Alter Ego #81 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas’ Halloweeny Comics Fanzine $

6.95

In the USA

No.81 October 2008

CAUGHT IN A

WEB OF HORROR

WITH BRUNNER, JONES, KALUTA, WRIGHTSON, et al.!

82658 27763

EXTRA!

EVERETT RAYMOND KINSTLER

PLUS:

Vol. 3, No. 81 / October 2008 Editor Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich

Circulation Director Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Productions

Cover Artist & Colorist Frank Brunner

With Special Thanks to: Jay Kinney Heidi Amash Everett Raymond Michael Ambrose Kinstler Richard J. Arndt Bob Latona Bob Bailey Zorikh Lequidre Jack D. Bails Paul Levitz Jean Bails George Wilson Beahm James Ludwig Jack & Carole Bender Michel Maillot Rob Maisch Terry Bisson Glenn McKay Dominic Bongo Matt Moring Jerry K. Boyd Christopher B. Boyko Frank Motler Mark Muller Frank Brunner Will Murray Bob Cherry Barry Pearl Gerry Conway Trina Robbins Teresa R. Davidson Herb Rogoff Al Dellinges Alex Ross Scott Derrick Bob Rozakis Michaël Dewally Steve Sansweet Betty Dobson Ramon Schenk Rich Donnelly Howard Siegel Peter Duxbury Ted Skimmer Mark Evanier Ray Snodgrass Tom Field Bill Spicer Shane Foley Bhob Stewart Carl Gafford Marc Swayze James Galton Joel Thingvall Janet Gilbert Andreas Gottschlich Dann Thomas Steven Tice Ron Goulart Anthony Tollin Lawrence P. Guidry Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Martin Greim Joe Vucenic George Hagenauer Jennifer Hamerlinck Murray Ward Hames Ware Mike Howell Gregg Whitmore Chris Irving Tom Wimbish Eric Jansen Lynn Woolley Bruce Jones Alex Wright Michael J. Kaluta Dennis Yee George Khoury

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Elmer Wexler, Wayne Howard, & Larry Woromay

Contents Writer/Editorial: It’s That Time Of Year Again! . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Caught In A Web Of Horror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Richard Arndt looks at “America’s Nightmare Magazine” of 1969-70—and the careers it launched!

The Thing About “Man-Thing” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Roy Thomas tells George Khoury all about Marvel’s marsh monster and its icky antecedents.

“I Never Looked Down On Comics” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Everett Raymond Kinstler talks to Jim Amash about his career as a comic book illustrator.

Oop, Oop, And Away! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Alley Oop artist Jack Bender celebrates 75 years of the world’s favorite caveman.

The Secret History Of All-American Comics, Inc.: “MORT-ification” 59 Bob Rozakis & Ted Skimmer on Mort Weisinger and a history that might have been, maybe.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Bob Powell’s Shadow! . . . . . . 65 Michael T. Gilbert discovers that the weed of crime bears better fruit!

Tributes to Elmer Wexler, Wayne Howard, & Larry Woromay 72 re: correspondence, comments, & corrections. . . . . . . . . . . 76 FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America) #140 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamelinck presents Marc Swayze, Captain Marvel—& Captain Mar-Vell. On Our Cover: In its early days, Marvel’s Man-Thing was drawn by some of the finest artists in the business, from Gray Morrow through Neal Adams, Mike Ploog, and others. But nobody did it better than Frank Brunner, who kindly provided this issue’s swamp-curdling image. And all just to protect a couple of baby birds! [Man-Thing TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: One of the most famous artists ever to come out of the comics, Everett Raymond Kinstler says he enjoyed drawing a pair of “Hawkman” sagas back in the Golden Age—including this cover for Flash Comics #87 (Sept. 1947). But he’s also drawn heroes from Wild Bill Hickok to Black Hood to Zorro, and lots more besides—as you’ll see on pp. 29-50. Thanks to Jim Ludwig. [©2008 DC Comics.] Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $9 US ($11.00 Canada, $16 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $78 US, $132 Canada, $180 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.

writer/editorial

It’s That Time Of Year Again! A

lter Ego’s halcyon Halloween issues are always a blast to put together—and this time we cover the two extremes of so-called “horror comics” over the field’s first few dozen years: stand-alone short stories with twist endings in the glorious EC tradition (this year, the short-lived but fabled black-&-white magazine Web of Horror, which featured the work of several future stars of the medium), and continuing creature-characters (in this case, Marvel’s Man-Thing, which Ye Editor was privileged to help launch in 1971). And WoH artist Frank Brunner’s agreeing to let us use as our cover a recent commission painting of Manny was just the marshy icing on the cake.

