Roy Thomas' Subaqueous Comics Fanzine
PAUL NORRIS
AND HIS AQUATIC CO-CREATION IN WORLD
WAR II!
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No. 168 March 2021
8
WILLIE ITO’s WAR—and REMEMBRANCE!
82658 00424
Art TM & © DC Comics.
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Vol. 3, No. 168 / March 2021 Editor
Roy Thomas
Associate Editor 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, Bill Schelly
Proofreaders
Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding
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Cover Artist
Contents
Cover Colorist
Writer/Editorial: “Two Billion Stories…” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Paul Norris & The Secret World War II Comics For Military Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Paul Norris Paul Norris, et al.
With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Richard J. Arndt Bob Bailey Mike W. Barr Ricky Terry Brisacque Ben Bryan Michael Bryan John Cimino Comic Book Plus (website) Chet Cox Brian Cremins Craig Delich Patrick Dilley Shane Foley Joe Frank Stephan Friedt Janet Gilbert Eric Gimlin Grand Comics Database (website) George Hagenauer
Heritage Auctions (website) Tony Isabella Willie Ito Sharon Karibian Jim Kealy Todd Klein Mark Lewis Art Lortie Jim Ludwig Doug Martin Bruce Mason Will Murray Michael Norris Paul (“Reed”) Norris, Jr. Rich Pileggi David Saunders David Siegel Russ Sprout Stripper’s Guide (website) Dann Thomas Qiana Whitted
This issue is dedicated to the memory of
Paul Norris, Cal Massey, & Mort Drucker
Richard Arndt talks with the justifiably proud sons of the co-creator of Aquaman.
“What I Wanted To Become Was An Animated Cartoonist” . . 28 An interview with Willie Ito about comics, animation, and World War II injustices.
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Raiders Of The Lost Art . . . . . . 49 Michael T. Gilbert stripmines some gems from the 100-year-old Cartoons Magazine.
Feel The Vern! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Part XV of our serialization of John Broome’s memoirs, starring writer David V. Reed.
Tributes to Mort Drucker & Cal Massey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 66 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #227 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Brian Cremins on Fawcett’s Jackie Robinson Comics.
On Our Cover: A marvelous montage of two vintage “Aquaman” splash pages—a special illustration of DC’s Sea King done in 1993 for hand-outs at comics conventions—and a Jan. 8, 1945, photo of original Aquaman artist Paul Norris with his wife Ann and young son Michael, during his time with the armed services during the Second World War. The two splashes are those of the very first “Aquaman” story, from More Fun Comics #73 (Nov. 1941), and the one from More Fun #79 (May 1942), both drawn by Norris. The first was scripted by Mort Weisinger; the writer of the latter is unidentified. Thanks to Jim Kealy & Michael T. Gilbert for the splash scans, and to siblings Paul Norris, Jr., and Michael Norris for the 1993 art and the photo. [Aquaman TM & © DC Comics.]] Above: Cartoonist/animator Willie Ito never drew super-heroes, horror, or even six-gun Westerns—but a comicbook artist he definitely was, at least when he had the time! Here’s his spirited cover for Dell/Western’s Beany and Cecil #3 (Jan.-March 1963), featuring Bob Clampett’s engaging TV creations. Inks by Beverly Ware. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [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: $68 US, $103 Elsewhere, $27 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.
