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HORROR COMICS OF THE FEARFUL 1950s

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No.97 October 2010

Edited by ROY THOMAS The greatest ‘zine of the 1960s is back, ALL-NEW, and focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America, featuring the archives of C.C. BECK and recollections by Fawcett artist MARCUS SWAYZE), Michael T. Gilbert’s MR. MONSTER, and more!

2010 EISNER AWARD Nominee Best Comics-Related Periodical

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MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood, by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, in-depth art-filled look at Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, DC’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Dagar the Invincible, Ironjaw & Wulf, and Arak, Son of Thunder, plus the never-seen Valda the Iron Maiden by TODD McFARLANE! Plus JOE EDWARDS (Part 2), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

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Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

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HARVEY COMICS’ PRE-CODE HORROR MAGS OF THE 1950s! Interviews with SID JACOBSON, WARREN KREMER, and HOWARD NOSTRAND, plus Harvey artist KEN SELIG talks to JIM AMASH! MR. MONSTER presents the wit and wisdom (and worse) of DR. FREDRIC WERTHAM, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with C.C. BECK & MARC SWAYZE, & more! SIMON & KIRBY and NOSTRAND cover!

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BIG MARVEL ISSUE! Salutes to legends SINNOTT and AYERS—plus STAN LEE, TUSKA, EVERETT, MARTIN GOODMAN, and others! A look at the “Marvel SuperHeroes” TV animation of 1966! 1940s Timely writer and editor LEON LAZARUS interviewed by JIM AMASH! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, the 1960s fandom creations of STEVE GERBER, and more! JACK KIRBY holiday cover!

FAWCETT FESTIVAL! Big FCA section with Golden Age artists MARC SWAYZE & EMILIO SQUEGLIO, and interviews with the FAWCETT FAMILY! Plus Part II of “The MAD Four-Color Wannabes of the 1950s,” more on DR. LAURETTA BENDER and the teenage creations of STEVE GERBER, artist JACK KATZ spills Golden Age secrets to JIM AMASH, and more! New cover by ORDWAY and SQUEGLIO!

SWORD-AND-SORCERY, PART 3! DC’s Sword of Sorcery by O’NEIL, CHAYKIN, & SIMONSON and Claw by MICHELINIE & CHAN, Hercules by GLANZMAN, Dagar by GLUT & SANTOS, Marvel S&S art by BUSCEMA, KANE, KAYANAN, WRIGHTSON, et al., and JACK KATZ on his classic First Kingdom! Plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER’s fan-creations (part 3), and more! Cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo—1961 to 1985!” with rare art by INFANTINO, GIL KANE, ANDERSON, DELBO, ANDRU, BUCKLER, APARO, GRANDENETTI, and DILLIN, interview with Golden/Silver Age DC editor GEORGE KASHDAN, plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER, STEVE GERBER, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), and a new cover by INFANTINO and AMASH!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “EarthTwo Companion, Part II!” More on the 19631985 series that changed comics forever! The Huntress, Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Freedom Fighters, and more, with art by ADAMS, APARO, AYERS, BUCKLER, GIFFEN, INFANTINO, KANE, NOVICK, SCHAFFENBERGER, SIMONSON, STATON, SWAN, TUSKA, our GEORGE KASHDAN interview Part 2, FCA, and more! STATON & GIORDANO cover!

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Vol. 3, No. 97 / October 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 Artist Bill Everett

Cover Colorist Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to: Hurricane Heeran Heidi Amash Heritage Comics Ger Apeldoorn Archives Manuel Auad Mike Hoffman Bob Bailey Mike Howlett Alberto Becattini Dave Hunt Blake Bell Alan Hutchinson Jack Bender John Jacobson John Benson Glen Johnson Mike Benton Michael W. Kaluta Dominic Bongo Jack Katz Jerry K. Boyd Stan Lee Chris Boyko Dominique Leonard Brian’s Drive-In Dennis Lieberson Theater (website) Jim Ludwig Steve Brower Bruce Mason Chris Brown Marc Miyake Gary Brown Brian K. Morris Frank Brunner Dave O’Dell Mike Burkey Carlos Pacheco Mike Catron Fred Patten Shaun Clancy Bill Pearson Russ Cochran John G. Pierce Jack Davis Ken Quattro Dwight Decker Gene Reed Al Dellinges Bob Rozakis Michaël Dewally The Dick Dillin Family Greg Sadowski Pat Sekowsky Betty Dobson Ronn Sutton Walter do Carmo Marc Svensson Michael Feldman Desha Swayze Shane Foley Marc Swayze Wendy Gaines Jeff Taylor Janet Gilbert Dann Thomas Golden Age Comic Michael Vance Book Stories Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Grand Comics Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Database Hames Ware Walt Grogan Gary L. Watson George Hagenauer Jennifer Hamerlinck Lawrence Watt-Evans Dylan Williams Russ Heath

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Howie Post & Marvin Stein

Contents Writer/Editorial: Did Horror Comics Really Follow the “New Trend”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Other Guys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Lawrence Watt-Evans’ gargoyle’s-eye view of the non-EC horror comics of the 1950s.

Post Office Issues EC Stamps! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 You think A/E never carries news? What Alan Hutchinson has to say will definitely be news to you!

