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Roy Thomas' Barbarian-Oriented Comics Fanzine

MOON-LIT MAYHEM FROM THE ASTONISHING

ALFREDO ALCALA

$9.95

In the USA

No. 172

Voltar art TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.

Nov. 2021

82658 00443 9

Vol. 3, No. 172 / November 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

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions!

Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll

Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich, Bill Schelly

Proofreaders

William J. Dowlding

Cover Artist

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With Special Thanks to: Alfredo Alcala, Jr. Christian Alcala Heidi Amash Henry Andrews Richard J. Arndt Bob Bailey Ricky Terry Brisacque Steve Bissette Bernie Bubnis Mike Burkey Nick Caputo John Cimino Pierre Comtois Chet Cox Michael Diaz Mark Evanier Shane Foley Frank Foster, Jr. Michael D. Fraley Stephan Friedt Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database (website) Mario Guevara George Hagenauer Roger Hill

Carla Jordan Sharon Karibian Jim Kealy Tristan Lapoussière Mark Lewis Art Lortie Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Mike Mikulovsky Cayman Moreira Brian K. Morris Mark Muller Barry Pearl Mike Pellerito Todd Reis Larry Rippee David Roach Steven Rowe Bob Rozakis Randy Sargent David Saunders Brian Stewart Dann Thomas John Totleben Michael Vance

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Alfredo Alcala, Victor Gorelick, & Dennis O’Neil

Contents Writer/Editorial: An Epistle From The Philippines . . . . . . . . . 2 Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Richard Arndt speaks with the sons of the Philippines-born comics master.

More From That Other World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Part XVII of Golden/Silver Age writer John Broome’s 1997 memoir.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum! . 53 Michael T. Gilbert on the various secret identities of the man called Richard E. Hughes.

Tributes To Victor Gorelick & Dennis O’Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 67 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #231 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

P.C. Hamerlinck presents David Saunders on his pulp-artist father Norman S. at Fawcett.

On Our Cover: We certainly had an embarrassment of riches when choosing among illustrations by Alfredo Alcala for the cover of this issue of Alter Ego. We think we didn’t choose too badly, though, when we settled on this drawing of Alfredo’s sword-and-sorcery hero Voltar (created in 1963 but probably drawn here in the late 1970s or so) to represent all the goodies coming at you this time around! Thanks to Alfredo Alcala, Jr. [TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala.] Above: While Alfredo Alcala could handle horror, action, and humor with equal dexterity, he felt frustrated by the fact that he was so seldom given full-art chores on any U.S. super-hero comics. Here, though, he both penciled and inked the story for Captain Marvel #35 (Nov. 1974), as scripted by Steve Englehart & Mike Friedrich. Thanks to Mark Muller & Michael T. Gilbert. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] 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.

writer/editorial

Epistle From The Philippines I

’m reputed by some to have a fairly good memory for things that happened to or around me in the comicbook industry in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a reputation, I hope, not entirely undeserved.

But I’m afraid that, when I try to recall the day and/or the circumstances of my first meeting the wonderfully talented Alfredo Alcala, I draw a blank. Most likely that’s because, when I decided one day in early 1974 that he should be the artist to ink/embellish John Buscema’s pencils on an adaptation of the Robert E. Howard story “Black Colossus” in The Savage Sword of Conan #2, Alfredo was still living in the Philippines, mailing in his work from halfway around the world—still through the studio run by his fellow artist Tony DeZuñiga. Alfredo wouldn’t move to the U.S. until two years later, dividing his work between Marvel and DC—and just about any other company that would give him an assignment. While Stan Lee (and I) usually preferred to get artists and writers we liked to do all of their work for Marvel, that approach was decidedly impractical with regard to Alfredo, because he could pencil-and-ink several pages a day, seven days a week. To keep him busy full-time, we’d have had to drop two or three other artists! I know I liked Alfredo from the day I met him, whenever that was—but of course I was already prejudiced in his favor by two years of beautiful work on “Conan” and other strips, both at Marvel and elsewhere. Because I myself relocated to Los Angeles in 1976, the same year Alfredo moved there, our paths often crossed, both in terms of work assignments and at parties. I was fascinated by his tales of carrying on a bit of freelance spying (with related spy-drawings) for the anti-Japanese underground in the Philippines during World War II. Somehow, it never really occurred to me to doubt the tales he was telling me… which is a good thing, because he was evidently telling the truth.