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writer/editorial
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“Two Billion Stories…”
etting personal for a moment—and what better place for that than up front in a magazine I edit and (to some minor extent) co-created:
I don’t suppose it’s any great secret that, at least for the past five decades or so, I’ve been fascinated with the horrific planet-wide conflagration known as the Second World War. The “why” of that extreme interest I really couldn’t say, except perhaps that it’s because it occurred during the years when I was a pre-school child, and so in a later day I became filled with an overwhelming curiosity as to what had gone on during that period: in the broader world, in film and radio, in comics… you name it. (Well, not so much in sports.) While my own professional career, which began in 1965, overlaps the latter half of the so-called Silver Age of Comics, plus what’s come since, the storied Golden Age of Comics—the World War II years, plus what came immediately before and after them— has always held even more attraction for me. This issue of Alter Ego is one of quite a few to date that hearkens back to that now-distant time… but with a difference. It focuses on two well-known and talented artists and their experiences between 1941 and 1945… experiences that for the most part don’t involve comicbooks they produced during that period… experiences that, in important ways, could not be more different: Paul Norris, the artistic co-creator of “Aquaman,” one of DC Comics’ longest-lived heroes, was a young adult during those war
years… yet the comics work of his that largely concerns us herein was done not for a mainstream comics company but for the U.S. military in the Pacific Ocean… and must be discussed by his sons, since Paul himself left us in 2007 (though, thankfully, Jim Amash was privileged to interview him for A/E back in issue #69)… …and Willie Ito, who, having been born in 1934, was only eleven years old when that most destructive of all wars ended… but who, being of Japanese descent and born on the West Coast, had undeservedly spent most of its duration interned with his family as an “enemy alien” (beginning at the age of seven!)—and yet, despite those circumstances, became a comics fan and was pointed toward his later career in animation and comic art while in the bleak desert confines of a place called Camp Topaz that should probably never have existed. But, should we truly be surprised that such widely differing experiences could have occurred, at the same time yet thousands of miles apart and incredibly divergent in kind? After all, there were more than two billion people on our troubled globe while the Second World War was going on… so there were likewise two billion stories waiting to be told. The ones that follow in this issue are merely two of them… but two that are very much worth the telling.
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PAUL NORRIS & The Secret World War II Comics For Military Intelligence How The Co-Creator Of “Aquaman” Helped Win The Battle Of Okinawa Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt
Part I: PAUL NORRIS, JR. (a.k.a. REED NORRIS)
I
NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Paul Norris (1914-2007) is best known as the co-creator/original artist of “Aquaman.” But he also illustrated the original “Sandman” in Adventure Comics and, working with writer Mort Weisinger, transformed that character from a gasmask-wearing pulp-style mystery-man into a fully costumed comicbook super-hero… complete with a sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy. Paul also drew the adventures of “Johnny Quick” and “Captain Compass” for DC. In the late 1940s he finally achieved his early ambition to draw a newspaper comic strip, starting with Jungle Jim. In 1952 he began his 35-year run on the science-fiction strip Brick Bradford. He kept his hand in comicbooks, however, drawing issues of Western’s Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, the comicbook version of Jungle Jim, and work on such comics as Tarzan and Magnus, Robot Fighter. He co-created, with writer Gaylord DuBois, the comicbook The Jungle Twins, which ran from 1972-1975. These two interviews were conducted on June 9, 2016.
RICHARD ARNDT: We’re talking to Paul Norris, Jr., who goes by the name Reed, and Michael Norris, the sons of artist Paul Norris. Welcome! We’re here today primarily to discuss a little-known part of your father’s career during World War II. I know your father served in the 10th Army during the war, drawing propaganda leaflets. Oh, and thanks, Reed, for sending me all the photos and artwork. That will be a huge help here.
Paul Norris is seen on right in the above 1945 photo, taken on the Pacific island of Okinawa, after its capture… with an unidentified American lieutenant on our left, and an unidentified Japanese prisoner of war between them. Japanese troops had been told that any who surrendered would be executed by the Americans. Thanks to the Norris brothers (Paul, Jr., a.k.a. Reed, and Michael), via Richard Arndt. (Above:) Perhaps the only Norris-drawn “Aquaman” story with a true World War II theme is this one from More Fun Comics #79 (Oct. 1942); scripter unknown. The bad guys in this one were Nazis who operated a U-boat disguised as an iceberg. Thanks to Jim Kealy & Michael T. Gilbert. [TM & © DC Comics.] (Above right:) The final panel from the World War II propaganda comic page drawn by Paul Norris. See the entire page on p. 12.
PAUL NORRIS, JR.: Well, that was the intent. We hope it’s helpful. RA: Now, at the time we’ll be discussing here, the World War II years, was your dad drafted or did he enlist? NORRIS: I believe he was drafted, towards the middle years of the war. RA: His work in comics was interrupted in 1943-1945, which would indicate he was drafted sometime in 1943.
