Issuu

82658 00361

reveals The Secret Origins Of...

Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt TM & © Estate of Pete Morisi; other art TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.

Roy Thomas' Cannon-ized Comics Fanzine

$9.95

In the USA

No. 159

July 2019

Vol. 3, No. 159 / July 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

Cover Artist

Pete Morisi

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Cover Colorist

Glenn Whitmore

With Special Thanks to:

Hey Kids Comics Neal Adams (website) Heidi Amash Guy Johnson Bob Bailey Douglas Jones Bill Black Barbara Friedlander (“Gaff”) Jim Kealy Bloomfield Mark Kohn David Bogart Mary-Margaret Ricky Terry Kunze Brisacque Mark Lewis Bernie Bubnis Jim Ludwig Bart Bush Ken Lupoff Bryn Cimino Glenn McKay John Cimino Russ Morisi Shaun Clancy Val Morisi Bob Cosgrove Brian K. Morris Charlie Cox Frank Motler Chet Cox Lewaa Nasserdeen Michaël Dewally Brian Overton Gerald Edwards Joe Quesada Shane Foley Barry Pearl Bob Foster Jay Piscopo Ron Franz Bud Plant Stephan Friedt Catherine Rivera Janet Gilbert Al Rodriguez Grand Comics Randy Sargent Database Dean Smith (website) Robin Snyder Chris Green Dann Thomas

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Pete Morisi, Glen Johnson, Jay Scott Pike, & Pat Lupoff

Contents

Writer/Editorial: Pete Morisi Cared! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! In Praise Of PAM . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Michael T. Gilbert hosts Glen Johnson’s correspondence with artist Pete Morisi… Thunderbolt!

Kid Stuff? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Part X of Golden/Silver Age writer John Broome’s 1998 memoir.

My Day In Prison With Daredevil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Roy Thomas relates the story behind his offbeat cameo in the Marvel/Netflix series.

Comic Fandom Archive: Bart Bush—Then And Now . . . . . . 64

Bill Schelly strolls down memory lane with the co-founder of Oklahoma comic fandom.

Tributes To Jay Scott Pike, Glen Johnson, & Pat Lupoff . . . 70 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 75 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #218 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Bill Schelly’s 2002 interview with writing great William Woolfolk.

On Our Cover: “Comic Crypt” editor Michael T. Gilbert put together this monumental montage of three of Pete Morisi’s best-known artistic creations: Kid Montana, detective Johnny Dynamite, and Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt. (The latter figure, as demonstrated on p. 17 of this issue, is a creative swipe of a Jack Kirby pose.) In the background are reproduced two of Morisi’s letters to comics fan Glen Johnson. Thanks to sons Russ and Val Morisi for the cover photo. [Peter Cannon... Thunderbolt TM & © Estate of Pete Morisi; other characters TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] Above: A dramatic panel by Pete Morisi from Comic Media’s Danger #8 (March 1954), from the “Duke Douglas” story subtly titled “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Scripter unknown. This yarn and several others drawn by Morisi, Don Heck, et al., starring the private detective, were reprinted in France in the 2015 Boardman one-shot Duke Douglas. Thanks to Michaël Dewally. [© 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: $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

Pete Morisi Cared!

or an artist who was never associated with a truly popular super-hero or other comics character—and who spent more time drawing for low-budget Charlton Publications than for Timely/Marvel or other, larger companies—and whose signature style was mostly, and unabashedly, based on the signature style of another artist entirely (i.e., George Tuska), Peter A. Morisi is certainly garnering a lot of coverage in Alter Ego. And yet, somehow, our recent focus on the artist often known as “PAM” is very much in keeping with our publishing philosophy from the very beginning. As our longtime ace interviewer Jim Amash has often said, in many cases you get the most information and best insights about comicbooks not from interviewing the “stars” of the medium, but from talking with (or in this case, reading the mail of) so-called “lesser lights” who were part and parcel of the industry, year in and year out, dealing with editors, artists, and (when they happened to meet them at all) writers. Not that Pete Morisi is a “lesser light” of comicdom by any negative standard. If he was perhaps not in the top echelon of comics creators, neither was he clinging to the bottom rung of the ladder. For one thing, he managed to sustain a career in the hard-scrabble comics industry for a goodly number of years, between his earliest confirmed contribution (in 1946) and his work for DC’s post-Crisis Who’s Who series in 1978. And, importantly, much of this time, he was merely secretly “moonlighting” from his day job—as a big-city police officer! For another thing, his work is not “cheap, shoddy, and anonymous” (to use one of the more infamous quotes by comics’ 1950s bête noire Dr. Frederic Wertham). Well, perhaps “cheap”—if by that you mean only that he drew primarily for poorly-paying

