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No.158

WILLIAM WOOLFOLK

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PRESE

May 2019

BIG-BANG BONUS!

Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics

SPOTLIGHT ON GOLDEN AGE GREAT

40-YEAR

STAR WARS COMICS

REUNION PANEL! With

HOWARD CHAYKIN CHARLES LIPPINCOTT & ROY THOMAS! 1

82658 00360

Vol. 3, No. 158 / May 2019 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

Contents

Writer/Editorial: Ghosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 William Woolfolk Remembered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Donna Woolfolk Cross talks to Richard Arndt about her celebrated writer father.

Cover Artist

For The [Golden Age] Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Cover Colorist

The 2002 San Diego Comic-Con Golden Age Panel . . . . . . 29

A brief & illustrated look at Woolfolk’s script-records journals.

C.C. Beck

Glenn Whitmore

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Richard J. Arndt Bob Bailey Alberto Becattini John Benson Ricky Terry Brisacque Bernie Bubnis Mike Burkey Nick Caputo Howard Chaykin John Cimino Shaun Clancy Comic Book Plus (website) Pierre Comtois James Colville Chet Cox Donna Woolfolk Cross Leonardo de Sà Craig Delich Diversions of the Groovy Kind (website) Sean Dulaney Duane Eddy Mark Evanier Justin Fairfax Jean-Michel Ferragatti Melodie Figueroa Shane Foley Four-Color Shadows (website) Dan Friedman Martin Gately Jeff Gelb Janet Gilbert Michael Grabois Grand Comics Database

George Hagenauer Rich Harvey Jim Kealy Paul King Dominique Leonard Mark Lewis Charles Lippincott Art Lortie Jim Ludwig Doug Martin Mike Mikulovsky MinuteMan/ DarthScanner (website) Patrick Moreau Russ Morisi Val Morisi Bill Morrison Mark Muller Joe Musich Ken Nadle Martin O’Hearn Leo Pond Audrey Parente Barry Pearl Paul Power Gene Reed Scott Rowland Randy Sargent David Saunders Sai Shankar David Siegel Louise Simonson Robin Snyder Bryan Stroud Marc Svensson Dann Thomas Steven Tice Boris Vallejo John Wells Ryder Windham

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

William Woolfolk, Russ Heath, Marie Severin, & Gary Friedrich

Mark Evanier moderates the reminiscences of Bill Woolfolk, Bob Oksner, Nick Cardy, Bob Lubbers, Lew Sayre Schwartz, & Irv Novick.

A Century Of Zorro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Audrey Parente & Rich Harvey celebrate 100 years of the first costumed hero ever.

“Squinkers” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Part IX of scripter John Broome’s 1998 memoir My Life in Little Pieces.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! The PAM Papers, Part 4 . . . . . . 57 Michael T. Gilbert showcases Pete Morisi’s origins of Peter Cannon... Thunderbolt.

Comic Fandom Archive: Jim Warren’s Code-Free Comicbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Bill Schelly tells how he came to write a book about the birth of a black-&-white empire.

Tributes to Russ Heath, Marie Severin, & Gary Friedrich . . . 70 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 75 The Star Wars Comics Reunion Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

40 (or is it 41?) years on, Howard Chaykin, Charles Lippincott, & Roy Thomas reunite to discuss their roles in one of the most important comicbooks ever.

On Our Cover: In late 1939, Fawcett Publications printed a very limited “ashcan edition” of what it called Flash Comics #1 (see p.13 for scan), intended not for general circulation but merely to secure copyright and trademark. The cover art by Charles Clarence Beck spotlighted its new super-hero Captain Thunder, who wasn’t named thereon. When it turned out DC had beat Fawcett to the Flash Comics moniker, there was a second “ashcan,” identical except for being titled Thrill Comics. When they lost that race to Pine/Nedor’s Thrilling Comics, Fawcett launched its now-named Whiz Comics with a “#2,” and with the hero rechristened Captain Marvel. They never utilized the ashcan’s cover art in a regular comic; so this may well be the first time it’s ever seen print as the cover of a magazine actually on sale in stores. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.] Above: As publisher and writer (and probably editor) of O.W.’s Mad Hatter #2 (Oct.-Nov. 1946), William Woolfolk scribed a creepy story in which his oddly named super-hero battled The Gargoyle, who a couple of panels from now will turn out to actually be a gorilla with the transplanted brain of a human murderer. Art by John Giunta. Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website. [TM & © the respective trademark & 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: $67 US, $101 Elsewhere, $30 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

Ghosts

s I write these perishable words, the New Year 2019 is a week and two days old… but you’ll have to forgive me if I can’t help thinking more about the old one.