The Hand of Doom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Gary Brown’s gripping conversation with one of comics’ greatest stars of the 1950s & ’60s.

“It’s Important That We Don’t Get Forgotten!”. . . . . . . . . . . 42 Jim Amash winds up his epic interview with Golden/Silver age editor & writer George Kashdan.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!: “Clowns! $#%#% Clowns!” . . 59 Michael T. Gilbert sends in the clowns—the comic book variety, that is!

Tributes to Howie Post & Marvin Stein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 re: [comments & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #156. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 P.C. Hamerlinck presents two of Fawcett’s greatest: C.C. Beck & Marc Swayze. On Our Cover: Alter Ego is generally centered around comic book characters and their creators rather than on individual, stand-alone stories—while the latter were the stock and trade of most 1950s horror comics artist. What’s more, A/E covers which showcase super-heroes usually outsell those that don’t. So we tried to split the difference: Bill Everett’s macabre splash panel from Menace #5 (July 1953), recently reprinted in the hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Menace, gave the world a still-enduring horror-hero by introducing the later star of Marvel’s black-&-white mag Tales of The Zombie, beginning with #1 in 1973. For more info, see p. 15. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: This partial-cover from Trojan Publishing’s Beware #11 (1954), drawn by shockmeister (and later schlockmeister) Myron Fass, depicted what might have been the nightmare of every vintage horror comic artist. Aw, those two ghoulies are probably just Dr. Wertham and Senator Kefauver in disguise! (See pp. 31-32.) Thanks to Mike Benton. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.] 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

Did Horror Comics Really Follow The “New Trend”?

hat’s the question Lawrence Watt-Evans posits in this issue’s “The Other Guys,” which examines the 1950s horror comics published by companies besides William M. Gaines’ fabled EC (Entertaining Comics) and its “New Trend” trio of Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and The Haunt of Fear. Lawrence’s answer to his own question may well surprise—even anger—some readers. We don’t want to give away his thesis in advance—nor is it our place here to agree or disagree with it. But we felt it deserved to be aired, and Alter Ego at Halloween-time seemed as good a place as any to do so.

In the course of expounding his views, of course, LWE surveys both the history and the variety of horror comics in that decade that began sixty years ago. Which is precisely what I asked him to do, when I sent out feelers, a year or so ago, for a study of the non-EC terror tales of that preComics Code period. For, too often, as Lawrence writes, the history of that genre in four colors is treated as if it were synonymous with EC… or at least as if all other horror comics were de facto inferior to what was produced by Gaines, his editors Al Feldstein and Johnny Craig, and their writers and artists. Now, let there be no misunderstanding: In my not-too-humble opinion EC’s straight horror (and related crime and science-fiction comics) were indeed some of the finest publications that the comics industry ever produced. But other companies had their moments, as well… and some of those moments were stretched out to a considerable length. Harvey’s horror titles were analyzed in last Halloween’s issue (and as regards that company, we’ll admit up front that our judgment differs from

Lawrence’s)… we’ve touched on Timely/Marvel/Atlas’ myriad macabre mags before (though never at length—and even here, there’s only room to scratch the surface of what Stan Lee and his 1950s bullpen wrought in that arena)… A/E #61 dwelt on both the pre- and post-Code horror comics published by the American Comics Group… and, even earlier, issue #41 went into some detail about Dick Briefer’s several contrasting approaches to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Monster. But what about—as Lawrence puts it—“The Other Guys”? In this issue you’ll run the gamut from “A” to “Z.” From Avon’s Eerie Comics #1, which could lay claim to launching the horror genre in comics, to Ziff-Davis and its short-lived spook spree behind tastefully painted covers. From Ace’s Web of Mystery to the zombies of Superior Comics that came shambling down across the border from Canada. In between, you’ll even meet a few series characters who traversed the genre—the aforementioned Frankenstein, of course, but also Hillman’s Heap and Toby’s perambulatin’ Purple Claw. And if you’re a die-hard EC fan—well, not to worry. We did manage to work in a brief but artful homage to the “New Trend,” on pp. 35-37. So now, enjoy. This Halloween, as always, we promise you tricks… and, we hope, treats as well. Bestest,

P.S.: Oh, and just in case you're wondering—we titled this issue's lead article long before we even heard of any upcoming movie starring Will Ferrell.

COMING IN DECEMBER

SCINTILLATIN’ SUPERMAN SPECIAL! • Sensational new Superman & Captain Marvel cover by JERRY ORDWAY! • Three Who Made Superman Great! 1940s DC/Superman head honcho WHITNEY ELLSWORTH (profiled by Will Murray)—Golden/Silver Age Superman editor MORT WEISINGER (remembered by his daughter Joyce Kaffel)—and major Golden/Silver Age Superman & Batman writer ALVIN SCHWARTZ (interviewed by Jim Amash)! • Lavish Golden & Silver Age DC art & artifacts by JERRY SIEGEL & JOE SHUSTER • CURT SWAN • WAYNE BORING • AL PLASTINO • LEO O’MEALIA • VIN SULLIVAN • FRED RAY • BOB KANE • NEAL ADAMS • et al.! • FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) featuring MARC SWAYZE, CAPTAIN MARVEL, & SUPERMAN • MICHAEL T. GILBERT on “Kooky DC Krossovers”— BILL SCHELLY’s Comic Fandom Archive—& MORE!! Edited by ROY THOMAS

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The Other Guys A Gargoyle’s-Eye View Of The Non-EC Horror Comics Of The 1950s by Lawrence Watt-Evans

“Had All The Horror Comics Of The 1950s Been Published By EC?”

hen I was a kid in the 1960s, most of the comics I read had this little white seal on them that said: “Approved by the Comics Code Authority.” Dell and Gold Key comics didn’t have it, but DC and Marvel and ACG all did. I didn’t know what it meant; no one I knew knew what it meant. It was just there. I missed this first clue entirely.

