Issuu

Roy Thomas ’ Legendary Comics Fanzine

No. 4 SPRING 2000

THE FLASH by Harry Lampert

Sixty Years Ha ve Gone By In A FLASH--and

HAWKMAN’s Been There All Along! SPECIAL SALUTE TO

THE SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF

FLASH COMICS REMEMBERING THE LATE GREAT

GIL KANE Featuring Featuring Rare Rare Art Art & & ARTIFACTS ARTIFACTS BY: BY:

Joe Kubert Shelly Moldoff Harry Lampert Gardner F. Fox Robert Kanigher Carmine Infantino Michael T. Gilbert Lee Elias E.E. Hibbard Moebius

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(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “AllInterview Issue”! Part 2 of an exclusive STEVE ENGLEHART interview (continued from ALTER EGO #103)! “Pro2Pro” interviews between SIMONSON & LARSEN, MOENCH & WEIN, and comics letterers KLEIN & CHIANG. Plus JOHN OSTRANDER, MICHAEL USLAN, and longtime DC color artist ADRIENNE ROY! Cover by Englehart collaborator MARSHALL ROGERS!

“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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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!

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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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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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™

Volume 3, No. 4 Spring 2000 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editor Bill Schelly

Contents

Design & Layout Jon B. Cooke/ GREAT SWAMP GRAPHICS Janet Sanderson

Consulting Editors John Morrow Jon B. Cooke

Winged Lightning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Writer/Editorial celebrating 60 years of Flash(es) and Hawkmen. What hath Superman and Flash Gordon wrought?

re:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

FCA Editor

Only space for a few corrections, due to our last-minute Gil Kane tribute.

P.C. Hamerlinck

A Moon… a Bat… a Hawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Contributing Editor

A candid interview with Golden Age artist Sheldon Moldoff about Hawkman, Batman, Moon Girl… and EC.

Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus Jerry G. Bails Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich

Special Kubert Consultant Al Dellinges

Two Short Conversations with Joe Kubert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Al Dellinges and Roy Thomas talk with the only man to draw the Winged Wonder in both the Golden and Silver Ages.

Joe Kubert and Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Cover(s) Artist

Al Dellinges writes about his half-century-old obsession with the art of one of comics’ most honored illustrators.

Joe Kubert

Cover Color Tom Ziuko

The Life and Good Times of Gardner F. Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Mailing Crew

Letters and records from the late co-creator of The Flash and Hawkman.

Russ Garwood, D. Hambone, Glen Musial, Ed Stelli, Pat Varker

And Special Thanks to: Mike W. Barr Lamar Blaylock Jerry K. Boyd Lynda Fox Cohen Ray A. Cuthbert Chris Foss Jeff Gelb David Hamilton Mark Hanerfeld Roger Hill Tom Horvitz Carmine Infantino Robert Kanigher Joe & Muriel Kubert Harry & Adele Lampert Randy & JeanMarc Lofficier

Dave Manak Scott McAdam Eugene L. Meyer Moebius Sheldon & Shirley Moldoff Rich Morrissey Albert Moy Jerry Ordway Ethan Roberts Kurt & Dorothy Schaffenberger Robin Snyder Tom Stewart Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Joel Thingvall Mike Vosburg Jerry Weist Marv Wolfman

The “Save Hawkman” Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 What? No regular title for Hawkman? Bill Schelly tells how comics fandom reacted to that fact in the 1960s.

Remembering Gil Kane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 A very personal reminiscence of the late great comic book creator by his friend and collaborator Roy Thomas.

Special Flash Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us! About our cover: Kubert’s dynamic Hawkman graced the cover of Alter Ego, Vol. 2, #1, and now Joe’s generously allowed us to print—for the first time ever in color—his Hawkman vs. Shadow Thief drawing done for the 1977 Bay Con (San Francisco). Whenever the Feathered Fury starred on a Flash Comics cover in the 1940s, it sported a cameo image of the Fastest Man Alive—and vice versa—hence Harry Lampert’s Flash here. [Hawkman and Flash ©2000 DC Comics Inc.] Alter EgoTM is published quarterly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@oburg.net. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $5.95 ($7.00 Canada, $9.00 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $20 US, $27 Canada, $37 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. Alter and Captain Ego ©2000 Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly. The Atom, Batman, Batwoman, The Black Pirate, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Don Caballero, The Flash, Ghost Patrol, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Hawkgirl, Hourman, Ibis, Johnny Quick, Johnny Thunder, Kid Eternity, The King, Marvel Family, Mary Marvel, The Ray, Red, White & Blue, The Ring, Rose & The Thorn, Sargon, Sgt. Rock, Steve Malone, Superman, Viking Prince, The Whip, Wildcat ©2000 DC Comics Inc.; Moon Girl ©2000 William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc. The Golem ©2000 Protestant Digest. Tor ©2000 Joe Kubert. Lori Lovecraft ©2000 Mike Vosburg. All-Winners Squad, Angel, Blazing Skull, Bucky, Captain America, Captain Marvel, The Fin, Hulk, Human Torch, Iron Fist, Morbius, Patriot, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Super Rabbit, Terry Vance, Thing, Toro, Vagabond, Venus, Vision, Warlock, Whizzer ©2000 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Conan ©2000 Conan Properties, Inc.; Flash Gordon ©2000 KFS. Mr. Monster ©2000 Michael T. Gilbert. Droopy ©2000 Harry Lampert. Pogo ©2000 Walt Kelly Estate. The Flame, Samson, U.S. Jones ©2000 Fox Publications. Magno & Davey, Raven, Unknown Soldier ©2000 Ace Magazines, Inc. The Wizard ©2000 Archie Comics Group. Flyin’ Jenny ©2000 Bell Syndicate. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING

Writer/Editorial

Winged Lightning

or me, one of the greatest things about bringing back Alter Ego after three decades has been re-establishing contacts, even friendships that had lain dormant for years… or simply to give me an excuse to get in touch with old friends, or (hopefully) to make new ones. That renewed contact, of course, is a doubleedged sword, as detailed below… but first: In 1939—the year Flash Comics #1, whose heroes Flash and Hawkman this issue of A/E celebrates, made its debut— events must have been seen as moving very fast indeed.

Adolf Hitler, six years into his proclaimed “Thousand Year Reich,” had established Nazi Germany as a power to be respected, or at least feared, by old foes France and England. In September, only weeks after abruptly signing a peace treaty with the hated Joe Stalin and the U.S.S.R., Der Führer sent troops storming into neighboring Poland, overwhelming it swiftly in what became known as Blitzkrieg. “Lightning War.” By late 1939 things were moving quickly in the lesser world of comic books, too. Only a year-and-a-half after he had flung his first flivver on the cover of Action #1, Superman’s attributes had already been cloned by a whole passel of imitators: First Wonder Man, then Captain Marvel and Master Man, matched the Man of Tomorrow power for power; Batman borrowed the costume and secret identity; Human Torch and Sub-Mariner mutated his ability to survive fire and the briny deep into specialties of their own.

