INTRODUCTION...INTRODUCTION...44 FFOREWORD...OREWORD...55 Origins........Origins...6 6 TrimpeTrimpe on on Trimpe... Trimpe...12 I NDE 1156 INDEX... 167 X... 12 141 Herb Trimpe Gallery... Trimpe Herb MMarvelarvel Comics... Comics...2222 Herb Trimpe Gallery... Trimpe Herb Spotlight on the Photostat Machine... 139 139 ... Angels of Power The on Spotlight Spotlight on Spotlight Spotlight on the Photostat Machine...27 After After 141 136 Marvel... After The Power of Angels of Power The Spotlight on “Herb Trimpe, We Love You”...30 Spotlight on “Herb Trimpe, We Love You”... 133 Strips... Newspaper M Romita on Trimpe........34 132 Newspaper Strips... Newspaper 27 136 arvel... Romita on Trimpe... ... List of Crest Commercials... Crest of List 131 List of Crest Commercials... Crest of List 139 139 Sinnott on Trimpe..................41 130 Peckmann on Trimpe... on Peckmann The Incredible Hulk...46 34 128 Animation........ The Incredible Hulk...46 Spotlight on Wolverine..................58 30 Peckmann on Trimpe... on Peckmann 126 Advertising & Promotional... & Advertising Spotlight on Hulk Reprints...64 Trimpe’s Hulk Rogues Gallery........65 122 Article........ Times York New The on Spotlight 125 Advertising & Promotional... & Advertising Sinnott on Trimpe... Trimpe Inking Gallery........73 131 121 Leaving Marvel............. Leaving Inking Trimpe Gallery...77 119 Changing With The Times........ The With Changing Thomas on Trimpe...81 Buscema on Trimpe.............83 117 Spotlight on Shogun Warriors... Shogun on Spotlight Spotlight on Captain Britain...The Other Heroes...86 Thomas on Trimpe... 115 Spotlight on Indiana Jones.................. Indiana on Spotlight Spotlight on Ant-Man........89 Spotlight on Hulk Reprints... Spotlight on Captain Britain..................91 109 Spotlight on Godzilla........ on Spotlight Spotlight on Iron Man...92 41 106 Spotlight on G.I. Joe... G.I. on Spotlight Spotlight on the Defenders........94 Trimpe Inking Gallery... 130 Spotlight on Spider-Man...96 Spotlight on on Spotlight Licensed Characters........104 A Finger in the Dike...98 Spotlight on the Black &White Magazines...102 A Sense of Humor........101 The Other Heroes...86 128 Animation... Spotlight on the Black & White Magazines... Spotlight on Wolverine... Spotlight on Shogun Warriors... Shogun on Spotlight Spotlight on the Defenders... A Finger in the Dike... Trimpe’s Hulk Rogues Gallery........65 Trimpe’s Hulk Rogue’s Gallery.. Spotlight on G.I. Joe... G.I. on Spotlight The New York Times York New The 81 64 73 121 Leaving Marvel... Leaving 58 Changing With The Times... The With Changing Spotlight on Indiana Jones... Indiana on Spotlight Inking Trimpe Gallery... 91 98 Buscema on Trimpe... Spotlight on Ant-Man... 122 Article... 106 Spotlight on Spider-Man... Licensed Characters... 94 .65 Spotlight on Iron Man... 117 Spotlight on Godzilla... on Spotlight A Sense of Humor... 77 102 83 119 115 89 104 92 96 101 109 CHAPTER 0NE Origins of Herb Trimpe Home and Family In the spirit of the comic book origin story, it seems only fitting to begin at the beginning. In this interview, Trimpe talks about his family and school, shedding light on the origins of the artist. (No gamma radiation involved.) Dewey Cassell: When and where were you born? Cassell: So, what does the “W” stand for in Herb Herb Trimpe: In Peekskill, New York, May 26th, W. Trimpe? 1939, on the Hudson River, an hour and a half Trimpe: It is “William.” Actually, they named me from New York City. “Herbert,” after my dad, even way after the name wasn’t popular any more. And they named me “William” after his brother, my uncle. So it’s all family-related names. I wish they’d been a little more original. I would rather be a “John,” actually, or a “Fred” I think. Cassell: “Herb” is very distinctive, though. Trimpe: Yeah, actually, it works as “Herb,” but it doesn’t work as “Herbert.” Cassell: What did your parents do? Trimpe: My dad did various things. He was primarily a skilled sheet metal worker. That was his job during World War Two, working in ship- ping yards in New Jersey. When World War Two was ending, we moved back to Peekskill. My dad had to leave New Jersey because we lived in an area below sea level and it was very damp and he wound up in the hospital with pneumonia as a very young man. It nearly did him in, so we moved back to New York State, when I was about five or so. And then he worked at various places. There ABOVE: The guest of honor. were a number of companies around that are Courtesy of Herb Trimpe. no longer