Todd’s Blog

Images © Mike Mignola.

I’m catching up with this HELLBOY spinoff, which I’ve been neglecting for a few years. This collection, which is #8 in the series, came out in 2008. While at first the title group of paranormal agents seemed a bit lost without Hellboy among them, they’ve become a solid team of misfits that work together pretty well, though they do have their disagreements. This time the ghostly Johann has been given a very strong human body to inhabit, and it makes temptations of the flesh too much for him to resist, so he’s gone off base and AWOL for much of the story. Back in their Colorado base, Liz Sherman is being haunted by a sinister oriental figure who seems to know a lot about her and the group. Abe Sapien is struggling to keep things together despite some break-ins and mysterious killings at the base, while Dr. Kate Corrigan is bringing newly rescued Panya, a very old woman with psychic powers, up to speed and hopefully into the group. Good thing, because newest member Captain Daimio seems to be going to the dogs, literally. It’s a good read with lots of creepiness and some exciting action as well as the usual great character moments writers Mignola and Arcudi are known for.

Here’s Panya and Kate in one of my favorite moments in the book. I’m still not loving the art by Guy Davis, though I am getting used to it, and am now more able to overlook the things that bother me about it, such as many characters with very similar facial features. He does the horror and action quite well, so that all works great.

Recommended.

© Christopher Paolini, cover illustration © John Jude Palencar.

This is the final of four long books in this fantasy series, one I’ve enjoyed reading. Yes, as some have said, it’s derivative of Tolkien and somewhat of Ann McCaffrey. Yes, the author began it in his teens, so there were some areas along the way that might have benefited from more life experience. On the whole, though, I thought Paolini did a fine job. His characters are appealing, his world is complex enough to seem real, and his storyline, while often familiar, has enough new things in it to make the books fun to read.

In this book we get the final confrontation between the hero, Eragon and his dragon Saphira with Galbatorix, the evil overlord of most of this tale’s realm, himself once a heroic dragon-rider. Before that we have lots of smaller battles as the army of rebellion moves toward Galbatorix’s capital city. By now it’s clear that Eragon will meet the big evil, so to make the smaller battles more exciting, we often see them through the eyes of Eragon’s much less powerful brother Roran, a strong and brave man, but one who must rely more on his wits than any magic or powers. The alliance of the rebel army is a fragile one, and that makes up another part of the tale. Finally, there’s a deus ex machina plot element which comes into play when the odds seem impossible for the rebels. Eragon is directed to a distant island where unexpected help may lie.

The big climax is a good one, where every player that we’ve seen developed through the four books (at least those still alive) has a major part to play, and none of it seemed very predictable to me. One element which Christopher has introduced in this book seems a little out of place in a fantasy, but on the other hand it’s a clever addition: nuclear disaster as a final option for Galbatorix, and previously as what brought down some of his biggest enemies. Magic plays such a large part in everything that only the most dire threats to life and limb seem to count, and that’s certainly a big one.

Finally there’s a pretty long wind-down as everyone sorts out what happens next, and some of the character paths are surprising.

A good series, one I enjoyed reading. Not a classic, certainly not on the level of Tolkien, but quite entertaining and recommended.

Images © Dark Horse Comics and the respective copyright holders.

Since I just reviewed DHP 5, and my opinion of the continuing features has not changed, I’m going to highlight the new stuff this time.

“Story Time” is a charming BEASTS OF BURDEN tale by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson where some puppies are told a tale of a heroic dog from the ancient past who fought alongside humans in battles large and small, and ones where magic was a threat and also a weapon. Really fine work.

“Change” by Fabio Moon is another delight as it follows three very different protagonists through life-changing journeys, and all three become entwined at the end. Written well but very simply, and the art is as charming as can be.

Not new, but there’s a second “Skeleton Key” story here by Andi Watson about a ghost-busting trio tackling a haunted hotel room. Quite cartoony art, but again appealing.

In all this issue is recommended.

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

I’m beginning to admire what writer Scott Snyder is accomplishing in this series. His main character is a reluctant Alec Holland, trying to resist the call of The Green to become Swamp Thing again. He manages to do that without it seeming like a retread of the Alan Moore series, and some of the more adult themes of later Vertigo versions, since the character is now back in the DC Universe proper. The enemy is Death, but a much different one than we’ve seen in other DC comics like Sandman. This death is also an elemental force of decay and destruction nicely opposed in every way to The Green, and taking power through a little boy with serious health problems. While he’s busy terrorizing a small Texas town, Alec and The Green are having it out in his dreams, while Abby is beside him, but no longer connected to The Green: in fact an enemy of it, so it says.

The art for this issue by Marco Rudy is quite good, with innovative layouts and creepy visuals that often reminded me of the Alan Moore years, but again, without seeming like a retread. Fine work.

Recommended.

Images © Dark Horse Comics and the respective copyright holders.

This issue’s cover and lead story are by Eric Powell. It’s a science fiction tale of a robot sent on a very long spaceflight to a distant planet where there might be alien life. I’ll just say it’s the best robot story I’ve read in ages, and a great look into the psychology of loneliness. Quite funny, too!