For a time, around 1980, he and I lived only a few blocks from each other, in south Hollywood. That proximity facilitated my offering him the art chores of the Conan the Barbarian newspaper comic strip I was writing, because we could just walk the strips back and forth. Alfredo drew two storylines before he left the strip… for reasons I can’t recall, except that I’m sure I wasn’t happy to lose him. Some of my main memories of him are from parties and such gatherings held in L.A. [See p. 36.] Alfredo was a quiet presence at such events, and my mind’s eye recalls him with a wry grin on his face… friendly, approachable, and yet a bit judging for all that. You never knew quite what was going on behind those bright, searching eyes. You hoped he liked you… because you liked him. I mostly lost touch with Alfredo after Dann and I moved to South Carolina in late 1991, though he had the larger part of a decade of life ahead of him. Somehow, he seemed one of those artists who would just go on forever. But, of course, none of us do. I’ve been wanting for years to do an Alcala issue of Alter Ego. One of his sons, Christian, and I discussed such a project a decade ago, but it didn’t quite happen then. Recently, ace interviewer Richard Arndt got in touch with his other son, Alfredo Jr., and that got the ball rolling again in earnest… with the result that this issue features interviews with both siblings. The only thing that would’ve made this issue even better? If Alfredo was still around to enjoy it!

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THIS DECEMBER:

172

s, Inc. Art TM & © Marvel Character

BLACK SUPER(& OTHER) HEROES IN AMERICAN COMICS! • Marvel-hero cover montage by KIRBY, GRAHAM, TUSKA, & COLAN! • From Voodah to Black Panther—and beyond! Awesome overview by comics historian BARRY PEARL—plus an in-depth interview with DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III, author of Looking for a Face Like Mine on the story of African-Americans in comics! • Showcasing the amazing art and creations of MATT BAKER • BILLY GRAHAM • DWAYNE McDUFFIE • BERTRAM FITZGERALD • A.C. HOLLINGSWORTH • DENYS COWAN • GRASS GREEN • GEORGE HERRIMAN • GUS LEMOINE • JACKIE ORMES • BRIAN STELFREEZE • ADOLPHE BARREAUX • ORRIN EVANS, et al.! • Plus—FCA presents NORMAN SAUNDERS, Part II—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on the 1950s Mad and its imitators—& MORE!

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Alfredo—’Twixt Voltar & Conan Which may be how Alfredo Alcala, seen here some decades ago, might have felt he spent much of his life in comics: ’twixt his 1963 Viking creation Voltar and Marvel’s 1970s90s incarnation of Conan the Cimmerian. Seen above left is his wraparound cover for the Filipino Alcala Fight Komix #3 (Aug. 6, 1963), one of Voltar’s earliest appearances, with text in the Tagalog language (scan courtesy of Alfredo Alcala, Jr.)— —while the Marvel “Conan” page was both penciled and inked by Alfredo, probably in the late 1970s, for a never-published adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s Crusader-era story “Hawks of Outremer” (scan courtesy of Michael Diaz). Curiously, Marvel did publish a Conan adaptation of “Hawks,” illustrated by Malcolm Davis with script by RT, in Savage Sword of Conan #222 (June 1994). How and why Alfredo’s version went unprinted remains a mystery, since it clearly wasn’t for reasons of quality! After RT departed Marvel in 1980, it probably just got shelved for years… and was sadly forgotten when Roy returned to SSOC a decade later. [Voltar art TM & © Estate of Alfredo Alcala; Conan page TM & © Conan Properties, LLC.]

