So how much work did Bob Kane actually do?

[chrisco37]

Just wanted to pop in and echo the sentiments of many. This thread has been utterly fascinating. I'd like to thank all that have contributed to it (whatever side of the fence you fall on).

 

Just great stuff. The best thread I've read in ages.

[Kakapo]

Just great stuff. The best thread I've read in ages.

 

And it was started by a guy who owns few non-Archie Golden Age books and thinks he's a parrot!

 

It has been very interesting reading. I trust some of the points about the Lee-Kirby relationship will be taken on board in any forthcoming books on the history of comics. I'd much rather read something that stated both sides of the story and invited the reader to draw their own conclusions, over a version where the author seems to be very clearly taking one particular side. I'm sure that both Stan and Jack would have exaggerated their contributions a little; especially to people who were friendly with one or the other. If you hung out with Jack every year at San Diego, you probably got the impression that he was the driving creative force, and the same for those who chatted to Stan. It would be partly unintentional sycophancy (perhaps "hero-worship" is a better word there) and partly only hearing one side of the story. The truth would lie somewhere in between the two.

 

People have already mentioned Lennon-MacCartney; I've read that both Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone thought they were responsible for the other's success after the masterpiece that was "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". How much of "Citizen Kane" came from Welles and how much from Mankiewicz? Depends who you talked to. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples.

 

I think my favourite part of the thread thus far, and forgive me for paraphrasing, was along the lines of:

"I ghosted for Kane. He took the credit. I was getting work. So what?"

What can the rest of us say other than, "Well I never thought of it like that"?

[Aman619]

Which makes me think and ask out loud if Stan was so prolific, who was doing all that writing when Marvel was pumping out 80+ titles a month in the 1950s prior to the ANC 1957 distributor collapse which caused Goodman to go hat in hand to Independent News

 

[/b]why would you even think i wrote "Stan's writing or lack of it contributed to the collapse of the comics industry in 1957" ? That does not make sense - that is beyond silly, sorry

[/b]

 

sorry. I read your first sentence fast which seemed to tie Stans writing with the subsequent collapse. I see what you are saying now. That if Stan was so good, why WASNT he writing the 80 books a month. I dunno. Who WAS writing them? Wasnt Stan getting his share to write? Maybe he only stepped in once everyone else was let go and Goodman started up again with 10 books a month... and pegged Stan to write them rather than hire writers???

 

I dont know too much of what Stan did in the early 50s. I guess you could also argue that if he was "so great" why wasnt he involved in the EC explosion of quality back then? I never thought of it that way, but, being tight with Goodman, and not a freelancer probably cover most if not all of that answer. He wasnt available and Gaines didnt need em!

 

But this leads into Stan having learned from and patterned his Pre-Hero stuff after the ironic punch of the EC style...and that he began writing again in earnest with the restart of Marvel in the late 50s, which places his Marvekl Age creativity right in his prime! He told Joan he was sick of comics and wanted to do something DIFFERENT didnt he?

[Aman619]

I asked jack about this once - he said Goodman promised royalties on FF etc and he did not want to blow his chances, and he was wrong about Goodman, and he later regretted going against Simon at the time.

 

not exactly the paragon of virtue and loyalty in this instance huh? Selling out his old partner for the promise of a few gold coins!!

[Koko]

I asked jack about this once - he said Goodman promised royalties on FF etc and he did not want to blow his chances, and he was wrong about Goodman, and he later regretted going against Simon at the time.

 

not exactly the paragon of virtue and loyalty in this instance huh? Selling out his old partner for the promise of a few gold coins!!

 

Well, consider that Jack couldn't go back to DC, Dell wasn't interested, Classics had a limited workload, and Archie was out of the question. Kirby's options were limited, and he had a family to support. I'd have done the same thing.

Regards,

Greg Theakston

Pure Imagination

[Aman619]

true. But Im just saying that because I read all kinds of insinuation about Stans actions and character for the decisions HE made in his career in regards to his fellow creators. Seems, as YOU attest, having toiled in that world, seems we all muster only as much integrity as we can afford at the time.

[ciorac]

I certainly am no expert on any of this, but have been reading, selling and loving comics for 40 years. I also know many of the people (or knew in some cases) we are discussing here. The issue of who should get more credit is not ever going to be solved to everyone's satisfaction.

 

My chief concerns are that if you are writing an impartial history of comics, write both sides sans snide remarks or innuendos and you will be doing the hobby a service.

