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No. 43
December 2004
SEASON’S GREETINGS From
GEORGE TUSKA JOE SINNOTT FRANK BRUNNER DAVE ROSS GENE COLAN JACK BENDER NICK CARDY MICHAEL T. GILBERT KELLY EVERAERT & ALEX TOTH! PLUS:
JIM AMASH
Talks with Golden Age Timely / marvel Artist
MORRIS WEISS & THE LONE RANGER’S
TOM GILL!
BONUS:
FRAZETTA, BIRO, CANIFF, RAYMOND, KELLY,
& OThers Proclaim: “We Like Ike!” X-Men TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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“Gods!” Takes an in-depth look at WALTER SIMONSON’s Thor, the Thunder God in the Bronze Age, “Pro2Pro” interview with TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ, Hercules: Prince of Power, Moondragon, Three Ways to End the New Gods Saga, exclusive interview with fantasy writer MICHAEL MOORCOCK, art and commentary by GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, BOB LAYTON, and more, with a swingin’ Thor cover by SIMONSON!
“Liberated Ladies” eyeing female characters that broke barriers in the Bronze Age: Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, Savage She-Hulk, and the sword-wielding Starfire. Plus a “Pro2Pro” interview with JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, and BARBARA KESEL, art and commentary by JOHN BYRNE, GEORGE PEREZ, JACK KIRBY, MIKE VOSBURG, and more, with a new cover by BRUCE TIMM!
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THE BEST IN COMICS AND LEGO MAGAZINES!
ALTER EGO #105
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DRAW! #22
See comic art and script BEFORE and AFTER the Comics Code changes, with art by SIMON & KIRBY, DITKO, BUSCEMA, SINNOTT, GOULD, COLE, STERANKO, KRIGSTEIN, O’NEIL, GLANZMAN, ORLANDO, WILLIAMSON, HEATH, and others! Plus: FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY, JIM AMASH interviews Timely/Atlas artist CAL MASSEY, and a new cover by JOSH MEDORS!
DICK GIORDANO through the 1960s—from freelance years and Charlton “Action-Heroes” to his first stint at DC! Art by DITKO, APARO, BOYETTE, MORISI, McLAUGHLIN, GIL KANE, and others, Dick’s final convention panel with STEVE SKEATES and ROY THOMAS, JIM AMASH interviews Charlton artist TONY TALLARICO, FCA with MARC SWAYZE and ROY ALD, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, GIORDANO cover, and more!
Big BATMAN issue, with an unused Golden Age cover by DICK SPRANG! SHEL DORF interviews SPRANG and JIM MOONEY, with rare and unseen Batman art by BOB KANE, JERRY ROBINSON, WIN MORTIMER, SHELLY MOLDOFF, CHARLES PARIS, and others! Part II of the TONY TALLARICO interview by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!
1970s Bullpenner WARREN REECE talks about Marvel Comics and working with EVERETT, BURGOS, ROMITA, STAN LEE, MARIE SEVERIN, ADAMS, FRIEDRICH, ROY THOMAS, and others, with rare art! DEWEY CASSELL spotlights Golden Age artist MIKE PEPPE, with art by TOTH, ANDRU, TUSKA, CELARDO, & LUBBERS, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, cover by EVERETT & BURGOS, and more!
Interview with inker SCOTT WILLIAMS from his days at Marvel and Image to his work with JIM LEE, and PATRICK OLIFFE demos how he produces Spider-Girl, Mighty Samson, and digital comics. Also, MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ “Comic Art Bootcamp”, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work by BOB McLEOD, art supply reviews by “Crusty Critic” JAMAR NICHOLAS, and more!
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LEE & KIRBY: THE WONDER YEARS (KIRBY COLLECTOR #58)
Special double-size book examines the first decade of the FANTASTIC FOUR, and the events that put into motion the Marvel Age of Comics! New interviews with STAN LEE, FLO STEINBERG, MARK EVANIER, JOE SINNOTT, and others, with a wealth of historical information and Kirby artwork!
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KIRBY COLLECTOR #59
BRICKJOURNAL #17
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BRICKJOURNAL #19
“Kirby Vault!” Rarities from the “King” of comics: Personal correspondence, private photos, collages, rare Marvelmania art, bootleg album covers, sketches, transcript of a 1969 VISIT TO THE KIRBY HOME (where Jack answers the questions YOU’D ask in ‘69), MARK EVANIER, pencil art from the FOURTH WORLD, CAPTAIN AMERICA, MACHINE MAN, SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, and more!
LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!
Go to Japan with articles on two JAPANESE LEGO FAN EVENTS, plus take a look at JAPAN’S SACRED LEGO LAND, Nasu Highland Park—the site of the BrickFan events and a pilgrimage site for many Japanese LEGO fans. Also, a feature on JAPAN’S TV CHAMPIONSHIP OF LEGO, a look at the CLICKBRICK LEGO SHOPS in Japan, plus how to get into TECHNIC BUILDING, LEGO EDUCATION, and more!
LEGO EVENTS ISSUE covering our own BRICKMAGIC FESTIVAL, BRICKWORLD, BRICKFAIR, BRICKCON, plus other events outside the US. There’s full event details, plus interviews with the winners of the BRICKMAGIC CHALLENGE competition, complete with instructions to build award winning models. Also JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customizing, building tips, and more!
