Alter Ego #150 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas’ outSTANding Comics Fanzine

FACE FRONT! WE’RE CELEBRATING

95 YEARS OF

Characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

STAN LEE

82658 00104

9.95

In the USA

No.150 January 2018

Vol. 3, No. 150 / January 2018 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

Contents

Cover Artists

Writer/Editorial: Happy 95th, Stan! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Retrospective Stan Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding John Buscema & Joe Sinnott

Cover Colorist

Will Murray’s 1988 interview with the main man behind the Marvel Universe.

“Get Me Out Of Here!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Unknown

With Special Thanks to: Boy Akkerman Henry Kujawa Heidi Amash Guy Lawley Ger Apeldoorn Stan Lee Bob Bailey Paul Levitz John Benson Mark Lewis Al Bigley Susan Liberator Billy Ireland Cartoon Art Lortie Library (Ohio State Nancy Maneely University; Toni Bruce Mason Mendez Collection) J.L. Mast Bill Black Robert Menzies Len Brown Mike Mikulovsky David Burd Bill Morrison Nick Caputo Alan Murray John Cimino Will Murray Frankie Colletta Marc Tyler Nobleman Chet Cox David Parks Jeff Deischer Barry Pearl Sean Dulaney Joe Petrilak Justin Fairfax Jenny Robb Danny Fingeroth John Romita Florentino Floréz Derek Roulston Shane Foley Bob Rozakis Drew Friedman David Saunders Chris Gaskin Dez Skinn Janet Gilbert Anthony Snyder Grand Comics (website) Database (website) Ross Sprout James Hamilton Jeff Taylor Bonnie & Arnold Hano Ricky Terry Russ Heath Dann Thomas Tom Heintjes Gerry Turnbull Ian Hine Ted White Glen D. Johnson John Workman Jim Kealy University of Michael Kelly Wyoming (Stan George Khoury Lee Collection) Rob Kirby Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Anthony Koch David Laurence Hayley Kosaly-Myer Wilson Neil Kosaly-Myer Hass Yusuf

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Joan Lee

Ger Apeldoorn on Stan’s thankfully fruitless attempts to escape comicbooks (1956-1962).

The Second Coming Of Stan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Rebooting the Marvel Age in Britain in the 1970s, by Robert Menzies.

My Life In Little Pieces – Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Continuing John Broome’s offbeat “autobiography.”

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! The PAM Papers – Part 3 . . . . 69 Michael T. Gilbert presents Glen Johnson’s letters from artist Pete Morisi.

Comic Fandom Archive: Ted White On Comics, Part 4 . . . . 77 He tells Bill Schelly about interviewing Stan Lee, writing a Captain America novel, etc.

re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 83 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #209 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 P.C. Hamerlinck hosts Bill Black’s account of Paragon & the Captain Marvel almostrevival!

On Our Cover: After the 1970 (and, as it turned out, temporarily temporary) departure of Jack Kirby from Marvel, nobody drew panoramic panoplies of the company’s power-packed population any better than John Buscema—as witness this poster penciled by “Big John” and inked by the incomparable Joe Sinnott. However, due to lapsing licenses over the years since, we had to eliminate two of the halcyon heroes or super-villains originally shown in this tapestry, and move around the images of a couple of other stalwarts to fill their spots. Wanna know who had to be dropped? Check out the original version of this poster on p. 17 of this issue! Thanks to John Morrow for supplying this rendition of the art. Oh, and please note—no X-Men! They wouldn’t even get their own mag again till ’75! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: Will the real Stan Lee please stand up—or something! Is it (left) Stan setting his handprints in concrete at Hollywood’s famed Chinese Theatre on July 18, 2017? Or—in this issue, you’ll see the original mailman Willie Lumpkin of the newspapers—“Mr. Lumpkin” in 1963’s Fantastic Four #11— even live-action Stan in postman garb for the 2005 Fantastic Four film… so here’s an undeservedly uncredited drawing from the Internet of The Man as—“The MailMan”! [Photo & illo both © the respective copyright holders.] Alter Ego TM 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 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

Happy 95th, Stan!

remember well the first time I met you—on Friday, July 9th, 1965… just three days after I’d spoken to you on the phone, all the way from my hotel room on 23rd Street to your office between 58th & 59th on Madison Avenue, Manhattan.

That Friday, as I’ve oft recounted, I sneaked north over my lunch hour at National/DC to meet you to discuss the “writer’s test” you’d had me pick up on Wednesday. I was every bit as much awed as I’d been at meeting such DC luminaries as Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Joe Kubert. And when you offered me a job, fifteen minutes into that meeting—well, Superman editor Mort Weisinger would’ve had to be a very much nicer person than he was, to keep me from jumping ship after just two weeks at DC. From being severely downcast in my previous job, I went to being ecstatic about my new one—as “staff writer” for Marvel. Soon I was trying to churn out dialogue for stories in an office where gal Friday Flo Steinberg had to be constantly on the phone and Sol Brodsky was forever upbraiding artists to get their work in— while you immediately began to lean on me for things like backup proofreading, telling you where Dr. Doom last appeared, etc., until I was reassigned as “assistant editor.” I felt like the luckiest guy in comics to be standing to your left, with Sol on your right, as you went over scripts you’d written and the changes you wanted made in the artwork (along with the why). It was like Comicbook* Editing 101… no, it was like skipping that level entirely and graduating straight to a Master Class in comics writing, editing, and art direction. [*See p. 83 for explanation of spelling!] Working at Marvel then was a fabulous job—and you were a great boss! Sure, we had our arguments from time to time (which I nearly always lost), but I admired the fact you never bore a grudge. When a disagreement was over, it was over. Period. It was instantly so far in the past, it might as well never have happened. Today and tomorrow—that’s what you were all about.