Mitchell’s antebellum South, “gone with the wind.” It all makes me wish I’d brought A/E back years ago… or that I had more time. But don’t we all? For, the flight of time is, indeed, swift— Hawkman and The Flash, put together. Winged lightning, indeed. As I readied this issue, time caught up with two friends of mine—one the consummate comics professional, the other a longtime fan just as devoted to comics in his own way. From 1959-60 forward, Gil Kane became one of the artistic kingpins of the Silver Age, after two decades of laboring in the shadow of other artists. After Green Lantern, then The Atom, and later a significant body of excellent work for Marvel, DC, and other companies (including publishing on his own, more than once), he never again stood in any artist’s shadow. Gil, whom I was privileged to call friend for just over thirty years, passed away on January 31, 2000, after the return of the lymphoma he had staved off more than a decade earlier.

Though news of his passing came as this issue was in the final stages of And over at All-American Comics, a new company production, I’ve written a memoir of our allied with Superman’s publisher, National/DC, two more friendship and collaborations which of his attributes—speed and flight— appears in the issue. And in June, as would be spun off into separate Gil Kane (1926-2000) was justly proud of the oft-overlooked run of already planned, A/E will feature one Superman stories he and Marv Wolfman produced during the 1980s. This characters by writer Gardner F. Fox, of Gil’s last interviews, which deals powerful sketch reminds us why that work should not be forgotten. editor Shelly Mayer, publisher M.C. with the early days of comics. [Superman ©2000 DC Comics, Inc.; courtesy of Jeff Gelb.] Gaines, and a few talented artists. Another who has left us too soon was Mark Hanerfeld.

Mentioning my esteemed correspondent Gardner Fox brings me back to the first two paragraphs above. Perhaps I simply had to wait until I had grown old enough myself (I turned 59 last November, incredible as that seems to me) to be able to fully appreciate the notion of “time in its flight.”

I’d known him since the late ’60s, when he palled around with Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, et al. in New York, winding up as an assistant editor (and occasional scripter) for DC, and as the model for Abel, the host of The House of Secrets.

Since the early-’98 revival of Alter Ego, it’s been a real pleasure—if occasionally a bittersweet one—to again have an excuse to question both my contemporaries and my elders. After all, they, and only they, can truly document a world that is now, every bit as much as Margaret

As Mark Evanier detailed in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1367 (1/26/00), Mark H. was a lifetime booster of comics. Indeed, he’d planned to write for A/E about the Silver Age Flash, with the cooperation of his admired friend Carmine Infantino; and a Kubert Hawkman sketch which Mark

3 owned for years is reproduced in this issue. I had enjoyed getting to know Mark again by phone, years after my exodus from New York. I knew his health wasn’t good, but it was still a shock when he suddenly disappeared, incommunicado, into a hospital or convalescent home (I was never quite certain which). I was not overly surprised when Marv phoned to tell me he had passed away; but being prepared for a loss doesn’t make one accept it any more readily.

moving… and I promise that your voyage through these pages will be far more upbeat than this somewhat wistful and melancholy writer/editorial. It will be, as I said, a celebration. This issue of Alter Ego is dedicated to the memory of Gil Kane and Mark Hanerfeld—Kane and “Abel,” by an odd coincidence of assumed names—two extraordinary men who, between them, encompassed so much of what was good about the field of comic books.

Winged lightning.

Two men I was proud to call “friend.”

Times flies; tempus fugits. All the more reason to enjoy time’s mad dash while we may, by honoring the people and things we love now—and those we loved once. Mark Hanerfeld. He loved comics all his life. It is my fervent wish that Alter Ego be an ongoing celebration of those comics and of their creators. So let’s get [NOTE: Because of the last-minute addition of our memoir of comics titan Gil Kane, we’ve regretfully been forced to postpone all letters and responses till next issue, and have only space to list a few corrections from the previous one.—R.T.]

re:

New reader Shaun Clancy wrote to inform us that he had introduced (via mail) FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck to Nat Champlin and Ginny Provisiero, who were covered last issue, and Paul is happy to acknowledge that.

As is perhaps almost inevitable, we ADDITIONS AND CORRECneglected to credit one or two generous TIONS TO A/E V3#3: Rich Morrissey, contributors. We misplaced the name writer of this issue’s history of Flash of the stalwart who sent us a copy Comics, pointed out to a surprised R.T. of Don Rico’s 1970s drawing of that “the Superman strips you Captain America—and though Blake reprinted (from the 1958 sequence Bell was credited with Bill Everett’s late-’60s featuring Bizarro) were written by sketch of The Hulk, we forgot to include the eAlvin Schwartz, not by Otto mail address of his website, which contains loads Binder. (Both Martin O’Hearn of information on Everett, Steve Ditko, and and I recognized the style… other prime artists. It’s <ditko37.interlog.com>. very different from Binder’s… Give it a try. when we first read the story; Schwartz has since confirmed it.) Binder did script In a caption under a Super Rabbit page Bizarro’s first appearance in comic books in the Gil Kane confab, third Timely editor(in Superboy #68, which appeared several in-chief Vince Fago was confused with his months before the strip sequence), and all late brother Al, who was a comics artist. other early comic book stories with the Fortunately, Vince was correctly ID’d in character, including the two two-parters in the interview proper. We’ll be interAction Comics that first introduced Bizarro viewing Vince in a near-future issue! as an adult and introduced the Bizarro A pair of references to World. [Editor] Mort Weisinger may have Human Torch #1 should given Binder’s plot to Schwartz for the newshave been to #3, from which paper strip (he did that a lot), or he may have several art spots were reprobrought the plot over from duced. A vintage drawing of our marvelous mascots, Alter and Captain Ego, by the comic book (he did that Biljo White, which originally appeared (in green and yellow outfit and a lot, too), or even vice At one point in the Alex bare legs, yet!) on the back cover of Alter Ego (Vol. 1) #8, for Winter 1965. versa. (Note that Schwartz Ross section, I accidentally typed Captain Alter and the Captain both appear—in their first adventure in years—in had Bizarro with a ‘B’ on Marvel Jr. artist Bud Thompson as Ben Hamster Press’ Heroes vs. Hitler comic, with story by Roy Thomas & Bill his chest, whereas Binder Thompson; there was a Ben Thompson in Schelly and art by Bill. See ad elsewhere in this issue. [Alter and Captain gave him a more logical ‘S,’ comics, but he drew for Timely, Eastern Ego ©2000 Roy Thomas and Bill Schelly.] since he was a duplicate of Color, et al., not for Fawcett. Superman. Presumably that Also, in his 1961 letter reprinted in the issue, Bill Everett spelled was in the script, since when Curt Swan drew Bizarro later in the comic the name of his wife “Gwenn”; I spelled it with one “n” elsewhere. books, he gave him the ‘S,’ as well.” By the time V3#3 was printed, I believed the 1973 inker of Marie [ED. NOTE: Since Otto personally sent me those several weeks’ Severin’s full-page tribute to Bill was probably Frank Giacoia, not Mike worth of 1958 dailies in 1963-64, I assumed that they, like everything else Esposito as stated; in the last-minute crunch this change was not made. in that packet, were scripted by him. Perhaps, instead, they were merely Even so, I’m not 100% certain who the inker was. given to him as samples to follow when he took over the strip—if indeed continued on pg. 44 he ever did. Now, onward:]