was important to the early days of comics fandom, since its first decade of fan awards was christened after him: the Alleys. As usual, it was tough squeezing everything into 96 pages—especially when Michael T. Gilbert, P.C. Hamerlinck, Bill Schelly, and Bob Rozakis all came through (as they always do) with their ongoing features which we (like you) look forward to each issue. But you’ll certainly hear no complaint about that from these quarters—even though Bill’s photo essay on the 1965 New York Comicon had to be delayed till next issue for reasons of space. And thanks, also as per usual, to all the generous fans and collectors out there who helped supply us with art to delight (and occasionally terrify) the eye. We couldn’t do it without them—and we want everybody to know that!

It’s also rewarding to be able to present two pieces we’ve had sitting on the shelf for way too long: Jim Amash’s interview with illustrator Everett Raymond Kinstler (delayed primarily because of Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.’s, excellent book on the illustrator)… and artist Jack Bender’s brief retrospective of Alley Oop, the comic strip caveman who turned 75 this year. V.T. Hamlin’s creation Panel from E.R. Kinstler’s “Hawkman” story in Flash Comics

Bestest,

COMING IN DECEMBER

ALL THE WAY WITH MLJ! At Last! The Shield–Hangman–The Web– Black Hood–& The Other Golden Age Super-Heroes Who Flew As Point Men For Archie Andrews! • Fabulous new cover of MLJ’s greatest stars by BOB McLEOD! • MLJ Index by MIKE NOLAN, listing every super-hero saga from 1939 through the ’40s—a lively look at MLJ by sf/mystery/comics history author RON GOULART —& a never-before-published interview with Shield artist IRV NOVICK! • Lavish vintage MLJ art by NOVICK * COLE * FUJITANI * BIRO * REINMAN * HASEN * MESKIN * KANE * SHORTEN * BINDER * LUCEY * MONTANA, et al.! • Archie artist JOE EDWARDS, interviewed by JIM AMASH! • Plus: FCA featuring MARC SWAYZE & the legacy of comics historian JERRY DeFUCCIO—BILL SCHELLY’s Comic Fandom Archive—BOB ROZAKIS on the hidden story of All-American Comics, Inc.—MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s Comic Crypt looks at “twisted comics”—& MORE!! ie Comics Publications, Inc.] [Heroes TM & ©2008 Arch

Edited by ROY THOMAS

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Caught In A Web Of Horror A Look At “America’s Nightmare Magazine” Of 1969-70 by Richard J. Arndt

ow much influence or importance to the history of comics can be given to a black-&white comic magazine that contained no classic stories—although a number of good ones appeared there—and lasted a mere three issues before being dumped by an indifferent publisher?

Web of Horror, which billed itself as “America’s Nightmare Magazine,” was started in 1969 by editor Terry Bisson and publisher Robert C. Sproul. Bisson today is a highly respected, award-winning author of science-fiction, but in 1969 he worked on a number of magazines for Sproul’s publishing company, which produced a wide variety of such, including the Mad knockoff Cracked. Bisson’s credentials in comics at the time consisted of a mere handful of stories co-written with friend Clark Dimond for Jim Warren’s magazines Creepy and Eerie, during and just after the Archie Goodwin-edited glory days of those publications. To backtrack a bit: between 1964 and 1967, publisher Jim Warren created a market for black-&-white, nonComics-Code-approved comic books, backed up mightily by the work of editor and chief writer Goodwin, some strikingly powerful covers by the likes of Frank Frazetta and Gray Morrow, and an array of talented artists on the interior art, including Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Steve Ditko, Reed Crandall, Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, Jerry Grandenetti, and many more. However, a money crunch suffered by Warren in 1967 led Goodwin and most of the artists to leave Warren’s employ. By 1969, half of each issue of Creepy and Eerie featured reprinted material from their 1964-67 heyday, while the new material was often second-rate at best, despite the efforts of such fine artists as Tom Sutton and Ernie Colón. Sproul—or, more likely, Bisson—saw an opportunity. With Warren’s product weakened and most of his direct competitors, such as the unrelated Eerie Publications, merely putting out bottom of the barrel pre-Code reprints or providing old stories with new, uncredited (and deservedly so) art, the market for an all-new horror anthology was pretty much wide open.