 

If Kirby was so prolific it makes me ask out loud what did Simon do? Weren't they a collaborative team? Of course they were. As were Lee and Kirby. Clearly the pairs were far superior to the individuals. None of them would have been or were as prolific alone as they were together, in my opinion. I think Simon played a larger role in the creation of Captain America than Kirby did in some ways. Look at the cover for crying out loud.

 

where have i been making snide remarks?

Please pull the quotes if you make such a charge

 

Ok Bob, You called down the thunder... Let's see if any of these qualify as snide or laced with innuendo...I'm sure there is SOMEONE out there other than me who things they just might be both...

 

BOB: I have less than zero respect for Bob kane

BOB: Yes, i have my opines, and ALL persons point at Bob Kane as a true SOB

BOB: I also think Ditko created Spiderman, and i think Stan's involvement in the creation was minimal as he was fronting for his uncle-in-law Martin Goodman - but i digress

Retort, MINIMAL! Good grief, even Ditko couldn't make that claim hooked up to one of Marston's lie detector machines.

BOB: Kane gets too much credit for the invention of Batman

BOB: I repeat: Stan was fronting for his Unca Martin Goodman

BOB: One has to examine the "Marvel Way" of doing the comics back then

the art was all drawn up and finished, THEN dialogue was added post facto. But that too has little to do with CREATION, either

 

Retort, that was LATER Bob and you know that. You are being disingenuous. We were discussing the CREATION of the characters and their early development, many of those who were in the room when it happened have related over the years of how Stan plotted those early stories. Acting them out many times. That is not a secret story, it has been told many times by many Marvel employees including Roy Thomas and others who were there even earlier than Roy

 

Bob: What Stan did was not different, ultimately - he did his boss's dirty work, got paid well to keep the talent silent, mollified, as a daddy would do for his "boys", a common publisher ploy.

 

BOB: Here is a hypothetical: if Stan is/was such a creator, where are all his creations from the 1940s and 1950s, and where are all his creations after Kirby split town, moving out west?

 

So, Lee played no role in the Atlas books or the pre-hero Marvels? None? None in the humor and romance comics they were putting out in the 50's either? Not what Stan Goldberg told me. Why did Stan need to create anything after Kirby left? He had a WHOLE BULLPEN to do it for him by that time. Does Bill Gates still develop or program? Of course not! He doesn't need to. When you run a company and it becomes as successful as Marvel was by the mid 60's you sit back and run the company, you don't need to be as active in the tactical day to day operations as you used to, you become more strategic. That is what he did. And that is what he should have done.

 

Bob: I still see Stan as that 18 year old who stealthily followed Simon & Kirby back in 1941 to their "undisclosed secure location" where they were working on DC National projects after leaving the Timely offices for the day. Blood being thicker than water, so they say

 

Retort: come on Bob he was 18 for Pete's sake. You mean you have never done anything in your life you are not proud of, including in your teen years. What was he supposed to do. "No Uncle Martin, my employer, I will not do as you ask and trail our employees to see if they are violating the terms of their contract with us. Fair or otherwise, the deal was as THEY signed it.

 

i have been discussing honest truth inside the comic book business - warts and all.

 

I have been discussing Simon all the way thru this thread and other threads besides

 

I also think Simon played the largest role in Capt America's creation.

 

Bless you for interjecting some sanity

 

Then again, Simon did tell me on the phone that he pulled the plug on Kirby having anything to do with CA's creation when Kirby sided with Goodman (and Lee) that Simon was not the main creator when Simon made a play to get the CA copyright when the first 28 years came due for renewal.

 

I asked jack about this once - he said Goodman promised royalties on FF etc and he did not want to blow his chances, and he was wrong about Goodman, and he later regretted going against Simon at the time.

 

In summation: I'm sure Kirby regretted a lot of things in his life and decisions he made. No one held a gun to his head that I am aware of.

 

You mention a lot about the fabulous creations he made throughout his career as compared to Lee. We both agree Simon was the chief achitect of Cap, so what does that leave us for Jack? Boy Commandos? A re-tooled (worsened in my opinion) Sandman? I'm all a-twitter.

 

He and Lee fit perfectly together and should have found a way to stay together that was mutually agreeable, if Goodman was the architect of that demise then shame on him.

