Alter Ego #64 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Captain Roy Thomas Jr.’s Comics Fanzine

SHAZAMIC SPOTLIGHT ON

CAPT. MARVEL (JR. & SR.)! CAPTAIN NAZI! MR. MIND’S MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL — & MAX SCHMELING!? PLUS: PLUS:

6.95

In the USA

No. 64 January 2007

BONUS!

GOLDEN AGE CENTAUR ARTIST

MARTIN FILCHOCK

01 1

82658 27763

Vol. 3, No. 64 / January 2007

™

Editor

Roy Thomas

Contents

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor

Writer/Editorial: Jerry G. Bails—A Fan For All Seasons . . . . . . . 2 The Monster Society Of Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Michael T. Gilbert

Editors Emeritus

An issue-by-issue look at the classic Captain Marvel-Mr. Mind confrontation by Roy Thomas.

Jerry Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Mike Friedrich

Say “Shazam! ”—Or Maybe “Schmeling!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Production Assistant

“They Treated Me Like I Had Talent!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chris Irving

Centaur’s Martin Filchock talks to Jim Amash about his amazing 70 years as a pro artist!

Circulation Director

Bob Brodsky, Seastone Marketing Group

Cover Artist

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: Twice-Told Wonder Woman & Superman . . 41 Michael T. Gilbert’s own “evil twin” episode.

The Kaler Con: Two Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Don Newton

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Jean Bails Mike W. Barr John Benson Bill Black Ray Bottorff, Jr. Brett Canavan R. Dewey Cassell Frank Cwiklik Mark Daniel Craig Delich Roger Dicken & Wendy Hunt Jay Disbrow Don Ensign Rex Ferrell Martin Filchock Michael Finn Stephen Fishler & Metropolis Collectibles Shane Foley Shawn Fuller Jeff Gelb Janet Gilbert Dick Giordano Andreas Gottschlich Jennifer Hamerlinck Jack C. Harris Mark Heike

Roger Dicken wonders if Fred MacMurray was really the visual model for the World’s Mightiest Mortal.

Roger Hill Larry Ivie Jonathan G. Jensen Jeffrey Kipper Alan Kupperberg Timothy Lane Stéphane Lucien Jim Ludwig Bruce Mason Steve Morrell Brian K. Morris Jake Oster Gene Reed Francis A. Rodriguez Rich Rubenfeld Al Russell Eric Schumacher Ben Smith Emilio Squeglio Robin Snyder Marc Swayze Dann Thomas Brad Thompson Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Mike Voiles Mike Vosburg Hames Ware John Wells Andy Yanchus Vincent Zorzolo

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Mac Raboy & Bud Thompson See page 90 for a FREE preview of BACK ISSUE #20!

Bill Schelly examines Dave Kaler’s 1966 New York Comics Convention.

The Alter Ego 1943 Calendar Goes 2007! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Alex Wright re-creates a vintage collection of Timely/Marvel lovelies.

re: [comments, correspondence, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . 60 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #123 (cover) . . . . . . . . 63 We Didn’t Know… It Was The Golden Age! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Golden Age Fawcett artist Marc Swayze on his musical hero Neal Valentine.

Emilio Squeglio Adventures – Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 A Fawcett artist in his own words, about a certain Captain and related Marvels.

Mac’s Marvel & Mongo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Jay Disbrow writes how artist Mac Raboy went from Captain Marvel Jr. to Flash Gordon.

Bud Thompson & The Boy In Blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 P.C. Hamerlinck on the artful inheritor of Raboy’s Captain Marvel Jr. mantle.

About Our Cover: The late and supremely talented Don Newton—who coincidentally was covered in detail in the December 2006 issue of our sister publication Back Issue—sold this exquisite painting of Captains Marvel Jr. and Nazi to editor Roy Thomas at a comics convention circa 1980—at the same time Ye Editor also purchased the Captain Marvel painting used on A/E, Vol. 3, #11. We’ve always felt that Don caught, just as he clearly intended to, much of the spirit of original CMJr illustrator Mac Raboy in the figures of the Boy in Blue and his Nazi nemesis. Actually, there’s a little more to the painting than we could squeeze onto our cover— including a newspaper photo of Captain Marvel and a mention of featured villain Mr. Mind— so remind us to show you the whole thing, at least in black-&-white, in a future issue! [Captain Marvel Jr. & Captain Nazi TM & ©2007 DC Comics.] Above: Our Australian avatar Shane Foley prepared no less than two clever Mr. Mind homages for this issue; the other one can be seen on p. 60 of this issue. This one pays tribute to C.C. Beck’s cover scene for Captain Marvel Adventures #29 (Nov. 1943), the original of which appears on p. 9, and of course features two of our “maskots,” Alter & Captain Ego, staring down the World’s Wickedest Worm. [Mr. Mind TM & ©2007 DC Comics; other art ©2007 Shane Foley; Alter & Capt. Ego TM & ©2007 Roy & Dann Thomas.] 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: $9 ($11.00 outside the US). Twelve-issue subscriptions:$72 US, $132 Canada, $144 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. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.