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How The Co-Creator Of “Aquaman” Helped Win The Battle Of Okinawa
Back in those days, Dad and Mom were living in Bergen, New Jersey, right across the river from New York City. I believe they crossed the river on ferries. They had a little apartment, the three of them—my father, my mother, and my brother Michael. Dad always worked at home. He never could work in a bullpen or shop environment. He liked to be at home with Mom and Michael. His family meant everything to him. Everything in the world. RA: I can tell that just by looking at those cards you sent me. NORRIS: Absolutely! When I found those old cards, I thought they were remarkable, because there’s so much in them. You could see from them the kind of father that he was. RA: I think it’s because he’s not just writing to his son, your brother, but also your mother, letting her know he’s all right. There are layers to the messages. I thought that was a cool way of doing the cards.
The Norris Siblings—Then & Now (Above:) Paul (“Reed”) Norris, Jr. (on left), Joyce Weisinger Kaffel, & Mike Norris at the world premiere of the blockbuster hit film Aquaman. The sons of the original “Aquaman” artist and the daughter of the first “Aquaman” scripter, Mort Weisinger, met at this event on December 12, 2018. According to Paul Norris, in 1941 DC editor Whitney Ellsworth handed him a copy of a guy smoking a cigar underwater, presumably with the name “Aquaman,” and told him to draw up the character—after which Weisinger was assigned to write the origin tale, and Norris to illustrate it, for More Fun Comics #73 (Nov. 1941). (Right:) A 1945 photo of Paul and Ann Norris and young son Mike. Both pics courtesy of the Norris brothers.
NORRIS: That date sounds familiar. [NOTE: From statements in Phil Norris’ self-penned bio “Born in Greenville,” he went into the service sometime in September of 1943. —RA.] RA: I’ve got a note here that says he was starting up a comic strip named Vic Jordan at the time. And that his work was intended to be exclusive to the strip, which meant that he couldn’t draw comics for DC/National. That 1943 date may or may not be accurate, since his work on the comic strip was interrupted by being drafted. NORRIS: Yeah, Dad admitted that he kind of got himself into a jam there. I believe that the strip was intended for PM [newspaper] or some offshoot of PM Management.
NORRIS: And he always
“For We Were Soldiers Then, And Young…” (Right:) Or at least, Paul Norris soon would be serving in uniform for America, by the time this photo was taken— while the unglimpsed publicist/ underground hero of the newspaper strip Vic Jordan, in this first 1943 daily (below) that Norris drew for the Marshall Field Syndicate feature that appeared in the famous liberal newspaper PM, was already clearly working undercover for Uncle Sam! (The strip had been launched by other hands in 1941. According to the Stripper’s Guide website, Norris’ tenure lasted only until July 10 of that year—when he was drafted.) Thanks to the Norris brothers for both scans. [Daily © the respective copyright holders.]
Paul Norris & The Secret World War II Comics For Military Intelligence
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Let’s Strip! (Above:) The first of several unsold dailies written and drawn in 1942 by Paul Norris of Curlie McKey, a projected comic strip about a girl moving from Ohio to New York City to get a job in the war effort. Reed N. says it “has Dad’s early signature logo.” (Below:) Red Pepper—Reed says he’s only guessing that would’ve been the name of that unsold 1942 comic strip—exists in the form of this Sunday. [© Estate of Paul Norris.]
took the opportunity to include a little teaching moment in the cards. And they’re beautifully illustrated. They look like children’s books of the time. He really put some work into those cards. One that I found interesting was one where he was probably going through the Kamikaze attacks off Okinawa and you can really see how rushed and shaky and nervous the artwork is. He had one thing he wanted to say and that was “I love you.” Those attacks really had an effect on him. That’s why I sent the picture of the
kamikaze being shot at. Just imagine having that flying bomb headed right at you! RA: We should mention which branch of the service your dad was in. NORRIS: Dad was in the Army. He would have been on board a transport ship, a troop ship, during the Okinawa campaign. [continued on p. 8]
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“What I Wanted To Become Was An Animated Cartoonist”
An Interview with WILLIE ITO by Richard J. Arndt
Willie Ito in a recent photo, flanked by his artwork for some of the most famous concepts he’s worked with over the decades. (Top left:) Film and TV animation characters Cecil the Seasick Serpent, Fred Flintstone, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Lady from the Disney film Lady and the Tramp. That’s a self-caricature of Willie himself in the middle of them all, of course. Thanks to Thorsten Brümmel. [TM & © respectively Bob Clampett Co., Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney Productions, & Warner Bros. or successors in interest.]
