PLUS:

$6.95In the USA

No.69June2007

Aquaman TM & ©2007 DC Comics

THREE CHEERS FORRAMONAFRADON,

PAUL NORRIS,&AQUAMAN !

1 82658 27763 5

06

TM

Roy Thomas’Water-LoggedComics Fanzine

Alter EgoTM 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: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices.Single issues: $9 ($11.00 outside the US). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $72 US, $132 Canada, $144 elsewhere. All characters are© their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego isa TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. ISSN: 1932-6890

FIRST PRINTING.

™

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Joe Edwards, Jack Burnley, & Joseph R. Barbera

ContentsWriter/Editorial: Seeking Sea Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Maritime Passages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3A pocket history of Aquaman, DC’s Sovereign of the Seven Seas, by John Wells.

“Take Your Foot In Hand And Come To New York!” . . . . . . 15Artist Paul Norris took Milt Caniff’s advice! Interview by Shel Dorf.

“It Was A Daily Identity Crisis” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Ramona Fradon talks to Jim Amash about being a comic artist and a housewife & mother.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt: The Powell Family Album, Part III. 55Michael T. Gilbert and Bob Powell’s sons revisit the life of the great Golden Age artist.

JSA: Sunset At Dawn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Roy Thomas’ letter/proposal for a Justice Society/Infinity, Inc. series that never was!

Come BECK, Little Comicon! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69The Calvin Beck Con of 1967 really did happen! Bill Schelly’s got proof!

Tributes to Joe Edwards, Jack Burnley, & Joseph R. Barbera . 71re: [comments, correspondence, & corrections) . . . . . . . . . 75FCA (Fawcett Collectors Of America) #128 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79P.C. Hamerlinck presents Marc Swayze, Bill Fugate, & Captain Marvel’s cities tour, Part II.

On Our Cover: A couple of years ago, when she was being interviewed for A/E, RamonaFradon sent us photocopies of a number of commission drawings she had done. Onehumongous pencil illo in particular immediately caught our eye as the perfect design for thecover of this issue about Aquaman and two of his greatest artists—so, through his then-agentKeif A. Fromm, we were lucky to persuade John Watson to turn that sketch into a full-colorpainting. Gorgeous, no? Also, for a look at Ramona’s pencil version, see p. 37. [Aquaman TM &©2007 DC Comics.]

Above: Just one of the many great pencil sketches Ramona Fradon has done in recent years.Looks to us like she’s better than ever! [Aquaman TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]

Vol. 3, No. 69 / June 2007EditorRoy Thomas

Associate EditorsBill SchellyJim Amash

Design & LayoutChristopher Day

Consulting EditorJohn Morrow

FCA EditorP.C. Hamerlinck

Comic Crypt EditorMichael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor RollJerry G. Bails (founder)Ronn Foss, Biljo White

Editor EmeritusMike Friedrich

Production AssistantChris Irving

Circulation DirectorBob Brodsky, Cookiesoup PeriodicalDistribution, LLC

Cover ArtistJohn Watson(from a drawing by Ramona Fradon)

With Special Thanks to:Jack AdamsHeidi AmashGer ApeldoornPaul Bach, Jr.Rodrigo BaezaBob BaileyJean BailsMarty BaumannJack BenderMurray BishoffJerry K. BoydTom BradleyGary BrownLen BrownAdam J. BrooksZack BuchananMike BurkeyJohn CochranTeresa R. DavidsonCraig DelichShel DorfMichael DunneChris FamaMichael FeldmanEd FieldsStuart FischerDana FradonRamona FradonTodd FranklinKeif A. FrommBill FugateCarl GaffordRuss GarwoodJeff GelbJanet GilbertLaura GjovaagLew GlanzmanMark GliddenScott GoodellArnie GrievesJennifer HamerlinckMatthew HawesAllan HoltzRichard HowellBob HughesRichard KyleStan LandmanBill Leach

Alan LightBill LignanteJeffrey LindenblattMatt LorentzMike MachlanJoe & Nadia MannarinoSam MaronieBruce MasonHarry MendrykBrian K. MorrisMark MullerJim MurtaughThe New YorkerPaul NorrisRick NorwoodJerry OrdwayJake OsterKen QuattroJohn PowellKyle PowellRob PowellSeth PowellNancy ReadyHart RieckhofDominic vonRiedemann

Charlie RobertsEthan RobertsHerb RogoffAlex SaviukJohn SchwirianCraig ShuttDavid SiegelKeif SimonAnthony SnyderBhob StewartScott StewartJoe StatonMarc SwayzeDann ThomasAnthony TollinMichael UslanTrevor Von EedenJohn WatsonJohn WellsChristopher WheelerRobert WienerJoseph Wise

’ve never made any bones about the fact that, both as kid andadult, I always preferred Timely/Marvel’s Sub-Mariner to DC’sAquaman. So why an issue of

Alter Ego that is virtually dedicatedto the latter—or at least, to acouple of artists noted fordrawing him?

Several reasons.

1. From a personalviewpoint: whatevermy quirks and prefer-ences, I like bothcharacters. Aquamanalways had a lot goingfor him—a cool costume(till recently) and hismeaningful relationship withcreatures of the sea. And Ihad/have a special fondness forthe artwork of Ramona Fradon. (Icame of age way too late to readPaul Norris’ early work, though Ifind it quite vital.)

2. Aquaman has arguably been, up to the present, at least assuccessful a character as Sub-Mariner, with a part of that good

fortune owing to his palling around withSuperman, Batman, Wonder Woman, et al., in

Justice League of America since 1960 andin TV cartoons beginning in the 1970s.

3. Alter Ego is, after all, more avehicle for comics history thanfor pure nostalgia… and ahero like Aquaman who’sbeen around since 1941and is still going strong hasa lot of history.

So put on your water-wings and get set to dog-

paddle up Comic BookCreek!

Bestest,

Seeking Sea Kings

ON THE 1970s AT MARVEL COMICS!

Edited by ROY THOMASSUBSCRIBE NOW! Twelve Issues in the US: $72 Standard, $108 First Class

(Canada: $132, Elsewhere: $144 Surface, $192 Airmail).NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE SUB, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

COMING IN JULYCOMING IN JULY

[Human Torch, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, & The Red Skull TM & ©2007

Marvel Characters, Inc.]

• All-new Invaders cover by GENE COLAN—colored directly from his pulsating pencils!

• RASCALLY ROY talks to JIM AMASH about the sensational ’70s at Marvel—in ahumongous interview studded with rare art by ADAMS, ADKINS, ANDRU, bothBUSCEMAS, BRUNNER, CHAYKIN, COCKRUM, COLAN, EVERETT, KANE, KIRBY,PÉREZ, PLOOG, ROBBINS, ROMITA, the SEVERIN siblings, SMITH, THORNE,TRIMPE, WRIGHTSON, & many others—not to mention some writers namedCONWAY, ENGLEHART, GERBER, GOODWIN, MOENCH, SHOOTER, WEIN,WOLFMAN, and a guy called LEE!

• A special (if way too brief) celebration of Golden Age artist LILY RENÉE (The LostWorld, Señorita Rio, Werewolf Hunter, etc.) by TRINA ROBBINS!

• MICHAEL T. GILBERT concludes his look at BOB POWELL—FCA with C.C. BECK,MARC SWAYZE, & ROY THOMAS’ 1981 Shazam! debut—& MORE!

ROY THOMASYou Asked For It—So It Serves You Right!

#70

2 writer/editorial

A Face-To-Fish EncounterOne of the most charming of Ramona Fradon’s commission sketches,with thanks to Russ Garwood. [Aqualad TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]

II

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

Maritime PassagesA Pocket History Of The Sovereign Of The Seven DC Seas

by John Wells

3

[Abridged and edited, with emphasis on the years 1941-75, from hisfanzine Destination Cool! in CAPA-alpha #500 (June 2006); ©2007John Wells. Sorry that, because of our twin interviews, we didn’thave room to print his indexes of villains and full slate of the hero’sappearances—or even more “Aquaman” artwork!]

