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Home , Atlas Publications, Charles Sultan, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Monster Society of Evil, Morris Weiss, Otto Binder

’’Batty Com ics Fan zine The MARK OF (BOB) KANE! THE SECRET SAGA OF LLEEWW SSAAYYRREE SSCCHHWWAARRTTZZ $$5..955 ARTIST 1946-1953! IInn tthhee USSA No. 51 August 2005

--PLUS--

The Golden & Silver Ages of . s c i m o AUSTRALIAN C C D 5 0

SUPER-HEROES! 0 EXTRA: 2 © & M T n i b o R & n a m t a B ; z t r a

PLUS:: w h c S e r y a S w e L 5 0 0 2 © t r A Vol. 3, No. 51 / August 2005 ™ Editor Roy Thomas Associate Editors Jim Amash Design & Layout Christopher Day Consulting Editor John Morrow FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert Editors Emeritus Contents (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Writer/Editorial: The Mark of (Bob) Kane ...... 2 Batman, Dr. Strangelove , And Everything In Between ...... 3 Production Assistant Lew Sayre Schwartz tells Jon B. Cooke (and us) about his multi-media career. Eric Nolen-Weathington Shooting Stars ...... 31 Cover Artist The life and death of the original Australian industry, by Michael Baulderstone. Lew Sayre Schwartz Cover Colorist “He Left This Planet Too Soon To Go To Artists’ Heaven!” ...... 53 Tom Ziuko Dave Berg talks to Jim Amash about his days at Fawcett, Timely, Quality, and Mad . And Special Thanks to: Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: Remembering Will (Part Two) ...... 61 Michael T. Gilbert has more to say about the late great . Arthur Adler Jennifer Heidi Amash Hamerlinck Manuel Auad Bob Hughes “The Stuff Of Our Personal Nightmares” ...... 67 Master artist ’s further word on night, shadows, and mood in comics. Michael Larry Ivie Baulderstone Peter Jones Alberto Becattini Jeffrey Kipper Ed Furness: “A Witty, Multi-Talented Man” ...... 69 A brief tribute by Robert Pincombe to a top artist of Canada’s Golden Age of Comics. John Bell Henry J. Kujawa Dominic Bongo Jon Jensen A Talk With Writer, Educator, And Comics Fanatic Glen Johnson . . .71 Roy Bottorff, Jr. Glen Johnson Bill Schelly goes one-on-one with an All-Star from the Golden Age of Comic Fandom. Jerry K. Boyd Gary Brown Stephen Lipson re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] ...... 76 Carol Maund Stan Lee & Michael Uslan on that fabled 1961 golf game—and that’s just for starters! Arthur Brian K. Morris Chertowsky Kevin Patrick Bob Cherry Robert Pincombe FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America ) #110 ...... 83 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Jim Engel, Marc Swayze, , & C.C. Beck. Graeme Cliffe Dorothy Jon B. Cooke Schaffenberger On Our Cover: “Mea culpa!” Yeah, that’s Latin for “I’m guilty!”—and that’s what Ye Editor Howard Leroy Lew Sayre confesses re this issue’s cover. You may have noticed that, both in TwoMorrows titles and in other Davis Schwartz comics-related mags, A/E #51 was advertised with a cover showing Batman and attacked Dwight Decker David Studham in a -infested cave by (supposed) Native Americans. The source of that art was the splash of Craig Delich Marc Swayze “The Origin of the Bat-Cave!” from #205 (March 1954), which presumably Joe Desris Dann Thomas showcased the talents of this issue’s major interviewee, Lew Sayre Schwartz . Only thing is, Al Dellinges Steve Tice while the ish was in the final stages of preparation, Roy was suddenly seized by a fear that, since Jim Engel Alex Toth Lew was superceded as ’s personal Batman sometime in 1953 by Sheldon Shane Foley Michael Uslan Moldoff, the penciling might actually be Shelly’s, instead—as indeed was the case, he soon learned from art expert Craig Delich. Fortunately, a week or two earlier, Lew had mailed Roy a Ron Frantz Dr. Michael J. photocopy of a 1993 re-creation he’d done of the “Gorilla Boss” cover of Batman #75 (Feb.- Richard Furness Vassallo March 1953), so Roy and publisher John Morrow decided to bite the bullet and go to the extra Hames Ware trouble (and expense—sob!) of making it our cover, instead. You can read more about both Janet Gilbert Morris Weiss projected A/E covers on pp. 8 & 18. [Art ©2005 Lew Schwartz; Batman TM & ©2005 DC Comics.] Tom Gill Paul Wheelahan Don Glut Bill Wormstedt Above: A Lew Sayre Schwartz panel from p. 7 of our cover-featured story, “The Gorilla Boss of Andreas Gotham City!” Thanks to Bob Cherry for the scan. Inking by Charles Paris. [©2005 DC Comics.] Gottschlich Alter Ego TM is published monthly by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: [email protected]. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: This issue is dedicated to the memory of $8 ($10 Canada, $11.00 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $120 Canada, $132 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 Ed Furness & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. 2 writer /editorial The Mark Of (Bob) Kane