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Vol. 3, No. 43/December 2004
™
Editor
Roy Thomas
Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash
Design & Layout
Christopher Day
Consulting Editor John Morrow
FCA Editor
P.C. Hamerlinck
Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert
Editors Emeritus
Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich
HAPPY HOLIDAYS Side
Production Assistant
Eric Nolen-Weathington
Cover Artists George Tuska Dave Stevens
Cover Colorists Tom Ziuko Phil Noto
And Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Stan Lee Michael Ambrose Pablo Marcos Ger Apeldoorn Pat Mason Bob Bailey Tom Moore Jerry Beck Brian K. Morris Jack & Carol Bender Frank Motler Jerry K. Boyd Fred Patten Frank & Kisara Don Rosick Brunner Dave Ross Stan Burns Joe & Betty Sinnott Nick Cardy Dave Stevens R. Dewey Cassell Tom Stewart Bob Cherry Marc Swayze Gene & Adrienne Dann Thomas Colan Mike Thomas Kelly Everaert Alex Toth Michael Fraley George & Dorothy Stephan Friedt Tuska Janet Gilbert Michael Uslan Tom Gill Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Jennifer Hamerlinck Dr. Michael J. Bill Henley Vassallo Dave Herring Mort Walker Steve Herring Hames Ware Bob Hughes Morris & Blanche Weiss Al Jaffee Tom Wimbish Jeff Jatras Richard Kyle
1
1994--2004
Contents
Writer/Editorial: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Another Four-Color Christmas in Black-&-White! . . . . . . . . . . . 3 More Yuletide and Happy New Year cards sent by comics pros. “IJimDid What I Set Out in Life to Do!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Amash talks with Golden Age (and comic strip) artist Morris Weiss. To Be Continued! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 After 6H decades in comics, artist Tom Gill tells Jim Amash he’s still going strong. Comic Crypt: “I Like Ike!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Michael T. Gilbert showcases 1954 cartoons of President Dwight Eisenhower.
FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) No. 102 . . . . . . . . . . . 41 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze and the Fawcett-into-Charlton Index. ...And All in Color for a Peso Dept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About Our Cover & Above: Some time back, but a bit too late for last year’s helping of artistic holiday cheer in A/E #31, collector R. Dewey Cassell forwarded a copy of George & Dorothy Tuska’s “X-mas” card spotlighting The X-Men. While we were saving it up for this year’s edition, Dewey has virtually completed writing an entire book about George’s career, which is coming very soon from TwoMorrows—but he and the Tuskas were still content that their card become a cover for this magazine. And, just so you could see it in black-&-white as well as in color, we’ve also reproduced it above. Thanks, guys! [Art ©2004 George Tuska; X-Men ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published monthly 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. Single issues: $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. 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 Canada. FIRST PRINTING.
writer/editorial A Stocking Full of Masked Men
2
This is such a chock-full issue that I’ve barely got room to point out its highlights—but that’s what the contents page is for, right? Actually, we didn’t need a second contents page, because, except for our letters section, our flip side is full to the brim with just one item: Fred Patten’s “¡Supermen South!”—a long, leisurely, and masterful look at the heroic comics of Mexico in the 1960s. Check it out—and a whole new world may open up for you. This side features our regular (but still always-surprising) departments— Michael T. Gilbert’s “Comic Crypt,” and P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA—plus two info-laden, lavishly-illustrated Jim Amash interviews with veteran comic book artists who’ve been entertaining us since the 1940s: Morris Weiss from Timely/Marvel and your newspaper’s comics page, and Tom Gill, long-running artist of The Lone Ranger comic book, among other accomplishments! (And thanks to Bill Schelly for letting us delay his “Comic Fandom Archive” till next issue when we got overcrowded!) All that is coming up—plus our second annual helping of holidays cheer from a bunch of talented guys who don’t just buy their Seasons Greetings cards from Hallmark or Wal-Mart! Personally, it’s always a thrill to Dann and me when one of these turns up in our own mailbox—and we hope you feel the same when you feast your eyes on well over a dozen of ’em, all in one fell swoop! What better way is there to say— Happy Holidays! Bestest,
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44 COMING IN JANUARY ...AND JUSTICE SOCIETY FOR ALL! (Not to mention the ALL-STAR SQUADRON and INFINITY, INC.!) #
Special Issue on DC’s Golden Age Heroes—from 1940 through the ’80s! • Fabulous wraparound cover by JERRY ORDWAY! • The All-Stars of All-Star Comics—and BEYOND! Interviews with 1940s All-Star artists JOE KUBERT & IRWIN HASEN & Atom writer ARTHUR ADLER—1960s JLA/JSA/Spectre artist MURPHY ANDERSON—1980s All-Star Squadron original team RICH BUCKLER, JERRY ORDWAY, & ROY THOMAS! Five decades of JSA excitement! • Rare Golden/Silver/Bronze Age art of the JSA, All-Star Squadron, and Infinity, Inc., by the above artists, plus ALEX TOTH, CARMINE INFANTINO, MIKE SEKOWSKY, PAUL REINMAN, MARTIN NAYDEL, TODD McFARLANE, MIKE MACHLAN, RICK HOBERG, DENYS COWAN, et al.! • Special tributes to RUDY PALAIS, JOE BURESCH, & KIN PLATT by JIM AMASH & DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO! ©2004 DC Comics
• FCA with Fawcett artists AL DUCA & MARC SWAYZE— BILL SCHELLY on ODD, Part II—MICHAEL T. GILBERT showcases “I Like Ike!” cartoons by BOB KANE, IRV NOVICK, JERRY ROBINSON—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS
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TwoMorrows. Bringing New Life To Comics Fandom.
TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com
Another FourColor Christmas In Black-&White! More Yuletide Cards Sent By Comics Pros [INTRO-HO-HO-HO! In last year’s Christmas issue, A/E #31, we printed some of the holiday season’s cards we and others had received from comic book artists—headed by a gorgeous Fred Ray Superman postcard from circa 1940 that had never been repro’d since. We only had room for a slightly truncated section this year, but since folks seemed to enjoy it last time, here we go again…! —Roy.]
To start off, following George Tuska’s x-cellent X-Men, what could be better than this Spider-Man card from a few years back from Joltin’ Joe & Betty Sinnott? After half a century in the field, the semi-retired Joe is still in demand—and if you’re lucky enough to see the Spider-Man Sunday strip, you can dig his inking every week! [Art ©2004 Joe Sinnott; Spider-Man TM & ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Frankly (and we should be frank, since the above card comes from Roy & Dann’s friends Frank & Kisara Brunner), we’re not sure if this great drawing is of Howard the Duck—the Marvel character Frank drew to a fare-thee-well back in the 1970s—or of some other far-out fowl. But it arrived as part of a Season’s Greetings card in December 2003, so here ’tis! Check out Frank’s website at <http://www.frankbrunner.net>. Frank does some fabulous art commissions these days, and can be reached by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to him at 312 Kildare Court, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588. [©2004 Frank Brunner.]
Working with artist Dave Ross on Avengers West Coast back in the ’90s was a joy—and so is this 1998 holiday card featuring his hero Thrax. Oh, and the hero’s balloon here is the second part of a comment begun on the front of the card: “La Niña?!!” Learn more about Thrax at <www.daveross.com>. [©2004 Dave Ross.]
6
More Yuletide Cards Sent By Comics Pros
Crowded we may be with this Christmas-time issue, but no edition of Alter Ego is quite complete without at least a taste of Toth— Alex Toth, that is. Here’s a card created by the master comics artist some years back, and sent to us by one of his greatest fans, Al Dellinges. [©2004 Alex Toth.]
Dann and Roy mailed out this photo-card last year—of Fiasco the Llama (a.k.a. “Ol’ Blue-Eye,” since he has one blue eye and one brown) perusing some Christmas stockings tacked to a fallen tree and thinking that, as far as he’s concerned, his alleged masters came up one short! Photo by Dann Thomas.
Monthly! The Original First-Person History– published by Robin Snyder
Artist Kelly Everaert sent this card. Yeah, we thought that’d put you guys in a holiday mood. Check out his website at <http://members.shaw.ca/kelticstudios/ Keltic_Studios.htm>. [©2004 Kelly Everaert.]
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Write to: Robin Snyder, 3745 Canterbury Lane #81, Bellingham, WA 98225-1186
7
“I Did What I Set Out In Life To Do” A Talk With Comic Book And Comic Strip Artist MORRIS WEISS Conducted & Transcribed by Jim Amash [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: What are the odds that you’ll ever talk to a man who knew personalities as diverse as George Bridgman, Charles Dana Gibson, James Montgomery Flagg, Mickey Finn’s Lank Leonard, Joe Palooka’s Ham Fisher, Alex Raymond, Charlie Biro, and Stan Lee, among many others? Don’t bother guessing, because the odds are virtually impossible—unless you happen to know Morris Weiss. We were aware Morris had an amazing career in newspaper strips, and that he’d done comic book work, but what we didn’t know was how to boil it all down to an A/E interview that focused on comic books, as is our usual wont. Well, we didn’t bother—so you get to read about all these gents in a wide-ranging, fun, and informative interview with a gifted cartoonist and a real gentleman. Morris did terrific work in both the newspapers and in comic books, even if he doesn’t think much of his comic book work today. But we get the last word in this introduction, so Morris will have to take our compliments—and like ’em! —Jim.]
“I Was Torn Between My Love Of Illustration And Of Cartooning” JIM AMASH: There’s nothing like starting with the easy questions. When and where were you born? And what got you interested in cartooning? MORRIS WEISS: I was born in Philadelphia, August 11, 1915. I had an ability to draw and my brother had an ability to draw. I copied his drawings. I seemed to be able to draw better than most kids in school. I wanted to be an illustrator for magazines, but even in public school, I’d draw cartoons here and there. The first cartoon I had published was in junior high school, and when I was in high school, I drew cartoons for that paper, too. I followed the comics in the newspapers and the illustrations in the magazines. I was torn between my love of illustration and of cartooning. JA: What made you decide on cartooning? WEISS: That was because it was easier to get started as a cartoonist...to get a job as a cartoonist’s assistant. Illustration was a long way away because I’d have had to do a lot of studying in art schools. I went to the Art Students League when I was 25, and in 1936 I started with Lank Leonard on the Mickey Finn newspaper strip, a month after he’d launched it. I’d go to his home in Port Chester, New York, and live and work with him for half the week. The other half, I’d live at home in the Bronx. In 1940, I decided to go to the Art Students League to get some instruction in figure drawing. I studied under George Bridgman, who was the teacher for most of the illustrators of that time. Bridgman was a short Englishman, who had a habit of pulling on his suspenders. He was bald-headed and was a genius. He’d put a piece of chalk at the end of a 3-foot stick and go to work on the charcoal paper with us. He could go from “A to Z” with the human anatomy; he knew every muscle, every vein in the body, backwards and forwards, by name. I never knew anyone who had the amount of knowledge about the
A recent photo of Morris Weiss (he’s the one on the right) and Stan Lee, when Smiling Stan visited the Boca Raton Cartoon Museum—and the splash of one of the handful of “serious” comics stories Morris drew for Timely/Marvel in the old days: “The Murder Mirror,” from Marvel Tales #104 (Dec. 1951). With thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for the art scan. All photos in this article were sent by Morris. [Comic page ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
human figure that he did. He’d look at your drawing and the first thing he would ask for was your chamois, which was a little cloth. You’d give him your chamois and he’d wipe out your drawing. In half a minute, he’d redraw your work and show you how it should be done. He drew that quickly. JA: Was Bridgman all business, or would he lighten up occasionally? WEISS: Once in a while, he’d tell you a joke. He was all business, but he had a sense of humor. He was a very congenial man—there was nothing mean about him. He was a little on the cocky side. He wasn’t a tough critic of his students. When your work was really good, he’d just touch it up a little bit here and there, and compliment you. Once a week, he’d put his initials on someone’s drawing, which meant that student’s drawing would go into a special showcase for the best drawings of the week.