Wading Into The Waterith a few alterations in the pages of comics history,Aquaman might well have reached a crossroads in 1963.Published consecutively in a succession of magazines

since 1941, he had survived as Golden Age heavyweights like TheFlash, Green Lantern, Captain America, and others had fallen by thewayside (though most were now back in new incarnations). With hissolo berth in World’s Finest Comics now gone, appearances with theJustice League of America were the most he could hope for.

That was, in fact, the fate of Green Arrow, who’d been the SeaKing’s stablemate since both characters had debuted in More FunComics #73 (Nov. 1941). Aquaman, however, had been starring in hisown comic book since 1961. The loss of the secondary feature, far froman ending, signaled the beginning of real momentum in his career.

More Fun #73 had established the basics: Aquaman thrived under-water, had command of sea life, and was strong enough to put his fist

through a submarine. Characteristic of anumber of World War II-era heroes, he alsohad no compunctions about dispatchingNazis, drowning or blowing them up withouta second thought.

A minimalist three-panel origin attributedhis amphibious abilities to Atlantean science,discovered by his explorer father in the ruinsof the fabled city. Described as “interna-tionally renowned,” the scientist kept himself

and his son in virtual seclusion in their watertight home beneath the seauntil his death. Bereft of companionship, Aquaman (so named by hisdad!) ventured to the surface, altruistically vowing to seek out andpunish the wrongdoers of the “upper world.” (Aquaman’s late fatherwould be mentioned once more, in More Fun #80.)

Clad in a scaled orange shirt and green tights, Aquaman wouldmaintain the same basic uniform for most of his first five decades. Theprimary alteration was the coloring of his gloves, which were yellowuntil the end of the 1950s. The ankle fins on his tights, also initially

WW

Look Homeward, AtlanteanAquaman’s first origin, from More Fun Comics #73 (Nov. 1941)—at least as perDC’s Millennium Edition reprint. Script by Mort Weisinger, art by Paul Norris—whose interview by Shel Dorf begins on p. 15. Minor query: In the 2001 reprint,the hero has green gloves. Was that as per that first story, or was it an errormade by a colorist who didn’t check the original story, since the gloves were

nearly always yellow till the turn of the 1960s? [©2007 DC Comics.]

At right is a circa-1940 photo of “Aquaman” original writer/co-creator MortWeisinger, from James Gunn’s 1975 book Alternate Worlds: The IllustratedHistory of Science Fiction. [Photo ©the respective copyright holders.]

A Sea King, A Sea Prince, And A Sea ShellYe Editor decided to indulge himself in choosing the illustration to leadoff this issue’s triple-threat coverage of Aquaman and his artists—by

showcasing an original pencil drawing by Ramona Fradon from his owncollection. Ramona is interviewed in depth beginning on p. 31.

[Aquaman & Aqualad TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]

yellow, eventually moved up to his calves and were changed to green.

Aquaman was evidently created in response to Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner. Introduced in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (April1939), the earlier aquatic hero’s origin was reprinted and expanded laterin the year in Marvel Comics #1. Prince Namor, as the half-breed (halfhuman, half undersea being) was called, made the other rough-and-tumble vigilantes of the day pale in comparison. His war with thesurface-dwellers spilled through the 1940 issues, leading to memorableconfrontations with one of the book’s other stars, The Human Torch.With the intervention of the Torch and a New York police officernamed Betty Dean, Namor’s rage was eventually focused on Nazis.Aquaman, by comparison, was pretty benign.

The Sub-Mariner’s success was rewarded with his own title in early1941. Surprisingly, a fairly similar character, Lew Glanzman’s hero TheShark, who was the son of Father Neptune himself, had premiered inCentaur’s Amazing Man #6 (Oct. 1939)—one month before MarvelComics #1 (though of course some months after MPFW #1)! Everetthimself created two Namor-imitators of sorts: The Fin, who survivedunderwater by means of an aqualung for three Timely/Marvel issues,beginning with Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941), and theearlier Hydroman, who could transform himself into water anddebuted in Eastern Color’s Heroic Comics #1 (August 1940).Hydroman ran through 1944, while The Sub-Mariner made it into1949. After a 1953-1955 revival, by which point Namor was relativelysedate, he would remain in limbo until Fantastic Four #4 in 1962. Butthat’s another story.

Aquaman and Green Arrow, himself derided in later years as aknock-off of Batman, owed their continued survival to the man whocreated them: Mort Weisinger. Best remembered today as the legendaryeditor of the 1950s and 1960s “Superman” family of titles, Weisingerretained the two strips as the second bananas of Adventure Comicsand World’s Finest Comics after More Fun converted its contents tohumor.

The Golden AgeIn addition to Weisinger, other writers on the series during the 1940s

included Manly Wade Wellman, Joseph Greene, Joe Samachson, RuthKaufman, Paul Talbot, Don Cameron, George Kashdan, Otto Binder,and Jack Miller. Initially illustrated by Paul Norris, the strip’s artchores passed on to Louis Cazeneuve (1942-47) and John Daly (1947-51).

The second episode of the series (More Fun #74) introduced theman who would be Aquaman’s nemesis throughout much of theGolden Age. Dressed like a pirate of old, complete with mustache andbeard, a purple bandanna, and a patch over his left eye, Black Jacksailed “the raider ship Nemesis” with his crew and plundered yachts ofwealthy vacationers. “Nations are at war,” he declared. “All their shipsare busy sinking each other. Bold lads can go out and loot wealthycargoes.” His pirate garb was for psychological effect. “When we jumpa ship, they take a look, know what their in for—and give up easy.”Though he managed to overpower Aquaman with a gas grenade, BlackJack was convinced that a man of his abilities would be ideal for hiscrew and offered the heavily shackled hero a job. The response was notin the affirmative, and, at the end of the day, Aquaman had sunk theNemesis and left its skipper and crew to drown. But, on a distant reef,a shivering, beaten Black Jack made a promise to settle the score.

By his fourth appearance (#86), Black Jack had traded in thebandanna for a sailor’s cap, and the eyepatch was gone by AdventureComics #107. All told, he made twenty appearances, the last of them inAdventure #151 (1950).

4 A Pocket History Of The Sovereign Of The Seven DC Seas

“The Water Is Full Of Sharks”[Clockwise from above left, in the order in which they took the plunge into comic books:]

First came Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner in 1939—seen here in a panel from Sub-Mariner #1 (Spring 1941),repro’d from a Photostat of the original art. [©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Not long after Namor’s debut, and actually beating him into a color comic by a few weeks, cameLew Glanzman’s The Shark. This panel is from Amazing-Man #10 (March 1940). See in-depth

interviews with both Lew and Wild Bill in Alter Ego #46. [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

Everett’s Hydro-Man erupted out of a firehose to rescue a damsel in distress on the cover of HeroicComics #3 (Nov. 1940). [©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

The Fin, yet another Everett creation, took his third and final Golden Age swim in Comedy Comics #9(April 1942), but was more frogman than fish-man. Repro’d from the 1999 trade paperback The

Golden Age of Marvel, Vol. 2. [©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

More Fun #75 revealed that Aquaman lived in an air-filled “sea-fortress” (#75), later explicitly identified as a “temple of the lost city ofAtlantis” (#82) and clearly the same structure where he’d grown up(#73). By issue #84, a sinister marine biologist even determined—basedon regular sightings of Aquaman—the general location of the hero’shome base; he launched a “Raid on Atlantis,” captured the hero, andput him on public display. Kept docile by a will-inhibiting gas,Aquaman found the strength to rebel and turned over the revenue fromhis exhibition to the Navy Relief Fund. As a consequence of hisenforced public tour, though, Aquaman was now a genuine celebrity,even agreeing to a Hollywood production that followed his round-the-world tour, the profits again going to the Navy (#86).