That late-’60s day when you suddenly glanced left at me and announced: “They’ll never know why I fired you! It’s because of all that hair!” (I’d started wearing my blond locks a bit longer by then.) The occasion when, upon my return from a con in St. Louis, you snapped at me because I’d taken an extra day off to elope. (But soon after Flo departed, you offered Jeanie a job as your secretary.) The moment when you suddenly looked at me in a quizzical way and said, “You know—I could’ve been your father!” (True. You’re just a few months younger than my mother was.) The time when, severely depressed during a separation from my first wife in early 1973, I was screwing up, finding excuses not to come into the office, and you talked to me like a Dutch uncle… firm about my responsibilities, but very understanding about the place I was at, and eager to help me get through it. (You did, and I did.) So many more memories… good and bad, but mostly good. I’ll have to save them for my autobiography. Which will be read, understandably, by maybe .001% as many people as have read yours in either prose or comics format. You’re soldiering on—now without Joan, the rock you could always depend on—and you’re inspiring not just an old Stanophile like me but a whole new generation of comics readers and moviegoers who can feel in their bones what you’ve meant to heroic fantasy (and just plain fun) over the past three quarters of a century. You’re an inspiration to them all, Stan… and you’ve been one to me since that long-ago day when you changed my life by looking out your window onto Madison Avenue and saying in a casual voice: “So—what do we have to do to hire you away from National?” Happy 95th, Stan—and see page 83 for your present!

Bestest,

So many highlights, so many memories—personal mile-markers along the highway of my professional life:

COMING IN FEBRUARY

151

FRANK THOMAS & THE HEROES OF DELL & GOLD KEY

NOW 100 PAGES! e trademark & copyright Art TM & © the respectiv

(& THEN DELL AGAIN)!

holders.

• Phantasmagorical focus on FRANK THOMAS, Golden Age artist of Dell’s The Owl & Centaur’s The Eye, Fantom of the Fair, Solarman, & Dr. Hypno—under the watchful gaze of daughter NANCY BARDEEN & “Comic Crypt” editor MICHAEL T. GILBERT! • STUART FISCHER on the heroes (super- and action-) of Western Publishing’s Golden Age Dell Comics, plus Silver Age Gold Key and Dell! From Captain Midnight to Korak, Son of Tarzan—from Magic Morro to Magnus, Robot Fighter—from The Owl to a costumed Frankenstein, Dracula, and Werewolf—with art by MANNING • DITKO • KANE • MARSH • GILL • SPIEGLE • SPRINGER • NORRIS • THORNE • SANTO • TALLARICO • FRACCHIO • BOLLE • SPARLING • FUJITANI, et al.! (Plus some nefarious notes by MARK EVANIER!) • Plus—Part III of JOHN BROOME’s merry memoirs—FCA [FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA]—BILL SCHELLY—& MORE!!

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

Subscribe! Six 100-page issues: $65 Economy US, $83 Expedited US, $102 International, $29 Digital Only

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: twomorrows.com

The Retrospective STAN LEE A 1988 Interview With The Man Behind “The Marvel Age Of Comics”

Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Will Murray

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee has given many interviews over his staggering 75-plus-year professional career. Often, these sessions cover the same ground. Back in 1988, I sat down for a lengthy and freewheeling interview with Stan the Man at a busy New York convention. My intention was to get behind what I thought was the façade of a public persona, but which I soon realized was a genuine human being—one not very different from many modern fans who transformed their youthful love and enthusiasm for popular books and films into a writing career. Although few could claim Lee’s astonishing influence on the global consciousness from the mid-20th century to today! The following interview—an exploration of Stan’s roots and feelings about his career—first saw print in Comics Scene 2000. As Lee moves through his 95th year, this unusually penetrating retrospective look at the one-time Master of Marvel Comics seems more topical now than it was when it was first conducted, nearly 30 years ago….

STAN LEE: I never took comics seriously. It was just a way to make a living. I was always waiting for my chance to get out of comics, and do real writing. Then, for whatever reason in the ’60s, I really was getting ready to quit, and my wife said to me, “Before you quit, why don’t you once do a book the way you’d like to do it? Get it out of your system. You’re going to leave anyway. What can they do to you?” So I tried to write The Fantastic Four differently, just to get it out of my system. This is the way I liked to treat characters. It worked! And it got so popular that [publisher] Martin [Goodman] asked for another hero. I think the next one was The Hulk, and I tried to do that a little differently. Then “Spider-Man.” By now, we started getting fan mail, and it got so interesting. I had never gotten feedback from readers before. I figured I would stay a little longer and see where this leads. Then it was like a whole new resurgence. WM: You almost didn’t get your chance. Comics were in tough shape in 1961. And only a few years before, in ’58, Marvel almost went under.

WILL MURRAY: You were the editor of Marvel Comics for 20 years before you stepped out of the relative anonymity of your given name to make a lasting impact on the field with The Fantastic Four. Why is that?