Part 4 of Rotten Apple by Greene and Brown is mostly a very confusing battle among several parties. The storytelling falls apart for me here, and the presence of a character with what looks like an Angry Bird head is not helping.

Part 2 of Dog Mendonça and Pizza Boy takes an unexpected turn toward HELLBOY territory with a Nazi prison camp for monsters.

Part 4 of Number 13 by Love and Walker has appealing art, and the story is starting to fill in some gaps. Not bad.

Resident Alien by Hogan and Parkhouse is fine work. It’s a mystery on one level and science fiction on another with the main gimmick being the investigating doctor is from another world, which we the reader can clearly see, but most others in the story cannot.

Part 2 of Criminal Macabre by Niles and Mitten has some interesting moments and characters, but the art is a little too scribbly and cartoony for horror in my view.

Part 5 of Marked Man by Howard Chaykin is well-drawn, but full of blood and murder among people I don’t like, so I can’t really recommend it.

Skeleton Key by Andi Watson is a charming ghost story in a cartoony style that works well for me in this case.

Part 5 of Finder: Third World by Carla Speed McNeil is weird stuff, but I like it. A futuristic tale, the lead turns out to have a fascination for undeliverable mail and packages, a personal quest to find homes for them.

Part 4 of Blood by Neal Adams has some amazing art and a story I can’t read.

That’s it for this issue. Mildly recommended.

My 61st yesterday, and it was the best birthday I’ve had in years. For lunch we had cupcakes from Chocolate Face, just down the road. We only finished four of these, but then that’s two for today! The weather was sunny and cold, but not terribly so. At 2 PM we drove to Atlantic City for a walk on the boardwalk there, just catching the end of the Chinese New Year parade.

Then we went to the Apple Store were I got my present, a new iPad! I’m still setting it up today, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. Since we already have iPhones and Apple desktop and laptop computers, we now have, as they told me in the store, “the entire ecosystem.”

Then we walked short distance to Souzai on the third level of The Pier, overlooking the sunset on the beach, and had a delicious sushi dinner. Life is good!

E. Nelson Bridwell / Carmine Infantino, photos probably by Jack Adler. These and all images © DC Comics, Inc., except where noted.

In the mid 1960s the winds of change were blowing through the halls of 575 Lexington Avenue, New York, the home of National Periodical Publications, which we now know as DC Comics. An early sign was the hiring of E. Nelson Bridwell as Assistant Editor to Mort Weisinger late in 1964. Bridwell was the first comics fan to make it to the NPP staff. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of and great love for the company’s super-hero comics, especially those about Superman, many based on ideas of Weisinger, and it must have come as a shock when he found his new boss to be, as many reported, highly verbally abusive at times. Bridwell stood his ground and became a welcoming friend to young fans who were able to visit the offices, particularly those who loved the comics of the 1940s and 50s as he did. His interactions with visitors and fans became more common when Weisinger was not in the office, as happened ever more frequently as the decade went on and Mort shortened his work week.

Carmine Infantino had been an artist for the company since the late 1940s, and become an award-winning fan favorite with his groundbreaking art for editor Julius Schwartz’ THE FLASH, the book that ushered in the Silver Age of super-heroes at DC. Infantino spent a lot of time at the office, and made friends in high places. In 1966 he joined the staff as Art Director, and began doing more covers, and cover layouts for other artists. In 1967 he became Editorial Director, a first for any artist at the company, and he soon hired three more artists as editors, giving the staff a good shakeup. Jack Schiff and Robert Kanigher were out as editors, though Kanigher continued to write for the company for many years. Schwartz remained helming his Silver Age titles and the Batman books which were given to him in 1964. George Kashdan and Murray Boltinoff remained, but on less important books.

Dick Giordano / Joe Kubert / Joe Orlando, photos probably by Jack Adler.

The new artist/editors came from varied backgrounds. Giordano had been a successful editor at Charlton Comics, as well as one of the best inkers in the business. He worked on super-hero books like TEEN TITANS and AQUAMAN, and brought top Charlton talent like artist Jim Aparo with him. Kubert had long been employed at DC mainly on the war books, and now took them over from Kanigher, who continued to write many. Orlando had made his name at EC Comics and Mad Magazine, so came in working on both humor and “mystery” (DC’s name for horror) comics.

sketch © Alan Kupperberg.

1967 office layout of 575 Lexington Ave. as Alan remembers it. Missing are the offices of Julie Schwartz and the new artist/editors, though they may not have started until 1968. Jack Adler probably had another of the “semi-open cubicles” in Production. Steve Mitchell adds, “I believe that Jack Miller’s office was the closest to the reception area. He shared it with Barbara Friedlander. Jack was a warm guy, but Barbara found all us kids on the tour to be, well, annoying to one degree or another.”  Both were romance comics editors.

The rest of the staff remained largely the same, even when the company was bought by Kinney National Services in 1967. In 1968 they also bought the Warner Brothers movie studio, taking on the Warner Brothers corporate name. A change of location for the company would follow in late 1968, but more on that later.

Story panels © Alan Kupperberg.

