Volume 36, Number 3

Vol. 36, No. 3
March 2025
whole number 423
2025 pages 017-024

Artist Pierce Rice is the focus of this issue, with a 1942 cover from Harvey's SPEED COMICS up front, inked by Arturo Cazeneuve.  Two other unfinished pages by Rice inside, "Congo Jim" and "Liberators", as well as a 1994 letter to Robin Snyder about his career and a review he wrote for Classical America about some art books, also from 1994.

Under The Gun has some more memories of Rice from Robin Snyder, as well as a short note from Rice and some mentions of Rice in some letters from Jerry DeFuccio.  Additional letters from Robert Rowe, Sharon Levine and Tim Barnes.

RS also reviews a Creature Commandos book, and there's a very brief 61st segment of Just Imagine, the Paul S. Newman bibliography, with just a single Turok story from 1973.

Volume 36, Number 2

Vol. 36, No. 2
February 2025
whole number 422
2025 pages 009-016

Michael Fleisher featured this issue, with a script for the first page of an unpublished Batman / Jonah Hex crossover he wrote in the early 1980s.  The story would have referenced the 1978 "The Last Bounty Hunter" story by Fleisher and Russ Heath. Also included, an unused Sunday page for a proposed Jonah Hex comic strip, circa 1980 by Fleisher and Heath, and a page from a 1978 issue of VAMPIRELLA by Fleisher and Jess Jodloman.

The Carl Wessler bibliography, "Upon Reflection" is up to 1968/1969 in part 61, featuring work for DC, Harvey and Warren.

In Under The Gun Robin Snyder looks at a Lincoln anecdote and how it applies to numbering presidents and grading comics.  Letters of comment from Nick Caputo on the breadth of Ditko's career and Joe Frank on Stan Lee's changing story on the creation of Doctor Strange, Jerry Siegel's letters and the enigmatic notations Carl Wessler sometimes used in his records.

Volume 36, Number 1

Vol. 36, No. 1
January 2025
whole number 421
2025 pages 001-008

Rodney Schroeter provides the cover collage celebrating 35 of years of the newsletter.

In Under the Gun, Robin Snyder looks back on some memories and highlights of his publishing going back even before the newsletter.  Gary Kato's 2024 Christmas card is featured, Stephen Bissette writes in appreciation of some of the recent print-on-demand books featuring Gill/Ditko Charlton reprints and other things, plus outlines some of his future plans.  Daryl Coats, Eric Reese and Nick Caputo also write in, and the passings of Steve Erwin and Joy Seligsohn are noted.

Barry Pearl writes about his first hand experience with comics distribution and display in his family's store in the 1960s.

A Steve Ditko essay, "The Exceptional", includes some memories of the creation of the classic AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 back in 1964.

Part 77 of the Robert Kanigher bibliography, "The Mystery Of The Human Thunderbolt" has a look at some of the members of Easy Company featured in various DC war books from 1957.

Volume 35, Number 12

Vol. 35, No. 12
December 2024
whole number 420
2024 pages 089-096

A Dan Gormley cover of Frosty the Snowman from a 1952 Dell issue up front.

The obligatory Sheldon Mayer contribution to the Christmas issue is a two page excerpt from his unfinished Rudolph story "Christmas for a Cave Man" from 1979.

Dave Sim writes "Voice Over", a review of the Ditko at Charlton books of the 1970s and the evolution of his art over the decades.

Under The Gun Letters from Joshua Warren, G.G. Faircloth, Nick Caputo, Warren Sattler, Bernard Brannigan, Gene Hall, Joe Frank, Thomas W. Scott III and Paul Bach.

Yearly index for 2024 finishes up the issue and the year.

Volume 35, Number 11

Vol. 35, No. 11
November 2024
whole number 419
2024 pages 081-088

Cover this time is a script page to THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT by Marvin A. Karp from 1962.  Karp's 2003 passing is noted with some notes on his career, as is Roger Elwood's 2007 passing.

Bob Haney provides a long memoir, "The Sixties", about some of his prolific career at DC, hitting all the highlights including Metamorpho and The Brave and the Bold.

Dave Sim reviews INTRODUCING CAPTAIN ATOM, the recent collection of Ditko's work at Charlton in 1960.