In late 1942 (#87), a stunned Aquaman found a lost colony ofAtlantis, its occupants having existed in an air-filled bell jar beneath thesea since their descendants erected it centuries earlier. Curious aboutthe outside world, the Atlanteans quickly found themselvesoverwhelmed by the ferocity of the upper world’s wildlife and itsmodern criminals and chose to return to seclusion.

Issue #82 was notable for its climactic sequence wherein Aquaman

Let’s Play Black Jack!Paul Norris’ splash from More Fun Comics #80 (June 1942) featured anotherescapade featuring the piratical Black Jack. Scripter unknown. Thanks to

John Schwirian. [©2007 DC Comics.]

Maritime Passages 5

The In-BetweenersA pair of splashes by the two talented artists who handled “Aquaman” betweenPaul Norris and Ramona Fradon. Louis Cazeneuve drew the dramatic splashbelow, for More Fun Comics #90 (April 1943)... and John Daily did the one at

bottom right, featuring the first of several "Aquagirls" in the series, for AdventureComics #132 (Aug. 1948). Scripters unknown. Thanks again to John Schwirian.

[©2007 DC Comics.]

6 A Pocket History Of The Sovereign Of The Seven DC Seas

Aquaman Makes A SplashA quartet of Golden Age splash pages starring the Sea King, between the Norris and Fradon eras. (Clockwise from above left:) More Fun Comics #103(May-June 1945), with art by Louis Cazeneuve—and three splashes by John Daly: Adventure Comics #138 (March 1949)— #142 (July ’49)—& #152 (March

1950). The first was scanned for us by Bruce Mason, the latter trio by John Schwirian. [©2007 DC Comics.]

“Take Your Foot In HandAnd Come To New York!”

That Was Ace Artist Milt Caniff’s Advice To Young ArtistPAUL NORRIS—And He Took It!

Interview Conducted by Shel Dorf Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

15

EDITOR’S NOTE: Shel Dorf, one of the co-founders of the San Diego Comic-Con, hadthis little

talk with artist Paul Norris onSept. 1, 1992. Shel didn’t worryabout where it might bepublished, or when. He simplyheld on to the tape. And, a fewyears ago, he and I were talkingon the phone when hementioned he had done unseeninterviews with Norris, SheldonMoldoff, and one or two otherilluminiaries, and might AlterEgo be interested in transcribingthe audio tapes and publishingthem? We sure would!

However, one thing after another intervened—but now, 15 yearsafter it was recorded, this cogent conversation sees the light of day at

last. And you know what? That’sthe great thing about doing amag that deals with history:history’s just as valid one year, orone decade, as another! Oh, andspecial thanks to Paul Norrishimself, for going over thetranscript a year or so back andcorrecting a few of the unintelli-gible parts. If a few words orphrases remained undeci-pherable—well, you can fill in theblanks with your own guesses,right? —Roy.

A EA E//

Water And BrickPaul Norris (above right)and Shel Dorf, in January

2002—flanking artrepresentative of both Paul’scomic book and comic stripwork: the splash pages ofthe very first “Aquaman”

story, from More Fun Comics#73 (Nov. 1941), as reprinted

in the 2001 MillenniumEdition—and of a “BrickBradford” adventure fromThe Phantom #28 (Dec.1967), published by King

Comics. Love that Time Top!(For an example of Norris’actual Brick Bradford comicstrip work, see the following

page.) Mort Weisingerscripted Aquaman’s origin—while Norris wrote, drew,and even lettered the

“Bradford” 4-pager. Thanksto Shel for the photo, whichwas taken by Matt Lorentz,and to Hart Rieckhof for theKing art. [Aquaman art©2007 DC Comics; BrickBradford art ©2007 KingFeatures Syndicate.]

“The Thing That Got Me Started”SHEL DORF: This is Shel Dorf , recording from Oceanside, whichis only fitting, since we’re with Paul Norris, original artist of“Aquaman,” and retired cartoonist. Paul, let’s have a quickoverview of your career; then we’ll go back and go into detail.Starting with your first printed drawing—what was that?

PAUL NORRIS: My first printed drawing was a political cartoon inthe “Letters to the Editor” section of the Dayton Daily News, 1932. Itwas promoting FDR [Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was electedPresident in November of that year]. He didn’t need any promotion byme, but that’s how it worked.

SD: And the first extended run of anything, any cartoons that youdid?

NORRIS: Well, Scoop Lenz was a Sunday page I wrote and drew from1937 to 1940; it’s actually the thing that got me started. It was printedon the back page of Camerica, amagazine section of the Dayton DailyNews. Scoop was a newspaper photog-rapher, carrying around a real Graphlexcamera. Back in the ’30s, that’s what allthe newspaper people used.

I got into contact with Milt [MiltonCaniff, creator of the strip Terry and thePirates], who was also from Dayton,through Scoop. My wife worked withMilt’s mother in Donnenfelds, a ladies’department store in Dayton. Mrs. Caniffwas a buyer and salesperson; my wifeAnn worked in the office. They becamevery good friends, which helped in thedeveloping of my relationship withCaniff. I was nine years younger thanCaniff. I also knew George, Milt’s cousin.

SD: Maybe we should start biographi-cally. You were born in Dayton, Ohio?

NORRIS: No, I was born in Greenville,Ohio, which is 39 miles north of Dayton,on April 26, 1914. That’s a famous placeto have been born, because that’s whereAnnie Oakley came from, and LowellThomas. And a guy you’ve probablynever heard of: Zachary Lansdown. Hewas the commander of the Shenandoah,one of the Zeppelins the Navy used to

have, back in the ’30s; it crashed in eastern Ohio.

SD: A lot of great comic artists come of Ohio, for some reason. Thepart I came from had the rich, black ground which was supposed tohave been the richest, the most fertile ground in a non-irrigated,agricultural area in the United States. I don’t know if that hadanything to do with it.

NORRIS: There was Clarence Gray, the original artist of [the comicstrip] Brick Bradford. And Noel Sickles [artist of the strip ScorchySmith] came from Chillicothe. I used hear a story that, when he wasgrowing up in Chillicothe, he’d go down to the railroad yards and sitthere and draw trains. That’s why he was so good at drawing tanks inWorld War II, and the material he did for Life magazine. He just had anatural feeling for the mechanics of those things.

SD: What profession was your father in?

NORRIS: He worked for General Motors in Detroit, in the axeldivision. I didn’t really know my father. Igrew up with my maternal grandparentsin Palestine, a little town of about 150people. That was an agricultural areawhere people did everything except sitdown and draw. The only people in townwho could draw were the village idiotand myself. [laughs] And he was a prettynice guy.

SD: [laughs] But he could draw!

NORRIS: He’d do everything, if it cameinto his mind, I guess. I can’t attach anysubject matter to it, but he was prettygood at it.

I tried to participate in every form ofathletics I could, and I did, simplybecause, in my free time, I would sitaround and draw. And I didn’t wantanyone to think, “Aw, he’s a sissy.”Artists and actors tended to be lookeddown on. But I had some very under-standing grandparents as the best parents,and a spinster aunt that was so good tome. My mother died when I was born.That’s why I wound up with mymaternal grandparents.

SD: You know, it’s ironic. I once inter-viewed Bill Everett, the man who

16 Young Artist Paul Norris Took Milt Caniff’s Advice

A Scorch-ed BrickTwo masters of the adventure strip at work: the Clarence Gray-drawn Brick Bradford Sunday for Jan. 2, 1937, repro’d from the wonderful 1995 illustratedhistory The Comic Strip Century, edited by Bill Blackbeard & Dale Crain—and (bel0w) Noel Sickles’ Scorchy Smith daily for June 22, 1936. [Brick Bradford art

©2007 King Features Syndicate; Scorchy Smith art ©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

created “Sub-Mariner”... and he said his father was a seafaring man,a sailor, and a very macho guy, and here he had his son who sataround and drew pictures, and his father berated him for doing itand called him a sissy-boy. And his mother was the one whonurtured his career and encouraged him, and he had a great careeras a comic book artist. You both did water characters.