ALFREDO ALCALA— Wizard With A Brush

Interviews With Sons ALFREDO ALCALA, JR., & CHRISTIAN ALCALA About The Philippines-Born Comics Master Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: Alfredo Alcala was born August 23, 1925, and died on April 4, 2000 [the Internet says 4-8-2000]. He was born in the Philippines, where he worked in local comics from 1948 through at least the early 1970s. There, in 1963, he created “Voltar,” a series starring a Viking warrior, seven years before Conan was developed into a sword-&-sorcery comicbook character in the U.S.—and three years before the Cimmerian’s debut in Lancer paperbacks. In 1971 Alfredo joined the many Filipino artists recruited for DC Comics by editors Carmine Infantino and Joe Orlando through Tony DeZuñiga. His first U.S. stories appeared in 1972. His first work for Marvel, largely as an inker, was in 1974 over John Buscema’s pencils for the black-&-white title The Savage Sword of Conan. During this period, Alcala continued to work for DC as well... in 1975 co-creating the caveman series Kong the Untamed for them. In 1977 he began doing stories for Warren Publications, including a brand-new Voltar graphic novel serialized in The Rook Magazine. He also did a risqué serial called “Terra O’Hara,” written by Don Glut, for the men’s magazine Adam. In the early 1980s he drew the Star Wars and Conan newspaper strips, while also inking, penciling, or doing both on such titles as Batman, Swamp Thing, Hulk, Hawkman, Arak/ Son of Thunder, Freddy Kruger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, Destroyer Duck, The Shadow, Hellblazer, Firestorm, Scooby-Doo, and numerous others. When comics work began to dry up in the mid-to-latter 1980s, he worked in animation for Ruby-Spears and Hanna-Barbera, alongside Jack Kirby and Steve Gerber, among others. His last comics work appeared in 1996 in one of DC’s Big Book series. This first interview with Alfredo Alcala’ s son, Alfredo Alcala, Jr., a.k.a. Alfred Alcala, who lives in Manila, took place on August 19 & 25, 2020, via a series of international video conferences….

equipment, watch where the soldiers were stationed and how their camps were organized, and then draw all that from memory when he’d get back home. He’d give the drawings to the underground resistance groups. If he’d been caught, he’d have been executed immediately. His day job during the war years was as a bootblack. After the war he did designs for reconstruction work at an ironworker’s shop. A lot of things in office buildings and churches had been destroyed during the war, and he would do design sketches for wrought-iron pieces, furniture, chandeliers, church pulpits, doors…things like that. He also worked as a carpenter and a sign painter. His first artwork for books was as an illustrator for the Philippines` Boy Scouts’ handbooks. RA: Do you know what his first professional jobs as a comics artist were? I’m assuming that this would have been comics done for the Philippine comics industry. ALCALA: My father’s first work for comics appeared in October 1948. The actual title of that comic was Bituin Komiks, which translated into English as Star Comics. Within a month he was also working for Ace Publications, at the time the biggest publisher in the country. He also worked for other publishers. RA: Do you know what kind of comic that first one was? Adventure? Romance? Anything like that? ALCALA: In the Philippines, they didn’t have specific genres. There weren’t books like Superman, about a specific character. Each comic would have five or six short stories or serial installments in them, of many different types, most only four pages long. The comics were published every two weeks. Each would have a mix of adventure, romance, sometimes adaptations of classics, as well as some reprinted comic strips. My father not only showed that he was very good at drawing comics, but he was also very fast. That let him

I. Alfredo Alcala, Jr. RICHARD ARNDT: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. First, when was your father born? ALFRED ALCALA: I’m happy to talk about my father. He was born on August 23, 1925, and he died on April 4, 2000. RA: I know his first work for American comics began appearing in 1972, but he had a long career both drawing and publishing comics in the Philippines before that date. Do you know where he got his art training? ALCALA: My father was self-taught. He was drawing in grade school. He would leave school and draw on the riverbanks. He graduated from elementary school, but being out of school too often meant that he never graduated from high school, nor was he able to go to an art school, so he was entirely self-taught. RA: Are there other people in your family who have artistic talent, or was he an anomaly? ALCALA: My son, who is fourteen years old, draws. I am an architect, which, of course, involves a great deal of drawing. RA: By the dates we’re talking about, your father would have been sixteen, or thereabouts, when the Japanese invaded and occupied the Philippines, from 1941-1945. Can you tell me about what he did during those years? ALCALA: By that time, he was out of school. He didn’t finish elementary school. During the Japanese occupation, he was actually a spy for the Filipino resistance. He had a real artist’s memory. He could see something and then draw it without having it right in front of him. During the war he would bicycle pass Japanese outposts and camps. He would observe Japanese pillboxes,

Alfredo Alcala, Jr.—a.k.a. Alfred Alcala stands before a framed but unfinished oil painting titled “Acapulco,” which his father began in 1975. Courtesy of Alfred Alcala.

