Roy Thomas’ Barbarous Comics Fanzine
SWORD-&SORCERY IN THE COMICS PART THREE SPOTLIGHTING
RAFAEL KAYANAN JOHN BUSCEMA ERNIE CHAN HOWARD CHAYKIN KEITH GIFFEN JOE GILL SAM GLANZMAN DON GLUT PAUL GULACY JACK KATZ DAVID MICHELINIE DENNIS O’NEIL JESSE SANTOS WALT SIMONSON JIM STARLIN BERNIE WRIGHTSON & MORE!!
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No.92 March 2010
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Vol. 3, No. 92 / March 2010 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
Cover Painting Rafael Kayanan
With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Michael Ambrose Richard Arndt Dick Ayers Bob Bailey Jean Bails Tim Barnes Albert Becattini John Benson Frank Brunner Mike Burkey Glen Cadigan R. Dewey Cassell Mike Conroy Leonardo De Sà Michaël Dewally Jerry Edwards Michael Eury Mark Evanier Michael Finn Shane Foley Mark Foy Janet Gilbert Sam Glanzman Donald F. Glut Walt Grogan Paul Gulacy Jennifer Hamerlinck Eric Jansen Jack Katz Rafael Kayanan Gene Kehoe Shirleen King Jim Kingman Mike Kuypers Tristan Lapoussiere
Jim Ludwig Glenn MacKay Darrell McNeil Peter Meskin Philip Meskin Clifford Meth David Michelinie Brian K. Morris Mark Muller Tony Oliva Barry Pearl John G. Pierce Donnie Pitchford Ken Quattro Dave Reeder Trina Robbins Gary Robinson Herb Rogoff Steven Rowe Adrienne Roy Dr. Peter Schilder Evan Shelly Craig Shutt Jim Simon Joe Simon Anthony Snyder Desha Swayze Marc Swayze Jeff Taylor Greg Theakston Dann Thomas Anthony Tollin Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware John Wells Steve Younis
This Issue Is Dedicated To The Memory Of
Edd Cartier & Frank Springer
Contents Writer/Editorial: The Shadow Of The Cimmerian . . . . . . . . . 2 The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules . . . . . 3 Charlton’s Conan precursor—plus Richard Arndt’s incisive interview with artist Sam Glanzman.
The Trials of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Gold Key’s 1970s swordsman against swords, examined by co-creator Don Glut.
Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans” . . . . . . . 18 Fritz Leiber’s Sword of Sorcery heroes at DC, put under the microscope by Richard Arndt.
Claw The Unconquered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 John Wells surveys David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s horror-handed DC hero.
“I’m Trying To Prod People To Think” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Part II of Jim Amash’s incredible interview with Jack Katz, writer/artist/creator of The First Kingdom.
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! “Dr. Lauretta Bender: Comics’ Anti-Wertham – Part 4” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Michael T. Gilbert wraps up his study of comics’ most vital defender of the ’40s & ’50s.
Headline—And Beyond! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 “The Teenage Creations of Steve Gerber – Part III” by John G. Pierce.
Tributes To Artists Edd Cartier & Frank Springer . . . . . . . . . 72 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 75 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 P.C. Hamerlink’s marvelous mixture of Marc Swayze and Captain-Marvel-inspired Superman sagas! On Our Cover: This pulsating portrait of the quintessential mighty-thewed sword-and-sorcery hero was painted in the 1990s by Rafael Kayanan, primary artist of Marvel’s series Conan the Adventurer. Our thanks to Raf for allowing us to feature it as this issue’s cover. Oh, and you’ll find a bit more of RK on p. 34. [©2010 Rafael Kayanan.] Above: Is it sword-and-sorcery? Is it science-fiction? Nope, it’s artist/writer Jack Katz with his own unique and powerful brand of fantasy—a scene from the 20th issue of his 24-book graphic novel The First Kingdom, which has a special place in the history of the medium. [©2010 Jack Katz.] 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. Eight-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $85 Canada, $107 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
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The Shadow Of The Cimmerian H
ard to believe it’s really been forty years (or will be this summer, anyway) since Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian slashed its way onto the nation’s newsstands, to become, apparently for the rest of my life, a major item on my résumé.
With yours truly, the Cimmerian seems to be an every-second-decade thing. From 1970 till I left Marvel in 1980, I was knee-deep in Hyborian Age hyperbole and derring-do. After which, for the next ten years, I neither wrote nor read a Conan comic (though I did get involved with the two Schwarzenegger films, especially the ill-starred second one). Then once more, for most of the ’90s, I wound up scribing the Conan titles again, until such time as Marvel decided to let its license lapse. And so the first decade of the 21st century was another Conan-less one for me personally, although Dark Horse had brought the Cimmerian back by its middle years. As for this second decade of the century—well, we shall see what we shall see. Either way, I suspect Conan will squeak by... and so will I. Meanwhile, a couple of years back, I conceived the notion of putting together a history of sword-and-sorcery in the comics, with Conan as its centerpiece, though not its sole star, of course. When various legal Hydraheads got in the way of doing that, it seemed simpler to turn the project into an ongoing series in Alter Ego, though largely limiting coverage to titles that were launched by the mid-’70s (and, eventually, dealing with some of my own post-Marvel forays into the genre).