22
A Talk With Morris Weiss
more money to write and draw the Palooka strip than I was making on Mickey Finn. I told him I had loyalty to Lank Leonard, so I couldn’t do it. Later that day, at lunch, I said to him, “I’ll tell you what I could do. I could write the continuity,” and he agreed. For eight years, I wrote the stories. JA: You quit working for Lank Leonard in 1943, but you went back to him after your Timely work dried up. WEISS: Yes. I was ghosting comic books for Al Smith on Mutt and Jeff and helping on the Sundays. I’d also help him come up with ideas for the strip. I moved to Florida in 1960 and went back with Lank Leonard. I was inking, lettering, drawing the girls, and working with him on the stories. When Lank had a heart attack, he asked me to take over Mickey Finn. I said, “I’ll do that only if you don’t see the strip until it’s in the paper. If I’m going to write it, I want to do it my way, and it may not be the way you’d write it. It’s the only way I can do the writing.” He said that was fine with him. The last two years of his life, that’s how it worked. JA: Why did you retire?
Then, I was at someone’s house in New Jersey and was told United Features was looking for me because they wanted me to take over Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy strip. Bushmiller had died. I said, “Don’t tell them where I am, because I don’t want to do any more strip work.” My collecting original artwork by the old illustrators was well known, and a lot of my friends wanted me to acquire paintings for them. I started devoting my time to acquiring paintings for my friends and for people who wanted to invest in that kind of work. I’ve been doing that ever since. JA: Do you miss drawing? WEISS: Well... yes and no. Sure, I miss doing it, but I don’t miss the time it’d take me away from doing nothing. [mutual laughter] In a way, it’s nice to be a lazy loafer, but it’s not productive, so what can I tell you? Blanche says I am productive because I’m collecting and selling work and going to auctions. But I’m not productive in art. I drew for 42 years, through ups and downs... a checkered background. I enjoyed what I did because I did what I set out in life to do. But I knew I had limited talent and ability, compared to Roy Crane, Billy DeBeck, Charley Voight, and others. I never kidded myself.
WEISS: I retired for two reasons. First of all, the strip was losing newspapers. Morning papers were folding, and new editors were coming in and throwing out continuity strips. It wasn’t worth the effort to continue.
WEISS: You wouldn’t win that argument.
JA: When you retired, you quit drawing altogether, didn’t you?
JA: I have a feeling I would, too. [mutual laughter]
WEISS: I did. At first, I panicked, and called up Stan Lee to see if they were publishing any humor comics. He said Marvel wasn’t, but he offered to give me straight stuff to do. I said, “No way.” Then I started thinking about it and decided maybe I didn’t want to work anymore.
WEISS: Try me sometime! You’ll see. [laughs]
JA: I could argue that with you, but if that’s how you feel, I won’t.
MORRIS WEISS Checklist [NOTE: For key to the information below, see the Checklist at the end of the Tom Gill interview, on p. 34.] Name: Morris S. Weiss [b. 1915] (artist, writer) Pen Names: Ink Higgins; M.S.W.; Swis; Wes Sirrom Education: Art Students League Member: National Cartoonists Society Syndicated Credits (Newspaper Comic Strips): It Never Fails (d) (w/a) 1940-41 panel; Joe Jinks (d) (w/a) 1942-43; Joe Palooka (w) c. 1962-70; Katzenjammer Kids (S) (letterer) 1934-36; M.F. Muffit 1944: Mickey Finn (asst w/a) 1936-43; (w/a) 1971-77; Minute Movies (asst) 1934; Mutt and Jeff (asst. a) (S) c. 1957-59 COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US): Chicago Nite Life News/Irwin Rubin: Freshie (a) c. 1945 Columbia Comic Corporation: cover, Sparky Watts (a) 1943 Eastern Color Printing/Famous Funnies: adaptation (a) 1950-51; Heroic Comics (a) 1940; Movie Love (a) c. 1950-51 Holyoke & related: Boxie Weaver (w/a) 1944-46; covers (a) c. 1943-46; Petey and Pop (w/a) c. 1943-46; Pvt. Plopp (w/a) c. 1943-46; Riley and the Sergeant (w/a) 1943-45; Worthless Wiggins (w/a) 1944-45 K.K. Publications/Dell Comics (to 1962): Mutt and Jeff (asst a) c. 1957-58 for Al Smith; Nancy (w/a) 1950s; romance (w/a) 1950s; western (w/a) 1950s
Lev Gleason & related: Go Along Gallagher (w/a) 1946 Marvel/Timely & related: crime (a) 1951; horror (a) 195154;Margie (w/a) 194648; Miss America (w/a) c. 1948; My Own Romance (a) 1952; Patsy Walker (w/p) c. 1955-58; romance (w/a) 1950-53; Ruffy Ropes (w/a) 1946; sports (a) 1951-52; Tessie the Typist (w/a) 1946-47; Wendy Parker (w/p) c. 1953-54 Novelty/Curtis: Sgt. Spook (a) 1944 Quality Comics: Kelly Poole (a) (?) [note: Morris has no memory of doing this]
Morris Weiss’ cover for Miss America #65 (Aug. 1954). Thanks to Morris for the copy—and to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for date info. And, since this is Alter Ego, after all, we should point out that, in later decades, Patsy Walker became Hellcat of The Avengers! [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