A Moon… a Bat… a Hawk—

A Moon... A Bat... A Hawk A Candid Conversation With Sheldon Moldoff

Interview Conducted and Edited by Roy Thomas Transcribed by Jon B. Knutson [EDITOR’S NOTE: Under his quasi-pseudonym Shelly, Sheldon Moldoff would be the Hawkman artist from Flash Comics #2-61 and in All-Star Comics #1-23. But Shelly’s accomplishments go far beyond even the Winged Wonder.] ROY THOMAS: Shelly, you and Irwin Hasen [the second regular artist of the Golden Age Green Lantern] are about the same age, and you seem to have one of the very same major influences: sports cartoonist Willard Mullin. SHELLY MOLDOFF: Irwin and I only found that out maybe twenty years later. When I got out of school—or I may have even still been in school—I admired Mullin’s sports cartoons. Their strength was his ideas, and his little sketchy cartoon characters, which I loved. So I got on the subway and went down to the New York World-Telegram office and just introduced myself, and he was very nice. This had to be about 1936 or 1937, or maybe a year earlier.

everybody, I adapted that style to comic books, because I thought it was the best. I really loved comic books when they started, not only because of the medium it was—a complete story, which was terrific—but the fact that it was a chance to sell work. Because if you had to wait for an opening in a newspaper or syndicate, you could wait forever! There are only so many strips that a newspaper carries. RT: Some people still think of the comic strip as being automatically superior; but when you realize a comic book can do five-, ten-, even 100-page stories—that makes it a whole different medium, and just as valid in its own way. MOLDOFF: That’s why the comic book became so successful. It wasn’t a cliffhanger. You didn’t have to wait till tomorrow to see another four panels, and the next day another four panels. You sat down, and you read a complete eight- or ten-page story. RT: I understand another well-known comic book artist had something to do with your starting cartooning… Bernard Baily [artist of “Hour-Man,” “The Spectre,” et al.].

I would go watch him work. Sometimes when I was there he’d be stuck and he’d say, “I’ve got to do something on baseball. Got any ideas, Sheldon?” And I’d say, “How about this or that?” Several times he did take my suggestions, and he’d let me just sit there and watch him, and it was great. I think I learned a lot just from the way he moved his little cartoon characters. RT: It’s no surprise that you list Hal Foster and Alex Raymond as influences—every comics artist back then admired those two, and Milt Caniff—but I’ve read that in your high school yearbook in 1937 you listed Walt Disney as the man you most admired.

Shelly Moldoff with a recent re-creation of his first Hawkman cover for Flash Comics (#8), and what he calls “my favorite cover.” [Photo courtesy of Sheldon Moldoff; Hawkman, Flash, Johnny Thunder, Whip, King, and Cliff Cornwall ©2000 DC Comics Inc.]

MOLDOFF: I was the staff cartoonist on the high school paper, and I thought animation was fantastic. I remember when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came out, and everybody said to me, “Oh, a fulllength cartoon? That’s ridiculous… it’ll fall on its face!” I said, “No, this is going to be a classic!” Sure enough, it opened in the Radio City Music Hall in New York, and it played to sell-out crowds for weeks and weeks and weeks! He proved it could be a great new art form and story form. In those days, we wanted to be cartoonists, and we didn’t even know what super-heroes were. My ambition was to learn how to draw, and then have a funny cartoon character and sell it to a newspaper. I never thought in terms of straight adventure. And then, when Flash Gordon started to make an impression on

MOLDOFF: Yeah, he lived in the same apartment house I did in the Bronx. He was a few years older than me; he went to James Monroe High School, and he was also his school’s newspaper cartoonist. He was a very good-looking guy, and I think he was class president. I was drawing in chalk on the sidewalk—Popeye and Betty Boop and other popular cartoons of the day—and he came by and looked at it and said, “Hey, do you want to learn how to draw cartoons?” I said, “Yes!” He said, “Come on, I’ll show you how to draw.”

So we went across the street and sat on a bench in the park, and he showed me how to start with a circle, and how to make the body, and how to make a smile, and the proportions for cartoons. He said, “Keep practicing. I live on the fourth floor, and if you want to show me some of your work, I’ll be glad to look at it.” So we became friendly, and I’d periodically go up and show him my stuff, and he would help me and criticize me. Then he moved away while I was still in high school, and then a few years later I was at National bringing in some filler pages for Vin Sullivan and in walks Bernard Baily! He looked at me, and he said, “Sheldon?” I said, “Yeah, Bernie, how are ya?” He said, “Well, you made it, huh?” [laughs] I said, “Yeah, yeah, thanks to help from you and other people, I’m a cartoonist!”

No moon in sight, but bats and hawks we’ve got! This beautiful 19” x 14” color commission piece, done in 1991, is from Ye Editor’s private collection. [Art ©2000 Sheldon Moldoff; Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Batman, Batwoman ©2000 DC Comics Inc.]

The same thing happened when I was admitted into the National Cartoonists Society in the early ’40s. At a meeting, when they announced the new members, I stood up… and you get a little round of applause and greetings… and who comes out of the crowd but Willard Mullin! He came over to me and said, “Shelly, I’m so glad to see you’re here! You’re one of us now.” Irwin Hasen had a similar experience. RT: Although the recent “Millennium” reprint of the first issue of Action Comics [1938] listed the author of the sports cartoon in that issue as “Unknown,” that was your work, wasn’t it? MOLDOFF: Yes. I did those things because of my interest in sports and because of Willard Mullin’s advice. The one in Action #1 was one of the earliest things I sold. I also sold such filler pages to several of the other magazines. It would be sports oddities, or movie oddities, or “Believe It or Not” Ripley-style facts. Vin Sullivan and I got along great, and I sold many, many pages to him. That’s how I began in comic books. RT: One area of your career we won’t deal with much here, because it was covered in A/E, Vol. 2, #5 [flip section of Comic Book Artist #5], is one of your first jobs— assisting Bob Kane on “Batman” back in ’39.

funny cartoon strip, “Rusty and His Pals.” RT: How much professional comics work had you done by this stage? MOLDOFF: Maybe a couple of filler pages… no strips [i.e., stories]. Someone told Bob about me, and he called me, and I went over to see him in the Bronx—we both lived in the Bronx—and I started working for him. I met Bill Finger there, and we were gung-ho. A lot of people have asked me, “Should Bill Finger’s name be up there [on “Batman”]? The only thing I can say is, at that time, we were all excited that we were working, you know? Bill Finger was a frustrated writer. There were not too many markets. Then, all of a sudden, here’s Batman, and his friend Bob needs as many scripts as he can provide. As soon as he finishes one, he’s got another one to do. All of a sudden, we’re making money!