e writer/editorial

Jerry G. Bails–A Fan For All Seasons D

expanded online version, The Who’s Who of American Comic Books (1928-1999).

uring the week wherein I write these words, I (Roy Thomas) lost a very good friend… and comics fandom lost a founding father.

Jerry Gwin Bails died in his sleep at age 73 on Thanksgiving, Nov. 23, 2006, in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. As Grand Comic Book Database manager Ray Bottorff, Jr., wrote in an e-mail release that same night: “Jerry had been suffering a serious heart condition for the past several years. In recent months the physical discomfort he had experienced had kept him mostly homebound, but his mind remained as sharp as ever, thanks to the contact he was able to continue with friends and family through the Internet.”

We plan a full-issue tribute to Jerry in Alter Ego #68 in May. Meanwhile, I feel the best way to conclude this piece is with the message from Jean, his loving wife and partner for the past three decades. Having already received, in the first 24 hours after his passing, numerous condolences from the far points of the globe, she e-mailed these words to those well-wishers:

Dr. Jerry G. Bails. Photo taken by Dann Thomas in Detroit, 2002.

Although Jerry’d been predicting his early demise for the past few years as his condition slowly deteriorated, I’d always respond by trying to jar him good-naturedly into hanging around a while longer, so he could continue to give the rest of us the benefit of his clear and cogent thinking.

Those who know anything about comics fandom as it was shaped from the early 1960s onward—whether they were “there” or simply read our 70th-birthday tribute to him in Alter Ego #26 in 2003—are aware that, while holding down a day job as a university science teacher, Jerry founded not only this magazine as the first of a wave of Silver and Golden Age-oriented comics fanzines, but also The Comicollector (the first comics adzine) and On The Drawing Board (the first comics newszine)—all three over the course of a single year, 1961. He was also the prime mover behind the 1970s Who’s Who in American Comic Books, of which he’d recently launched a greatly

I have been reading the kind words about Jerry and shared them with his sons as well. I thank you as do they. I hope to get around to sending a more personal thanks to each soon. What would Jerry say? He would probably have said, “Aw, stop—you are making me blush.”

Actually, it is my read of his involvement in fandom that it was not all about him—it was about you. Surprising as it may seem, fandom was not that much about comic characters, either, but rather it was about people discovering their potential in whatever area and developing confidence in what they could do. Also, fandom was above all good people cooperating with one another to create an entity that was greater than the sum of its parts. Looking at the size of some of the fanworks and conventions, he would sometimes joke, “A monster has been created,” but it was a monster he dearly loved. He had no misgivings about fandom going on quite well without him. It will, because of all of you. Thank you very much, Jean Bails

COMING IN FEBRUARY

NICK CARDY Is In The Cards! The Major Silver Age DC Artist—Not To Mention Golden Age Quality Star NICHOLAS VISCARDI!

• Fantabulous new cover by NICK CARDY, done especially for this issue, featuring some of the heroes most associated with the Silver Age super-star! • CARDY talks to JIM AMASH about his career in the Golden and Silver Ages, in an incredible in-depth, lushly illustrated interview—spotlighting art and artifacts by WILL EISNER, NEAL ADAMS, CARMINE INFANTINO, JIM APARO, RAMONA FRADON, CURT SWAN, JOE ORLANDO, BOB HANEY, MIKE SEKOWSKY, et al.! • Delayed from this issue—a tribute to Airboy/Heap artist ERNIE SCHROEDER! • FCA with MARC SWAYZE, EMILIO SQUEGLIO (Part 2), & others—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on “cheesy comics covers”—BILL SCHELLY on the 1967 Castle of Frankenstein comic-con—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS

DC Comics, Inc.]

NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE SUB, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

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The Monster Society Of Evil An Issue-By-Issue Appreciation Of The 1943-45 Serial In Captain Marvel Adventures #22-46 by Roy Thomas

were, they couldn’t have seemed any more real to me at that time if they’d been projected on the big screen with all of today’s CIG magic, augmented by Sensurround Sound. And all those creatures were commanded by this weird little worm riding on a sea horse!

s a kid in the latter 1940s and early 1950s, I loved Saturday afternoon movie serials—a minor sub-genre of the film industry that was just winding down in local theatres all across the country. I was an adult before I even knew there’d ever been a Captain Marvel serial—but I was bowled over that memorable day in 1948 when I saw the theatrical trailer (yes!) for the first Superman serial, starring (my later acquaintance) Kirk Alyn, at a movie house. I managed, despite the usual childhood illnesses, not to miss more than a chapter or so of it, or of Atom Man vs. Superman, or Batman and Robin, Congo Bill, or Blackhawk, or even what was actually a re-release of The Secret Code, starring that World War II mystery man, The Black Commando.

Whether or not I saw, a few weeks later, the following issue, in which Mr. Mind was finally captured and met his just end, I don’t recall. But I never forgot that penultimate chapter of a comic book serial of whose beginnings I had no inkling for the next fifteen years. In 1960, Dick Lupoff lauded the “Monster Society” serial in his seminal article “The Big Red Cheese” in the first issue of his and wife Pat’s science-fiction fanzine Xero. And I was thrilled when, over the near year or three, I finally got to read all 25 whimsical yet exciting chapters during one of my visits to fellow comics fan Biljo White and the cement-block White House of Comics behind his home in Columbia, Missouri. Bill had a virtually complete collection of Captain Marvel, Whiz Comics, and The Marvel Family, among many other wonders.

But, love the two Superman serials in particular though I still do, there’s another specimen of the species “serial” that rivals them for a place in my heart—and even in my head. And I first saw it not at the Palace Theatre in Jackson, Missouri—but in the pages of a comic book. Its name: “The Monster Society of Evil!” Since I’d only turned four in November 1944, I couldn’t yet read when I perused a brand new copy of Captain Marvel Adventures #45 (April ’45)— which may well have been my initial encounter with the World’s Mightiest Mortal. I instantly fell head over sneakers in love with the red-clad hero with the lightning bolt on his chest, and I can still remember how excited I was looking at all the colorfully inventive sea monsters he battled in that issue. Cartoony as they

Five (Or Is It Six?) For Fawcett This great composite drawing of Captain Marvel, Billy Batson, and Mr. Mind was printed by the American Nostalgia Library as the full-color cover of a flyer advertising its fabulous 1989 reprint volume The Monster Society of Evil (see main text). The original comic book serial was primarily the work of (left to right at top) writer Otto O. (“Eando”) Binder… artist C.C. Beck (with his comics studio)…and editor Wendell Crowley. Binder gave RT his early-’40s photo—P.C. Hamerlinck provided the late 1940s/early 1950s shot of Beck—and the photo of Crowley at the 1968 Jack Binder comic shop reunion dinner (covered in A/E #57) is courtesy of Marc Swayze. [Art ©2007 DC Comics.]

For the past decade, I’ve championed to DC Comics the notion of abandoning for once its chronological approach to reprints in its Archives series, and of printing all 232 pages of the serial in a single hardcover volume. Such a book could almost be considered the first graphic novel—composed of material originally published more than sixty years ago! There’s even precedent for such a collection. In 1989, the American Nostalgia Library, an imprint of Hawk Books Limited of London, England, published a

An Issue-By-Issue Appreciation Of The 1943-45 Serial

one is sitting in the darkness of a neighborhood movie house in the mid-1940s, watching this tale of tales unfold up there on the silver screen. But that’s only fitting, since no doubt the ultimate inspiration for the comic book serial was the rousing success of the 1941 chapter-play The Adventures of Captain Marvel, in which stuntman Tom Tyler made an excellent World’s Mightiest Marvel—even if Republic Pictures took, as per usual, a few more liberties with a licensed property than made any sense. So let’s turn down the house lights, grab a soda pop in one hand and a box of popcorn in the other, and enjoy a chapter-by-chapter look at—

“The Monster Society of Evil” Captain Marvel Adventures #22 (March 1943) Chapter I “The Pearl Of Peril” (12 Pages) The “famous Indian princess” Dareena Rajabuti comes to the USA to donate jewels to the Allied war cause. Over his special radio hookup, Mister Mind (the “Mister” is always spelled out in the first three chapters) directs Captain Nazi to steal the jewels to “further the battle for your Axis”—i.e., Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and imperial Japan. Mind says he’s helping the Axis “because it is evil! And thus you are a part of my great Society of Evil of the Universe.”