Part 60 of Carl Wessler's Upon Reflection has entries from 1968, including work at Harvey and DC.

Letters from Margaret Johnson, G.G. Faircloth, Joe Frank,T homas W. Scott III,W illiam Barker, Bernard Brannigan and Jim Stenstrum

Volume 35, Number 4

Vol. 35, No. 4
April 2024
whole number 412
2024 pages 025-032

Up front this time is a record of Carl Wessler's 1966 writing for Harvey as Part 66 of his bibliography, "Upon Reflection".  Somewhat enigmatic notations unless you're very familiar with their publishing of the time.  I'd estimate this is over 1000 pages of writing for the year (for only one of his clients), at $7 a page.

Under the Gun has letters from Al Salton and Nick Caputo, and as usual for Sheldon Mayer's April 1 birthday there's a sample of his work, a 3-page unfinished story circa 1975 meant for PLOP, "Behind the Door of Gregor's Grisly Grotto" and two finished unpublished pages from a circa 1981 Ronald McDonald story.  Snyder writes about finding unpublished inventory stories at DC during his time there and trying to get some of them into print.

Volume 34, Number 12

Vol. 34, No. 12
December 2023
whole number 408
2023 pages 089-096

A pair of features from newsletter regulars in here, with a few pages of Robert Kanigher's unused script for a Green Lantern story "The Light That Failed" and a few pages of Sheldon Mayer work with Tenny Henson on the unpublished Rudolph story "Christmas For A Cave-Man".

Robin Snyder discusses the background of those stories, and other unused inventory from his time at DC, some of which he got published, others which remain unseen.

Under The Gun has a letter from Nick Caputo, and a few recommended recent books.

And as usual for the year-end issue, there's an index to the past year.

Volume 34, Number 4

Vol. 34, No. 4
April 2023
whole number 400
2023 pages 025-033 (8 pages)

Great issue for the landmark 400th, with a focus on Sheldon Mayer in his birthday month.  Up front is an unpublished single page Sugar & Spike comic from circa 1960 that even I had never seen before (and I have a list of some 300 pages of unpublished S&S material by Mayer).

Inside is a sample daily strip of Mayer's circa 1980 comic strip proposal for Sugar & Spike and four pages of an unfinished Rudolph the Reindeer story "Easter Parade", from the late 1970s and inked by Tenny Henson. The backcover goes back to 1949 for a look at the cover of SCRIBBLY #5, with a classic Mayer gag.

Also this issue, RS notes the passing of Neal Adams in 2022 with some words on his work and influence.

Volume 34, Number 3

Vol. 34, No. 3
March 2023
whole number 399
2023 pages 017-024 (8 pages)

This issue features excerpts from Robert Kanigher's 1943 book WHERE AND HOW TO SELL YOUR MANUSCRIPTS, published by Cambridge House, with its list of markets for comic scripts and a sample of a comics script format for "Adam Anthony", which I'm assuming wasn't a real comic.

That book was of course a companion to Kanigher's HOW TO MAKE MONEY WRITING... series, which included HOW TO MAKE MONEY WRITING FOR COMICS MAGAZINES, available in an 80th Anniversary edition.

In Under the Gun Robin Snyder looks at a few other early books about comics and there are letters from Mike Tuz, Nick Caputo and Joe Frank.

Volume 33, Number 12

Vol. 33, No. 12
December 2022
whole number 396
2022 pages 089-096 (8 pages)

Up front is part 72 of the Robert Kanigher bibliography, "The Mystery Of The Human Thunderbolt", featuring his character creations from 1947 to 1963.

Also featured are two pages from the Sheldon Mayer and Nestor Redondo unpublished "The Story Of Jesus" for DC, in both Mayer script/layout form and finished art by Redondo for the "Life In Bible Days" features.

There's a letter by Joe Frank "Under The Gun" and the yearly index to Vol. 33, 2022.

Volume 33, Number 8

Vol. 33, No. 8
August 2022
whole number 392
2022 pages 057-064 (8 pages)

Lee Goldsmith is on the cover, with a copy of the 1971 play he wrote, ABE (finally staged in 2009 in Quincy, Illinois, and available for production), plus there are short bibliographies of his work in comics and as a lyricist, a sample of his 1960s romance work for DC drawn by Arthur Peddy and the inscription on the copy of ABE he sent to RS.