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NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Willie Ito was born July 17, 1934. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles before landing a job at Walt Disney Studios. His initial animation work for the studio was as an “in-betweener” (one who draws the in-between frames from major segment to major segment on an animated film). He soon joined Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes unit for six years, largely working for Chuck Jones and, later, Fritz Freleng. While there he worked on such shorts as One Froggy Evening, What’s Opera, Doc?, and Prince Violent. He left Warner Bros. to join Hanna-Barbara as one of the developers of The Jetsons. He stayed there for fourteen years, working on such shows as The Jetsons, The Flintstones, The Atom Ant Show, Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Josie and the Pussycats, and The Yogi Bear Show. He also designed characters for that company’s Hong Kong Phooey and Goober and the Ghost Chasers. Other shows he worked on included The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour and The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show. In the late 1970s he moved back to Disney, working in their character
(Bottom left:) Ito’s penciled cover for Marvel comicbook Fantastic World of Hanna-Barbera – Laff-A-Lympics #3 (June 1978), inked by Scott Shaw!, and spotlighting the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, and several other H&B favorites. [TM & © Hanna-Barbera or successors in interest.]
merchandising department, designing toys and collectibles. He also worked with the original group that launched Disney Television Animation. During these years he has also produced comicbook work for CARtoons, Beany and Cecil, and Crazy Magazine, done layouts on many Dell covers, and drawn such comic strips as Winnie the Pooh, as well as ghosting the Pogo newspaper strip. This interview took place on June 22, 2018. RICHARD ARNDT: We’re talking today to cartoonist and comicbook artist Willie Ito. Why don’t we start with your early life and where you got your artistic education? WILLIE ITO: Basically, I was five years old when I realized, after watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on the big screen, that what I wanted to become was an animated cartoonist. I grew up in San Francisco, so every Sunday morning I’d get the San Francisco Examiner and open it to the comic strips. In those days the comic strip sections were huge! Practically every comic strip that a kid could enjoy would be in there, such as Prince Valiant, Terry and the Pirates, Blondie, along with Mickey and Donald and all the Disney characters. I was totally immersed in a world of cartooning from a very early age. Then the unfortunate situation came about, because World War II started. Being of Japanese ancestry, my family and many
“What I Wanted To Become Was An Animated Cartoonist”
Camp Topaz (Left to right:) The fence around the Japanese-American internment center known as Camp Topaz, Utah, where young Willie Ito and his family were forced to spend several years during World War II… and an actual postcard image of the camp, showing the inhabitants’ hastily erected living quarters. While the term “concentration camp” came, during this same era, to mean something far more dire and deadly in the hands of the Nazi Third Reich, and attempts to conflate the two types of camps are often overstated, the fact remains that the internment centers did fit the original definition of a “concentration camp.”
others were all shipped out to concentration camps. In Camp Topaz, where I was at, I no longer had access to the comic strip pages and the 10¢ comicbooks that I used to buy every weekend. Many of the cartoons that I used to see every weekend before the movies weren’t available any longer either because of the incarceration. Then a young Japanese-American who’d worked in animation before the war started to do a comic strip for the people in the camp. It was called Jankee. It was both a shock and a thrill to realize that this was a comic strip being done by a fellow Japanese-American. His weekly strip was really my only source of new comics during my years in the camp.