LEE: What happened was: Martin Goodman made one of the big publishing decision mistakes that was ever made. He

“The Greatest Comic Magazine In The World!!” Stan “The Man” Lee, circa 1972, nearly midway between the first issue of Fantastic Four and the date of Will Murray’s interview—plus two distinct incarnations of the cover of FF #3 (March 1962), with pencils in each case by Jack Kirby; inks by Sol Brodsky. (Left:) The rejected version—probably bounced by publisher Martin Goodman—as touched up by fan Henry Kujawa a few years back. Thanks for sending it, HK! (Right:) The printed version—doubtless a better approach, even if, as fan Ronn Foss would point out in #5’s letters page, The Human Torch, who in #3 got a fiery facelift from the lackluster rendition depicted in #1-2, is drawn with two left hands! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A 1988 Interview With The Man Behind “The Marvel Age Of Comics”

The Human Torch (Left:) “Human Torch” splash from Marvel Mystery Comics #32 (June 1942). Script & art credited by the Grand Comics Database to Torch creator Carl Burgos. (Right:) Although the original Torch was obviously the inspiration for Johnny Storm, the version of the hero drawn in FF #1-2 owed more visually to a more recent story: “I Am Dragoom! The Flaming Invader!” in Strange Tales #76 (Aug. 1960). Pencils by Jack Kirby; inks by Dick Ayers. Chances are the plot was by Stan Lee and the script by Larry Lieber. Thanks to Nick Caputo. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Sign Of The Four

Pulsatin’ precursors of the individual members of a fabulous quartet (on this & facing page) Mr. Fantastic (Far right:) “Flexo the Rubber Man” (the series’ actual name) was a strong and stretch-powered robot who headlined Timely’s Mystic Comics #1-4, though it seems unlikely he influenced Stan Lee; Flexo had come and gone by the time Stanley Lieber joined Marvel in late 1940. This splash from Mystic #2 (April 1940) is reproduced from the hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Mystic Comics, Vol. 1, as penciled by Jack Binder & inked by E.C. Stoner. Writer uncertain, though the scripter in #1 had been credited as “Will Harr.” [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Near right:) Stan’s true inspiration for Mr. Fantastic, as he says, was artist/ writer Jack Cole’s wonderful Plastic Man, who’d originated in the Quality group’s Police Comics #1 in 1941. Seen here is Cole’s cover for Plastic Man #1 (Summer 1943). DC’s eight hardcover volumes of The Plastic Man Archives alone would be enough to justify its now sadly moribund Archives series. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. Oddly, almost simultaneous with the appearance of FF #1, DC introduced the stretching Elongated Man in the pages of The Flash; both rubbery heroes would get married around the same time, too! [TM & © DC Comics.]

The Retrospective Stan Lee

The Invisible Girl (Top left:) In the 1933 Universal horror film The Invisible Man, based on H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel, Claude Rains played the title role—though in such special-effects shot as this “unmasking” scene, Rains may have provided only the voice. One shocked bystander’s timeless remark: “’E’s all eaten away!” (Left:) Will Murray wonders if Timely’s Blonde Phantom, seen on the Syd Shores-penciled cover of issue #12 (Winter 1946—actually the first issue), led to Sue Storm, later The Invisible Woman. Seems unlikely— though both were “blonde,” and both were “phantoms” in one sense or another. Thanks to the GCD. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above right:) Stan has often given a crediting nod to the newspaper comic strip Invisible Scarlet O’Neil, whose very first daily (for June 3, 1940) is depicted. A decade later, she had her own comicbook for a short time. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

people. There was The Invisible Man, the movie with Claude Rains. All I was trying to do was think of four powers that were totally different. The Thing was my favorite. I wanted to really work on him. I told Jack I wanted somebody who turns into a monster. The other three are able to change back so it doesn’t affect them, but I wanted the Thing to be bitter because he’s a monster and couldn’t change back. WM: I’m surprised you made one of the FF a monster. You’d been scripting monster titles for years at that point. Weren’t you sick of monsters? LEE: No. But I didn’t want to treat the Thing the same way. Actually, the Thing really didn’t come into his own until issue #3 or #4, when I started to get into his personality. I think in the first issue I didn’t write him the way I was going to write him later. It took me a while to get the feeling of it. But I knew what I wanted to do with him. WM: Speaking of the monster titles like Tales to Astonish and Amazing Adult Fantasy, you seemed to write only those little 5-pagers you did with Steve Ditko. Why is that?

The Thing (Above left:) Stan liked “Things” with rocky-looking aspects to them. Perhaps the earliest example of this was his and penciler Jack Kirby’s “I Was Trapped by the Things on Easter Island!,” from Tales to Astonish #5 (Sept. 1959). Inks by Christopher Rule. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above right:) While The Heap was probably no more than an indirect influence on bashful Benjamin J. Grimm, Stan has admitted to a fondness for the original comicbook muckmonster, who first shambled out of a swamp in Hillman’s Air Fighters Comics, Vol. 1, #3 (Dec. 1942). Seen is Ernest Schroeder’s cover for the retitled Airboy Comics, Vol. 9, #12 (Jan. 1953). In the early ’70s, The Heap was also likely Stan’s initial inspiration for Marvel’s “Man-Thing.” PS Artbooks has reprinted all his vintage stories in the three hardcover volumes of Roy Thomas Presents The Heap, still on sale. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

LEE: I think I was prouder of the ones I did with Ditko. I tried to make those the more O. Henry ones. I liked them the best. I liked working with Ditko on that stuff. He was wonderful! It’s funny. When the Twilight Zone TV show came out—and there were two other shows like it, One Step Beyond or something—I used to get letters from some of our readers. “Hey, I just saw The Twilight Zone, and they used one of your stories from issue so-and-so.” You’d always hear that stuff. WM: What about the big monster stories Kirby drew? You never signed them. Who did those? LEE: Oh, a lot of guys did ‘em. I think I only did the ones I signed my name to. But there were some that I did that I didn’t sign because I wasn’t thinking of it. But there were other writers like Ernie Hart and Robert Bernstein and Larry Lieber. I don’t remember if they were writing the big ones or the little ones, but it might have been a combination. In those days we weren’t always signing them.

The ultimate collection of Stan Lee rarities!