Charlton, but that was partly by choice, as he convincingly states in missives quoted later in this issue—but neither “shoddy” (because he put considerable time and craftsmanship into his art) nor “anonymous” (because he was proud to sign stories whenever he could—it was only the exigencies of moonlighting that led him to hide behind his initials for years). As seen in this and four previous issues of Alter Ego (#148-150 & #158), Morisi was not merely a comics professional; he was also a comics fan, an aficionado of some of the finest artists the field produced. He had opinions on what made good comics, on how comics creators should be treated, indeed, on nearly every facet of the industry. Sure, you (and I) might vehemently disagree with him on this matter or that… but that’s not the point. The point is—the man cared, and it showed, both in his artwork (and his occasional scripting) and in the letters he exchanged for years with a comics fan who was not a professional: Glen Johnson. (Ironically, and sadly, Glen—who was a contributor to the first volume of A/E, back in 1965—passed away even as this issue was in production. You can read Bill Schelly’s eloquent tribute to him on p. 73.) Regrettably, although my very first pro-comics work consisted of scripting stories for Charlton, I never got a chance to meet Pete Morisi. I enjoyed his Peter Cannon… Thunderbolt and occasional other artwork I’d run across, but our paths never intersected. If they had—well, I’m sure we’d have had some animated discussions (including disagreements) on various comics-related points… but I’d have loved to have known Pete Morisi. But, you know what? Through the unstinting efforts of first Glen Johnson, then Michael T. Gilbert… I almost feel as if I did. And so will you!

Bestest,

COMING IN AUGUST

160

Remembering

STEVE DITKO! • The indisputably dynamic DITKO at MARVEL (Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, et al.)—DC (Creeper, Hawk and Dove, etc.)—CHARLTON (Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, The Question, mystery, & science-fiction)—WARREN (Creepy, Eerie)! Don’t miss a rare late-1960s DITKO interview by RICHARD HOWELL! Plus tributes by MICHAEL T. GILBERT (& MR MONSTER!)— PAUL LEVITZ—BERNIE BUBNIS—NICK CAPUTO—RUSS MAHERAS—BARRY PEARL— ROY THOMAS, & others! • Extra! FCA presents BRIAN CLEMENS on DITKO & This Magazine Is Haunted!— BILL SCHELLY with BART BUSH (Part 2)—JOHN BROOME—& MORE!! ers, Inc.

TM & © Marvel Charact

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

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(Above:) PAM’s greatest hits, done for the 1975 Street Enterprises Benefit Portfolio. (Top to bottom:) Johnny Dynamite, Lash LaRue, Kid Montana, and Peter Cannon... Thunderbolt. [The latter is a trademark of the Estate of Pete Morisi; other heroes TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

In Praise Of PAM by Michael T. Gilbert

Part 5

Pete Morisi... Thunderbolt!

ver since Pete Morisi was a kid, he had two loves: comicbooks and the law. He wound up making careers of both.

In an interview with Glen D. Johnson in Comic Book Artist #9 (Aug. 2000), Pete talked about getting bit by the comicbook bug after seeing his first “Superman” story in Action Comics: “I was ten years old in 1938 and the thought that a man could fly, leap over tall buildings, and have bullets bounce off his chest fascinated me. I wanted to be a part of a business that could capture my imagination like that. I had to be part of it.” When he was a young fan, Jack Kirby especially intrigued Pete. “I liked Blue Bolt, but it was the Kirby art that drew my attention to the strip. I knew, even then, that I was seeing something special.

