction was the least of her troubles. A remarkably talented singer, she was also extremely self-destructive, hooked on booze, drugs, bad men... and comic books. I’ll bet Dr. Wertham loved reading that! Billie died from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959 at a tragically young 44. Among her most famous songs were “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Strange Fruit,” a haunting folk ballad about lynchings in the South. Selected quotes: Eleanora Fagan Holiday was a tomboy, and her father called

Lady Sings The Blues! (Above:) Billie Holiday in happier times.

her Bill. She called herself Billie after her favorite movie actress, Billie Dove. She attended school only through the fifth grade, and she secretly loved comic books as an adult. After a lifetime of tragic heroin addiction, police harassment, and jail terms she died at age 44 of heart and liver failure. —The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People, Irving Wallace, pp. 260, 2008. When she arrived in Manhattan she wanted to be in a hotel in midtown. She asked for a hotel on Dream Street, West 47th Street, so called because of all the drug busts. I put her in there and I got the impression that she was clean and was going to stay off drugs, that she was trying to stay away from Harlem and drug pushers and ex-husbands, who sometimes provided drugs to keep her in line. She did ask for comic books. I went out to a newsstand and bought her a huge stack. She was terribly grateful. —Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon by Donald Clark, p. 280. According to Donald Clarke, “Lady was nonpolitical; when she looked at ‘Strange Fruit’ she didn’t know what to make of it. She never read anything but comic books... and she was used to learning songs, not reading poetry. (Miles Davis is reported to have loved comic books as well.)

“Mama May Have… Papa May Have…” (Above:) Billie Holiday and her second husband, Louis McKay. The photo appeared in Jet (July 2, 1959). Billie had been under arrest in her hospital bed since June 12 on drug charges. She died two weeks later, on July 17, 1959, having succumbed to “congestion of the lungs, complicated by heart failure.” [© 2017 Jet.]

— If You Can’t Be Free, Be a Mystery: In Search of Billie Holiday by Farah Jasmine Griffin. 2002. Within two months of [tenor saxophonist Lester] Young’s death, Holiday collapsed into a coma. At the hospital, a white powder was discovered by her bedside and, conse-

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Steamboat – Part II

A Portfolio Of African-Americans In Fawcett Comics by P.C. Hamerlinck

housands of people adored Jack Benny’s Rochester, The Spirit’s Ebony, and Captain Marvel’s Steamboat. Many Americans also naively believed that these jocular characters represented the average African-American man.

The gifted Eddie Anderson as Rochester played the role of a servant brilliantly, delivering his own clever brand of astuteness and wit on radio and television which confounded and baffled Benny to no end … yet the bond of affection between the two was always obvious. And Benny, the straight man, allowed for Anderson to mature into a fine comedian. Ebony, created by Will Eisner, was sort of a mini-version of Rochester, and Eisner developed for his newspaper comic-reading audience an honest feeling of fondness and affection between the young African-American boy and the masked Spirit. Eisner told FCA in 1975 that he never meant for Ebony “to be a put-down or a stereotype of Black people.” Steamboat was the top African-American character in comic books by default during the war years, simply because he appeared in one of the industry’s best-selling features, “Captain Marvel.” While Steamboat didn’t quite measure up to either Rochester or Ebony, at least the Fawcett

A Bad Worm In A Good Apple Steamboat appeared in a couple of chapters of Otto Binder’s groundbreaking “Monster Society of Evil” serial, which ran in 25 consecutive issues of Captain Marvel Adventures. Steamboat was actually the first man on the planet to lay eyes on a certain wicked glasses-wearing worm! (CMA #27 [Sept. ’43]; art by Beck and staff.) [Shazam characters TM & © DC Comics.]

writers were still able to adequately evolve a similar BennyRochester/Spirit-Ebony tactile sense of trust and reliance between Billy Batson and his “faithful servant.” Steamboat’s debut was in America’s Greatest Comics #2 (1942), where he is offered a job by Billy Batson at the end of the “Captain Marvel” story. The character didn’t necessarily gain much in the way of intelligence over the course of the stories, but at least he was given some moments of heroism on several occasions—such as when he was hypnotized into believing he was Captain Marvel in the aptly-titled “The World’s Mightiest Mistake” from Captain Marvel Adventures #16 (panels shown in our previous issue), where it’s quite astounding to see today just how far Fawcett pushed it with racist characterizations.

Steamboat ’Round The Bend A painted (but alas, sadly stereotyped) Steamboat portrait by C.C. Beck for his exhibit “The Marvelous World of C.C. Beck,” held at the Lake Wales, Florida, Depot Museum in May 1979. “All of us at Fawcett always liked to produce a good comic. We liked excitement, adventure, strange locations, and interesting people. We didn’t like war propaganda, sermons about crime and racial equality, and other worthless stuff the publishers were always experimenting with. We were left alone the majority of the time, although they forced us to get rid of Billy Batson’s pal, Steamboat.” — C.C. Beck, 1979 interview with P.C. Hamerlinck (reprinted in the 2001 TwoMorrows book Fawcett Companion). [Shazam characters TM & © DC Comics.]

Steamboat was one of Captain Marvel’s regular cast members for over three years before abruptly disappearing for good. In the 1960 essay “The Big Red Cheese,” Richard Lupoff described Steamboat 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.” In the first part of our Steamboat coverage, which began last issue, Brian Cremins (author of the University Press of Mississippi book Captain Marvel and the Art of Nostalgia) delved into the history of the Youthbuilders—an after-school program developed by social worker and education reformer Sabra Holbrook. The Youthbuilders was the very group—with comic-book-reading New York City middle school kids who took part in the program—that had visited