Let The Show Begin! The splash page of Chapter I, complete with cast listing. The blurb says there’ll be “a new chapter every third Friday,” because at this time Captain Marvel Adventures was so popular that it was published once every three weeks, rather than monthly—though each issue had a different monthly date and somehow it all worked out. (Incidentally, this odd scheduling somehow led to there being two issues labeled “Jan. 1943”—but no “May 1943”—and no “Dec. 1944”!)

The princess has actually brought only one magic black pearl the size of a croquet ball, which “can pick up scenes and voices from anywhere,” thus making it “valuable for espionage service!!” When Captain Nazi tries to grab the pearl, Billy Batson, who is interviewing the princess, shouts “Shazam!,” changes to Captain Marvel, and knocks him and his two armed thugs around. Though no match for the

The construction of the group name “The Monster Society of Evil” leads Ye Editor to believe it was inspired by DC’s “Justice Society of America,” but writer Otto Binder always denied any conscious borrowing. Anybody out there have any ideas of where else he might’ve gotten inspiration for it? [©2007 DC Comics.]

3000-copy edition of a gorgeous 14" x 10H" hardcover titled The Monster Society of Evil that collected the entire serial, plus a bit of introductory material. I’ve always assumed ANL/HBL had permission to reprint that material, since the book contains a copyright notice for DC Comics. Unless stated otherwise, all art accompanying this article is taken from that volume. (The first and last chapters of the serial, incidentally, were reprinted in black-&-white, from retouched art, in the 1977 Crown volume Shazam! from the 40’s to the 70’s.) ANL/HBL’s Monster Society is a wonderful book, which reproduces each page from copies of the printed comics. No Theakstonizing or retouching for these folks! It’s all there just as it appeared in the original 1943-45 magazines, complete with sometimes off-register coloring, but reproduced considerably larger than in the old comics, so that the color dots are often clearly visible, as if Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein had turned the serial into one of their Pop Art productions. And, in one odd touch that somehow works, the pages’ margins and “gutters” between panels—areas that were left white on the comics’ pulp paper—are rendered in solid black. The end effect is to underscore the feeling established on the splash page of Chapter I, that

“Mister Mind Calling Captain Nazi!” The first the reader encounters Mr. Mind is as a disembodied voice from outer space—but he’s already involved with Captain Nazi, though their exact relationship is unclear. Mind gives Nazi orders on the next page—but Nazi’s main loyalty seems to be primarily to “Our Fuehrer.” From Chapter I. [©2007 DC Comics.]

The Monster Society Of Evil

All On One, And One On All Pp. 2-3 of Chapter I are a two-page spread in which Cap faces many of his major villains from previous stories, as listed on the splash. The corresponding scene in the story, in which Mr. Mind sends several of the hero’s old enemies against him, was printed in the just-out All-Star Companion, Vol. 2. [©2007 DC Comics.]

hero physically, Nazi flies off with both pearl and princess. (Cap berates himself for forgetting that Captain Marvel Jr., Nazi’s regular nemesis, had told him that Nazi had recently gained the power to fly.) Dareena informs Nazi (and Mister Mind) that there are two black pearls, which must be used together; the other is still in India.

Captain Marvel Adventures #23 (April 1943) Chapter II

Having learned the location from Nazi’s thugs, Cap bursts in to confront him. Cap and Mister Mind spar verbally for the first time. The latter claims, “My organization will soon rule the universe!” Cap dares him to show his face, but Mind says he plans to remain “only a voice reaching everywhere and spinning my web of power day by day! I will hurl man after man at you, plot after plot, till even you, mighty Captain Marvel, will some day crack under the terrific strain!” At Mind’s summons, Cap faces not only Captain Nazi but also others of his former foes: Sivana, Ibac, Nippo, Mr. Banjo, and several unnamed rogues. Cap’s blows don’t stop them, because Mind has “instilled them with mental strength, which I project through the ether!”

Dropping off the princess, Captain Marvel pursues Ibac, who flees in a rocket ship provided by Mister Mind. Cap cracks open the ship over “the wastes of North Africa.” After he belts Ibac around, Mind directs the villain to hold the two black pearls together. At Ibac’s wish, they show him from which direction Cap is approaching, so he can give the hero the slip. Mister Mind says the pearls can be used to help the Axis in North Africa, but to himself he cackles that “When I’ve made the Axis win the Earth, the world is mine!”

Stalemated, Cap flies off to India with the princess and the pearl. He takes her to the giant statue of the god Siva whose remaining eye is the second black pearl. She tells him he must hold the two pearls close together and “wish for any scene you want.” Nazi and Ibac arrive and push the idol over onto them. Cap shields Dareena and kayos Nazi, but Ibac flies off with both pearls. Mister Mind’s voice taunts Cap from Captain Nazi’s belt radio. A final caption, in the style of movie serials, orders the reader not to miss “Part II,” which will be “on sale March 5th.”