So here we are at the third installment of “Sword-and-Sorcery in the Comics”—the preceding ones having appeared in A/E #80 & #83. This time the spotlight is on Charlton’s pre-Conan the Barbarian/quasi-s&s title Hercules, as well as Gold Key’s Dagar the Invincible and DC’s two most notable post-CTB entries in the genre, Sword of Sorcery (starring Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser) and Claw the Unconquered. In addition, this issue also concludes Jim Amash’s fascinating interview with artist Jack Katz, whose 24-issue graphic novel The First Kingdom, by coincidence, contained elements of sword-and-sorcery as well as sciencefiction and other aspects of high adventure. No, there’s not nearly as much about Conan, or about his creator Robert E. Howard, in this issue as there was in the series’ previous two entries. Still, the spirit of both that hero and his guiding light suffuse this issue, as well, with their gladiatorial glow. For they were both guys who cast a very long shadow. And the end is not yet. Bestest, P.S.: Just as this issue went to press, a letter from Golden/Silver Age artist Sheldon Moldoff, whose hospitalization we noted last issue, informed us that he is home and recuperating from his illness. Welcome back, Shelly!
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The Swords And The Sorcerers part five [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]
The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules Charlton’s Conan Precursor— Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist SAM GLANZMAN by Richard J. Arndt
S
ix years before Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, four years before Kull, and three years before Conan appeared—at least in comic book form—what may well have been the first modern sword-&-sorcery comic debuted from Charlton Press. It was called Hercules.
Certainly Charlton’s effort wasn’t Hercules’ first bow in the four-color medium. He had appeared dozens, possibly hundreds, of times in previous comics, most notably in Fawcett’s “Captain Marvel” titles and, only two years prior to his Charlton debut, in Marvel’s “Thor” series in Journey into Mystery. It also wasn’t the first of what we might consider modern sword-&-sorcery tales to appear. Warren Publishing had done a number of s&s stories in its black-&-white magazines, most of them illustrated by Steve Ditko or Gray Morrow. Several amateur fanzines of the period had also done Conanesque stories in their pages. Still, Hercules appears to be the first regularly published example of what we today would call a sword-&-sorcery comic—the more so because its regular backup feature, in all its baker’s-dozen issues, was Steve Skeates’ Beowulfderived series “Thane of Bagarth” (which was discussed in A/E #80, as well as by Skeates himself in A/E #84). Unlike Marvel’s Hercules, who existed in the present day and was caught up in the Marvel world mixture of super-heroes, science-fiction, and fantasy, Charlton’s Hercules prowled the ancient Greek world from which his stories had originated. His adventures were also pure mythology/fantasy from the get-go. Based on the original myths, particularly on the twelve labors of the Hercules legend, the first issue got off to a somewhat shaky start when the writer gave the demi-god only nine labors (an error corrected in the second issue) and placed him in the historical times of Philip of Macedonia and his son Alexander, several hundreds of years after the events described by the myths. Still, it was a rousing adventure, ably illustrated by Sam Glanzman, in which Hercules not only completed his first task, that of killing the Nemedian Lion, but also assisted Alexander in repelling a invasion by another Greek city-state. Hercules’ twelve-labors storyline, which would run through the entire length of the series, began in #2 with a teen-aged Hercules asking his
Hercules The Four-Color Hero Sam Glanzman’s cover for Hercules #1 (Oct. 1967). Probably coincidentally, Marvel had drafted its own incarnation of the mythical son of Zeus, who had battled Thor in 1965-66, into a super-group in The Avengers #38 (March ’67). Charlton’s hero was originally beard-free, though Glanzman opted to give him one a few issues later… while Marvel’s Hercules started out bearded and later shaved it off! Thanks to Michael Ambrose, publisher of the excellent Charlton fanzine Charlton Spotlight (see ad on p. 10). [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]
father Zeus to be allowed to live in Olympus, following the death of Hercules’ mother. Zeus refused, telling him that, as he was only a demigod, he simply wasn’t good enough to enter and live in the home of the gods. Zeus informed him that he had to prove his worthiness by performing twelve labors. Hercules agreed and set out to do so. He was somewhat the Rodney Dangerfield of heroes. Brawny, possessed of the strength of a hundred men, he was still regularly mocked by the mortals around him, who openly scoffed at his claim to be the bastard son of Zeus. One man described him as “brawny between the ears.” His half-brother Mars (another technical error, as the Greek god of war was named Ares—Mars was his Roman equivalent) despised him, while his father’s wife Hera did her best to kill him at every opportunity. Family get-togethers always ended in a brawl of some sort. Even the Greek gods that helped him usually did so secretly, and more to express their hatred of the dominating Hera than because they liked or respected Hercules or regarded him as worthy to walk among them. The comic wasn’t above poking sly fun at rival companies, either. In #5, his labor was to travel to the land of the Amazons, there to steal Hippolyta’s gold belt, which she used to control the minds of the female warriors. In myth, one of Hercules’ labors was indeed to obtain that belt from the Amazon queen, although there was no comics-style mind
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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman
control involved. In the DC Universe, of course, Hippolyta/Hippolyte is the mother of Wonder Woman—and, in certain panels, the Charlton version of Hippolyta bears a strong resemblance to Wonder Woman. To make matters worse, Hippolyta was even more evil than Hera, perfectly willing to jealously slow-roast a maiden whom Hercules had rescued over an open fire, if he refused to become Hippolyta’s consort. She issued this demand while lolling on a bed, leaving little doubt as to what she actually wanted! The same issue also showed some interesting ways to circumvent the Comics Code’s ban on Amazon bondage scenes, which had once been a regular occurrence in DC’s “Wonder Woman” titles. Charlton simply showed the chains, the ropes, the girl, etc., but didn’t actually show her with her hands chained. It looked a little silly, but—problem solved! Another thing notable about Hercules was the violence factor. Unlike most heroes in the 1960s, this son of Zeus actually killed people. In #1, he was clearly shown using a flail to crack soldiers’ heads while various bits of debris (but no blood) were shown flying into the air. Curiously, in those battle scenes from #1, he was not drawn front and center in the panels. Alexander was, with Hercules’ actions relegated to the background and often depicted in silhouette. Scripts for the series were credited to Joe Gill (#6-13, and possibly #1) and Denny O’Neil (#2-5), the latter under the pseudonym Sergius O’Shaugnessy. Although Charlton regular Gill is generally credited with the script for #1, there remains a possibility that Carl Wessler wrote the first issue’s lead tale. The present writer recently obtained a copy of the one-shot 1968 Charlton black-&-white Hercules magazine, and its title page lists Wessler as well as Denny O’Neil and Joe Gill. The latter pair are both credited on the original splash pages for the second and third “Hercules” epics in the b&w, but #1, also reprinted there, didn’t have credits. Thus the first “Hercules” adventure, the one that ascribed nine labors to the son of Zeus, may have been written by either Gill or Wessler. The scripts for the series were generally good, with amusing and often sly twists and droll dialogue. While there’s a lot of hoity-toity god talk, at one point Mars offers to give Hercules a fat lip. Hera spared no opportunity to insult and demean our hero, reminding Hercules that his “human grossness makes even… lovely thing[s] ugly!” Characterizations are good, also, both in the scripts and the art. Despite the fact that he was the mightiest god of all, Zeus was also the ultimate henpecked husband, so determined not to upset his prickly wife that he never confronted her directly. Instead, while Hera openly campaigned and plotted against his son, Zeus’ response was almost always an indirect one, done behind her back. Mars clearly despised his halfbrother and did as much as Hera to thwart Hercules’ desire to live in Olympus. His failures in this regard made him increasingly frustrated as Hercules, “the muscle-bound idiot, blunder[ed] to victory in the most incredible situations!” After one of Hercules’ victories, Mars summed up his attitude towards his younger brother by voicing to his mother, Hera, the following classic Greek line: “Gee, Ma, I hate that kid.” King Eurystheus, Hercules’ cousin and the human who set out the labors that Hercules had to undertake, was depicted as a vain, spindly man. You know he’s vain because he’s balding, but, like Donald Trump, undertakes a huge comb-over to conceal that fact. The artwork for the entire series was provided by the amazing Sam Glanzman, whose work underwent a sea change as the series progressed. The early stories are standard Glanzman, which is to say pretty darn impressive, but in #3 the artist redesigned Hercules, slimming him down by about 30 pounds while aging him a few years and giving him a beard and a profile that could have come directly off an ancient Grecian urn. Glanzman’s artwork also became more stylized as the series continued, with figures appearing to ape ancient Greek artwork while still remaining fluid and dynamic. Panel borders and lettering began to show strong graphic design elements, similar to what Jim Steranko and Neal Adams were doing at roughly the same time. One page depicted a violent dinner
Amazons In Australia Hercules faces Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The “Hercules” tales from the 5th and 6th Charlton issues were printed, along with two “Thane” installments, in this 3rd issue of an black-&-white reprint comic, published by Murray Publishers, a.k.a. Planet Comics, of Sydney, Australia. Regretfully, Ye Editor is uncertain which of his several valued Australian correspondents sent him this copy, some time back. Cover art by Sam Glanzman. (Inset:) Writer Dennis O’Neil, 1969; photo courtesy of Jean Bails. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]
scene in a full-page panel that was shaped like a chalice. The stem of the chalice separated Zeus and Hera from each other and highlighted their opposing opinions as to the ongoing situation. Another page featured Hercules testing weapons and slapping his half-brother Mars around, with the ironic panel design appearing to follow the shape of a rectangular peace symbol. In yet another panel sequence captions were enlarged ten times larger than usual, with the words and caption shapes appearing as huge billows of steam as our hero prepared to bathe. By the end of #11 Hercules had completed his twelve labors, but, in an attempt to delay his ascension to Mount Olympus, Hera demanded that he present his qualifications and describe his adventures before all the gods at a dinner party. However, Hercules was such a boring speaker that most of the gods fell asleep listening to him! Seeing that, Mars started a brawl with the demi-god and defeated him, hurling him back to Earth. Since the assembled gods never heard the end of Hercules’ accomplishments, his acceptance to dwell on Olympus was delayed. Forever, as it turned out, since #13 marked the final issue of Hercules’ adventures, with the hero still waiting to sit side-by-side with his father.
The Twelve Labors (And Thirteen Issues) Of Hercules
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Hercules At Labor—Up To His Gills A full-page action shot from Hercules #12—and its author, Joe Gill. The photo of Gill at the typewriter was taken in the Charlton Comics bullpen, and appeared in a descriptive brochure that accompanied the educational filmstrip People at Work: The Comic Book. The photographer is unknown, but the photo was supplied by Donnie Pitchford. Thanks to Michael Ambrose for the comics scan. [Hercules art ©2010 the respective copyright holders; photo ©1975 King Features Syndicate, Inc.]
