Todd Klein's Blog, page 272

Catching Up

I love going to the San Diego Comicon, and I’m privileged to have the chance, but allow me to complain a little anyway. To get those five days off, I usually have to work extra hard for at least a week before and after, sometimes more. I don’t know why work always seems to become concentrated around this time of year, but somehow it does. I left for the con all caught up, but I knew that wouldn’t last. In fact, a complete book that needed lettering asap was in my hands Saturday, and I actually lettered six pages of it on my laptop on the plane coming home, to get a head start.

Back home, I had to deal with con exhaustion, and soon the “con crud,” a cold I somehow picked up mingling with over a hundred thousand strangers. Not a bad one, but still a drag. I finished that hot book Tuesday, and started another, but late Tuesday I got an even hotter lettering job, the remaining pages of a very large project. Those always sound appealing up front. “We’ll feed you pages a few at a time, you can work them in between monthly books,” they always say. And it does start out that way. But, inevitably, the artist or artists fall behind, and at the end it’s a mad rush for the exit. I plugged away at that, and turned in the final lettering Thursday afternoon. Friday I finished up that other hot monthly, and then for the weekend I had corrections to do on the large project, about 70 pages of them. I plugged away again, and have those ready to send in tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I feel like I haven’t had time to even walk around my yard this week. Friday evening I looked out front and saw the blooming Joe Pye Weed, above, hosting six Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies, the most I’ve ever seen here at one time. I ran for the camera, but could only get three of them in one picture.

Here’s a closer look at my favorite local butterfly, this one’s tail has been nipped on by a bird, but it’s doing fine anyway.

And today there was the first Monarch I’ve seen here this summer, too. Also with a chewed wing, but getting along well. These attractive insects remind me, it’s all about getting the job done. Theirs is drinking nectar and mating, mine is lettering. If I can steal some time here and there to stop and enjoy the view, that’s a bonus.

We did get to the beach for a few hours yesterday afternoon, and had a nice Mexican dinner out. My cold is gone, and I’m ready for the next load of work to hit tomorrow. Bring it on!

Incoming: 7 AGAINST CHAOS, SDCC 2013 SOUVENIR BOOK

Image © The Kilimanjaro Corporation.

This DC hardcover was in the works for quite a long time. Originally meant to be four 48-page issues, it was reformatted as a single story. The art by Paul Chadwick of CONCRETE fame is great, and the story by Harlan Ellison is fine too, lots of space-faring adventure, time travel, and cool ideas. I lettered it, so I may be biased, but if you’re an Ellison or Chadwick fan you’ll want to read this book.

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

I don’t know how difficult it is to get a copy of the 2013 San Diego Comicon Souvenir Book if you didn’t attend the show, but I imagine there are going to be copies out there. Thought I’d point out the excellent Dave McKean SANDMAN cover, which I have to say I actually like better than Dave’s alternate cover for SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1, out later this year. There’s lots of good reading and art inside, too.

SDCC 2013 Sunday

Photos © Todd Klein.

I began Sunday at the con at the annual Jack Kirby tribute panel, hosted by Mark Evanier, and with that Gaiman fellow and Tony Isabella, as well as Kirby’s lawyer at left. Neil was not advertised to be on this panel, so it was not mobbed by his fans, and easy to get into. Everyone had insightful and interesting things to say about the man, his work, and his influence on popular culture, with Neil suggesting films like “Pacific Rim” owe a lot to Kirby, for instance. If this program shows up on YouTube, it’s worth a look.

In Artist’s Alley I told writer/colorist Brian Buccellato how much I enjoy his work on THE FLASH.

Chrissie Zullo was there with lots of her great painted work. She’s always fun to talk to, and had been at the Saturday dinner I attended.

I enjoyed seeing Romeo Tanghal, and was able to wish him a happy birthday, having seen it was so on Facebook. Romeo is retired from comics, but still doing wonderful commissions, which you can find on his FB page. The full color ones are particularly nice.

You never know what you’re going to find on display and for sale at the con. Here’s a storyboard for Disney’s cartoon “Ben and Me,” based on the great Robert Lawson book of the same name…

…and here’s a painted magazine illustration by Lawson himself that I’ve never seen before.

My friend Gary Gianni was offering copies of his painted calendar for George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” books, a painting for each month. Gorgeous. Martin was there for a while on Thursday, and I was able to get one signed by both of them. I’ve been reading the series since they started coming out, though I haven’t seen the TV version, and neither has Gary! (He wasn’t allowed to when doing the paintings, they wanted them to be inspired only by the books.)

I looked everywhere for comics logos on original art that I could use for my “Logo of the Day” feature on Facebook, but found only this one. There are lots of logos and covers on display, but all ones I already have in my files. I have no idea who designed it.

I’m not sure why I found this old cartoon poster appealing, maybe it’s the logos, maybe it’s Porky Pig.