his issue underscores, about as clearly as anything could, the big draw for today’s comic fans or even to the nostalgically- or TT ofttimes frustration of putting out a magazine devoted to the historically-inclined, because, after all, in artistic stature he isn’t Golden and Silver Ages when one is determined not to slavishly generally considered to be in the same league with Will Eisner and John pander month after month to fans of the same tiny “A-list” of Buscema and and such. artists, writers, companies, and characters whose names they’ll recognize. Well, the hell with it. From the moment Artist editor Jon B. Cooke offered me the opportunity to run his interview with Lew Lew Sayre Schwartz, this issue’s major interviewee, is hardly a Schwartz in A/E , I was sold on the idea. After all, A/E ’s franchise is household name—even in those rather atypical households made up of primarily the hero-oriented comics of the 1940s through the mid-1970s. readers of comic books. My mission, if you want to call it that, is to put out a certain kind of magazine, not to try to figure out how to make that magazine sell the The reason is simple, yet paradoxical: Although he drew hundreds of maximum number of copies. I already did that for years, at places with pages of stories starring Batman and Robin between 1946 and 1953, a names like Marvel and DC. span of seven key years in the early life of one of the most famous fictional heroes of all time, he would never have been allowed to sign a Lew Schwartz—and, yes, Bob Kane—and, for that matter, the pre- single story, even if he’d wanted to. Instead, each splash page sported the Mad Dave Berg and Australian super-hero comics of the past and Otto name “Bob Kane”—and, while Kane apparently did contribute to many Binder and Marc Swayze and Canadian artist Ed Furness—all these of these tales, it was Schwartz who was their principal artist, as the people and things deserve your attention, and mine. Frankly, if and following interview will detail. (Schwartz went on to do a lot of good when the day comes that not enough readers are interested in this type non -comics work in TV and film and advertising, but though we’re of material, then ’twill be time to fold A/E ’s four-color tents and move pleased to cover it herein, that won’t draw readers to Alter Ego #51.) on to other endeavors. Thankfully, that day is not yet… and I hope it will never come…but I felt I needed to get the above feelings off my So I hope TwoMorrows and I can be forgiven—by the readers and chest. Thanks for indulging me. by Lew—for adding Kane’s name to this issue’s cover, since that name is well-known to comics readers and even, to a certain extent, to the And now, enjoy the interview with Lew—and all that follows! general public. Yet, another irony of the situation is that, according to our publisher, John Morrow, even Kane’s name may not necessarily be a Bestest, ™ CCOOMMIINNGG IINN SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR #52 A TERRIFIC TRIO: GIELLA, PIKE, & THALL! A Triptych Of Titanically Talented Golden/Silver Age Artists! • Brand-new color cover by JOE GIELLA , done especially for A/E ! • JOE GIELLA —legendary of 1960s , , & “New Look” Batman — and artist on the Batman, , , & Mary Worth comic strips—talks about the Silver Age at DC, the Golden Age at Marvel, JULIE SCHWARTZ , & lots more good stuff in a great JIM AMASH interview! Featuring rare & lavish art by , GIL KANE, MIKE SEKOWSKY, CURT SWAN, DICK DILLIN, SHELLY MOLDOFF, , DAN & , , et al.! • Artist JAY SCOTT PIKE on STAN LEE & the Timely/Marvel years ( Jann of the Jungle, Black Rider, Lorna the Jungle Girl, Kid Colt, & Cold War spy comics)—on Dolphin at DC—and on CHARLIE BIRO ’s Crimebuster ! • MARTIN THALL on drawing comics with ROSS ANDRU & MIKE ESPOSITO (Get Lost! ), GEORGE EVANS (Captain Video ), , SIMON & KIRBY, , CHARLES SULTAN, MAURICE WHITMAN, etc.! • FCA with MARC SWAYZE & the Fawcett/Charlton Connection —MICHAEL T. GILBERT on WILL EISNER (Part 3)— BILL SCHELLY with GLEN JOHNSON (Part 2)— & MORE!! omics.] racters TM & ©2005 DC C [Art ©2005 Joe Giella; cha Edited by ROY THOMAS SUBSCRIBE NOW! Twelve Issues in the US: $60 Standard, $96 First Class (Canada: $120, Elsewhere: $132 Surface, $180 Airmail). NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE SUB, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF! TwoMorrows. Bringing New Life To Comics Fandom. TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: [email protected] • www.twomorrows.com 3 Batman, Dr. Strangelove , And Everything In Between A Talk With LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ Interview Conducted by Jon B. Cooke Transcribed by Steve Tice

OTE: From 1946 to 1953, Lew Sayre Schwartz worked for Bob Kane, as “We Piled Into Mauldin’s Jeep” NN his ghost on the art to “Batman” JON B. COOKE: It’s the 18th of March, stories for DC Comics. But that 2003. Saddam Hussein has 24 hours to get was only one phase of a career in the arts out of town. that has spanned half a century. We’ll let Jon plunge right into the interview, which LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ: [laughs ] And was conducted more than two years ago, I wish we could turn around and say the with Lew’s wife Barbara present and same thing to George Bush: give him 24 occasionally adding her own perspective hours to get out of the White House. —-and we’ll learn about that eventful life at the same time you do. Oh, and unless JBC: We’ll see. Where were you born? otherwise noted, all art and photos were SCHWARTZ: I was born in New Bedford, supplied either by Lew, Jon, or —Roy. Massachusetts, on July 24, 1926, close to 77 years ago. I had one older sister, but she passed away a few years ago. Other than From “Batman” To “Sherlock” that, I have very little in the way of family. My mother and father got divorced when I was A recent photo of Lew Sayre Schwartz in his studio— above two quite variant examples of his artwork. (Left:) His pencil roughs for the action-packed splash of “The Penguin’s Fabulous Fowls!” in Batman #76 (April-May 1953). (Right:) Lew writes: “I did this series of ads [for Blue Streak products] for years .” This one appeared in the Jan. 1960 issue of Motor magazine. [Batman art ©2005 DC Comics; Blue Streak art ©2005 the respective copyright holders.] 4 A Talk With Lew Sayre Schwartz ten or 11 years old, and I grew up in not a great neighborhood in New Bedford. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good. Then I went to art school in New “When I Met Bob Kane…” Bedford. I’m not sure they’re still in operation; it was called the Swain SCHWARTZ: [cont’d ] In 1946, when I met Bob Kane, who hired me, at School. the time he said he and Will Eisner were doing this little baseball comic There I met a very interesting young man by the name of Rodney book project. Bob paid for it. I never saw a check from Eisner, and I just Dutcher, whose father had been an extremely well-known columnist for assumed what Bob said was accurate. It was called Dusty Diamond . But NEA. He was a Washington reporter, I guess. Anyway, Rod was the strip didn’t sell. We did both a strip and a comic book. However, enormously talented. This was a kid who was reading Nietzsche when two or three years later, Eisner came out with his own baseball comic, he was 12. When I thought was a fantastic artist—I still do, with a character named Rube Rookie, quite similar to Dusty Diamond , by the way, in his own way—Rod was already looking at Terry and the without a doubt. So that reaffirmed what Kane had said to me, at least in H Pirates , and he really got me into Milt Caniff and, subsequently, Noel my own mind. 2 years ago, Will Murray queried Eisner, who said, “I Sickles and (who was a spin-off of Ben Shahn). would remember very clearly: I never did a damned thing with Bob Really, the relationship fed itself, because we loved the same things. He Kane.” Now, at that point, I hadn’t met Eisner. My first meeting with certainly helped me develop an appreciation for things I might not have him was about two years ago, when he was a guest speaker in gotten to for another four or five years. I was 13, he was 12, at that time. Connecticut, at an NCS dinner.