I’ve been a fan ever since. To me, Captain America will always be Kirby’s most interesting art.” Pete also marveled over the bravura visuals of Lou Fine, Will Eisner, and Reed Crandall. He remained, at heart, a fan all his life.

Starting Out! Pete, a Brooklyn boy, was born on January 7, 1928. Raised in the Park Slope neighborhood, he studied at Manhattan’s School of Industrial Art and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, and then got his first gig assisting on The Saint and Dickie Dare comic strips.

Morisi: First Blood! “L’Olonnois the Cruel” was the first story Pete wrote and drew. It appeared, in “two colors” (out of a possible four) in Fox Comics’ Captain Kidd #25 (Aug. 1949). [© the respective copyright holders.]

His comicbook career began at bottom-tier Fox Publications in 1948, but it was temporarily derailed when Uncle Sam drafted him that year. However, Morisi managed to squeeze in scripts for Fox’s romance and crime comics, as well as writing and drawing his first one-man story (in 1949), “L’Olonnois the Cruel,” also for Fox.

In Praise Of PAM—Part 5

That same year, Pete married his high school sweetheart, Louise Massie. It would prove to be an enduring marriage. Pete finished his military obligations and returned to NY in 1950. He then began working for various publishers, including Timely (Marvel), St. John, Quality, Harvey, Gleason, Fiction House, Nesbit, and Comic Media. These books included Murder Incorporated for Fox, Arizona Kid and Strange Tales for Timely. But he made his first real mark at Comic Media, writing and drawing “Johnny Dynamite,” a harder-than-nails private eye inspired by Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer. Pete’s vicious anti-hero proved to be his signature character in the 1950s. “Johnny Dynamite” stories appeared in seven issues of Comic Media’s Dynamite Comics before the company went belly-up in 1954. But Johnny wasn’t through yet. In fact, he may have been partly responsible for introducing Pete to his most important client.

The Charlton Years! When Comic Media folded, they sold some of their titles and inventory to Charlton—Dynamite Comics among them. Dynamite Comics was renamed Johnny Dynamite after its title character. Continuing Comic Media’s numbering, Charlton’s first issue was #10 (June 1955) and featured Pete’s story “Vengeance Be Mine!” Technically, another of Pete’s stories, “That Wreck, the Hesperus!” (in Charlton’s Danger and Adventure #23, April 1955) had appeared a couple of months earlier, marking PAM’s first Charlton appearance. But it was merely a reprint from Fox’s Feature Presentations Magazine #6, cover-dated June 1950. While that first Charlton “Johnny Dynamite” tale was likely a Comic Media inventory story, it showed what a more mature Pete Morisi could do. The boys from Derby, Connecticut, must have liked what they saw, and Pete found himself working almost exclusively for Charlton for the next 20 years. That was fortunate, as most of his other clients (Lev Gleason, St. John, Quality, and Fiction House) soon went the way of Comic Media. Which brings us to the next phase of Pete’s career. After marrying in 1949, Pete and Louise had three sons—Steve in 1950, Russ in 1953, and Val in 1954. And this became something of a problem for Pete. By the mid-’50s, the comicbook field was (you know the drill!) drowning in the wake of a tsunami of bad

Explosive! Pete drew this striking cover for Comic Media’s Johnny Dynamite #3 (Sept. 1953). Guess he didn’t need an eyepatch yet. [© the respective copyright holders.]

publicity. With a growing family to support, Pete decided to leave comics behind… sort of.

Livin’ The Dream! Pete joined the City of New York Police Department in 1956 in order to provide a steady income for his family. It was also his opportunity to fulfill another longtime dream. He was finally a cop! Police work suited Pete. He enjoyed it, and after hours he even had time for his cartooning. However, his boss told him in no uncertain terms that he had to keep his other job under wraps. “Don’t let anyone know you’re moonlighting, Morisi!” he said. Or words to that effect. Pete got the message. He began signing his name with his first and last initials only. And when Thunderbolt started in 1966, Pete added his middle initial, and Pete Anthony Morisi became the mysterious PAM.