Artist’s Alley, and the entire main floor of the con was getting crowded in the afternoon, so I decided I needed a break.

I went outside and walked to the Bayside Hilton, where I got some frozen yogurt at the shop there, with fresh fruit, nuts, and chocolate bits. The second year I’ve done this on Sunday, so I guess it’s now a tradition.

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Back inside later, I was admiring this giant book collecting one of the best Conan comics reproduced from the original art at full size, so every detail and note and art correction on the artwork is crystal clear. It’s the same idea as the IDW “Artist Editions,” and beautifully done. Not cheap at $150, and even if I had it, don’t know where I’d put it, but great to see.

Writer of the story, Roy Thomas, was there signing copies. Roy is not a big guy, but the size of the book makes him look like a midget! (Sorry, Roy…) In the display case at left is what I think is one of the original art pages, and there were others. Couldn’t get a good photo of one, for some reason. If you’re a fan of Conan, and/or artist Barry Windsor Smith, you’d love to see this.

Friend Scott Hampton and his fellow artist buddies John Van Fleet and Chris Moeller were busy at their table. I had breakfast with them on Friday, another tradition.

One more panel, this one on “The Art of the Cover,” again hosted by Mark Evanier with four fine artists, Jerry Ordway, Chris Samnee, Gary Frank and Dan Jurgens. Covers by each were examined and discussed, and Mark, having spotted me in the audience, hit me up for information on the logos, two of which were my work, and fortunately I did know the others he asked about.

Afterwards I had a nice chat with Ordway and Jurgens, who posed for me in the style of one of Dan’s BOOSTER GOLD covers. (The one with Green Arrow and The Warlord back-to-back.)

I walked around a little more, then it was time to leave the con for the last time this year, and head up Fifth Street through the Gaslamp District to my hotel and write up this final post. Later I’ll have dinner with friends, another Sunday tradition, and head home tomorrow. Hope you’ve enjoyed these reports, regular posts will resume once I’m home, and caught up with work.

 

 

SDCC 2013 Saturday

Photos © Todd Klein.

Saturday usually seems to be the most crowded day at the con, though every day is sold out, so it’s hard to say if that’s really true. Certainly it’s the most crowded day in the ongoing circus around the con, as at this corner where the Gaslamp District ends and you can cross over to the convention center.

I began my day at a Joe Kubert panel with panelists Sergio Aragonés, Mark Evanier, Tom Yeates, Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, Jon Cooke and Russ Heath. Many great stories were told, my favorite being the one about the Kubert family’s trip to Mexico using a hand-drawn map Sergio gave them of his favorite places. After the adventure, when the Kuberts in their motor home arrived in California to visit Sergio, Joe told him, “Your map was great! It was the only thing we needed to get around.” Sergio couldn’t believe Joe actually went there with his wife and five kids in a motor home, but that was Joe, fearless.

Veteran artist Russ Heath had some great memories of his longtime friend Joe, and I enjoyed hearing him the most, I think.

In Artist’s Alley I ran into Kaja and Phil Foglio, looking very steampunk, as always. They’ve had great success with their “Girl Genius” series of novels and graphic novels.

Another costume that caught my eye was this queenly attire.

Here’s two artists whose popularity rose in the 1970s, Alex Niño showing some of his drawings to José Delbo.

A highlight of Saturday for me is always the Quickdraw Panel, where host Mark Evanier gives three artists lots of odd drawing assignments to do quickly. Scott Shaw and Sergio Aragones are the regulars, the guest artist this year was Neal Adams.

Here’s Sergio’s opening drawing. I had so much fun I forgot to take any more pictures, but there were lots of laughs, and guest contestants Peter David and film critic Leonard Maltin trying to guess what the artists were drawing.

I failed to get any details on this musician performing in Artist’s Alley on an unusual electric Cello and singing, but she was quite good.

I bought an overpriced sandwich and took it outside behind the convention center. Most of the large movie promo things around town didn’t do much for me this year, but I did enjoy this “Despicable Me” blimp circling overhead.

I found a spot on these steps and ate while enjoying the view and the people.

Before long there was an impromptu photo session with a great Joker and lots of Harleys and Harley-style costumes. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy seemed to be the most numerous female hall costumes this year.

I’ve commented on the “line culture” at this con before, something I can’t see spending time doing myself, but lots of people put in many hours waiting for their favorite programs, with the longest lines being for ones featuring favorite movie and TV stars, but popular comics panels also have lines.

Seems to me, if you’re going to wait in line, you don’t want to ALSO be wearing a costume like this one as well, looks pretty uncomfortable long term.

For the really long lines, you might wait outside the convention center under tents like this one. I wonder how many long-term friendships or feuds start up there?