2018 was a year in which I lost four friends and colleagues whom I associate strongly with the 625 Madison Avenue offices of Marvel Comics that I, too, occupied in the mid-1960s. Gary Friedrich was, as I say in the brief tribute I wrote to him (on p. 73), my best friend for many years, and almost certainly the closest one I’ll ever have. He came on staff at Marvel in late 1966 and produced a number of memorable stories and characters. Of course, our friendship preceded that employment and would, in spite of difficulties, far outlast it. Marie Severin was a delight—one of the first folks I met in the bullpen in July ’65, where she was a production worker, on the verge of turning out the art that would make her a Marvel legend. Her passing was not unexpected, since she’d developed Alzheimer’s in recent years, but it’s still as if a light has gone out, leaving the world a slightly dimmer place for me—just as it became when Flo Steinberg died last year... another 625 Madison alumna. Steve Ditko, that most private of artists, was an in-and-out presence at Marvel during my early days there, just before he split; but he was always friendly and polite to the new kid. I can still see him standing at production manager Sol Brodsky’s desk when he’d breeze in to deliver (and pick up) artwork and then scoot out again, always before he and editor Stan Lee could accidentally encounter each other. And Stan Lee. He and I were never close friends, in my (and doubtless in his) sense of the term, but we greatly valued each other as colleagues, once I’d learned the ropes. Without his ever really intending to, he became my mentor and one of the most important people in my life. I had been expecting his passing ever since his beloved wife Joan had left us the previous year; even so, when it

came, less than 48 hours after I last saw him, it was still a body blow. To much of the rest of the comics-reading world, these four were giants in varying degrees. To me, they were people I knew… that now I don’t. But they live on in my memory. This issue of A/E features tributes to Marie and Gary… and to Russ Heath, a wonderful comics artist I’ll always associate with the Ventura Boulevard eatery in L.A. where Gerry Conway and I used to run into him in the early ’80s. (For an in-depth interview with Russ, see A/E #40.) I plan to put together a Gary Friedrich issue the first chance I get, now that I’m finally forced to admit I’ll have to do so without his help. And, while Marie has been featured in a few issues in short interviews or on convention panels (e.g., #16, #95, & #156), I hope to do an issue truly centered around her, if and when I can find sufficient rare material to fill such an edition. Steve Ditko and Stan Lee will be celebrated, each in his own way, in the upcoming issues #160 & 161, respectively. They remain connected, both in print and in the remembrances of those who realized, either at the time or later, that their “Spider-Man” and “Doctor Strange” were two of the signal achievements of the Silver or any other comicbook age. This is, as so many of them are these days, an issue filled with ghosts: showcased acclaimed writer William Woolfolk (and indeed the entire list of panelists from a 2002 San Diego Comic-Con)… John Broome, whose memoirs continue… Pete Morisi, who’ll be even more prominently covered next issue… They’re the ghosts of New Years Past… but, thanks to their undeniable talents, they will be with us many a New Year’s Future, as well. And thank God for that.

Bestest,

159

COMING IN JUNE

PETE MORISI... Thunderbolt!

The Charlton Silver Age Artist “PAM” & His Lifelong Love Affair With Comics!

r art Estate of Pete Morisi; othe Thunderbolt art TM & © trademark & copyright holders. TM & © the respective

• MICHAEL T. GILBERT presents a special feature-length “Comic Crypt” on PETE MORISI! “PAM,” creator of Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt & Johnny Dynamite, wrote a multitude of letters to fan/collector GLEN JOHNSON about the Golden/Silver Age artists he admired (and a few he didn’t)! Art & artifacts by BUSCEMA • DITKO • KIRBY • FINE • WHITNEY • TUSKA BOYETTE • GIORDANO • ROSS • FLESSEL • WOOD • SIEGEL • O’NEIL • CRANDALL, et al.! • ROY THOMAS relates the behind-the-scenes story of his cameo in the third season of Marvel/ Netflix’s Daredevil—with plenty of photos & art! • Plus: FCA with still more on WILLIAM WOOLFOLK—JOHN BROOME, Part X—BILL SCHELLY celebrates the life of Xero co-editor PAT LUPOFF—& MORE!!

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A WOOLFOLK AT THE DOOR: part one

WILLIAM WOOLFOLK Remembered A Conversation with DONNA WOOLFOLK CROSS Conducted by Richard J. Arndt Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Donna Woolfolk Cross is the daughter of William (Bill) Woolfolk and Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk. Like her parents, she is a writer and has written a number of nonfiction books as well as one international best-seller titled Pope Joan. We talked with her to gain further insights on her father, who began his comics-writing career working at MLJ (on “Archie,” “The Hangman,” “Steel Sterling,” “Black Hood,” “The Shield,” “The Wizard”) before a prolific period freelancing for Fawcett (“Captain Marvel,” “Captain Marvel Jr.” “Mary Marvel,” “Marvel Family,” “Captain Midnight,” “Ibis the Invincible,” “Spy Smasher”). At the same time, the highly in-demand writer also scribed stories for Timely (“Captain America,” “Human Torch,” “Sub-Mariner,” “Young Allies,” “Blonde Phantom”), Quality Comics (“Blackhawk,” “Kid Eternity,” “Plastic Man,” “Doll Man”), Orbit (Wanted), Hillman (“The Heap”), and others. During World War II he wrote The Spirit scripts while creator Will Eisner was in the Army and, after the war, tried his hand as a comicbook publisher with the short-lived O.W. Comics (Mad Hatter). In the early 1950s he wrote “Superman” stories for National (DC) at the same time he was writing “Captain Marvel” tales for Fawcett. When Fawcett closed down its comics division, he wrote primarily for DC (“Superman,” “Superboy,” “Batman,” Our Army At War) until late 1954, when he left comics altogether and moved on to magazine publishing (Inside Story, Space World), became an Emmy-nominated television writer (The Defenders), and a successful novelist (My Name Is Morgan, The Beautiful Couple). The comments by William Woolfolk referred to in the following interview with his daughter (conducted in September 2017) were drawn from the essay “Looking Backward… from My Upside-Down Point of View” by William Woolfolk (Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #6) and “William Woolfolk: The Human Side of the Golden Age”—an interview by P.C. Hamerlinck (A/E, Vol. 3, #24). RICHARD ARNDT: We’re welcoming Donna Cross, the daughter of comics writer William Woolfolk and comics editor/writer Dorothy Woolfolk. Welcome, Donna! DONNA WOOLFOLK CROSS: Thanks, Richard! I don’t know how much I can help you. My brother Donald was twelve years older than I. So he could have told you more about Dad’s comic book writing. Alas, he died in 2015. I myself was only eight years old when Dad left comics. RA: Knowing that, we’ll do what we can. One of the challenges of interviewing children of comicbook creators is that they often don’t know the minutia of their parent’s work, or the co-workers they associated with,