[BLBcomics-migration]

Bil, Bill, Bill - You put words there, as in your personal assumptions of my motives and or intentions that i did not write. ill address your other assumptions a little later:

 

BOB: Here is a hypothetical: if Stan is/was such a creator, where are all his creations from the 1940s and 1950s, and where are all his creations after Kirby split town, moving out west?

 

BILL: So, Lee played no role in the Atlas books or the pre-hero Marvels? None? None in the humor and romance comics they were putting out in the 50's either? Not what Stan Goldberg told me. Why did Stan need to create anything after Kirby left? He had a WHOLE BULLPEN to do it for him by that time. Does Bill Gates still develop or program? Of course not! He doesn't need to. When you run a company and it becomes as successful as Marvel was by the mid 60's you sit back and run the company, you don't need to be as active in the tactical day to day operations as you used to, you become more strategic. That is what he did. And that is what he should have done.

 

Bob's REPLY: I do not write Stan did no writing

 

I ask what he created then.

 

Tell me

 

What did Stan create then: 1940s 1950s ??

 

Formulas were developed by some in the industry

 

Goodman called the shots, he owned the place, his money was on the line. Greg is very correct. Follow the money for answers seeked

 

Goodman would very carefully follow the trends other publishers led with

 

he would then glut flood the marketplace with war, western, romance, teen humor, horror, crime, etc genres.

 

he would change genre gluts at a moment's notice

 

Stan followed Martin's orders

 

It was Martin who ordered FF to be created - he wanted a team book, they hid it as a monster book the first two issues,

 

so, what i began writing about here was about creators who create not getting a fair shake

 

There is nothing snide about that concept

 

I began my comics business history book circa 1993 with a loooong letter in CBG #1029, prompted by Don Thompson to recollect about the origins of the Direct Sales Market - it took up the entire OH SO section that issue. The DM was imploding at the time, it was timely in its look-see. Don Thompson gushed all over it, encouraged me to do more, put me in touch with SF historian Sam Moskowitz, who was very helpful on many levels.

 

I co-hosted the first creators rights comicon ever organized with Berkeleycon 1973, centered on creators rights royalty paying alternative comix some call undergrounds. Print Mint, Rip Off Press, Last Gasp, Krupp, etc - Shelton, Corben, Bode, Sheridan Spain S Clay Wilson, etc - and the industry slowly altered to fit that concept as creator's rights became more the norm

 

when i wanted to figure out the 1970s origins of the Direct Sales Market pumping into the comic book store system, which at one time boasted 19 Direct Distributors with Marvel, i found i had to examine the 1960s

 

To explain the 60s comics markeet, i had to explore the 1950s

 

to explain the 1950s, one had to look into the 1940s

 

and so forth back thru the decades i began - and then i passed the Twilight Zone Myth into pre Famous Funnies territory, taking it back into the 1800s. Some of teh fruits of those explorations one can read in Overstreet each year, for a decade now

 

Did i know where this look-see was going to take me when i began it?

 

sure as heck, a big fat resounding no

 

I have tied New Fun #1 origin of DC directly to COMIC CUTS which ran 9 issues in 1934, and i own #8 and #9, very very rare - same size as New Fun, same features, same distributor, same printer, identical in all aspects except the comic stories.

 

Comic Cuts is Brit reprints; Major W-N ran original USA home spun newspaper strips wanna-bes, of which he was among one of them, having tried to build a newspaper comic strip syndicate in the mid 1920s

 

Point I am getting at is, i have been examining many aspects of the comics business

 

The research has been on-going for 40 years, not all the time as i was running comic book stores and companies from 1972 onwards

 

I got serious about exploring the history for my personal edification in 1994, and have accumulated a huge tonnage of research material to properly compile my book.

 

 

 

As i examined Jerry & Joe and their relationship with DC National and their last son of Krypton, i came to certain conclusions based on the evidence uncovered, many interviews conducted, the fruits of what i uncovered for the origins of where they thought up Superman are covered in a couple issues of Comic Book Marketplace as in #50 with my Big Bang article and the ish with The First Superman cover, the one with Detective Dan on the cover

 

I explored Batman, re-read BATMAN AND ME by Bob Kane as well as Jerry Bails research about Bill Finger and began asking all kinds of questions with a host of people over many years

 

Simon & Kirby's odyssey thru the comics business also fascinated me, and they were also explored as carefully as i have been able to, part of that research appears in THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR 25 a special S&K issue wherein i examined their little known self-publishing Mainline comics company, where they tried to take control over the net profits of their efforts

 

Any one is welcome to read into what ever they have the proclivity to entertain re any of the fruits of my comics business history research,

 

Opposing view points are welcome, otherwise, why would i spend all the time i have on these threads since i got sucked into the Obadiah Oldbuck vs Superman brou-ha-ha a couple months ago and i have not yet departed with new thread garnering my interest

 

Now here we are, discussing apples and oranges. are we having fun yet?