My big event of the afternoon was the 25th Anniversary Sandman panel, which also had a long line. Sadly, even though the room was large, many fans weren’t able to get in, like this one in a fabulous Jack Pumpkinhead costume.

This panel was unlike any I’ve ever been on, more like a TV chat show than a panel, with a backstage area full of security and Neil Gaiman staff like Cat Mihos, who I’ve known for many years. Here’s Neil chatting with the first Sandman artist Sam Kieth. They hadn’t seen each other in about 20 years, and I’d never met Sam at all, despite having lettered his work, so it was great to meet him.

There was someone warming up the audience, then each panelist got an enthusiastic introduction and applause, with Neil getting the most, of course. Here’s part of the audience…

…and more of them. The room was packed, and a larger room would have been too, I think. Panelists were Dave McKean, J.H. Williams III, Neil, Sam Kieth, myself, and Shelly Bond. Neil did most of the talking, but we all had a few chances to speak, and the panel went over well.

Afterwards a few lucky fans got Neil’s quick and practiced autographic scrawl. Look at that hand move!

Earlier at the con, a Sandman fan had asked me if I could sign some art for him, but didn’t specify what. I said I’d be happy to, and suggested he meet me after this panel. When the gentleman showed up, and was allowed backstage, we were all blown away to discover he owned the splash page of the first SANDMAN issue! Here’s Neil holding it. Neil had already signed it at some point, but Sam and I hadn’t seen it in 25 years. What a great moment to top off the panel experience!

Saturday evening I went to another dinner hosted by Shelly Bond for many of her artists and writers, and enjoyed talking to Sean Williams (writer of the current FAIREST storyline), Mark Buckingham and others. It was a good end to a fun day. I’m still exhausted, but having a fine time. One more day at the con today, best get to it!

 

SDCC 2013 Friday

Photos © Todd Klein.

Friday morning, after only four hours of sleep (jet lag and overstimulated mind), was a good time to start riding the free shuttle bus from my hotel to the convention center to save on energy. I’m on the Green Route. Takes a while, but is stress free.

You never know what you’re going to see on the con floor. This booth does professional Hollywood monster makeup, and was transforming this young lady into some kind of alien or monster.

And no SDCC is complete without some dinosaurs. This model is just the right size to spark the imagination…think of it running after you!

The last few years, the DC booth has had this cool setup where an artist can draw on stage with their work projected onto a large screen behind, and a moderator asks questions while the artist draws (which I’d find distracting!). Here’s Mark Buckingham drawing Rose Red from FABLES, having no problem drawing and talking at the same time.

I looked around the movie and TV displays and booths this morning, and about the only one that appealed to me was the WETA displays for the Hobbit films. This is a life-size (I think) model of Gandalf…

…and here are some cool props from the films, including Tolkien’s own map from “The Hobbit” made real, and the Key to Erebor.

Over in Artist’s Alley I caught up with Zander Cannon. Zander has plenty of his own small press projects, but I’ve been working with him at DC, where he’s carved out a unique niche for himself, doing layouts for other artists, to save time on late projects or just helping to get things moving. On his iPad is one of those layouts for the upcoming UNWRITTEN graphic novel. I actually letter over his layouts at times when the schedule requires it, and he does a fine job. I lettered this page a few days ago.

I was glad to be able to see and speak with Ramona Fradon about my recent DC Offices history articles on my blog. Ramona started working at DC in 1951, and is still doing fine sketches, available for sale at the con. She confirmed my 1948 photo of Murray Boltinoff, but said my guess at George Kashdan from the same picture is definitely not him.

Not in Artist’s Alley, but nearby I found wonderful artist Michael Golden doing sketches, and we talked for a few minutes. I remember him from my DC staff days, when he was starting out at DC too. I told him how artist J.H. Williams III had been praising him highly at his spotlight panel, which Michael appreciated.

I attended two panels Friday, the first about Carmine Infantino, where I learned some things. Speaking were Jon Cooke, David Spurlock, Elliot Maggin, Paul Levitz and Martin Pasko.

And celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walt Kelly were Mark Evanier, Jeff Smith, R.C. Harvey, Maggie Thompson and Paul Dini. Great stories about Pogo and other Kelly work were told, including many anecdotes of the man himself. One of my favorite artists.

Back on the convention floor, I thought this Galactus costume was well done. You can’t see it here, but he had a tiny Silver Surfer toy attached below his shoulder.

Outside, in front of the Bayside Hilton, balloons of the animated Teen Titans were on display.

And on an outdoor walkway, I kept an appointment with an independent film crew making a video documentary about Neil Gaiman. They wired me up and filmed my answers to about a dozen questions. As always, I don’t think I came across well speaking spontaneously like this, but I did my best, and perhaps they got something they can use.