United Features Syndicate: Joe Jinks (w/a) 1939
23
“To Be Continued!” After 6 H Decades In The Comics Field, Artist TOM GILL Is Still Going Strong Conducted by Jim Amash
[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: The multifaceted career of Tom Gill is just beginning, according to Tom, and I believe him. Starting on the lowest rungs of the mailroom at The New York Daily News, Tom worked his way up to newspaper strips. He also worked for a lot of comic book companies, such as Timely, ZiffDavis, Toby Press, and, most notably, Western Publishing. For 22 years, Tom visually kept The Lone Ranger and Tonto in the saddle, always pointing their guns in the right direction. For most art fans, Tom’s Lone Ranger, done in both comic books and the newspaper strip, is the definitive version of the character. Tom also made his mark in the teaching profession, mentoring thousands of art students, many of whom went on to successful careers. It’s impossible to overestimate his influence on people’s lives, which is perhaps his greatest legacy. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. Tom Gill rides again! (With apologies to Fran Striker.) —Jim.]
“Art Is Within You” TOM GILL: I’m here in my studio and ready to go, unless I start having senior moments. [laughter] JIM AMASH: Well, Tom, I hope you can remember being born. [more laughter] Or at least be able to tell me when and where. GILL: Here’s my first senior moment! No, I know the answer to that one, even if I can’t actually remember it. I was born June 3, 1913, in Winnipeg, Canada. My folks were on a business trip from New York City when I came along, unexpectedly—early. As soon as my mother was able, they came back to New York. I’m a U.S. citizen and never lived in Canada, though I’ve visited. I’ve even been to Winnipeg, where they made me an honorary citizen. I have a plaque on my wall to prove it. I was a self-taught artist. Having taught 2,600 people directly and not even counting others that I’ve taught at the School of Visual Arts and five other colleges, what I have discovered is that people like you and me have hand-eye coordination. It’s what you do with that talent that determines your future. My talent started to surface when I was about ten years old. One time, I went to Prospect Park and drew in the snow.
Transcribed by Jim Amash & Tom Wimbish Tom Gill at a 2003 San Francisco cartoonists’ seminar—flanked by a drawing of The Lone Ranger in a classic pose, and his cover for The Owl #1 (April 1967). Thanks to Tom for all photos used with this interview; the Owl cover was provided by both Stephan Friedt and Bob Cherry. [Lone Ranger TM & ©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.; Owl cover ©2004 K.K. Publications or successors in interest.]
There were people looking at me and asking what I was doing, but I couldn’t really explain it to them. You know how it is: art is within you and it comes out of you. I know you’ve experienced the same thing. When I was in my teens, it came out very strong, but I didn’t know what to do with it. My cousin was very gifted, and she got me into pastels. I did pastel portraits of my friends, starting when I was fifteen. But I didn’t know what to do next. I tried several things, but during the Depression, President Roosevelt instituted the 40-hour week. That meant that The New York Daily News had an opening in their mailroom, and I got that job mostly through family connections. Since the paper used artists in their news reporting, I went there to apply, but was told that the mailroom was the only opening they had, so I took it. I knew nothing about what an artist had to do. I was ill-prepared to start an art career, which must have been obvious. This was around 1933. Being in that mailroom put me in a wonderful position. I wanted to get out of that job and be an artist, and I was already at the company. The only training I had was going to Pratt Institute for a few Saturdays when I was a teenager. I got married in 1935, and was now out of the mailroom and into the business department. But I didn’t want to be in that department: I wanted to be a cartoonist. I used to hang out on the ninth floor with the paper’s cartoonists. I knew Ed Sullivan (who was a very nice guy), Paul Gallico, and all the other writers, too. Then, one of the guys in the art department quit. He said the hell with it and went to Mexico to paint. That created an opening in the picture department, which was next to the art department. I became a clerk and then a copy boy, and finally, in 1940, I joined the art department. By the way, I was rather old to be a copy boy, but you know who Bill Gallo, the cartoonist, is? Well, 60 years ago, he was my copy boy. Once I was on staff, I became a retoucher and did all the menial little jobs that no one else wanted to do. Every year the paper ran a
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Tom Gill Is Still Going Strong