This was an excellent series, well written and beautifully drawn. It’s somewhat pricey on the back issues market, but the reprints are fairly cheap. Charlton reprinted it twice, first under their Modern reprint line in 1978, then under the title Charlton Classics in 1980. In addition, #1-2 & #8 were reprinted in a black-&-white magazine format in 1968; this
edition is quite rare and fairly expensive. In 2001 Roger Broughton, who in 1986 had purchased much of the Charlton horror, war, and adventure material, reprinted a number of Hercules issues, also in a b&w format. The artwork in those issues is quite stunning (Charlton printing presses often left much to be desired in terms of fine printing). It would appear from the sharp detail that Broughton had possession of Charlton’s original film or perhaps Photostats of the original art. For some reason, however, he reprinted stories from the early and latter run of the title, leaving out much of the middle story. In addition, he shifted many pages around, combining storylines from different issues together. With a page count approaching 225 pages, Hercules would seem to be an excellent choice for a b&w trade paperback in the Marvel Essentials or DC Showcase Presents mode.
A Hercules Checklist #1. (Oct. 1967) Cover: Sam Glanzman “Adventures of the Man-God Hercules” – writer uncertain & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp. “Meeko the Microbe” – Joe Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Feud” – Steve Skeates (w) & Jim Aparo (a) – 8 pp. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: As stated in the article, the “Thane of Bagarth” series also has ties to the sword-&-sorcery genre, in some ways even more directly than the “Hercules” lead feature, and was discussed in the first part of our sword-&-sorcery coverage, in A/E #80.] #2. (Dec. 1967) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “When Men Meets Monster” – Denny O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp. “The Molecules and the Cook Book” Gill (w) – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Plot” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #3. (Feb. 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Netherworld” – O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) ] 18 pp.
“The Story of Momotaro” – Gill – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “Banishment” – Skeates (w) Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #4. (June 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “Land of Menace” – O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp. “The Goddess of Mercy” – Gill – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Galley” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 8 pp. #5. (July 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “The Land of Amazons” – O’Neil (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp. “Mogo the Mighty” – Gill (w) 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Battle Lost” – Skeates (w), Charles Nicholas (p), & Vincent Alascia (i) – 9 pp. #6. (Sept. 1968) Cover: Glanzman Hercules – “Hercules’ Choice” – Joe Gill (w) & Glanzman (a) – 18 pp. “Sandstorm” – Gill – 1 p. (text story) Thane of Bagarth – “The Queen” – Skeates (w) & Aparo (a) – 9 pp.
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Charlton’s Conan Precursor—Plus An Incisive Interview With Artist Sam Glanzman
RA: I understand that you kept a diary or journal during the war years. Obviously that must have helped you while working on the “U.S.S. Stevens” series. How detailed is that journal? GLANZMAN: The journal I kept was very sparse. Most of the stories I did for the comics were from memories of sea duty during that time. Some of them happened to me or shipmates, a few of them I heard about, and some were made up, like “Old Glory” and “Where Are the Heroes?” For some goddam reason I start to cry when I get into a conversation about my Navy time. Some guy once asked me that, if it was such a harrowing experience, how could I stand to write and draw about it? I had no answer for him. But now I think that drawing the comics purged, if that’s the right word, my brain of all the crap. Especially now, ’cause dammit, I don’t even remember my time in the service. Except once in a while a couple of little things pop up in my noggin. RA: I know you need to go, so I’d like to thank you for your time. I’ve always admired your work. GLANZMAN: Hope this is some kind of help to you, Dick. Like Popeye sez… “I yam what I yam and that’s all I yam!” Keep your back to the wall… I learned that in the Navy. Keep your back to the wall in a barroom brawl. That way no bastard can sneak behind you and whack you over the head. Do the same thing in poker… that way no SOB watching the game can silently signal what hand I’ve got to his buddy across from me. I still play poker. Haven’t been to a bar since 1950. Adios. Richard Arndt is a librarian and comics historian from Elko, Nevada. His interviews and articles have appeared in the magazines Alter Ego, From the Tomb, and Spooky, as well as online at www.enjolrasworld.com.
War At Sea Sam’s superlative series of stories set on the U.S.S. Stevens during World War II began with “Kamikaze” in DC’s Our Army at War #235 (Aug. 1971)— which, as Mike Conroy pointed out in his fine recent book War Stories: A Graphic History, “offers a motive for the [Kamikaze] pilot beyond that of the Samurai code of chivalry: the deaths of [his] family as a result of the incendiary bombs dropped on Japanese cities.” Thanks to Michael T. Gilbert & Gene Kehoe for the scan. [©2010 DC Comics.]
RA: How did you get the gig drawing “The Haunted Tank”? GLANZMAN: I don’t know! Just one day Joe had me drawing it. I never did know the how or why behind that. RA: When did you enter the Navy? Was the U.S.S. Stevens the first ship you were assigned to? GLANZMAN: I entered the Navy when I was old enough to get in without my parents’ permission, in 1943. I didn’t turn 19 until Dec. 5, 1942. The U.S.S. Stevens was the one and only ship I served on. God bless her. I went from able-bodied seaman to fireman (all that stuff is in my graphic novel A Sailor’s Tale) to Water Tender second class. Those rates (or ranks) have nothing to do with tending any kind of water like you may think. Also, the rank of fireman had nothing to do with putting out fires. Just the Navy’s way of doing things. W/T 2nd class was my shipping-out rate. The equivalent of a master sergeant in the Army.