Sort Of Sorcery The sword-and-sorcery cover for Web of Horror #1 (Dec. 1969), by Jeff (a.k.a. Jeffrey) Jones. The art for each of the three published covers was reprinted as the back cover, minus any text—in effect, a color pin-up. Each of the three published issues had a different title logo on the cover— not exactly the best idea in the world, when a publisher is hoping for repeat readers! All art and photos accompanying this article, unless otherwise noted, were supplied by Richard Arndt. In all probability, the copyrights for all material published in the three issues of Web of Horror have reverted to the original creators. [©2008 the respective copyright holders.]

Whoever first recognized that main chance, it was clearly Bisson who had the most to do with pursuing it. With what must have been a low budget, he clearly couldn’t afford the rates of any of the artists who had worked with Warren, or who had drawn Bisson’s co-authored work for Warren’s magazines previously. But he had an insight that many other editors or publishers of the times might have missed.

Between 1966-1967, Archie Goodwin had published a fan page in the pages of Warren’s Creepy magazine to which budding artists and writers could send their fan-produced art and stories. Among those who appeared on those pages were aspiring illustrators such as Bernie (then Berni) Wrightson, Frank Brunner, and Bruce Jones. All these artists knew other struggling artists, as well. In fact, Wrightson lived in the same

A Look At “America’s Nightmare Magazine” of 1967-80

Something Old, Something New Web of Horror #1 featured art by both talented newcomers and longtime pros. (Counterclockwise on this page and the next, from top left, are the splashes for:) (a) “Blood Thirst!”—drawn by Syd Shores, a Timely/Marvel mainstay during the 1940s and’50s, who would become a Marvel inker for much of the 1970s. Script by Terry Bisson. For a photo of Syd Shores, see A/E #78. (b) “The Game That Plays You!”—illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, who in a year or so would make his mark as the original artist and co-creator of DC’s Swamp Thing. Script by Dick Kenson. Note the store name (“S. Strange Books”) and a copy of EC’s Haunt of Fear in the window. The photo of Bernie at age 20 is from the Joe Vucenic collection, taken by George Wilson Beahm, and was sent to us by Christopher B. Boyko. (c) “Dead Letter,” by “David Norman”—which Richard Arndt suspects (and Jerry Bails’ Who’s Who verifies) is a pseudonym for veteran artist Norman Nodel, some of whose work for Classics Illustrated was seen last issue. Script probably by Terry Bisson. (d) “Island of the Walking Dead,” also by Norman/Nodel. Arndt says this tale, which is he feels is the best-written in the issue, “reads as though it were intended as a series, although this was the main character’s only appearance.” Writer: Clark Dimond. [Art & script on spread ©2008 the respective copyright holders.]

building with Michael J. Kaluta and Jeff Jones. Bruce Jones was friends with all three. All these young men were highly talented and strongly influenced by the artwork of Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel, Al Williamson, and Angelo Torres. Kaluta had even worked uncredited on backgrounds for a DC House of Mystery story by Williamson. Best of all, for Bisson and Sproul’s purposes anyway, was that they were eager to prove themselves and would work hard for the opportunity to do so. These five artists—Wrightson, Brunner, Kaluta, and the two (unrelated) Joneses—formed the core of what became the “Young Turks’” breakthrough into comics. (Other artists who could be considered part of the “Young Turks” movement of 1969-1973 would be Barry Smith [later Windsor-Smith], Rich Buckler, Jim Starlin, Alan Weiss, Steve Hickman, and Steve Harper.) Perhaps even more importantly, this quintet came directly from the fanzines of the day, such as Spa Fon, Squa Tront, Graphic Showcase, and others. They provided what was probably the first strong evidence that the next major wave of comic artists and writers would come from the fan community. The fans who read comics. Such a thing is commonplace today, but in 1969 the roll call of both writers and artists in the comic book field had changed very little in the previous 15 years, with a few notable exceptions

Caught In A Web Of Horror

(examples of which are artist Neal Adams, who came from the world of comic strips, and the editor of this magazine, Roy Thomas, who also came from the fan community). Bisson didn’t stop with the Young Turks, however. He also checked out other fanzine artists such as underground artist Roger Brand (whose work had appeared in witzend, the “prozine” launched by major artist Wally Wood); such Wood-assistant alumni as Ralph Reese and Wayne Howard; and comic veterans such as Syd Shores and Norman Nodel (as “Donald Norman”). The first issue of Web of Horror debuted with a cover date of December 1969, which meant it was probably on the newsstands in September or October of that year. The cover was by Jeff Jones, who had done several stories for Archie Goodwin during the latter’s time at Warren and had broken into the book market with a number of memorable covers for both paperbacks and Donald M. Grant’s limited edition line of Robert E. Howard books. In a nice touch, the front cover of WoH #1 was repeated on the back cover without cover copy. In essence, making an art print of it. Inside art for that first issue was provided by Wayne Howard, Syd Shores, Bernie Wrightston, Ralph Reese, and “Donald Norman.” Reese also supplied the first of three “Comic Art Contest” pages, which were two-page spreads of artwork with a blank section that provided comic fan-artists the opportunity to fill in the empty area and to create dialogue for the page. Bernie Wrightson and Mike Kaluta provided the artwork for the contest pages in issues #2 and 3.

