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Tony's Online Tips
Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"

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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Friday, February 11, 2005

From COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE #1601:

How to Succeed

"There is a Brotherhood of Man,
A Benevolent Brotherhood of Man,
A noble tie that binds
All human hearts and minds
Into one Brotherhood of Man.
Your lifelong membership is free.
Keep a'givin' each brother all you can.
Oh aren't you proud to be
In that fraternity,
The great big Brotherhood of Man?"


- Frank Loesser, "Brotherhood of Man" from HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

Several recent events have me thinking about that "Brotherhood of Man" as it might apply to the comics industry. The trigger was the Roy Thomas editorial in ALTER EGO #42 [TwoMorrows; $5.95]. A sizeable chunk of the November-dated issue was devoted to "Marvel's Forgotten 1960s Artists": Don Heck, Paul Reinman, and Werner Roth. Thomas wrote:

"Each of these artists contributed substantially to the comics field...yet, in the end, each of them, left it (or saw it leave them.) Nobody gave them retirement parties, a pension, or a gold watch. One year, they were making a decent living drawing, the next, they had somehow lost their footing, never quite to regain it. Even so, each of them had a decent, fairly long career in comics, and left behind an admirable legacy."

Thomas goes on to wonder if he could have done more for these artists. He hasn't come up with a satisfactory answer and likely never will. As he correctly states, there wasn't usually the time to reflect on such things when you had dozens of comic books that needed to make it to the printer and then the newsstands. And, of course and sadly, Thomas is no longer a comics editor, no longer in a position to give assignments to forgotten artists (and writers) of this new millennium.

Still he continued to ask:

"Should the comic book field be what it has become - survival of the fittest, king of the hill - or is there room, even a need, for a 'kinder, gentler' industry, one that strives to find a useful place and gainful employment for those who have served honorably, long, and well?"

I'll get back to that in a moment.

During Mid-Ohio-Con 2004, I donated some books and also signed at the ACTOR booth. If you haven't heard of ACTOR, here's the bare bones from the organizations website:

Who are you guys?

ACTOR, A Commitment To Our Roots, is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need.

What do you do?

ACTOR creates a financial safety net for yesterday's creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and entrée back into paying work.

ACTOR exists because many Golden Age or Silver Age creators toiled in comics' earlier days for low pay and with a nonexistent pension plan. Very often, writers would work for a penny a word, or artists for $5 a page with no chance of ownership and no pension. Today, many of these people who laid the groundwork that today's comic industry works on may be in financial need. Be it due to age, health, or just low salaries with no retirement plan, they may need a hand. ACTOR provides a safety net for former comic creators in need. ACTOR is dedicated to helping creators with emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and entrée back into paying work.

ACTOR doesn't get as much press as the equally important Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) because its noble work is done on the quiet. Recipients of its help often do come forward to thank ACTOR, but the organization respects the wishes of those who don't wish their distress to be public knowledge. The comics industry is quite accomplished at stripping dignity and pride from creators; ACTOR does what it can to restore them.

One of the books I donated was Marvel's ESSENTIAL IRON FIST, which reprints stories I wrote three decades ago. Signing the book for its purchaser, it hit me that, were it not for my columns, here and online, I would be more "forgotten" than the artists honored in that issue of ALTER EGO. It's been a good number of years since I wrote an actual comics script and had it published. As much as I love the medium and hope to work in it again, it eventually became more prudent to earn my living in other ways. I was single when I wrote Iron Fist; today, I have a family to consider.

I guess it could be said that the comics industry has left me, even though I persist in hanging around like an old lover without the good grace to move out of the state or something. My situation does give me an appreciation for what ACTOR does. God willing, my circumstances will allow me to continue to make modest donations to them and help them help my comics brothers and sisters who aren't as fortunate as I have been.

If you want to learn more about ACTOR and also about how you can help it fulfill its mission, visit its website at:

www.actorcomicfund.org

If you're expecting me to rate ACTOR here, you're out of luck. There aren't enough disembodied Tony heads in the universe to give the organization its proper due.