As above, regular Thursday afternoon tours of the NPP offices had become established by 1967, with Alan Kupperberg and others being frequent visitors. All of these young men, as well as Steve Mitchell another regular, would go on to work for the company. Of those I contacted, Alan has given me the most material about his visits, including autobiographical comics stories that touch on the subject he’s graciously allowed me to use, so much of the following relies on his accounts and memories. I also have comments from Steve Mitchell who who took a job in the Production Department a few years later, and also worked as an inker for the company. Marv Wolfman and Len Wein were high school friends who shared a love of comics. Both initially hoped to become comics artists, but found more opportunities at DC as writers, and made their first story sales in 1968. Both became regular writers and later editors for DC.

Mark Hanerfeld was a few years older, 23 in 1967. Very active in comics fandom, he soon took a job as assistant editor to Joe Orlando, and did some writing for the company as well. Later he returned to run the company library.

Steve Mitchell remembers, “The tour was always Thursdays after lunch. It was given by Walter Herlitschek, a Production staffer. Walter liked us young boys. His reasons were not as obvious to me as to some others. As a 12 and 13-year-old kid I visited on any Thursdays I had free from school. In all fairness we were gnats buzzing about. But we were gnats who loved the product, and couldn’t hear enough or see enough of what great adventures were coming up.”

Since Alan Kupperberg is my main source for this part of the blog, I asked him for opinions about some of the staff and regular artists of the time. He complied, but saying, “You may not wanna use most of this stuff because I’m going to give you my honest opinion.”  His remarks are refreshingly candid, which I appreciated, though he’s right, some are too candid to use here. But it’s also important to remember these are not the impressions of that wide-eyed young fan taking the office tour, they’re opinions formed over a lifetime of work in the business which included a year or two on staff in the Production Department and some years as a freelance artist for the company. With that said, I will offer parts of them.

Let’s start with Carmine Infantino, seen above. Though very popular with fans, and perhaps charming with visitors, Carmine had a reputation with those I met who worked with him of being gruff and dictatorial. Alan thought him nasty, saying, “He’d put a “y” at the end of your name, if possible. Making you diminutive. Joey, Mikey, Bobby, Jackie, etc. He was jealous and petty. That’s why he systematically forced out Giordano. He was very vain.”  Steve Mitchell says, “Carmine had a small office, but it was his own. No roommate. He was very open to talking about his work, and he really seemed to enjoy it. We also lavished praise on him constantly, and why not?! In many ways in the mid-60′s his style was the house look for DC.”

Sketch by E. Nelson Bridwell from the collection of Alan Kupperberg.

Alan is much more positive about Nelson Bridwell, describing him as “a very nice man. Very passive. Very learned.” He also says Bridwell was “available and avuncular on the subject of the Man of Steel or any other fictional or historical character.” Steve Mitchell adds, “I always thought of Nelson as a big kid, just like me, who loved comics.”

Todd here. I worked with Bridwell when I started at DC in 1977, and while he was always nice to me, he was a character. Nelson had a number of health problems, including what I believe was Tourette Syndrome. He made odd twitches, clicks and occasional loud bleats, for lack of a better word, more so when he was agitated about something, and he spoke quite loudly in general. I can see where his boss Mort Weisinger might have been annoyed by those things. Even Julie Schwartz, who shared an office with Nelson when I was there, would sometimes come into the Production Room saying, “I can’t stand it.” But Nelson really knew his stuff. Trouble was, he was focused on the past, and not the right person for the changing world of comics he found himself working in. I think that’s why he didn’t go further in the company.

Moving on to Julie Schwartz, Alan says he could also be nasty with his artists, “until he had no more power. Then he became everybody’s pal. Nevertheless, I liked Julie. He was a tough editor who wanted things done his way. But he was fair and not manipulative like Mort.” Steve Mitchell adds, “Julie was always grouchy, but in a benign way.”

It’s true that at DC editors were used to having absolute power over their writers and artists, and some took advantage of that more than others. Especially in the days when there were no credits on the stories, editors could replace their freelancers at the drop of a hat. Julie was one of the pioneers in giving credit, even as far back as the early 1950s on some of his science fiction books like STRANGE ADVENTURES, well ahead of the curve. Another way in which I think Julie was different was that he understood the fan mentality because he’d been one himself. Not of comics (he read his first comic on the way to the job interview at DC), but of science fiction, where he was deeply involved in fandom and became an SF author’s agent for a while before joining DC. Once he found out I was also a fan of the genre we got along great, and he introduced me to many of the SF writers he knew when they’d come to visit him at the office.

Of Robert Kanigher, Alan says, “Him I didn’t like. Not him, not his writing. What he did to his artists was a shame. Of course, he didn’t try anything with Kubert because Joe was built like a brick building and could’ve snapped Bob like a twig.” Sounds like another editor whose power went to his head. Steve Mitchell says, “My favorite books were edited and written by Kanigher. I loved the war books. The content was exciting and the artwork fantastic. Joe Kubert, Russ Heath, Andru and Esposito, Jerry Grandenetti, Irv Novick and Jack Abel were, then and now, some of my all-time favorite artists. Kanigher begrudgingly talked with us fans about new stories and art, or talked at us rather, but he did give us some freebie issues not yet in the stores, which was a very big deal.”