Pete spent the next two decades drawing and sometimes writing stories for Charlton. Westerns were a specialty, and he was one of the best. Kid Montana, Lash LaRue, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid, and other Charlton cowboys all benefited from the Morisi touch. However, there was one genre he loathed. Pete hated love comics! Unfortunately, he did them too well for his own good. Despite his objections, Morisi’s editors insisted on

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Out-Foxed!

Let There Be Battle!

Hope Pete got paid, unlike many other pros, when he worked for Victor Fox’s comics line in Crimes Incorporated #12 (1950; apparently the only issue). Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Among the various war stories Pete Morisi drew for Timely (the future Marvel) Comics was this one for Battle #48 (Sept. 1956). Scripter unknown. Scanned by Michael T. Gilbert from his own copy. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

unknown; Crimes Incorporated (w)(p)(i) 1950, probable; historical fiction (w)(p)(i) date unknown; L’Olonnois the Cruel (w?)(p)(i) c. 1948 (his first feature doing full art) Gilberton: various features (p)(i) 1961 Harvey Comics: fillers (p)(i) 1952-53; mystery/occult (p)(i) c. 1952; war (p)(i) 1953 Harwell Publications: covers (p)(i) 1953; Danger (p)(i) c. 1952-54; Dear Lonely Hearts (p)(i) c. 1952-54; Death Valley (p)(i) c. 1952-54; Duke Douglas (p)(i) c. 1952-54; Horrific (p) 1954; Johnny Dynamite (p)(i) 1953-54; Luke Hennessy (p)(i) c. 1952-54; War Fury (p)(i) c. 1952-54; Weird Terror (p) 1954

Marvel Comics: Arizona Kid (p)(i) 1950-52; Battle (p)(i) 1956; Battlefront (p)(i) 1956; Battleground (p)(i) 1957; crime (p)(i) 1951-52; Devil Dog Dugan (p)(i) 1956; Devil Dog Dugan backup feature (p)(i) 1956; horror (p)(i) 1952; mystery/occult (p)(i) 1955; Mystery Tales (p) (i) 1957; Navy Combat (p)(i) 1956; Navy Tales (p)(i) 1957; Rawhide Kid (p) (i) 1957; Strange Stories of Suspense (p)(i) 1956; Strange Tales (p)(i) 1952, 1956-57; Sub-Mariner (i) c. 1955; Uncanny Tales (p)(i) 1956; war (p)(i) 1951-52, 1955-57; War Comics (p)(i) 1956; Western (p)(i) 1955-56; World of Suspense (p)(i) 1957; Young Men (p)(i) 1951 Nesbit Comics: The Invisible Man (p)(i) 1955; The Pirate of the Gulf (p)(i) 1955; Texas Ranger (p)(i) 1955; Wreck of the Grosvenor (p)(i) 1955

I.W. Publications: Fantastic Adventures (p)(i) 1964 reprint

Quality Comics: Two-Gun Lil (p)(maybe some inking?) 1952

Lev Gleason Publications: Adventures in Wonderland (p)(i) 1955-56; Black Diamond (p)(i) 1955-56; Black Diamond backup feature (p)(i) 1954; crime (p)(i) 1949; Crime Does Not Pay (p)(i) 1955; Red Fire (p)(i) 1955; Rocky X of the Rocketeers (p)(i) date uncertain; romance (p)(i) c. 1952; war (w)(p)(i) c. 1953-54

Skywald Publishing Company: Butch Cassidy (p)(i) 1971 reprint St. John Publishing: horror (p)(i) 1952 Toby Press: Tales of Horror (p) 1952

Kid Stuff?

Part X Of Comics Writer JOHN BROOME’s 1998 Memoir A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: Irving Bernard (John) Broome (1913-1999) became a writer of comicbooks and pulp-magazine stories in the 1940s, and reached his apex as the major author of stories of the resuscitated “Flash” and “Green Lantern” between 1956 and the late 1960s, before mostly winding down his career as a writer. His short 1998 memoir My Life in Little Pieces: An Offbeat Auto-bio has been serialized in most issues of A/E beginning in #149, by permission of his daughter, Ricky Terry Brisacque, as retyped by Brian K. Morris. This issue, after an anecdote involving one of his fellow DC scribes, Dave Vern (real name: David V. Reed), he relates a tale of his childhood….