A Couple Of Marvels (Above left:) William Woolfolk with daughter Donna, circa mid-1960s, during her college years. Photo courtesy of Donna Woolfolk Cross. (Below:) Woolfolk was sometimes called by his Golden Age peers “The Shakespeare of Comics.” Among many other major stories, he wrote “Captain Marvel Meets Mr. Atom,” the tale that introduced that nuclear super-villain, for Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Adventures #78 (Nov. 1947). Art by CM co-creator C.C. Beck. [Shazam hero & Mr. Atom TM & © DC Comics.]

William Woolfolk Remembered

unless those people were also friends of the family. CROSS: Professionally, I may not know what you need, but personally I, of course, knew my father pretty well. RA: Well, shall we try a few names and see if they stir any memories? One of the names your father mentioned quite a lot in the interviews I’ve read was Seymour Reit, who co-created “Casper the Friendly Ghost” with Joe Oriolo. CROSS: That was my Uncle Sy! I adored him! Dad and Sy were very close friends. Actually, they were two-thirds of a triumvirate of close friends, with the third person being Reggie [Reginald] Rose. Uncle Reggie wrote [the drama] Twelve Angry Men for Playhouse 90 back in the 1950s. Those three were the closest of friends.

Defenders All! (Left:) When this photo was first printed in Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #6 (2000), in conjunction with an article written by Woolfolk, he said of it: “This is a recent photo of the senescent Four Musketeers. The combined years of our friendship total over 200 years. Reading left to right: Reginald Rose, screenwriter of Twelve Angry Men and many others, also the producer and creator of the once-famous Defenders TV show on which I served as story editor and chief writer; myself; Miles Cahn, owner of Coach Leather, which he sold for $20 million; and Seymour Reitt, who created Casper the Friendly Ghost and wrote two bestselling novels.” Unfortunately, Rose’s name accidentally got rendered as “Ross” back in 2000, but we’ve corrected it here. (Right:) E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed starred in the 1961-64 TV series The Defenders as father-and-son defense lawyers who specialized in socially significant cases. It is still considered by many to be one of the best TV dramas ever. Woolfolk was a writer and story editor on the series from 1961 to 1964.

RA: Seymour Reit was a writer/cartoonist, who also wrote quite a few children’s books. He worked for the Eisner-Iger Studio in the 1930s … CROSS: Sy was a cartoonist, most noted for “Casper,” but he also wrote for adults—one was a well-received book called The Day They Stole the Mona Lisa. In addition, he wrote animated cartoons and for Captain Kangaroo. He was an accomplished writer as well as a cartoonist. RA: Reginald Rose, of course, was one of the leading lights of early television. Besides his dramas for Playhouse 90 and other anthology-type television shows, he was also the creator of The Defenders (1961-1965), still one of the best lawyer dramas to appear on television. CROSS: Absolutely! My father was chief story editor on The

Defenders during that time. Reggie, of course, created and produced the show and probably did all kinds of other things, but my father was story editor for at least, I think, a year and wrote a number of the scripts for the show. One of those shows won an Emmy. The Defenders was known for taking on controversial topics of the day, like birth control—which was a tough topic in the early 1960s—and book-burning. I think both of those issues ended up in scripts written by my father. RA: Other names—do you remember Otto Binder? CROSS: Yes, Otto Binder was definitely a friend. A good friend. I remember him being talked about a lot. I’m sure he was at our house a lot and was included in my parents’ small circle of friends. RA: From what I understand, your father and Otto kind of split the writing on the “Captain Marvel” cast of characters. They also wrote “Superman” stories at roughly the same time. CROSS: That’s interesting. I have a journal in which my father, who was careful in that way, wrote down every single story he wrote for Fawcett, DC, Quality, or anyone else. He wrote down his title, the date he wrote it, the amount he got for it, the number of pages of the story, and then, in the back of that book, he has a few pages of his thoughts on how to tell a good comicbook story… how to craft a good plot. [NOTE: See the following article for more about Woolfolk’s journal.]