Joe Kubert, on the other hand, Alan calls “The best. Thoroughly decent. A rock.” Dick Giordano was “ostensibly a very nice man. And yet, and yet…I always thought of him as someone who would stick his own neck out for no man.”

Joe Orlando sketch from the collection of Alan Kupperberg. Daredevil © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Of Joe Orlando, Alan says,“A sensitive guy. Gotta watch what you said in front of him. Insecure in my opinion. Wallace Wood didn’t respect him.”

A few more memories of editors from Steve Mitchell:

“Jack Schiff was very warm towards us ‘gnats.’ He never seemed to be in a hurry, and maybe I’m idealizing the past, but he also seemed interested in why we were so into comics. Maybe we were market research for him, I dunno. Jack Miller, referred to by us as Uncle Jack, was a very warm guy who really seemed to enjoy showing us Neal Adams’ DEADMAN pages. Jack mostly edited romance books, but DEADMAN was his baby. Murray Boltinoff was quiet and sort of distant. George Kashdan was a nice man who seemed to be surprised that us kids were interested in his work, and a little bit afraid when we would say Hi.”

Of the offices, Steve says, “They could have been any kind of office from the time. Very few reminders that comics were published there were in evidence. Sure, each editor had a cork board with their latest covers, otherwise not much else. If you’ve watched the fourth season of the TV show “Mad Men,”  the DC offices had similar frosted glass walls seated in metal frames. Very 1960′s then and retro cool now. This was the only DC office to have them.

Mike Sekowsky sketch from the collection of Alan Kupperberg, photo by Jack Adler.

“The Production Department was windowless and always, to me, a dark and slightly foreboding place, illuminated by the lights on the drawing tables. Some freelancers like Murphy Anderson and Neal Adams had boards they worked at on what I believe was a daily basis. Other freelancers had space available to them. I remember Mike Sekowsky being there, and Jack Sparling, who put my name on the cover of an issue of STRANGE ADVENTURES. He lettered it on the side of a building, which was unbelievably cool! Sadly, a caption or word balloon was pasted over it, but Mr. Sparling had a fan for life with that sweet gesture.”

Neal Adams sketch from the collection of Alan Kupperberg.

Artist Neal Adams began looking for comics work at DC in 1967, and spending a lot of time doing it in the office. Carmine Infantino liked his work, and began giving Adams his cover layouts to flesh out. Alan reports, “I saw Neal Adams working on some of the first of his great SUPERMAN covers, drawn from Carmine Infantino’s inspired layouts.” Adams was soon outshining Infantino in the fans’ eyes and became the new golden boy artist at the company.

Sergio Aragones sketch from the collection of Alan Kupperberg.

Alan says, “Sergio is one of the few gentlemen in the business. (Another one was Grey Morrow.) A very sweet, talented man. A prodigious. prolific, funny cartoonist.” I doubt many who’ve met him or know his work would argue with that.

Panel by and © Alan Kupperberg.

Alan seems to have had a love/hate relationship with the Production heads, Sol Harrison and Jack Adler, and he’s said a lot about them in his autobiographical comics. The two were high school pals who followed similar career paths, with Sol seeming to always be one step above Jack. Both could be entertaining in their own ways, though I think this page from INFERIOR FIVE #6 written by E. Nelson Bridwell, art by Mike Sekowsky and Mike Esposito goes way beyond what ever really happened:

Humor aside, there’s an insider look at the Production Room at 575 Lex, as visitors would never have seen it! Steve Mitchell remembers, “Sol scared the crap out of me and many others for years. He had a way of intimidating you with his silence. Sol loved the company perhaps more than he ever showed it. ‘Magazines,’ were what he called the product, never mags or comic books. Jack Adler was, for all intents and purposes, the DC color department back then.”

Gaspar Saladino, photo by Jack Adler.

Sadly, no one mentions meeting one of MY favorite freelancers, lettering ace Gaspar Saladino. Gaspar had been lettering stories for the company since 1951, but Carmine Infantino moved him in as the main logo and cover lettering man in 1967, replacing the elderly Ira Schnapp. Gaspar’s dynamic cover work started appearing regularly in 1968.

About Schnapp, Marv Wolfman remembers: “I was told what he’d done (the many logos) and that they felt they needed to keep him employed even though he was pretty old then and incapable of regular work. This was when DC  a very different place for good and bad, so they kept him busy doing minor Production work. I remember speaking with Ira and he told me about doing the Post Office lettering, but honestly I no longer remember much. I was impressed that he’d done the Superman logo. He was very nice to speak with a kid.” Schnapp retired in 1968 and died the following year.

A few more quick opinions from Alan Kupperberg. Curt Swan: “A very nice man. THE Superman artist.” Kurt Schaffenberger: “Ditto. A nice man.” Gil Kane: “Not an honest guy, but a great artist.”

In the December-January 1969 issue of a Warner Bros. in-house newsletter this article appeared. At the end of 1968 the comics company and its various affiliates had moved to a new building.

909 Third Avenue entrance as it looks today, photo © Alan Kupperberg.

The office tours apparently continued at this location, at least for a while. Steve Mitchell called it “My favorite of all the DC offices.”