Another Vern Yarn (or Once More Into the Vernacular, Dear Friends) Note: At one point in his career, friend Dave had accounted for several ﬁrst-rate science-ﬁction stories, but afterward he was reduced to trying to write comics, for which he had no particular bent. Ergo, the following: We were sitting in Julie Schwartz’s DC office one afternoon, just the two of us, when suddenly Dave says in ruminative fashion, “You know what ‘squinkers’ are?” I suspect some kind of trap and so remain silent, for of course I know that squinkers are scripts for comics stories (as I’ve mentioned) but, as I sense, Dave has something else in mind. “Squinkers,” he says in his best deadly manner, emphasizing each word with guitar-string clarity and resonance, “are the second-lowest form of public writing. And do you know what the lowest form of public writing is?” l stay stony and, knowing Dave, refuse to take the bait, but of course that doesn’t slow him down in the least. “Writing on s***house walls!” he chortles with venomous glee. Obviously, he never did make a good comics writer.

Sagawa and Domenique A French friend, Domenique Palmé, once spent a week alone with Sagawa, the Japanese girl-eater, in an isolated cottage in the massif of central France. To be sure, this was some time before Sagawa killed, cut up, refrigerated, and ate parts of the Dutch girl who was teaching him French in Paris, and Domenique was unaware of her danger. Later, when she told us about the experience, wide-eyed, innocent Domenique made it clear he hadn’t touched her at all, and I concluded, justifiably I think, that the reason she had been so lucky was that, as far as Sagawa was concerned, she was simply not to his taste.

John Broome (top left) at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con, from the Hey Kids Comics website—juxtaposed with the “Batman” splash from Detective Comics #185 (July 1952), with pencils by Dick Sprang & inks by Charles Paris. So why’d we reprint this particular page? Because supplier Jim Kealy noted that the Grand Comics Database credits this tale scriptwise to John Broome (albeit with a question mark), while other sources suggest it’s the work of his fellow comics writer David V. Reed, whom John refers to as “David Vern.” This way, we’ve got both bases covered! For a photo of Reed/Vern, see the previous issue of A/E. [Page TM & © DC Comics.]

Oofty-Goofty and Others The child was always running, running. Before this, they began putting up the boardwalk in Coney Island where he lived. First, they put up only this one narrow track as long as the island, almost over the sand alongside the ocean. It stayed like that a long time before they put anything else up and the kids from our block were always running on it, up and down it, till after dark every day in our game of ring-a-levio. If you could get away and not be tagged, you had a chance to sneak back to the base and dodge in

by ROY THOMAS & PABLO MARCOS

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The 1970s

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Release date: July 24, 2019

My Day In Prison With Daredevil

More Than You’re Likely To Want To Know About Ye Editor’s Cameo On The Marvel/Netflix Series by Roy Thomas

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION: The following piece was written for the Roy Thomas Appreciation Boards, operated on Facebook by my manager and pal John Cimino. (I myself don’t do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or much of anything else except telephone, USPS, and e-mail.) It began as my attempt, initiated only a day or so after the actual filming occurred on January 12, 2018, to write down everything I could recall about the experience, along with a bit of context. After the article was up on the Boards, it occurred to me that, as what is sometimes nowadays referred to as a “print freak,” I wouldn’t feel the process was truly complete until it had appeared in Alter Ego… with a bit of editing to bring it up to date. So here’s the article, without further ado… and remember, you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to. Hopefully, there’s plenty of other material in this issue to make it worth your ten bucks or whatever….

o sense denying it: I really wanted to do a Marvel movie cameo.