The stories themselves, if not noteworthy, were competent and were provided by editor Bisson, the newly professional writer Nicola Cuti, Dick Kenson, and Bisson’s friend Clark Dimond. The magazine sported a horror host who was both funnier and less ugly than EC’s witches and ghouls or Warren’s Uncle Creepy or Cousin Eerie—a spidery entity known as “the Webster.” It also did something that infuriated Jim Warren. No only did it have all-new stories—but it had no ads! The Warren magazines had leaned heavily on reprints for two years, and all issues during that period had a large number of ad pages featuring horror-related products you could order though Warren’s own Captain Company. Compared to the Warren magazine of 1969, Web of Horror looked like a pretty good deal for the kid who was eager to drop 35¢ on it. Warren promptly issued an edict that stated that you could work for Jim Warren or you could work for his competition, but you couldn’t work for both. This prompted a number of Warren artists who were doing stories for Web’s upcoming issues to adopt pseudonyms therein. The art team of Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico (who already used the pseudonym [Continued on p. 8]

The Thing About “Man-Thing”… ROY THOMAS Relates The Story Behind The Origin Of Marvel’s Swamp That Walks Like A Man—And A Few Others Of That Icky Ilk Conducted by George Khoury

his interview took place in 2002 and was intended for inclusion in the book Swampmen, as edited by Jon B. Cooke. For various reasons, that volume has yet to see print, so George Khoury and I decided it was time it appeared in this Halloween issue of Alter Ego, along with my 2+-page synopsis for the very first “Man-Thing” story, which debuted in 1971’s black-&-white Marvel comic Savage Tales #1. The interview has been edited and slightly shortened for this venue; it may yet appear in its longer form in a book version of Swampmen, which JBC has recently announced his renewed determination to publish ere long. We’re looking forward to it, Jon! —Roy.

Transcribed by Steven Tice Comics Get Hairy Interviewee Roy Thomas—juxtaposed with a 2006 pencil drawing of the Man-Thing by this issue’s cover artist, Frank Brunner—and a panel of chronologically-accelerated retelling of the origin of The Heap from Hillman Periodicals’ Airboy Comics, Vol. 7, #10 (Nov. 1950), as written and drawn by Ernie Schroeder. (It’s difficult to show a splash of a “Heap” story—because the title monster was almost never featured thereon!) The pic of Roy was taken at a 1968 comicon in St. Louis, at a time when he briefly sported a scraggly goatee; photo courtesy of Michel Maillot. Frank was one of the major artists of the “Man-Thing” series, first in Fear, then in his own mag. For FB’s photo, see p. 12; for information on how to commission a work of original art by Frank, see p. 19. [Man-Thing & Human Torch TM & ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Heap page ©2008 the respective copyright holders.]

GEORGE KHOURY: Do you remember how “Man-Thing” was initiated? ROY THOMAS: Stan Lee called me in; it would’ve been late ’70 or early ’71. He wanted to launch this new magazine called Savage Tales, and one of its features was to be called “ManThing.” He had a couple of sentences or so for the concept—I think it was mainly the notion of a guy working on some experimental drug or something for the government, his being accosted by spies, and getting fused with the swamp so that he becomes this creature. The creature itself sounded a lot like The Heap, but neither of us mentioned that character at the time, though Stan’s said since, when people have asked him about the Hulk, that he was familiar with The Heap. I didn’t care much for the name “Man-Thing,” because we already had The Thing, and I thought it would be confusing to also have another one called Man-Thing.

The Thing About “Man-Thing”...