TOM GILL Checklist [NOTE: The following is taken from information provided by Dr. Jerry G. Bails from his online Who’s Who of 20th-Century American Comic Books, which can be accessed online at www.nostromo.no/whoswo/. Additions and corrections are invited. The names of features which appeared both in their own titles and also in other comics are not generally rendered in italics below. Some of this data was provided by Tom Gill, and checked by Tom in July 2003 via Jim Amash. Key: (a) = full art; (p) = pencils only; (i) inking only; (w) writer; (d) daily comic strip; (S) Sunday comic strip.] Name: Thomas Francis (Tom) Gill [b. 1913] (artist, writer)
Centaur Comics & related: (specifics?) (a) 1938-40 (Chesler)
Nationality: born a US citizen in Canada
Chesler Publications/ Dynamic: (specifics?) (a) 1942
Pen Names: T.G.; T. Gee Education: mostly self-taught
Fiction House: (a) 1940 (questionable)
Founder & Director: Alumni Society, C.I.S. (Cartoonists & Illustrators School) 1969-83; also chairman of Cartooning & Design Illustration Dept. of C.I.S. 1948-69; Instructor Continuing Education C.I.S. 1969-88 and since; teacher C.I.S. (a.k.a. School of Visual Arts) 1948-69
Fox Comics: K-51 (a) 1940 Gilberton/Classics: The World around Us (a) (no specifics)
Teacher: Long Island University (C.W. Post Campus) 1988-; SUNY 1958 (Farmingdale, NY); Westchester Community College (? to present); Duchess Community College (? to present) Member: Council for Advancement and Support of Education; Lambs Club; National Cartoonists Society Illustrations: Artists & Writers Press; Picture World Encyclopedia 1959 Staff Artist: New York Daily News 1940-46 Commercial Art: Ideal Toys; Ertel Toys; Japan Air Lines; Swiss Watch Industry Art for Juvenile Books: Around the World in 80 Days 1957; Batman Shape Book (no date); Black Beauty (no date); Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1967; Sherlock Holmes Golden Picture Classic 1957 Honors: Fellow, Sweet Briar Colleage Virginia Center for Creative Arts; Meritorious Service to Higher Eduction: CASE; NCS Silver T-Square for distinguished service 1964; Outstanding Service to School of Visual Arts, S.V.A. Alumni 1969; NCS Best Comic Book Artist 1970
Harvey & related: First Romance (w/a) 1949-53; Hi-School Romance (w/a) 1949-53 K.K. Publications/ Dell (to 1962): adapations (a) 1959-62; Bedrock Barnes, Prospector (a) 1960-62; Bonanza (a) 1960-62; A self-caricature by Tom Gill—and the final page from the retelling of the origin of the Masked Rider Boy and the Pirates (a) of the Plains, as seen in The Lone Ranger #105. 1960; Cheyenne (a) Script by Paul S. Newman, art by Joe Gill. 1956-61; fillers (a) 1954[©2004 Lone Ranger Television, Inc.] 62; Fury (a) 1957-62; Hi-Yo Silver (a) 195260; Last Train from Gun Hill (a) 1959; The Lone Ranger (a) 1950-62; Mysterious Island (a) 1962; Sherlock Holmes (a) 1961; Those Remarkable Engineers (a) 1943; War Heroes (a) 1943-44 Marvel/Timely & related: Apache Kid (a) 1951-54; crime (a) 1952-53; horror (a) 1952-53, 1955; Kent Blake of the Secret Service (a) 1951-53 [with Joe Sinnott]; Red Warrior (a) 1951 [with Joe Sinnott]; romance (a) c. 1952-53; science-fantasy (a) 1952-53; sports (a) 1952-53; war (a) 195253 Novelty/Curtis: Blue Bolt (a) 1944-46; covers (a) 1945; non-fiction (a) mid-1940s [also wrote a few stories he drew] Parents’ Magazine Press/True: True Comics (i) c. 1943-47 Toby Press/Minoan: Billy the Kid (a) 1950s; John Wayne Adventure Comics (a) 1950s
COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US):
Western Publishing/Whitman/Gold Key: adaptations (a) 1965; Bedrock Barnes, Prospector (a) 1962-70; Believe It or Not (p) 1965, 1970, 1972-73; Bonanza (a) 1962-70; Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery (a) 1963-66, 1970-71; (w) 1964, 1966; Boris Karloff Thriller (a) 1962-63; covers (a) 1967-68; fillers (a) 1962-67; Land of the Giants (a) 1968-69; The Lone Ranger (a) 1962-72 (reprinted 1973-76); The Owl (a) 1967-68; Ripley’s Believe It or Not (a) 1977; Runaway (a) 1964; Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (a) 1965; Time Tunnel (a) 1967; Tonto (a) 1960s; The Twilight Zone (a) 1963, 1966-67, 1972
Catechetical Guild Educational Society: Topix [religious] (a) 1944
Ziff-Davis: war (a) 1951-52
Studio Work: Tom Gill (head artist) 1950-72 (shop did work for Western Publishing) Syndicated Credits (Newspaper Comic Strips): Flower Potts (d) (w/a) 1946-48 (name later changed to Ricky Stevens); Hopalong Cassidy (dates uncertain, but included 1954); Lone Ranger (ghosted Charles Flanders; dates uncertain, but included 1956)
2
SOUTH! Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age by Fred Patten [with special thanks to Brian K. Morris for a typing assist—including all those accent marks!]
Special thanks to veteran comics artist Pablo Marcos for this powerful Avengers #1-style image of some of the very greatest of the original Mexican heroes—Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago, El Piloto Fantasma, and Supercharro riding Criollo the Invincible Horse—all set to take on Uncle Sam in the comics wars! Logo by Al Dellinges, adapted from Biljo White’s 1965 original. [Art ©2004 Pablo Marcos; heroes TM & ©2004 the respective trademark & copyright holders.]