Anyway, he was the guy who went to New York with me—in fall of JBC: You were there? I was there, too! 1946, or something like that—when Caniff invited me to come to the SCHWARTZ: Were you really? In fact, I have a little videotape I shot. National Society dinner. That was the eventful night where But at any event, I was so thrilled, I acted like a jerk with Eisner. we wound up shooting pool with [editorial ] Bill Mauldin [laughs ] It’s funny, but even when you get as old as I am, you can meet until 2:00 in the morning. Mauldin offered us a ride home in his jeep. We someone from your past whom you’ve always looked to as a hero, and it were grateful, because it was late, thus hard to get a cab, so we piled in. becomes such a dumb, “gee-whiz” conversation. I had a much more None of us are feeling any pain, and Mauldin takes off down 5th comfortable dialogue with him at the comic con, where I could settle in Avenue, against the traffic, and there was enough traffic to make it quite and talk to him like a human being. But Eisner, right or wrong, does not an exciting ride. He went from the Illustrators Club on 63rd Street all remember any project, though there certainly are great similarities. the way down to 34th Street, to the old Prince George Hotel. Mauldin goes down to 34th Street, hangs a right at the hotel, and drives the jeep I go back to the business with Jerry Robinson and Bob Kane about up onto the sidewalk, up the steps to the hotel, and tries to get the jeep the origin of The . I love Jerry. I think I once owned a page of the in the revolving door. That’s when we got out. [ laughter ] first Joker story. Of a certainty, Jerry lettered it—it looks like his work—and maybe he even inked it. But the drawing was pure Kane. JBC: Did you know Bill Mauldin well? Kane drew arms coming out of the hip half the time, and there it was. SCHWARTZ: Not at all. Just from that one night. It was the last time I But that doesn’t diminish the fact that Jerry, being a very bright guy, ever saw him, as a matter of fact. That afternoon, he told us, he had could have contributed or solidified the whole idea of The Joker. He ripped out something like 15,000 dedication pages inscribed to his tells the story about bringing in the playing cards, etc., but we also have wife—printed pages in his latest book—because he found out she had to consider in that character’s creation. [ NOTE: See Jerry cheated on him while he was overseas. So that was the Mauldin story. Robinson interview in A/E #39. ]

They had a dinner out in California for Mauldin some years ago, and Anyway, Kane gave so damn little credit to Bill Finger over the years, I had told this story to Ed McGeehan, the editor of CAPS magazine. So and only reneged and confessed that he should have done more for Bill Ed approached Mauldin, related my tale, and Mauldin said, “Well, I than he did not long before he [Kane] died. The more I think about Bob, don’t really remember it, but it sure as hell sounds like me.” it saddens me. Because he became successful as a kid. He was ten years older than I, but the facts are that, in spite of the fame and the money

“Tinkers To Evers To Chance” ( Er , We Mean “Kane To Schwartz To Eisner”!) Lew tells of working on a baseball feature called Dusty Diamond with Bob Kane, who told him that Will Eisner was also involved—though Eisner later insisted he “never did a damned thing with Bob Kane.” In his magazine Egomania , comics artist Eddie Campbell ( From Hell , etc.) reprinted this strip which he says “was produced for Eisner’s Tab – The Comic Weekly , of which only one issue was ever published, in 1947. Dusty Diamond presumably evolved into Rube Rookie by way of Fireball Bambino . I asked Will about this but remain none the wiser.” Neither are we—but note that the strip is signed at right by both Bob Kane—and “Lew Sayre.” [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] Batman, Dr. Strangelove , And Everything In Between 5

SCHWARTZ: Yes. I was being transferred to a battleship from the aircraft carrier I had landed on, and we went into the Dominican Republic, allegedly to rescue some Americans, because there were a whole bunch of dissenting Dominicans who had trained in Cuba. Maybe a hundred of them. I hitched a ride on one of the planes.

I watched this little, unbelievable thing: one hundred guys coming out of these LCIs [Landing Craft Infantry] running up on the shore; half of them are only carrying machetes. I’d say maybe 20 of them got shot down, the rest disappeared into the jungle. [ laughs ] That was the end of the invasion of the Dominican Republic. I’ve never read anything about it, but I was on a Naval Reserve cruise here, which is what this is all about. The Joker Is Wild I was working for Rod Willard Lew Sayre Schwartz’s (officially Bob Kane’s) splashes for two famous Joker stories. On the left, from Batman #53 (June-July 1949)—on the right, from on Scorchy Smith and came home the tale in Detective Comics #168 (Feb. 1951) that belatedly turned out to be for the weekend. I got off the bus The Joker’s long-delayed origin. The latter art was also used as the issue’s and was walking home. A buddy cover—one of the relatively few Schwartz covers. Almost all covers featuring of mine picked me up, said, “Do you want me to take you home?” I Lew’s work were splashes which were pressed into double duty. Inks said, “Yeah, that’d be great. Where are we going, Bernie?” He said, by Charles Paris & , respectively, and the writer of Detective “Well, I’m going down to the Naval Reserve office to look into this #168 was Batman’s (and The Joker’s) co-creator, Bill Finger—with thanks cruise they’ve got to Scandinavia.” So by a strange twist of fate, when to Craig Delich & Joe Desris for numerous IDs in this piece. The writer of my friend and I walked into the recruiting office, there were two guys: a the “Hairpin” story is unknown. [©2005 DC Comics.] boatswain’s mate with all the hash marks, who was running the place, and everything else, it only made him more and and there was a full Navy commander. more insecure, because he couldn’t give credit to Well, my friend Bernie had been an aerial anybody. photographer, and he flew over Iwo Jima, I remember in 1992 or ’93, the last time I Guadalcanal, all those places. I had a much more spoke to him, he’d finally got a publisher for reserved kind of career in the Navy, although I Batman & Me , and I said, “Bob, sign a copy and spent 90 days flying in the belly of a TPF, which send it to me.” Then dead silence. I said, “Don’t is not the best duty in the world. But I had a you want to send me a copy?” He said, “Well, specialist X rating, which is a journalist. Bernie I’ll send you a copy, but… you’re not in the had a photographer’s rating. book.” I said, “Look, Bob—I only worked for So the commander is standing there listening you for seven years, so it’s perfectly under - to us, comes over and says, “Listen, we could standable you could forget seven years. Besides use you guys on the admiral’s staff.” Bernie was that, I had another career and it doesn’t matter to an expert on color photography; this is 1947. me. But I wonder who else you forgot in the The fact I was a cartoonist, they all loved that. book.” But credit doesn’t mean anything to me, So he said, “Sign on, I’ll make all the arrange - to be quite honest with you. I mean, I’ve gone on ments for you, and you’ll be on the flagship, on to another life, another existence. the admiral’s staff.” Well, that turned into a B- movie I won’t bless you with here. [ laughs ] But “You’ll Be On The if you can imagine, the following week, all our friends threw a big farewell Flagship” “Batman & Me—And Several Other People I Don’t Mention” party, gave us some luggage, etc. Bob Kane’s 1989 autobiography Batman & Me is, in many ways, a dishonest book, We go down to Norfolk to SCHWARTZ: [cont’d, pointing starting with the fact that there’s probably as much Jerry Robinson and even sign up to go on the carrier, and to photo ] This is me in 1947. I’m George Roussos in the Batman figure on the cover as there is of Kane. Any claims they signed us onto the wrong in “The Chair.” [ NOTE: See made in the book by Kane (through his surprisingly-acknowledged co-writer Tom ship. So they put us on a next page. ] Andrae) must be taken with a ton of salt. Maybe it’s just as well that there’s no index, since names like “Schwartz, Lew” and “Moldoff, Sheldon” wouldn’t show battlewagon. I can’t even JBC: Wow! Is that a destroyer? up in it. Even so, the book is worth having for the combination of a few unalloyed remember the name of it now, facts and its monumental chutzpah . [Batman ©& TM 2005 DC Comics.] but to make a long story short, 6 A Talk With Lew Sayre Schw we come aboard wearing civvies. Everybody else was in uniform because they had signed up for this thing earlier. In those days, I was wearing brown-&-white saddle shoes. Well, the next morning, they line up 2,000 guys at 5:30, 6:30 in the morning, for inspection… and there’s one pair of brown-&- white saddle shoes. We were on the wrong damn ship. [ Jon laughs ] They wanted to get at us Lew In “The Chair”—& Batman On A Rope Ladder! because they claimed we Sailor Lew being transferred from one ship to another on a were impersonating Midshipmen’s Cruise, 1947—plus his semi-finished pencils for officers to begin with. It a nicely-designed “Batman” splash. [Art ©2005 DC Comics.] was hell.