RT: After all, that was the tail end of the Depression. And I remember what Jack Nicholson said when he won an From Shelly’s high school Oscar for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest: “I’m still yearbook. Even then, he getting used to working steady!” [laughs] knew what he liked! [courtesy of S.M.]

MOLDOFF: He had just started “Batman,” and he needed help, because he was also doing a strip called “Clip Carson” and another

MOLDOFF: That was the main thing, you know? Nobody thought “Batman” was going to go for sixty years and be the industry that it became. All we wanted to do was make a couple of bucks, plus we’re in print—which is every writer’s or artist’s ambition, to be in print—so we were satisfied at the time.

A Moon… a Bat… a Hawk—

animated cel, with acrylic paint. That’s the way I did it for Shoney’s and Big Boy, and they printed from that. I did not have an editor, I didn’t have to answer to anybody! I was my own boss, and it was great! [laughs] It was terrific. The only thing they did was proofread. I would say, out of my whole sixty years of doing comics, that was probably the most enjoyable job! RT: At what stage in your career did you do the Marco Polo Jr. animated feature? MOLDOFF: I did a Japanese animated feature, and I did 125 sevenminute films. Earlier I had written some stories and did some storyboards for a different project, and when I finished, the man, Mr. Lu [sic?], invited me and Shirley to Tokyo for a two-week vacation; that was in 1967. On the way back I got the idea for Marco Polo Jr. I had somebody raise the money, and we produced our own animated feature. It wasn’t a big, big winner like you read about today, it was no Lion King or anything like that….

done any re-creations of the host of This Magazine Is Haunted? MOLDOFF: Dr. Death? I got one in the last couple of months that wanted Dr. Death with a girl in a cemetery. I’ve done a number of re-creations of horror covers I had done. RT: I also have a re-creation of your drawing that was used for years at the top of every second Flash Comics cover… the one of Hawkman in a circle. When I was a kid, I never could figure out what his hand was doing at the bottom…. MOLDOFF: He’s drawing an arrow. [See icon on our flip cover.] RT: Yeah, I know that now. But DC had cut the arrow off the bottom; and besides, Hawkman wasn’t using a bow in any stories at that stage. But DC kept using that drawing for a year or two after you’d stopped drawing “Hawkman.” Which comics work do you look back on with the most fondness? MOLDOFF: The ones that gave me greatest pleasure were doing “Hawkman” and “Black Pirate.” “Batman” was a job, and I did it to the best of my ability and to please Bob Kane, but the most satisfaction came from doing the giveaways. I did those for eight to ten years, thousands and thousands of different stories, and I loved it.

RT: But 125 episodes of anything is something of a success. MOLDOFF: Yeah, it was— except I went to bed with a bunch of crooks! You find that story happens a lot with artists and writers. They get taken. I think we’re notoriously trustful people. You know, somebody shakes my hand and says, “You’ve got a deal,” and to me, that’s a deal!

RT: [laughs] They probably paid at least as well as comic books….

RT: In fact, you discovered that, even when you have it in writing, it isn’t always a deal. MOLDOFF: Oh, I found that out, Roy! There are plenty of people in other fields that tell the same story. RT: Tell us a little about the re-creations you do these days, for sale by mail or at comics conventions.

Shelly still makes the circuit of some of the best comics conventions, including Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC; MegaCon in Orlando, FL (see Harry Lampert interview for info on that one); and San Diego. This drawing appeared in the Heroes Con program book for 1998, which was dedicated to Captain America. [Art ©2000 Sheldon Moldoff; Hawkman ©2000 DC Comics Inc.; Captain America ©2000 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

MOLDOFF: I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on that interview that you printed [conducted by Bill Schelly for Alter Ego, Vol. 2, #5, as part of CBA]. I’ve had people call me or write to me and say, “We got your address, we read the article, and we’re so glad you’re finally getting the credit for the stories we enjoyed all those years.” I’ve got a great response, and they all refer to your magazine. RT: I like to see people get credit, and if they can also get a little bit of money… Along with Batman, Hawkman, and Moon Girl, and a few characters you drew on covers, like Flash and Green Lantern, have you

MOLDOFF: They paid much better! Not as much as they pay today. But I did it from the middle ’70s to the middle ’80s. And I loved it because I was my own boss, my own editor…. RT: Well, thank you very much, Shelly. MOLDOFF: My pleasure, Roy.

[NOTE: Sheldon Moldoff appears at various comics conventions around the country, including MegaCon in Orlando, Florida; the Heroes Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina; and often the San Diego Convention. See end-comments to the Harry Lampert interview in our “Flash” section for information on these upcoming conventions. Anyone wishing to receive information regard Shelly’s re-creations should contact him at: 3710 Inverrary Drive 1W, Lauderhill, FL 33319. Phone (954) 485-8551.]

Two Short Conversations with Joe Kubert

Two Short Conversations with

Joe Kubert Conducted by Al Dellinges and Roy Thomas Conversation One: Kubert/Dellinges [ED. NOTE: Al Dellinges has spent years studying and even tracing the comic art of Joe Kubert. The following interview, conducted by mail, was previously printed in Al’s self-published volume Joe Kubert: A Golden Age Index, in 1978, and dealt primarily with his art during the 1940s, when Kubert was in his teens and early twenties.] AL DELLINGES: In Flash Comics #62, your first Hawkman job in that magazine, it looks as though you misspelled the name of Hawkman on the splash page. JOE KUBERT: That was apparently the act of a young, over-zealous cartoonist. And you’re absolutely right, Al—I did misspell the title name. This must be a “first” of some sort. Boy, am I red-faced! AD: The quality of the artwork in Flash #71 is quite superior to any previous issues. Did you feel you finally arrived at your potential with that story? KUBERT: It’s very difficult to look at these things in retrospect. I do know that I entered into each job with the hope and desire that it’d be better than the last. I still do, even today. Incidentally, do you notice the back-slanted lettering in the strips? These were my first experience in lettering—at the behest of Sheldon Mayer, my then-editor. AD: The splash pages of the next five issues of Flash Comics retain the same quality as #71; however, some of the artwork was tight, while some appeared loose. Was mood a factor during work on these jobs? KUBERT: I might have been the subject matter that dictated the style and approach I used. I don’t really know. All I do know is that, looking at some of this material—the distortions and the bad drawing—gives me the shudders! AD: Did you work at home or at a studio? KUBERT: Most of the years I’ve spent in the business have involved my working at home. At one time or another I’ve worked at “studios” which were set up by a group of guys including myself, fellows like Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Hy Rosen, Howie Post. AD: The splash page of Flash #75 is the only one in which Hawkman did not appear.