But let’s get back to your youth. An incredible number ofcartoonists have printers for fathers: Will Eisner’s father was aprinter, and Milton Caniff’s father was a printer. And the kids usedto spend some time at the print shop, drawing on scraps of paper, butthis wasn’t your experience. Can you remember the earliest thingsyou liked to draw?

NORRIS: I just alwaysliked to draw people,characters. And to goaround, drawing in theprint shops, I used to getwrapping paper from thestores. Any package thatwould come in, my grand-parents would make sureit was nice and clean. Andthat’s what I salvaged anddrew pictures on. Mygrandmother had a big oldcabinet, and there was abreadboard—it was abouta 12-inch bread drawerunder the thing—that Icould pull out; it was asbig as some drawingboards. I would sit at thatbreadboard in the kitchenwhen my aunt and mymother weren’t busy, anddraw. It made an excellentplace to work.

SD: I like that. When yougot into the schoolsystem, you were the kidthat probably did theschool posters and thingsfor the yearbook, or anything like that.

NORRIS: I drew pictures, yeah. I got whipped for them. I got tattledon to the teachers—for drawing when I shouldn’t have been. [laughs]But no, we didn’t have an art department, or a yearbook when I was inhigh school. I didn’t get involved in that kind of thing until I got intocollege. I hated to paint signs, but I found I could make a little moneyat it, so I made signs. I mean, a barbershop window and dentistry or asign on the hallway with a hand pointing towards his office—I did that.

SD: I was told that sign-painting is strictly American—that, inEurope, sign-painters have to be able to draw things, as well,because of all the different languages. So a store would have a hang-out sign with a pair of scissors for a barbershop, or the visual imageof what that business was all about. A bakery had loaves of bread;they were selling pictures as well, because they were multi-lingual.But when you got to the United States, everything was in English, sothe sign-painters did not really have to be artists.

NORRIS: That is interesting, because when you think of all the oldinns and pubs and so on, in Europe, they always had a fox head or aboar’s head or some other illustration.

“I Wanted To Study Journalism”SD: So when you got into college—well, let’s name your high schoolback in Ohio.

NORRIS: Palestine High School. It was a regional high school that nolonger exists. They took about three towns and put them together. Iguess it was Hollansburg, New Madison, and Palestine. When I was inhigh school, they used to play basketball against us, because they allhad their individual high schools. I was tall and gangly. As a matter offact, I grew too fast, and in my freshman or sophomore year in highschool, I decided to best all my friends. I felt awkward, I really did, to

be walking around heads and shoulders above them.And I think, at that time, it caught up with me.

I attended Midland College in Freemont,Nebraska, and that, of course, was to find aprofession. The first year out of high school, I wroteto J.C. Penney in Greenville. I got a job there becauseI was supposed to be a card-writer and paint smallprice cards for small items that were on sale in thestore. The reason I went to Nebraska is that I had acousin who was head of the Journalism Department,and through his influence I got to Midland. I’d reallygiven up hope of ever going to college. To me, it wasjust a dream I had to throw away.

SD: Why did you want to go to college? In thosedays, not a lot of people did.

Forbidden TarzanSince we don’t have any samples of Paul’s Scoop Lenz strip to show you,how about these Norris drawings of a slightly more famous character?Here, repro’d from photocopies of the original art courtesy of Alley Oop

artist Jack Bender, are a page from Norris’ Gold Key/Western adaptation ofthe Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Tarzan and the Forbidden City in Tarzan#190 (Feb. 1970), as inked by Mike Royer—and a personalized drawing Paul

sent to Jack some time back. [©2007 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

“Take Your Foot in Hand And Come To New York!” 17

were terrible.

SD: So you had a weekend to do it? What was your attitude towardsdoing comic books?

NORRIS: Well, Milt told me one thing in the beginning, I’ll neverforget it: “Put your name on it. Get it big and bold so people can readit.” That’s what he believed in, and I put it in after that. Well, actually, Iused the name “Roy Paul” on “Power Nelson,” because I knew I wasgoing to use my name on “Yank and Doodle.” Prize Comics would letme do that, but at DC Comics, you didn’t sign them.Bob Kane was the only one, in those days, who waspermitted to sign.

SD: These fly-by-night companies were hiring awaythese guys, because they were very much indemand. If they had a guy’s name, they could tracehim down and offer him a better deal, steal himaway from another company.

NORRIS: Well, once King Features got me, they stoleme away from the newspaper PM. [laughs] But we’llget to that. So anyway, I walked out of there, and this

was in February, and I remember I was staying in a place in NewJersey. I had rented a room over there from a lady I knew, and wentback over a weekend and did those. But I’ll never forget walking downBroadway into Times Square, there’s a light snow coming down, and Ithought, “Boy, I have a guarantee for $250 worth of work,” somethinglike that. I did it. That’s a lot of pages. That was 25 pages. I was doingthe whole thing… even writing it and lettering it. This was “PowerNelson” and “Yank and Doodle,” which we were creating—betweenReece and myself.

His real name was Maurice Rosenfeld, and he was from Texas origi-nally. We got along great. So I did more for Prize Comics than I did forDC. But in the meantime, Whit Ellsworth called me and said he hadsomething for me, which was “The Crimson Avenger.” He gave mecopies of what had been done with the character, and I produced thestrips. So between the two companies, I was pretty busy. And then heasked me and a number of artists for some ideas that might bedeveloped into their own features. I came up with an idea called “TheVigilante,” but it was an underwear character, wearing an outfit likeSuperman did.

I turned it in to Whit, and he said, “Gee, I like the name.” Ellsworthdidn’t want another underwear character, so that’s when “Vigilante”became a Western, and he got Mort to write it. I couldn’t hold onto it,because it’s a name and I’d just mentioned it. So I think that’s what gotme “Aquaman,” because Whit had this idea about a character thatcould breathe underwater. He had Mort Weisinger write the script.When I read The Encyclopedia of American Comics, it lists MortWeisinger and me as the creators of Aquaman. This was true, but Ididn’t know Mort at the time... although I lived in North Bergen, NewJersey, and he lived in Fort Lee, which was the next town. He livedmaybe two miles, at the most, from me. We used to ride the bus intoNew York. I knew him by sight, but I didn’t know he was writing thestrip. We finally got acquainted, and then we’d ride back and forth onthe bus together. It was down to the Lincoln Tunnel and across—no,we rode down to the Weehauken Fairy House. It might have been anhour, I don’t know. I found out, here’s the guy that’s writing the scriptfor this thing, and we’re co-creators of “Aquaman.”

SD: You didn’t know. But how did “Aquaman” start?

NORRIS: Well, Whitney Ellsworth called me in to discuss it and toldme what he had in mind. He had done a sketch of a guy, a little cartooncharacter with a big cigar in his mouth and fins on his feet, and I think

24 Young Artist Paul Norris Took Milt Caniff’s Advice

Yank And Doodle Went To TownAnother “Yank and Doodle” splash by Norris. “America’s Fighting Twins”ran in Prize Comics from 1941-48; beginning in 1943, they were joined bytheir father, who took over the mantle of another Prize headliner, and thefeature often ran as “Yank and Doodle and The Black Owl.” That remindsus—they also appeared in Headline Comics #1 (Feb. 1943). That’s our subtleway of admitting that provider Bruce Mason couldn’t tell us which issue of

Prize this splash came from; but Norris drew the series in 1941-42.[©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

I Second That EmotionIn Sept. 1993 Paul Norris sentcollector Charlie Roberts anote expressing his pleasureat meeting him and receiving

an Inkpot Award at thatyear’s San Diego Comic-Con.According to this (color)sketch Paul drew on themissive, a certain sub-seasovereign agreed with hisassessment. [Aquaman TM &

©2007 DC Comics.]