By the way, this was 1947, when the Russians were beginning to crack knuckles. This was a “goodwill” mission with two Essex-class carriers, four battlewagons, and eight destroyers. It looked like an armada from World War III, you know? And away we went. Well, when we got to Annapolis to pick up the midshipmen, Bernie and I managed to get ashore. I called the commander, and he said, “You guys are on the wrong ship!” So he called the PR guy at the Naval Academy and got us transferred just in the nick of time. They’d have killed us. [ Jon laughs ] he was a patriot. But what is very, very interesting is the fact that, when They hated the Reservists to begin with. There was always a breach you read this piece, it’s Caniff’s overview of any war. And it’s completely between regular Army and the Army Reserve, regular Navy and perpendicular to everything you may have thought about Caniff. Reserve. They didn’t look at you as being “real Navy” guys or “real Army” guys. I’m sure that condition exists right to now. “Comic Books Were Comic Books” By the way, speaking about the Armed Forces, I have a clipping I came upon from a 1964 or ’65 write-up that did. It will JBC: I was very impressed with the documentaries you produced on surprise you, because you’re well aware that Caniff became a hawk and Caniff. during Vietnam—he was always supporting the military, but he was wrong and we lost that war. I was with Milton very often in those last SCHWARTZ: Well, they were labors of love. I paid for the Caniff film years, and it was with my own money. [ laughs ] I owed him, because Milt taught me so painful to see. much, and basically was a good guy. I can only think of one instance in Anyway, he hurt the whole relationship that shocked me a little bit. It had to do with the bad. He thought fact that I could have gotten Canyon back on television very easily. You know how popular [the military TV drama] JAG is today? Well, I had the right people in California who wanted to do .

Good old Toni Mendez, Caniff’s agent, was not part of the deal. I got Cliff Robertson and Milton together. At that time, Robertson would have made a great Steve Canyon . Mendez screwed the whole deal. The Mirish Brothers had an option, and she immediately called them and killed the whole thing. [ shuffling through papers ] Does that Cronkite & Caniff look familiar to you? (Above:) Lew with CBS newsman/anchor Walter Cronkite. In the magazine VideoPro , this photo is JBC: That’s it! “Gorilla”! [laughs] captioned: “Video Information Applications president [NOTE: Lew and Jon are referring to Lew Schwartz directing Cronkite’s introduction of a the much-remembered story “The Gorilla video profile on Milton Caniff.” Lew stated in a recent Boss of Gotham City!” in Batman #75 fax to Ye Editor: “Cronkite was notorious for editing (Feb.-March 1953). See pp. 8-9. —Roy. ] everyone and didn’t change one word of his intro (or end) of the Caniff profile. I was very flattered.” SCHWARTZ: This is one of my favorite (Right:) The cover and spine of the Milton Caniff: A 75th splashes. I love that one. Birthday Tribute video filmed and produced by Schwartz. [Art ©2005 the respective copyright holders.] JBC: When you were a kid, did you read 31 Shooting Stars The Birth, Life, And Death Of The Original Australian Comics Industry by Michael Baulderstone

In With The Old —In With The New! (Left:) As Michael Baulderstone relates, Australian comics in post-World War II days were divided between U.S. reprints and down-under originals. Like many of the former, Century – the 100 Page Comic Monthly #8 of the local publishing industry, but this did boasted a new, home-grown cover—and looked like a A Local Vacuum (1900-1940) not really include comics, as there was very meeting of the All-Star Squadron! Here, DC heroes , Batman, Robin, Green , Speedy, and little local product at the time. The act was magine if the government banned all of also designed to conserve the country’s your favorite comic books and they hail the reader. One problem with assigning dates to these Australian comics is that they often contain stocks of US currency, which were needed II disappeared off the shelves. Imagine no year-dates whatever, though this one was probably for other wartime purchases and to protect what might spring up in their place! published during the mid-1950s, since Johnny Q.’s last the scarce supply of paper available for Imagine you are a publisher and all of the Golden Age US appearance occurred in 1954. Thanks to printing. competition suddenly disappears … imagine David Studham. [Art ©2005 the respective copyright the possibilities. holders; heroes TM & ©2005 DC Comics.] By July 1940 all American magazines (Right:) The Panther , one of the best of the all-original had disappeared from the shelves, leaving a This was no totalitarian censorship efforts, was written and drawn by Paul Wheelahan. But heartbroken nation of comic readers. Local fantasy, but the birth, boom, and bust of the again—no precise dates! From Ye Editor’s personal publishers of newspapers, books, and Australian comics industry. collection. [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] magazines suddenly recognized the oppor - Comics first appeared in Australia in the tunity and responded with a flurry of early part of the 20th century, at a time when the country still felt a activity. A sudden deluge of locally-created strong attachment to the mother land of England. Thus the early comics filled the newsstands. The new Australian publications were Australian comics appeared in boys’ papers in the tradition of their immediately noticeably different from their American predecessors established English counterparts. The small tabloid-sized papers particularly in their lack of internal color. All but a very few of the contained text stories, jokes, and competitions as well as comics. The books of the period would be published in black-&-white. short-lived Vumps (1908) may qualify as the first original Australian What now seems a multitude of publishers entered the comic field; comic. Frank Johnston Publications, Offset Printing Co., Larry S. Cleland, At this time there were no restrictions on the importation of US NSW Bookstall, and Henry Hoffman all experienced periods of comic books, and all of the major titles from the burgeoning US intensive productivity. Others such as Invincible Press, KG Murray, and industry were highly popular in Australia. By the late 1930s a few local Atlas Publications jumped in after the war. The boom time was a bonus publishers had tried to produce original Australian comics but could not for creators, too. At one time Henry Hoffman of Adelaide was paying compete with the volume and comparatively slick production of the US its key artist Doug Maxted a rate of 4 pounds 10 shillings a page—then product. The relatively small population of Australia could not provide the equivalent of the weekly wage. the print run necessary to sustain such competition. Aside from compi - Unlike the US with its production shops such as Lloyd Jacquet, lation annuals of popular newspaper strips like Ginger Meggs and Fatty Harry “A” Chesler, or the Iger-Eisner studio, Australia had no estab - Finn , in essence there was no Australian comics industry in existence at lished tradition of comic creation. Lacking this existing structure, the the time. For local artists and writers, this was a vacuum waiting to be new Australian industry took on a very different approach. A few filled. creative teams were formed, but in many cases one person had responsi - bility for all aspects of a given book: creation, story, art, and lettering. A Captive Market (1940-1945) This led to distinctive products from each of the different companies, with certain individuals responsible for the look of a particular publisher. The situation changed with the advent of World War II, when comics In some ways this resembles today’s small creator-controlled lines. in Australia were given an unexpected boost due to the homeland politics of war. In 1940 the government evoked the Australian Industries As production boomed, titles multiplied, and schedules tightened, the Preservation Act, which banned the importation of all US publications. necessary innovations began to develop. Alf Headley of Frank Johnston This law, a major act of tariff protectionism, was prompted by several Publications favored a system where the artist would come directly to perceived necessities. Predominantly it was intended for the preservation his office delivering the current issue’s pages. Alf would read through 32 The Birth, Life, And Death Of The Original Australian Comics Industry