About the tours in general, Steve adds, “The offices were populated by adults in suits and ties. Nothing adolescent or really fun about it, but I loved being there as a fan. The Thursday tour became a destination event for me. I would build my summers around those trips to Manhattan. Ultimately the tour inherited certain rules. We regulars were put on a restrictive leash and were only allowed to visit once a month. I hated that, but in retrospect I get it. In the end we still had access to a lot of the staffers who shared their time with us, and most were gracious and, to me, inspiring. They seemed to have a good time making comics, and it was then I decided to be a part of that world.”

As the 1960s drew to a close, DC faced new challenges. The sales boost that had come from the Batman TV show had faded, and sales were continuing their steady decline (with a few upward blips) that had begun in the 1950s, and is still not over today. Marvel Comics had finally slipped the leash on the number of books they could publish, and were exploding on the newsstands. And at the office, new young artists and writers were starting to make their presence known. But that’s a topic for another day.

Thanks to Alan and Steve for providing these great memories and images. I couldn’t have done it without you. Hope you’ve enjoyed this series. You can find the earlier parts as well as other blog entries on the topic of COMICS CREATION on that new page of my blog.

575 Lexington Avenue as it looks today. All images below © DC Comics, Inc. except as noted.

In 1964 the company we know as DC Comics, then named National Periodical Publications, was housed mainly on the tenth floor of this building, having been there for about five years. Though no one knew it yet, the company was nearing the end of a 30-year period of stability.

© Marvel Characters, Inc.

Marvel Comics’ new superhero line spearheaded by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was making waves with the fans, including myself. If you remember those aunts of mine who lived in Manhattan (from part 1 of this series), on one visit there around this time they gave me a small stack of comics that one of their neighbors had saved for me, having heard I liked them. Among that stack were early issues of THE FANTASTIC FOUR, including the one above. I loved them, and from that moment I began to search out more Marvel comics and gradually abandoned the DC favorites I’d read until then. But at DC, Marvel was not yet seen as a threat. For one thing, they were being distributed by Independent News Corporation, which was owned by National Periodical Publications, or NPP as I’ll call them here. The distributor greatly restricted the number of titles Marvel could produce, even though they sold quite well. Funny how that worked, isn’t it?

Another thing that was about to shake things up for the company was the wild success of the live action Batman TV show which would debut in January of 1966. NPP had benefited greatly from the very successful Superman TV show in the 1950s with George Reeves — especially the written and spoken plug for their comics at the end of each episode. It’s where I first found out about them!

Finally, management and ownership would undergo major changes, too. But for now, in 1964, things were rolling along as they had for many years. Staff editors were largely the same as those I listed in the first part of this series, but with the addition of Jack Miller editing the romance titles. Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan were beginning to get full editor credit on some of the lower profile titles they worked on like TOMAHAWK and HOUSE OF SECRETS. Those are the only changes I’ve been able to find.

Now I’ll turn over this story to writer Pat McGreal, who has written a number of comics for DC and even more for European publisher Egmont, where he chronicles the adventures of Disney characters like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Pat and his brother Terry visited the DC offices in 1964, and it sounds like they spent most of their time in the Production Department. Pat writes:

“I grew up in Southern California in a suburb of Los Angeles.  My older brother, Terry, and I were big comic book fans.  This being the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, we naturally discovered the DC titles first.  Our favorites were the ones edited by Julius Schwartz – FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, MYSTERY IN SPACE & STRANGE ADVENTURES, THE ATOM,  HAWKMAN, etc.  Early on, we learned to identify artists and inkers by their styles and we were nuts for the work of Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Joe Kubert and Murphy Anderson.

“In 1964, when I was ten, my family took a month and a half road trip across the United States.  Upon arrival in New York City, there were only two things Terry and I really wanted to do – (1) go to the World’s Fair to see the groundbreaking Disney audio-animatronics exhibits and (2) visit the offices where those sensational comics were created.  Thanks to my good natured, indulgent dad, we did both.

“We arrived at 575 Lexington Avenue, giddy with expectation.  Our spirits sank when we learned DC gave tours but not on that day of the week.  Dad sweet-talked the receptionist, telling her what huge fans his boys were, that they had come all the way from California and how they would only be in the city for a day.  Finally, she called upstairs and a few minutes later Jack Adler came down to escort us to Heaven. Dad left us in Jack’s capable hands and we ascended.

Joe Letterese / Ira Schnapp, photo and watercolor by Jack Adler.

“My memory of the place is a series of offices and production rooms surrounding a central bullpen furnished with drawing tables.  We were shown massively wide filing cabinets filled with original art destined to see print.  Jack introduced us to the staff members who happened to be there that afternoon – Morris Waldinger, Stan Keith Starkman, Joe Letterese, Walter Herlitschek and Ira Schnapp.  Ira had designed many of the logos that graced DC covers and was proud to show off his work to an adoring audience of two. The guys gave us an assortment of postcards featuring various DC characters (including Jack Larson, TV’s Jimmy Olsen) and they all signed them.”

Todd here. Postcards like these were clearly printed up by the company to help sell the product, as well as to give or mail to fans who expressed an interest. On the front we see Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen on the 1950s Superman TV show. His signature and inscription are printed on the card. At lower left we see the fine script lettering and signature of Ira Schnapp. How I envy Pat his meeting with Ira, the one DC staffer I would most like to have met and talked to, but never had the chance. Pat told me Ira carefully drew pencil guidelines for his lettering before inking it, and you can see them if you look closely. Ira was 72 in 1964, and nearing the end of his time as the main logo designer and cover lettering man for the company, but still doing all that work himself then.