Of course, I never thought there was much chance of my actually getting to do one, back during the days when it was almost solely Stan Lee making those fleeting but eagerly anticipated appearances. When Chris Claremont popped up in an X-Men movie, then two, I didn’t much mind, since Chris had been so integral to the success of the revived X-Men comic in the 1970s and beyond. But then, when other writers and artists also started showing up in the Marvel films, or at least were being scheduled to do so—well, it wasn’t that I begrudged any of those creators their time onscreen. Far from it. Each one of them deserved it. Still, I have to admit, I couldn’t see why they were being invited to do cameos and I wasn’t. Maybe I’d missed my only shot when I became “just” a name on a 1940s wartime bandstand in Avengers: Age of Ultron? (Not that that hadn’t been and isn’t still much-appreciated! Thanks again, Joss Whedon!) Anyway, whatever my feelings, I still wasn’t inclined to be pushy about a possible cameo. I mentioned it once in an e-mail to someone at Marvel and then forgot about it. Well, almost. So, if you happened to spot me in prison garb in the fourth

Charlie Cox & Roy Thomas (That’s from left to right at the top of this page, just in case you couldn’t tell.) This pic of the Daredevil star as Matt Murdock and of Ye Ed as an incarcerated, orange-jumpsuited felon was taken soon after the latter’s arrival in the one-time prison where the visitors’-room scene was to be shot. Photo probably by Brian Overton. Seen above is the Gene Colan splash for Daredevil #59 (Dec. 1969), as written by RT and inked by Syd Shores. The scripter feels both story and villain were only so-so, but Colan’s art was superb, as always. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scan. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Comic Fandom Archive

BART BUSH, Then And Now

Down Memory Lane With The Co-Founder Of OAF (The Oklahoma Alliance Of Fans) Part 1: Bart Bush, Then Introduction

Bart Bush

aving grown up in Pittsburgh, I was largely unaware of developments in Oklahoma fandom, except insofar as they fed into the nascent Southwesterncons that were featured in issues of the Texas Trio’s Star-Studded Comics. It wasn’t until I began researching my 1995 book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom that I discovered the impact Oklahoma fans had made on fandom in the region, including putting on several Multicons that were every bit as good as those by their Texas neighbors.

in his high school photo in 1968—and holding a re-creation of the cover of the 1940s Dick Tracy jigsaw puzzle. Bart: “Fan artist Ralph Muccie painted this for me in 1968. My comic book spinner rack can be seen in my closet.” All photos with this interview are courtesy of Bart Bush.

Bart Bush was a co-founder of fandom in the Sooner state, and one of its key movers and shakers. Typical of his group, his interests were heavily into comics but extended into all the related areas of fantasy literature and film fandom of the day, a “fan for all seasons.” He published the organization’s fanzine for much of its long run, and was on the con committee of all four Oklahoma Multicons (which will be discussed in Part 2). Today, I can’t think of anyone more into Golden Age comic books than Bart. I first met him when I was a guest of OAFcon in Norman, Oklahoma, in 2008, and am proud to now be an official OAF. Bart and I became fast friends, and I’m delighted to introduce him to those of you who don’t know him yet, through this interview, which was (at Bart’s request) conducted via e-mail in the last days of December 2018. —Bill Schelly. BILL SCHELLY: According to my notes, you were born and grew up in the town of Ponca City, Oklahoma. Is Bart Bush your full name? BART BUSH: No, my full name is James Bart Bush. I was born in 1951. BILL: What was the town like? BART: Ponca City is a town in northwest Oklahoma about 15 miles from the Kansas border. It was an oil and farming area, home of Continental Oil/Conoco since the 1920s. The population was around 20,000. Closest major city would be either Tulsa or Oklahoma City, both about two hours away. So it was pretty isolated except for other small towns nearby. BILL: Where did you buy your comicbooks? BART: We had plenty of drug stores that carried comicbooks, [also] grocery stores, and one newsstand and paperback store. The closest shopping center to my home was within a half a mile. The strip contained a grocery store, TG&Y, and a drug store, all which carried comics and magazines. The easy access to my favorite comics was just a brief walk away starting in 1959 when I was eight years old!

