Roy Thomas’ Grave Comics Fanzine

Roy Thomas’ Grave Comics Fanzine

$5.95In the USA

$5.95In the USA

No.29October

2003

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Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues:$8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. All characters are © theirrespective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM ofRoy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

™

This issue is dedicated to the memory ofWilliam Woolfolk

MONSTERSMALICIOUS& MIRTHFUL

Section

ContentsSpecial Halloween Hulkorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2“I Didn’t Want to Draw Superman and Captain America!”. . . . . 3A brief Halloween-oriented interview with the fantastic Frank Brunner.

“And Men Shall Call Him... Prototype!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Tom Lammers looks at the foreshadowing—or something—of the Marvel Age of Comics.

“Doing Comics Was a Fun Learning Experience!” . . . . . . . . . . . 28Bill Fraccio to Jim Amash on his years as a comic book penciler—and as half of “Tony Williamsune.”

A Talk with John Benson (Part III). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Bill Schelly concludes his conversation with the editor of the EC fanzine Squa Tront.

FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) #88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43P.C. Hamerlinck presents Swayze, Colan, Ordway, Palmer, Cockrum, Marcos, and Pierce—plus a brief tribute to the late great Bill Woolfolk.

Horror, Terror, & Love Goddesses Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us!About Our Cover: It was a toss-up between two fabulous Brunner Batman pencil illustrationsas to which would become our cover—definitely a no-lose situation! See them both in thepages that follow—plus lots more Brunner artwork drawn with the macabre in mind! [Art ©2003 Frank Brunner; Batman TM & © 2003 DC Comics.]

Above: “Rorgg, King of the Spider Men” beat your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man into aMartin Goodman mag by nearly two years—but does that mean there was a cause-and-effectrelationship between them? Read Tom Lammers’ microscopic scrutiny of the problematical,even controversial Marvel “prototypes,” beginning on p. 14. [© 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Vol. 3, No. 29 / October 2003Editor Roy Thomas

Associate EditorsBill SchellyJim Amash

Design & LayoutChristopher Day

Consulting EditorJohn Morrow

FCA EditorP.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt EditorMichael T. Gilbert

Editors EmeritusJerry Bails (founder)Ronn Foss, Biljo White,Mike Friedrich

Production AssistantEric Nolen-Weathington

Cover ArtistsFrank BrunnerPete Von Sholly

Cover ColoristsTom Ziuko Pete Von Sholly

And Special Thanks to:Gary ArlingtonMark AustinRandall J. BarlowJohn BensonChris BrownFrank BrunnerMike BurkeyOrlando BusinoNick CaputoGene ColanDave CockrumJon B. CookeAl DellingesRoger Dicken &

Wendy HuntShel DorfShelton DrumTim EasterdayBill FraccioGeorge GladirStan GoldbergPaul HandlerDustin HarbinDaniel Herman

Richard HowellThomas G. LammersStan LeeSteve LeialohaPablo MarcosMichael MikulovskyMile-High ComicsFred MommsenBrian K. MorrisDave O’DellJerry OrdwayTom PalmerJohn G. PierceLarry RippeePaul RivocheTrina RobbinsPete Von ShollyMarc SwayzeDann ThomasAlex TothJim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.Michael J. VassalloHames WareMichael Zeno

[Unless otherwise indicated, all art accompanyingthis interview was provided by the artist.]

ROY THOMAS: In the interview in Comic BookArtist #6 you said that you originally had it in mindto be an underground cartoonist. Why was that,and what made you change your mind?

FRANK BRUNNER: Back in 1968-69, it seemed asthough the underground press was where things werehappening. These were comics produced by youngcreative people without restrictions on style orcontent. After meeting some of them, I realized we hada lot in common. We listened to the same music,smoked the same “stuff,” spoke in similar terms, anddressed quite colorfully and, of course, we all wereagainst the war going on at that time. So I set my capand worked up some ideas for my entry into this sub-culture of comics. However, just as I was about to jointhem, they all left New York and headed (no punintended) west to San Francisco!

Well, that ended those plans, and I began to takeanother look at doing “overground” comics. Myfanboy roots began to flourish and I started meetingnew eager young writers and artists, who also werejust breaking into the business. We all had ideas aboutchanging comics, working around the Comics Code ifpossible, sneaking little things past management, andin general trying to expand what comics looked likebeyond the very prevalent “house” styles that werefairly well entrenched at companies like DC andMarvel.

RT: Your first published work appeared in black-&-white horror mags. Did you always have anaffinity for horror comics, or was it just a way yousaw as your entrée into the field? You have said,after all, that you never saw yourself as a super-hero artist.

BRUNNER: Actually, my first solo story waspublished in Web of Horror #3 (“Santa’s Claws”).And by solo, I mean solo. I wrote it, penciled andinked it, and lettered it, too! Yes, I was an ECComics fan, especially the horror and sci-fi books,but when the Code came along, all that ended for

“I Didn’t Want toDraw Superman orCaptain America!”

A Brief Halloween-Oriented Interview with Formerly Far-Out FRANK BRUNNER

Conducted by Roy Thomas (via e-mail)Photo of Frank Brunner taken at the 2003 Heroes Con—and a black-&-white version of his penciled

Batman/graveyard commission drawing that was used as this issue’s cover. To learn how to contactFrank to buy or commission original work, see the end of this piece. With thanks to Shelton Drum &

Dustin Harbin of the Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find comics shop in Charlotte, NC; check out their websiteat <www.heroesonline.com>. [Art ©2003 Frank Brunner; Batman TM & ©2003 DC Comics.]

Frank Brunner 3

color comics. Then came the Warren magazines (without the Code) anda chance to do some work that had teeth!

I liked reading super-hero comics as a child, but after discoveringthose old pre-Code EC comics (while in my teens), I saw what could bedone in the medium beyond just super-heroes! I didn’t want to drawSuperman or Captain America, especially at a time when my countrywas trying to get me killed (or make me a killer) in Vietnam! Andfinally, yes, horror was the way I got into the business; not everyonecould (or wanted to) draw the dark and stylish art these stories required.

RT: Anything else you can remember about the Web of Horrorexperience besides what you said in Comic Book Artist #6, abouthow editor Terry Bisson left the company and so they canceled themag right away? What was the second story you had done for Web,the one you wound up selling to Warren?

BRUNNER: As you say, I don’t want to go over what happened toWeb again. But when the publisher canceled Web (he really only wantedto do Cracked magazine), I had already completed stories for issues #4and #5. Word got out that Warren was lusting after most of the artistswho had done work for Web, so I took the stories over to his office andhe instantly bought the story called “Eye of Newt, Toe of Frog,” writtenby Gerry Conway. The other story, “Sword of Dragonus,” he wantedalso, but I got it published in a very slick “pro-zine” entitled Phase #1. Ihad plans to continue doing “Dragonus” stories and wanted to retain therights to the character. [See Star*Reach #3.]

RT: You did three stories for Marvel’s color comic Chamber of Chills.The splash page of a story Frank drew for James Warren’s Creepy or

Eerie. It was never published. [© =2003 Frank Brunner.]

Splash page of Frank’s first professional solo art effort, from Web of Horror #3(April 1970). WoH was a “Warren wannabe” black-&-white horror comic which

featured the developing work, in its three bimonthly 1969-70 issues, ofnewcomers (and future stars) like Jeff Jones, Bernie Wrightson, Michael Kaluta,

Bruce Jones—and Frank Brunner. To learn more about their Web experience,pick up Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. Two, available from TwoMorrows;

see its ad bloc in this issue. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Brunner also drew an introductory page, featuring the magazine’sinhuman host, on the inside front cover of Web of Horror #3.

[©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

4 “I Didn’t Want to Draw Superman or Captain America!”

The first of these was the Robert E. Howard adaptation “TheMonster from the Mound,” scripted by Gardner Fox—at least I’massuming you drew them in the order in which they were published.Any particular recollections of that story? It was reprinted a few yearsback by Cross Plains Comics, the REH-based company, under itsoriginal Howard title “The Horror from the Mound.”

BRUNNER: Well, it was my first solo story for Marvel, and my firstfull-color comic book story, and that first printing (in Chamber ofChills #2) was the best printing it ever got. Later, Marvel reprinted it inone of its black-&-white magazines, and somebody put in all these darkmarker tones obscuring most or the drawing. Then, as you say, CrossPlains Comics reprinted it again, using the terrible stats that Marvel usedto make. (Marvel’s stat machine seemed to have only one setting, andonly the thick and darkest line work would reproduce), so just about allmy feathering work dropped out! I offered Cross Plains the opportunityto shoot from my originals, but they wanted to avoid paying meanything, so that’s why it looks the way it does!

RT: I think Cross Plains’ idea was to pay, if its comics had mademoney; but they didn’t, because, though they sold well in comicsshops, most store owners wouldn’t order more than the absolute

handful they knew they could sell three seconds after they arrived.The REH comics sold well where they got out, so it was a very short-sighted view on their part. Anyway—I presume Gardner wrote a fullscript for that story, right? Did you make any changes, or feel thatyou could have? Did I or someone else talk with you about the storybefore you drew it? Did you read Howard’s original prose storybefore doing the art, as well as the script?

