Weisinger, a founding member of sci-fi fandom (along with his school days pal, Julius Schwartz) came to DC in the early 40's. He took over the editing of the Superman family of titles in the 50's and initiated one of the most memorable periods in Superman's career. During his reign, an exploration of Superman's Kryptonian roots began in earnest, and we got Kryptonite in all the various flavors, Bizarro, Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, Kandor, Krypto, Supergirl, the Superman Revenge Squad, Metallo, all the Mxyzptlk stories one could scream for, Virus X, Imaginary Stories (aren't they all?), the Parasite, Lexor, Lena Thorul, and the Legion Of Super-Heroes.
The above cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye is considered to be the official beginning of Superman's Silver Age period.
During the Golden Age, Mort did a spot of writing, and created (along with artist George Papp) at least one memorable hero: Green Arrow! He stole the concept of the legendary Robin Hood (by way of Errol Flynn, no doubt) and mashed it with Batman in order to flesh the new hero out with a kid sidekick (Speedy), an Arrowcar, an Arrowcave, an Arrowsignal, an Arrowplane, and probably an Arrowdog somewhere when we weren't looking. No utility belt, but there were all those trick arrows...
GA's first cover appearance in More Fun Comics by George Papp.
In the late 50's, sales on the Batman books were starting to slip, causing everybody, including editor Jack Schiff, concern. Weisinger told him, Why don't you do what I'm doing? Put a girl in a costume, get a dog, some funny little guy to pull some magic stunts, and lots and lots of space aliens.
Schiff took that advice. A few years later, he was fired, Julie Schwartz moved in, and the New Look was initiated.
When Jack Kirby was desperately looking for work -- any work -- in the mid-50's when the comic book industry looked to be in danger of collapsing, DC decided to throw him a bone. "Can you draw Green Arrow?" they asked him. Kirby, who had never heard of Green Arrow, said, "Sure, I can draw Green Arrow." (He had a mortgage and kids to put through school; what else was he going to say?) So they gave him the Green Arrow back-up feature in Adventure Comics and World's Finest Comics. History was made, and everybody loved it.
Everybody who wasn't Mort Weisinger. Green Arrow had been his baby, after all, and he absolutely detested Kirby's art to begin with, and he HATED Kirby drawing Green Arrow. He complained up and down the DC offices about it. A couple of years later, Kirby quit DC for reasons other than Weisinger's ranting, but I'm sure that he felt some relief at putting distance between himself and Weisinger as well.
The second and final issue of Brother Power, The Geek, a little curiosity created by Jack Kirby's former partner, Joe Simon. The reason the second issue was the last one had nothing to do with sales. Mort Weisinger led a campaign against it on the basis that it's lead character and the counter-culture Hippie commune he lived with were Immoral and Anti-American and DC should know better than to be associated with questionable material of this nature.
He also didn't like Joe Simon's art.
He also didn't like Joe Simon. Or Jack Kirby (who had nothing to do with this book.)
DC cancelled the title, hoping to head off any potential problems.
Funny you should mention Liefeld. Hitch, like Liefeld, started out very much as a swipe artist. His Alan Davis phase was especially blatant. Unlike Liefeld though, he kept working at it and eventually became a good artist in his own right. But it did take him a while.
Weisinger, a founding member of sci-fi fandom (along with his school days pal, Julius Schwartz) came to DC in the early 40's. He took over the editing of the Superman family of titles in the 50's and initiated one of the most memorable periods in Superman's career. During his reign, an exploration of Superman's Kryptonian roots began in earnest, and we got Kryptonite in all the various flavors, Bizarro, Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, Kandor, Krypto, Supergirl, the Superman Revenge Squad, Metallo, all the Mxyzptlk stories one could scream for, Virus X, Imaginary Stories (aren't they all?), the Parasite, Lexor, Lena Thorul, and the Legion Of Super-Heroes.
The above cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye is considered to be the official beginning of Superman's Silver Age period.
And let’s also remember how he would often reject the plot pitch of one writer, then turn around and give it to another writer as his own idea. Weisinger was a real piece of work.
Weisinger, a founding member of sci-fi fandom (along with his school days pal, Julius Schwartz) came to DC in the early 40's. He took over the editing of the Superman family of titles in the 50's and initiated one of the most memorable periods in Superman's career. During his reign, an exploration of Superman's Kryptonian roots began in earnest, and we got Kryptonite in all the various flavors, Bizarro, Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, Kandor, Krypto, Supergirl, the Superman Revenge Squad, Metallo, all the Mxyzptlk stories one could scream for, Virus X, Imaginary Stories (aren't they all?), the Parasite, Lexor, Lena Thorul, and the Legion Of Super-Heroes.
The above cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye is considered to be the official beginning of Superman's Silver Age period.
And let’s also remember how he would often reject the plot pitch of one writer, then turn around and give it to another writer as his own idea. Weisinger was a real piece of work.
I've heard some of those stories, though usually 'toned down', I believe. I heard that he dismissed Wayne Boring, the iconic Superman artist of the 50's, with all of the loving care one gives to an unwanted alley cat -- with a sneer and a quick kick to the curbside.
I've treated most of this 'tribute' with a large degree of irony.
And that Atlas Phoenix series was my favorite -- bought them off the stand along with lots of other Atlas stuff. I think I might still have them...maybe not.
Here's an Atlas monster comic (kind of a Hulk-like character, IIRC) that I think I still have today!
Did you ever read "The Brute" from Atlas/Seaboard? It was another Hulk ripoff.
I did! And I may be confusing that one with this one, in fact. But for whatever reason, I always liked this one...
A fun horror cover from 1973 by Gil Kane with inks by Ernie Chan (per GCD)...