After some quick pizza for dinner, and a brief return to my room, it was time to go to the Eisner Awards at the Bayside Hilton. Not being nominated for anything, I’d be able to relax and enjoy the show. Here are a few pictures and comments.

The nominees were a diverse group from around the world. I applauded the win for Juanjo Guarnido as best Painter / Multimedia Artist for the latest BLACKSAD album, superb work.

Chris Ware won several awards for BUILDING STORIES, including Best Lettering, and designer Chip Kidd accepted for him in very entertaining ways.

I was happy to see Tom Spurgeon’s “Comics Reporter” website win again for Best Comics-related Journalism.

Sergio Aragonés was back this year to present the Hall of Fame awards after missing last year, and was as entertaining as ever.

I was delighted to see Trina Robbins accept her Hall of Fame award, well deserved. As she said, “If you survive long enough, and can still climb the stairs, you might be rewarded!”

I was also very happy to see Don Rosa receive a Bill Finger award for excellent comics work that has not gained proper recognition or compensation. Don’s work is massively popular everywhere but North America, but his treatment financially by Disney and it’s worldwide publishers harkens back to the exploitation of early creators in the 1940s.

The evening was capped in hilarious style by final presenters Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Ross, with help from Chip Kidd. Perhaps not as incredibly side-splitting as their first appearance a few years ago, but quite funny all the same. I’ve put a brief video clip on Facebook which you’ll enjoy if you’re a Gaiman fan.

I enjoyed the evening, and it came in under three hours, so well done all. I don’t believe DC won anything this year, which is too bad, but there’s always next year.

More tomorrow. Time to get back out there!

 

SDCC 2013 Thursday

Photos © Todd Klein except as noted.

My San Diego Comicon began with a flight out Wednesday, but a later one than usual, putting me in town at my hotel too late to get my pro badge, so I turned in early for once, and got a good night’s sleep. Thursday morning I walked down Fifth Street from my hotel to the convention center. Started out quite ordinary…

…and as I approached the convention center, things got progressively weirder. As in recent years, the massive promotional campaigns for movies and TV shows dominate the area across the road from the convention center.

Outside the convention center the usual crowd of comics fans was beginning to gather. I lost no time getting my badge, which took only a few minutes.

The main hall was not yet open, so I took the two massive publications, the Events Guide and the Souvenir Program Book, and looked through them for a few minutes until the doors opened.

This very clever riding Hobbit costume caught my eye, marred only by the clear disconnect between the man and the fake legs, but otherwise I liked it.

Two of the first familiar faces I found inside were Mark Buckingham and his wife Irma, her first San Diego con. I had met her once in England, and of course see Bucky here often, so it was great to renew the friendship.

Visiting the DC booth, I was pleased to see this large banner promoting the new SANDMAN: OVERTURE series that I’m lettering, written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III.

Inside the DC area, in celebration of Superman’s 75th Anniversary, some of the film costumes are on display. Here’s my favorite, from the first Christopher Reeve film.

The costume from the new film is made from a woven plastic material that reminds me of wicker. It looks strong, but also constricting, and not as appealing to me as the Reeve one.

The convention floor was already pretty busy, and will get busier over the next two days. I was on a panel at 11 AM about the 25th anniversary of the Eisner Awards. I didn’t have a lot to add, but I enjoyed being part of it. Other participants like Jackie Estrada, Denis Kitchen and Maggie Thompson had more to say of interest.

Remember when the word Geek was a pejorative? (And way back, meant someone who did things like bite the heads off chickens in carnival shows.) Apparently not any more, though I didn’t see many folks interested in this dating service.

Here I am with longtime letterer Janice Chiang, and terrific artist Jerry Ordway. I’d met Janice only once decades ago, but we’ve become Facebook friends, and it was good to see and chat with her here. Didn’t really get to talk to Jerry, but I hope to catch up with him later. I did talk to other friends in Artists Alley, one of my favorite areas to visit at the con. I’ll probably have more of that in the coming days.

Another thing I enjoy these days is looking at original art, especially older art from comics I read as a child. Heritage auctions had some fine work on display. Here’s two panels from an early GREEN LANTERN with great lettering by Gaspar Saladino on the fine Gil Kane pencils (not sure who inked it).

A detail from a classic Carmine Infantino FLASH cover that I remember well. I always loved the way he drew Flash’s speed lines.

And didn’t Wally Wood have the best signature ever? From a beautiful EC cover that has an auction estimate of $100,000. Tried photographing the entire cover, but it didn’t come out well.

Heading to another panel upstairs, I noted the always beautiful weather in San Diego (if you have to ask, it’s 75 degrees and sunny most days, 65 degrees and clear most nights, with occasional fog or clouds moving in off the ocean). I made sure I got outside a while later. I attended Dave McKean’s panel, which was largely a slideshow of Dave’s work, with his comments. I don’t think of Dave as a prolific artist, but this program showed that to be true. He paged through cover after cover, page after page of story art, music album art, book illustrations and covers, personal art, and photos of sculptures, gallery exhibitions and film projects, much of it I’d never heard of, let alone seen. Amazing and definitely prolific! The most eye-opening panel of the day.

