The Great Editors of the Silver Age: Julius Schwartz

Much of what we consider today to be the DC Silver Age was developed under the watchful eye of Julius Schwartz. Schwartz was an influential science fiction fan, creating an early (1932) fanzine called Time Traveller, with two friends, Forrest Ackerman and Mort Weisinger.

By the early 1940s, Schwartz had landed at All-American Comics, which at that time was still separately owned by William Gaines. Schwartz was an assistant editor for the Golden Age Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Sensation Comics and All Star Comics. When All-American merged with DC, Schwartz retained most of his assistant editor titles, although eventually most of the All-American titles folded. Schwartz was made the full editor of Wonder Woman, which I believe was the only AA title to survive into the 1960s (although he did not last that long as editor of that mag).

When DC decided to branch out into science fiction in the early 1950s, Schwartz was the natural choice to edit the new mags, starting with Strange Adventures in 1950 and Mystery in Space in 1951. Schwartz had extensive contacts in the science fiction industry, having also served as an agent to several sci-fi writers before moving over to the comics biz. (Note: Whitney Ellsworth was listed as the editor of most DC magazines in the 1950s including SA and MIS, but Schwartz did the work.)

In 1956, DC decided to launch a tryout magazine for new features, called Showcase. Unlike most titles, Showcase had a rotating editorship, with each separate feature under a different editor. The first three issues of Showcase were nothing special, but with #4, DC struck gold. Schwartz, Bob Kanigher, and Carmine Infantino collaborated to bring back an updated (Barry Allen) version of the Flash.

Schwartz also worked on the Adam Strange launch (and picked up the character for his Mystery in Space title). With Showcase #22, Schwartz brought back his second Golden Age hero for DC in the form of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern. In Brave & Bold #28, Schwartz combined the new Flash and Green Lantern with existing heroes Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter to form the Justice League of America. In this endeavor, Schwartz was greatly encouraged by the letters of Dr Jerry Bails, a huge fan of the Golden Age Justice Society of America.

Over the next few years, Schwartz helped relaunch new versions of the Atom and Hawkman. In 1964, he was given control of DC's second-most famous character at the time, Batman. Although I remain unimpressed with the "New Look Batman", Schwartz did get rid of some of the cheesier science fiction elements that had plagued the character under prior editor Jack Schiff, and there is no denying that he made a major (and terrific) revamp of the character after the collapse of the Batman TV show.

Schwartz was an unusual editor in that he "got" fandom. After all, that was how he himself got his start. When Roy Thomas and Dr Jerry Bails approached him about their fanzine for comics (the original Alter Ego), Schwartz not only provided helpful advice from his own fanzine experience years earlier, but gave them a plug in the letters pages of JLA. To encourage quality letters in his own magazines, Schwartz began giving away original artwork to the best writers.

Schwartz was a great editor, consistently turning out quality entertainment through into the 1980s, eventually taking over the reins of Superman from his childhood buddy Mort Weisinger. And by all accounts, Schwartz was an even finer human being; I don't think I've ever heard anybody who had a negative thing to say about him.

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#185. The Phantom - Moonstone 10

The Phantom - Legacy



It's uploaded by 'GreasyHair' & link was send to me by Ajnaabi.

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#184. The Phantom - Moonstone 9

The Phantom-Valley of the Golden Men



It's uploaded by 'GreasyHair' & link was send to me by Ajnaabi.

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Storytelling on a Budget

Modern comic writers frequently marvel (and sniff suspiciously) when they hear that old-time comics stories frequently ran 6-8 pages or less. Nowadays that wouldn't be enough space to establish a red herring in a subplot of a mega-crossover. So how did writers and artists manage to tell a story in such a brief period of time, especially in comics like the war books where (frequently) there weren't even continuing characters that the audience was familiar with?

The answer is that you had to push characterization hard in the early part of the story so that your plot is driven by that characterization. That sounds fairly complicated, but if we look at a couple stories, you'll see what I mean:



We get a very good sense of the story from those first three panels; Vic is frustrated by the need to wait around for phone calls, and yet he's forced to do so by circumstances. Sure enough, the story concerns Vic's being forced to wait behind the lines for a phone call, but when he sees an enemy surveillance vehicle he battles against the men inside and wins, but still gets chewed out for not waiting for the call. The next time, Vic brings the phone everywhere with him so he won't be punished for disobeying orders, but at the same time, he destroys an enemy machine-gun nest.

The second story in the same issue (All-American Men of War #24, October 1955) only requires two panels to set the stage:



You can tell that Andrews will find plenty of excitement in his new unit and that the ending will find him loyal to his new unit (which indeed turns out to be the story).



This one you could go several ways with, and the one chosen turns out to be pretty good: Hearn goes into the army, and teaches one of his fellow infantrymen how to film him with the camera. Hearn performs incredibly brave (not staged) feats, but something always happens that makes the film unusable. As it happens, though, another cameraman caught Hearn's heroics.