Goldsmith is one of many passings noted in this issue, including Brian Augustyn, Vivian Berg, Anne D. Bernstein, Orlando Busino, Gerald Forton, Ron Goulart (with a cartoon Goulart drew in a book for RS), Mel Keefer, David Anthony Kraft, John Langton, John Paul Leon, Martin Salvador, Augie Scotto, Tom Veitch and Janice Valleau Winkleman.

Steve Ditko has a 1-page essay, "I Remember", about some of his memories of 1960s at Marvel and how they conflict with the stated recollections of Stan Lee.

"Lee ignores, denies in Excelsior! and other places, how we used to go over every panel of a story until he stopped communicating with me." -- S. Ditko

Only one letter of comment, from Bernard Brannigan on some recent publications.

Volume 32, Number 10

Vol. 32, No. 10
October 2021
whole number 382
2021 pages 073-080

Some proposals to unfinished work by the versatile Ernie Colon are featured this issue, with the front and back cover featuring character designs and profiles for a 1991 detective project called Voudou. Also featured are the beginnings of two novels, Sector One and Wayward, part of an outline for a comic with Todd Klein called Hardware and some discussion of a WWII comic with Robert Kanigher called Operation Tidal Wave. Looks like Colon's already varied career (including books like Arak, Richie Rich, Amethyst, Underworld, The 9/11 Report and Damage Control) could have been even more varied in the right circumstances.

Volume 31, Number 3

Vol. 31, No. 3
March 2020
whole number 363
2020 pages 017-024

The cover is by Mel Crawford, from a 1970 issue of THE GOLDEN MAGAZINE which featured Gary Poole and his visit to the White House.

Part 63 of the Robert Kanigher bibliography, "The Mystery Of The Human Thunderbolt" has a quote by RK about the development of Rock and Easy, and the issue includes three pages from a Kanigher/Novick story from 1955 which is the first mention of Easy Company.

Part 13 of the Gary Poole bibliography looks at some of his 1980 work at Western.

Under the Gun has letters from Gary Poole on general topics, Rob Imes on fandom, and Charles Brenner and Gavin Callaghan both on the publication of Down Memory Lane, the last of Ditko's long-running 32-Page Series.

Volume 30, Number 12

Vol. 30, No. 12
December 2019

whole number 360
2019 pages 089-096 (8 pages)

Hy Eisman provides a seasonal cover from the Popeye comic strip for which he's long done the Sunday pages for as the latest successor to creator E.C. Segar.

Sheldon Mayer is represented as usual in the year-end issue, this time with a layout page and three script pages from the unfinished "Story of Jesus" comic.

Letters in Under The Gun by Joe Frank on Christmas comics and Gary Poole on Ditko's Konga and his own 1968 King Kong adaptation.

And the year finishes up with an index to all of Volume 30 of the newsletter

Volume 30, Number 8

Vol. 30, No. 8
August 2019
whole number 356
2019 pages 057-064

Robert Kanigher takes the focus this issue with the massive (62 numbered paragraphs) essay "It Was Easy", covering his career in comics. Almost every paragraph could be the launching point for a chapter in the book that RK (presumably) never got around to writing.

"26. If Editor Schwartz  suggests or states that he co-edited any of RK's titles - he is a God damn liar. You can quote me on that."

There really needs to be a collection of Kanigher's writings, maybe packaged with a reprint of the long Comics Journal interview he did in the early 1980s.

Also presented are the first paragraph of a proposed story, "The Lady and the Unicorn", a comparison of RK and Schwartz's memories of DANGER TRAIL and a list of some prototype Rock/Easy stories as part 62 of the ongoing RK bibliography.

The bibliography of the prolific Carl Wessler continues with Part 48, listing work from 1957 for Timely, Harvey, Prize and others.

Volume 30, Number 3

Vol. 30, No. 3
March 2019
whole number 351
2019 pages 017-024 (8 pages)

A Jack Davis / Harvey Kurtzman page from Mad #1, 1952, on the cover to note the passing of Jack Davis a few years earlier.