¡Supermen South! [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: In summer of 1964, soon after agreeing to assume the publishing and editorial duties of what in retrospect is called “Volume 1” of Alter Ego, I went on a monthlong drive through Mexico with a ladyfriend in my ’58 Chevy. While meandering between Nuevo Laredo, Monterey, Mexico City, Puebla, San Blas, Guaymas, and the Mexico/Arizona border, I added to my small collection of Mexican comic books begun the previous summer when I’d spent three weeks in Puerto Rico. I came back this time fired up with the notion of writing an article on such intriguing South of the Border super-heroes as Santo, Neutrón, Relámpago, and particularly Supercharro. While there, I’d even managed to sit through the entire movie Santo Contra Los Zombies, despite knowing virtually no Spanish (or maybe that feat was possible because I knew no Spanish). However, I quickly realized I had neither the collection nor the knowledge to do justice to the subject. [As I soon learned, however, California science-fiction/comics fan Fred Patten did. He and I had gotten in contact by mail through the Lupoffs’ fanzine Xero—or maybe through A/E or the Thompsons’ Comic Art. Fred volunteered to write such a piece—and he soon submitted a long, informative, and downright entertaining study of both Mexico’s original heroes—including several I hadn’t encountered—and its reprints and adaptations of US titles. The lattermentioned section of Fred’s article appeared in early 1965 in A/E [Vol. 1] #8, and half of the remainder in the following issue, published near the end of that year. Alas, because by then I was happily ensconced as Stan Lee’s assistant editor (call me “Houseroy”) in New York City, future issues of A/E were put on hold. Eventually, the final third of Fred’s article saw print in CAPA-Alpha in 1970; but the circulation of that first “apa-zine” devoted to comic books was only a few dozen people, as opposed to the thousand or so then-subscribers of A/E. [The part of Fred’s article dealing with Mexican reprints of US comics was itself reprinted in 1997 in Bill Schelly’s and my out-ofprint Hamster Press volume Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine, mostly with the same art that had appeared in A/E [V1]#8. But, ever since TwoMorrows and I revived A/E as a full magazine in 1999, I’ve planned to reprint the larger portion dealing with original heroes, and Fred has been remarkably patient—not even complaining when I first featured coverage of French comics heroes (in #30) and of the Golden Age of Canadian comic books (in #36). Still, D-Day has finally come. What’s more, I decided to run Fred’s entire article, on reprints and original heroes alike, pretty much as Fred scribed it in 1964-65, plus the handful of notes he added in 1970 to the portion printed in CAPA-alpha—and, in the 11th hour, we shoehorned in a short essay he wrote in 1974 about the Mexican “Conan” comic, such as it was, which had debuted a few months after he wrote the original study. [This mid-September, I received a huge box of Mexican comic books from Fred in the mail. It contained everything really needed to illustrate the article—far beyond the handful of Mexican comics I still retain from my own summer sojourn now just over forty years in the
3 (Left:) Fred Patten as he looked in the early 1960s— well, actually, he mostly wore his Flash outfit to science-fiction conventions. Thanks to Bill Schelly. (Right:) Fred in a 1997 photo, taken by friend Stan Burns. Hey, Fred—do you still have that great hat?
past. Fred and I, too, are an incomprehensible nigh-four decades older than when he wrote the piece and I published much of it—and yet, for reasons probably neither of us could entirely explain, we still hold onto these specimens of another culture’s superheroes of yore. Nearly all the art that accompanies this article, therefore, was provided by Fred. Me, I couldn’t even find the Mexican maskedwrestler photo magazines I bought off L.A. newsstands in 1976—and I still can’t speak or read Spanish—though that hasn’t stopped me from tossing in a few personal observations and updatings when writing the captions to accompany the art, as I generally do.
[I enjoyed re-reading “¡Supermen South!” just as much this time as when I first read it at the turn of 1965—and Fred and I both hope you’ll feel it was worth waiting for. For best results, put yourself in the proper mindset: the year is 1965 (most of the time, anyway), and Fred has buttonholed you to tell you about this very interesting phenomenon he learned about not so very long ago…! —Roy.]
Super-Heroes of the World Unite! The comic book super-hero is usually considered a uniquely American phenomenon; nor does one often see much to change this impression. The super-heroes we read about are all 100% American, from the Fantastic Four, et al., in New York to Green Lantern in “Coast City” by the blue Pacific. Is someone threatening to blow up the Eiffel Tower in Paris? The Flash will take care of it. Are the Commies getting especially active in Vietnam? Everybody from Captain America to Magicman seems to be on hand to push them back again. If there’s trouble anywhere in the world, our comics proclaim, one of our super-heroes will buzz right over to set things aright. This picture of a complete US comics monopoly is enhanced if you read the letter columns. I’m sure you’ve all seen the letter from some boy in a South Pacific nation, who has just found an isolated two-yearold copy of The Comic on his newsstand and wants to know if anybody in America will send him more issues so he won’t continue to be culturally deprived. Or the one from the American serviceman stationed abroad who’s just come across The Comic in the Base PX, and, boy, does it remind him of the good old days of comicdom! The implications are clear: the whole world would be in a mess if it weren’t for the American super-heroes, and obviously no other nation is capable of producing such Men of Might. (Though some of these foreign places manage to come up with a colorful super-villain every now and then.) Furthermore, the US seems to be the only country that publishes these comics; any copies to be found in foreign lands are either exported American issues, or, at best, sloppy reproductions of US comics in the quaint local tongue. ’Tain’t so! Granted, there are a lot of exported US comics and reprints of same. But other countries also have their own super-heroes,
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Mexican Hero Comics During The U.S. Silver Age style. Indeed, La Prensa’s comics seem to be produced for sale in the United States as much as for Mexican sale. The cover price reads: “$1.00 [i.e., one peso, or 8H¢ cents in our currency] en la Rep. Mexicana; 0.10 dolares en el extranjero.” A note inside confirms that the price “in foreign lands” is in US money.