The Swords And The Sorcerers part six [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]
The Trials of Dagar, Prehistoric Warrior Gold Key’s 1970s Swordsman Against Sorcery by Donald F. Glut This article has been reprinted, with minor editorial emendations, from Jurassic Classics, Don Glut’s 2001 book on dinosaurs and popular culture. Thanks to Brian K. Morris for retyping this piece.
M
ost of my professional writing output of the 1970s consisted of scripts written for various comic book companies. As a longtime comic book fan, actually working in the industry was, for many years, a real dream come true.
Of course, it was only natural that dinosaurs, cavemen, and other things prehistoric would frequently be featured into these scripts. I worked for most of the major comic book companies during those years—Warren, Marvel, DC, Archie, Charlton, and others—with a good percentage of my writing done on assignment for Gold Key, the comics line of Western Publishing Company. Dagar, the mercenary-warrior hero I created for Gold Key’s Dagar the Invincible, was not a prehistoric hero per se—at least not in the same sense as was Joe Kubert’s Tor the Hunter. Dagar was not an ax-carrying caveman like Tor, but a relatively civilized sword-carrying hero of the descriptively named “sword and sorcery” genre, which had arisen basically in the pulp magazines of
Is That A Dagar That I See Before Me? Don Glut, writer/co-creator of Dagar the Invincible, is flanked by actress Monique Parent and by Dagar artist/co-creator Jesse Santos, in a pic taken at the 2007 Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Monique starred in the Frontline Films horror flick Blood Scarab, which was scripted and directed by Don. The photo, in turn, is flanked at top of page by the cover of what it and the indicia inside technically hailed as Tales of Sword and Sorcery DAGAR THE INVINCIBLE #1 (Oct. 1972)—and, at left, by the splash page of Dagar #1, as scripted by Glut and drawn by Santos. The cover is by George Wilson, according to Steven Rowe & Mark Foy; the latter collects the original paintings of Wilson, who did many excellent covers for Western/Gold Key. According to Don Glut, Jesse Santos took over the Dagar covers beginning with issue #13, and had done rough layouts for some of the earlier covers, as well. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]
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The Swords And The Sorcerers part seven [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]
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Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser— DC’s “Anti-Conans” Fritz Leiber’s Sword Of Sorcery Heroes by Richard Arndt
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In Search Of Nehwon
onan the Barbarian had not been an immediate hit for Marvel Comics when it debuted in 1970, but by 1972 the book was certainly doing well enough for other comic companies, particularly DC, to take notice.
Since most of Robert E. Howard’s stories and characters were tied up legally by Marvel, DC went looking for the other bestselling sword-&-sorcery characters on the paperback racks, namely acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber’s jaded adventurers Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Like Howard’s Conan, Leiber’s red-headed giant Fafhrd and the small, dark Gray Mouser had made their literary debut in the 1930s—in their case, in the magazine Unknown, a rival to the Weird Tales pulp that had spawned the Cimmerian. And, also like Conan, while the stories were greatly appreciated by fans of fantasy prose stories, their real surge in popularity came with their paperback appearances in the 1960s. It would have taken DC no great effort at research to discover this.
Fritz, Fafhrd, And Friend Author Fritz Leiber, juxtaposed with the cover of a paperback edition of the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Cover artist uncertain. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]
The Boys Who Cried “Ironwolf”—And/Or “Fafhrd”! (Left:) “Ironwolf” splash page from Weird Worlds #10 (Oct.-Nov. 1974). Half science-fiction and half sword-and-sorcery, “Ironwolf” by writer Denny O’Neil and artist Howard Chaykin was also a precursor of Stars Wars—indeed, it was largely because of “Ironwolf” that Star Wars director George Lucas told Marvel in 1976 that he’d like Chaykin to draw the adaptation of the upcoming film. Scipter/editor Roy Thomas was only too happy to oblige. Thanks to Bob Bailey for the scan. [©2010 DC Comics.] (Above:) This photo of three rising stars of the comics world, all of whom had illustrated material for the 1973 Sword of Sorcery series: (l. to r.: Bernie Wrightson, Howard Chaykin, & Jim Starlin) was taken at Phil Seuling’s 1976 New York Comic Art Convention. Clearly, they got into the spirit of the con’s masquerade—or maybe just got into spirits? With thanks to the Golden Age Comic Book Stories website.
Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser—DC’s “Anti-Conans”
DC also had to be aware that nobody on their regular staff of artists was going to attract the new audience fan base for sword-&-sorcery comics that Conan artist Barry Smith (now Barry Windsor-Smith) was attracting. So they went looking among the “Young Turks” entering comics in the early 1970s—and they found Howard Chaykin. They didn’t have to look far. Chaykin, who had debuted with work in comics fanzines only two years earlier, was already doing his own strip for DC: “Ironwolf,” which appeared in Weird Worlds. For the times, it was an odd feature, combining the appeal of a far-future world with the dynamics and swordplay of an old Errol Flynn historical swashbuckler. “Ironwolf,” and his 1974 reincarnation “Cody Starbuck” in Mike Friedrich’s early indy comic Star*Reach, clearly anticipated the frantic arrival and appeal of Star Wars a few years down the road. Still, in 1972 “Ironwolf ” was not doing particularly well, so Chaykin, as well as “Ironwolf ” editor and scripter Denny O’Neil, became the editor/writer-artist team on Sword of Sorcery. No doubt, the generic title was selected both to alert sword-&-sorcery fans to a comic aimed directly at them, and because Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser would have made a long, cumbersome, and hard-to-pronounce title. Even so, DC itself was probably quite aware of differences between Leiber’s style of s&s (and let’s just use “s&s” instead of typing out “sword-&-sorcery” every time, shall we?) and Howard’s more straight-ahead, balls-to-the-wall style.