[BLBcomics-migration]

Bob: What Stan did was not different, ultimately - he did his boss's dirty work, got paid well to keep the talent silent, mollified, as a daddy would do for his "boys", a common publisher ploy.

 

Bob: I still see Stan as that 18 year old who stealthily followed Simon & Kirby back in 1941 to their "undisclosed secure location" where they were working on DC National projects after leaving the Timely offices for the day. Blood being thicker than water, so they say

 

Retort: come on Bob he was 18 for Pete's sake. You mean you have never done anything in your life you are not proud of, including in your teen years. What was he supposed to do. "No Uncle Martin, my employer, I will not do as you ask and trail our employees to see if they are violating the terms of their contract with us. Fair or otherwise, the deal was as THEY signed it.

 

i have been discussing honest truth inside the comic book business - warts and all.

 

I have been discussing Simon all the way thru this thread and other threads besides

 

I also think Simon played the largest role in Capt America's creation.

 

Bless you for interjecting some sanity

 

Um, you seemingly forgot or are intentionally overlooking one salient point.

 

The reason S&K "violated" the terms of their contract was because the owner of Timely Marvel what ever you want to call Goodman;'s company(s) back then, was ripping off S&K, you big schla-meeeeeel.

 

What part of that do you not understand?

 

or, by the way you bring it up here, that is OK, Stan was doing good, and the contract royalty payments not paid to S&K were OK,

 

and Stan played a major role in such a rip off, being an industrial spy for Uncle Martin

 

what else would you call such a role behavior?

 

Goodman & crew pulled the trigger first - maybe Marvel should have paid S&K, huh?

 

then they no talk-eeee with DC National

 

and there is more to the creation of Capt America re Simon or Kirby i wrote than you cut and pasted here. You take me out of context. I will come back to that as well later, it's getting late tonight. You make a great spin doctor, young man

[BLBcomics-migration]

Below is the full text of the small part of what i could post here of my views re S&K concerning the origin of Capt America. Bill, you cut & pasted one sentence.

 

 

i have been discussing honest truth inside the comic book business - warts and all.

 

I have been discussing Simon all the way thru this thread and other threads besides

 

I also think Simon played the largest role in Capt America's creation.

 

Then again, Simon did tell me on the phone that he pulled the plug on Kirby having anything to do with CA's creation when Kirby sided with Goodman (and Lee) that Simon was not the main creator when Simon made a play to get the CA copyright when the first 28 years came due for renewal.

 

I asked jack about this once - he said Goodman promised royalties on FF etc and he did not want to blow his chances, and he was wrong about Goodman, and he later regretted going against Simon at the time.

[/b

 

So, you only pulled a spin doctor portion of what i was converying

[Koko]

true. But I'm just saying that because I read all kinds of insinuation about Stans actions and character for the decisions HE made in his career in regards to his fellow creators. Seems, as YOU attest, having toiled in that world, seems we all muster only as much integrity as we can afford at the time.

 

Yea, I have a family. I have to do things I don't really want to do. I kiss butt once in a while, but I don't pray there.

Regards,

Greg Theakston

Pure Imagination

 

PS Don't believe all of the insinuation about Stan. I slightly know the guy, and he seems OK to me.

[Koko]

Bob B. wrote;

 

What did Stan create then: 1940s 1950s ??

 

Bob,

Stan showed a profit every month. That's all Martin wanted. Creation-shremation.

As we agree, follow the money.

Regards,

Greg Theakston

Pure Imagination

[BLBcomics-migration]

Which makes me think and ask out loud if Stan was so prolific, who was doing all that writing when Marvel was pumping out 80+ titles a month in the 1950s prior to the ANC 1957 distributor collapse which caused Goodman to go hat in hand to Independent News

 

[/b]why would you even think i wrote "Stan's writing or lack of it contributed to the collapse of the comics industry in 1957" ? That does not make sense - that is beyond silly, sorry

[/b]

 

sorry. I read your first sentence fast which seemed to tie Stans writing with the subsequent collapse. I see what you are saying now. That if Stan was so good, why WASNT he writing the 80 books a month. I dunno. Who WAS writing them? Wasnt Stan getting his share to write? Maybe he only stepped in once everyone else was let go and Goodman started up again with 10 books a month... and pegged Stan to write them rather than hire writers???