THE STAN LEE UNIVERSE is the ultimate repository of interviews with and mementos about Marvel Comics’ fearless leader! Co-edited by ROY THOMAS and DANNY FINGEROTH, this tome presents numerous rare and unpublished interviews with Stan, plus interviews with top luminaries of the comics industry, discussing his vital importance to the field he helped shape. Direct from Stan’s personal archives, you’ll see: •R ARE PHOTOS, SAMPLE SCRIPTS AND PLOTS, and PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE (between Stan and such prominent figures as JAMES CAMERON, OLIVER STONE, RAY BRADBURY, DENIS KITCHEN, ALAIN RESNAIS, and Sinatra lyricist and pal SAMMY CAHN)! • Transcripts of 1960s RADIO INTERVIEWS with Stan (one co-featuring JACK KIRBY, and one with Stan debating Dr. Fredric Wertham’s partner in psychological innovation and hating comics)! • Rarely seen art by legends including KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JOE MANEELY! • Plot, script, and balloon placements from the 1978 SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, including comprehensive notes from Lee and Kirby about the story, plus pages from a SILVER SURFER screenplay done by Stan for ROGER CORMAN! •N otes by RICHARD CORBEN and WILL EISNER for Marvel projects that never came to be, and more! (176-page trade paperback with 16 COLOR pages) $26.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-029-8 • Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: APR111201 • Digital Edition: $8.95 NOTE: The Digital Edition (which is included free when you order the Print Edition) include 16 EXTRA FULL-COLOR PAGES of rare Archive Material, not found in the Print Edition.

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

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

The cover of Marvel UK’s Avengers #96, which featured The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and Conan the Barbarian. Artist unknown. Thanks to Robert Menzies. [Marvel art TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.]

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: twomorrows.com

“Get Me Out Of Here!” STAN LEE’s Thankfully Fruitless Attempts To Escape Comicbooks (1956-1962) by Ger Apeldoorn

rom the mid-1950s, comicbook sales were down across the board. Whether it was because of the anti-comics crusade led by Dr. Wertham (as most surviving artists recall) or if the rise of television was a factor (as some modern historians have suggested) or maybe even because there were no super-heroes (which seems to be the feeling among some Silver Age fans), many companies were struggling to find an audience after the introduction of the Comics Code at the turn of 1955. Add to that the 1957 downfall of distributor American News Company (which distributed Martin Goodman’s Timely comics line) and the 1956 bankruptcy of Leader News (which had MikeRoss, Mainline, and EC among its clients), and the decimation of the comics market was clear. Many companies were forced to reduce their page rates, allow some artists to work on smaller paper, and find other cost-saving methods. Many artists were no longer able to make a living doing comics and left the field. Goodman’s Timely comics were the beneficiary of this, picking up some of the best artists for peanuts. But Timely also cut down on its production costs, which meant the coloring in their books was often dull and uninspired. New talents entering the field were advised to find a better career, since the whole

comics business was walking on its last legs anyway. So it’s no surprise that, over at Goodman’s, editor Stan Lee was looking for ways to get out of this ghetto. Some of his supporting Stan Lee editors from the early 1950s had as editor of Timely/Atlas in 1954; already left (or may have been laid said date is verified by the wall of off). Hank Chapman had left for cover proofs behind him. At this Arizona to start a career as a travel point, Martin Goodman’s comic book line was riding high; but writer and photographer (though the end of good times loomed, he kept writing war stories for thanks to Dr. Fredric Wertham, DC into the ’60s). Don Rico had Senator Kefauver’s Senate stepped down from his position as subcommittee investigating “the editor of the war titles and would causes of juvenile delinquency,” soon move to California to pursue and other factors. Thanks to Ger other options, and “Patsy Walker” Apeldoorn for all photos and art teen-humor editor Al Jaffee had accompanying the article, unless likewise decided his luck lay otherwise indicated. elsewhere. Jaffee: “I remember all the efforts Stan Lee made to spread his talents into media outside of comic magazines. Of course, one must keep in mind that comic mags were in trouble at that time because of Congressional investigations and Dr. Wertham’s accusations. We were all looking to have a plan ‘B’ in case comicbooks became verboten.” The most desired escape route was to sell a newspaper strip, a medium that was much more respected than comicbooks and had the potential to pay a lot better. “A successful syndicated comic feature,” says Jaffee, “offered long-term security as well as the freedom to work at home instead of suffering rush-hour commuting.” He himself succeeded in selling his panel Tall Tales to the Herald Tribune Syndicate in 1959; it ran weekdays and Sundays for five years. Although not all of Lee’s efforts centered around selling a newspaper strip, a lot of them did. As we shall see, he had various degrees of success and misfortune with those, until, circa spring of 1962, something happened that changed everything. But we’ll get to that eventually....

Enter Toni Mendez Al Jaffee The one-time Timely writer/artist’s Tall Tales daily panel, one of his tickets out of comic books, lasted from 195763—but his real ticket to ride was Mad magazine, for which he originated and drew “Mad Fold-Ins” for more than six decades! [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

To sell his newspaper strip ideas, Stan Lee first persuaded Martin Goodman to create a separate division of his Magazine Enterprises (the by-now official name of Goodman’s comics and magazine empire), in order to exploit the talent and material available to the company through its comics division. Timely Illustrated Features found and handled contracts for various premium/giveaway comics, employing some of the freelance and staff talent available (including, of course, Lee himself). Under the same banner, he also hired artists to do samples of his various comic strip ideas. And, to sell those, he looked up comic strip agent Toni Mendez.