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

work for a lot of publishers. RA: 1948 would mean your dad became a comics professional at age 23. The only title I’m aware of that he was doing in the Philippines was his own creation, “Voltar.” When did he start drawing that character? ALCALA: He started “Voltar” in Alcala Fight Komix, which came out two times a month beginning with a date of July 1963. Voltar was a Viking character my father created. My father did everything on the character—writing, pencils, inks, lettering, and publishing. In fact, he never used assistants. They weren’t as fast as he was, and he thought it diluted his work—that it wasn’t completely his any longer. RA: That July 1963 date means Voltar debuted almost exactly seven years before Conan first appeared in a U.S. comicbook, although Conan had been in print in prose magazines since 1932. You say that was a self-published comic? ALCALA: It was a company started by a group of artists who were famous at the time for their comic art. Besides my father, the people involved were Antonio (also known as Tony or Anton)

Alfredo In 1947 One of the earliest known photos of the artist, taken in the Santa Ana district of Manila, not long before he started his comics career—with his painting of American movie star Tyrone Power. Below left is one of his earliest splash pages, from Tagalog Klasiks #12 (1949)—while directly below is his cover for Bisaya Komix #10 (Feb. 16, 1953), for Ace Publications, which his son Alfred describes as the biggest comics publisher in the Philippines at that time. Thanks to Alfred Alcala. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Interviews With The Sons Of The Philippines-born Comics Master

Duck! Incoming! (Top, left & right:) Alcala inked Jack Kirby’s powerful pencils on both the cover and interiors of several issues of Eclipse Comics’ (and writer/creator Steve Gerber’s) Destroyer Duck, including issue #2 (Jan. 1983), to help with SG’s legal expenses in a lawsuit with Marvel. There was also a F.O.O.G. (“Friends of Old Gerber”) art portfolio for the same purpose; this black-&-white Kirby/Alcala illo was used on its mailing envelope. [Destroyer Duck TM & © Estate of Steve Gerber.]

A Masters Thesis (Below:) Two pages of a miniature 14-page storybook of the Masters of the Universe, as drawn by Alcala, and packaged with the Mattel actionfigure toys, circa 1982-83. Script reportedly written by Don Glut. There were apparently at least a dozen separate issues. Thanks to Alfred Alcala & Richard Arndt. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Alfredo Alcala—Wizard With A Brush

Francisco V. Coching was, as Alfred A. relates, a “legend in the Filipino comics,” and a powerful influence on the young Alfredo. Seen here are a 2019 stamp in the Philippines in honor of him—and a splash from his vintage feature “Indio.” Alfredo’s son says that his father often ghosted for Coching— and we can see how he could have! [© the respective copyright holders.]

I Don’t Want No Rick O’Shay Romance… A Rick O’Shay daily (7-23-77) from the first week in which Alfredo took over drawing that comic strip after originator Stan Lynde was “relieved” by the syndicate—and the strip for 7-24-77, Alcala’s first Sunday. Written by Marian J. Dern. Thanks to Al Lortie and Stephan Friedt, respectively. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

More From That Other World Part XVII Of JOHN BROOME’s 1997 Memoir

A/E INTRODUCTION: In the last year of his life, major Golden/Silver Age comics writer Irving Bernard (“John”) Broome wrote and published a brief and idiosyncratic autobiographical book titled My Life in Little Pieces. With the blessing of his daughter Ricky Terry Brisacque, A/E has been serializing that self-described “Offbeat Autobio,” as retyped for us by Brian K. Morris. In this chapter, JB familiarizes younger readers with the concept of the “party line” when it referred to a telephone rather than politics, and moves on into a possible brush with the supernatural about which he had written in places as diverse as The Phantom Stranger comicbook and Weird Tales magazine… all during his and wife Peggy’s post-World War II sojourn in Wingdale, in relatively rural Duchess County, New York….

he few scattered houses around us, plus our own semi-dilapidated new home, were linked in those days by a “party line.” You’d unhook your receiver to get the operator as a preliminary step in making a call, and instead find yourself kerplop tuned in to what could be another one of the parties’ highly private-type conversations. Theoretically, of course, you were supposed to hang up, wait a while, then try again, but truth will out, I’ve always been a snooper—an auditory voyeur, you might say (as well as the straight-out kind, too), and for me our primitive telephone line, in this rustic hill and dale setting, was no less than a gift from Above, often too enticing for me to resist its blandishments with any real hope of success.

above our place, saying (I quote)— “You have no heart and no soul. I’m putting you on the list with all the others!” And bang! she hung up and our party-line went dead in my hands, robbing me of what I’d thought for a moment was going to be a snoopfest bonanza, one that I almost certainly would not have been able to resist listening to—let’s face it. The Schatz house on the hill was not only above us in altitude, it also outdistanced our place a mile in propriety. Everything up there was spic-and-span. A spacious, well-kept lawn that doubled as a pasture for their one milch cow, Vicky, who roamed the greensward at will (they had no children) and with a ponderous dignity. And more than dignity. When some workers did a job on the house and left a pile of bricks standing, very neatly, alongside the house, Vicky kicked it down. When old Schatz rebuilt the pile, Vicky kicked it down again. As near as I could fathom Vicky’s milch-cow weltanschauung, it went something like this: “That ugly pile of bricks on my fine greensward wasn’t there before, so raus mit—” And after that my mot-collecting wife had a new catchword to dub anyone who hated change like the plague: Vicky the Cow.