When I was a teenager, I came across a book in a store in Cambridge, Massachusetts—a great big book, just out from Nostalgia Press. On the front cover was the title Horror Comics of the 1950’s. (On the spine it said “The EC Horror Library of the 1950’s,” instead—I don’t know why.) It looked pretty nifty; the cover art showed a man locked in a mausoleum where a rotting corpse was climbing out of its coffin. I opened it to the title page and read again: “These were the terrible, shocking, sensational, appalling, forbidden... but simply wonderful HORROR COMICS OF THE 1950’S.” I had no idea what it was talking about. Horror comics? All I knew about were the mystery comics like House of Mystery, or the monster comics like Tales to Astonish before the super-heroes took over. (I’d really liked Tales to Astonish, though; #13, the first monster comic I ever read, gave me nightmares. I liked that one a lot.) That was my second clue to the existence of a whole lost era in comics history. The book was $19.95. I had maybe five bucks on me at the time, and I wasn’t that interested in old comics at that point anyway. I liked Kirby’s Fourth World and Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, but I wasn’t a collector yet. I didn’t buy it. But a couple of years later, when the Nostalgia Press volume was out of print, I was a collector. My interest in completing my run of Conan had led to other things; I’d picked up a couple of Golden Age books at flea markets, and now I wanted to know more about comics history. Among other things, I wanted to know what had come between the Golden Age in the 1940s and the Silver Age in the 1960s.

And They Think Baby Seals Got Problems! The famous/infamous Comics Code seal of approval gets terrorized itself on this Sam Kweskin-drawn cover for Timely/Atlas’ Adventures into Terror #17 (March 1953)—a fairly neat trick, since the seal only began appearing on comics covers at the very end of 1954. Okay, we admit it—we had A/E layout guru Chris Day doctor the cover just a bit to get our point across. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for the scan of the actual cover. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

So I picked up All in Color for a Dime and The Comic Book Book, two hardcover volumes both edited by Dick Lupoff and Don Thompson, and I got Les Daniels’ The Comix, and I found a few other books and articles here and there, and I learned about the legendary EC comics. All the experts talked about how wonderful EC was in its prime, how great it was to buy Tales from the Crypt or Haunt of Fear or Weird Science off the newsstand for a dime. I realized that this was what had been in that big book I couldn’t afford—EC stories. But... but... had all the horror comics of the 1950s been published by EC? Those were the only ones anyone talked about, but surely there had been others?

A Gargoyle’s-Eye View Of The Non-EC Horror Comics Of The 1950s

that sucked the guts out of people through their mouths (sorry to share that latter memory with you but I’ve been stuck with it for 20 years and maybe this will unload it)—nauseating but not frightening. I must have bought a couple dozen of these things, all of them dreadful.” That was the longest mention of other horror comics I found anywhere; most writers dismissed them all as sleazy imitations of EC. The accepted wisdom was that Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein, inspired by radio suspense shows like Lights Out, had invented horror comics out of whole cloth in 1950; that EC’s three horror titles had been immediate roaring successes so big that everyone else had slavishly but ineptly imitated them; that the entire censorship flap of the early 1950s, led by Dr. Fredric Wertham, was aimed at EC; that the Comics Code, the comics industry’s self-censorship mechanism introduced in the fall of 1954, had been specifically designed to kill EC. That still seems to be the accepted wisdom. There’s just one problem. It’s not true. It took me a while to realize this, but it eventually sank in, as I collected horror comics of all sorts and continued to study their history, that none of that was exactly what happened. The problem was that all the history had been written by EC fans; every single author who had published anything about the horror comics of the 1950s had been a devoted acolyte of William M. Gaines, and accepted what Gaines said as the true history of horror comics. Which it wasn’t, quite. I don’t blame Gaines; he told his story as he remembered it. He was, however, biased, since he’d seen everything from the point of view of EC’s publisher. And he’d never bothered to study up on any of this; after all, he’d been there, he’d seen it first-hand. Ask any cop about how reliable eyewitness accounts are. Especially a decade or more after the fact.

EC Street This very first collection ever of EC horror comics—which didn't acknowledge that there’d even been any other ones but EC’s—was published in hardcover in 1971 by one-time comic book writer & artist Woody Gelman (then a Topps Chewing Gum exec) and his Nostalgia Press. The tome was edited by Ron Barlow and Bhob Stewart, and its cover utilized Al Feldstein’s for Tales from the Crypt #23 (April-May 1951). Gelman had wanted to use a Wally Wood cover, but EC publisher Bill Gaines insisted that a Feldstein cover be utilized: “He’s the one who made me all the money.” And, given the success under Feldstein’s editorship of EC’s 1950s horror/crime comics and later the black-&-white Mad, it’s hard to argue with that line of reasoning! [Art ©2010 William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.]