A week after Mid-Ohio-Con, my pal Barry Keller posted this on my message board [www.comicscommunity.com/boards/tony]:

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that William Sackheim, a veteran film and television producer and writer who produced television's "Gidget" and "The Flying Nun," dramatic series such as "Delvecchio" and "The Senator" and numerous TV movies, has died. He was 84.

Sackheim gave starts to the careers of Sally Field (hired her for Gidget), Judd Hirsch (hired him for a TV movie and Delvecchio), Steven Spielberg (hired him for the Night Gallery movie) and John Badham (hired him for The Senator [I think]), but the interesting thing in the obituary was a mention that during WWII, Sackheim did freelance work for DC Comics writing Batman.

I re-posted Keller's note to the GRAND COMICS DATABASE mailing list. There are unknown Batman writers from the 1940s and 1950s. Comics script detectives like Martin O'Hearn have identified their styles, but not the names of these writers. I wondered if Sackheim be one of those writers.

The GRAND COMICS DATABASE [www.comics.org] is another critical component of the "Brotherhood of Comics." Giving credit where said credit is due makes it that much more likely that the writers and artists of the past will be remembered and respected. The stats go up every week, but, when last I checked, the GCD had indexed over 76,000 comic books and post over 72,000 comics covers...for a grand total of over a million credits. It's a rare day in which I don't turn to the GCD for some sort of information.

Getting back to the question asked by Roy Thomas in his ALTER EGO editorial...

As much as I'd love to see a kinder, gentler comics industry, one which made room for the creators of the past, I doubt it will ever come to pass. The editors and publishers of today face many of the same time-consuming challenges that Thomas and others did in the 1960s and 1970s, though, to the industry's ongoing deprivation, they have been freed by the vagaries of the current marketplace of any compelling need to appeal to more than 100,000 "hardcore" customers with any given title. They even face some new challenges in an industry focused on short-term gains, stars du jour, and the trade paperback sales, none of which are inherently bad goals if thought and action are also given to respecting the creators of the past and the characters they originated for the publishers.

Can comics readers contribute to the "Brotherhood of Comics?" Most certainly.

They can request - politely - that editors and publishers hire their favorite creators of the past...and buy the comics on those rare occasions when the editors and publishers actually listen to their requests. I'm ready to plunk down my cash for the Bob Haney-written Teen Titans graphic novel which DC unceremoniously pulled from its publishing schedule. I have purchased the first issue of STOKER'S DRACULA by Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano and would leap at the opportunity - awkwardly leap, but leap nonetheless - to buy any other comic book by either of those gentlemen. Wouldn't it be cool to see John Byrne draw an Arnold Drake-written Doom Patrol special? Or Alvin Schwartz write a Superman script for Alex Ross or Jim Lee? My inner fanboy sings at the prospect.

Most publishers pay some sort of reprint fee or royalty when they republish material. The "rules" vary from outfit to outfit, maybe even from book to book, but buying those reprints is another way readers can contribute to the "Brotherhood." Indeed, if any of said publishers wish to come forward with their payment policies on such reprints, I will be delighted to spread the word of their good will in every venue available to me.

I wouldn't normally devote half this column to something other than reviews, but this is an issue near and dear to me. Like Roy, I question if I could have done more for the older creators when I was an editor or when I was writing characters and titles created by others. I also don't have satisfactory answers.

What I do have is the absolute conviction that there are many things we can do now. ACTOR, ALTER EGO, the Grand Comics Database, the comments we address to editors and publishers, and the comics material we buy all speak to the possibilities. Comicdom needs to do more, but we have made a good start.

******

Alter Ego 42

Speaking of reviews, it would be churlish of me to withhold my thoughts on ALTER EGO #42. After all, editor Roy Thomas inspired this column's long-winded opening and he deserves props for another outstanding issue of his magazine.