Any reason why you didn’t include him? KUBERT: I tried my best to have the splashes look as different as possible, design-wise. Other than that, I’ve no idea why I didn’t include Hawkman. Incidentally, if I’m Hawkman head by Kubert, done for a ’70s San Diego not mistaken, the Comic Con program. [Art ©Joe Kubert; Hawkman lettering (except ©2000 DC Comics Inc. Thanks to Al Dellinges.] for the first caption letters) was done by someone named Sol Harrison—now president of National Periodicals—and one of my dearest friends. AD: Most of your covers and splash pages show Hawkman on the left side of the page. Any particular reason? KUBERT: Yes. We [artists] were given to understand that the magazines on retail display racks usually showed the top [title] of the cover and the left-hand side. So we tried (and still do) to design/plan the cover with the star character on the left-hand side. AD: How do you account for the marked improvement in your work within a relatively short time? For instance, the artwork in Flash Comics up to issue #70 was okay, but Flash #71 was a professional achievement in every respect. KUBERT: That’s a matter of your own personal judgment, Al. As I mentioned before, looking at all this work today makes me cringe. But I believe it’s a good idea for the work to be shown, if for no other reason than to allow those people who are trying to break into the business the opportunity to see and learn from my early and most amateurish efforts. AD: Flash #76 has the finest total overall quality of all issues to that point. I know it was a long time ago, but were you exceptionally proud of the job you did on that one? KUBERT: I think perhaps you’re more affected by the story than the illustrations, Al.

Photo of Joe Kubert in the 1970s. [Courtesy of Muriel Kubert]

AD: Hawkman in Flash #85 lacked the quality that was present in Flash #76, and Hawkman began changing in style

The Life and Good Times of—

THE LIFE AND GOOD TIMES OF

GARDNER F . FOX A Letter from the Co-Creator of Flash and Hawkman [NOTE: As anyone who has been following Alter Ego (Vol. 2-3) and/or the DC Archives series knows, Gardner F. Fox (1911-1986) was both one of the most prolific and one of the most important writers in the more than sixty-year history of comic books. While Michael T. Gilbert (with a bit of help from Mr. Monster) has been digging through the Fox papers at the University of Oregon (Eugene) from time to time, this issue of A/E would seem to be the place to take a closer look at the cocreator of The Flash, Hawkman (twice), Doctor Fate, The Justice Society of America, Adam Strange, The (Silver Age) Atom, et al. The following missive from Gardner to comics fan James Flanagan, dated March 26, 1979, was printed in Robin Snyder’s History of Comics, Vol. 2, #2, Feb. 1991. In some places Gardner appears to be answering specific questions posed to him earlier by his correspondent; the reader can generally surmise what those questions were. A few editorial notes have been added for clarity. The letter is ©2000 by the Gardner Fox estate. Now, here is Gardner in his own words:]

my junior year), and the idea sounded good. I have since discovered that I was the very first writer hired to do comic book writing—I beat Otto Binder by about six months. Using my law school background, I invented Steve Malone, District Attorney, and a story about him was my very first comic book yarn. I followed this with a Zatara, and I was on my way. The pulps I read ’way back then were Argosy, All Story, Amazing, and some of the sports pulps. My favorite authors were A. Merritt, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and in the mystery field, John Dickson Carr. There was also Harold Lamb, Jeffrey Farnol, and one or two others. I was in at the early stages of Flash Comics. I worked with Sheldon Mayer, boy-editor at the time, and came up with the Flash, Hawkman, King Standish (based on Frank Packard’s Grey Seal novels, if I recall correctly), and Cliff Cornwall. I also wrote the short stories which Flash Magazine carried in those days. All in all, I have written over four thousand comic book stories. My mind reels at this when I stop to think about it. If you figure that I wrote in the span of thirty years, and break it down, you’ll see what I mean.

o start with, I got into comics because the law, back in those Depression Days, was not something at which to get rich, so when a good friend Gardner Fox in retirement, probably late 1970s or early of mine—Vin Sullivan, whom I’d known ‘80s. [Photo courtesy of daughter Lynda Fox Cohen] since the second grade of grammar school—suggested I try my hand at writing comics (a completely new thing, back in those days), I fell in with the idea. I’d written a lot. I was on the high school paper, the college newspaper (I wound up being “Steve Malone,” from an early issue of Detective Comics, drawn by Don Lynch. Editor in Chief of [©2000 DC Comics Inc. Courtesy of Jerry Bails.] the college paper in

I worked from the beginning with the Justice Society stories, though the idea of creating the Justice

—Gardner F. Fox

23 company], I wrote for him. I imagine I did almost all his stories—and later, of course, when he went into business for himself [Magazine Enterprises], I did the same.

Society was Gaines’ (I believe). The books were selling so well, he wanted to make even more money, I guess. Shelly and I would plot the whole story (he would come up to my house for dinner, and right after it we would sit down and go to work). After a time, of course, he let me go at it by myself, but in the beginning, he wanted to have a hand in the story line; to make sure, I imagine, that when I sent in the finished product, he could just send it off to the artist without fussing over it.

During the ’40s, I branched out into writing weird tales, sciencefiction, sports, and Westerns for the pulps. It wasn’t until 1951 or so that I wrote my first novel, The Borgia Blade. I was laid up in bed with a bad cold and, for want of something better to do, began writing a novel in longhand. When I mentioned it to my agent, he said go ahead and keep on writing… it sold to Gold Medal Books, and that was the first of the hundred and sixty odd books I have written.

When Flash and Hawkman were dropped, I was writing westerns for the comics, also some animation. Times were changing, everybody was worrying about how badly television would affect comic books. I did a lot of writing during that period, all different sorts of comics, together with pulps. It wasn’t until those first paperbacks came in (in 1949? 1950?) that I switched over to them, as I’ve mentioned above, with The Borgia Blade. Yes, I enjoyed writing for Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space. I always liked science-fiction, and I could throw myself into it wholeheartedly. Which one did I like best? I just can’t remember.