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Leiber was certainly the more literate of the two writers, establishing in his fantasy world of Nehwon (“Nowhen” spelled backward) a considerably decadent style and two main characters who actually liked to talk to each other. A lot! Compared to Conan, these fellows were regular jabberjaws. Physically they were quite different, as well. Fafhrd was a tall, red-headed giant with muttonchop whiskers and a certain amount of clumsiness. The Gray Mouser was short, dark, and quick, with a sharp tongue and a sharper knife. In Howard’s Hyborian Age, Conan’s barbarian gods rarely interfered in the everyday dealings of men. Leiber’s gods, particularly the Gray Mouser’s patron Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Fafhrd’s patron Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, constantly stuck their noses into storylines. There’s a lot more sex and sex-talk in the Leiber stories, too. And although Fafhrd is called “the barbarian” in the tales, he’s considerably sharper and smoother in his approach to women, crime, and barroom brawls than Conan ever was. There’s also a great deal of humor in Fafhrd & the Mouser’s adventures, which may have been off-putting to the young Conan readers of the time.
Here Are The Swords—The Sorcery Comes Later (Left:) A preliminary pencil sketch by Howard Chaykin of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. With thanks to Tim Barnes. (Above:) The second story page of Sword of Sorcery #1, by O’Neil (writer), Chaykin (penciler), and The Crusty Bunkers (which generally consisted of Neal Adams and various talented young artists who happened to wander into his studio that week). The cover and splash page of the first issue were seen in A/E #80. [©2010 DC Comics.]
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Fritz Leiber’s Sword Of Sorcery Heroes
A Fifth Of Fafhrd (Above:) Walt Simonson penciled the lead feature in SOS #5 (Nov.-Dec. ’73), while Jim Starlin penciled the back-up story—the only issue containing no Chaykin artwork. Scripts by Denny O’Neil & George Alec Effinger respectively; inks by Al Milgrom. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [©2010 DC Comics.]
story by Denny O’Neil and dazzling art by a young Walt Simonson. The 5th and final issue saw Simonson take over the artwork on the cover and main story, an adaptation of Leiber’s “The Sunken Land,” while the back-up tale this time featured a young Gray Mouser with script by science-fiction writing newcomer George Alec Effinger and art by Jim Starlin & Al Milgrom. In terms of overall art, this was probably the best single issue, despite lack of any Chaykin contribution. But that was it. Clearly the sales on #1 had not been great. Fanzines of the day were reporting the death of the magazine well before #5 went on sale. It was too bad, since scripter O’Neil was clearly getting the grasp of the somewhat difficult characters, and the art was generally very good. Simonson’s efforts in the final issue, which displayed his fascination with Norse legends that he later utilized brilliantly in his classic run on Marvel’s Thor comic, were especially tasty. The story doesn’t quite end there, however. Those five issues have become collector’s items, and even 35 years later are genuinely interesting and, best of all, fun to read. Chaykin himself must have enjoyed his time on the series. In the early 1990s he revived Fafhrd and the Mouser as a prestige mini-series, this time for Marvel Comics, with artwork by (future) Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Some of the stories adapted there were same ones Chaykin had first worked on in the original series. You could do a lot worse when haunting the back issue bins to locate and buy the 1970s Sword of Sorcery and the 1990s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser issues. The original Fritz Leiber prose stories are pretty good, too, and appear in six paperback volumes, currently in print from Dark Horse.
Fafhrd Revisited (Left:) Mike Mignola’s cover for the first volume of Marvel’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser prestigeformat mini-series in the 1990s. Howard Chaykin wrote the adaptations. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]
The Swords And The Sorcerers part eight [continued from Alter Ego #80 & 83]
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Claw The Unconquered David Michelinie & Ernie Chan’s Horror-Handed Hero by John Wells
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Nature Red In Talon And Claw
owever rocky his birth may have been, by 1974 Conan the Barbarian was king of the Hyborian Age of Comics, and Marvel Comics was riding high. This success had not been lost on rival DC Comics, whose efforts at conceiving a viable sword-&-sorcery series of their own had thus far met with no success, despite some fine efforts. If distinctive features like “Nightmaster” (which had preceded the Conan comic) and the licensed Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser had failed to catch on, DC seemed to reason, perhaps something a bit more visually on-the-nose was in order. A brawny shirtless soul with long black hair and a sharp sword in his hand. A barbarian drawn by a man who already
Claw Is Coming! (Above:) This house ad, with strong art by Ernie Chan (then known as Ernie Chua), appeared in DC comics in early 1975 to promote the launch of Claw the Unconquered. All art accompanying this article was supplied by John Wells, except where otherwise identified. [©2010 DC Comics.]
had Conan’s adventures on his résumé. And a rhythmic name/description like… Talon the Untamed. Or not.
