SPAZ comics presents: THE MARXBroTHERs IN FROM BIRTHTO SPECIAL 8 page PREVIEW of the GRAPHIC NOVEL! By Rik Sansone germany, 1850’s LAfe and fanny schoenberg perform their mediocre magic and harp act... minnie creates a music act his younger brother adolph with julius, milton and learns too, and finds work lou levy. the three in a speakeasy on long island. nightingales bring in some much-needed money. minnie books a gig for a 4 person singing act. 1879 having only 3, she drives out to keep her eldest son to get out of trouble, adolph she pays for Piano and lessons, but gets Leo brings him gigs in ... brothels to... LAfe and fanny seek out a better future and they settle travel to america with their children - ... coney island to sing with minnie in manhattan. and adolph (known as “al”) - in tow. the three nightingales. minnie this includes dance embaces lessons with a america teacher from and it’s alsace, france. his name is culture. Sam marx. they are married. thier ...and he wets his pants. children together are eternally known as: he’s never sung onstage before... THE FROM back at their 93rd street apartment, minnie’s brother al SHEAN- a huge star in vaudeville - visits. uncle al is half of the hit comedy act gallagher and shean. BIRTHTO in the eyes of 5 (barely) teenage boys, he is the pinnacle of wealth and success. sam al keeps the MARX “frenchie” MARX boys excited BROADWAY marx was a By Rik Sansone for their great cook, own show but a lousy BroTHERs business tailor. Leo Adolph JULIUS MILTON HERBERT b.3-22-1887 b. 11-23-1888 b. 1o-2-1890 b. 11-23-1892 b. 2-25-1901 aspirations. I’m-a no jewish! al would go on to write and stage two of their hit shows. with minnie as their manager, the act starts to focus more on comedy... i’m itaLiano like-a you! trying to find out gambler, CHARMER. shy, kind. introspective, reader. more on him... good mechanic, skIpped school. skipped school. stayed in school. skipped school. skipped school. - their act, morphs into with help. 1914 “fun in hi skule” - “HOme AGAIN” Al shean’s the act is a hit. one night the boys are playing cards after a show with milton comedian art fischer. plays adolph the young plays irish plays the romantic “Patsy julius shipped by schoolmaster in old type. bran- minnie, man make-up and nigan”, hey adolph plays seldom german accent. artie, you his 1st solo has lines, gonna deal or a year later. develops read knocko the pantomime comics all routines. monk night? one night leo sneaks into the orchestra pit. his brothers the audience roars with start throwing laughter. from that day on, things at him! the act is known as: He jumps “THe 4 marx brothers.” onstage and they begin to ad-lib. alright, alright... jack benny ...a card for here we go. was there! GROUCHO... ...a card for ...and a card for HARPO... gummO, with the those “a card for... gum-shoes.” would be great stage names! but i’m CHICKO... WHAT?! leaving the act... ...because i enlisted in the army.” they have to convince the i’ve never well, they local inspectors that they seen white eggs from taste the same are legit farmers... rhode islAnd reds before! Minnie moves them to the midwest to they are always to us! become farmers, avoid army service and brown! be closer to the vaudeville venues. 1917: with GUMMO gone during WWI, his replacement herbert needed a stage name... hello, zeke! hello, zep! thankfully, they get back to vaudeville with a sequel show also written by al shean... stops drops chico’s card “on the balcony” speaking we is another hit! old-man gaMe with we got a theater are stars but we hit in vaudeville. german other banned with no show... accent vaudevillians no gotta show... routine. (Joseph M. Gaites, Tom and let’s Will B. we go around the Johnstone) got a show their table with that proves with no stars or again... stage successful, but theater. personas not for his are set card-playing. the johnstones’ show still in place. “gimme a thrill” “italian” gets renamed and re-written... they bring their following show will B. johnstone works with JULIUS on the re-writes, “ON THE