GK: You didn’t find the term suggestive? THOMAS: No. Giant-Size Man-Thing later had a decidedly funny ring to it, but not “Man-Thing” by itself. I don’t believe that ever crossed my mind, nor did anybody mention it at the time. Stan wanted “Man-Thing,” so he got one. With that couple of sentences to go on, I went off and plotted the story. I don’t remember if I wrote it down or just told the general idea of the story to Gerry Conway, who then wrote a script from it. It was then given to Gray Morrow to draw. I think Gerry had seen a few of the old “Heap” stories, too, by then. But of course I’d already done another swampish character before “Man-Thing.” [EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview was conducted before Roy T. received via e-mail a copy of his 1970 synopsis.] GK: Who designed Man-Thing? Was it John Romita? THOMAS: Far as I know, Gray Morrow just drew it. He was surely familiar with The Heap, too, though I suspect either Gerry or I mentioned The Heap specifically to him as the look that was wanted. He drew ManThing about as close to The Heap as anything could be, which is exactly what I in particular wanted. Stan certainly had no objection. Gray drew in a couple of friends of his as enemy agents, including a friend of ours named Chester Grabowski, with whom I used to play poker at [comics dealer and later comicon host] Phil Seuling’s Coney Island apartment. GK: Was “Man-Thing” supposed to be an ongoing strip in Savage Tales?

Behind Every Man-Thing, There Are Men—Doing Their Thing The artist and scripter of that first “Man-Thing” story. Gray Morrow, in a self-portrait that appeared in Sorcery #7 (1974) and Gerry Conway in a photo from 1973’s F.O.O.M. (Friends Of Ol’ Marvel) #1. Thanks to Rich Donnelly for the Morrow art. (A photo of Gray appeared last issue.) [Art ©2008 the respective copyright holders.]

THOMAS: Yeah. As you know, the second story was drawn, though by Neal Adams, but took a year or two to see print, because—well, I never got all the inside story, but there were several things that led to Savage Tales being cancelled after that first issue. [Marvel publisher] Martin Goodman had never really wanted to do a non-Code comic, probably because he didn’t want any trouble with the CMAA [Comics Magazine Association of America, the organization that administered the Comics Code Authority] over it. Nor did he really want to get into magazineformat comics; and Stan really did. So Goodman looked for an excuse to cancel it. I also heard we weren’t able to sell the mag in Canada, which ordinarily would probably have taken maybe 10% of the print run—that somebody at the competition, DC or Warren or wherever, told the Canadians it was salacious material. But I never got any confirmation of that, and it may be an urban legend. At any rate, we had lots of returns of unsold copies, due to poor distribution as much as anything. For several years, there were copies in a warehouse—and also, for a time, sitting in the hallway at Marvel between Stan’s office and the bullpen were hundreds of copies of #1 in little bales of fifty or whatever. We were told to take home as many as we wanted, just to clear them out. I eventually took some, as did others. In 1976 they helped finance my move to Los Angeles. By then, Savage Tales #1 had become a collector’s item, primarily because of the “Conan” story therein by Barry [Smith] and me, but also because of the other features. GK: What kind of response did “Man-Thing” get? Was he an instant hit? Did you guys get a lot of mail? THOMAS: We probably got some, but I don’t remember much about it. [Continued on p. 24]

Call Roy Anxious (Left:) Roy wrote this text page for Savage Tales #1, an assignment that made him a bit uneasy at the time, since he knew Stan would be going over it carefully. As it turned out, Stan made only one or two minor tweaks, such as adding re Gerry Conway the sentence “Call him a beginner.” As for what those “five different [potential] origins” for Man-Thing Stan and Roy discussed, were, neither of them today has any idea—they were probably just variations on Stan’s general concept outlined in the interview. [©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.; Conan art ©2008 Conan Properties International, LLC.; Femizon art ©2008 Stan Lee & John Romita.] Incidentally, while this issue was in the final stages of preparation, Roy e-mailed Gerry, asking him if he recalled whether he wrote a full script for Gray Morrow on the “Man-Thing” origin, or whether Gray first broke the story down from Roy’s synopsis. Gerry was on the road when he received the e-mail, but took the time to respond: “As I recall, we did it Marvel style. I seem to remember having the art on my desk. But it was a lonnnng time ago and memory is unreliable. Best guess, though, is that I scripted from the art.” Thanks, Gerry.

The Story Behind Marvel’s Swamp That Walks Like A Man

ducing a “Heap” character. I had lunch with [ex-Marvel production manager] Sol Brodsky soon after he left Marvel to co-found Skywald. He was looking for heroes to do. I couldn’t write for him, so he was kind-of picking my brain, and I wanted to help without getting too involved, since Stan wouldn’t have liked that. I told Sol, “Well, we [Marvel] have the Man-Thing, so you ought to get somebody to revive The Heap.” He remembered the character, since he’d been a comic book artist in the 1940s. I wasn’t that wild about the way the Skywald Heap was done, but interestingly, he has sharp teeth and all. It actually looks fairly close to the way Mort Leav originally drew “The Heap” in the early Air Fighters Comics. [laughs] The Heap had come full circle—but it’s still Man-Thing and Swamp Thing that stand out in modern readers’ minds!