Jawbonin’ (Above:) The sword-and-sorcery hero Iron Jaw was created for DC editor Joe Orlando by writer Michael Fleisher… but when Orlando elected not to publish the series, it wound up at Martin Goodman’s Atlas/Seaboard Comics as Iron Jaw #1 (Jan. 1975), with art by Mike Sekowsky & Jack Abel. Back in the ’40s, of course, the original Iron Jaw had been one of comics’ great villains, the relentless nemesis of Crimebuster in Charlie Biro’s Boy Comics. From Ye Editor’s personal collection. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]
DC editor Joe Orlando’s search for an s&s hero had begun with writer Michael Fleisher, his go-to guy for features as diverse as the Simon & Kirby-revived “Sandman” and a hard-edged take on “The Spectre” with artist Jim Aparo. In 1973, Denny O’Neil and Howard Chaykin had created an energetic political space opera called “Ironwolf ” in 1973’s Weird Worlds #8 & 9, only to have it abruptly cancelled as a consequence of a nationwide paper shortage. The already-completed Weird Worlds #10 was published in the summer of 1974, and Orlando believed its title character might work in a different environment.
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Comic Fandom Archive
Headline – And Beyond! Part III Of “The Teenage Creations of Steve Gerber” by John G. Pierce “CFA” EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: In this final chapter of John Pierce’s look back at the late Steve Gerber’s fanzine Headline from the early 1960s, you’ll find an interesting litany of the challenges that beset fanzine publishers of the day. The glow of nostalgia can sometimes cause us to forget that editing and publishing even the humble amateur magazines of yesteryear were not without their stresses, their disappointments, and their outright snafus. This realization can only serve to heighten our appreciation of those fans—such as Steve Gerber—who managed to shepherd their fanzines from an idea to a finished product. The road was often bumpy!! —Bill Schelly.
I
n earlier articles, I have recounted the story of Steve Gerber’s childhood creations, as well as the first two issues of his fanzine Headline. In this final chapter, we’ll take a look at the third issue of that seminal, oft-overlooked zine.
In 1964, more than a year after the 1963 publication of #2 (that had also been the approximate time-span between #1 & #2), the third issue appeared. Headline was, admittedly, published irregularly, as were most fanzines of the early days, but it might as well have been labeled an annual. Following a Superman cover, “Ye Olde Print Shoppe”—again labeled “Editorial Comment,” although presumably the readers knew that by now—bears reprinting here, if for no other reason than a look at Steve’s early writing style: At the risk of sounding like Jerry Bails, I’m forced to say that this will be the last issue of Headline under my editorial eye. I’m turning the chores over to Steve Grant, fellow U. Citian, child prodigy, and the biggest braggart since yours truly. With Steve at the helm, you can be sure that HL will continue under its original motto—“Open mouth, insert foot”…. [R]ather than the standard sob-story, I think I’ll devote this last editorial to a re-hashing of the “behind the scenes” story of this fanzine. If you think you’ve been reading incredible fiction, wait’ll you dig into this! It started with Alter-Ego #2. In that issue, Jerry Bails (yes, he did publish A-E once) offered his #35 duplicator for sale. The two A-E issues had given me the fanzine bug, and I immediately wrote to him about it, and I happened to mention the possibility of a zine devoted to original hero creations. Jerry, too, was enthused about the idea—though probably more because he thought he could unload his duplicator than because he liked the idea. [AUTHOR’S NOTE: I think perhaps Steve was selling the late Dr. Bails a bit short here. It is my impression that the Father
Two Super-Stars From the vantage point of a later time, Steve Gerber contemplates fan-artist Ronn Foss’ cover for the third issue of the former’s fanzine Headline. Art sports for this chapter have been supplied by John G. Pierce and/or Bill Schelly. [Superman TM & ©2010 DC Comics; other Headline cover art ©2010 Estate of Ronn Foss.]
of Comics Fandom was glad to see it flourish in multitudinous forms, and almost certainly a publication with such a focus would have been welcomed by him. —John.] Nonetheless, the two of us exchanged correspondence prolifically, discussing the duplicator, the fanzine, and the money. And then, when I finally decided to buy the duplicator and put out one whammo of a fanzine—Jerry sold it locally. Undaunted, I searched about and finally located an outfit called Standard Duplicators. I checked, and found a great used model for $45, bought it, and things began looking up a bit. Slowly but surely, the articles were compiled. This was about November of 1961. Jerry had put me in contact with a number of teenage writers, and almost all of them graciously contributed to HL. Somewhere along the line, Paul Seydor joined the crew as co-editor. And it was his excellent art that graced the cover of Headline #1 when it debuted in May of 1962. But between November and May there was one heck of a winter, and it was no fun for this editor! S.G. Ross had written the Little Giant story, to be our illo’d strip in #1, around a plot which didn’t satisfy artist Ronn Foss. I agreed, and so S.G. and I plotted the actual tale which appeared in HL. This script was admittedly rather crude, but Ronn managed to turn it into a strip which brought raves from every reader! Then he quit! But that comes later. Now wait. All this sounds fairly simple. But LG was never even intended for HL at first! Paul Seydor was going to do “The Falcon and Electricman,” but pulled out because he felt the strip “just
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FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]
about as long as people had. But mostly they were funny dogs ... and I wanted mine to be different. We were in an era of humorless comics at the time, and the graceful shepherd dog I had in mind was not intended to be funny. Nor was he meant to carry on oral conversations with the strip’s human characters ... or the reader. I had by this time met with sufficient syndicate opinion to be convinced that a fixed demand among them was that an original feature, such as mine, was not to begin with people talking. As one was quoted: “Never open with a bunch of promises of things to come. Have the action already here ... in that first episode on that very first panel!”