“The Jungle Trap” (12 Pages)

Cap changes to Billy and enters an American Army camp. (Allied troops had invaded North Africa in November of 1942.) The troops quiz the famous young radio reporter, being eager to hear news of back home: “Yes, the Empire State Building is still standing. The girls are still pretty! No, they haven’t stopped big league baseball! Yes, jive is still popular!” Billy broadcasts to the US that “these soldier boys of ours are going to bring victory for America before you can say Adolf Shickelgruber!” At Mind’s bidding, Ibac says his own magic word (“Ibac!”), changing back to “scrawny ordinary little Stinky Printwhistle.” He sneaks into the camp by night, to plant false orders that will lead

“They Treated Me Like I Had Talent” Golden Age Artist MARTIN FILCHOCK Remembers Centaur Comics And Other Phenomena Interview Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

artin Filchock is a wonder of our age… and of the three before it! Born in the small town of Braznell, Pennsylvania—south of Pittsburgh—on January 6, 1912, Martin is still making money the old-fashioned way: he works for it. He’s in his 70th year of cartooning and shows no sign of slowing down—which makes me downright jealous! Though his comic book career was fairly brief, consisting of just a few years working for Bill Cook’s Funny Pages and Centaur and the Lloyd Jacquet comics shop from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, Martin’s life is a fascinating journey from rags to what he calls “semi-riches.” When I told him how long this interview was going to be, his response was: “I didn’t do enough in my life to fill that many pages of type.” I beg to differ—and so does Hames Ware, who fed me a few Centaur-related questions to ask him—and since I get the final word in this introduction, Martin can’t argue with me! If this intro

An Amazing Man—And Amazing Man Comics When the above photo of Martin Filchock was taken in 1992, he’d already been drawing for well over five decades—and he’s still at it, 14 years afterward! His most important Golden Age feature was “Mighty Man,” seen in Centaur’s Amazing Man Comics between 1939 and 1941, and in Stars and Stripes Comics in 1941. That hero started out as a mere 12-foot giant, but this semi-complete page (issue uncertain) graphically demonstrates additional powers he gained in AMC #12. Note that he’s altered himself to look like “Fritz, a fifth columnist.” Incidentally, all art accompanying this article was provided by Martin, except where otherwise noted. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

seems a bit more casual than usual, it’s only because he’s is so full of life, and our conversations are such uproarious laughfests that I couldn’t write this without some humor. And Martin would be disappointed if I wrote it any other way. You want more laughs? Heeeeere’s Martin! —Jim.

“I Liked To Draw, Like Any Kid” JIM AMASH: What got you interested in cartooning? MARTIN FILCHOCK: Well, Highlights for Children [magazine] ran a good article on me. I told them I wasn’t as good-looking as some of my classmates, and so the only way I could get the girls—this was when I was in about 5th or 6th grade or something—to even come close to me was do something better than the rest of them. I was able to draw, so they would come over. I liked to draw, like any kid. The only difference is that I pursued it. I always had a pretty good sense of humor, and I liked to draw cowboys. I seldom got a chance to go to the movies, but I heard about guys like Big Boy Williams, Hoot Gibson, and Tom Mix, and so I would be drawing cowboys.

“They Treated Me Like I Had Talent”