Swamp Siblings Forever! (Left:) Bernie Wrightson’s pencils for a page from Swamp Thing #9 (March-April 1974). With thanks to Mike Burkey. [©2008 DC Comics.] (Below:) The Man-Thing guest-starred in Iron Man Annual #3 (1976). Script by Steve Gerber: layouts by Sal Buscema; finished art by Jack Abel. Repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, with thanks to George Hagenauer. [©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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“I Never Looked Down On Comics” Artist & Illustrator EVERETT RAYMOND KINSTLER Talks About His Career In The Wild World Of Comic Books Interview Conducted by Jim Amash

Transcribed by Tom Wimbish & Theresa R. Davidson

verett Raymond Kinstler has always understood that the main point of art is to interact with the viewer. A storyteller from his earliest days at Cinema Comics with fabled editor Richard Hughes, Ray honed his craft at MLJ, Parents’ Magazines, Avon, DC, Timely, Classics Illustrated, and Western Publishing. His inside-frontcover art for Avon was a showcase of masterpieces of illustration, rendered in worshipful admiration to artists like James Montgomery Flagg (with whom he became close friends). At the same time, Ray was filling the pages of pulp magazines, children’s books, and paperbacks with superior illustrations. Never content to stay in one place, Ray eventually left all that behind to become one of America’s greatest portrait painters. Celebrities such as James Cagney, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, and Scott Carpenter are among the many celebrities to pose for Ray. He has painted five US presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton; the Ford and Reagan paintings being the official White House portraits.

Jim Vadeboncoeur’s Everett Raymond Kinstler: The Artist’s Journey through Popular Culture - 1942-1962, co-written with the artist, details that time period so thoroughly (and in color!) that there’s no way we can improve on what Jim V. has done. So we didn’t even try. In fact, we worked hard to avoid using more than a handful of the same images he printed in his book (see ad on p. 19). What we did was to focus on Ray’s comic book work, as is our usual wont. To me, he has always been an ideal role model for comic book artists, because, as Rod Stewart once said, “Every picture tells a story,” whether it be on canvas or in the four-color world of comics. And few tell it better than Everett Raymond Kinstler, the master storyteller. —Jim.

“I Just Desperately Wanted To Become An Artist” JIM AMASH: Tell me about your early life. EVERETT RAYMOND KINSTLER: I was born in New York City on August 5, 1926. The interesting thing about that date is that one of my best friends was Anthony Benedetto, whom you know as Tony Bennett. He was born August 3, 1926, in New York City, just a couple of days before I was.

Two Men—Two Myths Ray Kinstler (above) in his first National Art Clubs studio, circa 1950— at a time when he was also drawing comic books—and a page from one of his famous “Zorro” issues of Dell’s Four Color Comics (#574, Aug. 1954, to be exact), based on the Disney TV version of Johnston McCulley’s masked hero, who’s been introduced in pulp magazines in 1919. Repro’d from a scan of the original art, with thanks to Mark Muller; scripter unknown. The photo of Ray, as he is called by his friends, appeared courtesy of Kinstler in the book Everett Raymond Kinstler: The Artist’s Journey through Culture 1942-1962; with special thanks to Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. [©2008 Disney Productions, Inc.]

Everett Ray Kinstler Talks About His Career In Comic Books

Honors: Honorary Doctorate, Rollins College (Florida) 1983 Overseas Comics: Zorro (a) c. 1963 COMIC BOOK CREDITS (Mainstream US Publishers): Archie Comics Publications: The Black Hood (a) 1945; covers (a) 1945 Avon Periodicals: Blue Gorilla (a) 1952; Butch Cassidy (a) 1950-51; covers (a) 1950-55; Kit Carson (covers)(a) 1950s; crime (a) c. 1948-54; horror (a) c. 1948-54; inside front covers (a) early 1950s; Jesse James (a) (n.d.); Last of the Comanches (a) 1953; romance (a) 1952; science-fantasy (a) c. 1948-54; Star Patrol (a) (n.d.); war (a) c. 1948-54; Western (a) c. 1948-54 Better/Nedor/Pines/Standard: Black Terror (i) 1944; Doc Strange (a) 1944; Fighting Yank (i) 1944; Jimmy Cole (a) (n.d.); Real Life Comics (a) 1942-45; The Scarab (a) 1946; Silver Knight (i) c. 1948 DC/National (& affiliated): Black Pirate (a) 1947; covers (a) 1947; Girls’ Love Stories (a) 1949; Hawkman (a) 1947; romance (a) 1950 Dell/Western: Adaptations (a) 1960-61; The Conqueror (movie adaptation) (p) 1956; Santiago (a) 1956; Silvertip (a) 1954-57; Silvertip and the Fighting Four (a) 1956; Steve Donovan, Western Marshal (a) 1956-57; The Swamp Fox (a) 1961; Westerns (a) 1956-61; Zorro (a) 195354, 1960 Fawcett Publications: Western covers (paint) 1946-48 Gilberton/Classics Illustrated: Classics Illustrated Special (a) 1959-60; The World around Us (a) c. 1959, 1961; Westerns (n.d.)