there. You know, American industry is RIGHT: Parents Annie and not what it used to be. You could live in a small Herb Trimpe with son Herb. town and go to work in a local factory, but it’s not Courtesy of Herb Trimpe. doable any more. Cassell: That’s very true. Trimpe: He actually wound up retiring with a very good pension from the Peekskill Public School System, where he was a—I don’t know what they call it now—maintenance engineer. In those days, they called him a janitor. So that’s where we wound up. I don’t know if he actually retired. I don’t think he had reached 65 yet, but he got sick from working around asbestos for too long and wound up contracting lung cancer and that took about two years to finish dad off. And my mom, who had been a stay-at-home mom when 6 Trimpe on Trimpe An Interview with Alex Trimpe Trimpe met and married Linda Fite while working for Marvel Comics and together they had three children—two girls and a boy, Alex, who recalls in this interview what it was like growing up Trimpe. Dewey Cassell: When I was talking to your dad pretty entertaining. But yeah, that’s the story. the other day, he was saying that you were born Like I say, it could be a complete lie since I was ABOVE: Alex Trimpe with Dad. in the middle of a comic book convention. not conscious at the time. Courtesy of Herb Trimpe. Alex Trimpe: Yeah. Well, I can’t say that I recall Cassell: And you are the oldest, right? BELOW: Commission that, obviously. But that’s what I hear. I guess my Trimpe: I’m the oldest of my mom and my dad’s drawing of the Wrecker by mom went into labor when they were at a comic three kids, but I have an older half-sister. Herb Trimpe. book convention. I’ve got a bunch of cards that Cassell: When were you born? people made in my baby book. Obviously a lot Trimpe: ‘Seventy-three. Amelia was born in ’76, of people were artists of some kind so they’re and then Sarah was ’78. Cassell: When you were born, was your mom still working for Marvel or had she already left? Trimpe: I don’t know. I know that when I was growing up, she definitely wasn’t and I don’t think she worked there very long. Cassell: Was your dad working out of the office for Marvel at that time or was he working at home? Trimpe: It was only at home. I mean, I don’t know when I was really little, but I think we lived in the city, in Manhattan, for a year. So probably during that time, he was still going to the office because he was in Manhattan, but then we were in Cornwall, England, for a year. Some of my earliest memories are from then. Obviously from there, he was sending it overseas and that’s also where he learned to fly an airplane. But for my whole conscious life, he was working at home in various parts of the house, but mainly a little, tiny office space on the second floor that was next to my bedroom. He also had a big drawing table downstairs, in the living room. Cassell: Do you have any particular memories of him drawing while you were growing up? Trimpe: No, I’m sure things could probably spark a memory, but nothing that just sort of floats in my mind. Actually, the one memory I have, for some reason, has nothing to do with him drawing, really. My mom’s bedroom is where all of the comic books were kept, because we got free comic books, which was the staff of life for me and my friends when I was little. But they were all on these metal shelves in there and in 12 CHAPTER TWO Marvel Comics Marvel Comics began in 1939 as Timely Publications, founded by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman. The company enjoyed early success with characters that included the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America, the latter created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Goodman hired his wife’s cousin, Stanley Lieber, who wrote stories under the pseudonym Stan Lee and took over as editor when Simon left in 1941. When super-heroes fell out of fashion after the war, Timely branched out into multiple genres at a time when copying the competition was the order of the day. After weath- ering a downturn in the late 1950s by reducing staff, the company now known as Marvel found a new lease on life with the introduction of the Fantastic Four in the fall of 1961. By the time Trimpe joined Marvel, the super-hero revolution was well under way, and he had an opportunity to work with some remarkable people, while making his own mark in the field. Like all the members of the Marvel Bullpen at the time, he was given a nickname by editor Stan Lee: “Happy” Herb Trimpe.