Mr. Sandman, Bring Me A DreamA quartet of important “Sandman” splashes from1941-42 Adventure Comics. (Clockwise, starting at

top left, all ©2007 DC Comics:)

Adventure Comics #68 (Nov. 1941) sported the lastGolden Age story of Sandman in his gasmask andbusiness suit. Norris is credited with penciling andinking “Sandman” in Adventure #65-68, makingthese some of Paul’s earliest DC assignments.

In Adventure #69 (Dec. 1941), both the new purple-and-yellow costume (complete with cape) and

Sandy the Golden Boy were introduced.Collector/DC art expert Craig Delich feels #69-71were penciled by Norris and inked by Chad

Grothkopf. At one time Paul reported that he wasinstructed to imitate Bob Kane on this pivotal story.Was it perhaps because it introduced a Robin-style

kid sidekick?

Adventure #70 (Jan. 1942) owes less to the Kaneapproach (as does the unshown #71), though theartists were still reportedly Norris and “Chad.”

Thanks to Bob Mason for this scan.

Adventure #72 (March 1942) introduced the newart-and-script team of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby,who’d just come over to DC after doing CaptainAmerica Comics #1-10 for Timely/Marvel. Theydropped the heroes’ capes. Thanks to Harry

Mendryk.

The scripters of #68-71 are uncertain, but BobHughes says that another comic expert, Jerry Bails,“lists Mort Weisinger as the writer of those pivotal

‘Sandman’ stories.” Perhaps Martin O’Hearnanalyzed them? A fascinating piece by Martin onhis comics-writing detective work is slated for the

first available issue of A/E.

“Take Your Foot in Hand And Come To New York!” 25

amona Fradon isone of the truecartoon talents in comics.

From “Aquaman” to “Metamorpho” toSuper Friends, mystery stories, a few Marveltales, and more, her drawing style lent itself toa variety of genres. Ramona may not be impressedwith her own work, but the rest of us certainly are! Her blend ofcartooning with supposedly realistic super-hero theatrics lent a sense offun for readers of all ages, creating its own authenticity. Ramona’sthoughts on her career and the business in which she was involved arecandid and multi-dimensional. Her Hall of Fame induction in 2006was long overdue, a fitting tribute to a great career. —Jim

“I Always Drew”JIM AMASH: Do you mind telling me when and where you wereborn?

RAMONA FRADON: [laughs] Why, yes! I don’t mind at all. I wasborn in Chicago in 1926, a long, long time ago, October 2nd.

JA: I see your father was a letterer for Elizabeth Arden.

FRADON: He [Peter Dom] was a freelance lettering man. He designed,among other things, the Elizabeth Arden, Camel, and Lord and Taylorlogos—ones you still see around. And what else did he do? He designedtype faces: the Dom Casual font, among others.

JA: You had a brother who was also a letterer, right?

FRADON: Jay died about seven years ago. He was a couple of yearsolder than me. My father’s side was Armenian, and Dom is a shorteningof an Armenian name. My mother’s name was Irma. She was Swiss, soI’m Swiss-Armenian.

“It Was A Daily Identity Crisis”RAMONA FRADON Talks About Being A Comic Book ArtistAnd A Suburban Housewife & Mother In The 1950s

Interview Conducted by Jim Amash Transcribed by Brian K. Morris

“I ContainMultitudes”

Ramona Fradon may nothave particularly enjoyeddrawing super-heroes, butshe’s done plenty of themin the past half-century-plus—and she still getsmany requests to drawthem, as per this photo

taken at the 2005 GatewayCon in St. Louis. Above isa fairly recent commissionsketch done for collectorBill Leach showing some ofthe most noteworthy ofthem! The quotation, ofcourse, comes from WaltWhitman’s poem Song of

Myself. [Aquaman,Metamorpho, Batman,Robin, Plastic Man,

Aqualad, Superman, &Wonder Woman TM &

©2007 DC Comics; photo©2007 Sam Maronie.]

RR

32

JA: Since your father and brother were artists, is that what got youinterested in drawing?

FRADON: I always drew. We used to watch my father at the drawingboard, so I was very familiar with the accouterments of drawing. Idrew naturally, doodling figures all the time. I never thought of beingan artist, I just drew, but my father wanted me to be one, so he steeredme in that direction.

I didn’t take high school seriously, and by the time I graduated, Idoubt if I could have gotten into a college. I started at Parsons Schoolof Design in New York City. I went there for a year, but I found it tobe superficial in terms of learning how to draw. We had life drawingonce or twice a week, and the rest was all about technique and anoverview of the different commercial fields. I felt I wasn’t learninganything that I needed to learn, so I switched to the New York ArtStudents League. I could never have been an interior decorator or afashion artist anyway. I was drawn to the League because it was totallyunstructured. You had to provide your own motivation. There were notests, no grades, no diploma, no nothing. You just went there, and ifyou wanted to learn, you could learn, and that appealed to me. And wedrew from a model every single day.

I also painted, but was really bad at it. Like, all the colors I mixedcame out brown for some reason. Maybe it was Kenneth Miller’sinfluence, I’m not sure. [mutual laughter] But it just wasn’t for me. Idon’t know if you’re familiar with Miller’s work. He didn’tacknowledge that there was an artist after Rubens, or maybe even

Titian. He was definitely a Renaissance guyand was interested in tone rather than color.

I studied Fine Art at the Art StudentsLeague and wasn’t very good at it. I hadabsolutely no ambition, but I found myselfdoing it anyway. [chuckles] And then I metDana Fradon there, who was an aspiringcartoonist. His goal was to get into TheNew Yorker, and he encouraged me to trycartooning, which I thought was a total fallinto degradation. [laughter] People are verysnotty in art school, so it just seemed likethe most degrading thing in the world. But Ihad a talent for it. We were broke when wegot married, so Dana and a friend of oursencouraged me to make some comic booksamples. I did and that’s how it started.

JA: The friend who helped get you intocomics was George Ward. What can youtell me about him?

FRADON: I believe he was lettering comics at the time we knew him,and then he became Walt Kelly’s assistant on Pogo. I think he inked forhim, and maybe lettered, too. Kelly had a character called “the bugfrom Scranton,” and I think George inspired it, because Scranton washis hometown. He loved cartooning and thought he was doing me a bigfavor by encouraging me. We were practically starving, and Georgeused to tell us how much money Joe Maneely was making. I guess hewas making, I don’t know, maybe $20,000 a year at that time. It wasphenomenal.

JA: Stan Goldberg told me that Joe’s nickname was “Joe Money.”[mutual laughter]

FRADON: I gather he was work, work, work, work, work all week,and on the weekends, he’d go out and get roaring drunk, and then goback and work some more. So I figured well, gee, if there’s money tobe had, maybe I ought to try this. But I never met him.

“I Was Scared To Death That I Couldn’t Do It”JA: What comic samples did you do, and who did you do them for?

FRADON: I bought a whole bunch of comic books, because I’d neverread comics, and for about two weeks I immersed myself in alldifferent kinds. I drew a page of Western vignettes and took it to FoxFeatures first. I didn’t know anything about any of the comic bookcompanies, but I got the addresses out of the comic books. Fox

All In The FamilyDana Fradon, Ramona’s then-husband, realized his dream of becoming a regular and prominentcartoonist for the prestigious magazine The New Yorker—as per one of his most famous cartoons,from the Jan. 31, 1977, issue. Reprinted by permission; check out The New Yorker cartoons at

www.cartoonbank.com/pro. Special thanks to Zack Buchanan. [©The New Yorker Collection 1977Dana Fradon from the cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.]

“Meaningless statistics were up one-point-five per centthis month over last month.”

The Bear NecessitiesThough George Ward drew cartoons on his own, he’s best remembered for his work as Walt Kelly’s assistant on the newspaper comic strip Pogo.