The Second Coming Of STAN Rebooting The Marvel Age In Britain – In The 1970s by Robert Menzies

he year 1972 is a significant one in Marvel history. That was the year Stan Lee handed over the editorial reins to his successors and took the (figurative) elevator up to his new office as publisher and president. What is less well-known, and what makes 1972 even more significant than is generally recognized, is that it was also the year of Stan’s Second Coming.

The Mighty World Of Stan In the British Isles in the autumn of 1972, Marvel launched The Mighty World of Marvel (hereafter MWOM). Until then, Marvel heroes had haphazardly appeared in magazines and books in Britain alongside a variety of comics features by other publishers. It was such a pale representation of the company that the very name “Marvel” was absent. Those experiments failed. So, when the House of Ideas finally launched its own line of weekly reprint comics, they—and Stan—were perfectly positioned to follow the template that had worked so well in the USA. By the early 1970s the Marvel brand as defined by Stan had been road-tested and refined, not just in terms of characters— arguably all the main characters except the second generation of X-Men had been created— but also the slogans and rallying cries, the ranks of Marveldom, the No-Prize, Soapboxes, Bulletin pages, merchandise, and so on. The advent of MWOM was quickly followed by the launch of FOOM, which was heavily promoted in the UK, so all the stars were neatly aligning. Added to this was one crucial marketing decision: unlike in the States in the early 1960s, the rebooted Marvel would make Stan Lee the centre of their universe from Day One. Here, then, are the eight reasons that explain why Stan “The Man” Lee can take an enormous amount of credit for making British Marvel a success and also explain why he is a bigger icon in Britain than anywhere else in the world.

Written By Stan The Man! In the U.S. Marvel comics published in the 1960s, Stan the writer was seemingly ubiquitous. However, his output was magnified a great deal in Britain, as a schedule of weekly rather than monthly comics concentrated and accelerated his work. Anyone

Mighty Marvel Takes Over The Mighty World! Stan Lee in 1974, introducing the first issue of the Marvel UK edition of Dracula Lives! (a couple of years after Marvel first took a bite of the British Adam’s apple)—flanked by the Buscema-penciled cover of the weekly Mighty World of Marvel #1, dated Oct. 7, 1972. The photo of Stan and his dialogue (however authentic or un- it may be) were prepared under the direction of Sol Brodsky, who reported directly to Stan and was in charge of Marvel UK at least into the 1980s, though his name rarely appeared in the British publications. Thanks to Ger Apeldoorn & the Grand Comics Database, respectively. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

picking up MWOM #1 read the first appearances of “The Fantastic Four,” “Spider-Man,” and “The Incredible Hulk” the same day, whereas the original debuts are spread over nine months in the U.S. Moreover, for the first two years at least, some characters like Spider-Man had an entire U.S. edition reprinted every single week.

Stan Lee Sounds Off! Right from the outset, Stan was very keen that British Marvel foster the same clubhouse friendliness and reader-engagement that characterized the Marvel Age in the U.S. Even if Stan wasn’t

The Second Coming Of Stan

The Face Of Marvel Stan was Marvel’s omnipresent writer, figurehead, and spokesman, even for surveys, competitions, or holiday greetings.

Twin Triumphs (Left:) It took less than four years for Mighty World of Marvel to reach issue #200, dated July 29, 1976; by then, it had spun off several other weekly titles. Cover by Larry Lieber, utilizing the styles of Kirby, et al. Thanks to Robert Menzies for this and all art spots accompanying this article, except where otherwise stated. We regret that we could present herein only a tiny fraction of the previously-unseen-in-the-U.S. artwork with which Robert provided us; we’ll have to do another “Marvel UK” piece one of these days! (Right:) Marvel’s own 1970s fanzine, FOOM, began life with a first issue dated Spring ’73 and a cover sporting a portrait of a bearded Stan, under editor Jim Steranko. Copies were quickly also shipped to Britain, as heralded by this ad from MWOM #31 (May 5, 1973). The Brits, of course, call ads “adverts”—and why shouldn’t they? [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

directly leading the British Department on a day-to-day basis, the proven and successful template they were following was undeniably his and one he very deliberately wanted followed. For most of the weeklies in the ’70s, Stan penned welcoming introductions for debut issues. In late 1972 and well into 1973 he also had a monthly “A Special Message from Stan Lee!” column in MWOM and Spider-Man Comics Weekly (SMCW), which was soon renamed “Stan Lee Sounds Off!” After a hiatus of almost a year, “Stan’s Soapboxes” also appeared, starting in April 1974. (Technically, the earliest “Soapbox” dates from one year before this, when the very first U.S. Soapbox, from May 1967, was repurposed as a “Stan Lee Sounds Off!” column in MWOM #25 [March 24, 1973].) Of the thirty-five “Soapboxes” I have so far located in the weeklies, about a third are apparently new. I believe it is possible that some may be ghostwritten, although Tony Isabella has strongly disagreed with that suspicion, citing a conversation with Stan in which the latter was unwilling to sign his name to words he had not written himself. His messages became more sporadic as the 1970s progressed, although as late as the early 1980s he was still contributing statements.