In “The Spawn of the Son of M.C. Gaines,” Don Thompson’s chapter on EC in The Comic Book Book, EC’s competitors get one paragraph: “I searched newsstands. I bought some godawful horror comics, the kind that blazoned on the cover: ‘We dare you to read these stories!’ They were nauseating—dealing in things like giant crabs stripping bodies until they looked like the diagrams of human musculature you see in the encyclopedia, and mummies

So here’s what did happen, as I’ve pieced it together through twenty years of collecting horror comics and reading everything about them that I could get my hands on. Comic books started out in 1933 with humor and adventure strips. In 1936 the first singlegenre comics appeared, featuring detective stories. In 1938 came the super-heroes. True crime arrived in 1942. By then there were hundreds of titles being published, and dozens of publishers, so a

Weird Tails Many of the “horror” pulps of the 1930s, such as the now-legendary Weird Tales, seemed more interested in showing bare female flesh than in depicting fearful supernatural menace. This cover by noted artist J. Allen St. John fronted the Oct. 1936 issue, which featured the C.L. Moore “Northwest Smith” moody space opera “The Tree of Life,” future Psycho author Robert Bloch’s Lovecraftian tale “The Opener of the Way,” and the final installment of Robert E. Howard’s Conan novella Red Nails. Few today remember that trio’s fellow author Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, but apparently his offering that issue contained what the editor considered the best cover possibilities. (Admittedly, a spicy encounter between Conan’s nude ladyfriend Valeria and a predatory princess had graced WT’s July cover.) From Ye Editor’s personal collection. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

The Other Guys

lot of experimentation was going on; super-heroes and detectives still dominated the scene, but there were funny animals, humor strips, straight adventure, jungle stories, science-fiction, and any number of other genres represented. Comic books were clearly taking a great deal of their inspiration from the pulp magazines; generally, if something sold well in the pulps, it would turn up in comics not long after. Comics were surprisingly slow to pick up on two categories from the pulps, though. One was romance, which eventually arrived on the fourcolor page in the late ’40s; the other was “weird menace,” which we would now call “horror.” Actually, in that era, “weird menace” was a particular sort of formula horror, featured in pulps such as Terror Tales, Horror Stories, and Dime Mystery, where some unearthly menace would threaten pretty women before being defeated and revealed to not be supernatural after all. Since it had a very definite element of sexual sadism, perhaps it isn’t too surprising that it didn’t make the jump to comics. Comics were for kids. There don’t seem to have been any pulps that featured just plain horror stories as their only fare; besides the “weird menace” titles there was Weird Tales, but Weird Tales carried as much fantasy as horror.

Those Frightful ’40s At any rate, there were no horror comics as such in the earliest days. The first real horror series seems to have been the “Frankenstein” feature by Dick Briefer, in Prize Comics (from the company of the same name); it began in #7, dated December 1940, and ran until the title was cancelled in 1948. Prize Comics was originally a super-hero title, featuring “The Black Owl,” “The Green Lama,” and the like, except for this one aberration. “Frankenstein” didn’t stay unique, though. No, no other horror strips were added; instead, “Frankenstein” changed premises. The monster was turned into a good guy, and became a virtual super-hero, fighting the Nazis. And then, as World War II neared its end, super-heroes began to go out of style, and Prize Comics gradually replaced its masked do-gooders with humor strips. “Frankenstein” wasn’t replaced; the feature was converted to a comedy, which it remained from 1945 until 1952. It was successful enough that Frankenstein Comics began in 1945, and outlasted the original Prize Comics. So much, it would seem, for horror comics. In late 1943 it looked as if horror might have another chance. An outfit called Et-Es-Go, which later became Continental Magazines, put out Suspense Comics #1, featuring The Grey Mask and other detective heroes. In the course of twelve quarterly issues, Suspense Comics worked in a good many horrific images and stories; most of the covers didn’t show the

Frankenstein—From Horror To Har-Har! Splash (above) from writer/artist Dick Briefer’s “Frankenstein” as a horror feature the first time around, from Prize Comics #9 (Feb. 1941)— and the cover of Frankenstein Comics #4 (Oct. 1946), after the humorous version of the feature had won its own mag. But that’s hardly the end of the story—see p. 18! Thanks to Al Dellinges (via Manuel Auad) for the Prize Comics scan. [©2010 the respective copyright holders.]

usual hero fare, but instead depicted horror imagery such as spiders, eyeballs, devils, etc. In September 1944 someone named E. Levy started a super-hero title called Yellowjacket Comics; in the course of ten issues and two years it switched ownership twice, first to Frank Comunale, and then to Charlton Comics. It also ran horror stories as a back-up feature in eight of those ten issues, skipping only #2 and #5. These weren’t borderline stuff; they were labeled “Tales of Terror,” and were narrated by an old witch. Two of them adapted classic stories by Edgar Allan Poe. It wasn’t exactly a horror comic, but it was a horror feature, very definitely. And it had the old witch narrator that Bill Gaines later claimed to have introduced to comics—though it may well be that both Levy and Gaines were simply swiping from the same source, the 1931-38 radio show The Witch’s Tale. In 1945 Rural Home Publications (an established comics publisher at the time) put out two issues of Mask Comics, which looked like a horror comic. The covers, by L.B. Cole, were certainly horrific enough: one depicted moth people being lured by a candle labeled “EVIL,” while the other showed Satan himself. The interiors, though, were fairly ordinary detective adventure stuff. There were also a couple of one-shots in 1946 that bore at least a vague