We never had any such to-do as Feiffer suggests in his book. God knows what would have come out of it if we Joe Kubert’s dynamic Hawkman, circa 1946-47. had ever worked in [©2000 DC Comics Inc.] such a helter-skelter way! We got our assignments and I, for one, went home and roughed out my story on a pad in pencil and then sat down and typed it out. It was the practice at DC and also at Gaines’ outfit to work almost hand-in-glove with the editors. Story lines were always plotted with the editors with whom one worked. The idea behind this, I am certain, was that we would avoid any lawsuits for stealing stories already published. They didn’t want any legal troubles. I’ve worked with Shelly, Bernie Breslauer, Mort Weisinger, Murray Boltinoff, Jack Schiff, and, of course, Julie Schwartz. They were all good editors. I had a great working relationship with all of them. Of course, when Julie came into the business, sometime in 1944, I believe, I began working with him, and our relationship lasted for about 25 years. He was, and is, a great editor. As I mentioned, I knew Vin Sullivan since the second year of grammar school. When he left DC and went to Columbia [a rival comics

Remembering Gil Kane

Remembering Gil A Very Personal Reminiscence of Gil Kane by Roy Thomas [NOTE: Two issues ago, I transcribed some personal thoughts about Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett. He and Gil Kane were far and away the two Golden Age comics talents with whom I’ve had the closest relationships over the years, partly because I’m a decade or so younger than most of them. The following piece was much harder to write than the one on Bill Everett… for Bill has been gone from us for more than a quarter of a century, while, as I type these words, Gil’s passing is less than two weeks past. Perhaps a bit of time, a bit more perspective, would benefit this memoir. [However, after being deluged with requests to say something about him for widely disparate publications, I decided to delay a couple of items originally scheduled for this issue and to write about Gil, instead. I apologize for the fact that, with the deadline looming, I was unable to polish this piece as much as I might have liked, or to put everything in strict chronological order, or to provide precise times and dates for everything. [As in the case of the Everett piece, this article is in no way an attempt at a biography, even a brief one, of Gil Kane. His more than half-century career has been covered in many articles and interviews over recent years, with doubtless more to come. I myself was probably one of the last to interview him, in an hour-plus phone conversation in mid-1999 which was intended by mutual consent to discuss not Gil’s career per se, but the Golden Age of Comics as it manifested itself at various companies. The part of that talk dealing with Timely Comics in the ’40s and ’50s appeared last issue; the remainder, covering Gil’s memories of DC and other places he worked in his youth, will appear next issue. —R.T.]

I. PREFACE For some reason Gil Kane and Bill Everett are linked together in my mind, at least in certain ways. In point of fact, although both were friends and collaborators of mine whose careers at Marvel overlapped during the late 1960s and early 1970s, they barely knew each other. The closest they came to “working together,” I believe, was on a cover or three—as when Bill inked a last-minute cover Gil had penciled for Avengers #97, the final chapter of the KreeSkrull War. For that illustration, which featured several Timely Golden Age

heroes including Sub-Mariner, inker Bill impulsively designed a joint signature in which their elongated initials (“GK” and “BE”) overlapped. And yet, when I sat down to write a reminiscence of Gil Kane, whom I knew for more than thirty years, one of the first things I thought of was an incident which occurred shortly after Bill’s death at age 56 in February 1973. Gil told me, with some incredulity, that someone in the comics field had suggested that he write an article about Bill’s life and career, with the hope that a major newspaper or magazine might print it. Gil scoffed at the very idea. “What could I say that they’d possibly want to print?” he asked me rhetorically (I’m paraphrasing his words here, but fairly closely). “That he was a comic book artist and created The Sub-Mariner? That’d mean nothing to anybody outside the comics field.” He never wrote the piece. It was not that Gil didn’t respect Bill Everett’s talent. He merely felt that even The Sub-Mariner, one of the first great comic book super-heroes, was not well enough known by the general public for a newspaper like the New York Times to be interested in printing more than a short obituary. And he was probably right, given the times. What might Gil have said had he known that, 27 years later, the Gil Kane thumbnail for a Green Lantern cover. Times would print [©2000 DC Comics, Inc.; Courtesy of David Hamilton.] a several-hundredword article headlined “Gil Kane, Comic-Book Artist, Is Dead at 73”—or that I, and others, would be fielding phone calls from U.S. News &World Report, among other publications, for information and quotations about Gil’s career and even about his and my work together. I know he would have been surprised. I suspect he might have been secretly pleased, even though he might not have admitted it. Gil Kane (1926-2000). Now he belongs to the ages: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Modern, and Beyond. Photo of the master holding court at the 1997 San Diego Comic Con. [Courtesy of Tom Stewart.]

Remembering Gil Kane Somehow, the mere thought of Gil, up on some heavenly cloud, looking down on coverage of his passing in the national media, reminds me of a remark he made when, a decade ago, he was asked to pencil the final issue of the Green Lantern series he had begun in 1959-1960. Oh, he was going to do it, all right—because it was paying work—but he disparaged the very notion that he should feel honored about being asked to illustrate this bookend to his Silver Age work.

After a brief Kirbyesque stint on “Hulk” and “Captain America,” Gil returned to Green Lantern with renewed vigor—and more dynamic anatomy. Splashes from Green Lantern #52 (Apr. ’67) and Tales to Astonish #88 (Feb. ‘67). [Hulk ©2000 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Green Lanterns ©2000 DC Comics Inc. GL repro’d from original art, courtesy of Jerry G. Bails.]

I insisted that it was “fitting” that he draw this last issue of the GL series. “I must tell you, my boy,” he said in that patrician tone he affected, “that I think of it more as ironic.” For, though this may surprise some who didn’t know him, Gil never really liked having it thought or said or written that the apex of his career was Green Lantern.

He never cared much for that work, or for any of the DC comics of the early 1960s which brought him to the attention of early fandom and which originally made his reputation. After all, beginning in the latter half of the ’60s with his “return” to Marvel on such strips as “The Incredible Hulk,” “Captain America,” and then Captain Marvel, et al., all his early Jack Kirby influences and his meticulous striving after dynamic yet accurate anatomy had suddenly found a chance to emerge—and he was far happier with that work, and with the art he did afterward for Marvel, DC, and others, than he could ever be in looking at his earlier product. All the same, the cold hard fact remains: Gil Kane will forever be more identified with the second Green Lantern than with anything else he ever drew.

II. THE LIFE AND TIMES The New York Times article by Douglas Martin gives a fairly accurate rundown of his life, and by the time this issue of A/E comes out, most comics fans will have read it or some related account. A few salient facts, if only in order to add Gil’s and/or my own take on them: Born Eli Katz in Latvia on April 6, 1926, he came to New York with his family at the age of three. Early on, he became not only a fan of swashbuckling movies and of pulp magazines, but also of comic strips and comic books. In A/E V3#3, when I asked if he recalled the debut of Timely’s flagship title in 1939, he answered without hesitation: “My bedroom was being painted a light color of blue when I got the first issue of Marvel Comics. I remember reading it on the bed….” At that time he would have been 13… well above the age of the typical comics reader. At 15 he dropped out of vocational high school to become a comic book artist. His first job Right: Storytellers in the story. Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, as depicted by the artist in the back-up “Tales of the Hyborian Age” strip featured in Conan the Barbarian #12. [©2000 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Quick as a Flash