New Art For Old Stories The interior pages of Marvel UK’s weeklies were in black-&-white. In the early days, “bridging” splashes (created when a 20-page story was cut in two) were usually created from the U.S. mag’s cover. Starting around 1975, new art and text were created to “bridge” the two parts, usually in Marvel’s U.S. offices, as per this new splash for Marvel UK’s Avengers #145 (June 22, 1976), for which unidentified American artists and writers concocted a new drawing illustrating a scene in the middle of the bisected U.S. Avengers #91 (Aug. 1971), early in the Kree-Skrull War. Got all that? [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The first survey with an image of Stan dates from as early as MWOM #11 (Dec. 16, 1972). A follow-up questionnaire three weeks later led to one of the most bizarre Stan Lee images in history: in a promo for FOOM, he’s using The Human Torch as a chair! [See p. 57.] This policy of presenting Stan as Marvel personified continued for some time. Seasonal messages from Stan appeared on the back of issues released at Christmas 1973 and 1974. When the experimental landscape comics (see p. 63) were launched in late ’75, a full-page photo image of Stan appealed for feedback. There are many other examples. Marie Severin was usually involved in drawing his likeness, and her drawings of him were also utilized in ads for new weeklies and comic book classic titles like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. From 1972 up to at least March 1982 Stan was involved in some capacity with many competitions. For instance, the annual Marvel Mastermind competition’s winners and runners-up prizes were always signed by Stan, whether it was sketches, certificates, books, or calendars. Sometimes he judged competitions, as when he was head judge of the design-a-hero competition in 1973. One of the most confusing of these competitions was from

Rebooting The Marvel Age Of Comics In Britain—In The 1970s

Robert Menzies Presents:

How I Became A “Fearless Front Facer”

An Awesome American Addendum by Neil Kosaly-Meyer

had casually followed Marvel since I was 8 or 9 (1966-67)—joined the MMMS, and kept up as well as I could with a small allowance and no easy access to shops that sold comics. From the time I was twelve, I started collecting all the Marvel titles and worked my way up what Stan christened in the letters pages the “Hallowed Ranks of Marveldom,” first RFO (I was buying way more than 3 a month), then KOF (once I’d persuaded a convert). I’m not sure if got a No-Prize before I had a letter published, but the TTB and QNS happened in pretty quick succession. So there I was with my PMM, and was definitely curious how one got the FFF at all, but that information did not seem to be forthcoming.

The FF & The FFF The splash page of Neil KosalyMyer’s copy of Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966) that Stan signed for his daughter Hayley—and young Hayley’s cartoon depicting the scene in the last paragraph of Neil’s account. [Page TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; cartoon © Hayley Kosaly-Myer.] Also seen: a photo of Neil and Hayley, with a copy of The Incredible Hulk. Neil now works at the Music Museum in Seattle, Washington.

As time went on, I didn’t buy so many comics, as keeping up both a music and a comic habit was not a realistic option, and music was what had my attention as a college student. But the love for Marvel remained-there was never any question of selling that collection of a couple thousand or so books amassed through the ’70s (plus a sizable selection of ‘60s stuff I’d found in pawn shops). So when Anna and I were married, and then Hayley came along in the spring of ’90, the comics were waiting for her when she was ready. That moment came when she was five. We were in a temporary living situation without room for the whole collection, but I snagged a box at random for bedtime story purposes, and it so happened to be the box containing The Incredible Hulk, mostly those issues written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Herb Trimpe. These became an integral part of the bedtime ritual. What I didn’t know as I read those stories to her was the trouble she was having and would continue having at school among her classmates. She was frequently teased and ostracized, and this may have had to do with the autism which was diagnosed much later, or the obsessive-compulsive disorder also detected around the same time. In any case, Hayley had a persistent experience of being different, of not being understood, of being tormented, and at bedtime she heard stories and saw pictures of someone who gave a face and voice to her alienation, and that someone was the Hulk. Soon we had more spacious quarters, and more of my old boxes were brought home. Hayley systematically read through all of those thousands of comics, literally reliving my most fervent period as a fan. Of course she also saw the letters pages, the Bullpen Bulletins, and the Hallowed Ranks of Marveldom. I proudly explained that I’d attained every rank except the FFF. I don’t remember the year, but Hayley as a teenager attended an Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle where Stan Lee was going to be a guest, and he was the sole reason she was going. We agreed between us that the Fantastic Four issue introducing Galactus and the Silver Surfer would be the appropriate item to have autographed.

She stood in line all day. I had to work, so couldn’t attend with her, but she phoned me to keep me apprised of her progress. It was a serious ordeal, but she was going to meet Stan. At one point, she called and asked me about the Ranks of Marveldom, and what the big one was, so I reminded her. I didn’t receive any more calls after that. After work we checked in and coordinated our bus routes home. When I found her at the bus stop, she was as spent as I’ve ever seen anyone, and she told me the story: how the handlers were insistent that Stan was only signing his name, no special requests please. Hayley’s autism may have served her well here, as those with autism frequently don’t read social signals that well. Despite the instructions, and fervent non-verbal signals as well, Hayley explained to Stan about how I’d read The Hulk to her and what that meant, how the only rank I didn’t have was the FFF, and could he please bestow it on me in absentia. The handlers were saying no no no, but according to Hayley Stan raised his hand and said simply, “I must do this.” He then bestowed the FFF on me (even though I wasn’t there) in the form of his autograph on that classic issue of FF. After Hayley had related this story, she immediately fell asleep on my shoulder there on the bus, and left me looking at that autograph and the final rank now bestowed on me. I was stunned then, and am stunned again as I tell the story.

My Life In Little Pieces –Part II `

Continuing The 1998 Memoir By Golden/Silver Age Writer JOHN BROOME

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRO: Last issue, we began our serialization of the unusual 1998 memoir of the major 1960s writer of the Silver Age Green Lantern and Flash, who also contributed to DC’s Golden Age, as well as working for various other comics companies beginning in the mid-1930s. Irving Bernard (John) Broome’s small, intimate book was published in Japan, where he spent most of his later years, after leaving the United States in the mid-1960s originally to live in Paris with his wife and daughter. Our thanks to the latter, Ricky Terry, for permission to serialize her father’s reminiscences over a number of issues of Alter Ego. In #149, we gave a bit of background about John Broome (something he doesn’t really do in his own volume) and presented the first few pages of the work, much of them devoted to out-of-the-blue remarks by his remarkable wife Peggy. He continues with a look at their lives during the time in Japan… and at his love of the English language….