The Hand Of Doom A Gripping Interview With The Two-Fisted Model For Numerous Comic Book Covers by Gary Brown

NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Throughout publishing history, there have been many villains and part-time characters who have graced the pages of comic books at the various companies. One of the most prominent of these characters is The Hand of Doom, who worked under a variety of names during the 1950s and ’60s. The Hand was often a cover feature—one giant hand (or two) reaching down from out of the sky, threatening the comic’s hero or even all of mankind. Next to gorillas, and probably surpassing dinosaurs, The Hand of Doom was the best-selling cover feature in comics history. However, when comics changed in the mid-1960s and writers began looking for more “realistic” plots, Hand found himself with fewer employment opportunities. We were fortunate to be granted this exclusive interview with The Hand of Doom, which was done through the help of a signing specialist (since Hand has no ears or mouth). The interview was conducted by Gary Brown in Boca Raton, Florida, with the help of researcher and story consultant Alan Hutchinson. Brian K. Morris wishes it known that he did not transcribe this interview. GARY BROWN: Ah, Mr. Hand? Mr. Doom? Just what should I call you? HAND OF DOOM: Hand is fine. GB: Great. First of all, how did you get into comic books? HAND: Well, my older brother, Hand of Fate, got into the business in 1945 and did a couple covers for Street & Smith’s Shadow Comics, #s 56 & 57. Then, in 1949, he did ACG’s Adventures into the Unknown #6. In 1951, they tried him in his own comic book, The Clutching Hand, but it ran just one issue. Still, he hit the big time in 1954 with The Hand of Fate, which ran for 18 issues. Made some good money. He also did the cover to Atlas’ Journey into Mystery #1 (June 1952). He recommended I get into

the business and arranged several interviews. GB: So you didn’t have any comic-book modeling or acting experience? HAND: Nah, just the good fortune to be two big hands. By the way, I also had a cousin in the business, Pinkie Lee. Mostly TV, but he did some comics. Just small stuff. He was a little guy. GB: So what was the interview process like? Did you talk to the editors or publisher or what? HAND: Mostly to the editors: Jack Schiff, Julius Schwartz. People like that. I showed them my huge Hand of Doom clutching motion, and they pretty much bought it on sight. GB: And that was it? HAND: Oh no. I was on call

Give The Big Fella A Hand! (Above:) An archetypal cover posed by The Hand of Doom was that of Blackhawk #115 (Aug. 1957), which was utilized as the title page when this article was first published. H.D. manages to upstage all seven Blackhawks on this one! Pencils by Dick Dillin; inks by Chuck Cuidera. Thanks to Chris Brown for the scans associated with this interview. [©2010 DC Comics, Inc.] As for the other covers reprinted on the following four pages, those of Journey into Mystery #1 & #55 are ©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.—those of House of Secrets #1, Challengers of the Unknown #2, House of Mystery #80, My Greatest Adventure #32, Strange Adventures #110, Superman #125, Justice League of America #10, & Batman #165 ©2010 DC Comics; that of The Shadow #8 ©2010 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.; others ©2010 the respective copyright holders.

The Hand Of Doom

for stories. Had to talk to the writers about what two giant hands might do. And then there was the posing for the artists. Hours upon hours of staying in one pose so the penciller could get my appearance just right. Then I had to meet the inker and pose for him. The most difficult job was that Strange Adventures wash cover (issue #110). After the main art was done, I posed for the production staff for a week until they got it just right. GB: So, what did a cover and inside story usually pay you? HAND: Straight fee—$1,500 for a story and $2,500 for a cover appearance. Remember, this was the 1950s, so that money was pretty good.

got a Blackhawk assignment (#115, August). GB: And you had two covers in 1958? HAND: Right, a good year for me. First I was on the cover and in a fulllength story in Challengers of the Unknown #2. Working with Jack Kirby was a blast. He was quick. Very professional. I liked the way he drew me. They wanted my brother and me to team up on this one—you know, I play the right hand and he play the left—but he couldn’t work it into his schedule. GB: Too bad. And then came the House of Mystery cover and story?

GB: You have a condo here in Boca Raton and appear to be living well.

HAND: Yes, quite a breakthrough for me. For the first time I portrayed a hero, not a villain. House of Mystery #80 in November 1958. Drawn by Bob Brown. Great guy. We worked together the next year.

HAND: Oh, the comic book work was just the beginning. After that gig soured in the mid-’60s, I got work on rock albums, in commercials, TV and movies. Mostly bit parts, but it paid well.

GB: That would be on My Greatest Adventure?

GB: Let’s talk a little about your most famous comic book covers. What was the first one? HAND: House of Secrets #1, late in 1956. Ruben Moreira did the cover for “The Hand of Doom.” GB: Wow, named the story for you right off the bat. That must have been thrilling. HAND: They weren’t sure if the book sold well because it was a first issue or because I was on it. Eventually, they realized it was me. Then, in 1957, I

HAND: Right, #32—“We Battled the Hand of Doom!” Top billing and cover again. I was on top of the world. It was June 1959. I also did a Journey into Mystery cover for Atlas, #55, Nov. 1959, during that time. DC wasn’t very happy. But it was the only title my brother and I both had covers on. My mom hung those two on her wall. GB: And then came the Strange Adventures wash cover. HAND: Oh yeah, issue #110. Gil Kane drew me. It was difficult work, but what a great job! In 1960, I even did a Superman cover, #135 (Feb. 1960). You know, most editors want to color me green, for some reason.