Comics fan and historian Nick Caputo scores my "best of show" award for his afore-mentioned articles on Heck, Reinman, and Roth. They brought back pleasant memories of my youthful days reading the comics they drew and my not-as-youthful days working with Heck on various comic books. I'd love to see Marvel publish collections of 1950s and 1960s stories by these artists. They all did exceptional work in a variety of genres.

Digression. Hank Chapman wrote and Reinman drew a short 1950s tale called "Atrocity Story" that remains one of the most powerful war comics stories I've ever read. There are literally hundreds of superb stories in Marvel's horror, humor, romance, war, and western comics of the era. If they were reprinted in trade paperbacks, I'd buy them in a heartbeat. End of digression.

This issue of ALTER EGO also features interviews with Golden Age editor Herb Rogoff (Hillman & Ziff-Davis); Ernie Schroeder, who drew and wrote Airboy and Heap tales; and Hillman artist/cartoonist Wally Littman. Marc Swayze, who drew Captain and Marv Marvel for Fawcett, looks back on THE GREAT GUY, his unsold comic strip about a private detective and includes the first two weeks of the strip. Frank Motler continues his four-part series on Charlton Comics and the remnants of the Fawcett empire.

Flipping back over to the Silver Age side of the magazine, A/E offers commentary by the esteemed Alex Toth, a selection of pin-ups by Michael T. Gilbert, an interview with the editors of a humorous fanzine from the 1960s, tributes to John Cullen Murphy and Jackson Beck, and a lively letters section. That adds up to over a hundred pages of comics history for a mere six bucks.

ALTER EGO #42 picks up the full five out of five Tonys. It's my favorite comics magazine that I don't write for.

Tony Tony Tony Tony Tony

******

Kirgstein Comics

Greg Sadowski won Eisner and Harvey awards for B. KRIGSTEIN: VOL. 1 [Fantagraphics; $49.95], an impressive biography and career retrospective of one of the truest artists and innovators from the 1940s and 1950s. The book included six complete Krigstein stories, setting the stage for Sadowski's follow-up tome.

B. KRIGSTEIN COMICS [$49.95] presents 34 definitive Krigstein efforts, "many restored from the artist's original files, with 14 of them newly recolored by EC colorist Marie Severin." Prepare to be dazzled and then prepare to go back and read the tales a second time to try to figure out *how* Krigstein dazzled you.

Krigstein was such a skilled storyteller than each panel leads you seamlessly into the next. In other words, he was so good that you don't realize how good he was until after you're done reading. His page and panel compositions, combined with the sheer brilliance of his drawings, all work in the service of the stories. Adding to the impact, the quality of the writing on most of these stories is well above the norm for the era in which they were first published. It's an outstanding collection of comics that spans virtually every industry genre of the 1950s.

My favorites? This column isn't long enough to touch upon all of them, but I'll give you a few quick notes.

From JUSTICE TRAPS THE GUILTY #8 [1949], "Eugene Vidocq" is a sprightly mini-biography of the criminal who became France's first great detective. The eight-page story has me eager to learn more about its protagonist, who published his autobiography nearly three decades earlier.

"The Highwayman" [ALL TRUE CRIME #42, 1951] purports to be the true story behind the world famous poem. It is a stunning period piece ignited by the passions of its title star and the innkeeper's daughter who loves him. A close-up of the girl, her eyes wide with fear for her lover, her voice stilled by a gag, is unforgettable. Krigstein then uses action shots to convey the emotions engulfing the highwayman as he charges to his fate.

Krigstein had a gift for portraying character flaws and mental instability. The domineering husband of "The Huckster's Castle" [CRIME DETECTIVE Vol. 2/7, 1951] is terrifying in his mania while the descent of the wrongly-imprisoned protagonist of "Lester of the Bowery" [REAL CLUE DETECTIVE STORIES Vol. 6/6, 1951] is as tragic a fall from grace as I've seen in comics.

"The Kid Talks Tough" [WESTERN FIGHTERS Vol. 4/2, 1952] is a fine tale of western determination and gunplay. Krigstein and the unknown writer keep the suspense high to the final panel.