BILL: I take it your parents weren’t anti-comicbooks? BART: My folks were both readers. My mother liked true-crime magazines Official Detective, True Detective, etc. My dad read sciencefiction, was a big fan of Burroughs, and read most everything paperback during the early 1960s. So the family Sunday night outing would be to go to the downtown newsstand and get reading material. My hands were always full of the comics and monster magazines, which my dad also read afterwards, which was probably why I was able to get as many at one time as I did—15 to 20 at a time. BILL: What did your father do for a living? BART: He was an ophthalmologist, whose office was one block away from the newsstand where I got my comics. That made it convenient to get a ride home with a load of comics! In the early1960s pre-Marvel days, unbeknownst to me, Dad would stock his waiting room with my comics. I only discovered this one day on a visit and saw a stack of my comics on a table. I scooped them up and took them home. From that point on, I selected only the funny ones for him to take. So was the fate of the early Dell and Harvey comics in my collection. BILL: What were your favorites? BART: This was the early 1960s, so Harvey and DC were my favorites, and I didn’t miss many of them. The Harvey style really appealed to me, and those square-bound giants became a must-have. I was fortunate to purchase new comics like Flash #105, Brave & Bold #28–30, and everything that came afterwards that

Bart Bush, Then And Now

was something new for me. When I got home, I read it— then read it again. In its own special way, it grabbed me, the idea of a teenage boy who was a hero, but insecure and unsure. Great costume and interesting art. Two days later, our family took a summer vacation, driving to Florida. At a shopping center along the way, I found new Marvels: X-Men #1, Avengers #1, FF Annual #1, Strange Tales Annual #2, Amazing Spider-Man #5, Fantastic Four #19—all at the same time. BILL: I’m getting a tremendous nostalgia rush as I picture that newsstand with all those key Marvels.

Back In A Flash The pre-teen Bart, when he was primarily a fan of DC and Harvey Comics. Seen here is the Carmine Infantino/Murphy Anderson cover of The Flash #105 (Feb.-March 1959), the first issue after the title began regular publication—and picked up the numbering from the Golden Age Flash Comics discontinued ten years earlier. [Flash cover TM & © DC Comics.]

built on the DC Silver Age legends: Atom, Hawkman, Green Lantern, Action…. I bought ’em all. Comics like the Secret Origins, Superman and Batman Annuals were must-buys, as they made us kids feel special, getting to read the classic stories. How else could you get them? And the reprints of the covers gave you a glimpse of this incredibly long history of these characters. How could you not want more? I had to keep buying and reading. And I did, every chance I could. BILL: Did you “play super-hero” as a kid? BART: Absolutely. I used a cape my Grandma made me, I jumped around and acted stupid, pretending I was the kid of steel—throwing cardboard boxes and playfully fighting younger kids in the back yard. Comicbook action and thoughts always were part of my growing up years.

BART: It was an incredible mind-blowing group of comicbooks! I read them over and over during that long car ride. As soon as I got home, I was off on my bike to find these other comics shown in the ads, featuring Ant-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Sgt. Fury... even Patsy Walker!! Oh my ghod, I had to have them all! If they were Marvels, then they were going to be great! I became a Marvel devotee that summer of ’63, and never missed any issues after that. BILL: What about the monster mags? Were you an avid reader of Famous Monsters of Filmland? BART: I started buying Famous Monsters with issue #11 (April 1961) with the Gorgo cover. I had been a weekly follower of Saturday night monster films (Shock Theatre) so I immediately became absorbed into monster fandom, ordering some fanzines such as Candlelight Room and Gore Creatures, and stuff from Captain Company like monster masks. I had the Shock Monster and the Frankenstein masks, both of which over the years literally melted away into a glob of rubber! The Monster stuff was fun. I hosted neighborhood kid Spook Houses and I used that Magnajector advertised in FM to cast still pictures from the mag on a bedsheet hung on the wall. I draped bed sheets and blankets over the bed posts, covering the side-by-side single beds, and played a record at 16 rpm to sound creepy. I had kids crawl under and between the beds and I dangled string over them as they crawled, made spooky sounds, and reached out and grabbed them as they blindly

BILL: What was your first Marvel comicbook? BART: In late June 1963, I bought Amazing Spider-Man #4 on a whim. I wasn’t familiar with Marvel Comics, had not seen The Fantastic Four or The Hulk, so this

Captain Company Adventures Basil Gogol’s cover for Famous Monsters of Filmland #11 (April 1961), the first issue bought by Bart Bush—and the “Magnajector” ad from FMoF #12. [TM & © New Comic Company.]