“It’s Important That We Don’t Get Forgotten!” Concluding Our Epic Interview with Golden/Silver Age Editor/Writer GEORGE KASHDAN Conducted by Jim Amash

n this issue, continuing from A/E #93-95, George Kashdan (19382006) speaks of his later days as an editor and writer at DC Comics, as a scripter for Western Publishing—and of his days as an animation writer, often handling DC’s biggest heroes on the small screen.

“Old Pro[s]” JA: Let’s talk a little more about [writer] Arnold Drake. KASHDAN: Arnold was a steady, old pro. He always fought for an idea. If we said, “Bring us some plots for this character, or House of Mystery or Tales of the Unexpected,” he did it. But often, I had to say to him, “Arnold, look—as the editor of this book, I have to go by my gut instincts. I can’t let you give me the logic of why I must buy a story which I don’t think is going to work.” We had those kind of sessions. Arnold took a great deal of pride in his work. JA: Another guy who worked for you was [artist] George Roussos. KASHDAN: He was a serious man, and I think he did his best. Some of his stories were stiff and artificial-looking, but he did an intelligent job on anything you gave him. I know he was a great lover. [mutual chuckling] He was very cultured. He did a lot of reading and studying. He could go to the Museum of Modern Art and appreciate it very George Of The Jungle, Boy much. He also (Above:) George Kashdan circa late-’50s/earlytended to shepherd ’60s in fellow DC editor Murray Boltinoff’s office. Mort Meskin through (Left to right:) Kashdan, Boltinoff, Superman line editor Mort Weisinger (face obscured), and his tormenting period. JA: They were roommates for a while. KASHDAN: Yes. George used to explain Meskin’s behavior and said, “Artists want to bring something new to everything they do. That’s impossible when you’re doing comics.”

Jack Schiff (standing), with “Aquaman” (and future Metamorpho) artist Ramona Fradon. This photo was seen in Comic Book Artist [Vol. 1) #10 (Oct. 2000). Thanks to Ramona and to CBA editor Jon B. Cooke. Kashdan maintained that he didn’t believe, in principle, in both writing and editing for the same issue of a comic… yet he apparently filled both roles on the first five issues of DC’s Bomba the Jungle Boy title. Seen at right is artist Leo Summers’ splash page for issue #1 (Sept-Oct. 1967), with script by GK. [©2010 DC Comics.]

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris JA: Did you have many problems dealing with Mort Meskin? KASHDAN: I didn’t have much problem. JA: Why did he leave DC? KASHDAN: The pressure got him down. When he had a deadline to meet, the pressure was murderous. JA: At the end, he was doing mystery stories and the “Mark Merlin” feature at DC. KASHDAN: Jack Miller wrote some of those. I liked Meskin’s work. Murray Boltinoff, who had no ability to speak to anybody, was very heavy-handed in his conversations, and Meskin, I think, was overwhelmed by Murray. Often, Jack Schiff would say to Murray, “Calm down. Take it easy on these guys.” We all saw that Meskin was skilled.

“It’s Important That We Don’t Get Forgotten”

[But] he drew many characters in many stories with a great similarity to them. JA: Jack Schiff created “Space Ranger,” is that right? KASHDAN: Yes, that would be right. JA: Do you remember working with [artist] Bernard Baily? KASHDAN: Baily was an old pro. He told stories about himself which were hard to believe—like how he helped his fellow jurors reach a verdict when he was on jury duty. The judge would tell the jurors to stay away from the scene of the crime. They could only reach their verdict based on the courtroom procedure that they heard. Baily told us that he secretly sneaked to the scene of the crime and did not do a very thorough search, but he was able to come [back to] the jury room and tell them what he saw. And he drew sketches of the crime scene, of what he saw. The jurors all looked at it, and agreed on the verdict. Now, we didn’t know if that was true, because the bailiff was sitting around the jury room. If they catch you talking about how you visited the crime scene, they would have you before the judge. And Baily would have been punished for contempt of court. But we thought he was spoofing us, you know. JA: Bill Ely drew Rip Hunter for a while. KASHDAN: He was a good artist, but he was having trouble adapting to

the comics medium. He used to paint canvasses, big scenes, giant buildings. He was an Old World gentleman, always willing to please. He did his own inking. Some years later, I saw him in the shopping center where my wife and I went. They had a section set aside for painters showing their paintings, which they sold there. And one day, sure enough, there was Bill with some Connecticut scenes on his canvasses, waiting for people to come up and ask how much he wanted for them. We chatted with him, and went off to shop. I thought, “He’s a good artist, but who needs canvasses like that around their house, just landscape scenes?” He may have done well. JA: Dan and Sy Barry. KASHDAN: They used to work [draw] for us. I remember them having a rather friendly relationship with Jack, and occasionally with Murray. I didn’t deal with them.

