Alter Ego #64 January 2007 (magazine review).
This issue of Alter Ego is mostly focused on Fawcett Publications, with Roy Thomas examining the most successful serial in Captain Marvel #22-46, where the Big Red Cheese battles the manifestations of Mister Mind, a truly nasty little worm—literally.
One of our own, Roger Dicken, better known for creating the facehugger and chestburster in Alien, is also a comic book fan and suggests another contender for the likeness of Captain Marvel: possibly boxer Max Schmeling. I can see his point, but the bone structure and eyebrows could fit anyone from that time period.
Jim Amash interviews artist Martin Filchock (1912-2012). After looking him up, I discovered that Filchock lived to 100 years old, quite an achievement. His work in comic books, often writing and drawing, as well as covers, shows a flair for cartooning. He was offered work at Disney but, at the age of 24, declined, thinking himself too old. A lot of this interview is about the people he knew or met, filling in various knowledge gaps. Mickey Spillane also created a character in one of his books based on Filchock’s name.
Michael T. Gilbert examines Wonder Woman and Superman comic book covers where they meet themselves or other manifestations. An interesting observation here is that you can tell the age of Wonder Woman by the design of her trunks.
Writer Al Russell shares memories of the New York Comicon in 1966, offering insights into everyone from Marvel to National/DC who attended. I particularly enjoyed the conversation about one of the LSH tales because I recognized the story in development, which appeared in Adventure Comics #350-51 when the future Earth’s atmosphere was altered, forcing Superboy and Supergirl to leave the Legion. The comment was specific to that story, as at least the Boy of Steel’s presence was essential for sales.
The Alter Ego 1943 Calendar is remade for 2007 using period actresses, harking back to an earlier issue I read. I think it would be difficult today simply due to getting clearances.
The first part of a discussion with Fawcett artist Emilio Squeglio (1929- ), translated by P.C. Hamerlinck, shows how Chic Stone got him his gig at Fawcett in the midst of their legal battles with DC Comics, providing insight into that period and the lawyers who knew little about the subject. The only space available for him to work was in the advertising room, but his duties were mostly editorial content, corrections, and so forth on the comic book pages.
Writer Jay Disbrow takes a look at Mac Raboy’s work on Captain Marvel Jr. and newspaper strips, with the general consensus being that his art quality was better than the medium. C.C. Beck considered it almost gracefully feminine, but I think that has more to do with style.
The other Captain Marvel Jr. artist was British-born Bernard ‘Bud’ Thompson (1905-1980), who was as much a cartoonist as an illustrator and writer. It’s interesting to compare his art to Raboy’s.
Lastly, Eddy Zeno interviews five Superman writers from the 1960s-80s about how they perceive the Clark Kent and Superman personas, discussing which is the masquerade with various answers. I imagine a similar discussion would arise if Batman writers were asked the same question about the Dark Knight and Bruce Wayne or any other character with a double identity.
I was most surprised by how much time was devoted to Fawcett Publications in this issue of Alter Ego, but there’s certainly enough to fill in gaps in their history.
GF Willmetts
July 2024
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 100 page illustrated magazine. Price: varies. ISSN: 1932-6890. Direct from them, you can get it digitally for $ 4.99 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=405