Most of the early issues of this title adapted classics (like Jekyll and Hyde), but when it really hit its stride for me was when it started featuring the Living Mummy in on-going stories. Here's a couple favorites from a bit later in the run. I especially loved the issues with Val Mayerik interiors.
The first two below are by Gil Kane and Al Milgrom. The last one by Kane and Tom Palmer.
I've never read any Living Mummy stories, but the covers are pretty cool.
What with the Mummy covers and the recent Werewolf by Night covers, how about a little Legion of Monsters?
By Neal Adams.
By Ken Barr.
And speaking of which, am I the only one who read the recent Legion of Monsters mini-series? The story was a lot of fun, and I love Juan Doe’s artwork.
A fun horror cover from 1973 by Gil Kane with inks by Ernie Chan (per GCD)...
Most of the early issues of this title adapted classics (like Jekyll and Hyde), but when it really hit its stride for me was when it started featuring the Living Mummy in on-going stories. Here's a couple favorites from a bit later in the run. I especially loved the issues with Val Mayerik interiors.
The first two below are by Gil Kane and Al Milgrom. The last one by Kane and Tom Palmer.
I loved the living mummy. Wish they would do a nice color reprint of all his appearances.
Comments
Joe Orlando
Bernie Wrightson
Ernie Chan
Joe Orlando
Denys B. Cowan
Dick Giordano
Nick Cardy
Nick Cardy
Steve Yeowell
Steve Yeowell
Bryan Hitch
Weisinger, a founding member of sci-fi fandom (along with his school days pal, Julius Schwartz) came to DC in the early 40's. He took over the editing of the Superman family of titles in the 50's and initiated one of the most memorable periods in Superman's career. During his reign, an exploration of Superman's Kryptonian roots began in earnest, and we got Kryptonite in all the various flavors, Bizarro, Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, Kandor, Krypto, Supergirl, the Superman Revenge Squad, Metallo, all the Mxyzptlk stories one could scream for, Virus X, Imaginary Stories (aren't they all?), the Parasite, Lexor, Lena Thorul, and the Legion Of Super-Heroes.
The above cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye is considered to be the official beginning of Superman's Silver Age period.
During the Golden Age, Mort did a spot of writing, and created (along with artist George Papp) at least one memorable hero: Green Arrow! He stole the concept of the legendary Robin Hood (by way of Errol Flynn, no doubt) and mashed it with Batman in order to flesh the new hero out with a kid sidekick (Speedy), an Arrowcar, an Arrowcave, an Arrowsignal, an Arrowplane, and probably an Arrowdog somewhere when we weren't looking. No utility belt, but there were all those trick arrows...
GA's first cover appearance in More Fun Comics by George Papp.
In the late 50's, sales on the Batman books were starting to slip, causing everybody, including editor Jack Schiff, concern. Weisinger told him, Why don't you do what I'm doing? Put a girl in a costume, get a dog, some funny little guy to pull some magic stunts, and lots and lots of space aliens.
Schiff took that advice. A few years later, he was fired, Julie Schwartz moved in, and the New Look was initiated.
Cover by Shelly Moldoff.
When Jack Kirby was desperately looking for work -- any work -- in the mid-50's when the comic book industry looked to be in danger of collapsing, DC decided to throw him a bone. "Can you draw Green Arrow?" they asked him. Kirby, who had never heard of Green Arrow, said, "Sure, I can draw Green Arrow." (He had a mortgage and kids to put through school; what else was he going to say?) So they gave him the Green Arrow back-up feature in Adventure Comics and World's Finest Comics. History was made, and everybody loved it.
Everybody who wasn't Mort Weisinger. Green Arrow had been his baby, after all, and he absolutely detested Kirby's art to begin with, and he HATED Kirby drawing Green Arrow. He complained up and down the DC offices about it. A couple of years later, Kirby quit DC for reasons other than Weisinger's ranting, but I'm sure that he felt some relief at putting distance between himself and Weisinger as well.
Collection trade cover by Jack and Roz Kirby.
The second and final issue of Brother Power, The Geek, a little curiosity created by Jack Kirby's former partner, Joe Simon. The reason the second issue was the last one had nothing to do with sales. Mort Weisinger led a campaign against it on the basis that it's lead character and the counter-culture Hippie commune he lived with were Immoral and Anti-American and DC should know better than to be associated with questionable material of this nature.
He also didn't like Joe Simon's art.
He also didn't like Joe Simon. Or Jack Kirby (who had nothing to do with this book.)
DC cancelled the title, hoping to head off any potential problems.
(Cover by Joe SImon.)
I've treated most of this 'tribute' with a large degree of irony.
To put it mildly, the guy was an egomaniac and a bully.
Most of the early issues of this title adapted classics (like Jekyll and Hyde), but when it really hit its stride for me was when it started featuring the Living Mummy in on-going stories. Here's a couple favorites from a bit later in the run. I especially loved the issues with Val Mayerik interiors.
The first two below are by Gil Kane and Al Milgrom. The last one by Kane and Tom Palmer.
What with the Mummy covers and the recent Werewolf by Night covers, how about a little Legion of Monsters?
By Neal Adams.
By Ken Barr.
And speaking of which, am I the only one who read the recent Legion of Monsters mini-series? The story was a lot of fun, and I love Juan Doe’s artwork.
I loved the living mummy. Wish they would do a nice color reprint of all his appearances.
Gil Kane
I love Gil Kane and I love horror so combined the two and I get a cover I love.
Another great horror cover by Gil Kane.
Gil Kane did a great cover for a comic I doubt most people read.
Amazing cover by Gil Kane.