The Pittsburgh newspaper ran amateur contests for children and grown-ups. I started sending in drawings and would win boxes of— you had a selection—it would be a box of candy, or a book. Although I would have preferred a book, I got candy so I could share it with my brothers and sisters. I thought, “Well, gee, this would be a good thing to do.” We used to sell newspapers, so I got a chance to look at all the daily papers and see comics like Billy DeBeck’s Barney Google and Happy Hooligan, among others. Through our whole career, every one of us in our family delivered newspapers. We used to sell the daily paper for 2¢. We’d get one penny and the newspaper company would get the other. And you won’t believe it, but we had difficulty collecting at the end of the month, which would come to a very few pennies. But the people would hide behind the durn door and didn’t want to give you your 15 or 20¢ or whatever you had coming. Money was scarce and still is—only it’s not pennies now, it’s dollars. It’s hard to collect, even now, from some. JA: I’m sure that some of those people grew up to be government officials. [mutual laughter] FILCHOCK: I’m sure. And I started copying strips, but I foolishly thought that it wasn’t fair to copy somebody else. So I would try to create my own stuff, and wasn’t doing a damn good job. I would have been better off if I would have done like what you’re doing; you know, drawing for Archie Comics or Spider-Man. Later on in life, I started doing that: I would take a nose or an eye from another artist, or a leg or an arm or a shoe or whatever, and develop my own technique. Before I started working for comic magazines, my mother got me a job working on the railroad at 17 years of age. I had to walk about five miles to work. I had that job seven days a week for two or three years, and then I was furloughed. The Depression started and the railroad wasn’t doing as much business. I was out of a job and living in this little mining town, and the manager was a fellow who had lost one of his legs by a railroad car running over it because he lived by the railroad tracks. He had a couple of brothers, and he decided to form a baseball team. And so I was furloughed in the nick of time. It was in the spring of the year, and I always liked to play baseball. I was a pitcher. I was an admirer of Paul Waner, the outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In no time at all, I was pitching about all of the games. But there was one time I pitched three in one week, and that’s nine innings. I was twenty. My first year record was 15 wins and five losses. I even pitched a no-hitter. If I didn’t strike out anywhere from 12 to 15 men in a nine-inning game, I thought I didn’t have it. And we beat teams that had far superior players. They had more places to get players from. The manager’s brother pitched, too, but it seems as though whenever we faced the toughest teams, I would pitch. Once, we were short of players so I was playing right field, which was a mistake, because when I ran, wearing glasses, they would bounce around and I couldn’t judge a ball. The winning run scored because of my error, and defeated the manager’s brother. He had the gall to put in the paper that his brother lost the ball game because I misjudged a fly ball. [mutual chuckling] And I quit the team! Downsville had a population of about 6000 and had a team there, and so I pitched for them and had an excellent record. Of course, later on, I had a brother who was too damned good to play baseball for us, and he even played in the Three I League. A little later on, he played professional football. He could have made it in the big leagues in baseball, but he preferred football. I went hoboing in the spring of the following year and didn’t get back till the latter part of June or something. And everybody in that town says, “Oh, we’re glad you’re back. We can’t win any ball games.”

“I Went Hoboing In The Spring Of The Following Year” So Martin knew whereof he spoke (and wrote and drew) when he used his experiences during the Great Depression of the 1930s as the basis for a “Bob Colby, Wanderer” story in an issue of Comic Magazine Co.’s Funny Picture Stories—probably #6 (April 1937), says comics historian Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., who supplied this photocopy. The “Bob Colby” feature originated in FPP #3 (Jan. ’37) and also appeared in #6-7. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

Here I am, not even warming up, no spring training, no nothing, and I started pitching baseball. I think, in the next month or so, I probably pitched half a dozen or more games. I won them all but one, as I recall. And then they had what they called the CCs, so I signed up for that. The third year, I pitched in the CCs and had a record of 16 and one, and the only game I lost was the first game that I relieved somebody else. And the winning run was scored on me through an error. Then, later, I tried to join a New York hotel team, but I didn’t realize they had their own clique. Every one of these strangers playing were all buddies. I went in there and started, like a fool, throwing real hard and striking guys out, but they never did offer me a job. If I’d gotten a regular job, I would have gotten $18 a week and still played baseball. That’s all it paid! And you got $18 a week working in a hotel for like six days a week. And then, in the fall of the year, I went out on Long Island and then pitched for a town team. The next year, foolishly, I was fooling around, not warmed up, and I tore something in my shoulder, and from then on I went downhill. But I had developed a knuckleball, and if I would have just stuck with it, I would have been like Hoyt Wilhelm [Hall of Fame pitcher]. As a matter of fact, when my mom died, I went to the wake, and a half a dozen or more of the fellows who had played ball with me, and hadn’t

Art by H.G. Peter

Pencils by Wayne Boring

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

That’s it for this issue, readers. We hope you enjoyed this … er … Sensation-al episode! Our special thanks to Mike Voiles for providing cover scans. DC fans are strongly urged to visit Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics website, which features virtually every DC cover from the 1930s on, plus detailed credits and story synopses for many of the issues. It truly is amazing! You’ll find it at: www.mikesamazingworld.com/index.php And, while you’re online, check out my spanking-new website! It’s at: www.michaeltgilbert.com Till next time…

Monthly! The Original First-Person History!

Write to: Robin Snyder, 3745 Canterbury Lane #81, Bellingham, WA 98225-1186

A Comic Fandom Archive Special Multi-Part Series

The Kaler Con: Two Views Bigger And Better Than The Benson Con Just Three Weeks Before??