Bill & Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk in two photos from the 1950s. The one at left is courtesy of Donna Woolfolks Cross. The one at right was provided circa 2000 by their late son Donald Woolfolk for the first volume of Roy Thomas’ & TwoMorrows’ All-Star Companion book series, since (from 1942-44, before their marriage) Woolfolk’s second wife Dorothy had been story editor on DC/All-American’s All-Star Comics and related titles; she would return to DC from 1971-72 as editor of romance comics and Wonder Woman. In addition, during 1945-46 she was an editor at Timely Comics, then briefly in 1948 for EC Comics, working for Bill Gaines, the son of her old AA boss M.C. Gaines.

RA: What memories, if any at all, do you have about your father’s work at Fawcett? CROSS: I was so young when he left Fawcett that I really don’t have any direct memories. He was

A WOOLFOLK AT THE DOOR: part two

For The (Golden Age) Record A Peek Inside WILLIAM WOOLFOLK’s Writing Records Journal Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

Try to discern whether your idea is a beginning, a central conflict, or an ending. Then plot forward or backward from it to include material necessary to achieve an effect. Every story represents a growth from the beginning to the end. This growth or change is the story itself, which is why with beginning and end known it is often easy to plot the intervening growth. —William Woolfolk, on story plotting; excerpted from the final pages of his comics writing journal

Marc Svensson

Martin O’Hearn

hen renowned Golden Age comics writer William Woolfolk was a special guest at the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con, he mentioned to videographer Marc Svensson that he had held on to his old ledger whereon he had kept track of his comicbook work for various publishers. It turned out that a notebook with Woolfolk’s meticulously documented sales records of his comicbook scripts did indeed still exist! Soon afterward, his daughter, author Donna Woolfolk Cross, allowed Marc to painstakingly scan each page of the journal. Since those scans were acquired, Martin O’Hearn has translated and transcribed the handwritten pages from the notebook, and added, where he could, information that Woolfolk left out on his entries: namely, where the stories were ultimately published.

Notebook Jottings (Above:) The “Jan.-Feb. 1950” page from William Woolfolk’s writing journal notebook—whose initial entry is the story “Feud with a House” from Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Jr. #89 (cover-dated Sept. 1950). Art by Joe Certa. [Journal image © Marc Svensson; Shazam character & Freddy Freeman TM & © DC Comics.]

For The (Golden Age) Record

Fawcett Forays Into Biography & Fantasy (Above:) “Champion of Champions” from Joe Louis #2 (Nov. 1950); artist unknown. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] (Above right:) “The School for Witches” from The Marvel Family #52 (Oct. 1950); art by C.C. Beck & Pete Costanza. [Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics.]

O’Hearn’s research and detective work with Woolfolk’s records can be found on his blog, Who Created the Comic Books [martinohaern.blogspot.com]. While the journal’s entries do not begin at the very beginning of Woolfolk’s comics career, and not all listings were accompanied with script descriptions, it nonetheless is a highly informative, invaluable Golden Age artifact. A dedicated seeker for the uncredited comics creator, O’Hearn shared some thoughts on the fact-finding journey he took with Woolfolk’s journal: After I first realized that the anonymous comicbook writers could be identified by distinctive stylistic quirks, I was able to work back into the ’40s and ’50s on, say, Otto Binder and Jerry Siegel, because some of their stories had been credited in the Superman family letter columns and elsewhere. When it came to William Woolfolk, all I had to go by was the list of his strips and tenures in

Pouring Water Into Plastic Bottles (Right:) While the brilliant “Plastic Man” creator Jack Cole wrote many of his own stories, he was also adept at illustrating the concepts that others, such as Bill Woolfolk, brought to what he had originally called his “India Rubber Man.” The “Mr. Aqua” story was written by Woolfolk for Quality’s Plastic Man #25 (Sept. 1950). [Plastic Man TM & © DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

writer-identifying; he plotted a number of the Orbit romance tales for [wife] Dorothy Woolfolk, describing five of them, so I have five of her identified scripts to examine. Whereas one of his trademark expressions is “Good glory,” one of hers is “Oh, glory.” Those “Superman” stories beyond William’s own that I’d mis-credited to him? Many were actually hers, I found as I looked at them anew. That explains a line in Steranko’s book that had been puzzling people for years, about how William and Dorothy met at DC—he was writing “Superman” and she was writing “Lois Lane.” Since his tenure on “Superman” was known from Bails and Ware to be the early ’50s, and “Lois Lane” had her own backup strip in 1944-46, how could those periods be reconciled? It’s a misinterpretation of “writing Lois Lane”—Dorothy was writing “Superman” stories featuring Lois, such as “Superman Marries Lois Lane” (Action Comics #206, July, ’55). Her tenure was approximately 1949-55, so she started writing “Superman” before he did (1953-54), but not back in the mid-’40s. William Woolfolk’s comics-writing career comes to an end as he goes into publishing again with Space World. In his last months of notebook entries he notes progress on his first novel alongside the comicbook stories, and around the time The Naked Hunter is published in 1954 he’s out of comics.