BRUNNER: I’m pretty sure it was a full script, and no, I made nochanges I can remember. We might have talked briefly about the story,but I was most concerned about getting it in on time. I’m a slow inker,and this was my debut appearance for Marvel as penciler. I did not readthe original Howard story. I didn’t own a copy at the time, and besides Iwas mainly into his barbarian stories. For horror I read mostly Lovecraftin the early ’70s.

RT: Did you feel any particular restrictions because of the ComicsCode (besides the name change, of course)?

BRUNNER: You bet your fetid bones I did! We (the artists) were noteven allowed to depict red blood, and if any blood were shown it wasblack.

(Left:) The first Brunner-drawn story in a Marvel comic—and a color mag, at that—debuted in Chamber of Chills #2 (Jan. 1973), based on a Robert E. Howardvampire story from Weird Tales pulp magazine for May 1932. In 1972 the Comics Code still objected to the use of the words “horror” or “terror” in story titles or on covers... though they didn’t object mentioning the story’s original name in the credits. (Right:) In August 2000 the Fox/Brunner adaptation was reprinted

by Cross Plains Comics under editor/publisher Richard Ashford—in black-&-white with grey-tones added, with the original credits moved to the inside front cover, with the first caption “typeset”—and with the “Monster” in the title altered to the correct “Horror.” Too bad the exclamation point wasn’t

omitted, too; but the $5.95 comic, Robert E. Howard’s Horror, was well-received and well-reviewed, and also contained art by Gene Day, Sandy Plunkett, and Steve Lightle. [©2003 Robert E. Howard Properties, LLC.]

Frank Brunner 5

by Thomas G. Lammers[All art, unless noted, provided by the author or by Alter Ego’seditor.]

Part IPre-Hero Prototypes

Everybody knows them. We’ve all seen them. Amazing Fantasy #15.Journey into Mystery #83. Fantastic Four #1. Tales of Suspense #39.Strange Tales #110. Those crucial first appearances of the heroes whodefined what Stan Lee dubbed the MarvelAge of Comics. Some of the most highlydesirable (and outrageously expensive)properties in all comicdom.

But what if those were not exactly thefirst appearances of those heroes? What ifone could find earlier incarnations of IronMan or Ant-Man or Dr. Strange in thecompany’s pre-super-hero books? To see a“market test” of Spider-Man or TheHulk—wouldn’t that be great fun! Andwouldn’t that make an otherwise pedes-trian comic much more desirable... andmuch more expensive?

We know that editor Stan Lee did suchthings—at least once. Before resurrectingthe company’s Golden Age standard-bearer,Captain America, in Avengers #4 (March1964), we were treated to an ersatz Cap inthe “Human Torch” story in Strange Tales#114 (Nov. 1963). At the end of the story,Lee made it clear that he was indeed gaugingthe potential for a comeback: “You guessedit! This story was really a test! To see if you,too, would like Captain America to return!As usual, your letters will give us theanswer!” If Lee (or publisher MartinGoodman) didn’t want to bring back a formertop-seller without a try-out, how much less

A trial balloon that flew—or did it? As related above, a bogus Captain America (the villainous Acrobat in disguise)appeared in the “Human Torch” tale in Strange Tales #114 (Nov. 1963), of which we’ve repro’d the cover and a key

page. (Interestingly, Cap’s trunks are colored an incorrect red throughout the story, while, on the cover, blue seemsto have been laid in over red trunks, making them purple.) The real Cap returned just four months later, in TheAvengers #4 (March ’64)—hardly sufficient lead-time to have gauged reader reaction, since Avengers #4 wouldlikely have been in the works by the time S.T. #114 went on sale. Either the Marvel offices were bombarded with

letters almost instantaneously upon Cap’s faux comeback and the Real McCap was rushed into print—or else editorStan Lee and publisher Martin Goodman made up their minds to revive him without waiting for readers’ response

(let alone sales reports!). A/E’s editor holds with the latter view, but he’s open to arguments.Thanks to Mark Austin & Chris Brown for the art scans. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“And Men Shall Call Him...PROTOTYPE!”

A Look at the Foreshadowing––––or Something–––of the Marvel Age of Comics

14 “And Men Shall Call Him... PROTOTYPE!”

likely would he be to inaugurate totally new characters untested?

And so was born the concept of the Marvel Pre-Hero Prototypes.Searching through earlier issues of Marvel’s comics reveals any numberof stories that in one way or another remind us of our beloved super-heroes of the 1960s and beyond. These stories have come to be regardedas prototypes of that which came after.

The concept of super-hero prototypes is most closely associated withThe Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. In the most recent (32nd)edition1, 34 pre-hero issues of Amazing Adult Fantasy, Journey intoMystery, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish areidentified as “prototype issues.” In fact, the concept is even applied tostories pre-dating the May1957 “Atlas Implosion”that reduced Goodman’sempire from over 60 titlesto a mere 16: three storiesin Mystic and UncannyTales are likewiseconsidered prototypes. Allthese stories allegedlyforeshadow the devel-opment of major heroes(e.g., Spider-Man, Hulk,Dr. Strange) as well asvillains (e.g., Dr. Doom,Sandman, Mr. Hyde).

Until recent editions,the Overstreet Guidecarried a very explicitaccount of how these issuescame to be identified asprototypes. For example,the 28th edition2 stated (p.963), “Some of today’spopular super-herocharacters were developedfrom or after earlier formsor prototypes. Theseprototype characterssometimes were introducedto test new ideas andconcepts which laterdeveloped into full fledgedsuper heros [sic], or oldmaterial sometimes wouldinspire new characters. Below is a list of all known prototypes. TheMarvel/Atlas issues have been verified by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, andJack Kirby.” Curiously, such a statement is not found in the 2002edition.

Many have criticized the whole idea of Marvel Pre-HeroPrototypes.3 Though the concept is well known among buyers andsellers of comics, it is not found in most published histories of theMarvel Universe.4 In this series, I want to explore this concept in somedetail. We first will consider what it means to be a prototype, and askwhether this is the best term to describe the perceived similaritiesbetween pre-hero and later characters. Then, we will examine the storieslisted by the Overstreet Guide as prototypes, judging their status.Finally, just for the fun of it, we will examine additional stories, somegoing back to the early ’50s, that have not been identified as prototypes,but which might seem to have as much claim to such a designation assome of the others.

“What Do You Mean, ‘Prototype’?”My dictionary5 defines prototype as “an original model or pattern

from which subsequent copies are made, or improved specimensdeveloped.” It is very much a word associated with manufacturing:companies frequently create prototypes as part of marketing researchand product development. Before Boeing delivered the first B-17 FlyingFortress to the Army Air Corps in 1936, it produced the Model 299prototype as a testbed for the production of four-engine heavybombers.6 Before General Motors introduced the Buick Skylark in 1953,it created the XP-300 concept car and put it on the auto show circuit, to

test the reaction of themotoring public.7

Although it is not statedexplicitly, it seems to methat a prototype of this sortembodies the concept ofintent. In my view, anobject is a prototype only ifits creator intended to use itas a model or pattern fromwhich to develop subse-quent specimens. Therefore,a pre-hero character can beregarded as a prototype fora subsequent character onlyif there was a consciousintent to use it to gaugereader reaction and salespotential. For example, StanLee says to Jack Kirby, “Iwonder what readers wouldthink about a seriesfeaturing a guy inside apowered metal suit. Let’swhip up a little story forTales of Suspense with aguy like that and see whatkind of mail we get. If theresponse is good, maybe Ican sell Goodman on aregular series.” If such werethe case, I would say such astory could fairly beconsidered a prototype, “an

original model or pattern from which... improved specimens [were]developed.”

But what if there was no intent? What if, when the earlier tale wasfirst prepared, it was just another story, with no thought given topossible future development of the character? Later, a certain type ofcharacter is needed, and the writer or artist harks back (consciously orunconsciously) to this earlier work for ideas or inspiration, thus creatingthe perceived similarities between the two. Rather than a “prototype,”might it not be better to call such a story or the character in it aprecursor or forerunner of the later character? These words denote athing that precedes subsequent development, but do not carry theconnotation of intent or deliberate planning. In fact, it allows for thepossibility that the perceived similarities are entirely unintentional.Furthermore, while the word “prototype” is associated with manufac-turing, a precursor or forerunner has a more naturalistic, almost evolu-tionary implication, which seems to me more in tune with the nature ofthe creative process.

The Foreshadowing–––or Something–––of the Marvel Age of Comics 15

Beginning in 1974, Marvel produced an annual calendar featuring its most popular heroes at that time, with a cover by John Romita. Dracula and Conan the Barbarian

had pre-existed Marvel Comics, and were themselves virtual prototypes for every latervampire and sword-and-sorcery hero. [Conan TM!&!©2003 Conan Properties, Inc.;

other characters ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

How Can You Recognize a Prototype?If we wish to distinguish true prototypes from mere precursors, how

do we judge intent? How can we ascertain, 40 years after the fact,whether a particular story was intended to serve as a trial balloon for asubsequent super-hero or villain? The seemingly obvious answer—“Askthe creators!”—might actually yield the poorest results. In numerousinterviews over the years, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and otherswho worked at Marvel in the early 1960s have been asked repeatedlyabout various events surrounding the creation of the Marvel Universe.For whatever reasons, their memories in many cases have provenunreliable. Not only are the recollections of different individuals inconflict; in some cases, a given person’s memories also have changed overthe years. If we cannot rely on creators’ memories, we must per forceseek internal evidence of intent—evidence from the books themselves.What form might this take?