As on this occasion. Scarcely had I put the receiver to my ear than I heard our closest neighbor, Mrs. Schatz, she who with her husband, old Schatz himself, inhabited the Teutonically-solid brick dwelling on the rise

* Mrs. Heffner. a robust widow-lady who lived alone, succeeded the Schatzes, and Vicky, on the hill, and suffered a grass fire. It wasn’t really dangerous, but maybe it could have been, for tiny Wingdale had not

John Broome Has Weird Tales To Tell The esteemed writer (seen above with wife Peggy, probably during the post-WWII days in the countryside) is flanked by Margaret Brundage’s cover painting for the legendary supernatural pulp Weird Tales (Vol. 36, #6, July 1942)—and Harry Ferman’s title illo for Broome’s short story printed therein, “The Redoubtable Horace Goppendyke.” With thanks to Ricky Terry Brisacque for the photo, and to Glenn MacKay for both pulp pages. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

More From That Other World

From Ghost To Ghost Broome wrote his fair share of supernatural-related comicbooks as well—as witness this “Sargon the Sorcerer” page drawn by Paul Reinman for Sensation Comics #71 (Nov. 1947) and the splash to a tale from The Phantom Stranger #1 (Aug.-Sept. 1952), drawn by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella. Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Jim Kealy. [TM & © DC Comics.]

even a volunteer fire department. Farmer Wilfred Judson answered Heffner’s frantic party-line appeal and drove up in his car with some firefighting equipment and his two sons, Tommy and Jimmy, and they put out the blaze. Judson also delivered the mail and sold the milk produced daily by his herd of 30 or so cows, and could also be relied on to taxi you to or from the station for a modest sum. In time, his older son Tommy took over from his father and added selling insurance to the family’s varied community services. It’s possible Tommy made a stab at running for a local administrative office, but I’m not sure about that. And as for Mrs. Heffner, after the fire she remained so upset she ran into the house and ate two whole cloves of garlic, one after the other, to quiet her nerves. * To be sure, many other and quite different things happened during the years in Wingdale, such as the event that later on I learned is called an epiphany—defined in my best dictionary as “a usually sudden perception or intuitive grasp of underlying reality.” The fall of the year had arrived, the air was cool and bracing, the New England colors magnificent, and the night skies were filled with country stars when, during the course of a certain particular week, I began to sense that I was in contact with something.

It was not a feeling that is easily described, maybe no feeling is, but this one especially. Yet it was a strong, a persistent feeling, one that would not loose itself from me. I recall walking back and forth in the living room of our house on the worn carpet (pacing had long been my habit, I guess you could say I was “hell on carpets”) with the huge old chimney where in winter we sometimes burned “24-hour logs” from our own trees, as the perception grew that my very walking itself was a miracle—totally inexplicable, totally unbelievable except as such. And I looked at my fingernails, how they grew properly after being cut and that too struck me as a miracle. What’s more, these “miracles” were connected with the “contact” but I couldn’t have said how. Tentatively, I took Peggy into my confidence but was assured that the “whole business” was due to an overactive imagination. Nor did I know enough then to answer this confident dismissal by pointing out that of course the supernatural could only be contacted through the imagination, since it couldn’t possibly be seen, touched, or measured. The sequel to this particular little piece takes place in Japan decades later, where I have become fast friends with one of those wonderful far-roaming Englishmen the round Earth has been seeded with as by some archangelic—Gabrielic—Johnny Appleseed. The sense of wonder that pervaded the week in Wingdale had long since disappeared, after dwindling rapidly, when I told Professor Kenneth Woodroofe—to give my friend’s full name and much-deserved title, for white-haired Ken, a born teacher, had left behind him in the course of his wanderings through academia... America, India, and lately Japan… scores of adoring lifelong pupilfriends made over the years in tribute to his inspiring evocations