EC's crime and horror comics had dozens of murderous spouses, but no one ever portrayed the theme as modern and sophisticated as Krigstein did in "More Blessed to Give" [CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #24, 1954]. Severin's original coloring for this story is every bit as contemporary as Krigstein's art. The script for this one has been attributed to Jack Oleck.

Though "Master Race" is Krigstein's EC classic and "Blessed" is a personal Krigstein favorite, "Key Chain" [CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #25] is a wonder. Again working on a story attributed to Oleck, Krigstein's storytelling techniques are simply amazing.

Two more stories and I'll drag myself away from reading this book for the third time. "Garibaldi" [BATTLEGROUND #9, 1956] tells of a troubled cook in the army of the great Italian patriot. The cook compares himself to Garibaldi and the brave men around him and deems himself a coward. Events teach him otherwise.

"Dinosaur" [MYSTIC #58, 1957] is a masterful little chiller, made all the more remarkable because no actual menace is portrayed. Despite that, the tale is downright unsettling.

Unfortunately, DC refused permission for Sadowski to reprint "Drummer of Waterloo" [OUR ARMY AT WAR #14, 1953] by Krigstein and writer William Woolfolk. Antagonism between Krigstein and editor Robert Kanigher, along with Krigstein's involvement with a proposed but never realized union of comics creators, resulted in Krigstein being blackballed by the company and curtailing what could/should have been a fruitful relationship with DC. Of the tale's absence, Sadowski writes:

"We feel its omission acutely for two reason: first, it's one of Krigstein's most personal and ambitious DC stories (and the only one he thought highly enough of to photostat for his persona files) and secondly because the original printing was thoughtlessly colored with dark hues obscuring much of his draftsmanship. Pages three and four of Marie Severin's recolored pages are [included in the book] to provide at least an idea of this important period in Krigstein's development. We hope DC will find a venue one day to republish 'Drummer' themselves - with Severin's coloring - and, finally, after more than half a century, do justice to the masterpiece in their custody."

B. KRIGSTEIN COMICS ends with Sadowski's insightful artistic and historical comments on its 34 stories. I don't think it's too soon to predict another round of award nominations for Sadowski and Fantagraphics and maybe even another win or two. This is the kind of book that makes me so grateful to be a comics enthusiast at this moment in time. This also gets the full five Tonys.

Tony Tony Tony Tony Tony

******

Some closing thoughts:

I meant it when I suggested you contact DC, Marvel, and other publishers to ask for new comics by your favorite underemployed creators. I won't name names here, but there are talented writers and artists whose creations and stories have made millions for the publishers. Not only does basic gratitude demand better treatment, but common sense should compel editors and publisher to explore if there's more gold in them thar hills.

There is also room on my shelves for more books like KRIGSTEIN COMICS. Showing superhuman restraint, I'll request but two volumes at this juncture.

Marvel Comics could put together a collection of outstanding work by a number of its 1950s artists. For starters, how about THE BEST OF JOE MANEELY, one of editor and writer Stan Lee's favorite collaborators and an artist who was skilled in every comics genre imaginable? If Marvel can't expend the care and time such a book would require, I can think of several publishers who would love to acquire the rights to do it themselves.

On the other side of the New York street, my first choice for a DC collection would be THE BEST OF BILL FINGER. The co-creator of Batman was one of the most accomplished and entertaining writers ever to work in comics. That he never got his financial due while he was alive - or the enormous acclaim and respect his lifetime of producing great comic books should entitle him to - is one of the true tragedies of the industry.

Those would be my first-round selections.

How about yours?

******

Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back on Monday with more stuff.

Tony Isabella

<< 02/10/2005 | 02/11/2005 | 02/14/2005 >>

Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.

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THE "TONY" SCALE

Zero Tonys
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.

Tony
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.

TonyTony
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?

TonyTonyTony
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.

TonyTonyTonyTony
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?

TonyTonyTonyTonyTony
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.



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