The most obvious evidence would be an editorial note seeking readerinput, similar to the one at the end of the Captain America story inStrange Tales #114. Such invitations of input were not infrequent inbooks edited by Stan Lee, both during the ’50s and into the ’60s. Forexample, World’s Greatest Songs #1 (Sept. 1954) carried a half-page pleaheaded “Now YOU Tell US...” in which Lee invited readers to “writeand tell us what you like and don’t like about ‘World’s Greatest Songs.’”Similarly, on the first page of Patsy Walker #124 (Dec. 1965), we read:“Important! In order to find out which kind of story you, the readers,prefer... we’re presenting three Patsy and Hedy adventures this month!There’s one tale of romance, one of glamour ... and this fun-filled actionstory! Please write, and tell us which one you liked best!!” Lee clearlywas not shy about asking for feedback. If reader input is explicitlysolicited in an alleged prototype story, it could be taken as a sign of

intent. It is significant that not a single one of the alleged prototypestories contains such a plea.

Very close correspondence between an alleged prototype and itssupposed derivative might also count as evidence of intent. As we shallsee, the perceived similarities that suggest relationships between pre-heroand subsequent characters are of four types: (1) close correspondence incharacter attributes; (2) close correspondence in story plot; (3) strongvisual resemblance; or (4) possession of the same name. One wouldthink that either of the first two might be a better indicator of a truerelationship between character and alleged prototype than either of thelast two by themselves. Furthermore, if the similarity involved three orall four of these aspects, it might be interpreted as an indication ofintent.

It is only fair to note that the opportunity for close resemblance willbe somewhat constrained by the difference in genres. None of thealleged prototype stories are super-hero tales, as the titles in which thesestories appeared were anthologies devoted to various kinds of fantasy ormystery stories. The most prominent were the “giant monster” stories,no doubt inspired by the many films of that sort produced during the1950s, e.g., The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Them! (1954), andThe Beginning of the End (1957). In such tales, an enormous creatureof some sort menaces the human race, and is overcome by an otherwiseunremarkable protagonist. Other stories were modern morality plays,often with O. Henry twist endings, of the sort popularized by theTwilight Zone television series of the day. In these, a criminal orotherwise disreputable character would get his comeuppance or learn alesson in some ironic, often supernatural way. Still others were straightscience-fiction tales, with spaceships, robots, alien invaders, and distantplanets. Because of these differences in genre, none of the alleged proto-types will precisely match the super-hero character supposedly derivedfrom it.

If a story were trulyintended as a market testfor a new character, onemight expect it would bedepicted on the cover. Inthe newsstand era, coverswere widely regarded as akey factor to sales. Anintriguing, eye-catchingcover could mean thedifference between sell-through and massivereturns to the distributor. Ifthe whole point of aprototype was to gauge acharacter’s potential togenerate sales, it would onlymake sense to have featuredit prominently on the cover.

One other factor bearsmention in our attempt toevaluate the claims of thesestories to prototype status.Stan Lee is widely creditedwith creating or co-creatingthe super-hero charactersthat became the MarvelUniverse.8 Almost everyone of those key originstories, in Fantastic Four #1and the rest, was scripted(or at least plotted) by Lee.He seems to have signed

Patsy Walker #124 (Dec. ’65) asked whether readers preferred “romance,” “glamour,” or “fun-filled action”? The Al Hartley-drawn Patsy soon vanished from newsstands—to return a decade later in Avengers #144 (Feb. 1976) as a super-heroine calledHellcat. Maybe this was considered “fun-filled action”? Cover art by Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

16 “And Men Shall Call Him... PROTOTYPE!”

The Lee-Kirby Hulk, inked by Paul Reinman, from the splash of The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962), flanked by three earlier proto-Marvel Hulks. (Clockwise from top right:) Kirby and Ayers’ Xemnu, from Journey into Mystery #62—the Ditko-

drawn movie-poster from Tales to Astonish #21—and the robotic/exo-skeletal Hulk from Strange Tales #75 (June 1960, of which more next issue). There was even a cowboy bad-guy of that nomenclatural persuasion in an issue of Gunsmoke Westernas far back as 1960; more about him in #30, too. Xemnu, by the way, was orange in his original appearances, but white

when he faced The Defenders a decade later. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Will The Real Incredible HulkPlease Stand Up!

22 “And Men Shall Call Him... PROTOTYPE!”

Take a deep breath and see if you can follow this: Xemnu, the LivingHulk, may (or may not) have been inspired by Bugs Bunny theatrical

cartoons (above), as Tom Lammers reports—but Xemnu’s stintpretending to be a Big-Bird-type puppet on a kiddie-TV show (top

right) in the Ross Andru/Bill Everett-drawn third “Defenders” outing inMarvel Feature #3 (June 1972) reflected the impact made in 1952 on 11-year-old future scripter Roy Thomas by the Gaines/Feldstein/Orlando

story “The People’s Choice” in EC’s Weird Science #16 (below)—a chillingsend-up of the early TV puppet show Kukla, Fran, and Ollie (photo at

right), wherein Allie Gator turns out to be an alien, who is electedPresident and promptly takes over the Earth for his kind. See?

Everything has prototypes—or at least precursors, or forerunners, orsomething. [Defenders art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.; EC art ©2003

William M. Gaines, Agent; Bugs Bunny art ©2003 AOL!Time-Warner;Kukla &!Ollie TM &!©2003 Estate of Burr Tillstrom.]

1961). He is the star of a monster film, an apparently enormous alien fromouter space. He has a generalized anthropoid shape, with somewhat bumpyorange skin. Again, all of the elements that make The Hulk what he is areabsent. This is no prototype, nor much of a precursor; the only commonality isthe name. (Yet another “Hulk” will be described in Part II of this series, underIron Man.)

One of the Hulk’s earliest adversaries, the Toad Men from IncredibleHulk #2 (Jul 1962), allegedly got a try-out in Tales to Astonish #7 (Jan. 1960).In “We Met in the Swamp” (5 pp.), penciled by Kirby and inked by Ditko, anold hermit recounts an encounter with alien creatures. These creatures areshort, rather silly-looking, and carry guns, thus resembling the alien invadersdefeated by The Hulk. Much of this resemblance may be due to the fact thatthe Toad Men were also drawn by Kirby and inked by Ditko. Although it isdifficult to accept that Goodman or Lee would want to test-market a minoropponent for a super-hero who hadn’t been created yet, the numerous similar-ities argue for at least regarding these earlier aliens as precursors of the ToadMen.

The Foreshadowing–––or Something–––of the Marvel Age of Comics 23

“Doing Comics WasA Fun LearningExperience!”

Veteran Artist BILL FRACCIO Talks about His Years as a Penciler—and as Half of “TONY WILLIAMSUNE”

Interview Conducted and Transcribed by Jim Amash

(Top:) Bill Fraccio today—and (at right) a recent illo (drawn

for Roy Thomas) of twosquabbling 1960s Charlton super-

heroes, Son of Vulcan and BlueBeetle. Actually, back in early’65, Bill penciled the first two

scripts Roy sold—for Son ofVulcan #50 (Jan. ’66) and BlueBeetle #54 (Feb.-March ’66).

Since the covers of those magswere printed in Comic BookArtist #9 and Alter Ego #20,respectively, and both mainsplashes appeared in A/E #8,

on this page are a pair ofsecondary Fraccio & Tallarico

splash pages from those issues.Photo & original art courtesy

of Bill Fraccio. [New art ©2003 Bill Fraccio; previously published

art ©2003 DC Comics; Son of Vulcan &!Blue Beetle TM!&

©2003 DC!Comics.]

28 Bill Fraccio

[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: Bill Fraccio (pronounced Frah’-chi-oh)was the first artist to draw a script written by A/E’s editor, RoyThomas. While Charlton’s Son of Vulcan was hardly the highlight ofeither man’s career, I mention it because my purpose in doing thisarticle was twofold. The first was to surprise Roy, which it did; but ofprimary importance is the recording of Bill Fraccio’s career, whichdeserved and needed documenting. There have been manyunanswered questions in this regard, and now Bill tells us his side ofthose stories, including the secret of late-’60s Warren artist “TonyWilliamsune”! Bill’s career involves more than just Charlton andWarren, but he’ll tell us about them, and about Hillman, Fawcett,and Graham Ingels—starting right now. —Jim.]

JIM AMASH: When and where were you born?

BILL FRACCIO: In Mount Vernon, New York, July 9, 1920. Theydidn’t have comic books when I was young, you know. [laughs]

JA: Right, but you had the newspaper strips. When did you decide tobecome a cartoonist?

FRACCIO: When I needed to make a living. I went to the same artschool [American School of Design] as FredKida. He gotout of schoolbefore I did,and startedworking atHillmanPublications.Fred was theone who got meinto comics. Hewas a nice, soft-spoken guy. Hisfather wasJapanese and hismother wasNorwegian, Ithink. And wewere both bigMilton Canifffans.