A Reptile Dysfunction Not in his journal, obviously, but perhaps the last comics story Woolfolk ever scribed was this “Superman” yarn done for Action Comics #576 (Feb. 1986), illustrated by his one-time Fawcett colleague Kurt Schaffenberger. Thanks to Gene Reed, who wonders if editor Julius Schwartz may have asked Woolfolk to write one more tale for him before he retired. [TM & © DC Comics.]

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A WOOLFOLK AT THE DOOR: part three

The 2002 San Diego Comic-Con Golden Age Panel Starring WILLIAM WOOLFOLK, BOB OKSNER, NICK CARDY, BOB LUBBERS, LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ, & IRV NOVICK Moderated by Mark Evanier Transcribed by Sean Delaney ~ Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck ~ Videotape © Marc Svensson

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: Actually, this panel from nearly two decades ago really needs no introduction—except perhaps to express regret that all six of the 1940s comics professionals who took part in it have passed from the scene since that day. Our special thanks to Marc Svensson for providing a videotape of this gathering and allowing it to be painstakingly transcribed by Sean Delaney—and to Mark Evanier for giving us his blessing to print it. As the panel begins, on an August day at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2002, one of its prospective members—artist Irv Novick—had not yet arrived, but don’t worry, he’ll make his debut before long… MARK EVANIER: I’m Mark Evanier, and it’s a joy to be able to moderate this panel every year because we get to spend some time with people who built this industry and who invented a lot of things that some of us of a later generation shamelessly plagiarized … but who also inspired us with their fine work over the years. We will hopefully be joined a bit later by Irv Novick, but let me introduce these gentlemen.

Starting on the far end … Over the years on this panel, we have had a vast number of people who at one time or another were “Bob Kane.” We’ve had everyone who was “Bob Kane” except Bob Kane. [laughter] For a period of time, this man was responsible for the work that came out under

Bob’s name. He also did a lot of other things, including some stuff that we will ask him to talk about. For this panel only, we’re going to focus on the seven years you were with Bob. And he was the guy who, at one period, I thought was the real Bob Kane. Would you welcome Mr. Lew Sayre Schwartz. [applause] We are thrilled to have with us on this panel not one, not two, but several of what we call “Good Girl Artists.” They drew real sexy women in comics and comic strips and this gentleman is one of them. He did a lot of work in newspaper strips. The strip I liked the most was a thing he did called Long Sam, which—I don’t know that I even bothered to read it. I just looked at the pictures. [laughter] It was very lovely. He’s had a very long career in comics before and after [it]. Mr. Bob Lubbers, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] The gentleman who, over the years, probably inspired more artists… people of my age bracket became artists with love of the way this man drew Aquaman and the Teen Titans and so many other covers. Especially a comic called Bat Lash. Mr. Nick Cardy, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] There’s a recurring theme here of drawing sexy women in comics, and this gentleman drew some of the sexiest over a period in DC books. Over the years his work we know best is probably Jerry Lewis, Sgt.

A Golden Age San Diego Six-Pack—Plus One A cornucopia-style composite of the moderator and the half-dozen “Golden Age” panelists at the August 2002 San Diego Comic-Con. (Left to right:) moderator Mark Evanier… William Woolfolk… Bob Oksner… Nick Cardy… Bob Lubbers… Lew Sayre Schwartz… Irv Novick. All panel photos © 2002 Marc Svensson. Mark Evanier is a longtime writer for comics and television.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

would deny it because the work was steady… ME: Was he trying to prove that Bob wasn’t doing it, or was he just trying to prove that you were? SCHWARTZ: I have the notion that he was not in love with Bob. [laughter] I also have the notion that if he could have strung him up… I never met any of the “Batman” artists. I never met Sheldon Moldoff or Charlie Paris. I was very separated from the comicbook business. The only connection I had was Bob Kane. And from there, I left King Features and began right into advertising and then into film. ME: Anyone else ever have an editor or publisher who wouldn’t pay? CARDY: I had. It wasn’t in comics, but it was doing a movie poster. I was supposed to get about $600 for the work. I had to take them to small claims court and they finally paid. And then they wanted me to do another job that was for the movie The Bad News Bears. I said, “I don’t know if I’m going to fool around with these guys, the way they pay.” They gave it to Jack Davis and the thing went over big. I was wonder if he got paid. He must have. ME: We’re about out of time here. I would like you to join me in thanking not only for spending this time with us, but for their careers of wonderful work: Mr. Irv Novick [applause], Lew Sayre Schwartz [applause continues], Bob Lubbers [applause], Nicholas Cardy [applause], Bob Oksner [applause], and Mr. William Woolfolk. [applause] Thanks to David Siegel for all his efforts over the years in bringing Golden Age comicbook creators to the San Diego Comic-Con… and to Marc Svensson for having the insight of videotaping these creators’ panel appearance. —PCH.

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A Century Of ZORRO

Celebrating The First True Costumed Hero by Audrey Parente & Rich Harvey

ith the swift slash of a blade, a remarkably romantic and clever vigilante in a dark mask and cape became the first super-hero to splash the cover of a pulp-fiction magazine—exactly one century ago this year.

turned to crafting pulp-fiction stories. He created several additional memorable characters in the pulps later, including The Crimson Clown and Thubway Tham, and he wrote under several pen names. But Zorro was his magnum opus.