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ITO: Yes, we could order for our needs—clothing, shoes, whatever. There were no dry goods store in camp, of course. There was a little store that sold toothpaste and things of that nature, but clothing you had to order through the catalog. So every three months we’d get a new, up-dated catalog. I would then take the old catalogs and on the margins I would make little drawings in sequence. When you flipped the pages, the figures would become animated! That’s where I really took to my big interest in animation. In the meanwhile, the Jankee comic strip was a great inspiration to me. So I followed the strip every week. RA: Do you remember the name of the writer/artist? ITO: Yes, his name was Bennie Nobori. I recently visited the grand opening of the Topaz Museum in Delta. There’s a gal there named Jane Beckwith, who is the founder of the museum. She sent me clippings of the Jankee strips. I’m going to revise the character, with the blessings of the Nobori family, with the idea of doing some coloring books or what have you that has Jankee reliving some of
The camp I was in, the Topaz Camp, was right in the middle of the Utah desert. I think all of the camps were in the middle of nowhere! [laughs] The Topaz Camp was near a little town named Delta. We arrived there by train. From Delta we were transported by buses and trucks to the camp. Sixteen miles from Delta in the middle of nowhere. For a kid who’d been born and raised in San Francisco, it was excruciating to be there. From mild temperatures year-round to that unrelenting heat of the summers and the cold, cold winters—it was really a climate shock. The barracks there were, of course, brand new. They were wooden structures, covered with tar paper. There was no other insulation, so during the winter it was very cold and during the summers it was hot, hot, hot. What we had to warm ourselves during the winter were big, cast-iron, pop-bellied stoves that burnt coal. The whole family would gather around the stoves. Pretty much our whole winter family lifestyles were based around those stoves. I spent a lot of time drawing. We were issued Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs every three months. RA: Could you order from them?
Other Skies, Other Memories In later years, Ito illustrated the story of another young Japanese-American, Shigera Yabu, who was likewise a denizen of an internment camp during World War II. Shigera Yabu himself wrote Hi Maggie, a collection of letters published in 2007… while Barbara Bazaldua wrote and Ito illustrated that tale more fully in 2010’s A Boy of Heart Mountain. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
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(Right:) Everett E. Lowry from Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 11, #3 (March 1917). [© the copyright owners.]
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Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!
Raiders Of The Lost Art!
C
by Michael T. Gilbert
artoons Magazine was a periodical devoted to (surprise! surprise!) cartoons, primarily editorial cartoons—and the cartoonists who created them. It provided a fascinating overview of illustrated opinions from around the world, back when editorial cartoons were still a force to be reckoned with. The magazine was created by Henry Haven Windsor in 1912; he had previously founded Popular Mechanics in 1901. Cartoons Magazine purported to present “What the World’s Nations Think of Each Other.” Reading the issues, it was particularly fascinating seeing viewpoints of cartoonists from Germany and the U.S. in the years leading up to World War I. Cartoons Magazine began as a 64-page mag, eventually growing more than twice that size, filled with editorial and gag cartoons. It also featured articles and contemporary news notes on cartoonists and their creations. These issues were later collected into a series of books. The title was merged with the illustrated adventure-story magazine Wayside Tales in 1921, under the title Wayside Tales and Cartoons Magazine—apparently a last desperate attempt to keep a failing magazine going. The Cartoons Magazine part of the title was dropped in January 1922, with the final issue of Wayside Tales appearing in May of that year. Now, I realize articles about century-old editorial cartoons aren’t strictly within the purview of Alter Ego. Not a single super-hero in the bunch, to be honest. But we’re pals, you and I, and frankly, this stuff is too good not to share! If it makes you feel more comfortable, think of these as very early Platinum Age comics. Or not. Let’s start with an article that especially tickled my funny-bone. The premise is simple: one month in the life of a cartoon character… told by the little guy himself! This piece is surprisingly sophisticated, deftly playing with the conventions of comic strips that were already clichés a hundred years ago—and firmly breaking the “fourth wall” in the process!
The Diary Of A Comic Strip Character! by William P. Langreich From Cartoons Magazine, Vol.10, #6 (Dec. 1916) Monday — I am four hours old. I have a funny mustache and extraordinarily large feet. In stature I am not in the Jess Willard class. I am, in fact, rather short and dumpy. My clothes are very loud; they have a foreign cut and run to checks. My hat is an ill-fitting affair which comes down over the ears. I can’t say that I like it. Two little “x”-marks represent my eyes. I am not beautiful, but if it were not for me, my boss would be out looking for a job. Tuesday — Here I am at the top of the last page, next to the joke column. In the strip with me is a long, lanky individual who, I believe, is to go through life with me. I do not fancy him particularly, and he looks as if he had designs on me. He seems to regard me as a sort of animated football. We are introduced formally to the readers.
Raiders Of The Lost Art!