World War IIwas on and the companiesneeded artists, so Fred tookme over to meet editor EdCronin at Hillman. Fred gaveme some pointers. I practicedwith a brush before I sawCronin, taking with me bothpenciled and inked samples.

Cronin was a nice guy—alittle fussy, but he waswatching out for his job.They had a whole floorwhere Hillman did comicsand magazines, like Pageant.They had a little room forartists, but that was mainlyfor corrections. I didn’t haveto do corrections very often.Cronin had an assistanteditor, but I don’t rememberhis name.

I started out as an inker on Bob Fujitani’s “Iron Ace” feature. Bobwas a real character and he was at the American School of Design withFred and me. Bob was one of the stars of the school... actually the threeof us were. His pencils were tight and easy to ink. He was a very consci-entious, personable guy. He met his wife at the school. Bob was a talkerand a wild and crazy guy; you had to like him.

I inked a lot of Fred’s and Bob’s work. I’d go over to their houses andwork. “Airboy” was Kida’s big feature. Kida and I used to play theclarinet while we were doing these jobs. It sort-of relaxed us in between,because there was a lot of pressure to meet those deadlines. I don’tremember how much we were paid, but it wasn’t much. Kida’s brother-in-law was an agent and he could have gotten better-paying work forFred, but he wanted to do comics.

JA: Do you know if Kida and Fujitani experienced any racialprejudice during the Second World War?

FRACCIO: I don’t think they did, but you must remember that therewere several Japanese working in comics during this time. There was oneguy, George Greg, who changed his last name from Mabuchi. Hepenciled and inked and was good. I helped him on a few jobs; he later

got into doing portraits. George was born in Japan buthis brother was born here. He got into trouble for that,and George got into all kinds of crap because of hisbrother, but it wasn’t really all that bad. It was just a painin the neck.

I also remember Dan Barry from those days. He wasa live wire. I didn’t see him that much, though. He’dpush his personality on you, so you had to like him.Barry worked so fast that I don’t think he was reallylooking at the pages when he drew. He turned out somuch stuff that he was like a printing press. Dan alwaysneeded money.

“Doing Comics Was A Fun Learning Experience!” 29

Bill has drawn many a genre in his day. These three pencil drawings were “teaching demos at school.”

[©2003 Bill Fraccio.]

35 TitleComic Fandom Archive

by Bill SchellyIntroduction

[In the first two parts of this interview, John filled us in on his earlyyears, his love affair with Mad and EC comics, and the many comicsfanzines that were published in the late 1950s, such as Ron Parker’sHoohah! We also found out how his ground-breaking interviewswith Harvey Kurtzman and Bernard Krigstein came about. In thisconcluding segment, we move into the mid-1960s and even the early’70s, as John reminisces about comic fandom in the NYC area,including the informal monthly meetings of comic book fans and prosthat took place in the apartments of various pros.

[This interview wasconducted in January2003, and wastranscribed byBrian K. Morris.It was edited byJohn Benson andBill Schelly. [©2003by Bill Schelly]

BILL SCHELLY:How did you get WillEisner to agree to thatgreat interview forwitzend?

JOHN BENSON:Even earlier than thatinterview, I was, I’m pretty certain, the firstcomic book fan ever tocontact Eisner. Maybethere were readers whocontacted him when TheSpirit was being published,but I’m talking about after.I was a big fan of TheSpirit, so I thought, “I’ll goup and talk to the guy.”That was in August 1961.So I just walked in.

BS: [laughs] I guess that’sa pretty good method,huh?

BENSON: Well, it wasn’tthat good. I walked intohis office and I told him Iwas a fan of The Spirit,

and all. And I remember that he wasabsolutely desperate to avoid having me

sit down, because if I sat down, then I would bethere for more than thirty seconds. [laughs] Hewas very cordial, but he immediately stood upand came around his desk and kept standing. Hewas obviously anxious to get me out of his officeas soon as he could. He seemed very surprisedthat someone would be interested enough in TheSpirit to visit him at that time. It seemed verymuch in the dark past to him. Rather differentfrom my contact with Feiffer around the sametime.

Arnold Roth had invited me to a lectureFeiffer gave in Philadelphia. I wrote about this inthe latest issue of Squa Tront. I was able to talkto Feiffer at the cocktail party afterward. He wasa little surprised that I knew of his connectionwith The Spirit, but he quite understood my

A Talk with John BensonThe Editor of Squa Tront Talks about WILL EISNER, WALLY WOOD and witzend,

His Alter Ego Interview with GIL KANE, His 1966 New York Comicon, & Much More!Part III

[Above, left to right:] Dick Blackburn(mentioned in this interview), Bill Pearson(ditto; back to camera), John Benson, andconvention co-host Phil Seuling at the 1968SCARP-Con cocktail party; photo courtesyof JB. “SCARP” stood for “Society of ComicArt Restoration & Preservation.” [Center:]

From the late 1960s on, Will Eisner wassupportive of comics conventions; here’s

his Spirit-ed drawing from the second SanDiego Comic-Con (1971), with thanks to Shel

Dorf. [Below:] Eisner and fans at the 1968SCARP-Con, covered later in this

installment; thanks to Fred Mommsen.[Art ©2003 Will Eisner.]

fascination with the strip. Anyhow, I reported on that first contact withEisner, not the part about not sitting down, in my fanzine Image, whichI reprinted in the most recent Squa Tront. I think I must have said toEisner, “I’ve interviewed Harvey Kurtzman,” and he said, “Oh, well,why don’t you talk to Kurtzman, then? He knows all about me.” Youknow, “What can I say to get this guy out of my office?” So I inter-viewed Kurtzman again for Image.

BS: Why didn’t Eisner want to talk to you himself?

BENSON: Well, that was in 1961, and I was just some kid, twenty yearsold, walking into his office where he was publishing commercial stuff,and he was busy. Again, The Spirit seemed much further in the past thenthan it is now. So it was like Krigstein being amazed that somebody evenremembered the stuff.

BS: But you eventually did get to interview him for witzend in, Ithink, 1968.

BENSON: Right. By that time he was aware that there was somefan interest in The Spirit. He was a guest at the 1968 SCARP-Con.I remember, during that interview, he hinted that possibly he maynot have been very enthusiastic about the war in Viet Nam, but hecut that out in the published transcript. The Army was still a clientat the time.

All through those earlyconventions, first thing, Iwould go around to everytable and say, [excited] “Doyou have any Spirits?” I builta complete set that way. I gotvirtually a complete set of thetabs from Ron Goulart. God,I was making, like, a hundredbucks a week, or something,and I would be sending himthese $250 checks. I don’tknow how I did it. “Don’tsell them to anyone else, Ron.I’ll send you a check in acouple of weeks. Hold on.” Ibought them in three or fourbatches.

BS: That Eisner interview appearedwitzend #6, when Bill Pearson waspublisher, but weren’t you alsoconnected with the magazine at the beginning when Wally Wood waspublishing it? What did you do on witzend then?

BENSON: I don’t remember exactly. Probably a lot of miscellaneousstuff like pasting things up, writing captions and incidental editorialmaterial, stuffing envelopes, I don’t know. My name is in there as “Staff”for a few issues.

At that time, Wally lived in a tenement walk-up about five blocksfrom my apartment. I think it was the same apartment that he had in theEC days. The stairs going up to his apartment sloped inward towardsthe central shaft. You always felt that someday the stairs would collapse.The apartment had a fairly large kitchen, and Wally had a little studio setup at one end. Someone recently wrote a piece, I wish I could rememberwhere, about working with Wood in those days. [NOTE: It was artistDan Adkins; see Alter Ego V3#8. —Roy.] This writer described theseballs of dust suspended on wires from the ceiling, which he eventuallyrealized had been model airplanes once. Wally was a really nice guy, buthe perpetually lived in a world of disappointment. He just knewsomebody was going to screw him; I don’t mean his personal friends, Imean professionally. And, darn!—they always did. My favorite anecdote

about Wally was when I took him up to the Boston NewCon in 1978.The transcript of the Wood-Krigstein-Kurtzman panel at thatconvention is in the latest Squa Tront. He was living in Connecticutthen, and I stopped off on the way up from New York to pick up Wallyand Bill Pearson. Wally sat in the back seat, and when I got back to thecity I discovered it was like the Peanuts character Pigpen had been backthere. There were empty cans, and papers and wrappers and potato chipcrumbs all over. [laughs] He was already in decline by that time,obviously.

BS: Let’s move on to comics conventions.

BENSON: Yeah, you have to go back to ’64. It was one day, a weekday,and I think Dick Lupoff wrote a review of that convention...

BS: I ran it in The Golden Age of Comic Fandom.

BENSON: ...where he spends half of the time complaining that it wason a weekday afternoon.

BS: And then the other halfcomplaining that therewere young kids around,and that everybody wasscrambling for issues ofJimmy Olsen andSuperboy, which I justknow wasn’t the case.