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum! by Michael T. Gilbert

t the risk of repeating myself from the preceding page: Say, readers! Anyone remember 7 Faces of Dr. Lao—the 1964 movie in which actor Tony Randall played eight different parts? Well, the comicbook equivalent would have to be the spook comics orchestrated by editor/writer Leo Rosenbaum at the American Comics Group. Like Tony, Leo also took on another identity: that of ace ACG editor and writer Richard E. Hughes. (In fact, A/E reader Steven Rowe informs us that, by 1940 or so, the latter became Rosebaum’s legal name, after which it was no longer a pen name.) As Richard E. Hughes, he wrote stories under dozens of pseudonyms. Better yet, in the late 1950s he began writing absurdly fanciful backstories to some of his nonexistent “authors” in the

Letter Rip! I have no idea who drew this classic Adventures into the Unknown letterspage banner, but it’s a beauty! [© the respective copyright holders]

letters pages of ACG’s Adventures into the Unknown, Forbidden Worlds, and later, Unknown Worlds. As a kid, reading the ACG letter columns was a fascinating experience. Hughes was notorious for sparring with fans who wrote “crank” letters complaining about the latest issues. This made for lively letters pages, and by printing negative letters, Hughes encouraged his loyal readers to write in defending their favorite stories—most of which were written by Hughes himself under a variety of names. Any given issue would find the readers praising the magnificent stories of “Zev Zimmer,” while excoriating the talentless “Bob Standish.” Hughes must have had a good laugh! So why the subterfuge? Perhaps it was just a fun game that the prolific writer played to amuse himself. Or maybe it was to disguise the fact that ACG was basically a small one-man mom and pop operation. In the late ‘50s, Hughes took this game one step further when he instituted a series of faux writer biographies in his letter pages. These were often as imaginative and amusing as the stories themselves, especially to those of us who, decades later, were in on the gag. But back in the late ‘50s and into the ‘60s, we readers took this secret backstage gossip as gospel. For our “7 Faces of Leo R.” article, we’ve chosen to mostly limit ourselves to seven of the editor’s ersatz biographical sketches (to go along with our title!). Let’s see how the series was introduced in Hughes’ “Let’s Talk It Over!” section of Adventures into the Unknown. Take it away, maestro! (Adventures into the Unknown #105, Feb. 1959:) “In this issue we’re chalking up a new first for Adventures into the Unknown. A first for us, that is. Beginning as of now, each of our stories will bear the names of both writer and artist. This is in direct response to the request of our fans, who have repeatedly asked that the people responsible for our efforts be identified. In the future, you’ll know just what author was responsible for that yarn you liked so much—or hated, as the case may be. You’ll know who the illustrator was who did that wonderful or horrible job—you pick the description! And you can write in expressing your opinion on the work of people whom you’ll never know. And remember—we want those opinions, because they’ll help us in framing just the sort of magazine which you want! Address your letter to The Editor, Adventures into the Unknown, 347 5th Avenue, New York 16, N.Y. For our part, we’ll try to help you know our staff better. Each month we’ll publish a short profile on someone being published in the current issue.

The Doctor Is In! The actual poster to the Tony Randall-staring 1964 film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. The doctor was an ancient Chinese mystic who wove strange stories in various guises. Why wasn’t he writing for ACG? Or was he…? [© the respective copyright holders.]

“This time it’s Greg Olivetti, a brand new writer for us, and the man responsible for ‘Last of the Tree People.’ Greg looks deceptively young, but he’s got quite a career behind him. Taught to fly by a great uncle who was an early ace of World War I, he put his ability to good use over Korea, downing more than his share of enemy planes. After he left the Air Force, he tried many things—from selling insurance to prospecting for uranium. Nothing seemed to go right for him—as he

The 7 Faces Of Leo Rosenbaum!

tells it, he just couldn’t keep his mind on the thing at hand. Instead, he would daydream constantly about the adventures that he might run into that day—but they never seemed to materialize. To relieve the monotony of routine, he’d build the adventures in his mind into plots, and they seemed to come easy to him. A friend suggested that he try his hand at writing them down— and out of this came ‘Last of the Tree People,’ a fresh and exciting story that we leaped at. ‘I guess I put myself into it,’ says Greg. ‘You see, one of these days soon we’re going to get a rocket up there on the moon and I want to be on it! My story was about the sort of things a guy like me might run into up there!’ Okay, Greg, here’s luck to you— and now let’s get down to what some of our readers are saying!”