The Doctor Is Out— Way Out! “Dr. Mensana… has a worthy claim as Australia’s first super-powered hero .” This cover of an issue of Dr Mensana , with art by “Hub,” was featured in both the standard books about Oz comics: John Ryan’s 1979 Panel by Panel: A History of Australian Comics and Bonzer: Australian Comics 1900s-1990s , edited by Anette Shiell for the National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University. (Minor grammatical point: like the British, the Australians generally do not put a period after abbreviations such as “Dr” and “Mr” when placed before proper names.) [©2005 the respective copyright holders.]

living through chemistry, Mensana would swallow an S+ pill when he needed extra strength, causing his body to swell up to Herculean proportions. Similarly, a M+ pill caused the Doc`s head to swell up ridiculously, giving him telepathic powers. Clearly, Hubble’s tongue was firmly in his cheek when he wrote Dr. Mensana : he even provided his hero with elastic-sided underwear to accommodate his growth spurts. It must be noted that the early creators had no background or tradition in Diamonds Are Forever! the use of sequential comic art. Many came from a cartooning If the hero Spy Breaker looks familiar on the cover background and were more comfortable with a humorous depiction than of Koala Komics #6—ever hear of ? a realistic one. Hubble is typical of this grouping, and Dr. Mensana is Wonder if knew about this…!? notable for its somewhat awkward wordiness and cartoonesque [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] approach. Still, it has a worthy claim as Australia’s first super-powered hero. these and confer with the artist, then immediately type up a synopsis for next issue. The artist would then take it off to break down and provide Typical of the early cartoon style was Kokey Coala and His Magic dialogue. This approach is very reminiscent of the “Marvel method” Button by Noel Cook. A mighty, magical marsupial, Kokey must count developed 20 years later by Stan Lee. as Australia’s most indigenous hero. The little Koala possessed a magic Without any competition in the market place, the previously low print runs of Australian publications boomed into high numbers. Another wartime restriction shaped the nature of the early comics: the restrictions on paper use meant that no continuing titles were allowed to be published. Thus, the Australian comics of the early1940s were all one-shots with exclamatory titles like Amazing, Slick, Victory, Champion, Triumph, Real, Zip, and Zoom . In these ostensible one-shots, stories would still carry over from issue to issue, despite the change of cover title. This made following stories difficult for readers of the day and a major headache for the modern collector.

The early comics featured very few of the super-heroes so popular in the United States at the time. Instead, they tended to focus on real-life heroes, outback adven - turers such as “Trent of the Territory,” reporters like “The Strata Rocketeers,” bushrangers like “Ben Barbary,” or detec - tives like “Dick Weston.” It Goes With The Territory Although most of the comics had a true- Trent of the Territory Australian had a true national flavor, compared to many later life background, a few early super-types did comic books. “Trent” also appeared in the intriguingly-named Cooee Comics . This image, like numerous others appear—such as Dr. Mensana by Tom in this article, was reprinted in Bonzer , the comics-history book named after an early Australian . Hubble (1941). A fine example of better [©2005 the respective copyright holders.] 53 “He Left This Planet Too Soon To Go To Artists’ Heaven!” Quality/Fawcett/Timely/ Mad Writer/Artist DAVE BERG In His Own Words Interview Conducted, Transcribed, and Edited by Jim Amash ave Berg spoke the words of the main title above D about the great , but they could just as D truly be said about Dave himself, who passed away in 2002. He was one of a handful of comic book artists who parlayed his talent into a recog - nizable style that made him famous. His views of the irony of life and of the “Lighter Side” of things enter - tained Mad magazine readers for generations. Since his comic book career is less well-known, Dave focused in this interview on that, and on his military career. This interview was conducted by mail because of Dave’s ill health at the time, but was followed up by a brief phone interview. In order to keep the style consistent, I’ve combined both the written and spoken material and eliminated my own questions, keeping the spotlight on a man whose work never failed to please. Dave, the floor is yours—just like it was in Mad for nearly half a century! —Jim.