BENSON: I’m not so sure. Iwent to that convention. Iwas in New York in ’64.However, I had a job...basically the same complaintas Lupoff’s. I was literallythere, but didn’t exactlyattend. I went there after work,and I arrived just as it wasbreaking up. It was in a tinyroom in, I believe, AcademyHall. I think it was the samebuilding where WilliamEverson had the Theodore Huff

Film Society in for years. There wasnothing but kids left there when I wasthere. Well, Seuling was one of four orfive dealers lined up in the back, andthey were still doing business, like, after

the thing had disbanded.

BS: So then comes 1965 and the first full-fledged attempt at a comiccon, which we covered in Alter Ego in exhaustive detail. [laughs]Wasn’t that when you actually met Gil Kane and decided tointerview him?

BENSON: Yeah. I described that meeting in my introduction to theKane interview, which you reprinted in your Best of Alter Ego book. Ihad been sitting there, rather bored. It was the last panel of theconvention, and I hadn’t found the panel the day before very interesting.It seemed to me at the time that, to the pros on the panels, it had beenjust a job of work. But then, in the last panel, there were these twofirebrands, Jim Warren and Gil Kane. I thought Kane was sayingexciting stuff... although if the excerpts printed in Alter Ego #20 are anindication, it must have been his style as much as what he said thatimpressed me. I ran up to him right after that panel and said, [excited]“Mr. Kane, I’ve gotta interview you! [laughs] You know, I did this otherinterview and can we just get together and do an interview?”

I didn’t mention in that introduction that I thought he was Bob Kane

At left, Wally Wood relaxes after an editor’s panel at the 1968SCARP-Con (photo from program book sent by Fred Mommsen).

At right is Wally’s superlative cover for the April 1959 issue ofGalaxy science-fiction magazine, courtesy of Michael T. Gilbert.

[©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

36 Comics Fandom Archive

HALCYON HALLOWEEN ISSUE!

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HALCYON HALLOWEEN ISSUE!

No. 88Our 30th Year!1 9 7 3 - 2 0 0 3

[FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D.Swayze was a top artist for Fawcett Comics.The very first Mary Marvel charactersketches came from Marc’s drawing table, andhe illustrated her earliest adventures, includingthe classic Mary Marvel origin story, “Captain MarvelIntroduces Mary Marvel (CMA #18, Dec. ’42); but he wasprimarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illustrate CaptainMarvel stories and covers for Whiz Comics and Captain MarvelAdventures. He also wrote many Captain Marvel scripts, andcontinued to do so while in the military. After leaving the service, hemade an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories forthem on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. There he

created both art and story for The Phantom Eagle inWow Comics, in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jennynewspaper strip for Bell Syndicate (created by his friendand mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation ofWow, Swayze produced artwork for Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics. After the companyceased publishing comics, Marc moved over toCharlton Publications, where he ended his comicscareer in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professionalmemoirs have been FCA’s most popular feature sincehis first column appeared in FCA #54, 1996. In this

issue, Marc backtracks to discuss his associations withcomic strip creators Russell Keaton, Zack Mosley,

and Rick Yager.—P.C. Hamerlinck.]

Russell Keaton once said, “CareyOrr didn’t recommend solid blacks

in backgrounds.”

Keaton, originator of Flyin’ Jenny, thefirst aviation comic strip to feature a

female pilot, was making a finalinspection of the week’s work,prior to mailing. When the

statement was made I had no ideawho he was talking about, but I knew what

he was talking about. College art classes,helpful and appreciated as they had

been, did not go into the subject of“solid blacks in backgrounds” as did

comic strip artists.

Carey Orr, I learned, was a popular editorial cartoonist with theChicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. He was also a widelyadmired instructor at the Chicago Academy of Art, which may havebeen where Keaton came to know Zack Mosley. Or maybe it was whenthe two were co-workers and pals at the John F. Dille Syndicate.

Mosley, creator of the long-lasting newspaper strip Smilin’ Jack, hasbeen rightfully accorded a place in the history of aviation comics. Hecould also be credited with having been one of the pioneers possessing

(c) mds[Art & logo ©2003 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © & TM 2003 DC Comics]

By

A Swayze-drawn “Captain Marvel” splash page from Whiz Comics #38 (Dec.1942). The racially-stereotyped Steamboat, developed before Marc came to

work for Fawcett, was dropped shortly thereafter. [© 2003 DC Comics.]

The influence of Smilin’ Jack accounted for the “great number of pen-linemustaches and crooked smiles seen around the airports of the day.” Sketch by Marc Swayze. [Art ©2003 Marc Swayze; Smilin’ Jack ©2003

the respective copyright holder.]

An inked 1996sketch of MaryMarvel by Marc

Swayze. [Art ©2003Marc Swayze; MaryMarvel TM & ©2003

DC Comics.]

44 Marc Swayze

by Michael MikulovskyAs a kid growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,

in the 1970s, I always loved monsters. Not onlyon Shock Theatre on TV, but also all those greatmonster mags of the time: Famous Monsters ofFilmland, Eerie, and Creepy.

Then Marvel’s second “monster explosion” hitthe scenes in the early ’70s. I went nuts! All myfavorite monsters—plus some new ones—by allthese great writers and talented artists!

Even though I was always a so-called “Marvelzombie,” in the late 1980s I became a huge fan ofthe original Captain Marvel, because of the releaseon videotape of the old Republic serial and JerryOrdway’s beautifully-painted graphic novel.

Every fan has his/her own dream projectwhich they would love to write or draw or justsee published. Mine would be to see CaptainMarvel star in a whole month’s worth of weeklytitles. With a story with a Halloween theme thatties it all together—Cap battling an array ofclassic monsters, drawn by their Marvel Comicsartist counterparts: Dracula by Gene (The Dean)Colan, The Zombie by Pablo Marcos, an up-dated Creature from the Black Lagoon by DaveCockrum or Frank Brunner—also the Werewolfby Night and Frankenstein’s Monster by MikePloog. And all inked by Tom Palmer or JerryOrdway.

I’m still hoping to finish my personal quest bygetting Frank Brunner and Mike Ploog to do thecharacters I mentioned above, but I’ve made agood start—and I’d like to thank all the artists forall their hard work, and Jon B. Cooke for all hishelp!

And best of luck to producer Michael Uslanand screenwriter William Goldman, theannounced team supreme on the upcomingShazam! movie.

FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: You sure have madea good start, Michael! And thanks for sharingyour prizes with the readers of FCA and AlterEgo! Maybe by next year you’ll have evenmore goodies to lay on us!

Captain Marvel and ThoseMarvel-ous Monsters

You’ve already glimpsed the Jerry Ordway-inked version of Gene Colan’s Captain Marvel-vs.-Draculapencils on our FCA interior cover a few pages back. Above is the same cover inked by Tom Palmer,renowned as the inker of Gene’s Tomb of Dracula work for much of the 1970s. Alas, Michael had to

photograph this version through glass, in a way that left a pattern, but we figured you’d want you tosee it, all the same. Used by permssion of the artists. [Art ©2003 Gene Colan & Tom Palmer; Captain

Marvel TM & ©2003 DC Comics; Marvel version of Dracula TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Those Marvel-ous Monsters 47

[FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was originally published in thefirst issue of John’s marvelous, short-lived late-’70s fanzine The WhizKids in 1976, and is ©2003 John G. Pierce. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]

PrefaceThe Bible, in I John 4:18, tells us that “perfect love casts out fear.” In

the “Captain Marvel” story I discuss in this review, knowledge casts outfear.

We fear the unknown, and often fear what we don’t need to fear atall. That seems to be the message of this story– a story, like so many“Captain Marvel” tales, not meant just to entertain, but to enlighten andinspire.

Largely due to themisinterpretation ofCaptain Marvel byDC Comics, and thefact that comicshistorians generallyhave failed tochronicle the fullscope of CaptainMarvel’s adventuresof the past, today’sreaders frequentlytend to think of theoriginal “CaptainMarvel” stories ashaving beenstrictly in ahumorous vein.But even aperfunctoryglance at some ofthe old Fawcettcomics would easily dispel any such mistaken notions. And one primeexample is Captain Marvel Adventures #89 (Oct. 1948), and particu-larly its lead story, “Captain Marvel Faces Fear!”

Fear is presented as a tangible entity with flowing white robes and aSpectre-like hood. Inviting the reader to witness his power, Fear intro-duces the story with a scientist who, having completed an invention,turns it over to a delivery boy. When the boy gets a look at thepackage’s label, which says ‘Atomic Engine,’ he jumps to the conclusionthat he is carrying an atomic bomb. The youngster promptly disposesof the package in a trashcan, while Fear gloats that “The news willspread like contagion.”

A garbage disposal unit empties the trashcan contents into a truck,while the boy, still on the run from the “bomb,” smashes into BillyBatson, who promptly says “Shazam!” (Contrary to what some people,including C.C. Beck himself, have reported, Billy didn’t always waituntil moments of extreme danger to say his magic word, as thisexample shows. Or perhaps Billy had either a low threshold ofexcitement or a newsperson’s instinct for danger.)