Wenkie Wenkie

iving in Japan, as I’ve been doing for the past 20 years, makes it easy to travel in southeast Asia. Incidentally, it took me some time to figure out that southwest Asia, a term I’d rarely seen, must refer to India and the countries around it. Malaysia, of course, is in SE Asia and one day, while hiking along there, I fell in with a group of small boys who began to be obstreperous. One who was larger than the rest asked me some bold questions which made his little followers giggle and shriek uproariously. Did I know about Wenkie Wenkie? Did I do Wenkie Wenkie? It sounded like the old parlor game we used to play: Do you Coffee Pot? But it turned out that Wenkie Wenkie was Australian lingo for masturbating.

John & Peggy Broome (on left in photo) with friends at Jacob’s Pillow, Massachusetts, in July 1954. The painting at bottom left, created by John and recently photographed by their daughter Ricky Terry, bears the notation: “Burma – The Irra Waddy at Pagan 1983 (1).” And that’s as close as we can get this issue to anything visually Broome-related to Malaysia, the scene of his opening anecdote—let alone to Japan. Although Broome lived in the latter for two decades, so far as we know he never wrote a single comicbook story wherein Japan played a part! Thanks also to Ricky for the 1954 photo. [Painting © 2017 Estate of John Broome.]

As we went on, the bigger lad became downright irritating in his manner and I confess to giving him a slap (maybe the only time ever to hit a child) followed by a no doubt priggish insistence on the importance of clean living. Soon after, my inquisitor took off red-faced and discomfited and I and my entourage of little ragamuffins continued for a spell. They were quiet after their leader had gone, subdued, and I began to feel I’d not wasted my time in lecturing them. At a fork in the road we parted company. They bid me goodbye politely but as we separated, they began to run wildly as little boys will do. And as the distance between us increased, in the lingering beauty of that tropical twilight, their thin, ﬂutelike voices came wafting back to me through the soft air gently as a rain of flowers falling. “Wenkie Wenkie,” they were crying joyously. “Wenkie Wenkie!” I hadn’t impressed them at all. And indeed, who was I to stand up against the ineradicable force of life that everywhere must have its way? A bit deﬂated, but yet strangely contented with this

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

Get pre-2017 magazines as low as $2 each thru December 31 at twomorrows.com!

ALTER EGO #141

ALTER EGO #142

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BLE

AVAILA

ALTER EGO #138

ALTER EGO #139

ALTER EGO #140

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!

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $5 TIL DEC. 31 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(100 FULL-COLOR pgs.) $6 TIL DEC. 31 (Digital Edition) $4.95

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $5 TIL DEC. 31 (Digital Edition) $3.95

ALTER EGO #143

ALTER EGO #144

ALTER EGO #145

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.

40 years after the debut of Marvel’s STAR WARS #1, its writer/editor ROY THOMAS tells RICHARD ARNDT the story behind that landmark comic, plus interviews with artists HOWARD CHAYKIN, RICK HOBERG, and BILL WRAY. Also: MR. MONSTER looks at “Jazz in Comics” with MICHAEL T. GILBERT—the finale of BILL SCHELLY’s salute to G.B. LOVE—FCA— and more! CHAYKIN cover.

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $5 TIL DEC. 31 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

ALTER EGO #146

ALTER EGO #147

ALTER EGO #148

ALTER EGO #149

DOUG MOENCH in the 1970s at Warren and Marvel (Master of Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes, Deathlok, Werewolf by Night, Morbius, Moon Knight, Ka-Zar, Weirdworld)! Art by BUSCEMA, GULACY, PLOOG, BUCKLER, ZECK, DAY, PERLIN, & HEATH! MICHAEL T. GILBERT on EC’s oddball “variant covers”—FCA—and a neverpublished Golden Age super-hero story by MARV LEVY! Cover by PAUL GULACY!

Giant-size Fawcett Collectors of America special with Golden/Silver Age writer OTTO BINDER’s personal script records and illos from his greatest series! Intros by P.C. HAMERLINCK and BILL SCHELLY, art by BECK, SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, SCHAFFENBERGER, AVISON, BORING, MOONEY, PLASTINO, and others! Plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and a C.C. BECK cover!

Relive JOE PETRILAK’s All-Time Classic NY Comic Book Convention—the greatest Golden & Silver Age con ever assembled! Panels, art & photos featuring INFANTINO, KUBERT, 3 SCHWARTZES, NODELL, HASEN, GIELLA, CUIDERA, BOLTINOFF, BUSCEMA, AYERS, SINNOTT, [MARIE] SEVERIN, GOULART, THOMAS, and a host of others! Plus FCA, GILBERT, SCHELLY, and RUSS RAINBOLT’s 60-ft. comics mural!

Showcases GIL KANE, with an incisive and free-wheeling interview conducted in the 1990s by DANIEL HERMAN for his 2001 book Gil Kane: The Art of the Comics—plus other surprise features centered around the artistic co-creator of the Silver Age Green Lantern and The Atom! Also: FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and BILL SCHELLY! Green Lantern cover by KANE and GIELLA!