 

I dont know too much of what Stan did in the early 50s. I guess you could also argue that if he was "so great" why wasnt he involved in the EC explosion of quality back then? I never thought of it that way, but, being tight with Goodman, and not a freelancer probably cover most if not all of that answer. He wasnt available and Gaines didn't need em!

 

But this leads into Stan having learned from and patterned his Pre-Hero stuff after the ironic punch of the EC style...and that he began writing again in earnest with the restart of Marvel in the late 50s, which places his Marvekl Age creativity right in his prime! He told Joan he was sick of comics and wanted to do something DIFFERENT didnt he?

 

Yes, i have also heard the tale(s) Stan was sick of comics at various stages of his career, i think most of us fall into that category every once in a while in our chosen professions, and i do not blame him in the slightest.

 

And i would also agree that Stan was in his prime circa 37 years old when FF was created. Jack also was in his prime being a couple years older.

 

What i have been bringing up here was not creationism cutting hairs in the detail of each issue of FF and other books in the MU per se nor art ID concepts, but some of the behind the scenes scenarios.

 

That Stan was a good foot soldier for his Uncle Martin, proving same as early as age 18 when he followed S&K and reported back what he got told. That is an historical fact.

 

My rhetorical query re what did Stan create pre MU was simply to demonstrate that Jack had been creating new genres never introduced into the comics biz, that he and his partner Joe Simon from 1940-1959, were highly sought after talent for a long time, that there are behind the scenes forces in play which alter reality from the PT Barnum perceptions we grew up absorbing.

 

I did not set out to go after Stan - but the trail leads to what i have penned here, and usually, they say, truth is stranger than fiction

[BLBcomics-migration]

Bob B. wrote;

 

What did Stan create then: 1940s 1950s ??

 

Bob,

Stan showed a profit every month. That's all Martin wanted. Creation-shremation.

As we agree, follow the money.

Regards,

Greg Theakston

Pure Imagination

 

Yo Greg

 

Yes, we are in 100% full agreement re follow the money

 

And it is obvious that Goodman wanted all the money, which is a natural human condition for many - and i will definitely be writing good things about Stan as he did do good things

 

He also was involved with not do good things in the comics business - but that is also part of the slice of life

[ciorac]

Bob B. wrote;

 

What did Stan create then: 1940s 1950s ??

 

Bob,

Stan showed a profit every month. That's all Martin wanted. Creation-shremation.

As we agree, follow the money.

Regards,

Greg Theakston

Pure Imagination

 

Yo Greg

 

Yes, we are in 100% full agreement re follow the money

 

And it is obvious that Goodman wanted all the money, which is a natural human condition for many - and i will definitely be writing good things about Stan as he did do good things

 

He also was involved with not do good things in the comics business - but that is also part of the slice of life

 

Alas, we shall agree to disagree yet again. I believe Stan was THE creative force behind the Marvel Universe in the early 60's. My belief, backed up by long and numerous discussions with those who WERE THERE! Simple "Spock Logic" as you would call it. Kirby was a major collaborator to be sure and gave form and visual life to the characters, as did Ditko. The ideas, in some cases were probably shared and developed as a team. The voice, the feel, the energy that differentiated Marvel characters from the droll DC stories of the day was 100% all Stan Lee. Pure and simple. It is clear to see, and silly to deny.

 

You really lost me with the Ditko created Spiderman thing though for sure. You have one phone call with a bitter, reclusive, weird as all get out guy, who makes a preposterous claim according to you, and it becomes your gospel. Pitiful. Ditko never created anything before or after Spiderman that would even give a hint of the genius that did. Period.

 

[BLBcomics-migration]

Steve Ditko had re-curring bouts with Tuberculosis, TB.

 

At least 3 attacks i know of benched him for periods of time, most likely warping his brain and stamina during recovery as it does to other people who contract it. But that is just what i think.

 

After the two phone calls there was a healthy exchange of letters and a contrib to our ditto repro fanzine FANZATION in #3, and Wertham quoted from that Ditko contrib in his book THE WORLD IF FANZINES.