Later I attended J.H. Williams III’s panel, where most of the images he showed were more familiar, since we work closely together, though I did see some of his recent album art for the group “Blondie” for the first time. And everyone loved the new SANDMAN art he showed.

I hadn’t seen Neil Gaiman yet, but waiting in line for the Williams panel were these familiar figures. As you may have heard, the lines at SDCC are Endless… (sorry)

Back on the main convention floor, I found this artist working on a huge touch-screen made to look like a giant iPhone fascinating. No idea how they do that.

And one more pair of costumes I found entertaining. Someone finally figured out a way to make a Dalek appealing.

Thursday evening I was invited to a dinner party at Nobu, a Japanese restaurant in the Hard Rock hotel near the convention center. It was organized by Shelly Bond, and the guest list was impressive. Beware, I’m going to name-drop even more than usual here. It was meant to be a SANDMAN gathering, so included Neil Gaiman, J.H. Williams III and his wife Wendy, Dave McKean and his wife, and DC executives Diane Nelson, Jim Lee, Geoff Johns, Dan Didio, and Hank Kanalz. I sat between Diane and Geoff, and enjoyed talking to each of them at some length. I asked Diane about working with J.K. Rowlings, and Geoff and I talked about his comics writing, which I enjoy, and a little about my own long-past comics writing. I didn’t get to talk to Neil and Dave much, as they were across a wide table and it got noisy, but I did tell Neil how much I enjoyed his recent novel, “The Ocean At The End Of The Lane,” and asked him what he, Jonathan Ross and Steve Ditko talked about in their famous meeting a few years back. (Nothing earth-shaking, but very Ditko, sounds like.)

Here’s a photo I grabbed from Jim Lee’s twitter feed of J.H., Neil, and Dave, with me looking “really blue” as one person said, and also looking photoshopped into this august group. I really was there, honest! And the one time I forgot to bring my own camera when I really could have used it. Am I really the tallest one here? How did that happen?

More tomorrow.

 

And Then I Read: STOWAWAY by Karen Hesse

Image © Karen Hesse and Robert Andrew Parker.

A young apprentice runs away from his cruel master in London, September of 1768 and stows away on a sailing ship going on a long voyage, hoping for a better life. A tale of seafaring adventure, but also a historical novel, as the ship is H.M.S. Endeavour, on the first of three voyages of exploration around the world, headed by Captain James Cook. I thought this sounded like a fun story, and it was fascinating, but not so fun for Nicholas Young and the other crewmembers. The scientists aboard spent lots of time examining every speciment they could get their hands on, from plants and sea life to birds and animals; recording, drawing, describing things never before seen by science, at least in Europe. The crew had a much harder life, and Nicholas started out resented by many because of his method of joining, but he worked hard, and made himself useful, and in the end, after several years, became a valued member of the company.

Sea travel was full of perils then, and rounding Cape Horn leads to the death of some crewmen, an eye-opener for the boy and the reader. Things are equally difficult elsewhere, as they are often becalmed, or wracked with storms, or short of vital supplies. South Pacific natives give them some help, and two even join the voyage, but others are warlike and dangerous. Coral reefs around Australia find them trapped and nearly sunk for months. When they finally rejoin European settlements in the area of Borneo, the crew falls to a deadly sickness that ends the life of many of them.

While this was sometimes a sad story, it was also ultimately a great read, and I learned much about the times and the science and the men of the Endeavour. Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: SAGA VOLUME 1

Image © Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples.

I’m way behind the curve on this fine book, which won lots of awards last year, I believe. It’s a sort of Romeo and Juliet story, if the two star-crossed lovers had gone on the lam together and were being hunted down by hired assassins. The setting is a science-fictional war between two groups, though each group has some fantasy elements to it, witness the ram’s horns of the guy, Marko, and the vestigial bat wings of the woman, Alana, and there are similar fantasy elements throughout. About an even amount of SF and Fantasy, really. But that’s all set-dressing, what this book is really about is two people in a world of trouble, trying to survive with their newborn daughter, who is somehow narrating the story. There’s action aplenty, adventure in dangerous places, characters who help, and some who hinder the trio, and intrigue in the background involving those paid assassins, two of them, who are both on the case, and have bad blood between them.

This is not Shakespeare, but it’s great comics. The art by Fiona Staples is masterful, the writing by Brian K. Vaughan is superb, and the book is terrific. I have Volume 2 and will be reading it soon. Highly recommended!

Neil Gaiman in LOCUS / San Diego Bound

Image © Locus Publications, Inc.