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Wednesday — Came out of the inkwell today to give the readers their first laugh, but what is comedy to them is tragedy to me. Their sense of humor is all wrong, all wrong. In the grand finale I am hit in the face by my partner with a custard pie. I see stars. Life in a comic strip is no sinecure [ie: a cushy job]. Thursday — Felt rather foolish today when the boss insisted on my wearing a brand-new straw hat. My partner ducked me in the lake, and my cue was to say “Blub, Blub!” under the water. Everybody laughed except the editor. Gee! You gotta work hard to make HIM laugh. I seem to be old stuff to him. Friday — I am becoming careless in my speech. I use such phrases as “gotta” and “don’ wanna.” They are not at all grammatical. My partner also is acquiring bad manners. He dropped a bowl of tripe upon my head. Why is it that folks laugh at me and yet feel sorry for a man that gets run over by a street car? Saturday — This was some day. I had my revenge for the custard pie, the ducking, and the bowl of tripe. I hit my partner so hard with a slapstick that he had to be carried out of the strip on a stretcher. It served him right for getting so fresh. It was he this time who saw the stars. There is a big bump on his head. The readers seem to enjoy the sight as much as I did. Sunday —Took a day off, as this is an evening paper. Monday — My partner’s head is healed. The boss couldn’t think up any idea of his own, so he is reading the newspaper. Perhaps I’m going to fall heir to a million dollars and break into society. Fine spectacle I’ll make in the atrocious suit of clothes with my “gotta” and “don’ wanna” and “Please pass them prunes.”
Tuesday — I knew it. I’m going to make a boob of myself in society. My partner is going into society with me. The boss has been reading a book of etiquette which he borrowed from the society editor. I suppose I’ll be drinking out of a finger bowl tomorrow or be eating peas with a knife. Wednesday — I have been introduced to a girl with star eyes—Miss Peacherino. She is a millionaire’s daughter. I must make love to her and propose, kneeling down. Horrors! She is already married. I suppose her husband will knock me into the middle of next week. Thursday — Yes, sir. That’s exactly what happened. They summoned the butler to sweep me up in a dustpan. I am now out of society and on my way to the trenches to stop cannon balls. [NOTE: This was during World War I.] Friday — When I heard a shell whistle today I started to go home, thinking it was twelve o’clock. The boss got the idea out of an English paper. Saturday — This is atrocious. My partner tries to give me a haircut, but cuts my ear off by mistake. I simply had to duck that shell. If this keeps up I’ll call a strike. Monday — Fell out of an airship and landed on a ton of coal. My partner tried to explain that I wasn’t hurt because it was soft coal. Not much of a joke, what? Tuesday — I am back from the trenches and pretend to like the smell of the gasworks. Another crib from an English paper, yet some say the British have no sense of humor. Wednesday — I slipped on a banana peel today and saw stars. Don’t cheer, boys, the poor fellows are dying. Thursday — Am not really so dense as I appear to be in today’s strip. I only bought that gold brick to keep the boss on the paper’s payroll. I got hit with it as usual in the last picture.
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“You’ve Got To Be Yourself!”
Why You Should Read Fawcett’s Jackie Robinson Comics by Brian Cremins Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck
“Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?” While all their other baseball comics were one-shots, Fawcett published six issues of Jackie Robinson from 1949 to 1952. All stories were written by Charles Dexter and illustrated by Clem Weisbecker (with an assist from John Jordan in issue #1). Editors for the series included Captain Marvel/Whiz Comics/Marvel Family editor Wendell Crowley and, later, Harvey B. Janes; an interview with the latter appeared last issue. Scans courtesy of the Comic Book Database website. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] P.S.: The heading above is the title and opening line of a popular song written in 1949 by Buddy Johnson and recorded at various times by Count Basie, Natalie Cole, and many others.
“You’ve Got To Be Yourself!”
S
ometimes it’s good to meet your heroes.