Morris Waldinger also signed this card in red at upper right. Morris was still on staff when I began working at DC in 1977, in fact he sat right in front of me. Mo, as his friends called him, wasn’t the brightest guy, nor was he much of a comics fan. His main interest was making extra money doing freelance lettering or outside advertising work, and I have to say he wasn’t all that good at it. He and Joe Letterese were the mainstays of the Production Department, though, spending decades doing production work like art corrections and pasting up covers and letter-columns. On the back of the card is a JIMMY OLSEN cover dated June 1956, giving a good indication of when the card was printed.

BLACKHAWK was a cross between a war comic and a super-hero team comic. DC had purchased the property from Quality Comics in 1956, and at DC it was mainly drawn by Dick Dillin and Chuck Cuidera, who probably did the art here. The printed inscription looks like the work of Ira Schnapp. It’s signed at the top by Production staffer Walter Herlitschek, the man who worked the photostat machine in the small darkroom, which was used to make copies of repeated elements like logos and the DC “Bullet,” as well as printed-size copies of the art for the colorists to make their color guides (see my article Coloring Comics Old School). Walter also did other kinds of production work I think. At the bottom it’s signed and inscribed by Joe Letterese in a style I remember well from when we worked together later. As many have pointed out, Joe had a great name for a letterer! His biggest claim to fame would come a year or two after this when he drew the sound effects for the Batman TV show.

The art on the Batman and Robin postcard is, of course, signed by Bob Kane, but most likely the work of Dick Sprang or one of the other artists Kane employed. Again the printed inscription and top display lettering are classic Ira Schnapp work. It’s signed and inscribed by Murphy Anderson, who even dated it April 5th, 1964. Editor Julius Schwartz also signed. More about those two  in a minute. On the back of the card are three covers from 1960, indicating that’s when it was printed.

The last card, featuring Superman, is larger and much older than the rest. I had one of these cards once. It was printed in 1948 and the back shows covers from that time. It’s not a postcard, but is intended to look like an autographed picture. The art might be by Wayne Boring. Young fans who would write asking for Superman’s autograph, or his picture, would be sent one, presumably in an envelope. The inscription at bottom right is printed, at upper left Stan Starkman has signed and inscribed it. Took me a while, but I finally identified Starkman as a letterer for the company, with credits running from about 1955 to 1967 on quite a few titles. I never met him, and since none of his lettering work was credited, didn’t really know his name until now. Whether he was also working as a Production Artist, or just a freelancer visiting that day I don’t know. Okay back to Pat McGreal:

“We were shown artwork to a new feature that would appear early the next year in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #57… Metamorpho.  When asked if we knew what metamorphosis meant, Terry – fortunately – knew the answer.

Jack Abel / Murphy Anderson, photos probably by Jack Adler.

“There were only two artists working in the bullpen.  One was Jack Abel, penciler of the “Gunner and Sarge” strip in OUR FIGHTING FORCES.  The other was Murphy Anderson.  Terry and I were knocked for a loop!  Here was the unsurpassable inker on FLASH and ADAM STRANGE!  The guy who drew and inked THE ATOMIC KNIGHTS in STRANGE ADVENTURES and HAWKMAN in MYSTERY IN SPACE!

“They were both welcoming and friendly and let us dumbly watch them as they worked.  Murphy was penciling the cover of SHOWCASE # 55, the issue that reintroduced Golden Age heroes Dr. Fate and Hourman as they battled Solomon Grundy.  While we looked on, Murphy put down his pencil and began inking.  The cover came to life before our eyes.

“I remember asking Murphy if he loved his job.  ‘You have to,’ he replied in a deep baritone.  ‘Otherwise you’d go nuts.’

“Murphy and Jack Abel each did little ink drawings for us.  Murphy’s was a profile of HAWKMAN and Jack’s was a portrait of GUNNER.  How could things get better than this?

“That’s when Julius Schwartz opened the door to his office and invited us in.  Zeus had beckoned us to the highest peak in Olympus! We spent twenty minutes or more with Julie, talking comics and stories and artists and it was unadulterated bliss! Before we left him, he signed one of the postcards and the issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE where HAWKMAN joins the group and – inexplicably – a Spanish language edition of SUPERMAN.

“The crew at DC wasn’t done yet.  On our way out, they opened one of those massive filing cabinets and presented us with a week’s worth of original SUPERMAN newspaper strips drawn by Wayne Boring. Terry and I emerged from 575 Lexington Avenue walking on Cloud Nine.  As far as we were concerned, the DC gang was the best, no hands down.”

There you have it, two young fans welcomed in and dazzled by their comics heroes. And I bet they made the staffers and artists feel pretty good, too! I have to add that Murphy was also one of my favorite DC artists, and I got to know him well. He was a kind and generous man who loved to tell stories about comics and his life, a fine and talented person.

