Please help Roy Thomas identify man in this circa 1946 photo with Lee Harris

[adamstrange]

Here's what I deciphered on the left side of the chalkboard:

 

9:00am Sharp!

Check off assignments of week

Conference of book as (assemble)

??oot/out our completed ???on

work critique discuss

??at we can to ?e same

make assignments of day

???es that

discussed ideas

layouts, scripts

???ing artwork work

of day's work

discussing assignments

coming week

[adamstrange]

I looked up the characters listed on the right in GCD and here's the matches I found for post WWII:

 

Black Eagle shows up as character in Fire Hair, Rangers 40 http://www.comics.org/issue/6639/ Not as a series, feature or story title.

 

No hit on Barbie Sox as a character, feature, series or story title (I actually searched on "Barbie" to ensure I didn't miss anything.)

 

No hit on jimson pix character, feature, series or story title. (I actually searched on "Jimson" to ensure I didn't miss anything.)

 

No hit on Junior Hi as a story title or series. (I actually searched on "Junior" to ensure I didn't miss anything.)

 

Nostradamus -- story in Action 140 "The Modern Nostradamus" by Al Plastino

http://www.comics.org/issue/7019/ It was published in Oct 1948 .

 

Character in Kid Eternity 3 Fall 1946 http://www.comics.org/issue/5409/

Hit 49 for Nov 1947 http://www.comics.org/issue/6287/

 

 

 

 

[adamstrange]

I think it's quite possible that picture is from Jan 1946.

 

The Evidence of the Life Magazine is backed up by the calendar on the back wall. It has days of the week consistent with December 1945 linky . I would suspect that it's still up because it's just past the new year and no one has bothered yet to throw it out.

 

I see little reason to believe that the art is destined for Fox and suspect that the best candidate is a fellow employee at DC. Post WWII Fox art was produced by the Iger shop and very little of it would have been drawn in early 1946.

Looking at the second photograph, right hand side you have "DEJAN 31" with the DE slightly erased. Jan 31, 1946 falls on a Monday so perhaps the DE used to "DEC" until partially erased/overwritten by JAN. The chalkboard looks like a work plan for the week and it is very appropriate to set it up on a Monday.

[Cat-Man_America]

OK. Here is an unplanned treat... I was able to post this photo on a non-public web site so that I could then post the link to it here on the CGC forum.

 

For a guy like me that is not so technically inclined this is a major achievement!

 

 

This particular photo shows two men standing in front of a chalkboard. I do not believe that this chalkboard is in a traditional classroom setting. One of the two men is definitely George Roussos (the one almost touching the board with his hand/chalk and nearest to the board). And the other individual is our "mystery man". It seems to me that this photo was taken at the same period of time as the previous (art table) photo that I posted earlier, because the age of the older man (with the greying hair and wire-rimmed glasses) appears to be the same as in the art table photo.

 

Of course, it is also very interesting to note that on the top-right corner of the chalkboard, the date Jan. 31 is clearly written.

 

Perhaps a fellow CGC member (or members) can pick out some key clues on this chalkboard that will help us to move forward in determining which publishing house these photos were taken at and (most importantly) "whom this older "mystery gent" is.

 

As an aside, Ito my relatively novice eyes, found this photo fascinating as it shows how the art staff during the Golden Age of Comics collaborated closely to brainstorm ideas and develop some of the extraordinary names, genres and content for their episodes in progress.

 

Just curious... does "Black Eagle", "Jimson Pix", and/or "Pitkin Ave." mean anything to anyone? These are some of the key words written clearly on the right side of this chalkboard.

 

Hope you all enjoy seeing this pic, as it has never been publicized to date.

 

Jonathan

 

It looks to me like the words under COVER are story titles or characters, perhaps from the same comic, but unlikely. More likely is that what's written on the blackboard is shorthand for familiar features from a variety of publishers for whom an art shop is producing the work. The daily time schedules for work output are interesting as well.

 

I think the first circled letters may be artist's initials followed by the type of work being done (penciling or inking). The second circled letter could be anything, but maybe it's the initial of the studio contracting the work (Iger shop, perhaps?). It's also interesting that comments written in the margins indicate unresolved questions about the work going forward.

 

I'm not sure why there are a variety of subjects written below the NOSTRADAMUS -script unless it's an assortment of themes that can be chosen from in concocting stories about predicting the future.

 

My

[MrBedrock]

Did George Roussos do any work for Fiction House?

[Scrooge]

What I find hard to figure is if this is a DC picture.