Captain Marvel stops the boy long enough to get an explanation.Cap flies the lad back to the trashcan, and thence to the scientist’s office.While the delivery boy takes off again, Captain Marvel learns from thescientist that the atomic engine is “absolutely harmless.” But it’s toolate, as the delivery boy/messenger has gone, and “news travels fast onthe wings of Fear.” As crowds flee the city, “the tiny voice of reason islost in the clamor of…Fear!” Billy, at station WHIZ, attempts tobroadcast that there is no danger, but to no avail. He changes to CaptainMarvel, who almost succeeds in quelling a riot. But Fear decides, “I’vegot to do something…” A passing truck backfires, convincing thecrowd that the “bomb” exploded.

But Captain Marvel spots Fear. “Who’s that fellow sulking around inthat queer outfit?” he wonders, and gives pursuit. Fear, being “stronger

Captain Marvel Faces FearCaptain Marvel Adventures #89Examined by John G. Pierce Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

C.C. Beck’s cover for Captain Marvel Adventures #89.

“Fear is presented as a tangible entity” in CMA #89. [©2002 DC Comics.]

Captain Marvel Faces Fear 51

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Alter EgoTM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. Phone: (919) 833-8092. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: Rt. 3, Box 468, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues:$8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 elsewhere. All characters are © theirrespective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM ofRoy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada.

FIRST PRINTING.

™

This issue is dedicated to the memory ofWilliam Woolfolk

HORROR,TERROR,& LOVEGODDESSESSection

ContentsFour Touches of Venus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Trina Robbins on the Goddess of Love as a comic book heroine of infinite variety.

Classics NOT Illustrated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Pete Von Sholly shows you how to fake a book report—in an alternate universe!

The “Dark and Haunting” Art of Ernie Schroeder . . . . . . . . . . . 23Hames Ware & Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., present a Heap of great artwork.

Maneely Monsterpieces! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27A handful of horror for a haunted Halloween—served up by 1950s artist Joe Maneely.

“Melt Figure into Black Shadows” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Alex Toth writes about “mysterioso, blackgarbed nightcreature hero/villains, etc.”

The EC’s That Never Were!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Michael T. Gilbert on The Nickel Library and its five-penny horror-comics covers.

Tales Calculated to Drive You BATS!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Jim Amash interviews George Gladir & Orlando Busino—the men behind the madness.

Monsters Malicious & Mirthful Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Us!About Our Cover: The Eighth Wonder of the World! Many of the great horror-lit scenes (see pp. 17-22) painted by Pete Von Sholly would’ve made fabulous covers for this issue ofA/E in the vein of Classics Illustrated. But, since Ye Editor is a guy who last year shocked the dean of a university liberal arts department by telling her (when asked) that his favorite movie of all time is King Kong—well, what other choice could Roy have made?[Art ©2003 Pete Von Sholly; King Kong TM & © the respective copyright holders.]

Above: Bill Everett was noted for drawing heroes like The Sub-Mariner—and great Timely/Atlas horror comics. He got a chance to do both in the 1950s Venus series—as in this splash from #16 (Oct. ’51). More eldritch Everett coming up inside![©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Vol. 3, No. 29 / October 2003Editor Roy Thomas

Associate EditorsBill SchellyJim Amash

Design & LayoutChristopher Day

Consulting EditorJohn Morrow

FCA EditorP.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt EditorMichael T. Gilbert

Editors EmeritusJerry Bails (founder)Ronn Foss, Biljo White,Mike Friedrich

Production AssistantEric Nolen-Weathington

Cover ArtistsPete Von ShollyFrank Brunner

Cover ColoristsPete Von ShollyTom Ziuko

And Special Thanks to:Gary ArlingtonMark AustinRandall J. BarlowJohn BensonChris BrownFrank BrunnerMike BurkeyOrlando BusinoNick CaputoGene ColanDave CockrumJon B. CookeAl DellingesRoger Dicken &

Wendy HuntShel DorfShelton DrumTim EasterdayBill FraccioGeorge GladirStan GoldbergPaul HandlerDustin HarbinDaniel Herman

Richard HowellThomas G. LammersStan LeeSteve LeialohaPablo MarcosMichael MikulovskyMile-High ComicsFred MommsenBrian K. MorrisDave O’DellJerry OrdwayTom PalmerJohn G. PierceLarry RippeePaul RivocheTrina RobbinsPete Von ShollyMarc SwayzeDann ThomasAlex TothJim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.Michael J. VassalloHames WareMichael Zeno

Super-hero! Long beforeThor’s 1962 debut in Journey

into Mystery, the Romangoddess Venus swoops

down at the bad guys inissue #13 (April ’51), thoughshe didn’t use flying powersin the stories themselves—

except to transport her backto Olympus. Bill Everett hada hand in the art. Repro’d

from a photostat of theoriginal art. [©2003 Marvel

Characters, Inc.]

Science-fiction! On the cover of Venus #10 (July 1950) the

heroine and a male are“Trapped on the Moon!”

—but you’ll notice that only heneeds a space suit. See Jim

Vadeboncoeur’s checklist on p. 15 for possible artist.

[©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Horror! The splash of thelead tale in the penultimateissue, Venus #18 (Feb. ’52),is horrifically detailed. Art

by Wild Bill Everett, repro’dfrom a photostat of the

original art. [©2003 MarvelCharacters, Inc.]

Four Touches of VenusSuper-hero! Horror! Science-Fiction! Romance! Timely/Marvel’s Golden Age Love Goddess

Did It ALL—and BILL EVERETT Was There!by Trina Robbins

Romance! A 1950 house ad treatsVenus as a love comic—pairing it

with the shortlived cowgirl-romance title Reno Browne. Artist

uncertain. Reproduced from aphotostat of the original art.

[©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.

2 Four Touches of Venus

Fifteen years before Dr. Don Blake discovered the magic Uruhammer that turned him into the Norse thunder god, Thor, Stan Leecreated a comics series starring a different mythic deity—this onefemale.

Timely Comics, under Stan Lee’s editorship, had been successfullyproducing comic books aimed at girls and/or featuring female protago-nists since the 1944 debut of Miss America. In its first five issues, thattitle spotlighted Miss America, a young crime-fighter from MarvelMystery Comics who sported a patriotic costume and (sometimes) cat’s-eye glasses, making her the only near-sighted super-heroine in comics.With issue #6, the magazine devoted itself solely to teenage girls withoutsuper-powers, and Miss America was demoted to guest spots in otherTimely comics.

Next to get her own book was Blonde Phantom in 1946, the onlysuper-heroine to fight crime in a red evening gown and matching high-heeled pumps. Blonde Phantom was still going strong when, two yearslater, Timely came up with Sun Girl, Namora—and Venus, whoeventually saw some pretty frenzied action in an evening gown herself.

Namora, Sub-Mariner’s cousin, and Sun Girl, billed as “TheMysterious Beauty,” lasted three issues each; but Venus, the ancientRoman goddess of love, was another story, surviving through 1952 andowing her comparative longevity to her (and Stan Lee’s) ability tochange with the times.

1948 was also the year that the film One Touch of Venus opened intheatres across America. Based on the 1943 musical comedy with songsby Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash, it starred Ava Gardner as the goddesswho comes down to Earth. (In the earlier stage musical, Mary Martinhad played the title role. Because she later become so identified with herrole as the nurse in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, I can’thelp but imagine her singing, “I’m Gonna Wash That Mars Right Out ofMy Hair!”) It’s very likely that the movie version was the inspirationfor Stan Lee, who always had his eye on the latest trend. In a recenttelephone interview, he couldn’t remember whether or not he had beeninspired by One Touch of Venus, but he said, “If it makes your articleany better, you can say the movie was my inspiration.” He also believesthat he did write some “Venus” stories, though he can’t remember howmany or which ones.

The photo of dark-haired Ava Gardner inthe 1948 film version of One Touch of Venus(left) was quite likely the inspiration for theart spot seen at right, whose comely blondeimage topped Timely’s 1951 “Venus” stories.The movie dropped most of the songs fromthe 1943 stage musical, although singing

idol Dick Haymes did get to croon thebeautiful “Speak Low” to Ava. Haymes wasno stranger to so-called “love goddesses,”once being married to Rita Hayworth; but

in the film, after a department-storemannequin of Venus comes to life, he losesAva (herself often styled a “love goddess”)

to boyish Robert Walker—before Venusreturns to Olympus in one of those “it-was-

all-a-dream” endings. Note that AvaGardner’s autograph is backward on thereversed photo. Thanks to Trina Robbins.

[Art ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The first splash page from Venus #1 (April ’48). Experts disagree concerning theartist; see both the article and the checklist on p. 15. Repro’d from photostats of

the original art. Thanks to Trina Robbins. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Super-hero! Horror! Science-Fiction! Romance! 3

In the first issue of Timely’s Venus comic book, the beautiful blondegoddess paces the halls of her “castle of the gods on Mount Luster,”located—where else?—on the planet Venus. Bored with her perfect life,she wishes herself upon the planet Earth, soars through outer space, andlands on a busy street in New York City, causing a traffic jam. At thatmoment, along comes handsome publisher Whitney Hammond,thinking, “There must be a new idea which I can use in BeautyMagazine... something different, fresh, exciting!”

The “new idea,” of course, is Venus. Although Hammond neverreally believes she is a goddess come to Earth, her looks are all he needs,and on the spot he hires her to edit the magazine.