In his 1992 autobiography Just Let Me Play, golfer Charlie Sifford remembers a conversation he had with Jackie Robinson in the late 1940s. Only a year earlier, Robinson, the first African-American recruited for a Major League Baseball team, began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Two fellow AfricanAmericans, catcher Roy Campanella and pitcher Don Newcombe, soon joined Robinson as his teammates. While Robinson remains a legendary ballplayer and one of the great athletes of the last century, few remember that he was also an avid golfer, along with his good friend Joe Louis, long the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. During a tournament in Los Angeles in 1948, Robinson offered Sifford advice that would change the history of golf in the U.S. Sifford, after all, paved the way for Tiger Woods, whose son Charlie is named for the man that Tiger once called the “grandpa that I never had” (Lavner). For almost five decades after it got its start in 1916, the PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association of America) allowed only white players to join. Like other black golfers of the day—including Ted Rhodes, who landed a spot in the 1948 U. S. Open—Sifford wanted the opportunity to compete
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at PGA Tour events (Denney, Rose). “Look here, Jackie,” he asked Robinson, “what do you think of this proposition of me becoming a professional golfer?” (Sifford 113). Robinson warned Sifford of the violence and hatred he would experience not only from fans but also from other players, managers, and journalists. Nonetheless, Robinson encouraged Sifford to push against ignorance, fear, and bigotry. “It’s going to be awfully tough to do, Charlie, but can’t nobody do it but you,” Robinson assured him. Also, he added, “You’ve got to be yourself” (Sifford 113). As Sifford reminds his readers, he finally received his PGA Tour card in 1961 (Denney). After telling this story in his autobiography, Sifford adds a note of thanks to his old friend, who’d passed away in the fall of 1972: I’m pleased to report, Jackie, that I still haven’t gone after anyone with a golf club. And I’m still out here plugging away at my game. I haven’t done it because I particularly wanted to force my way into a white man’s world. I did it because playing golf is all I’ve ever wanted to do, as far back as I can remember. (Sifford 113–114) Given his talent and his determination, it’s likely that Sifford would have found his way to the PGA Tour even without the example Robinson had set for him, but it’s impossible to deny the impact that a real-life hero can have on those who admire and respect them. Think, for example, of Congressman John Lewis who, as I was writing this essay, passed away on July 17, 2020. Or just ask Tiger Woods. After learning of Charlie’s death in 2015, Woods— on his Twitter account—called his mentor “a brave, decent and honorable man. I’ll miss u Charlie” (Lavner). At this point, you may be thinking that you’ve picked up a copy of Golf Digest or Sports Illustrated by mistake. Isn’t this a magazine about comicbooks? My reference to John Lewis should assure you that you’re in the right place. Robinson and Lewis are both towering cultural heroes who’ve starred in their own comicbooks. You’ve no doubt seen the photos of Congressman Lewis with his tan raincoat and his backpack, marching with a line of kids at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. Lewis’ comics autobiography March, created in collaboration with Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell, has captivated a new generation of young readers (and, for the other teachers who are reading this, I can’t recommend it strongly enough; my students have loved it). Fawcett fans and scholars who’ve read March will recognize in it elements of Jackie Robinson, the series that company began publishing in 1949. Faithful readers will recall P.C. Hamerlinck’s article in FCA #204 [A/E #145, March 2017] in which he highlighted the more forwardthinking comics Fawcett published in the years following the 1945 removal of Steamboat from Captain Marvel Adventures. FCA #204 also includes Jay Piscopo’s fabulous cover drawing of Captain Marvel with none other than Jackie Robinson.
The Golf Stream The cover of Charlie Sifford’s 1992 autobiography “Just Let Me Play”: The Story of Charlie Sifford, the First Black PGA Golfer, written in collaboration with James Gullo. Sifford is pictured here with his trademark cigar! [© the respective copyright holders.]
As Hamerlinck points out in that article, by the late 1940s and early 1950s, Fawcett was producing some of the most racially progressive comics of the period, including Negro Romance (1950) and numerous sports titles featuring athletes such as Campanella, Newcombe, Larry Doby (the first African-American player in the American League), Joe Louis, and—of course—Robinson. (For a checklist of all of Fawcett’s sports titles, including the ones about Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, and Eddie Stanky, check out the index on p. 158 of Fawcett Companion: The Best of FCA.) In his just-published study The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson, historian Michael Lee Lanning points out that Fawcett’s six-issue Jackie Robinson series, published between 1949 and 1952, was just one example of how Robinson had captured the public’s imagination at the dawn of a new decade. Shortly after making his debut on the silver screen with actress