There’s a fine interview with Neil in the July LOCUS magazine. I mean, most interviews with Neil are good, but LOCUS has a unique approach to interviews that I think makes them better than most. They remove all the questions, and edit together the interviewee’s answers so it’s like a spoken personal essay about the person’s life, work and current interests. Great reading.

That reminds me that I’ll be seeing him at the San Diego Comicon for the first time in a few years. I’ll be there Thursday through Sunday, and am slated for two panels: the 25th Anniversary of the Eisner Awards at 11 AM Thursday, and the Vertigo Sandman panel at 3:15 on Saturday. I’ll also be at the Eisner Awards on Friday, and attending other panels, walking around the dealers’ room, and generally having a good time. I’ll be reporting on the con here on my blog, as usual. If you’re going and you see me, say hi.

The DC Comics Offices 1930s-1950s Part 5 (final)

Jack Adler at the Photochrome Engraving Plant at 487 Broadway, 1943, and Jack Adler in the 1970s, photos © DC Comics, Inc.

Wrapping up this tale of the DC offices, we continue further into the 1950s. Sol Harrison and Jack Adler, the same age, were friends in high school, both learning the engraving business from a teacher named Jack Fabrikant. They often worked together, sometimes separately, at various engraving companies around Manhattan and frequently on early comics. In 1943, when Sol took a job as Art Director, and then shortly after as Production Manager for All-American Publications, Jack was still working at Photochrome Engraving. When All-American was bought by National Comics and moved to 480 Lexington Avenue, Sol began creating color guides for all the covers for the company, but the rest of the coloring process was still being handled largely by the engravers. In a 1970s interview in THE AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS #10, Sol remembered, “We had the problem that we’d always have to tell the engraver what we wanted. The explanation (for any changes or problems) had to go through three hands before it was finally done.” Jack Adler said, “(Sol) felt it would be to the advantage of National (Comics) if we came over and did the (cover) separations there, and got an allowance from the engravers for it, and then you’d have (a) type of separations that were different from everybody else’s.” Sol added, “I called Jack, Jerry Serpe and Tommy Nicholosi and set up our own color separation department. We color separated all our covers and advertising.” Jack placed the date of this, when he came to National Comics, as January, 1951, when he was 34.

MYSTERY IN SPACE #55, CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #6, © DC Comics, Inc.

The kind of cover separations that Jack Adler and his crew were able to create by doing it themselves did, indeed, set many of the National Comics covers apart from and ahead of their competition. However, these types of covers with fully rendered shading and gray tones don’t start showing up until around 1957. What Jack might have been doing as early as 1951 is less clear.

Batman and Superman 3-D Comics, 1953, © DC Comics, Inc.

He did work on the first 3-D comics at National, though, in fact he created the 3-D process used to make them, and those came out in 1953. Jack went on to become Sol’s assistant production manager when Eddie Eisenberg left the company (Irwin Donenfeld mentions in a 2001 interview he had to lay Eisenberg off, without giving the date or the reason), and in the 1970s, Jack became the Production Manager himself.

MYSTERY IN SPACE 55 cover, separated into color plates (an approximation using Photoshop on a scan of the printed cover), © DC Comics, Inc.

Jack’s artistic talent was unmistakeable, especially when you remember that each of the four color plates (Magenta, Cyan, Yellow and Black) on his covers had to be painted separately in gray watercolors. Jack knew from his long experience as an engraver how it would come out! Jack Adler was the man who hired me in 1977, and I learned a lot from him in the few years we worked together. He left staff in 1981.

Of the others in the new coloring department, I’ve found out nothing about Tommy Nicholosi. Jerry Serpe was still coloring lots of comic book pages when I was on staff from 1977-87, creating color guides for the separators at Chemical Color in Bridgeport, CT to follow in creating the actual color plates. Jerry was 38 in 1957 when he was helping create the new standard for comics coloring. He died in 2008. I’ve found no photos of him.

Clearly by the 1950s, color was getting more attention from the company, as opposed to the early days of comics when they let the engravers make most of the color decisions, and the addition of Jack Adler and his cohorts greatly enhanced that.

Floor plan of part of the National Comics offices at 480 Lexington, © Gaspar Saladino.

As to where the new color department might have fit into Gaspar’s floor plan, I can only speculate. It seems unlikely they would have filled the open desks in the production room, which were needed for artists. Perhaps Irwin Donenfeld moved to Whitney Ellsworth’s office after Whit left the New York staff in 1953, and the colorists sat there. It seems likely that Jack Adler would have taken Eddie Eisenberg’s spot at some point.

The personnel in the production department went through changes as the 1950s continued. Elderly Raymond Perry left,, as did young Mort Drucker to pursue his freelance career. One new hire was Morris Waldinger, who I believe joined the company around 1954, when he was about 25 years old. I worked with Morris, or Moe as we called him, for a year or two before he was laid off during the DC Implosion in 1979, but never found out much about him or what he did later. Alex Jay has discovered he died in 2006. I have no pictures of Morris.