Venus was originally a sort of supernatural version of Timely’s “girlcomics.” These were mostly about teenage girls like Patsy Walker,Cindy Smith, Jeannie, or Margie, but there was also a sub-genre of“career girl comics”: Millie the Model, Nellie the Nurse, Tessie theTypist, and Hedy DeVine, who was a movie star. The career girls wereolder than their teen counterparts—maybe as old as 21!—and, as editorof a beauty magazine, Venus fit into this category.

The earliest “Venus” stories were drawn, at least according to somesources, by Ed Winiarski, who also drew the career-girl character HedyDeVine. “Hedy DeVine” stories in both teen and career-girl comicstended to revolve around the Archie/Betty/Veronica-type love triangleof blonde-vs.- brunette, with some guy in the middle. In the case ofblonde Venus, the other end of the triangle is Hammond’s jealous

4 Four Touches of Venus

The splash page to Venus #2 (Aug. ’48)—if we read the notation on the black-&-white photostats a-right—juxtaposed with art from another story therein, in which Venus uses her powers toconfound poor mortal men. Artist uncertain, but inking may

be by George Klein. [©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[Art on the next five pages ©2003 Pete Von Sholly; “ClassicsIllustrated” is a trademark of Frawley Corporation and its exclusivelicensee, First Classics, Inc., a subsidiary of Classics InternationalEntertainment, Inc., and is used herein for historical and parodicpurposes.]

Did you ever have one of those dreams where you go into a store andfind all these great things (comic books, magazines, toys, or otherchildhood pleasures)—even though they’re ones that never reallyexisted? You can see them clearly—savor their rich colors, their images,their titles, etc. You can’t believe it, but there they are, tangible andwithin your very grasp: unsuspected treasures that are yours for thetaking!

And then something happens—perhaps the store closes, or you don’thave any money, or the treasures begin to fall apart on you, and youawaken to realize that you can’t have those wonderful things, after all.Even the details fade frustratingly as consciousness returns.

Well, I have had such dreams, and this piece describes an attempt tobring some of those items into the real world for my own pleasure, andhopefully for that of a few kindred spirits.

When I was a lad, there was a line of comics called ClassicsIllustrated (née Classic Comics in the early 1940s), published by theGilberton Company, which adapted famous literary works into comicsform. Many of us may remember these as being very handy for doingbook reports on novels we didn’t actually read. I admit it: I liked “real”comic books much better, but once in a great while the Classics guyswould accidentally put out something cool. The Time Machine, TheWar of the Worlds, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Frankenstein,and The Invisible Man are the ones that come most readily to mind.

Mostly, however, Classics Illustrated were the four-color equivalentof Novacane for me. But what if things had been different?

Here are my “Earth-Von Sholly” versions of at least the paintedcovers of some classics that the Gilberton Company didn’t adapt inillustrated form—but should have.

Let’s start with H.P. Lovecraft, the supreme horror writer of the firsthalf of the twentieth century—if not of the entire century. His storiesappeared mostly in the lurid Weird Tales magazine in the 1920s and ’30sbefore his death from cancer in 1937 at the age of 47, and he never mademuch money from them—nor did literary critics hail his stories andoccasional novellas as “classics,” although the cognoscenti amonghorror-fiction fans did. Horror writers from Stephen King forward haveacknowledged Lovecraft’s influence on them, and he is now commonlyacknowledged as the 20th century successor to Edgar Allan Poe—exceptthat HPL’s work has one foot in terror, the other (surprisingly enough)in science-fiction.

“The Dunwich Horror” was the second of his stories that I read, andthe one that warped my whole life—and got me in trouble with myAmerican history teacher for reading it in class. (I couldn’t help it... Ihad to see what was going to happen at the end of the story!) It’s really along short story, like most of HPL’s work, but certainly long enough toprovide material for an entire issue of Classics Illustrated if they haddone one:

Classics IllustratedCover Paintings from a World That Never Was—But Ought to Be!

by Pete Von Sholly

NOT

Yes, I know I shouldn’t really have shown the monster on the cover,since its size and shape are unknown until the very end of the story, as in somuch of HPL’s fiction—but I couldn’t help that, either.

Pete Von Sholly 17

Next we have “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” on which cover I alsoshow the monsters, perhaps with a bit more justification:

And then there’s At the Mountains of Madness, a short novel, whichpossibly looks the most like a real Classics Illustrated cover and doesnot show the monster, or at least shows only a hint of it.

The preceding three tales are among my favorites by the illustriousOld Gentleman of Providence, Rhode Island. And it would have been awarm day on Yuggoth before the Classics folks would have touchedthem, Lovecraft being a mere pulp writer and beneath the notice ofserious academia!

18 Classics Not Illustrated

[Unless otherwise noted, all art accompanying this piece was providedby Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.]

Of the three “S” artists we’ve covered so far in this series (the twoprevious being Henry Enoch Sharp and Mike Suchorsky), none to ourknowledge ever signed his work in comic books. And, as delighted asfellow comic art detective Jerry de Fuccio was with our finally pinning aname to the art of Mike Suchorsky, the identification that delighted ourlate friend the most was when Hames was able to provide the name“Ernie Schroeder” as the primary early-1950s artist on Hillman’s twomajor features, “Airboy” and “The Heap.” It seems that not only was heone of Jerry’s favorite artists, but the longtime Mad magazine associateeditor had also acquired a great deal of original art by him, yet Jerry hadhad no success getting a name for him.

The way Hames had come across Schroeder’s ID was certainly notfrom the comics, for, as with Suchorsky and Sharp, Schroeder neversigned a single thing he did in the comic books. No sneaks... no nothin’!But, to let Hames put it in his own words:

“When I was a kid, I used to kill time waiting for my turn in thebarber chair at the local small barbershop by perusing the mostly men’s-adventure magazines (especially if they included illustrations) that werescattered about for the patrons. This particular time, I was leafingthrough stories with titles like “I Hunted Killer Sharks in DangerousOceans,” and I suddenly felt a sense of excitement, and not about killersharks. It was because I realized that the illustrations I was looking atwere unmistakably done by the longtime ‘Heap’ and ‘Airboy’ artist atHillman! None of these illustrations was signed, either, but as I flippedback to the first page of the magazine story, I held out hope that maybethe magazine might have given a byline to the artist, as they sometimesdid in those days. And there, at long last, were the welcome words:

Title 23“The Great Unknowns”—Part III of a Series

The “Dark and Haunting”Art of ERNIE SCHROEDER

by Hames Ware & Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.

Ernie Schroeder started out doing super-heroes like so many others—Black Cat, Captain Freedom, and The Young Defenders on the cover of

Harvey’s Speed Comics #37 (May 1945), and the “Captain Freedom” tale in Speed #44 (Jan.-Feb. ’47). [©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

‘Illustrations by Ernest Schroeder.’ The ‘Heap’ and ‘Airboy’ artist hadfinally been given an identity!

“This was one of the first times that cross-referencing of other mediawould yield long-sought names of never-signing comic book artists.(Anyone who knows Jim will understand why I had a major advantageover him regarding this type of barbershop research.)

“I went home after my haircut and dutifully logged this great newfind in my ledger where I maintained my lists of comic book artists. And

so it was, years later, that Iwas able to make Jerry deFuccio a very happy man and,better still, make sure thatErnie Schroeder would findhis rightful home in TheWho’s Who of AmericanComic Books, of which I wasco-editor with Jerry G. Bails.Since then, we’ve locatedSchroeder’s art at Ziff-Davis,where, like our first two‘Great Unknowns‚’ he alsochronicled the adventures of‘G.I. Joe.’ But he goes backmuch further into the GoldenAge and was one of the light-hearted delineators at Harveyon many features in SpeedComics.”

Alas for de Fuccio’s longer-term purposes, unlike thedogged determination thatenabled him to turn uprelatives for Mike Suchorsky,try as he could, Jerry wasnever able to trace ErnieSchroeder beyond theshipyards where initial leads

said he had gone to work after the art markets dried up in the 1950s.

Consequently, there’s little more to add to the Ernie Schroeder story,unless perhaps some of Alter Ego’s readers can fill in the blanks. In themeantime, the best thing Hames and Jim can do now is to pull back thecurtain of time and let A/E’s readers see the dark and haunting style thatSchroeder used so well to capture the atmosphere that intertwined the twofeatures he will always be identified with—“Airboy” and “The Heap”!

An Airboy–Heap Addendumby Jim & Hames

In December of 1948, the title feature in Airboy Comics was passedfrom the capable and recognizable hands of Dan Zolnerowich and FredKida to a new artist who would draw the lead feature longer thananyone else. Moody and dark and noirish, this artist immediately tookAirboy’s adventures from the skies to the sewers with a two-part chillercalled “Airboy and the Rats.”

A year later, with the December 1949 issue, this artist, ErnieSchroeder, also took over the other continuing series in Airboy Comics,“The Heap.” And down underground went the original swampmonster—into a cave in some central-European mountain range. In fact,with Schroeder at the helm, both characters began to face and overcomeantagonists more in tune with the growing trend of the times—horrorcomics. In addition to the intelligent rats and sub-human cave creatures,there were horrendous “crabmen” in the sewers of Paris, frozen ice-people with no eyes, threatening asteroids, weird life from space, lostRoman cities and legions in Africa, monstrous sea slugs, strange Tibetangreat white apes, rampaging prehistoric monsters preserved in ice,revived Egyptian mummies, and ghosts and wizards and vampires andcentaurs and such. And all that was just in the first two years!