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books (1928-1999)

Marvel/Timely: horror (a) 1953; war (a) c. 1953; Wyatt Earp back-up (a) 1956 Parents’ Magazine Press: True Comics (a) c. 1947

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St. John Publishing: various features (a) 1953-55 (all reprint) Superior Publishers: Captain Flight (a) 1945 Ziff-Davis Comics: Baseball Thrills (a) 1952; Bill Stern’s Sports Book (a) 1952; covers (a) 1952; horror (a) 1952; jungle (a) 1952; Nightmare (a) 1952; romance (a) 1952; science-fantasy (a) 1952; Tops in Adventure (a) filler 1952; war (a) 1952

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Oop, Oop, And Away! A Short Celebration Of Alley Oop‘s 75th Anniversary On The Newspaper Comics Page Article by Jack Bender

ou think comic books can’t have an influence on a person’s career? Think again.

The first comic book I ever read featured “Alley Oop.” Today I am in my 18th year of drawing that newspaper comic strip and drew the most recent series of Alley Oop comic books. My wife Carole has assisted on the strip since 1992 and began writing it in 2001. I was very, very young when my parents brought home a copy of Mammoth Comics from the “dime store” for me to read, but my love affair with Alley Oop began that day and never let up. And apparently I am not the only person out there who admires the character. Our comic strip still appears in over 600 newspapers, with an estimated 26 million readers every day, plus many more on the Internet.

Generation Moo Jack and Carole Bender, the current artist and writer of the Alley Oop strip, with the children of the caveman’s creator, V.T. Hamlin. (Left to right:) Jack Bender, Teddy (Teodoro) Hamlin Dewalt, Carole Bender, & Jon Hamlin. Photo courtesy of the Benders. Shown at left is Jack’s cover for Alley Oop Adventures #1 (Aug. 1998) from Antarctic Press; repro’d from a photocopy of the original art. [Comic cover ©2008 NEA, Inc.]

That compares favorably with the peak reached in the days when Oop’s creator called the shots, daily and Sunday. (If your hometown newspaper doesn’t carry Oop, take a look at it, daily and Sunday, at comics.com/comics/alleyoop or beg your newspaper to add it.) Oop even was the symbol of early comic book fandom. The “Alley” award, a statue of the caveman, was given to honor outstanding talent from 1961 to 1969. And don’t forget the wonderful rock song by the Argyles, which lives on. Alley Oop’s comic book life began in 1936 and has extended into this century. Oop has appeared in some 189 different comic books, mostly in reprints of the work of the great V.T. Hamlin, who created the strip. Frank Johnson did the two Dell books in the 1960s, and I did most of the new art in the Antarctic series of 1998 to 2000. Those are the only two comic book entries that contained original art other than splash pages and covers that showcased the Hamlin reprints. In addition to those 189 comic books out there for Oop fans to collect, there are many other compilations that may or may not be considered comic books. These would include the Menomonee Falls Guardian, The Sawtella Chronicles published by Ken Pierce, the three Dragon Lady Press books, the three Kitchen Sink books, a fourth book in the same chronology published by Manuscript Press, Strip Adventure magazine, the current Comics Revue magazine, and the especially comprehensive series Alley Oop: The Magazine, now in its 27th issue (which celebrates Oop’s 75th anniversary with the NEA syndicate).

Oop, Oop, And Away!