Thanks to Pat McGreal for writing up his memories, and for scanning those cool postcards that launched me on this journey. I’ll wrap things up next time with visits to the offices in 1967-68 by a group of regulars. More articles you might enjoy can be found on the new COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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Note: all images below © DC Comics, Inc. except as noted.

When you were a kid reading comics, did you ever wonder about who made them? Did you ever want to visit the place they were made? It sounds like a great idea to me, but sadly it never occurred to me then. What can I say, I was a dumb kid sometimes. What makes it more frustrating is that I would have had an excellent chance in the 1960s of visiting what were then the offices of DC Comics at 575 Lexington Avenue, as seen at A in the above map. Our family had two maiden aunts who lived together in an old rent-controlled apartment near the corner of 53rd street and Second Avenue in Manhattan, at B on the map, a mere five minute walk away! If only I’d known that the company would give tours to kids who wrote or called or even just showed up there, though they usually only did so on Thursday afternoons. I loved comics as a kid, and on our regular visits to see our aunts in Manhattan I always took that opportunity to beg my parents for some of the many dazzling comics displayed on every corner newsstand, unlike at our rural New Jersey home, where I had no nearby place to find them. Sometimes I and my brothers, or just me alone, were allowed to stay with the aunts on our own for a few days, as they loved kids. Would it have been easy to get them to take me to visit the comics company? You bet.

Recently I saw a post on Facebook by writer Pat McGreal where he mentioned he’d been one of the lucky kids to make such a visit, and I knew several other people in comics who had also been visitors there regularly, so I thought I’d get as much info on this subject as I could and blog about it. Here’s Part 1.

Photo © Alan Kupperberg.

The stepped skyscraper with glass facade in the center of this photo is 575 Lex as it looks today. (And while a lot of folks have provided information for these articles, I have to give a special shout-out of thanks for Alan Kupperberg, who has given me the most help!) It was built in 1958, and originally called the Grolier Building. Alan says “it was clad in gold-colored sheathing.” I haven’t been able to find a picture of that. The current look comes from a major renovation in 1990, and it’s now called the SkyGrid Building.

Photo © Alan Kupperberg.

Here’s the entrance today, probably not too different from the earlier look except for the color. I’m not sure when National Periodical Publications (as DC Comics was then known) moved to this site, but I’m guessing not too long after it opened. They were certainly there by 1960. As the decade opened, NPP (as I’ll call it here) had been a relatively stable family-owned business for about 25 years. Heading the company were Irwin Donenfeld (son of previous publisher Harry Donenfeld) and his partner Jack Liebowitz. While times had been tough for a while during the 1950s, super-heroes were making a comeback thanks largely to the Silver Age revival spearheaded by editor Julius Schwartz in books like THE FLASH, GREEN LANTERN and THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, though the books of Superman editor Mort Weisinger and Batman editor Jack Schiff were also quite successful.

Here’s a layout of the tenth floor where the NPP offices were, from a sketch by Alan  Kupperberg (we’ll see his complete sketch later). In addition to the editors mentioned above, Phyllis Reed was editing the romance comics, Robert Kanigher was editing the war comics as well as WONDER WOMAN. Larry Nadle was editing the humor line, including licensed books like THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE, and Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan were assistant editors under Schiff and Weisinger, and perhaps others. The Production Room was run by Sol Harrison with his assistant Jack Adler, both having started in the printing end of comics in the late 1930s Both were colorists. Production artists Joe Letterese and Morris Waldinger were here, as was Ira Schnapp, the company’s staff logo designer and cover lettering man. All three of those men were letterers. Running the darkroom was Walter Herlitschek. Also on staff, I believe, was Gerda Gattel, proofreader and in charge of the library, where back issues were kept in bound volumes, and Milt Snappin, in charge of the film negative library. Milt was also a letterer. Then, as when I worked there, staffers often supplemented their income with some sort of freelance work on the side. The bosses, Liebowitz and Donenfeld, may well have been on a different floor.

Beginning in 1961, four friends and comics fans from Boston visited the NPP offices several times. I’m not sure if the regular Friday tours had begun at that time, but if so, they weren’t part of it. Rick Norwood was nineteen that year, a freshman at MIT, so he and his friends Al Kuhfeld (now Ellen Kuhfeld), Durk Pearson and Bill Osten were older than the kids the company considered their main audience, but Norwood had had a number of letters published in GREEN LANTERN and other DC comics and struck up a friendship with editor Julius Schwartz. Norwood asked if the four could visit him, and Julie agreed. They rode a train down to New York for their visits. From their reports it sounds like they spent most of their visiting time with the editors.

Photo of Julius Schwartz probably by Jack Adler, from “Man of Two Worlds” by Schwartz

Of Schwartz, Norwood remembers: “He was infinitely gracious, and made me feel welcome.  He even pulled out a number of unpublished Golden Age pages and allowed me to take Polaroid snapshots of them.  And he gave me permission to publish my own Doctor Midnight story in my fanzine, since he had no idea of ever reviving that old character.  Schwartz gave me several scripts, by John Broome and Gardner Fox, and I saw that Schwartz had done extensive rewrites on them.”