Part VIII of “1966: The Year Of (Nearly) Three New York Comics Conventions” by Bill Schelly

Introduction

s recounted in the first part of this ongoing series (see issue #53), in 1965 David Kaler announced at the end of his first stint as comicon host that he would never organize another such convention, as it had been a highly frustrating, stressful experience. Hearing this, John Benson took the bull by the horns and began planning a 1966 New York Comicon, which he pulled off with considerable success. However, sometime in late 1965, after his jangled nerves had settled, Kaler changed his mind and began laying the groundwork for what he saw as the “official” New York Comicon, which would be sanctioned by the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors. Because Benson had already announced a July date for his comicon, however, Kaler was forced to move the Academy Con to August. Could the city and outlying areas, from which most of the attendees

would come, support a second major comicon just three weeks after the first? To answer that question, we are presenting two reports, containing two different views. First, we have a lengthy (for its day) article written by Al Russell for the 1967 fanzine Men of Mystery #4, published by Jeff Gelb and Howard Brennar. Second is a brief commentary by Larry Ivie from the pages of his magazine Monsters and Heroes #5 (1969). A modicum of editing has been done, and a few italicized notes have been inserted below where deemed advisable for clarity. The accompanying artwork was mostly provided by Rich Rubenfield, who was there costumed as the Silver Age Flash; additional photos were cobbled from various sources. Thanks must go to our stalwart editorial assistant Jeffrey Kipper, who typed up Al Russell’s report when scanning it from the pages of the vintage fanzine proved problematic.

Memories Of The 1966 New York Comicon by Al Russell For 2H days, August 12-14, fans from Michigan, Maryland, Missouri, and elsewhere enjoyed the best of three-and-a-half New York Comicons. [NOTE: Al refers to the cons in 1964 and 1965, and the two non-Bensons in 1966. —Bill.] The program of this year’s con was superior to that of last year’s because, as Rick Weingroff commented, “Stan Lee alone made it better.” Also, fans who had been to the “half” convention (held in July by science-fiction fans, so-called because it was not sponsored by the Academy) were heard to remark that the Academy convention was easily the better of the two this year; it offered more pros and more activities.

Mark X’s The Spot This full-page ad for the 1966 Kaler Con ran in The Comic Reader and elsewhere; art by Mark Hanerfeld. Mark, who passed away a few years ago, was active in fandom’s early Academy, helped organize early comicons, took numerous con photos, preserved much of the unpublished JSA story “The Will of William Wilson,” and even served for a time as Joe Kubert’s assistant editor at DC. As his friend and fellow fan (and later pro colorist) Andy Yanchus says, Mark “did little in the way of actual artwork,” though he had “the enthusiasm needed to pull off a piece of art of this magnitude.” [Characters TM & ©2007 the respective trademark and copyright holders.”

When a conventioneer arrived at the finely furnished hall on the fifth floor of New York’s expensive City Squire Inn on Friday afternoon, he was, after supplying satisfactory identification— either a $5 bill or a receipt showing that he had already paid for registration—given a badge. This badge, required to be worn over the entire weekend, was to ensure that no one would “crash the party” (as had happened, unfortunately, in 1965) and to identify its wearer by name and by rank of fan, pro, or dealer. Dave Kaler alternately wore badges labeled “Chairman” or “Executive Secretary.”

Comic Fandom Archive

higher, the elevator service terrible, the general atmosphere less mature, the subjects covered of less merit, and the panel discussions a wearisome duplication of the previous con.

purchases from the dealers and sat in the meeting room, trying to finish the many conversations we had started. When the dealers’ room had closed—for the night, and for the year—the handful of us still on hand were gratified by the late appearance of Richard “Grass” Green. Grass, who brought with him some of his artwork for Charlton (a weird story and a strip for Go-Go), had been trying to find the convention hall in the big city all day. Finally, around 10:00, after Roy persuaded Grass to stay at his place instead of the “Y,” we all had to admit that the ’66 convention was indeed over, but it was the best convention ever. The lights were turned out in the large hall, leaving it more like a crypt than a public hall, last draughts were drawn from the nearly empty water-cooler in the hall’s entrance, and the fans were dispersed to the winds of fate. Dispersed—until the ’67 con, set tentatively for next July 14-16. See you there?

A Different View

Perhaps the biggest criticism was the AcademyCon’s advance publicity, which created confusion between the two conventions and tried to minimize the importance of the one to be held before it. The result was unquestionably harmful to the attendance of both affairs. Compared to the previous convention held by the same chairman [in 1965], the improvement was worthy of nothing but praise. But, compared to the efficiency and “polish” of the third comicon, AcademyCon ’66 came in a noticeable second.