“Will Eisner [Finding] Out I Could Write… Changed My Life” While still in art school, in 1941, I got a job with Will Eisner, doing backgrounds. Other artists there were Bob Powell, Tex Blaisdell, Chop Mazzus [Chuck Mazoujian], , and Chuck Cuidera, among others. Dave Berg And His Working for Eisner was an inspiration. He was more like a teacher. It Dave Berg in his later years—and a primo page from Quality’s Uncle Sam #1 would surprise you to know that I was paid about $25 or $30 a week. It (Fall 1941), on which Dave says he did most of the artwork for and with Will was the end of the Depression. My job before that only paid $15 a week; Eisner. Thanks to Al Dellinges for finding the Berg photo in an old issue of I also went to art school at night. A year later, at Fawcett (I did “Captain the magazine Reminisce . [Uncle Sam comic hero TM & ©2005 DC Comics.] Marvel” for them), I was earning over $100 a week. For a little while, I worked for Ed Cronin at Hillman. He was a My original assignment involved doing backgrounds for the Spirit gentleman. feature. Will accidentally found out I could write, which changed my life. He gave me a story to illustrate and I told him it wasn’t very good. Will asked me if I could re-write it. I said I’d try. When Eisner read what “I Volunteered… But Was Still Drafted” I had written, he said, “You’re a writer!” I volunteered for the service, but was still drafted by my draft board. I wrote and drew “Death Patrol” [in Quality’s Military Comics ], and In the [Army] Air Force, I was sent for special education to Edgewood later wrote and penciled the first issue of Uncle Sam . That made me feel Arsenal (Chemical Warfare). I was given a studio where I turned out so proud; the rest of the staff cheered me on. On my first publication, I pamphlets and posters. One very special assignment sticks out in my received fan mail. The Eisner studio at Tudor City was overcrowded, so mind... a new radio was invented for shot-down pilots. It was my job to Will rented another space and sent me there. I didn’t like it, and that’s choose the color. I got a block of wood, penciled the shape (which was when I transferred to . an hourglass), then brought it to the camp woodworking shop, where a German P.O.W. cut it out for me. Did you know the U.S. paid these I met Jack Cole one time when he came to tell Eisner that he was P.O.W.s who did a job? going into a new line of art, and leaving comic books. He had been doing . I painted it a bright yellow. They threw it into the Chesapeake Bay. An airplane flew overhead and spotted it; so the correct color was Lou Fine had a studio in the same building as Eisner. Lou was one of chosen. It was manufactured and distributed to all airplanes. It was the best artists I ever knew, and a kind gentleman. He left this planet too called the Gibson Girl, after the artist who drew hour-glass figures on soon to go to artists’ heaven. beautiful women. 54 Dave Berg In His Own Words

I also made a comic book to teach chemical warfare, but I was sent overseas and a civilian outfit took it over.

I have a dark secret and confession to make. In my Mad cartoons, I often satirize gun nuts. Yet, while in the Air Force, I was the champion marksman of Charleston Army Air Base. I had competed with thousands of other airmen. I did it using a carbine, but when I went overseas, they handed me a submachine gun—a weapon you can’t aim. You point it in a general direction, pull the trigger, and it sprays a wide area.

In the Pacific, a Japanese sub attacked our troop ship. There was a powerful battle; we finally sank the sub. On Iwo Jima, we landed under sniper fire. Air raids were our biggest danger. Our P-47 pilots found take-off and landing their biggest problem. I painted various insignias on the cowlings of the fighter planes.

When the war ended, I was sent as a war correspondent to Japan. That was the most exciting thing that happened to me in the war. As a section chief, I was in charge of 15 or 100 men, depending upon the situation. My biggest job was supplying water for 500 men; there was no water on Iwo Jima. The Japanese lost 21,000 soldiers on this ugly little

From Fists To Fraternization (Below:) Sgt. Berg (as artist) and Pfc. Adler (as writer) produced the mimeographed military publication Fighter Post as “a joint venture” during the early days of the Occupation of Japan, according to Arthur Adler. A bio in that issue said that, “Sgt. Berg, incidentally, in civil life was the creator of several comic strips.” Though this isn’t quite accurate, it probably referred to Berg’s pre-Army art for Fawcett, so below left, repeated from A/E V3#6, is the cover attributed to him for Captain Marvel Adventures #14 (Aug. 1942). When The Shooting Stops There’s a startling contrast between the post-Pearl Harbor jingoism of 1941- The above pencil drawing was also done by Dave for Reminisce a few years 42 and art drawn only a week or so after the Japanese signed the surrender ago, and reflects Berg’s days in uniform in World War II, which were also document aboard the US battleship Missouri in Tokyo Harbor. When Dave covered in Alter Ego #7. The “Private Adler” mentioned is the same Arthur drew and labeled his sketches of life in Japan, of course, the unfortunate Adler whose interview about his postwar comic book writing career appeared nigh-universal epithet “Jap” was still in use, alas—but things would soon in A/E #44. Thanks to Al Dellinges. [Art & text ©2005 Estate of Dave Berg.] get much friendlier, and the Fighter Post cover illustrates the swift change in attitudes. Special thanks to Arthur Adler. [Capt. Marvel art ©2005 DC Comics; 1945 art ©2005 Estate of Dave Berg.] Dreams Of Milk And Honey… began corresponding with Will Eisner in 1978. I was living in the Bay Area and drawing comics for underground and groundlevel II titles like Slow Death , Star*Reach , and Quack! , which featured Michael T. Gilbert (left) and Will Eisner at Will’s my first series “The Wraith,” a funny animal Spirit parody. Florida studio in 2001. Quack! lasted six issues. Afterwards, I mailed copies to Will, who sent me a very encouraging letter in return. Will’s approval meant a lot to me as I struggled to build a comic book career.

As it turned out, I’d contacted him at a turning point in his own career.

After retiring the Spirit newspaper strip in 1952, Eisner had enjoyed of all an example of the kind of innovation and striving that is great success producing educational comics for the military and other moving sequential art … out of the primordial swamp in which clients. But the urge to tell more personal stories again had been comic books have so long wallowed. ” Whew! High praise, indeed! I bubbling for years. In 1978 the pot finally boiled over, and in October didn’t know it at the time, but I’d accidentally hit upon a theme near he produced A Contract With God , sometimes called the first modern and dear to him. graphic novel. The book actually consisted of four separate stories Ever the teacher, Will added some constructive criticism to his note: exploring Judaism and the meaning of life. “I have but one major critique: In future efforts I hope you will By coincidence I’d also been working on a story with a Jewish theme attempt a more disciplined ratio between art and text. I feel that the for Imagine , another Star*Reach title. At 32 densely-packed pages, “ A text in some areas overwhelms the art and in some areas the art Dream of Milk and Honey ” was my most ambitious story to date. It obscures the text. There should be, I believe, a very carefully described a group of Jewish settlers in the future, searching for a new orchestrated balance between the two. ” homeland in space after Israel is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. The Solid advice. I may have missed taking Will’s cartooning class in the first part of my story came out a month after Will’s book. I sent him a early ’70s, but his comments were a pretty nice consolation prize. And copy, along with my comments on his own project. if praise from Will Eisner wasn’t enough, another dream of mine was To my delight, I got another note from Will, which said in part… fulfilled two years later when I finally got to draw The Spirit! “Congratulations! Your story ‘A Dream of Milk and Honey’ is most Comic Fandom Archive 71 A Talk With Writer, Educator, & Comics Fanatic GLEN JOHNSON by Bill Schelly Glen Johnson—Comic Reader! This photo of Glen Johnson, looking urbane with his pipe, appeared in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #8 in 1965. At around the same time, Glen was editing and publishing the newszine The Comic Reader —for which fandom artist Biljo White did the drawing at right of Pete Morisi’s Charlton hero, Judo Master. [Art ©2005 Estate of Biljo White; Judo Master TM & ©2005 DC Comics.]