Zorro, whose true identity is camouflaged by the foppish behavior of caballero Don Diego Vega, made his world debut in The Curse of Capistrano. That novel was serialized in five issues of All-Story Weekly, a popular pulp-fiction magazine, beginning in the August 9, 1919, issue. More than 60 Zorro stories followed in various pulp-fiction magazines through 1959.

McCulley, born in Ottawa, Illinois, on February 2, 1883, designed Zorro from studies of an old Californian mission town, about which he wrote multiple stories, some with and others without Zorro. His Zorro character highlighted a caballero’s spirit while also portraying the difficulties of the lower classes.

To the world at large, Zorro was wise and brave, cunning and clever, and a dashing figure of justice. He protected the downtrodden of Spanish California, punishing criminals and serenading lovely ladies. To his fans, he was the provider of thrills and laughter on the printed page, in a landslide of movies, television series, comicbooks, and licensed merchandise. Johnston McCulley was a writer working in newspapers in several cities for more than a dozen years before he successfully

Prior to Zorro’s debut, the 15th Century do-gooder outlaw Robin Hood frustrated the unjust Sheriff of Nottingham. The Scarlet Pimpernel, a nobleman and savvy swordsman who rescued aristocrats from the guillotine, had first appeared in a novel by Baroness Orczy in 1905. These icons of literature may have influenced McCulley, but his Zorro character added flourish by

Johnston McCulley (1883-1958), creator of Zorro.

“Z” Is For “Zorro”! A two-page spread (what pulp artists and editors called a “double-truck” illustration) from Johnston McCulley’s short story “Zorro Serenades a Siren,” which appeared in the Feb.1948 issue of West magazine. Art by Joseph Farren. “Zorro,” of course, is Spanish for “fox.” [TM & © Zorro Productions, Inc.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

The PAM Papers - Part 4

Birth Of A Hero! by Michael T. Gilbert

n the gossip-starved early ’60s, Golden and Silver Age fans rarely got to peek behind the scenes as a new comicbook hero was born. But, in 1964, Glen Johnson got a lucky break. While searching for juicy comicbook scoops for The Comic Reader (an early newszine he was editing), Glen struck up a correspondence with Charlton mainstay Pete Morisi (PAM)—a correspondence that would span forty years! They became friends, and in the course of their letter-exchange, Pete began dropping hints of a new action hero he was working up—a hero eventually revealed to be Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt. For those who came in late, Tibetan monks raised Peter Cannon after his parents died, and taught him to control mind and body to a superhuman degree. Glen’s letters to PAM are presumed lost, but luckily the young fan saved Pete’s voluminous correspondence. With Glen’s permission, we’re sharing some of those letters for the first time, edited for space and clarity (while making sure not to alter the content). We’ve also

added some “Comic Crypt” commentary following each letter to further explain some points. (We’ve left quotation marks, underlining, etc., pretty much as Morisi indicated them in his missives.) Let’s start with Pete’s self-critical overview of his career… and the first mention of a future Charlton hero!

The Letters (Undated, 1965) Dear Glen— You missed your calling. You should have been a lawyer. Let me try to answer your questions in the order you threw them at me. #1 I work for an outfit ‘outside’ of the comic field and they don’t want my name connected with those ‘cheap funny books’ in any way. (That’s their words—not mine.)

#2 Joe Gill does quite a bit of writing for Charlton (I think the quantity of work he does prevents him from turning out better stuff). E.H. Hart, a former ‘Timely’ (now Marvel) man, who is some sort of ‘wheel’ in Charlton’s other stuff, does some good writing now and then. There are others, but the names escape me. #3 Sorry, sorry, Nightmare was published by Ziff-Davis. The stories I mean were ‘Blood Ship’ and ‘The Corpse That Wouldn’t Stay Dead’ in the summer issue published in 1952. #4 Tuska and I shared a studio in NY, while he was working on the above stories, and others. We are friends, tho’ it’s been years since I’ve seen him. You probably know that he did ‘Scorchy Smith’ for awhile, then switched to ‘Buck Rogers’ and is still doing it.

In Tandem With Tuska At Timely PAM illustrated stories for Timely/Marvel’s Arizona Kid, such as “The Raiders of Balancing Rock” from issue #6 (Jan. 1952). That issue also featured “The Avenger,” a tale drawn by PAM’s idol, George Tuska. It was one of the few times they shared a book. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc].