For part 57 of "Mystery Of The Human Thunderbolt", the long-running bibliography of Robert Kanigher, Robin Snyder writes about hiring RK in the early 1980s to write for the long-running series Turok from Western, with the script for the first three pages of what was going to be Turok #135.  

On the backcover is a 1955 war comic splash from RK and Irv Novick.

Also, for some reason, a reprint of Ditko's 2000 page "Tsk! Tsk! AP2 - The Unearned", first seen in v11#2.

Volume 28, Number 10

Vol. 28, No. 10
October 2017
whole number 334

2017 pages 073-080

A look at some of the things Robin Snyder picked up in his time working for DC editorial in the early 1980s, some stuff he worked on and some earlier unfinished work from others.

The cover is an intro page intended for Ghosts #112, the final issue of the long-running series, featuring Squire Shade, the host for the last run of the book, written by Snyder and drawn by Howard Bender and Larry Mahlstedt. 

An uninked Green Lantern page by Don Heck and Snyder (with the hint that there are other unpublished GL stories by Giffen and Ditko).

 

From E. Nelson Bridwell is a layout for the first page of a Snow White parody, possibly intended for Plop.

A script for the first page of Savage World #3, an unrealized 1970s project from Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, this issue featuring dinosaurs (attn Stephen Bissette).

A layout for the final page from "Letter From A Corpse", a western story by Sheldon Mayer, which I believe was an "Ace Coffin" story, a prototype from the development stage of what became Bat Lash.

Volume 28, Number 9

Vol. 28, No. 9
September 2017
whole number 333
2017 pages 065-072

Mart Nodell is up front, with a 1993 illustration of his Golden Age creation Green Lantern.  

Inside Robert Kanigher, a frequent Green Lantern writer back in the late 1940s after Nodell's time, provides a few manuscript pages of an unpublished Green Lantern story he wrote in 1982.

Over in "Under the Gun", the passings of Vic Donahue, Blanche Fago and Vernon Henkel are noted and there are letters from Robert Rowe, Mike Tuz, Nick Caputo, Joe Frank, Gary Poole, Harry Leeman, Athos Bousvaros, Daniel Tesmoingt and Donnie Pitchford.

"And my favorite 'villain' would have to be the pathetic, infuriating, and maddeningly hilarious Grey Negotiator!" -- Gary Poole (on Ditko's new comics)

Volume 27, Number 5

Vol. 27, No. 5
May 2016
whole number 317
2016 pages 033-040

Sixty years of the Flash (Barry Allen) celebrated with the classic cover designed by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert.

Natalie Kirsten (aka Natalie Krigstein) has a short autobiography about her time writing comics for Timely, National, Prize and others from 1949 to 1954, with a bibliography of her known work, including stories with publications not yet identified.  A script page from such a story, "Skin Deep", is included.

Part 4 of Gary Poole's bibliography looks at 1967 and part 38 of Carl Wessler's "Upon Reflection" looks at 1956 and work for Timely.

Steve Ditko's "A Wider Context" provides an alphabetical list of characters he worked on outside of the four years from 1962-1966 that most concern "CBFs" (comic book fans).

The passings of Jeremy Dale, Greta Gattel and Jay Maeder are noted and letters from Gary Poole, Robert Rowe, Sharon Levine, Thomas W. Scott III, John Wells, Dave Sim and Chet Cox.

Volume 26, Number 11

Vol. 26, No. 11
November 2015
whole number 311
2015 pages 081-088 (8 pages)

The cover to SHOWCASE #51 from 1964 by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson on the front, an issue featuring reprints of the 1950s DANGER TRAIL series.

Part 44 of the Robert Kanigher bibliography features a list of essays, commentaries and sketches, mostly from previous issues of this newsletter.

Athos Bousvaros, Hilarie Staton and Joe Staton write about some medical comics for all ages that they and others had worked on over the years (such as this).

Good Under The Gun column with several long letters from Jerry DeFuccio on some of his (often uncredited) work for EC, including a list of stories and fillers he wrote for Kurtzman. Also letters from Mike Tuz, Al Salton, Barry Pearl and Gary Kato.

The backcover is a page of the DeFuccio story "Carl Akeley", drawn by Wallace Wood at EC, which he talks about in detail in one of his letters.