JOHNSON: Never. I was a Part One terrible writer. In fact, I would say ntroduction: In the scene in the early 1960s, there were that wanting to write about comic a number of talented artists who added the visual components to books really inspired me to become IIbreak up the text—but what about the text itself? This interview a somewhat better writer. Until I with article-writer par excellence Glen D. Johnson signals an became interested in comics, I attempt to provide some parity to those selfless scribes whose words never had much interest in filled the pages. I had been in touch with Glen when I was reading. For example, I had never researching fandom history in the early 1990s, and always wanted to read an Edgar Rice Burroughs talk to him at greater length. So I was delighted to be able to chat book until I became interested with him by phone on January 16, 2005. This long-overdue interview in comics. Once I became inter - was transcribed by Brian K. Morris, and edited to final form by my ested in comics, I got the friend and colleague Jeffrey Kipper. complete Burroughs series and read those. But that was much later, I think, than most people read those. I was probably between 24 and 27. BILL SCHELLY: I was reading some of your past letters and pieces in some old , and noticed you referred to yourself once as “one BS: It seems that you’re a little different than most, in that your real of the older fans in the ’60s,” as opposed to the younger fans. But you fire for comics came after you became an adult. were only 27 in 1964. When and where were you born? JOHNSON: Right. When I was working on the railroad in ’56, I was a GLEN JOHNSON: I was born in Mackintosh, Minnesota, March 20, relief clerk. This was around the time #4 with The Flash came 1937. I’m the oldest of nine, quite a clan. My dad was a construction out. I would be working away from home, and I’d go to the dime store worker. He died when I was in my late teens. I grew up in Superior, to buy the current Showcase , for example. After I would read it, I would Wisconsin, and went to college at University of Wisconsin there. When I leave it in a park on a bench so some little kid could come along and get went to college, [ chuckles ] I had no idea what I was going to do or be. I some benefit from it. I enjoyed it, but I never even thought about ended up with a major in Education and a minor in P.E. I played football collecting until later. in high school and starred on the team my senior year. I was somewhat That began to change after I discovered comics fandom in the early athletic. ’60s. Jerry Bails had a letter printed in an early Brave and the Bold BS: What were the first comics that you were aware of? [“ of America”] comic, and he stated he had a complete collection of All-Star Comics . I wrote him and asked if he could send JOHNSON: I vividly remember buying All-Star Comics #36, the issue me his complete All-Star collection so I could read it and I’d return it to that guest-starred Superman and Batman with the Justice Society. I had him. [ laughs ] I was a bit naïve. bought comics before that, but I don’t remember any as distinctly as I remember buying that one, bringing it home, and reading it. So, I started BS: How did he respond? following All-Star . Since this started when I was very young, it went JOHNSON: He sent me a copy of Alter-Ego #2. deeply with me. BS: I see this connects up, because I have in front of me a letter that BS: How did your comics interests develop over time? Were you you wrote to Jerry on Sept. 19, 1961. He sent it to me some time ago. buying them for yourself or were your parents buying them for you? Were you working for the railroad at that time? JOHNSON: I bought them for myself and, in my neighborhood, we JOHNSON: Yes, and going to college. So, my correspondence with traded a lot. We kids would try to get the most out of our dime. When I Jerry started after Alter-Ego #2. When he sent it to me, it came with a was a kid, I was just a casual collector. I only became heavily involved in letter. When I received that Alter-Ego , I saw The Spectre on the cover collecting and fandom as an adult. I started out mainly as a super-hero and I just flipped out. I was able to remember him from my childhood. fan, and of cowboys to a lesser degree. Westerns were a big trend in the Soon after that I ordered All-Star Comics #15 and 18 from Bill Thailing. late 1940s. But I was always more interested in Western movies than the I didn’t order a lot of old comics because I couldn’t afford them, but . those were the first two. “JSA” has always been my main interest. It BS: Did you write much when you were a kid? branched out from there. BS: That certainly explains your writing for Alter Ego when Roy was No. 110 August 2005

The by Jim Engel [Art ©2005 Jim Engel; characters TM & ©2005 DC Comics.] 84

I don’t know where Ed Robbins was staying at the time, but I must have been at the Dixie Hotel … because it was in that vicinity that I was later stopped by a couple of M.P.s … Military Police. There followed a series of stupid, I thought, questions during which I made the mistake of smarting off. I don’t know why I did things like that!

“How long you been in the Service?” I was asked.

“How long you been?” I countered. I felt I had the right. He had asked me that! By “Five years,” he answered, squaring his shoulders proudly. (c[A) mrdt s& logo ©2005 Marc Swayze; Captain Marvel © && T TMM 22000055 DDCC CCoommiiccss] ] “Five years!” I responded. “And still only a Corporal?” That didn’t [FCA EDITORS NOTE: From 1941-53, Marcus D. Swayze was a help matters a bit. top artist for Fawcett Publications. The very first character sketches came from Marc’s drawing table, and he illustrated Details of the discharge process were such that the official document her earliest adventures, including the classic origin story, “Captain accompanied the application for military pay due the serviceman. It Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel ( Captain Marvel Adventures #18, meant that for several weeks following discharge, the individual carried Dec. ’42); but he was primarily hired by Fawcett Publications to illus - at best only a photostatic copy of the original. To minimize the text here, trate Captain Marvel stories and covers for and I was standing before the M.P. on 42nd Street at some weird A.M. hour, Captain Marvel Adventures . He also wrote many Captain Marvel in uniform, with no pass, no furlough, and no official discharge papers. scripts, and continued to do so while in the military. After leaving the Not good. service in 1944, he made an arrangement with Fawcett to produce art and stories for them on a freelance basis out of his Louisiana home. “Hey, look at this!” the M.P. called to his companion. “A phony There he created both art and story for The in Wow discharge! We’ve got one here!” Comics , in addition to drawing the Flyin’ Jenny newspaper strip for With that we began our march up the street. Bell Syndicate (created by his friend and mentor Russell Keaton). After the cancellation of Wow , Swayze produced artwork for On the way to wherever we were going, we were joined by another Fawcett’s top-selling line of romance comics, including pair of M.P.s with several more innocent fun-lovers in uniform. and Life Story . After the company ceased publishing comics, Marc moved over to Charlton Publications, where he ended his comics When we reached our destination … that place! I’ll never forget that career in the mid-’50s. Marc’s ongoing professional memoirs have place! Something like an oversized second floor Manhattan apartment … been FCA ’s most popular feature since his first column appeared in done over in contemporary hoosegow! At one end were two cluttered FCA #54, 1996. Last issue Marc recalled some of the art techniques he tables behind which sat a couple of weary-looking lieutenants … busy used while working on Flyin’ Jenny with Russell Keaton. In this questioning a long line of unkempt G.I.s, one by one. issue, he tells of a time when Captain Marvel got him out of a jam! At the other end … hold on for this … chain link fencing stretched —P.C. Hamerlinck. ] from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Behind it … oh, those poor, dismal guys! I did not want to be in that cage … ever! A Fawcett decision in 1941 that all Captain Marvel art be prepared From my place in the line I began a mental list of those who could be “in house” led to the employment of Chic Stone, Ray Harford, and Bob called to identify me. But I didn’t know where the people with whom I Boyajian. They were followed by Al Fagaly and Ed Robbins. worked lived! The “list” rapidly dwindled to my father back home … Both Fagaly and Robbins can be remembered as having gone on to 1500 miles away! And what could Papa tell them … that I had been a greater fame with syndicated newspaper features … Al with writer good little boy? I had to it … there wasn’t a soul I could call to get Harry Shorten on There Ought to be a Law! and Ed with Mickey me out of this! Spillane’s Mike Hammer .