The next story can be seen through the following two panels, plus the title: False Alarm Pilot.



New Lt. Ben Burton has terrific ability but he keeps believing he's defeated enemy targets like a destroyer and a sub, when actually they have fooled him into believing they were sunk. So in the end he makes absolutely certain he defeats the sub by forcing it to tow him (with pontoons) to his base.

In each case the ending is suggested by the characterization presented.

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Stamp Day for Superman

Here's a new one on me; I found this bit of DC promotion in the pages of All-American Men of War #24 (August 1955). And yes, the special TV episode is on Google Video.



Update: That's actually a pretty terrific episode. Since we're on the topic of Superman doing good works, I thought I would mention Superman's extraordinary speech from the Christmas, 1945 episode of the radio show. The first time I heard it (about ten years ago) I was overwhelmed:



A lot of people don't know that this is what's meant by "truth, justice and the American Way"; the last part is often interpreted as some sort of slam at the Soviets (and indeed in the 1950s the phrase was often used to contrast the USA with the USSR). But in the Superman radio show it was a reference to America as the melting pot, and a plea to listeners to treat each other with dignity and respect, without regard to race, creed or color. The radio show went on to present many famed episodes in those early postwar years where Superman not only battled against crooks and conmen, but against merchants of hatred and intolerance, in stories like Clan of the Fiery Cross, or Knights of the White Carnation.

Update: The Beat Down also has a well-worth reading post on the TV Superman.

My first experience with Superman was via the TV show "Adventures of Superman". George Reeves introduced Superman to me and will always be indelibly inked on my brain as the definitive personification of the character.

That was my first experience with Superman as well, although I confess that over the years I've really come to appreciate how much we know of the Superman legend came from the radio show: Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, the Daily Planet and Kryptonite. "Up, up and away!" originated as a verbal cue to listeners that Superman was going to fly. And when Bud Collyer had to go on vacation, they often worked in a story or two featuring Batman and Robin. :)

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Cool And Early Easter Egg Found!

Jacque Nodell locates a 1971 Easter Egg in DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #5. Very cool stuff; it's not the earliest Easter Egg I've seen but it's certainly subtler than most.

As it happens Gorilla Daze just recently posted a slightly earlier (1970), but much more obvious, Easter Egg.

Update: Some more modern ones.

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Iron Man Run Part 5

Picking back up again with Tales of Suspense #79, Tony Stark is wanted by the police for failing to appear before Senator Byrd's committee (because he was teleported to the Mandarin's palace instead). Now that he's back he's weak and needs a recharge, but neither Pepper nor Happy are at their homes. But in the meantime, Warlord Krang and Lady Dorma (who have lost their blue skin) appear in a nearby submarine.



Iron Man manages to drive them away, but ironically this enrages the Sub-Mariner, who had been trailing them but is unable to catch up with Warlord Krang's ship. So they have the obligatory Marvel hero fight:



Fortunately for Iron Man, Subby never read any of the Br'er Rabbit stories. Iron Man beats the Sub-Mariner for now, but the latter goes back to water to recharge his powers and:



Say what? A crossover into the Sub-Mariner feature in TTA? Arrgggghhh! Okay, I'm going to assume that they had some more battling to do but eventually kissed and made up.

In TOS #81, Tony is prepared to go to Washington to appear before Senator Byrd's committee and reveal his secret identity. Here's a reminder how much things have changed since 9-11:



I can remember showing up at airports with ten minutes to spare and still making the flight. Anyway, Tony decides to fly to Washington as Iron Man, rather than taking a plane. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, the communists have modified the Titanium Man's armor to make it stronger and more powerful. So TM decides to take this opportunity to attack Iron Man. He is sent to the US in a missile that arrives just as Iron Man reaches DC and:



The battle takes place in the next two issues. At first Titanium Man has the upper hand but when Pepper and Happy arrive in Washington, TM realizes that Pepper means something to him, and threatens her:



Well, that ticks Iron Man off royally and (after rescuing Pepper), he fights with renewed determination. Meanwhile, elsewhere, folks are watching on TV:



Reading from Left to Right, President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. Oddball tidbit: McNamara's middle name was "Strange" (his mother's maiden name). Iron Man defeats the Titanium Man, who hopes to get away in a Soviet sub, but learns there is no room for second place among the commies:



Happy recovers his memory during the battle, but Pepper apparently loses hers:



Say what? Tony's absence during the first Titanium Man's battle with Iron Man was a big part of what turned Pepper off on him, and there's been no reconciliation since, but he misses the second battle and suddenly Pepper's all lovey-dovey towards him? What happened to her affection for Iron Man?

Comments: A solid series of issues with only a few missteps. I do wish that Stan had been more consistent with the Pepper/Tony relationship.

Next: Tony Stark testifies before Congress!

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