By [Art & logo ©2010 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2010 DC Comics]
[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first Mary Marvel character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate Captain Marvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he created both art and stories for The Phantom Eagle in Wow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including Sweethearts and Life Story. After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have been a vital part of FCA since his first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. Last time, Marc explained the importance of “doodles.” In this issue, the artist speaks of his love for dogs, and revisits one of his unpublished newspaper strips. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]
M
aybe it’s just the imagination working overtime, but it seems that we’ve had a dog or two around ... ever since I was a kid. I love dogs. It stands to reason, then, that one of the first comic strips I ever attempted featured a dog.
I remembered that ... yet, I began the story at hand with two unimportant characters ... talking. Then there followed more vocal exchanges, and inactive panels, and temporary characters ... this time Judge Bentley. In the final panel of strip one, Jango appears. Not much action there! Nor in the next strip ... but the plot thickens a bit. Jango becomes aware of the presence of a dangerous forest denizen nearby ... a panther! And strip by strip a story unfolds ... three weeks of dailies ... and Jango has a new friend... an injured war veteran ... and a new world of adventures. Jango never made it to the printing press. Like many others, he was a victim of the massive postwar switch in reader interest ... from the dramatic ... back again to the funnies of yore. And ... Consequently ... he was stashed away ... Here ... where he is today. And we still have dogs. Matter of fact, a couple are curled up at my feet at this very moment. And I love ’em! Marc Swayze will return next issue with more anecdotes about the Golden Age of Comics.
It was not a new thing. Dogs had been appearing in comic strips ...
Dog Gone (Above right:) Marc recalls always having “…had a dog or two around …” Sure enough, one such four-legged friend is nearby as he inscribes the FCA editor’s copy of Captain Marvel Adventures #19 on Memorial Day, 2005. Photo by Jennifer Hamerlinck. (Directly above:) A Jango daily, circa 1954, when Swayze pitched the strip for syndication … about a dog, without a co-star (although later in the story, Jango teams up with a war vet). The Jango character was actually created around 1941 as a canine companion to Judi the Jungle Girl, another syndicate strip attempt by the artist which, like Jango, never made it to the printing press. [©2010 Marcus D. Swayze.]
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Super-Marvels Captain Marvel-Inspired Superman Stories by John G. Pierce Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck
Introduction
I
t is generally conceded that Captain Marvel started his life as a deliberate imitation of Superman. Actually, that doesn’t make him all that unique, by itself, anyway. In a general sense, virtually all superheroes, even those (such as Batman) who were merely non-powered costumed heroes, were in one way or another imitations of Superman. Some, such as Fox’s Wonder Man or Fawcett’s Master Man, were a bit more obvious. But it is hard to deny the order came down from on high at Fawcett Publications to “create a character like Superman” (see PCH’s ’98 Roscoe K. Fawcett interview, reprinted in the book Fawcett Companion), although that mandate could simply have meant something on the order of “not a character like Mickey Mouse” or “not a character like Flash Gordon.” Be that as it may, Captain Marvel did bear an undeniable similarity to the Man of Steel. Later on, when DC sued Fawcett over alleged copyright infringement, each company had teams of workers poring over stories and panels looking for similarities—which were located, but going in both directions, with some sequences having been done in “Captain Marvel” stories before they appeared in Superman’s adventures.
Well, we all know how that story ended, and further elaboration is not the task at hand. Instead, it is to focus upon a certain set of “Superman” stories which were inspired by Captain Marvel—not imitations of him, necessarily, but owing their existence (or at least certain story elements therein) to his prior existence.
Zha-Vam The Invincible One such three-part Silver Age tour de force was found in Action Comics #351-353 (June-Aug. 1967). In a series of stories, readers were introduced to a villain with the suspicious-sounding name of Zha-Vam, a mere two letters and a hyphen removed from that of the old wizard whose powers gave birth to The Marvel Family, viz., Shazam. It might come as no surprise that the tale was written by Captain Marvel’s erstwhile head writer, and by this point head writer for the Superman family, Otto Binder. Still, it’s hard to tell where the idea actually originated, as editor Mort Weisinger was, in Otto’s own words, “an idea man,” though MW was also notorious for taking ideas from one writer and force-feeding them to another under the pretense that they were his own creations. But here, given Otto’s history with the Marvels, we might be more inclined to credit Otto himself with having generated the idea—or, if nothing else, perhaps it was Mort’s knowledge of Otto’s past association with Fawcett which gave him the thought, instead.
Whizzed Action Comics #351 (June 1967) marked the first installment of former “Captain Marvel”/”Marvel Family” scripter Otto O. Binder’s “Zha-Vam” trilogy (cover art by Curt Swan & George Klein). Residing next to it is a re-creation of the cover— with a Captain Marvel twist— by artist Eric Jansen (ericjansenartist@tripod.com) and assembled by Walt Grogan (marvelfamily.com). [Action art ©2010 DC Comics; Superman & Shazam hero TM & ©2010 DC Comics.]