 

Here's a picture of the DC staff as of 1948 and I don't see our mystery man in it, but I might have missed him or he's gone by then.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~tklein28/DCStaff1948Large.jpg

 

At that time, post Sheldon Meyer as EIC, Jack Schiff is in charge of editing Batman / Detective / World's Finest so he would be the natural person to be there in the picture, but that's not Jack Schiff. Schiff is in the picture above.

 

 

I looked in the Who's Who to see where else Inky worked at the time and he also worked for Spark (but I don't recognize any of those features from there), Harvey (same; esp. since AStrange couldn't find matches to the features), and of course DC.

 

For a "key" to the folks in the pic, please check out:

 

http://kleinletters.com/Blog/the-dc-comics-offices-1930s-1950s-part-3/

[Scrooge]

Did George Roussos do any work for Fiction House?

 

Not according to the Who's Who, or at least over that time period.

[Scrooge]

Btw, here's an Air Wave splash -

 

http://bailsprojects.com/showscan.aspx?scale=100&scan=0013HarrisLee

[Crimebuster]

It's interesting to note that George Roussos was drawing Air Wave up until Lee Harris resumed the strip; Roussos left with Detective #112 and Harris resumed it with #113.

 

There are three (or four) artists hinted at on the left hand column of the blackboard. They are (G), (J), (L) and (I), with I possibly just being short for inker, as it's listed only on inks in each case.

 

If G is George, it's possible L could be Lee, if this photo was in fact taken at or about the same time as the other photo.

 

 

 

Pitkin Avenue is in Brooklyn. It's interesting that the right column is broken down into three times. The top four items are all 9:00. Then "Junior Hi" and "Pitkin Ave" are at 10:30, but the next thing isn't until 5:30 in the afternoon. If this is a workshop or studio, I wonder Pitkin Ave is a location rather than story - maybe they were sending artists down to another shop to work?

 

 

The "Nostradamus -script" also has me wondering if that might be for either one of those two page text stories, or possibly for one of those "true fact" mini-features they sometimes used to fill up extra space with.

[adamstrange]

The "Nostradamus --script" also has me wondering if that might be for either one of those two page text stories, or possibly for one of those "true fact" mini-features they sometimes used to fill up extra space with.

I used all of the search options to catch just such an item. So far, there isn't one that has been recorded in GCD that corresponds to the post WWII 1940s.

[Point Five]

...possibly for one of those "true fact" mini-features they sometimes used to fill up extra space with.

That was my first thought, based on the range of styles on the artwork page shown. The picture of the woman is rendered realistically, most likely using a specific photo as reference, but there's also some cartoonish figures across the bottom of the page. It looks like multiple artists drawing on the same page, not in a continuous story.

 

This makes me guess it's a DC office most likely. Did other companies besides DC run those 'true facts' filler pages?

 

[Duffman_Comics]

It's interesting to note that George Roussos was drawing Air Wave up until Lee Harris resumed the strip; Roussos left with Detective #112 and Harris resumed it with #113.

 

There are three (or four) artists hinted at on the left hand column of the blackboard. They are (G), (J), (L) and (I), with I possibly just being short for inker, as it's listed only on inks in each case.

 

If G is George, it's possible L could be Lee, if this photo was in fact taken at or about the same time as the other photo.

 

 

 

Pitkin Avenue is in Brooklyn. It's interesting that the right column is broken down into three times. The top four items are all 9:00. Then "Junior Hi" and "Pitkin Ave" are at 10:30, but the next thing isn't until 5:30 in the afternoon. If this is a workshop or studio, I wonder Pitkin Ave is a location rather than story - maybe they were sending artists down to another shop to work?

 

 

The "Nostradamus -script" also has me wondering if that might be for either one of those two page text stories, or possibly for one of those "true fact" mini-features they sometimes used to fill up extra space with.

 

 

No no no.

 

The time refers to a meeting agenda on the LEFT of the blackboard -

 

09.00 - 10.30

 

Check off assignments (for) week

Conference (?) of book as a (whole)?

Work(?)out our completed (god only knows)

Completed work, criticism/discuss

(Something or other) we can(no idea)

 

10.30 - 5.30

(blah blah blah) but the main thing is WORK.

 

5.30 -

Completion (?) of day's work

Discussing (of) assignments for coming week.

 

Anyway, this is a fun little exercise.

 

[jlevey-migration]

Thanks, Point Five, for rotating this art table photo 360 degrees. Much easier for us to see. Since Lee Harris did illustrate many Real Fact Comics (and even wrote a few of the stories), perhaps this might be one of the Real Fact Covers (or inside page from the filler story) from Jan. to July 1946 period of time (just prior to his return to resuming his Air-Wave series of drawings at Detective Comics.