#5 All the strips you mentioned were ‘Tuska-done,’ a few Crimebusters, the Headline and Prize group, Pvt. Strong (I think with Mike Peppe inking), etc. #6 I did quite a few strips for quite a few outfits. I hesitate to mention

The PAM Papers—Part 4

them, because, looking back, they were pretty bad, except for one or two, when the story was ‘right.’ But here goes— Timely (Marvel) –– All types, plus a few issues of a book called Arizona Kid. So-so stuff. [Comic] Media (out of business) –– All types, plus five or six issue of Dynamite (That’s Johnny Dynamite, Private Eye…a take-off on Mike Hammer). So-so stuff. Standard –– Love (Ugh!) stories. Quality –– A girl cowboy strip called ‘Two-Gun Lil’ which I didn’t ink. Another ‘ugh.’ Harvey –– A whole batch of ‘fillers.’ So-so. Toby Press ––Love stuff –– ugh! Timely (again) –– All types and a lot of Stan Lee-written westerns (that I missed getting on the stands). Not too bad, I was getting there. Dan Barry –– I inked a couple of months of ‘Flash Gordon,’ not bad, but can’t compare with Dan. Timely (again) –– Weird, Fantastic, etc. Eh! Lev Gleason –– Some crime stuff, plus Black Diamond Westerns. Eh! Charlton –– Billy the Kid, Lash LaRue, Masked Raider, Wyatt Earp, Kid Montana, and Gunmaster (poor stuff at first, good to great for a while, and fair towards the end). That’s right, I said end…at least for a few months. Pat Masulli called and said that he had been ordered to drop titles due to the ‘slow’ comic season that comes up about this time, and due to the fact that I have ‘other stuff’ I said okay. This may be (as I said) for a few months, or permanent. (It’ll give me a chance to work on a costume thing I’ve been thinking about anyway!) #7 If I do go back with Charlton, I’m not too sure I’d want Blue Beetle! I would have wanted to build the strip up from the

“Rotten Tomatoes”—Morisi Style “Two-Gun Lil” from Quality’s Crack Western #78 (May 1952), penciled by Pete. His judgment of his Quality work at that time? “Ugh!”—end quote. Script attributed to Robert Bernstein by the Grand Comics Database—but then, that website also incorrectly lists Morisi as inker. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

beginning (writing and all)… but we’ll see. #8 It’s okay with me if you mention the strips that Tuska doesn’t do! #9 If Pat mentions my name, you can, too, but no TCR, please. #10 Dick Giordano’s a good artist, and will one day ‘come into his own.’ #11 The above should answer ‘if I’m doing Vulcan.’ #12 Keep on writing Pat. Maybe ‘George Tuska, the artist that draws Kid Montana,’ will wind up with Blue Beetle after all. Sincerely, Pete

They Call Me Mr. Morisi! Before he became a cop, Pete was happy to sign his full name, as he did in the bottom right-hand corner of Lev Gleason Publications’ Black Diamond Western #60 (Feb. 1956). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

MTG: The “outfit ‘outside’ of the comic field” Pete mentioned was as a police officer, a job he took in the mid-1950s, while Pat Masulli was then the editor at Charlton Comics. PAM’s later comment, “It’ll give me a chance to work on a costume thing I’ve been thinking about anyway!,“ is a classic case of “burying the lead”! PAM then mentions his new project in a subsequent letter. He also responds to an inquiry from Glen asking if he was planning to take over the Son of Vulcan super-hero comic.

Article Title

together books about the history of comics: Hi, Roy! I wanted to pass along this minor detail while I’m thinking of it. In the “Flash 60th Anniversary” panel transcript, Harry Lampert spoke of seeing “The King” in an issue of Star Spangled Comics. Most readers likely assumed he was talking about the Golden Age title, but this was actually the 1999 Star Spangled Comics one-shot by Geoff Johns and Chris Weston. That was the hero’s first and only non-reprinted appearance since the 1940s—even you never got around to using him in All-Star Squadron—although his son later appeared in several 21st-century “JSA” stories.

With One Magic Guitar… Paul Power, who wrote the FCA segment in A/E #148, tells us: “Here [above left] is a recent photo of Duane Eddy and myself. It was taken by James Frank Dean, an actor/graphic designer and guitar-player. The guitar in that photo is the new 6-string bass that Duane designed for GRETCH Guitars; it debuted at the NAMM show. Duane played us a few tunes on the spot. Quite a treat. I’ve known Duane for 13 years, but this was the first time we had met face to face. What fun, and many good laughs! I know he liked the article in A/E.” Photo by James Frank Deane; sent by Terry Wilson & Paul Power. For Ye Editor’s part, that FCA segment led to my enjoying some online correspondence with Duane Eddy, whose “twangy guitar” music I’ve loved since the late 1950s—and I was overjoyed to learn that he’s still doing profitable gigs on his own and on various folks’ recordings! Seen above right is a display ad for his 1960 hit single “Shazam”—which really does show its inspiration… the original Captain Marvel, lightning bolt and all! Courtesy of Duane Eddy & Paul Power. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