Oop And Onward! Several examples of Jack & Carole Bender’s recent work. (Clockwise from top left:) (a) The cover of Antarctic’s second Alley Oop comic book, repro’d from a photocopy of the original art, with thanks to the Benders. (b) Jack’s pencils for a daily strip, done on tracing paper—a present to Ye Ed. (c) The Benders’ Sunday for Aug. 11, 2002, repro’d from the original art—yet another gift to Roy & Dann Thomas. Nice gag! (d) Jack & Carole’s dailies for Aug. 6 & 7, 2008, climaxing a sequence that celebrated Alley Oop’s 75th year on the newspaper comics page. Note the (enlarged) caricatures at bottom right of the latter strip of (l. to r.) Hamlin, Graue, & the Benders—the only four people ever to write and draw the classic (and still popular) feature. [©2008 NEA, Inc.]

May you have 75 more, Alley!

hat if… instead of selling his share of All-American Publications to DC co-publishers Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz in the mid-1940s, as happened in what we call the Real World, Max Charles Gaines had instead bought DC Comics from them?

“Batman” titles on the newsstands in the late ’40s) Green Lantern and The Flash and Wonder Woman became the premier Golden Age heroes—stars of comic books, radio, movies, and television, rather than the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader! (Even so, in our world, all art on the next six pages features characters TM & ©2008 DC Comics.]

Just imagine… a comic book industry in which (due to threatened lawsuits by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Bob Kane, which resulted in there having briefly been two competing versions of “Superman” and

Not a dream, not a hoax… just an imaginary story of an alternate universe and of…

The Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc. T

by Bob Rozakis heodore [“Ted”] Skimmer worked in the editorial and production department of All-American Comics from 1944 through 1997. During his 53-year career, he had a front-row seat for the history of the company, a history he’s agreed to share with us in this interview I conducted a few months ago. —Bob Rozakis.

Book One – Chapter 5: MORT-ification BOB ROZAKIS: Let’s talk about Mort Weisinger. I only met him once, in the mid-’70s, when Guy Lillian invited him up to the office to be interviewed for the Green Lantern issue of The Dynamic World of AA Comics. So most of what I know about him is what Julie Schwartz told me over the years. TED SKIMMER: Well, Mort came over from DC after we absorbed their line in the last half of the ’40s. Initially, he was working on Superman and Action Comics, but when they were cancelled, he was something of the odd man out. He had a couple of humor titles, I think, and one or two others. Then there was the situation with Billy Gaines over the horror books, and he ended up taking over Green Lantern and All-American from Julie. [EDITOR’S NOTE: See Chapter 2, “The Bill Gaines Years,” in Alter Ego #78 for details.] You know, people say a lot of things about Mort, and most of the artists and writers who ever worked with him didn’t like him. But he certainly knew how to sell comic books. He was the one who built the Green Lantern “family,” piggybacking on the success of the TV show in the 1950s. BR: But the first new direction was with Kid Lantern. SKIMMER: That’s right. DC had started a “Superboy” series in More Fun Comics, then moved it into Adventure Comics. It was dropped when we [AA] took over the titles, most probably because of the lawsuit between DC and Siegel and Shuster. But Mort knew there was an interest among the readers for younger versions of the heroes, so he proposed “Kid Lantern,” the adventures of GL as a boy. BR: Which revised the origin of Green Lantern substantially. SKIMMER: Well, yes, it did. But you have to realize that the readership back then was not like what it is today. After the war, the audience was reduced to kids, mostly boys, and mostly 8 to 12 years old. The vast majority of kids reading our books in 1949 were not old enough to have

read All-American #16, so they had no idea what Green Lantern’s origin was anyway. So, in Mort’s revised history, a much younger Alan Scott finds the lantern while he’s lost on a camping trip. Frightened and cold in the dark woods, he sees a strange green glow in the distance and follows it to a cave. Inside, he finds the lantern and the ring. After he uses the ring to save some other campers from a bear, he realizes he should use it as a superhero, and so he creates his costume and Kid Lantern identity.

It’s Always Fair Weather… Mort Weisinger (seated) and his old friend and later fellow editor Julius Schwartz, in a photo that first appeared in an issue of The Dynamic World of AA Comics, the company’s alwaysentertaining, ever-informative house fanzine sold by subscription and through comics stores. Mort and Julie, however, had their differences in later years.

BR: The story appeared in Sensation Comics #92 in 1949, when Mort took over editing. In exchange, Action Comics, which became first Action Western, then Action Men of War, went to Bob Kanigher, who had been handling the title. “Wonder Woman” had been the lead feature in Sensation, with “Wildcat,” “Lady Danger,” and “Streak the Wonder Dog” as back-ups.

SKIMMER: Wonder Woman’s popularity had started to fade by that point. Charlie’s [Gaines’] rights agreement with Marston was that he would