“Quick as a Flash ” A (hopefully not too brief) history of Flash Comics by Rich Morrissey I. TWO FLASHES OF LIGHTNING The year was 1939, and comic books had become, in only a short time, one of the greatest success stories of American publishing. The format had been around for years, but not until the astounding success of the Superman-starring Action Comics the previous year had publishers, both old and new, begun to jump onto the comic book bandwagon in droves. The race was on to come up with new and successful characters— and with strong and punchy titles for their new magazines. So it was hardly surprising that two different publishers came up with the same title—Flash Comics—at virtually the same time. After all, one of the most popular heroes in newspaper comics at the time was Alex Raymond’s science-fiction strip Flash Gordon!

assigned the projected magazine to one of their regular editors, Bill Parker, and to staff artist Charles Clarence Beck. They produced the ashcan edition of their Flash Comics completely by themselves, later adding another staff artist, Pete Costanza, to flesh it out into a complete 64-page comic with multiple features. The copyright office, however, decided that All-American’s ashcan edition of its Flash Comics had come in first, so Fawcett had to find a different title. It changed Flash Comics briefly to Thrill Comics, and by the time of actual publication to Whiz Comics (re-christening it after the company’s seminal publication, the post-World War One joke-book Captain Billy’s Whiz-Bang). For quite different reasons, Captain Thunder became Captain Marvel and went on to his own paramount place in comics history.

In a more surprising parallel, both comics cover-featured a hero drawn in a relatively cartoonish style—each with a bright red shirt adorned by a yellow lightning bolt! But maybe even this wasn’t so unusual a parallel, given the times. Red was a preferred color for super-heroes’ outfits; primary colors worked best with the printing processes of the day, and Superman was already garbed mainly in blue, as was Batman. The title Flash suggested lightning; and yellow, generally used for costume trim since as a main color it rendered the page too easy to see through, was the traditional color of lightning—even though real lightning is actually white or blue-white. Lightning is accompanied by thunder, so the lead feature of Fawcett Publications’ Flash Comics was named Captain Thunder; and All-American Comics’ Flash Comics featured The Flash as a lead character, backed up by a more tongue-in-cheek character named Johnny Thunder. Fawcett Publications, a Minneapolis magazine publisher inspired to expand into comic books by Superman’s success, The two top stars of Flash Comics, drawn by their principal Golden Age artists for issue #40, April 1944: The Flash by E.E. Hibbard, and Hawkman by Sheldon Moldoff. [©2000 by DC Comics Inc.]

Quick as a Flash

II. MAX AND SHELLY, THE ALL-AMERICAN BOYS By contrast, All-American Comics had older ties to the field. It |had been launched months earlier by Max C. Gaines, who is generally considered to at least have co-invented the comic book format in 1933 and who had already started up lines of comics for several different publishers. After a few years as a consultant with DC Comics, he had set up a partnership in 1938 with one of DC’s owners, Harry Donenfeld, as All-American Comics. The new line bore the DC logo, advertised and was advertised in DC comics like Action, Adventure, and Superman, and would go on to cross over its characters with those of the DC titles from time to time. All the same, AA was legally a separate entity with different editorial offices… much like Milestone Comics in more recent years, and the Wildstorm imprint of today. Gaines, who reportedly brought the Superman strip to DC’s attention, was understandably eager to make his own line a success, and to create and (co-)own other characters who might approach or even equal the success of Superman. With his experience and with access to the same talent pool that had turned Superman into comics’ greatest success story and had then come up with Batman, as well, Gaines stood a good chance of achieving his goal. Most of the earliest comic books had consisted of reprints of successful newspaper comic strips. By the late 1930s, and with the entry of major syndicates into comic Comics pioneer M.C. “Max” Gaines, circa 1942. book publishing on their own, most of the most popular strips were already taken, forcing come-lately publishers like DC to rely on new material, mostly produced by creators whose ideas had been rejected by the syndicates. Superman (whose creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, had tried to sell him as a newspaper strip for years, ironically doing so only after Action Comics had become a big hit) was the first such feature to prove more successful than any strip reprints. This indicated to publishers that they could succeed in the business even without paying hefty licensing fees to the syndicates. More established publishers like Dell, for which M.C. Gaines had launched Popular Comics in 1936, could afford established strips, but often filled out the pages with original material. Popular had featured mostly characters licensed from the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, such as Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, and Terry and the Pirates, but Gaines had cut costs by purchasing, at a much lower cost, occasional unpublished strips. One such strip-turned-comic-book-feature was “Scribbly,” which starred a struggling teenage cartoonist, produced by a real-life struggling teenage cartoonist named Sheldon Mayer. Mayer proved to be knowledgeable about the comics field, and in tune with what contemporary kids liked (being, Gaines may well have figured, hardly more than a kid himself), and he became Gaines’ assistant first at Dell, then at DC. It’s been said that he was the one who first brought the Superman strip to Gaines’ attention, leading Gaines in turn to promote the idea to Harry Donenfeld at DC. So, when Gaines launched his first comic book in early 1939— All-American Comics, the namesake of his company—he chose Shelly Mayer to be its editor.

For their initial offering, Gaines and Mayer combined concepts from all the successful comic books of the day. Gaines used his syndicate contacts to purchase reprint rights to a few comic strips not yet tied up (like Skippy and Mutt and Jeff), and Mayer segued his “Scribbly” feature over into its pages. All-American #1 also contained adventure features of the kind that seemed to be catching on, including “Red, White, and Blue,” a strip about servicemen from the Army, Navy, and Marines initially written by Superman creator Jerry Siegel. Siegel, Sheldon Mayer, circa 1945. Yeah, we know we however, was being kept ran this photo in A/E V3#1, but see our Shelly very busy by the regular Moldoff interview this issue for another one. DC line (Superman was being spun off into his own title, and more characters such as The Spectre were in the works), and “Red, White, and Blue” never rose above backup status.

III. THE QUICK BROWN FOX Gaines’ and Mayer’s next AA title, Flash Comics, was conceived as a super-hero/adventure title from beginning to end. To produce an entire comic book on relatively short notice, Shelly Mayer turned to two writers, neither well-known even in the limited field of comics; both, however, had proved reliable, imaginative, and possessed of a sense of humor—an important factor to an editor whose first love was humorous comic strips. Gardner F. Fox was a young lawyer, a childhood friend of original DC editor Vincent Sullivan, who had been less than successful to date in his law career. Offered a chance to write several features for the DC line, Fox had done well with such minor features as “Steve Malone” and “Cotton Carver,” had turned “Zatara the Magician” (originally written as well as drawn by creator Fred Guardineer) into the main backup in Action Comics, and may even have co-created the moderately successful Sandman for Adventure Comics. (An Aside: Gardner told me once that he did create The Sandman, basing him on a pulp hero called The Grey Seal—of whom I would have heard by then if I had done more than skim over the chapter on pulp magazines in The Steranko History of Comics. Others are at least equally certain that artist Bert Christman wrote as well as drew the first “Sandman” stories. But Gardner F. Fox—one of comic books’ semiI’ve found that many early nal writers—though here a bit older than comics creators simply have when he co-created The Flash, Hawkman, unclear memories of events Dr. Fate, and The Justice Society. This caricature is by Dave Manak and comes from which, after all, took place (as well as all the images on this page) sixty or more years ago. At The Amazing World of DC Comics. [©2000 any rate, Fox was soon DC Comics, Inc.] writing “Sandman.”)