Ward was particularly known for drawing the bear depicted with Howland Owl and Albert the Alligator in these panels from the June 16, 1957, Sundaystrip; indeed, it’s said Kelly let Ward totally handle many Sundays, which can supposedly be identified by the presence of the bear, whom Kelly

apparently never drew. (Did the bear even have a name?) [ ©2007 Selby Kelly.]

“It Was A Daily Identity Crisis” 33

34 Ramona Fradon Talks

Sagebrush And SwordsmenRamona says her first assignment for DC was a “4-page story” drawn for editor Murray Boltinoff—then recalls, a moment later, Murray giving her a “ShiningKnight” tale to draw almost immediately. Could the 4-pager be the one from Western Comics #23 (May 1951), whose splash is pictured above left—or even the2-page “Incredible City in the Sky” from Western Comics #38 (March-April 1953), which might’ve sat on the shelf for a time? Below, as well, are the splashpages of her two tales of Sir Justin, from Adventure Comics #165 & 166 (June & July 1951). Thanks to Mark Muller down Australia way for the “Incredible City”

page from a 1966 b&w reprint—to Joseph Wise for the other three pages—and to P.C. Hamerlinck for the Boltinoff photo from an early-1970s issue of The Buyer’sGuide for Comics Fandom. [Art ©2007 DC Comics; photo ©2007 Krause Publications, Inc.]

When we told Ramona we were mailing her copies of two “Shining Knight” stories for confirmation as to whether she’d drawn them, she professed horror…butshe had to admit, after she’d received them, that they were a bit better than she’d remembered. We think they were just fine, Ramona—holding their own in

that late era when the warrior’s exploits were being drawn by the likes of Frank Frazetta and Ruben Moreira.

A Peaceable KingdomJohn Watson did an excellent job of turning this full-size pencil drawing by Ramona Fradon into a painting for this issue’s cover—but wewanted you to see her original art, as well. Fabulous stuff! We’re glad DC has reprinted scads of her late-1950s art of late in the hardcover

Aquaman Archives, Vol. 1, and the black-&-white Showcase Presents Aquaman; that way, rather than show you work from her last year or twoon the feature, we can concentrate on her early stories and on original art, including commissions. [Aquaman TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]

“It Was A Daily Identity Crisis” 37

Above: Bob Powell outside his studio in the mid-’60s, in the 1909 Hupmobilehe and his son John restored. Bob also restored a Model-T!

Top right: Grandpa Bob with Robert Powell’s son, Sean.

Bottom right: Relaxing with fellw auto-buff Austin Clark in Bob’s LaurelHollow home.

Photos courtesy of Robert and Kyle Powell.

The Powell Family Album!Part III

by Michael T. Gilbert

n August 2004, in preparation for an upcoming issue (#66)devoted to Golden Age cartoonist Bob Powell, Alter Ego editorRoy Thomas forwarded me the e-mail address of Powell’s sonSeth. During Bob Powell’s incredible 30-year career, he’d illus-

trated numerous features, including Mr. Mystic, Doc Savage, and TheShadow in the ’40s, and “Giant-Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” forMarvel in the ’60s. But little was known about the artist’s personal life.Sadly, he died of cancer at age 50 on October 1, 1967, leaving behindonly a couple of brief interviews. Powell was an artist I’d longadmired, and I was excited by the opportunity to hear Seth’s storiesabout his dad.

Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when Seth Powell told mehis dad had died shortly before he was born. Then Seth suggested Italk to his three older brothers, and soon a lively round-robin e-mailcorrespondence began, culminating in my two-part “Powell FamilyAlbum” article, published earlier this year in A/E #66 and 67.

When the articles appeared, Bob’s sons John and Robert (from hisfirst marriage, to Florence Feustel) were well represented, as was SethPowell (from Bob’s second marriage, to Bettina Lussier). But myinquiries to Seth’s half-brother Kyle produced only a single photo anda brief e-mail. Bob married the second Mrs. Powell on September 30,1961, and later adopted Kyle. Today Kyle, 49, is a professional photog-rapher.

Luckily, even without Kyle’s input, we didn’t lackmaterial. In fact, we were so blessed with a flood ofrare photos, art, and personal reminisces that the6-page article I’d originally planned expanded to two12-page installments, spread over two issues.

Organizing the material proved to be daunting, andI sighed with relief when I finally mailed it out justbefore deadline. Ahhh! Finished at last!

Or was I?

Days after I sent Roy my article, I received anothermessage from Kyle. I’d sent him scans of myupcoming Alter Ego article, and his brothers’memories had sparked some of his own, including thetime he and his young buddies inspired one of hisdad’s stories. Unfortunately, it was already too late toinclude his comments in “The Powell Family Album.”

But Kyle’s e-mail gave me the perfect excuse to adda third part to our series. What follows are mainlyKyle’s comments, as well as more Bob Powell artand photos we weren’t able to squeeze in before. So,without further ado, let’s once again open up –– ThePowell Family Album!

II

Topps asked Bob Powell to redo the sketch at left for a 1966 Batman card, possibly penciled byanother artist—though Len Brown, who was overseeing assignments for Topps at that time, feelshe or his boss Woody Gelman probably just wanted different Batman and Robin figures and thatthe pencils are most likely Powell’s. Either way, Powell redesigned the published card (right),which was painted by Norm Saunders. According to Bob’s son John, Powell enjoyed working forTopps on sports cards and other projects: “I don’t know what the pay schedule was, but the cardswere lucrative and he produced them at a prodigious rate. He churned them out and commentedhow they paid for a boat, a car, or any one object. While his tongue was firmly in cheek, he didindicate they were ‘easy money,’ and he never ran out of baseball players.” [©2007 DC Comics.]

(Above:) A young Kyle Powell in the mid-1960s proudly rides bigbrother John’s 1956 T110 Triumph motorcycle. This shot was taken at

Bob’s house at 7 Center Drive in Roslyn, NY.

56 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

hat follows is a concept for a limited comic book series—originally written more or less in the form of a letter—starring the Justice Society of America.

In fall of 2005, I was contacted by a major DC editor—not theregular editor of the JSA books, I should make it clear up front—andinformed that, inasmuch as the company had had good luck re-teamingSteve Englehart and Marshall Rogers on a Batman series (for thecurrent All Stars series of mini-series, I take it—I never saw thosecomics), he thought it might be a good idea for Roy Thomas and Jerry

Ordway to re-team on a 6-issue series about the Justice Society, perhapswith Infinity, Inc. (which Jerry and I had co-created, with MikeMachlan) thrown in. Jerry was enthusiastic about the notion, as was I.Jerry soon e-mailed me that he had mentioned to that editor that agood approach might be to show how the JSA returned from thatRagnarok/Götterdämmerung Mobius strip on which artist Dave Rossand I had left them at the end of the Last Days of the Justice SocietySpecial #1 in 1986. As I recounted in The All-Star Companion, Vol. 2,DC’s powers-that-be had intended, for a very short time, that thatwould be the last JSA appearance anywhere… though of course the 10-issue Justice Society of America series of 1992-93 brought them backfrom Valhalla only a few years later.

Justice On The RunPencil roughs for a commission drawing Jerry Ordway did of the JSA plus JohnnyQuick for collector Michael Dunne, which became a cover for Alter Ego #50. Inthis earlier version, Hawkgirl is at far right, rather than at far left as in the

finished artwork. Several of the other figures are likewise slightly different fromthe final version. Thanks to Jerry O. [JSA TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]

JSA: Sunset At DawnA Letter/Proposal For A Justice Society/Infinity, Inc.