Schroeder even drew fairytales, as in this story from Parents’ Calling All Kids #12 (Sept. ’47)—and light-hearted war storiessuch as this one from Ziff-Davis’ G.I. Joe #51 (June ’57), the final issue of the series. [©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

Panels from “Airboy and the Rats” in Hillman Periodicals’ Airboy Comics, Vol. 5, #11 (Dec. 1948). This Schroeder art is a far cry from most of the blondyoung hero’s previous aerial adventures—though one should never forget

his wartime Fred Kida-drawn encounters with the entity called Misery![©2003 the respective copyright holder.]

24 Ernie Schroeder

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Our previous issue of Alter Ego spotlighted the life andwork of Joe Maneely, one of the premier Timely/Atlas artists of the 1950s. Evenso, thanks to all the specimens of his work sent us by article-scribe Dr. Michael J.Vassallo and a few others, we had lots of art photocopies left over—including agoodly number from the horror comics that sent Fredric Wertham, M.D.,screaming for cover in the first half of that decade. So, even though we used upsome of the very best terror-art last time, here’s another horrific helping of Atlasscare-fests, to show you why Joe Maneely and Halloween are all but synonymousin horror-minded households everywhere. Except where noted, copies wereprovided by Doc V. Except for the final example, all art in this 3-page section©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. —Roy.]

Joe’s cover for Mystic #29 (April 1954).

Splash from Suspense #17 (April 1952).

An early Maneely horror splash, from Suspense #5 (Nov. 1950).

ManeelyMonsterpieces!

A Handful of Horror for a Haunted Halloween

Joe Maneely 27

32 Alex Thoth

[Art

©20

03 A

lex

Toth

.]

“Melt Figure Into Black Shadows”

Golden/Silver Age Artist ALEX TOTH Writes “aboutMysterioso Blackgarbed Nightcreatures Heroes/Villains, etc.”

I’m now aware of what should always have been obvious, sinceboyhood, thru all forms of graphic storytelling, yet missed connectingthe dots, of revelation/discovery, but now, I’m convinced of the validityof my theory.

Which is—to maintain that mysterioso quality of aBatman/Shadow/Zorro/Bat/Spider/Green Hornet (badly-misde-signed/colored)—in film/video/fotos/pulp/comic art/illos, I’d nowavoid, like the plague, ever again coming in close-up on any of theabove—keep them away—midground/full figure/backdrop shadows toconceal/not reveal the masked/cowled/helmeted face/head and, whenpracticable, melt figure into black shadows. This voids undue famil-iarity!

An intriguing Shadow & Batman composition/sequence/pageby Toth. [Art ©2003 Alex Toth; Batman TM & ©2003 DC

Comics; The Shadow TM & ©2003 Condé Nast.]

Part of Alex’s handwritten original 4-page article. [©2003 Alex Toth.]

35

All art on the following seven pages ©2003 the original artists. “The NewNickel Library” is TM!&!©2003 by Gary Arlington. All EC art & logos are TM &©2003 William M. Gaines Agent, and are used only for historical purposes.

In the early ’70s, underground publisher Gary Arlington began anambitious comic art series called The New Nickel Library. These weremostly 8"x 10" single-page prints, black-&-white on cardboard stockwith binder holes so they could be collected in notebooks. Gary planneda total of 500 different images on a weekly publication schedule. Truly“labors of love,” each Nickel Library print sold for the grand sum of 5¢!

The pictures included all kinds of neat stuff, public domain andotherwise. One issue might feature an old pulp drawing,the next a rare Harrison Cady cartoon or some new artfrom the many cartoonists who frequented Gary’s 23rdStreet comic book shop. Gary also published actualunderground comix under the San Francisco ComicBook Company imprint, but these single pages were fareasier to produce. With the help of cartoonists RogerBrand and Kim Deitch, Gary’s vision soon became areality.

A Deitch-illustrated flyer heralded the new series:“Because they are the labor of love, and are generallynon-profit undertakings, most fanzines are years inthe making. The Nickel Library too willundoubtably [sic] be years in the making. However,there is one major difference; … you the reader, cansee, even share in the creation of the Nickel Librarynow, as it happens, page after fascinating page!”

Wow! Who could resist a pitch like that? In a fewweeks, one-sheet wonders featuring vintage art byReed Crandall, Will Eisner, Murphy Anderson, andHarrison Cady began rolling off the presses. But thebest was yet to come—at least for fans of the grandold EC comic book line!

Say, did I mention that Gary was a die-hard ECfan-addict? Indeed he was, and he never quiterecovered when his favorite comic company diedback in the ’50s. So in true EC tradition, “GhoulishGary” came up with the idea of bringing hisfavorite comics back from the grave! Sometime in1973, he began commissioning a series of newimaginary EC covers drawn by some of theunderground comix artists who frequented hiscomic shop.

It wasn’t a hard sell, since many of thecartoonists were already loyal EC fans. In fact,comix like Slow Death, Skull, Last Gasp, andBijou frequently featured stories modeled onTales from the Crypt, Weird Science, and theold Mad comic books.

In short order, cartoonists Larry Todd,Charles Dallas, and Greg Irons drew somedelightfully gruesome imitation-EC covers. Garyand crew completed the illusion by slapping downstats of actual EC logos, with numbering continuedfrom the original series. The art may not have beenas slick as the original EC artists, but the EC spirit

36 Comic Crypt

The EC’s That Never Were!By Michael T. Gilbert

Nickel Library #0. This flyer announced the arrival of The New Nickel Library. In case you’re wondering, “EricFromm” was a pseudonym Gary used for his mail-orderbusiness. [Art ©2003 the respective copyright holders.]

Gary Arlington in 1976. Photo © 2003by Patrick Rosenkranz.

The EC That Never Was 37

was there. When Roger Brand discovered an unpublished Wally Woodoriginal, it too became an EC cover—one drawn by an actual EC artist!Gary was so pleased with the results he sent copies to EC publisher BillGaines.

Bad move.

It turned out that Gaines’ lawyers weren’t thrilled with Gary’songoing use of the EC titles and logos, and told Gary to knock it off.Never one for half measures, the publisher pulled the plug on the entireseries. His heart just wasn’t in it anymore.

Gary reminisced recently, saying he really enjoyed doing the ECcovers, but “the 5¢ thing just ran out of gas. No money was to be made,not at five cents.”

All together, only 57 prints out of 500 were completed between 1971and 1973 on a less-than-weekly schedule. Nonetheless, even today theNickel Library is fondly remembered by fans of both EC and under-ground comix. For one brief, shining moment, the freewheeling spirit ofEC flourished anew. And with it came… The EC’s That Never Were!

Nickel Library #53. Larry Todd’s creepy “Tales From The Crypt #48” cover (with the original EC logos and horror host bullets added). Larry wrote and drew sci-fi and horror stories for Eerie and other Warren magazines in the ’70s,

but is best remembered for his hilarious underground comix series, Dr. Atomic. This and all other non-EC art, along with the EC mastheads & logos, that accompany this article are published for historical purposes.

[©2003 Larry Todd; EC title & logo ©2003 William M. Gaines Agent.]

I. GEORGE GLADIR, Writer[INTRODUCTION: George Gladir is one of the most prolificwriters in comic book history. A few years ago, Robin Snyder’sresearch indicated that Paul S. Newman wrote more comics storiesthan anyone else—though recently, in his magazine The Comics!Robin’s begun to wonder aloud if Robert Kanigher might just have aclaim on that crown, after all—and it’s just possible that, when all issaid and done, George Gladir might just take that title away fromboth of them! Either way, George’s amazing ability to consistentlywrite funny scripts for several decades, whether for ArchiePublications or others, is a remarkable achievement. Personally, wethink George was also a horror-ble writer, as the following interviewwill demon-strate. (Please forgive the puns, George.) —Jim.]

GEORGE GLADIR: Archie’s Madhouse was originally supposed to bea take-off on Mad magazine. I didn’t originate the series, but came onboard as a writer with the sixth issue. Eventually, I got to do most of thewriting, which I did for quite a while. The monster pages were sporadicat first; there was a potpourri of subjects in each issue. I tried to coverthings that might interest our readers. Once Orlando Busino and Istarted doing the monster pages, we soon came up with the idea of doing

George Gladir meets Melisssa Joan Hart (TV’s Sabrina) at the LosAngeles Festival of Books, 2002—flanked by the first-ever appearanceof Sabrina in Archie’s Madhouse #22 (Oct. 1962) and the cover of Tales

Calculated to Drive You Bats (the full official title) #1 (Nov. 1961).“Sabrina” art by Dan DeCarlo; Bats art by Orlando Busino, whose

interview begins on p. 45. [Art ©2003 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Tales Calculated To Drive You BATS!

Brief Interviews with GEORGE GLADIR & ORLANDO BUSINO—Co-creators of Archie’s Horrific Humor Title (Or Was It Their Humorous Horror Title?)

Transcribed and Conducted by Jim Amash

42 George Gladir & Orlando Busino