Fawcett Collectors of America

From Soup to Nuts An Essay by C.C. Beck Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck EDITOR’S NOTE: FCA is proud to present another previously unpublished essay by Charles Clarence Beck, the original chief artist of “Captain Marvel.” During the 1980s I was a member of The Critical Circle, a mailing group Beck formed for roundtable debates on essays he would send to each member (others members being cartoonist Trina Robbins and former Mad magazine associate editor Jerry DeFuccio). More of these essays will appear in future issues of FCA.—PCH.

I. PRELUDE AND OVERTURE

or comic strips if the copy is not handled properly. Cartoon copy comes first; if there is any space left, the artist fills it. Many comic book artists and editors go at things the wrong way around, with disastrous results. My second job was in a lampshade studio, where I learned how to draw in cartoon style from established comic strips. We had permission to reproduce the leading comic strip characters of the day on our handmade shades, and I made tracings of Smitty, Barney Google and his horse Sparkplug, Harold Teen, Tillie the Toiler, and Little Orphan Annie and her dog Sandy, which I punctured with little holes and transferred to the lampshades with charcoal pounce. Then I finished the drawings with Indian

One of the clearest pictures in my memory of my childhood is of myself and my younger brother Willis riding our tricycles (our folks were too poor to buy us bicycles) across our hometown of Zumbrota, Minnesota, to visit a kindly old couple who saved their Sunday comics for us (our folks were too poor to buy the Sunday papers, too). Newspaper comics were in their heyday when I was young. Each one filled a whole page in those days—they weren’t the cramped little things they are today. Happy Hooligan, The Katzenjammer Kids, Little Jimmie, Bringing Up Father, Polly and Her Pals, Mutt and Jeff, many more fascinating, funny characters cavorted through the panels doing all sorts of improbable, impossible things. The best comics of today are drawn by cartoonists who follow the style set back in the days when comic strips were big, bold, and drawn by masters of the medium. Although my folks were poor, we had some fine illustrated books on our bookshelves. Milton’s Paradise Lost, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, and the Lambs’ Tales from Shakespeare were profusely illustrated with woodcuts and engravings. I still have some of these books. A copy of the complete works of Shakespeare printed in 1839 has some fascinating woodcuts in it. I pored over these books—and still do today—wondering how in the world anyone could know so much about things and be able to make pictures of them as these marvelous artists did. In school I breezed through my lessons with no trouble at all because they all seemed like child’s play to me. I never had to do any homework (even in college in later years) and thus had plenty of time to devote to trying to become an artist. There was very little art instruction in the small-town school I attended, and no artists except a sign painter to teach me anything lived in our town. I had to teach myself from books on art, and when I was 16 or 17 I took a correspondence course in commercial art from a Chicago firm. Later I attended art schools in Chicago and Minneapolis and got a good, basic training in the history and principles of art. I never studied cartooning, though. Cartooning is only one form of art, not a separate discipline. Without a knowledge of all forms of art, no one can make cartoons of any value. My first job was as a letterer for a syndicated cartoonist in Chicago. I have always liked to do my own lettering whenever possible, as I maintain that good lettering is far more important than the drawings which accompany it. The copy is what tells the story; the pictures are just there to make it clearer. The most beautiful pictures are wasted in books

Combining humor and adventure in one outstanding tale which many consider one of the Big Red Cheese’s best, Billy Batson and Captain Marvel are easily outsmarted by Sivana, in “The Plot against the Universe” from Captain Marvel Adventures #100 (Sept. 1949) by Otto Binder, C.C. Beck, and Pete Costanza. [©2000 DC Comics Inc.]

ink and water colors. Some people say that it is wrong to copy or trace other artists’ work, but that’s the way to learn. All the old masters, and the best of today’s artists, learned from established artists. Those who start from scratch end up merely re-inventing the wheel—and usually their wheels are so poorly put together that they won’t work. In 1933 I got a job with Fawcett Publications, where I continued to work as a copyist and tracer of old comic pictures. Fawcett had a habit of losing artwork after it had been reproduced and printed, and whenever they wanted to re-run an old cartoon it was easier (and cheaper) to have me redraw it than to call in the original artist or to look for the original art. Although line drawings can be picked up and made into printing plates, tones or colored pictures can’t with any clarity. The dots in them form interference patterns which are very annoying to the eye. Today there are ways to get around this problem, but back in the ’30s there weren’t. The pictures had to be redrawn.

I didn’t create any of Fawcett’s characters; I was just the first person to put them into visual form. They were conceived in Parker’s mind; I was just the doctor who held them up and slapped them on their bottom to make them draw their first breaths. Parker created all the characters in Fawcett’s Whiz Comics, which first appeared in May 1940 [with a cover date of January 1940]. I drew “Captain Marvel,” “Ibis the Invincible,” and “Spy Smasher” in that issue and in several of the following issues. In just a few months, “Captain Marvel” was far ahead of all the other comic book characters in sales (even “Superman,” much to DC’s alarm), and other artists took over “Ibis” and “Spy Smasher” while I devoted all my time to drawing “The World’s Mightiest Mortal.”

II. TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Cartoon magazines like Fawcett’s Hooey, Smokehouse Monthly, and Whiz Bang were on their last legs in the late ’30s, and comic books were beginning to take their place. They didn’t really take over the market until those two unknown fellows Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster set the publishing world on fire with their Superman comic character—which DC ran as a filler in their Action Comics. Fawcett decided to get into the comic book field in late 1939.

I have never had, like Hamlet, to dither around trying to make up my mind about things... at least not about things connected with art. It was always perfectly clear to me that a character who appeared in a comic book should be a comic character. Fine art and realistic drawing don’t belong in comic books. They are as out of place there as stuffed animals in living rooms instead of where they belong, in museums, or plaster statues on front lawns instead of in churches (and maybe not there).

I was 29 years old at the time, and Bill Parker, a Fawcett editor who was given the job of creating Fawcett’s comic characters on his typewriter, was about the same age. It is not generally known that comic characters, like characters of any kind, are created by writers, not by artists or actors or inexperienced amateurs. Parker was an experienced writer and I had ten years of experience at the drawing board myself. But

There is some confusion about the meaning of the terms “comic” and “cartoon.” Many people think that “comic” means “funny” and that “cartoon” means “a drawing made by a rotten artist who never learned to draw any better.” Nothing could be farther from the truth than these two common misconceptions.

Alter Ego #4