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

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

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

A montage of Pete’s greatest hits. (Clockwise:) Kid Montana, Peter Cannon... Thunderbolt, Johnny Dynamite. [© Estate of Pete Morisi & other respective copyright holders.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

The PAM Papers (Part 3)

by Michael T. Gilbert

his issue we continue exploring a treasure trove of comics history, courtesy of Glen D. Johnson. Glen, a former editor of The Comic Reader fanzine, was a fan of cartoonist Pete A. Morisi (who often signed his work “PAM”), who became his friend and longtime pen pal. The earliest letters, written between 1964 and 1968, are often undated. But PAM occasionally makes reference to then-current comics, which helps to nail down the approximate dates. We’ve excerpted and edited PAM’s comments for greater clarity. PAM, like Glen, was a true-blue comics fan, conversant in comicbook history (and indeed, a part of comicbook history!). Pete had strong opinions on his work and on that of his fellow artists, writers, and editors. His comments provide a fascinating snapshot of the comic scene from the ’60s on, by a respected industry insider. This issue, we’ve culled quotes from a number of letters focusing on PAM’s views of different comic book editors. But first, let’s begin with Pete Morisi’s thoughts…

On Pronouncing Names The name is pronounced MORE-EEE-SEE. Charlie Biro’s name is BEER-O. Doesn’t really matter, though. I’ve been called MORIS-EEE, MORE-EYE-SIGH, etc. Etc. Among other things.

On Charles Biro Yeah, I know Biro, I worked for him for a year or so. He is a talented guy, but as I mentioned, tough to get along with. In fact, I tried to buy the old Daredevil from him when he stopped publishing it, but he didn’t want one cash payment—he wanted to own a piece of it—always! So I backed out.

Battle Royale! (Above:) Jack Cole re-designed Jack Binder’s original Daredevil costume. From Silver Streak #7 (Jan. 1941). Whether or not Cole scripted the tale, as well, is unknown. [© the respective copyright holders; Daredevil is now TM Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[1965] “Steel Sterling was one of my favorites in the old days when Biro, and then Novick, did it. But I’m sure that MLJ will kill it once and for all this time around. Too bad. I was going to approach MLJ about a year or so ago with the idea of letting me revive The Thing for them, but I was too darn busy. PAM is referring above to Charlton’s The Thing comic, not the Marvel monster-hero. Charlton’s version was an omniscient narrator, the type popular on early radio shows. Of course, it’s extremely unlikely that, in the mid-1960s, Archie Comics— formerly MLJ—would have published a comic featuring a character with the same name as the co-star of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. This letter also refers to Archie’s uninspired and short-lived 1965 super-hero revival of their old MLJ characters—including Steel Sterling (as drawn by Paul Reinman and written by Jerry Siegel). And now back to our regularly scheduled comments by PAM….

It Was A Barry Good Year! (Left:) A classic “Daredevil” splash page drawn by Dan Barry for Daredevil #42 (May 1947). Script officially by Charles Biro. [© the respective copyright holders; Daredevil is now TM Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The PAM Papers (Part 3)

Oh yeah, in a recent TCR issue [The Comic Reader] (#36?) there was an article on the “old” Daredevil (Lev Gleason) strip, and I have a complaint. The writers missed mentioning the fact that Jack Cole (old Plastic Man artist) also did the strip (for 2 issues that I know of) and did an excellent job. Better than any of the other artists (in my opinion) involved. Cole actually did four issues. Jack Binder is credited with the first “Daredevil” story, in Silver Streak Comics #6. Cole took over next issue, continuing until #10. Still, PAM was pretty close… especially for those arcane days before digital comic download sites and comprehensive Internet databases. The Biro-[Dan]Barry combination was a good thing (I have issue #42) but it couldn’t last. Both of them are “Take Charge” guys and couldn’t get along indefinitely. Too much friction. They’d argue over every panel. After Dan worked for Biro, he did a few crime stories for Hillman, then moved on to DC, where he did some beautiful crime stories, “The Vigilante” (Meskin’s old strip), and a couple of Big Town books, etc., etc., etc., and finally Flash [Gordon] for King features. He squeezed Tarzan somewhere between DC and King… but someone else penciled a lot of the strips. No, I didn’t quit Barry, and he didn’t quit me. We both had studios in the same building, and at one point he was looking for an inker to help him on some pressing deadlines—he saw some stuff I was doing—and asked me to give him a hand with backgrounds and inking. I said okay, and did his stuff (and mine) for a month or so. Then, as he got caught up, I did less and less, until finally he was able to handle it himself. He did offer me a steady job during that period, but he’s too hard a man (personality-wise) to work for.

Partners In Crime! Dan Barry drew this striking splash for Charles Biro’s Crime Does Not Pay #70 (Dec. 1948); scripter unknown. According to Pete, he and Biro got along like water and oil! [© the respective copyright holders.]

[5/5/1968] Barry did work for Biro (crime Daredevil, Boy, Tops, and a western title). Also some crime and westerns for Hillman, ditto for DC, where he set the “Barry look” style that every DC artist tried to imitate. He also ghosted some daily Tarzan strips for Hogarth before he made the scene with Flash Gordon. He did some beautiful work on the initial Flash strips, but little by little started to “farm” it out to other artists, as he became interested in painting—and that’s the way things stand now. [1/22/1991] In the past I tried to buy the rights to 3 characters that were no longer published:

The Other Man Of Steel! Charles Biro drew this cover to Zip Comics #1 (Feb 1940), featuring the first appearance of Steel Sterling. A quarter of a century later, Jerry Siegel and Golden Age MLJ cartoonist Paul Reinman revived him, with at best limited success. From Archie’s Mighty Comics #46 (May 1967). [Steel Sterling TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Daredevil (the original)—all of the people involved with that strip said that I could have it—free—except Charles Biro. I know he didn’t create Daredevil, but I was willing to make a one-time payment (to get him out of the picture). He refused, and