I don’t recall seeing Al Fagaly much after that period … but I do remember Ed Robbins … and one particular evening in 1944!

It couldn’t have been more than a week or so after my discharge. I was still in uniform. So was Ed. We were on our way to visit an artist friend, Al McLean, over on the eastern side of Manhattan. On the route we stopped at a couple of places, a bottle shop and a deli.

McLean was doing a newspaper strip featuring a little girl character called Patsy . When we arrived he put it aside as we unloaded our goodies. In a short time some cordial neighbors showed Captain Marvel saves the day, in a Swayze-drawn panel from “Capt. Marvel Gets The Heir,” up, a guitar was brought in … and we had a grand in Captain Marvel Adventures #40 (Oct. 1944)…the same year Cap got Marc Swayze himself old evening. out of a mess! [©2005 DC Comics.] 86 From Fiction To Factual Fantasy by Otto O. Binder Edited for FCA by P.C. Hamerlinck

he following essay—written by chief Golden Age Captain TTMarvel/ scribe Otto Binder—gives an overview of Otto’s staggering output during his comic book career. The piece was originally published in Don Glut’s 1963 Annual fanzine. Don himself went on to become a prolific comics and television writer; he even wrote for the 1970s live-action Shazam! TV series, and in recent years has written, produced, and directed instant cult films such as Dinosaur Valley Girls , et al. Thanks to Don for granting us permission to reprint Otto’s informative article. —P.C. Hamerlinck. Otto Binder wrote 144 “Marvel Family” stories (as well as many backup solo stories that Comics Cyclone appeared in the pages of The Marvel Family ), and created Uncle Marvel. This is In the spring of 1941, I yelled “SHAZAM!” the C.C.Beck/ cover for Marvel and changed from a normal pulp author into Family #8 (Feb. 1947). The photo of Otto the Writing Fiend. Unlike the costumed at right first appeared in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #9 characters I wrote about, I did not return to my in 1965. [©2005 DC Comics.] human form for some twenty years.

During that incredible (even to me) time from 1941 to 1960, no less than 2,465 comics scripts spewed from four worn-out typewriters. An average of about 125 stories per year, ranging from 6 to 18 pages each (18-page stories were not uncommon in the early days when the 64-page comic books flourished).

“Fantastic” is perhaps the word for the total number of pages written, with 5 to 8 panels each—32,000 pages all told, equal to 1,000 full 32-page magazines of recent years. My greatest productive year was 1944 (under a 1-B plus 3-A draft classification including OWI deferment), in which 228 tales were churned out on a smoking machine that I last remember melting away completely.

As to the total number of words banged down on paper—not only the visible few lettered in as captions and dialog but all the unseen-by- reader descriptions to the artist—I cannot guess. Nobody would believe it—including myself. I woke out of a daze around 1960, realizing I had in effect been a one-man assembly line for stories. A Shazamivac, so to speak, more closely related to the computer than to flesh-and-blood people. I sometimes think the 7090 data processor might have broken down under the workload.

Why didn’t I? I did, for a period of some eight months around 1950. I had a bad and confused time reorienting my bruised psyche. But then my rested brain circuits got to clacking again and it was back to the old grind. We consoled ourselves, whenever hurried scripters met, by calling it the “Golden Rut.” Name credit, no. Fame, no. Satisfaction, no. Pride,

Otto Binder’s famous creation, the world’s most human-like talking tiger, Mr. Tawny, needs the help of his old friend Captain Marvel again. C.C. Beck once said that Otto had “the soul of Mr. Tawny.” Cover of Captain Marvel Adventures #86 (July 1948) drawn by Beck. [©2005 DC Comics.] 90 Fiction by C.C. Beck Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

[Originally presented in FCA #23/FCA/SOB #12, Feb./Mar. 1982]

Fiction is not life. Fiction shows things the way they ought to be, not the way they are. II —OTTO BINDER ccording to the dictionary, fiction is the creation of imagination AA and does not imply an intent to deceive. Fabrication, the dictionary says, is definitely meant to deceive. In both cases lies are being told, but the creator of fiction does not want anyone to believe him, while the inventor of fabrication does. Fairy tales are fiction, but many advertising claims, political speeches, and some religions are fabri- cations. Quoth Beck: “In Otto’s stories the characters were not realistic…. They lived only in the fictional world of the comics.” A scene from the Mr. Mind serial Stories about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny are by Fawcett’s Golden pair. [©2005 DC Comics.] not meant to be believed. Those who tell them with perfectly straight faces to little children are malicious, evil people. They do not believe the In comics, as long as the art remains unrealistic, nobody will take the stories themselves, but they expect their listeners to believe them. Stories stories seriously. Even little children know that real people do not have about the bogeyman, the devil, angels, ghosts, and such are often believed by the storytellers themselves. Such storytellers are dangerous; they sometimes become the leaders of strange cults and destructive movements. There are always far more people ready to IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, believe any kind of outrageous fabrication than there are people ready to CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS accept the truth about anything. ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT!

ALTER EGO #51 Golden Age Batman artist/BOB KANE ghost LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ interviewed, Batman art by JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, , WIN MORTIMER, JIM MOONEY, and others, the Golden and Silver Ages of AUSTRALIAN SUPER-HEROES, Mad artist DAVE BERG inter- viewed, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WILL EISNER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Ironically, Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger, was Otto Binder’s most human-like character. A panel from Binder and Beck’s Mr. Tawny syndicated comic strip (100-page magazine) $5.95 samples. They were told it was too “comic” to be in a newspaper strip. (Digital Edition) $2.95 [©2005 Estates of Otto Binder & C.C. Beck.] http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=319