“[Schiff] Thought The Whole [‘Blackhawk’] Concept Was A Silly Idea” JA: When we were talking about the “Martian Manhunter,” we didn’t talk about the artist, Joe Certa. KASHDAN: He was dependable. There was nothing remarkably original about him. He didn’t have the Fred Ray or Mort Meskin quality to make the characters jump out at you. Certa was a pleasing artist. I know Mort used to work with him, since that idea [“John Jones – Manhunter from Mars”] was attributed to Mort as the creator. Certa was being cooperative and eager to help. If you asked him for corrections, he would do that. You could trust him to do it when he did the inking. The man everyone really liked working with was Dick Dillin, who drew Blackhawk. One of the jokes about him is that “He’s not an artist, he’s a writer.” You ask him to do something, he sits down right on the spot and does the corrections you require. He didn’t do his own inking; Chuck Cuidera, who created “Blackhawk,” did it. Once, they tried Cuidera as a penciler, and he made a mess of it. It was terrible. JA: Blackhawk was published by Quality Comics before DC got it. Schiff was the original DC editor on Blackhawk. Since it wasn’t a feature that Jack Schiff developed, do you think Jack cared about that book? KASHDAN: He thought the whole concept was a silly idea. [The name of the group is the Blackhawks] and its chief is a man named Blackhawk. And all those guys with their accents! Jack didn’t pay much attention to [the book]. Schiff was a thorough man, no matter what character he was working on. But he didn’t like that whole concept, a gang with accents in those old-fashioned costumes. Later on, we tried to update them. JA: You were the editor when they switched to red-and-green costumes. KASHDAN: They all became upwardly mobile Yuppies. I thought we had to fix their costumes, that they looked very old-fashioned. I may have asked [Dillin] to show me some ideas: “Make their uniforms more streamlined, more stylish. Put a little Brooks Brothers into them.” JA: So you were doing what you could to make it more interesting. KASHDAN: It was more than I could do. JA: Then you tried to make them more like super-heroes. You called them “the Junk-Heap Heroes” for a little while.

At Least He Didn’t Have A Kid Sidekick Named Arthur! A “Mark Merlin” cover for House of Secrets drawn by Mort Meskin, as transposed to the Mexican reprint comic Relatos Fabulosos #66 (Feb. 1, 1965). The name, of course, means “Fabulous Stories” in Spanish. Thanks to Fred Patten. A photo of Mort Meskin appeared in A/E #92. [©2010 DC Comics.]

KASHDAN: “Junk-Heap Heroes”? I don’t remember that. Anyway, sales never picked up on it. I can’t say I enjoyed doing the book. I don’t know why we took that series at all. I felt they had to be made more believable. We inherited a bad idea, and we were stuck with it. I don’t know why it was turned over to us. See, Ellsworth was a friend of “Busy” Arnold, the original publisher. They bought it from “Busy,” and “Busy” made himself

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

“Clowns! $#%#% Clowns!” by Michael T. Gilbert

ast October my wife Janet and I had the pleasure of meeting the talented and always-provocative Mike Hoffman at Minnesota’s FallCon. For those unfamiliar with Mike, he self-publishes a ton of great horror, good-girl, and sci-fi comics, all available from his mikehoffman.com website. Mike also drew the cool Mr. Monster pic on our title page.

Anyway, we hung out with him after the show, and the Hoff told us about his latest comics. More specifically, he talked about Super Clowns, a group of creepy clowns who somehow get super-powers. How could that fail to sell, eh? Easily, it seems. Overall the Hoff-Man was pleased with his con sales, with one notable exception. “Nobody buys clowns!” said Mike. “I can’t give ‘em away. Everybody hates $#%#% clowns!” Well, that was a mighty provocative statement, even for Mike. And it got me to thinking. Is it true? Why are clowns so despised? After thoroughly researching the question, I’m here to report my findings. It ain’t pretty, folks!

Killer Clowns! I didn’t have time to interview any real clowns. Instead, I went right to the source: old comic books. And what a treasure trove of terror and degradation I found therein! First up is The Joker, Batman’s arch-enemy. Despite his humorous name, Jerry Robinson’s creation was anything but funny. In Batman #1 alone, he poisoned at least three innocent people. Maybe you find that funny, but I usually don’t.

Clownin’ Around! But did that stop DC from bringing the “Clown Prince Of Crime” back? Again? And Again? And AGAIN? Nope! In issue after issue, The Joker would concoct some lame scheme to kill Batman and Robin. Sometimes he just tossed sleazy sexual innuendos at them. Pathetic!

(Above:) The cover of Super Clowns #1 (June 2009). [©2010 Hoffman International.] (Below left:) A Bob Kane panel from the first Joker story in Batman #1 (Spring 1940). (Below right:) A panel from “The Joker’s Comedy of Errors” in Batman #66 (Aug. 1951), penciled by Lew Schwartz & inked by Charles Paris. [These last two ©2010 DC Comics.]

“Clowns! $#%#% Clowns!”

Bozo Gone Bad! Some people may think I’m giving clowns a bad rap, but Casey Crime Photographer (seen at the bottom of the page) probably isn’t one of them. Getting a gat in the gut will do that to a guy. That’s one bad Bozo! Clowns are, by nature, mean. Don’t believe me? Look at the real Bozo’s comic at bottom right. Only a total psycho—or a clown—gets his jollies whipping kitty cats. Shameful! Does anyone like comic book clowns? Even Captain Marvel hates ’em—and he loves everybody! Go figure.