Series That Never Wasby Roy Thomas

61

WW

While I had other ideas I might havepreferred to develop rather than revisitthe Götterdämmerung thing, I was quitecontent to work up a concept for a 6-issueseries from that angle. From that point on,I worked without further input fromJerry. (This is by way of absolving Jerryfrom any blame for anything in theletter/concept that follows.) I was deter-mined that, if I were going to do a “JSA”adventure, it would be a “JSA” storyhandled the way I handled them in the1980s: I wrote, and the artist drew. And,in Jerry’s case, drew very well indeed.

The concept I wrote didn’t find favorwith the editor for whom it was intended,or apparently with his superiors, but, sinceDC never paid for it (not that I claimthey should have… I didn’t bill them),and since it’s really only a letter-styleancestor of a proposal, not a story per se, Ifigured I’d print it in this issue of AlterEgo. Naturally, nothing in what follows,sent to DC in late 2005, was meant to bethe final word on what the series might become… it was only anopening shot, so to speak. (In what follows, it’s understood that theJSA/Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc., & all hero and secretidentity names and concepts are trademarks of DC Comics.) I beganwith a brief introduction, before I went into my usual “notes toward aplot” for the proposed 6-issue series:

Before we begin, I need… not to apologize, but to explain. Thesituation Jerry suggested for the setting and theme of the story—whatoccurs to a dozen JSAers between their Götterdämmerung scenario inthe 1986 Last Days of the Justice Society and the 1992 Justice Societyof America #1 in which they return to Earth—means that it occursbetween events in comics published by DC between 1986-92. I’ve keptthings basically consistent with the DC Universe of that period, excepttreating those events as if they happened between 4 and 2 years ago, asper the timeline in JSA Files & Origins #1 (1999). If some details are inerror, they can be adjusted at the next stage. I’ve avoided most digres-sions below, but in some cases I felt a need to anticipate questions byanswering them at once. This concept, after the first page or so,contains only the story’s broadest strokes, since it made little sense toworry about details before the concept is approved. Later we’d have120 pages to take care of business. Now, onward… beginning with theadmission I’ve not yet read the Armageddon Inferno series, but I’massuming any conflicts with that story can be reconciled with whatfollows.]

JSA: NEW DAWNOn Earth, we see 12 small figurines of the JSAers, which appeared

(created by displaced energy) at the end of Last Days, lying on thegrass at Dr. Fate’s feet on the Hall estate. (We didn’t see a figurine ofJohnny Thunderbolt, but it would have been off-panel. And regretfully,a caption or two left off by an editorial assistant damaged the readingof that page somewhat.) The figurines sit on a mantle in the mansion ofthe vanished Carter Hall, on whose grounds they were found. In thedarkness, they suddenly begin to glow.

We zero in on—and as if through them into another dimension—to see scenes depicting how the JSA wound up on their Mobius-stripGötterdämmerung to save the various worlds from the doomthreatened by the Spear of Destiny, with Spectre ultimately responsiblefor both threat and salvation, and Dr. Fate, Power Girl, and Star-

Spangled Kid hurled out of thatdimension. As per events that officiallyhappened between 2 to 4 years ago,Hawkman—Hawkgirl—GreenLantern—Starman—Flash—JohnnyThunder & his Thunderbolt—Wildcat—Sandman & Sandy—Dr. Mid-Nite—Atom—and Hourman remain, battlingSurtur. Who can say whether theseheroes-as-gods are killed and rise againto fight on one time, or 12, or athousand thousand? We see theWaverider free them from thatsituation—I’m told some demons tooktheir places (if not, we can restore theactual Teutonic gods themselves in someway)—but we don’t have the JSAersreturn directly to our Earth. Not thatthey realize that at once.

At the same time, we see the heirsto the Hall fortune—if no Hector Hallanymore, then Lyta—or is she dead, too?Well, anyway, the members of Infinity,Inc., more or less as they were at the end

of the last issue of Infinity, Inc. (Star-Spangled Kid/Skyman dead, etc.)are there—with private eye Jonni Thunder, who’d become a friend—when they see the figurines on the Hall mansion mantle quiver andvanish—and they wonder what that means for the JSAers who are theirrelatives and mentors. They’re determined to find out—and we’ll getback to them later, perhaps in between some of what follows on thenext few pages, before we pick them up in earnest again later.

Now we CUT TO an instant a few seconds “earlier”—where theyoung (engaged?) couple of Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders arethrowing a posh party in the very same Hall mansion; only it’s on a

What Are You Doing After The World Ends?After Ragnarok, most of the JSAers face the towering demonSurtur, in the Last Days of the Justice Society Special #1(1986). Script by Roy Thomas; art by David Ross & Mike

Gustovich. [©2007 DC Comics.]

Comin’ Right AtomAtom sketch by Alex Saviuk. Alex currently pencils the Sunday Spider-Mannewspaper strip, and inks the dailies. Looks like he took his cue from a

1960s two-Atoms story by Gil Kane, in which the burst shape on the MightyMite’s chest was replaced by a circle. Nice illo, though! Courtesy of the

artist & Michael Dunne. [Atom TM & ©2007 DC Comics.]

62 A Justice Society/Infinity, Inc. Series That Never Was

ho’d have thunk it? Only four months ago, we printedall the commentary and art we figured we’d ever beable to put together about the fabled and infamous

Calvin Beck (alias Castle of Frankenstein) Convention of—well,not actually quite 1966, but early in 1967—and concluded thatwas pretty much the end of it. Even Bill, who’s spent well over adecade researching the early history of comics fandom, didn’t recallever seeing a written reference to it beyond the few we pulledtogether in Alter Ego #65. Then, without warning, Bill stumbledacross the following “review” of theBeckCon in On the Drawing Board#58, the March 1967 issue of thecomics newszine begun by Jerry G.Bails in 1961, then being published bythe Gateway Comic Art Fan Club,and edited by Bob Schoenfeld (onwhom more at a near-future date). Ithad been written by Stan Landman, amember of the legendary New Yorkarea TISOS (The Illegitimate Sons ofSuperman) club…and Stan wasamenable to its being reprinted. (It’s ©2007 by Stan Landman, bythe way.)

And you wanna know what the most amazing thing is to us? InA/E #67, attendee Carole Seuling revealed the place where theBeckCon was held: the 23rd Street YMCA in Manhattan, New YorkCity… but no one was able to pin the dates of the event down anycloser than “early 1967.” Finally, Stan Landman has verified that itwas held on Feb. 11-12, 1967—a pair of dates that will not live,apparently—not even in infamy! And now, here, hopefully, is thelast word on the Con That Beck Spawned…!

The Calvin Beck ComiconA review by Stan Landman

I suppose the first crud-comicon was an inevitable occurrence, but itstill came as quite a shock to me. The thing that I found most shocking,however, was not the lack of organization nor the fact that prosscheduled to appeared didn’t, but rather the mercenary and “I don’tgive a damn” attitude shown by Calvin Beck, con chairman and editorof Castle of Frankenstein.

The con was scheduled to get underway at 1:00 p.m. on February11th [1967], but Beck himself didn’t show up till 3:00 pm! Phil Seulingwas forced to take charge of admissions to the con (and did a fine jobof it), because Beck was not present.

The first program was scheduled to start at 3:00, and when it hadnot yet begun at 4:15, I went over to Beck’s mother and asked, “When

does the program start?” Mrs. Beck referred me to the printedschedule, and when I pointed out to her that it was now 75 minuteslate, she bluntly replied, “It doesn’t matter.” Perhaps it didn’t matter toMrs. Beck, but to the fans who paid four bucks to attend it certainlydid!

After this, I conferred with fellow fans Marvin Wolfman, RonFradkin, Len Wein, Elliot Wagner, Mark Hanerfeld, Richard Rubinfeld,and Ellen Vartanoff (who had come all the way from Maryland toparticipate). We agreed that a protest was in order. I went to look forBeck and was told that he was eating. Yes, while 75 fans cooled heelswaiting, Beck was satisfying his stomach!! This goes to demonstrate histrue concern for the fans attending the con.