adding a now-legendary “napoleon scene”. BALCONY” to the U.K. they flop. the remaining shows are somewhat saved by reverting back to “home again”. the new show opens in philadelphia at the 1922 - upon arriving back in walnut street theater (the empty one america, they find that the mentioned at the top of the page). vaudeville booking agents it’s a rousing hit, with great have blacklisted them for reviews. the boys take it on the taking work in england road where it’s also a hit in without their approval. chicago, kansas city and buffalo. they invest time and their own they have money in a new nowhere to medium... FILM. perform. the result, “humorisk”, is so bad it gets “I’ll say she is” opens in new york city at the casino theater may 19, 1924... thrown away and lost forever. well folks, we finally we made it to broadway! sure hope you like it! it’s-a gonna be a big hit show! back at home (chicago since 1908) they talk about splitting up ... NUTS TO i i THIS! WE ARE NOT BREAKING can go can sing UP THE ACT!! back to and tell playing jokes piano... solo... i can fix cars... we are the marx brothers! the biggest act in vaudeville! harpo inspires them, but it takes it’s an immediate hit and the 4 marx bros. are now the gambler to get a deal... broadway stars. the rest is comedy history! THE FROM IN BIRTH MARX TO BroTHERs The true story of the legendary comedy act has never been told visually in any medium. No biopic. No mini-series. No Animation. Until now... You hold in your hands a special limited edition preview issue of the graphic novel, telling the story of one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) comedy acts of all time. Born to European immigrants in New York City, the grade-school dropouts cut their showbiz teeth in dangerous brothels, bars and on the road. Illustrated and compiled by SPAZ COMICS creator Rik Sansone and assisted with historical information by Noah Diamond, The Marx Brothers: From Birth To Broadway follows the boys’ immigrant roots to their Broadway debut I’ll Say She Is - which is having a revival in New York City starting May of 2016! “There’s many more stories to tell about their journey from Upper East Side truants to comedy legends. I hope you enioy a taste of what is to come. Please share this with your friends, family, and contemporaries. I hope to interest a publishing house/distrib- utor who can support this one-of-kind, enjoyable tale, so spread the word! Thank you for taking a look... Hail, Fredonia! “ - Rik Sansone. Bilbliography: Gimme a Thrill: The Story of I'll Say She Is, The Lost Marx Brothers Musical, and How It Was Found by Noah Diamond • BearManor Media • ISBN-10: 1593939337 ISBN-13: 978-1593939335 Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of The Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish Thomas Dunne Books • ISBN-10: 0312252927 • ISBN-13: 978-0312252922 Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx Limelight Editions • ISBN-10: 0879100362 • ISBN-13: 978-0879100360 The Groucho Phile: An Illustrated Life by Groucho Marx Galahad Books • ISBN-10: 0883654334 • ISBN-13: 978-0883654330 Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and sometimes Zeppo By Joe Adamson Simon and Schuster • ISBN-10: 0671470728 • ISBN-13: 978-0671470722 SPECIAL THANKS: Noah Diamond, Jeff Ayers and Forbidden Planet Comics NYC, The Sansones, The Kemps, Amy Summers, Carlos Espada, Dean Calusdian, everyone who has supported SPAZ Comics, The Cast & Crew of “I’ll Say She Is”, Bill Plympton, Dave Konig, Tom Shillue, Tom Motley, Grant Shaffer, Amanda Sisk, April Brucker, Nancy Moran, Carolyn Raship, Kit Lively, Richard Weiss, Bart E. Slyp, Bob Greenberg, Vernon Payne, Clarice Wilson, Nathan Place, Anna Giovannini, Victor Varnado, Ricky Gerro, Adam Rackoff, Kendra Allenby, Will Wong, Matt Rota, Sean Lynch, Tom Briscoe, Susan Konig & Wilow and Street Press, Anthony Kampfer, The Kong Show onTV, The Clyde Fitch Report, Katie Yamazaki. If I forgot anyone, yell at me. The Marx Brothers: From Birth to Broadway • © SPAZ Comics, 2016. ISBN: # 978-0-9863404-9-9.