Hit ’im Again, Cap! (Right:) C. C. Beck’s cover to Fawcett Publications’ Captain Marvel Adventures #107 (April 1950). [©2010 DC Comics.] (Panel above & cover below:) Casey – Crime Photographer #2 (Oct. 1949). Pencils by Vern Henkel. [©2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Below right:) Larry Harmon’s Bozo The Clown #3 (July 1963). [©2010 Dell or successors in interest.]

When The Magic Went Out Of Comics by C.C. Beck Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck From PCH’s Beck archives comes a previously-unpublished 1988 essay by Captain Marvel’s co-creator & chief artist.

uite a few readers have written to me saying that I am wrong in trying to set limits on comic art. I would like to point out that I am not trying to impose limits on this form of art but to find the natural limits beyond which comic art becomes something else. Only the very young believe that limits are set to stifle and control aspiring artists;

as they grow up they come to see that all human activities have their limits, and that when over-eager individuals go beyond them they lose touch with their fellow humans and accomplish nothing. First, I would like to correct a few misinterpretations about what I’ve stated previously. I have never said that all comics had to be aimed at children (although the most popular ones always have been). Second, I did not say that all comics had to be funny (although the most popular ones were). If I were a publisher, it seems to me I would try to publish funny comics aimed at children rather than serious comics aimed at adults, because there are far more children than there are adults who read comic books. It seems to me that when comic book publishers started to produce comics aimed at adults their sales went into decline and have never since reached the heights attained during the Golden Age. Other elements are involved in this loss of sales, of course, but I believe that the change in comic books themselves was the chief element in the disastrous collapse of the comic book field in the early ’50s.

A Moving Artist (Top of page:) A C.C. Beck 1970 self-portrait originally done for Bill G. Wilson’s The Collector #11 (Feb. ’71). Beck once wrote that “Comics are, and always have been, no more than little, amusing, time-killing devices about as unimportant as crossword and jigsaw puzzles. To see them as anything else is not only rather silly but self-destructive.” But the Captain Marvel co-creator/chief artist cared enough about comics to recurrently write about them while he walked among us. [©2010 Estate of Charles Clarence Beck.] (Left:) Beck noted that the key appeal of comics was that, when properly done, they seemed to move which no other art form could. Captain Marvel faces an artist adversary in this C.C. Beck/Pete Costanza-illustrated page from “Captain Marvel Is Wiped Out!” in Captain Marvel Adventures #97 (June 1949). [©2010 DC Comics.]

When The Magic Went Out Of Comics

are of different subjects the effect is that of a slide show instead of a moving picture. When the pictures are of different sizes and shapes the effect is that of a picture book or album. Nobody is trying to force artists to work in sequential art style; they’re quite free to draw any way they want to. My question is why publishers waste money offering nonsequential art books to a public looking for sequential art. A second appealing feature of comic strips is that they have soundtracks which are heard inside the heads of readers. Not only do figures move as if alive but they speak and the reader can hear their footsteps, the sound of slamming doors, speeding cars, explosions, thunder, or the dropping of a pin. What other kind of art can be heard as well as seen? When comics are drawn with the copy separate from the pictures, as in the Prince Valiant strip, all the appeal of the talking picture is lost and the reader finds himself reading just a lavishly illustrated storybook. When the sound effects overpower the drawings and the speeches and story content are zilch, the reader finds himself dazzled and confused, and when the drawings have too many special effects in them the whole comic story has become simply an exercise in art and resembles a portfolio of sample drawings instead of a story told in sequential art form. For there should be stories in comic books, I maintain. Comic books should not be sermons, or propaganda, or attempts at analysis of social problems. Some readers misunderstand my insistence on story content, thinking that I want only childishly simplified nursery tales in comics. I

Storybook Heroes (Above:) C.C. Beck believed that, when comics are illustrated with the text separate from the drawings, the effect of the “talking picture” disappears and results in nothing more than an “illustrated storybook,” citing Harold R. Foster’s Prince Valiant as an example. The above PV Sunday strip is from Feb. 26, 1967. [©2010 King Features Syndicate.] (Right:) Beck gave the World’s Mightiest Mortal the storybook treatment in the fourth and final issue of Captain Marvel Storybook (1949)—where the red-clad hero pressed on no worse for the wear. [©2010 DC Comics]

Another misinterpretation of my statements about limits is that I am advocating censorship or banning of comics which go outside the limits of what I call good art. This is not true at all. I don’t care how many people may insist that there is no good or bad in art and that everything is a matter of opinion. I am not a moralist or a crusader, I am simply a person who has been in the art field for a very long time and who has come to the conclusion that the artists whose work appealed to the greatest number of people knew the limits of their art and stayed within them while those who strayed outside had only small, specialized audiences or none at all. The chief appeal of the comic strip, from which comic books were derived, was that it seemed to move, which no other form of art did. It produced this effect by presenting a series of pictures, each slightly different from the preceding one, in succession. This is why some people prefer the term “sequential art” instead of “comics” today. This business of presenting a series of slightly different pictures in sequence is the first limit of comics, or sequential art. When the pictures

Alter Ego #97