What The Heck Is An “Altron”? Larry Ivie drew this sketch of his young super-hero Altron-Boy for fan Rich Rubenfeld at the 1966 convention—and Rich, who’s had it ever since, sent us a copy. Altron-Boy starred in stories in the pages of Ivie’s Monsters and Heroes magazine. [©2007 Larry Ivie.]

by Larry Ivie

by Bill Schelly In the final analysis, it’s clear that both New York comicons in 1966 were successes, and represented considerable improvement over the 1965 affair at the rundown Hotel Broadway Central.

Benson’s 1966 comicon had Jack Kirby as Guest of Honor; Kaler’s 1966 con gave that same honor to Stan Lee.

Excerpted from Monsters and Heroes #5 (1969) The first era of comic book conventions had achieved a remarkable record of improvement, and the stage seemed set for bigger and almost perfect things to come. But the third Comicon [run by John Benson in July 1966] had been deceptive. It had been so smoothly run that it had given the impression that a good convention was not really a problem at all, once there was a foundation of experience to learn from. A second 1966 convention took place shortly after the third comicon, and was called the AcademyCon (after an “academy” of fans exchanging amateur publications about comics, and voting upon their yearly choice of best professional work). Dave Kaler (chairman of the second comicon), after one year of rest, decided to give it another try.

Closing Thoughts

Benson’s had the edge in terms of the choice of hotel and the degree that it was organized, as well as the intelligence of the panel discussions. Kaler’s did better in terms of attendance, number of professionals, and by its inclusion of an extraordinary masquerade. Comparisons are odious, but sometimes necessary; here, we are glad that we have reached the conclusion that they finished in a dead heat. Each would have made fandom proud had the other not been held; both gave assurance to fandom that enthusiasm for the hobby ran high enough to support two fine efforts. And so, Alter Ego belatedly congratulates both organizers, and their helpers, for making 1966 a highly memorable, year!

This convention was also held at one of the big hotels, and was able to boast the first appearance [at a con] of editor Stan Lee. Highlight of the affair was an excellent costume parade. Most of these were elaborately prepared, and the choice of selecting the best, for prizes, was extremely difficult (and the results, unfortunately, fairly arbitrary). However, following so closely upon the heels of [Benson’s con], the attendees could not help but think of it in terms of comparison. And because of this, the criticisms that followed were perhaps unjustly harsh. The price was

Kaler Times Two We’ve proclaimed our uncertainly once or twice whether photos accompanying this article were taken at his 1966 or ’67 con, so it’s only fitting that we close with this pair of photos of Captain Atom writer David Kaler from the period when he was organizing comics conventions in New York City. They previously appeared in Bill Schelly’s Hamster Press publication The Comic Fandom Reader.

Still to come: The Castle of Frankenstein Comic-Con of early 1967! 2005 is the 10-year anniversary of the publication of Bill Schelly’s groundbreaking book on the history of comicdom, The Golden Age of Comic Fandom! The third printing is being offered at the discounted price of $14.00 per copy, through the Hamster Press website at: www.billschelly.com. Not only should every card-carrying reader of Alter Ego own a copy, but we think it would make an excellent gift to anyone who collected comics back in the day.

The Alter Ego 1943 Calendar Goes 2007! Y

ou asked for it—but we’d already done it! After digital designer Alex Wright turned Veronica Lake and other 1940s Hollywood lovelies into Liberty Belle and other Golden Age DC/Quality/Fawcett heroines in A/E #55, you asked that we have him to do same thing with Timely/Marvel super-ladies. Actually, Alex had already created a dozen such images… so all we had to do was wait a year and unleash them—though with 2007 instead of 1943 calendar pages this time, so you can actually pin them up if you wanna! All characters in this section are TM & ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. First, though, we call your attention to this issue’s back cover, also by the talented Mr. Wright, in which he combines all twelve images into one. We wanted you to be able to see the dozen delicious damsels in dynamic color! —Roy.

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Anne Baxter as The Silver Scorpion The Oscar-winner—for her supporting title role in the 1950 film classic All Above Eve—is considerably more memorable than the super-heroine, who appeared only in three early-’40s issues of Timely/Marvel’s Daring Mystery Comics and Comedy Comics. Other great movie roles for Anne were in Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1944) and Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956). In 1973, she succeeded Lauren Bacall in the Bette Davis role from All about Eve in the Broadway musical version, Applause! As for The Silver Scorpion—well, at least she finally got silver armor in the mid-1990s Invaders series!

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