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Stan, Jack, and Steve - The 1950's. (1956) Separating the Men from the Boys PART ONE
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Started by Prince Namor,

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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1956 would be a big, very telling year for the discussion of who did what.

Stan Lee would write more 4-5 page (300-400 word) Western genre stories than he ever did, along with his continuing line of ‘Dumb Blonde’ comics. Nothing much would change for him.

Jack Kirby however, would again do some of the most important work of his career. 1955 had been tough for him in dealing with the business side of things so much, but in 1956 he would go on a creative streak that would lay the foundation for the future of comics. Almost all of it would be without Joe Simon. 

Steve Ditko would return and bounce between Atlas/Marvel and Charlton (the two lowest paying publishers in the business!), working with numerous writers (other than Lee) to create a body of work that is nearly identical to the type of work he would produce for Marvel in the 60's. 

Here's a link to 1954 and 1955:

 

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Prince Namor

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Two important books were released to start off the year... well one was December 13, 1955 - Tales of the Unexpected #1. It was the 2nd in what would be a trilogy of 'weird tales' anthology books for DC. Sanitized and clean looking for the Comics Code they would be successful for DC - House of Mystery was already on #47 and had weathered the Senate Hearing storm. 

Bill Ely cover with John Prentice doing the first stories art. Prentice had come from the Simon & Kirby studios and was one of their top talents...

Atlas would try the same tactic with not much success...

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Prince Namor

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The other DC book was Showcase #1. Again, as Atlas/Marvel tried to glut the market, most of their start ups didn't last long, but Showcase would prove to be a big winner for DC. The Brave and the Bold was on #4 and of course, would also play a part in the story ahead... for whatever reason, DC seemed to have a better handle on how to make sellable product for the marketplace...

Issue #1 of Showcase features a John Prentice cover of Fireman Farrell (he shows up in a cameo of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, some 30 years later!), then a story behind the story by Jack Schiff and Win Mortimer, before Arnold Drake and John Prentice do the first story.

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Prince Namor

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Stan was still Stan. It was clear that the success of Millie the Model was in artwork, as DeCarlo just seemed to get better and better, but Stan's name was on page one in BIG letters, while Dan had to settle for a small spot on the last panel...

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Prince Namor

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Stan wrote a LOT of Western fillers. They could usually be summed up in a sentence. He liked using the EC artists, who began looking for freelance work for much of these, hoping that it might spark some magic, but... I'm not a huge Western fan, but I know what I like and don't like... maybe I am a bit biased. But there's nothing here that would make you think they were written by a creative genius, that's for sure. 

So I'll put it in the words of Comic Historian Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (whose amazing blog can be found here: Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Timely-Atlas-Comics Blog

The stories are usually simple morality plays. Nothing terribly wordy, often 3 or 4 pages at most. But they are good reads and a lot of fun.  I think Stan excelled at these and he worked with the best of the best that Atlas had freelancing.... Joe Maneely, Al Williamson, Mort Drucker, Matt Baker, Doug Wildey, John Severin, Russ Heath, Syd Shores, Angelo Torres, Reed Crandall, Alex Toth, John Romita, Joe Sinnot, Fred Kida, Al Hartley, Bob McCarty, Joe Orlando, George Tuska, Ross Andru, Bob Powell, Jay Scott Pike, Dave Berg, Ayers, Paul Reinman, Werner Roth, Gene Colan and even Steve Ditko!
 

NOTE: Most of these I'm going to put in Spoiler Alerts - there's just too dang many of them to leave spread out - I don't want to accidentally fry anyone's brain...

Kid Colt Outlaw #59 - John Severin cover

Story art by Al Williamson

Spoiler

 

 

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John Severin cover.jpg

 

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ON NEWSSTANDS JANUARY 1956

Quick Trigger Western #12 - Cover by John Severin 

4 Interior stories written by Stan

Story THREE with Interior art by Al Hartley - I mainly think of Al Hartley as a romance artist, but his work here is very good!

 

Spoiler

 

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ON NEWSSTANDS JANUARY 1956

Apache Kid #19 - Cover by John Severin (Last issue, becomes Western Gunfighters with #20)

Non-Apache Kid Western Filler story by Stan with art by Vic Carrabotta

 

Spoiler

 

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Prince Namor

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A quick note on John Severin... people will sometimes say, "What would've happened if Joe Maneely would've lived and been around for the Silver Age?"

Well it would've been great - because someone who tragically died, DIDN'T - but it's effect on the Silver Age most likely would've been about the same as John Severin. He'd have been in the back seat to the creative genius of Kirby and Ditko. Stan loved Severin's work and he saw it as a coup to get him from EC Comics (I mean, there WASN'T an EC Comics anymore...), and he would do nearly as many covers as Maneely... he WAS a 2nd Maneely for Stan, doing Westerns, War, Comedy... and being given his own titles to do, which is the real clue to his value. (Like Maneely, none of them really ever took off...)

I say this as I prepare to do 5 straight Western books from January 1956 that Joe Maneely did the covers for! 

NOTE: And that's to take nothing away from Maneely's art... the guy was fast AND detailed in a way that few have ever been. The admiration for him is highly warranted!

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ON NEWSSTANDS JANUARY 1956

Wild Western #49 - Cover by Joe Maneely

3 Interior stories written by Stan

Story TWO (3rd story in the book) is a Billy Buckskin story by Stan with Interior art by Mort Drucker

 

Spoiler

 

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ON NEWSSTANDS JANUARY 1956

2 Gun Western #4 - Cover by Joe Maneely (First and only issue!)

5 Interior stories written by Stan

Story ONE is a Western Filler by Stan with Interior art by Chuck Miller

Spoiler

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Joe Maneely cover.jpg

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ON NEWSSTANDS JANUARY 1956

2 Gun Western #4 - Cover by Joe Maneely (First and only issue!)

5 Interior stories written by Stan

Story TWO is a Western Filler by Stan with Interior art by Joe Sinnott

See what I mean? Sinnott was a quality artist for Atlas/Marvel in the 50's. In the 60's, he was an inker for Kirby...

Spoiler

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