John Wells

Good to know, John. And now, Craig Delich is back, writing about issue #148 this time: “Page 34—the blurb for the ‘Boy Commandos’ story from issue #32 says the inker is unknown; it’s Steve Brodie… and the writer was France Herron. On page 46, the Toth ‘Green Lantern’ story blurb provided states the strip to be attributed to [John] Broome. It’s Robert Kanigher.” We see that the Grand Comics Database attributes the story to Kanigher; we must’ve got the Broome credit from somewhere else, since we wouldn’t have added that on our own. Also, frequent contributor Bob Bailey adds: “You published a Golden Age Green Lantern sketch signed ‘To Bob, Irwin Hasen 1978’ and asked if ‘1978’ was indeed the date written. Yes, it was. I am the Bob mentioned in the signature. Irwin was showing me how to draw GL for a class at the Kubert School. He then signed and gave it to me.” Thanks, Bob! As the owner of quite a bit of Hasen DC artwork myself, it’s always good to run into another Irwin admirer! Send those e-mails and other epistles to: e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com Roy Thomas 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 While you’re waiting for the next Alter Ego, you might try the e-mail discussion list Alter-Ego-Fans on the Yahoo Groups. Subscribers will learn about future issues of A/E—though admittedly perhaps at the price of being asked if they can help provide some desperately needed art or photo for an upcoming issue. Lots of other exchanges and comments there from your fellow readers, too. Just visit http:/groups.yahoo.com/ group/alter-ego-fans. Moderator Chet Cox advises us that Yahoo Groups has for some reason deleted its “Add Member” tool, so if you find it won’t let you in, please contact him at mormonyoyoman@gmail.com and he’ll walk you through the process. And, over on Facebook, dealer and con-expeditor John Cimino runs what he’s christened The Roy Thomas Appreciation Boards, which discuss anything and everything dealing with the above-named comics writer/editor, including this mag, upcoming con appearances, comments on comics or

super-hero movies, or whatever either one of them feels like writing about. The site is fully interactive—whatever that means! SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Taschen Books has told me that the 1000-copy deluxe edition of the big 400-page illustrated book I wrote for them, The Stan Lee Story, went out of print during the month of November, within a week of Stan’s unfortunate passing. The general-market edition should be released circa May of this year—it’ll be a lot cheaper, though you still aren’t likely to find it on the “bargain books” rack at your local Barnes & Noble anytime soon. Check out this “career biography” of one of the 1960s titans who changed comicbooks forever!

The STAR WARS Comics Reunion Panel

41 Years After San Diego ’76, CHAYKIN, LIPPINCOTT, & THOMAS Reunited At TerrifiCon 2017 Moderated by Ryder Windham Transcribed by Sean Dulaney

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In Alter Ego #145, I wrote a lengthy article about my connection with the very earliest days of the Star Wars phenomenon, namely the publication of Marvel’s ongoing Star Wars comicbook—from my initial dinner with George Lucas in early 1975 through my departing the series in late 1977 after scripting and editing its first ten issues. In that piece, I also felt compelled to deal with a few less than pleasant aspects of that relationship, including certain latter-day statements made online about myself (and to some extent about Marvel, Stan Lee, and original series artist Howard Chaykin) by Charles Lippincott, Lucas’ 1970s media projects director, a person with whom I had previously enjoyed an amiable fellowship. Thus, I was delighted when I learned that con host Mitch Hallock and my buddy and manager John Cimino had plans afoot to get Howard and me together for a Star Wars 40th-reunion panel at the August 2017 TerrifiCon, to be held at the Mohegan Sun resort/casino in Uncasville,

The Usual Suspects All smiles, before the panel. (L. to r.:) Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Charles Lippincott. Roy and Charley are wearing Star Wars T-shirts, but only Roy’s was the very same one worn at their San Diego Comic-Con conclave in July of 1976. To see photos of that event, order a copy of A/E #145 from TwoMorrows Publishing! Thanks to John Cimino.

Star Wars—41 Years After San Diego ’76! (Above:) The cosmic cast of the “Star Wars Comics Reunion Panel” held on Aug. 19, 2017, at the TerrifiCon, at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Left to right:) Charley Lippincott, Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, and moderator Ryder Windham. Thanks to John Cimino. (Below:) The cover of Marvel UK’s Star Wars Weekly #1 (dated Feb. 8, 1978) utilized that of Star Wars #1 (July 1977, but on sale that March) by penciler Howard Chaykin and inker Tom Palmer, and was prepared in Marvel’s NYC offices. In this issue, we’ve made every effort to avoid reprinting art or photos seen in Alter Ego #145; hence the Marvel UK cover this time around. [TM & © Lucasfilm, Ltd.]

Connecticut... a reunion I had long considered unlikely, since I knew Howard was no great admirer of the film or the universe it had spawned. I was even more juiced when I heard there was a possibility Charley Lippincott might also be there, since, despite those few less than pleasant exchanges we’d had online a couple of years before, I knew that, around that time, Charley had stated publicly online that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease—and now I was happily given to understand (by Charley himself) that what he has is NHP (Normal Hydrocephalus Pressure), still a serious problem but not as grim as he had originally been led to believe. Therefore, it was with a mixture of enthusiasm and trepidation that I turned up in the big and packed panel room at the Mohegan Sun. I came wearing the very same Star Wars T-shirt Charley had given me in July of 1976 at the San Diego Comic-Con, just before he, Howard, and I had spoken to an eager audience about a film that wouldn’t debut in theatres for another ten months; I was pleased that I could still fit into it, even if it was a wee bit tighter than it had been 41 years earlier, virtually the last time I’d worn it. Howard, Charley (who decided at the last minute to join the panel), and I conversed and were photographed standing around following the end of the previous panel held in that room, and then we were herded to the long, microphone-strewn table on the stage—where Charley parked himself at one end, a bit apart from moderator Ryder Windham

Alter Ego #158