Joe Letterese, early 1950s in the Atlas Comics bullpen, photo from FOOM #17, © Marvel Comics, Inc. and Joe in a photo by Jack Adler, 1970s, courtesy of Mike Catron.

In 1956 Atlas Comics was forced to drastically cut staff after losing their distributor. One of their production men, Joe Letterese, soon found his way to the National Comics production department, where he spent the rest of his career. He and Morris were buddies, and spent lots of time talking and joking together. I worked with Joe until he retired in the early 1980s. Another casualty of the Marvel cutbacks was Stan Starkman, who may have also spent time in the DC bullpen in the 1960s, don’t know when he started or how long he was there. Rumored to have briefly been in the National production room was famed illustrator Maurice Sendak, though I’ve found no proof of that.

While most of the National comics continued to list Whitney Ellsworth as editor through the early 1950s, Zena Brody’s name did appear as editor on a few issues of SECRET HEARTS beginning in 1955, and is considered to be the editor of the romance comics into 1957. In a 2001 article in “The Comics!”, Robert Kanigher says, “She eventually left to marry her childhood sweetheart, a doctor from Mt. Sinai Hospital.” In his 2001 interview, Irwin Donenfeld says, “Zena Brody was the first editor of our romance books and she died. It was a horrible thing. She was young and a really beautiful woman. She had a brain hemorrhage and died. She was only in her 20s or 30s.” This is a troubling dichotomy. I suppose both of these stories could be true, if the marriage happened, and then the hemorrhage, but we’ve found no evidence of either. In any case, Whitney Ellsworth’s name went back on the indicias as editor for a while.

In his article, Kanigher says, “Whit asked me to perform the same (editorial) instruction for Ruth Brant, from Fargo, North Dakota. She inherited the same group of writers that Zena did. She was very conscientious and a very good romance editor.” This sounds plausible, though Ellsworth was long gone from the staff by that time, and Brant’s name never appeared in a comic as far as I can tell. Robin Snyder tracked her down, but only after her death in 2011. She was born in 1921, so would have been 36 in 1957 if she took over for Zena Brody then. Robin reports her married name as Ruth Brant-Croal and that she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College in New York. Robin says she left New York to return to North Dakota around 1959.

Phyllis Reed by Jack Adler, 1950s, courtesy of Mike Catron.

The next editor of record on the romance books is Phyllis Reed, probably 40 years old in 1958. Her name appears on indicias from March, 1958 to July, 1963 cover-dates, so perhaps Ruth Brant’s tenure was shorter than Kanigher remembered. He does have a lot to say about Phyllis, though. In his 2001 article, he writes: “I accidentally met Phyllis Reed, DC switchboard operator, at the Museum of Modern Art. We toured the exhibitions, arguing. Phyllis was pro-Jackson Pollack, and I was con. We had coffee and a sandwich on the steps of the garden.

“Phyllis asked me whether it was possible for her to learn to write romance, to augment her salary as a switchboard operator.”…”The steps leading to the garden of the Museum became our daily ‘Classroom.’ I taught Phyllis the importance of visual openings, character, passion, conflict and unexpected endings, if possible. She was a quick study. She was working on her first script using a carbon of one of mine as the example.

“I read Phyllis’ first script. It was unusable. I had to shred it. It was simple for me to write a new script in its place. How could I pay her? I couldn’t voucher a switchboard operator. But I could voucher her husband. I hadn’t the heart to tell her that every time she brought in a script, I junked it and wrote a replacement, sending the check to John Reed. We continued in this practice for several years through dozens of romance, western and war stories.”

Having transcribed all this, I have to say most of it sounds highly unlikely to me. I can see Kanigher taking on Phyllis as a student, and perhaps helping her by rewriting her work at first, but several years? And completely replacing her work with his own? Who would accept that? Second, the idea that he couldn’t pay her directly doesn’t sound likely either. Practically the entire staff of the company did some kind of freelance work on the side to augment their salaries, it’s the way things were done then, and still so in the decade I was on staff. Any company employee with ability could do the same.

Of Phyllis Reed becoming editor, Kanigher writes: “I argued with the Top Brass and finally convinced them that Phyllis would make a solid editor, replacing Ruth. She served in that position for several years before taking early retirement.”

All I can say is, take what you will from Kanigher’s essay. Me, I’m keeping in mind what a great storyteller the man was. Phyllis died in 2005.

FLASH #105, 1959, © DC Comics, Inc.