When Fred wrote in 1964-65 of The Flash saving the Eiffel Tower and Captain America showing up in Vietnam, he was referring to stories like these from Showcase #13 (April 1958) and Tales of Suspense #61 (Jan. 1965). The former was written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino (pencils) & Joe Giella (inks), while the latter— well, read the credits! [Flash panels ©2004 DC Comics; Capt. America splash ©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
who combat mad villains and natural and extraterrestrial disasters in their own right. Comic fandom has spent several years now discussing the American comic book in great detail; it’s time we broadened the field to take in the comics output of other nations. The acme of desirability would be a sort of comic book Baedeker, in which any comic fan could look up in an instant the information as to what comic books and which super-heroes are available in any given country. To commence such a project, let’s look into the comic book situation just across the Rio Grande. The Mexican super-hero and science-fiction comics can generally be divided into three broad fields: straight reprints of US comics; original comics based on American titles; and entirely original comics with their own heroes and villains. Part I, following, will discuss the first two of these fields lightly; and Part II will go into the original Mexican costume-hero comics in much greater detail. Onward, then!
Part I Norteamericano Reprints– Plus a Couple of Anomalies …And All in Color for a Peso The reprinting of US comic books in Mexico is largely in the hands of two publishing companies, both located in Mexico City. These are “Organización Editorial Novaro, S.A. de C.V.” and “Editora de Periodicos, S.C.L., ‘La Prensa.’” Of these, Novaro has by far the largest percentage of US reprints, consisting of all Mexican publication of National Periodical (DC), Gold Key, and Dell titles: super-hero, Disney, and otherwise. La Prensa has just the Marvel titles, of which they reprint only four. La Prensa’s main line is in original comics based on US titles (not always with permission to use the US characters) and completely original Mexican comics drawn in the “American” (norteamericano)
Incidentally, the peso price-tag (and yes, that “$1.00” startled me the first time I saw it, too) is unanimous on all regular Mexican comics, though the newsstands here in Los Angeles charge 15¢ apiece for them. All in all, Novaro and La Prensa take up about equal amounts of space on stands with their titles, though La Prensa doesn’t have nearly so many in the adventure-hero line. The bulk of Novaro’s super-hero comics lies in its reprints of the DC issues. These are usually reprinted six months to a year or more after their original appearance in this country, and they pretty well cover the entire DC output. The biggest difference lies in the number of titles appearing, because Novaro generally combines two or more US titles into only one Mexican title, leaning heavily toward “presentations” in the Brave and Bold and Showcase manner. Most of the DC comics edited by Mort Weisinger are reprinted under the single title of Supermán, which appears weekly. For instance: Supermán #466 (Sept. 23, 1964) is a reprint of Jimmy Olsen #71 (Sept. 1963); Supermán #467 (Sept. 30, 1964) is our Superman #170 (July 1964); Supermán #468 (Oct. 7, 1964) is Lois Lane #46 (Jan. 1964); Supermán #469 (Oct. 14, 1964) is Adventure Comics #316 (Jan. 1964); and Supermán #470 (Oct. 21, 1964) is Superboy #109 (Dec. 1963). The 80-Page Giant “annuals” appear as “Numeros Extraordinarios” and are not numbered, though they are dated. Batman, also a weekly (issue #254 is dated Jan. 21, 1965), reprints in the same way Batman, Detective Comics, and World’s Finest Comics (a holdover from when Jack Schiff edited the US version). In addition, Batman also “presents” Flash (The Flash), Linterna Verde (Green Lantern), and Campeones de la Justicia (Champions of Justice = Justice League of America). Thus, under these two weekly titles are reprinted twelve of the DC Comics. Other DC reprints are lumped together in lesser amounts. Historias Fantásticas is published on the first and 15th of every month and consists of reprints of Tales of the Unexpected, Rip Hunter, Sea Devils, and The Brave and the Bold (the issues featuring super-heroes, anyway). Marvila, a monthly, is Wonder Woman, who “presents” Showcase (the “Tommy Tomorrow” issues) and Metal Men. Relatos Fabulosos, also monthly, runs Aquaman, The Atom, and House of Secrets. Titanes Planetarios, a semi-monthly, is for some reason
¡Supermen South!
Under the omnibus title Supermán, Novaro reprinted tales of “Superman,” “Legion of Super-Heroes,” “Superboy,” “Lois Lane,” and “Jimmy Olsen.” Inside, all the DC stories list 1963 copyrights, but the Mexican comics have late-1964 print dates. In fact, most Novaro reprints depicted in this section seem to be dated a year and more after their US publication. There were ads in these issues for other DC reprints, educational comics, Daniel el Travieso (Dennis the Menace), Lorenzo y Pepita (Dagwood and Blondie), and others. [©2004 DC Comics.]
Fred has some key Batman – El Hombre Murciélago issues, featuring Batman vs. Catman—Green Lantern—The Flash (no “El Flash” in Spanish, for some reason) in his second meeting with his 1940s prototype—and Part II of the first Justice League-Justice Society get-together. These are 1963 DC stories reprinted by Novaro in 1964. [©2004 DC Comics.]