When Beck returned, I led a small delegation to greet him. Ipatiently inquired as to when the con would begin, mentioning that,unless circumstances changed, we would ask for our money back. Beckbrushed this off casually, saying the program was subject to change athis discretion, and that we were holding up the con’s progress. We were

Come BECK, Little Comicon!The Calvin Beck Con Really Did Happen!

We’ve Got Proof!Part X of “1966: The Year Of (Nearly) Three New York Comics Conventions”

by Bill Schelly & Roy Thomas

69A Comic Fandom Archive Special Addendum

WW

Calvin’s CastleConmeister Calvin Beck—in a vintage

photo borrowed from the accommodatingwebsite www.bmonster.com, courtesy ofMarty Baumann—holds up a copy of hisCastle of Frankenstein 1967 Annual.

Thanks again to Michael Uslan for sendingus a dog-eared copy of the issue; andspecial thanks also to Bhob Stewart. [Art©2007 the respective copyright holders.]

Art by Bill Fugate.[Captain Marvel & Billy Batson TM & ©2007 DC Comics. Mentor TM & © the respective copyright holders.]

How’re You Gonna Keep CapDown On The Farm…?–Part II

More Of Captain Marvel’s American Cities Tours—1944-78Article by John Cochran Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck

ast issue, John related how Fawcettwriter Rod Reed inaugurated thenotion of having the Big Red Cheesetravel to a different US city in each

issue of his own title, beginning with CaptainMarvel Adventures #24 (June 1943), encoun-tering landmarks and meeting with digni-taries (and magazine distributors!). Part Icovered the first 16 stories in that series.Without further ado, let’s pick up from there,shall we…and follow it with a note about therevival of that concept in DC’s 1970sShazam! comic….

Boston (CMA #40, Oct. 1944) – In“Captain Marvel and the Mayor For a Day”(also without a full opening splash panel), Capsees a lot of sights during his sojourn in Boston:North Station, City Hall, Bunker Hill Monument,Faneuil Hall, and Franklin Park … and he meets ahost of notable locals, including the owner of the university distrib-uting company, the mayor, and two radio station broadcasters fromWNAC and WEEI. (WEEI is still around, but WNAC eventuallysuffered the same fate as Fawcett’s comic book line!) Billy specificallyvisited Boston to attend the “Boy-Mayor-for-a-Day” celebration—even

though it’s sidetracked a bit by crooks who talk like the Three Stooges’Curly (“Soitinly!”).

Dayton (CMA #41, Nov. 1944) – “The Adventure of the TwoHeroes in Dayton, Ohio”—one of the three cities visited in Ohio—wasone of the few city stories involving the Japanese, all of whom wereportrayed as sneaky and sinister buck-tooth types who didn’t use anyarticles when they spoke and sometimes bypassed subjects.(“Americans escaped! But at rally, perhaps will not be so fortunate!”)When Cap discovers that they’re out to sabotage a war bond rally, hebecomes a one-man Homeland Security Department. (“A crowbar!Someone is out to kill these soldiers! I’ll have to be more vigilant! But Imust be careful not to send the crowd into a panic!”) While catchingsuch sights as Main Street and the University of Dayton, the Big RedCheese also catches a saboteur who has inadvertently set fire to himselfand wants to take a war plant with him (“For the glory of theMikado!”). In gunning down one Japanese saboteur, a soldier gloats,“This is just like shooting Japs out of Saipan cocoanut trees!” Editorsof two newspapers (The Dayton Daily News and the Journal-Herald,the latter of which merged with the News in 1987) make cameos, asdoes the mayor (who is identified but unseen).

St. Paul (CMA #42, Jan. 1945) - Billy finally made it back toFawcett’s home state in “Captain Marvel in St. Paul, Minnesota.” Whilethe story involves garden-variety crooks with such monikers as“Leadpipe Malone” and a corrupt newspaper photographer, it endswith a house ad caricature of a sweating Hirohito and the rhymingmessage “Hirohito’s looking mighty glum ‘cause the bonds that you arebuying will soon make him a bum and send him home a-crying!”While shuttering the shutterbug, Billy/Cap meets the mayor, the headof the St. Paul news agency, and an announcer for KSTP … and seesthe Union Station (“Holy Moley! This station is big enough to be acity in itself!”), the state capitol, and the state fair super speedway.

LL

Captain Marvel Is Full Of BeansThis truncated splash panel led off the Boston story in Captain Marvel Adventures #40 (Oct. 1944).Presumably, all art in this section is by the C.C. Beck/Pete Costanza Studio. [©2007 DC Comics.]

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Dayton (Get It?)Okay, so “Dayton” and “datin’” as a pair of homonyms is a cheap joke.

What do you want at these prices—Oscar Wilde? This splash is from CMA #41(Nov. 1944). [©2007 DC Comics.]

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Chicago (CMA #43, Feb. 1945) - The World’s Mightiest Mortalscrews up a lot in “Captain Marvel Battles the Black Spot Gang ofChicago,” including letting two different criminal suspects slip throughhis fingers, one of whom gets away by slapping a bag on his noggin. Achagrined Marvel exclaims, “Gone! These modern gangsters are muchtrickier than the old ones!” Billy and his alter ego get to see a lot of“the queen city of the Midwest,” including its Union Station (wherehe’s greeted by the city’s periodical distributor), Michigan Boulevard,State Street, the stockyards (where Cap loses the other suspect), and theStevens Hotel (which is now the Chicago Hilton). Billy also makes theacquaintance of a columnist for the since-defunct Herald-American. Apanel of newspaper front pages shows other dearly-departed papers:The Chicago Sun (now the Sun-Times) and the Chicago Daily News.

Washington D.C. (CMA #44, March, 1945) - Hirohito’s acolytesreturn in “Captain Marvel and Washington’s Haunted Embassy!”While in the nation’s capital ferreting out a secret Japanese agent (whois only pretending to be a lowly gardener so he can climb in thewindows of government offices) and Admiral Yamomoto—a primearchitect of the attack on Pearl Harbor—Billy and Cap get to see yetanother Union Station, the Trans-Lux Building, “home of radiostations WMAL ands WRC,” “the famous Washington’s cherry trees,”President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s digs on Pennsylvania Avenue, andthe Department of Justice. Cap also makes the acquaintance of FBIchief J. Edgar Hoover, the mayor, and the periodical distributor. Capgoofs up a bit during his efforts to find the bad guys when “thegardener” waltzes off dressed as a tree in front of a flummoxed Big RedCheese. Clever, those Japanese.

Kansas City (CMA #54, Feb. 1946) – The city stories resume with“Captain Marvel Visits Kansas City, Missouri,” where Cap faces downsome bad and low-level kids, the same kind of mix he faced previouslyin Omaha. Naturally, he dispatches them easily and gets the bullies tostraighten up and fly right. Along the way, Billy/Cap meets the ownerof the local news agency, a sportscaster for KMBC, a judge, and an“executive of the Boy Scouts and American War Dads.” Landmarksinclude the Jackson County Court House, the Municipal Auditorium,Swope Park, the Pickwick Hotel, the General Post Office, and theMunicipal Air Terminal. What—no Union Station!?

The Gospel According to St. Paul, MinnesotaFrom CMA #42 (Jan. 1945). [©2007 DC Comics.]

The Whole Rhythm Section Was A Black Spot Gang!The “Black Spot Gang” was probably a takeoff on Illinois’ infamous “PurpleGang”—last immortalized, perhaps, in the Lieber & Stoller/Elvis Presley song“Jailhouse Rock” in 1957, as paraphrased in our heading. From CMA #43

(Feb. 1945). [©2007 DC Comics.]

Captain Marvel Prevents A Capitol OffenseWonder if he came from a “red” state, and Superman from a “blue” state?Anyway, this splash comes from CMA #44 (March 1945). [©2007 DC Comics.]

How’re You Gonna Keep Cap Down On The Farm...? — Part II 85