Here’s the issue that heralded the immediate future for National Comics, the Silver Age of Super-heroes, led by editor Julius Schwartz. It’s the first of a monthly revival after successful tryouts in SHOWCASE. Note also the large Comics Code seal of approval, the industry reaction to witch-hunts and mass burnings after the excessive gore and blatant sexuality of some comics in the early 1950s, and the over-reaction to them. At National, sales were down from the glory years of the early 1940s, but they were trying to compensate by publishing lots more titles, including some they bought from Prize and Quality when those companies folded. In 1959 the editorial lineup was:

Mort Weisinger, editor: ACTION, ADVENTURE, JIMMY OLSEN, LOIS LANE, SHOWCASE, SUPERBOY, SUPERMAN.

Jack Schiff, with George Kashdan and Murray Boltinoff, editors: BATMAN, BLACKHAWK, CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN, DETECTIVE, HOUSE OF MYSTERY, HOUSE OF SECRETS, MY GREATEST ADVENTURE, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, TOMAHAWK and WORLD’S FINEST.

Larry Nadle, editor: ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE, A DATE WITH JUDY, FLIPPITY AND FLOP, FOX AND CROW, PVT. DOBERMAN, REAL SCREEN COMICS, SGT. BILKO, SUGAR AND SPIKE, THREE MOUSEKETEERS.

Julius Schwartz, editor: ADVENTURES OF REX THE WONDER DOG, ALL-STAR WESTERN, THE FLASH, HOPALONG CASSIDY, MYSTERY IN SPACE, STRANGE ADVENTURES, WESTERN.

Phyllis Reed, editor: FALLING IN LOVE, GIRLS’ LOVE STORIES, GIRLS’ ROMANCES, HEART THROBS, SECRET HEARTS.

Robert Kanigher, editor: ALL AMERICAN MEN OF WAR, BRAVE AND BOLD, G.I. COMBAT, OUR ARMY AT WAR, OUR FIGHTING FORCES, STAR-SPANGLED WAR STORIES, WONDER WOMAN.

The business had long outgrown their office space, and National Comics would move to 575 Lexington by 1960, soon taking on the name National Periodical Publications, Inc.

480 Lexington Avenue today, photos © Alan Kupperberg, 2013.

480 Lexington itself was feeling its age. The Grand Central Palace stopped being used for trade shows in the mid-1950s, giving way to more modern venues like the New York Coliseum, which opened in 1956. The building which housed the Donenfeld publishing empire for about 28 years was demolished in 1963, and a new, much larger building now occupies the site. The address of 480 Lexington survives, however, and will long be remembered by comics fans who pay attention to such things.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SOURCES

This article began as a much simpler look at the DC offices in the 1950s, but as I gathered information it kept growing, becoming the most time-consuming blog article I’ve yet undertaken. I couldn’t have done it without the help of these people:

ALEX JAY, researcher extraordinaire, and sounding board for my own research. Visit his own website for more of his research and design articles.

GASPAR SALADINO, for his floorplan and memories. His daughter LISA WEINREB for a great photo of her dad.

PAUL LEVITZ, author of new DC histories published by Taschen, and of much help with photos and advice.

KEN NADLE, son of editor Larry Nadle, for photos.

MIKE CATRON, for permission to use the Jack Adler photos in his DVD “A Salute to Jack Adler.”

ALAN KUPPERBERG, for being my photographer on the street in Manhattan.

NEAL ADAMS for photo advice.

JACK C. HARRIS, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, ROBIN SNYDER and MARSHA MILLER for research help.

Here are some of the sources cited or referred to in the writing of the article, I highly recommend them for further reading:

“The Golden Age of DC Comics,” by Paul Levitz, published by Taschen, 2013.

ALTER EGO #7 (Julius Schwartz interview), ALTER EGO #26 (Irwin Donenfeld Interview), ALTER EGO #72 (Ken Nadle article about Larry and Martin Nadle), ALL-STAR COMPANION VOL. 1, all edited by Roy Thomas and published by TwoMorrows. Online excerpts from other issues were also consulted. Most or all of these are available as downloads on the TwoMorrows website.

THE AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS #10 (Interviews with Sol Harrison and Jack Adler by Carl Gafford), graciously sent to me by someone whose name I’ve misplaced.

COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE #88, December, 2001, Gemstone Magazines (reprint of the 1957 article from “Newsdealer” by Lloyd Jacquet)

THE COMICS! Vol. 12 #6, June, 2001, published by Robin Snyder (Robert Kanigher article on National romance comics)

The DC Timeline Website by Bob A. Hughes, compiled from many sources, listed there in his Bibliography.

The Grand Comics Database

And many other sites, articles and resources found through Google too numerous to mention.

If you enjoyed this article, you might want to continue with Visiting DC Comics in the 1960s and The DC Comics Production Department, 1979 as well as other articles on my COMICS CREATION and LOGO LINKS pages.

Comments and corrections are always welcome, though I can’t guarantee I’ll act on them. Thanks for reading!