 

Below is a link to many of Detective Comics' Real Fact covers. When I have time, tonight, I will attempt to look at them one by one to see if the illustration of the woman's head on the Billboard (?) can be seen. If this verifies the publishing house at the time this illustration was done by my dad, then perhaps knowing the names of his co-staff and editor(s) will bring us closer to identifying the mystery man with the greying hair and rimmed glasses in the art table and Chalkboard photos.

 

https://www.google.ca/search?q=real+fact+comics&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xL38UouQB4KCyAH07IDgCw&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=897

[jlevey-migration]

Interesting.... Thanks to MyComicShop's site, I was able to find a link to a series of Real Fact Comics and their respective covers during this exact period of time (earlier part of 1946) and it seems Lee Harris did draw many of the illustrations, perhaps including covers,

http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=363371

 

For example, is the link to Lon Chaney's splash page: "The man of 1000 Faces." Real Facts #3 (July - Aug. 1946).

 

http://atomic-surgery.blogspot.ca/2011/10/lon-chaney-real-fact-comics-1946.html

 

But that mysterious "brunette" head shot illustration is yet to be found...

[Crimebuster]

I took a quick look though the CGD for Real Fact Comics. I didn't see any stories by Lee Harris that seemed to fit the bill (just going by titles).

 

Issue #3 though had a story by another artist called "King of Signs" which is described as a story about the real person responsible for making Broadway signs. It seemed like it might be a lead, as it looks to me like the girl's face is on a billboard. It's possible the page in the photo is not by Lee Harris - if the photo was staged, they might have used whatever art happened to be sitting around to pose with.

[Scrooge]

The editorial staff for Real Fact was: Jack Schiff with Weisinger, Breslauer and Murray Boltinoff as art editor. But the mystery man is none of these guys ...

 

Here's Bernie Breslauer (the least known staff member as he died in 1950 -

 

[jlevey-migration]

Very good information Duffman, Crimebuster and Scrooge...

 

The Mystery Man with greying hair and rim glasses is likely not "just" concerned with Real Fact comics, as he is also shown in the photo with George Roussos at the Chalkboard, and (as far as I know), George was not actively involves in Real Fact Comics. So this could be and editor (or artist) who touched many genres. As for the head shot of the brunette, the style does seem to fit my dad's style of drawing, and he (my dad) is holding a pencil which suggests that he is in the middle of drawing what is on the table (but admittedly not certain). As well my dad did illustrate many Real Facts comics (signing them as Lee Harris) , but I cannot say for certainty that this drawing is his, or if it is even a Real Facts drawing.

 

Jonathan

[Point Five]

Thanks, Point Five, for rotating this art table photo 360 degrees. Much easier for us to see. Since Lee Harris did illustrate many Real Fact Comics (and even wrote a few of the stories), perhaps this might be one of the Real Fact Covers (or inside page from the filler story) from Jan. to July 1946 period of time (just prior to his return to resuming his Air-Wave series of drawings at Detective Comics.

(thumbs u

 

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that the page looked like a page from Real Fact Comics, only that the mix of the two styles reminds me (and Crimebuster) of those filler pages that were sometimes run between stories.

 

Here's an example of one of those filler pages, just so you can see what I'm talking about. This one is from Action #1 in 1938, but I know they used them into the 1940s. Most of the faces here look like they used specific photos as reference, which was my impression of the woman's face on the artboard. I definitely associate those filler pages with DC, though it's possible other companies used them too.

 

[cheetah]

...possibly for one of those "true fact" mini-features they sometimes used to fill up extra space with.

That was my first thought, based on the range of styles on the artwork page shown. The picture of the woman is rendered realistically, most likely using a specific photo as reference, but there's also some cartoonish figures across the bottom of the page. It looks like multiple artists drawing on the same page, not in a continuous story.

 

This makes me guess it's a DC office most likely. Did other companies besides DC run those 'true facts' filler pages?

 

 

I think it is a cowboy with a horse in the lower left.

[BB-Gun]

Amongst many other exciting projects, Roy is finishing off an article on my late father Harris Levey (aka "Lee Harris", co-creator of Air Wave), to be featured in the pending June 2014 (#125) issue of Alter Ego.

 

In addition to the series of colour photos depicting my dad's artwork, that will be included in the story, we have a black & white photo (circa 1940 - 1943) that shows my dad sitting on the left (holding pencil) next to another (older) gentleman with greying hair and round wire-rimmed glasses. He "might" be a Golden Age editor at Detective Comics, Fox or Blue Ribbon... he might not.

 

We would very much like to accurately identify this "mystery man".

 

If you happen to know who this gentleman is (or even, perhaps, have a strong hunch) kindly let us know, asap.

 

With much appreciation.

 

Jonathan Levey (Montreal)

 

 

 

 

 

How about Harry Lampert?