 

All my correspondence from that multi-year period destroyed in Best of Two World's 1986 warehouse flood, along with letters from Hal Foster, will Eisner, Wertham and others.

 

I had contributed a bit to yronwode's Ditko bio book Eclipse was going to publish, destroyed that same week in northern Calif Katrina-like flooding - a lot of people i know contributed to it,

 

What i know to be truth was developed a long time ago when many more people who were there were alive and shared their thoughts, aspirations, accomplishments.

 

yes, pitiful, on one level, a lot of stuff gone. over 3000+ original art covers and pages destroyed, a million comic books used to reside in there, stuff coming in, stuff going out.

 

With over a thousand comic book shows under my belt since 1967, i met and exchanged ideas with a tremendous amount of comics creators, publishers, distributors, etc over a long time now. I surely did not expect some of the facts in any given case to pan out the way they did.

 

and you did not answer what i wrote, taking the focus in a different direction:

 

100% full agreement re follow the money

 

And it is obvious that Goodman wanted all the money, which is a natural human condition for many - and i will definitely be writing good things about Stan as he did do good things

 

He also was involved with not do good things in the comics business - but that is also part of the slice of life

 

We are talking apples & oranges here. I have not denigrated Lee's contribs to Marvel, only elevating Kirby and Ditko's input. which Lee pushed to the side beginning around the time Siegel and Shuster were beginning their push to recover the copyright on Superman when the first 28 years were up.

 

We all must keep in mind that Goodman had steady interaction with the publishers of DC National, Archie (MLJ), Harvey, as they would get together for various functions.

 

I think Stan was following orders from corporate suits who owned the company he had his life wrapped up in, but never owned. What he sought was his salary and bonus - like any body else making a living.

[Aman619]

in all your travels, interviews etc, what have been your interactions with Stan himself? How many and how would you characterize them, in retrospect?

[Bronty]

Good question aman.

[BLBcomics-migration]

in all your travels, interviews etc, what have been your interactions with Stan himself? How many and how would you characterize them, in retrospect?

 

Interactions with Stan?

 

Staring off reading all the Marvels in the 60s beginning in 1962 with FF #4, did not buy the first 3 issues as the first two looked like the monster books, and never saw #3 as a new book. I was 9 when i began looking for Marvel super heroes as they unfolded, all the while keeping up with most of the DCs as well as the Gold Keys such as Turok, Dr Solar, Tarzan etc

 

Read all his Stan's soap box stuff, eating it all up like any other Marvel Zombie including the infamous one in the late 60s exhorting all of us Marvelites to use the then-new frosty Magic tape from 3M as a preemptive strike against spine stress wear along the spine of your comic book.

 

As i began attending many of the comicons beginning in 1967 with my first NYC Seuling con by 1970, i listened to him speak when he came to the shows. Asked some questions from the audience on occasion when it was possible.

 

And clipped all newspaper and magazine interviews with Stan beginning in 1966.

 

And i absorbed all of his musings on the Origins of Marvel Comics, and i direct readers to his later takes on such origins in those ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS.

 

There is a lot out there containing his musings on where it all came from.

 

And there is a host of other versions of then-current events from other people. They were being re-discovered and coming to the shows as well. I began an inter-action with Steve Ditko in 1969 which went on for a few years before i co-opened the first comic book store i was involved with in Berkeley Calif in August 1972 with John Barrett and Bud Plant, what we turned into the first comic book chain store operation within a year known as Comics and Comix

 

I also interviewed a former editor for Martin Goodman's men's magazine division. His name is Melvin Shestuck, he worked on the next floor from the comics division beginning in the 1950s and extending thru the late 1960s. Claimed he wrote super hero stories as well as a few Sgt Fury stories for Stan, a ghost writer as it were. From these interviews back in the mid 1990s, i began my process for figuring out all things Stan.

 

I interviewed Chip Goodman about his father a couple times before he died, Martin being passed on by then.

 

while on this subject, my interactions with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were confined to comicons as well, but that did not stop me from compiling a look-see at how they invented Superman presented in Comic Book Marketplace #50 in that "Big Bang of Comic Book History" as well as my earlier "The First Superman Cover" in the CBM with the Detective Dan cover

 

I would welcome interviewing Stan for my book.

[BLBcomics-migration]

Here is something from Mike Catron over at the GCD which i direct readers to go check out, scroll down the page to see where swipes originated re Batman in Tec 27 and 33

 

http://henryvallely.blogspot.com/