What’s In A Name? “From Your Editor—to You!” was Forbidden Worlds’ letters-page title. Personally, Michael T. says he prefers Adventures into the Unknown’s snappier “Let’s Talk It Over!” logo. Of course, since it usually consisted mostly of letters to the editor, it could also have been titled “From You—to Your Editor!” [© the respective copyright holders.]

A Korean War hero? First man on the moon? Boy, that Greg Olivetti is one tough scribe (and an even better typewriter brand!)! But it’s nothing next to our next imaginary writer! (Adventures into the Unknown #106, March 1959:) “Nice seeing all you wonderful Adventures into the Unknown fans again! We’ve been anxious to introduce to you one of the most amazing newcomers ever to have flashed across the comics magazine horizon. We’re talking about Bob Standish, the ace writer who authored ‘The Men Who Cried Monster,’ lead story of this issue. He’s really a prodigy, being only 17 years old, yet fast on his way towards becoming the best plot man in the entire comics magazine field. Hands off, all you competitors—we discovered him, staked out our claims, and aren’t going to let him get away! Here are a few facts about him. “Throughout his growing years, Bob has always been ‘different.’ The other boys on the block may have gone in for hobbies, sports, or dates—but not Bob. What he did was to read comic books—every one he could get his hands on. Why? Simply because he felt that they could tell a story, aided by effective pictures, far better than any other medium. From this, it was an easy step to saying to himself that if he

Tree’s A Crowd! “Greg Olivetti” wrote “Last of the Tree People,” and John Rosenberger drew it. From Adventures into the Unknown #105 (Feb.1959). [© the respective copyright holders.]

liked them that much, surely he could take a stab at writing them! And the rest is comic book history! But let’s let him give you the lowdown in his own words! “‘I wasn’t ever a bigshot or a tough guy,’ says Bob. ‘I had fourteen fights in my life—and I lost fourteen! So I figured that if I could never be a hero in real life, maybe I could in my imagination! Comics were a lift—they had tough guy heroes who could do all the things I couldn’t! But just between you and me, I got tired of them! I wanted to see real human beings in real plots, and I couldn’t find them. I started reading Adventures into the Unknown and Forbidden Worlds and I liked them. They had it, but not all the way. I used to write in to them suggesting the kind of stories I wanted to read, but I guess they had me pegged as a crank. Finally I figured that if I were going to see the stories I wanted, I’d have to write them myself! I wrote thirteen before I got the hang—and ever since then, they can’t turn me off!” “How do you like Bob’s ‘Men Who Cried Monster,’ readers? Write in and tell us—also, what you think of our books.”

Meet My Wife—Ms. Smith-Corona! Rare photo of ace ACG writer Greg Olivetti! Or maybe just an Olivetti M1 1916 typewriter? Only Richard E. Hughes knows for sure!

Hey, that Standish guy was some boy wonder, eh? Yeah, “Hands off, all you competitors, I’m …uh, I mean he’s too busy to work for you!” says the intrepid editor. But maybe DC or Marvel

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NORMAN SAUNDERS— Fawcetteer by David Saunders

David Saunders is the son of the celebrated pulp artist Norman Saunders (1907-1989), whose life and Fawcett-related career will be explored in this issue and the next. Born in New York City in 1954, David graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1975, after which he became a gallery artist in NYC. His work has been exhibited worldwide, and is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. He taught art at Yale, Oberlin, and RISD. In addition to his art career, David Saunders is also a pulp art historian, and has written hundreds of biographical profiles on artists for his website www.pulpartists.com. His two-part study of his artist father’s work for Fawcett Publications—before, during, and after the company’s 1940-1953 comicbook-producing era—provides both a personal and professional look at one of the foremost artists of pulp magazine (and comicbook) covers…. P.C. Hamerlinck.

Norman Saunders hard at work at Fawcett Publications, in a 1929 photo that was printed in Federal Illustrator, a monthly magazine produced by the Federal Schools art correspondence school. Since Saunders was a graduate of that institution, they proudly featured an article about his art career accomplishments. (Below left:) Saunders’ first cover illustration for Fawcett appeared on Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang 1930 Winter Annual. (Below right:) He painted this cover for the Fawcett pre-Comics Code horror title Strange Stories from Another World #5 (Feb. 1953). Unless otherwise indicated, art accompanying this study was provided by David Saunders. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Alter Ego #172