WILLIAM WOOLFOLK Remembered– Part II I

NTRODUCTION: Magazine writer. Publisher. Emmy-nominated television writer/story editor. Best-selling novelist. All of these titles describe William Woolfolk (1917-2003), whose versatile pen proved successful in varying fields throughout his career. But ultimately, it is his comicbook stories for which Woolfolk is best remembered, with the man himself later admitting that “Comics have outlasted all my writing efforts in other media.” He was one of the highest-paid and most sought-after writers during the Golden Age of Comics, producing scripts for Fawcett, MLJ (Archie), Quality, Timely (Marvel), National (DC), Will Eisner’s The Spirit, and others. For more on William Woolfolk, seek out his essay “Looking Backward — From My Upside Down Point of View” (A/E V3#6), my interview with Woolfolk entitled “The Human Side of the Golden Age” (A/E #24), and last issue’s extended Part I of “William Woolfolk Remembered” (A/E #158). For this issue’s second part of our Woolfolk commemoration, we present an interview with the writer conducted by our colleague, Bill Schelly.—P.C. Hamerlinck.

William Woolfolk as pictured on the back cover of his 1975 novel The President’s Doctor, from Playboy Press—and the splash page of the Woolfolk-scripted lead story in The Marvel Family #9 (March ’47), ; art by the Beck-Costanza Studio. [Shazam heroes TM & © DC Comics

William Woolfolk Interviewed By Bill Schelly - June 29, 2002 Transcribed by Brian K. Morris Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck BILL SCHELLY INTRO: As some of you know, I self-published a biography called Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of Otto Binder, which came out in late 2003. (A revised and expanded version titled Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary saw print in 2016.) At the time, Woolfolk was one of the few Fawcett veterans who was still around. I believe I got his address from Roy Thomas. When I interviewed him about Otto Binder, I still had a lot to learn about the latter’s career, as is obvious from some of my questions. I found Woolfolk to be an engaging conversationalist with a good sense of humor and a very good memory. How lucky I was able to speak to him! He passed away about a year later. Although I used a number of quotes from it in my book(s), I recently realized that it was a treasure and ought to be published as a separate interview. I’m delighted that it’s finally seeing print in that form in FCA. BILL SCHELLY: Let’s start with a little background information on you so I can get a feeling for when you met Otto Binder … a little bit of what had come before in your life. WILLIAM WOOLFOLK: My life began when I met Otto.

SCHELLY: [laughs] Well, let’s start with when and where you were born. WOOLFOLK: That’s gotta come out, huh? SCHELLY: Yeah, afraid so. WOOLFOLK: Aw, s**t. [laughs] June 29, 1917, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth. I was born in a town called Center Moriches, Long Island, and I left there at the age of three months, as soon as I found out where I was. My family insisted on coming with me. [laughs]

William Woolfolk Remembered—Part II

All The Way With MLJ In 1941 a young Bill Woolfolk pitched on the spot to MLJ editor Harry Shorten a villain called The Jingler, thereby launching the writer’s eminent comics career. The above “Wizard” yarn “The Jingler of Death” appeared in Top Notch Comics #26 (April 1942), with art by Paul Reinman. Woolfolk soon scripted various other MLJ features, including the pictured stories in The Hangman #2 (Spring ’42) with art by Warren King, and in Black Hood Comics #17 (Winter ’46, with art possibly by Irv Novick. [TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

SCHELLY: And where did you do most of your growing up? WOOLFOLK: Mine was a show business family, and so I was all over the country. SCHELLY: So you were a bit of a nomad as you were growing up? WOOLFOLK: As a three-month old, I was. And I went to Louisville. And then from Louisville, I went to Boston. And then from Boston, went to Coney Island, where I spent a great deal of time because my father managed the Loew’s Coney Island theatre. SCHELLY: Did you ever go on stage yourself? WOOLFOLK: No. SCHELLY: You weren’t drawn to that? WOOLFOLK: Well, it was not that I wasn’t drawn to it, but I had an unfortunate thing when I was thirteen. I had an operation which cut my facial nerves and caused complete paralysis on one side of my face where I couldn’t drink anything without spilling, couldn’t close my eye, I couldn’t do anything. But one year later they did another operation and I think now it’s almost normal. [laughs]

Alter Ego #159