Ellen Kuhfeld says: “Julie Schwartz — what a sweetheart! I don’t remember much specific about the visit (except for some Murphy Anderson artwork) but it was both comfortable and enjoyable. Since we both traveled in fannish circles, Julie and I would meet now and then across the years. And we always remembered one another.”

Photo of Robert Kanigher probably by Jack Adler

Norwood recalls: “Robert Kanigher liked to argue.  When I ventured to criticize, mildly I thought, a Wonder Woman script he had written, he lit into me.  What did I know about writing!  How dare I criticize a professional like himself!”

Kuhfeld adds: “One shock came in Robert Kanigher’s office when he showed us pencils for an early METAL MEN. They were staggeringly beautiful. After years of Andru and Esposito artwork, I didn’t have a very high opinion of the two. Seeing Ross Andru’s pencils convinced me that he was an artist, and Esposito was positively ruining his art. As for Kanigher, he and I never hit it off that well.”

Photo of Jack Schiff by Jack Adler.

Norwood says: “Jack Schiff was too nice.  He knew more mathematics than I did as a Freshman math major at MIT.  But when one of his artists brought in pages, dropped them on his desk, and walked out, Schiff read over the pages and said they weren’t drawn the way the script said they should be drawn.  Instead of calling the artist back to redo the work, Schiff started working on an extensive rewrite to make the story match the art.  None of the other editors would have stood for that kind of sloppy artwork for a minute.”

Photo of Mort Weisinger and Gerta Gattel probably by Jack Adler.

Kuhfeld says:  “And then there was Mort Weisinger. Definitely a larger-than-life character, but not one I’d loan money to, nor bring home to meet the folks. Even so, he had the highest percentage of readable comics at DC, to my youthful mind. Even today I’d rather read an issue of SUPERMAN’S GIRLFRIEND LOIS LANE than an issue of BATMAN back during those days when Zebra Batman and Rainbow Batman walked the Earth, and Buzzsaw Batman careened dangerously above it.

“Now, this was maybe a year after the Great DC Contest (where readers were challenged to find as many errors as possible in a story full of them). I took fifth place. I mentioned that to Mort, and said I’d not seen my prize. ‘Oh, that!’ Mort said. He got up and rummaged about, and found some original art. ‘Here!’ And he handed over the first prize original art. Which leads me to suspect winners 1-4 didn’t get their prizes either. I mean, okay, it was only comic-book stuff — but it was comic stuff promised to comic fans by a comics editor. I felt uneasy taking it, but had some claim to it; and none of the winners would likely have gotten any of the prizes if I hadn’t. I think that takes care of the ‘loaning him money’ part.

“Then, on the way down in the elevator, Mort told us he had an interesting story in a forthcoming LOIS LANE. ‘Lois is trying all kinds of crazy schemes to feel Superman’s balls. She wants to see if they match Clark Kent’s.’ That’s a quasi-quote — the only part I swear to is the ‘feel Superman’s balls’ in regard to Lois’ schemes. That takes care of having him meet the family.”

Norwood says: “Mort Weisinger was nice — to me — and introduced me to Jerry Siegel.  But on a later visit I saw him being almost unimaginably verbally cruel to E. Nelson Bridwell, who was working at DC at the time.”

Todd here adding that, while I never met Weisinger, I’ve heard stories about him, and every one indicated he was often a horrible person. These seem to confirm that.

Most of the artists working for the company have always been freelancers, aside from those who worked in the Production Department doing art corrections and putting together things like letter columns and covers. Regular company artists would often come to the offices and do some of their work there, either to finish up, make changes, or just for the opportunity to spend time with the staff. They would sit at an empty desk or drawing board wherever there was one available, often in the Production Department, but sometimes in the offices along the hall.

Gil Kane photo by Jack Adler.

Rick Norwood remembers: “I saw Bob Kane at a drawing board drawing a Batman page, refuting the story that he ‘never’ drew Batman after the early issues.  Carmine Infantino was also very nice to this callow young fan.  And I watched Gil Kane drawing a Green Lantern page.”

Kuhfeld says: “Somebody was sitting at a desk talking on the phone while casually using a large, extra-long-hair, calligraphy brush to ink one of the the magenta separations for an issue of ACTION COMICS. Back then I did occasional editorial cartoons, but I’ve never been able to use a brush that long, or that casually. I was more the crow quill type.”

This sounds to me like a staffer, and when I asked, Ellen remembered his name was rather short and began with an A. I think it was Jack Adler, above, who did a lot of the cover coloring, and sometimes the actual color separations. Ellen said he was filling in the left side of the A in ACTION COMICS with black ink. That sounds like color separations work all right, so they must have been doing some or all of the covers in-house, though the interior seps were done elsewhere, I believe.

Thanks to Anthony Tollin for putting me in touch with Ellen Kuhfeld, and Ellen for putting me in touch with Rick Norwood. Thanks to both for these great memories and stories. I’ll continue next time with a visit to the offices in 1964. You can find more posts you might enjoy on the new COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

Image © Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

I’ve recently colored nine copies of my black and white print from 1993 (had ten but ruined one), so they are once more available on the BUY STUFF page of my website. (Scroll down to see it.) My price is $32 plus shipping. It’s been unavailable for over a year, and there’s no telling how long they’ll last, so act soon if you want one.