Friday, February 17, 2023

Swan/Burnley on Tommy Tomorrow?

The Who's Who's credits for John Fischetti started out as just "Fischetti" on Tommy Tomorrow, if I remember correctly, but now encompass any number of 1950s series at DC--most of them inking Curt Swan, going by the list's matching up with Swan's series there at the time.

These four stories at the end of Swan's run on Tommy Tomorrow look to be inked by someone else with a heavier brush, and I would think it's Ray Burnley, who was inking Swan on Gangbusters and such. Swan/Burnley would soon be the art team on Jimmy Olsen when that title started up in 1954, and for a number of years.

Action 167, 170, 171 Tommy Tomorrow

These tiers from Action 167, 170, and 171 showcase faces finished with a heavier line than I see in the earlier Swan TT stories. What do you think?

Edmond Hamilton wrote almost all the Tommy Tomorrow stories from Action 147 to 175 (158 and 172 I don't think are his) and a few after that, so these four are his scripts.

Curt Swan (p)/Ray Burnley (i)
Tommy Tomorrow in Action Comics


Apr/52 167  The Man Who Stopped Space-Flight
May/      168  The Meteor Mystery
Jul/      170  The Great Brain of Space
Aug/      171  The Phantom Space Ship

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Bernstein's Last Run on Crime Does Not Pay (and Bonus Artists)

Finishing up Robert Bernstein's scripts for Crime Does Not Pay; the title ended with #147. (It went under the Comics Code with #143.)

CDNP 145 Saturday Night Gang Giordano-Alascia

But first: while going over the last issues I made a few artist IDs. When I saw Dick Giordano's earliest stuff at Charlton it seemed to me there was a George Evans influence. Sure enough, a Giordano/Vince Alascia job at Lev Gleason has been miscredited in the Grand Comics Database to Evans--"The Fall of the Saturday Night Gang," shown above. Giordano/Alascia have "Unheeded Warning" in the next issue, CDNP 145, correctly attributed to them, and their story in 146, "The Big Mop-Up," is signed.

A few Crime Does Not Pay artists

Apr/55 144  The Fall of the Saturday Night Gang p: Dick Giordano

    i: Vince Alascia
May/     145  Cornered: The Furious End of Vic Banner a: Ed Robbins
July/     147  Mighty Rookie a: Robbins

Crime Does Not Pay Anthology Stories
1953-55
Written by Robert Bernstein


Feb/53 119  Mad Dog Coll, the Mad Gunman
Mar/     120  The Brady Gang
  Cut Rate Murder
May/     122  Set for the Kill
June/     123  Hymie Weiss, Dynamo of Hate
    "Lucky Joe" Masseria, Bullet Dodger
Aug/     125  The Hair-Raising Career of Massacre Mad Frank Nash
Sep/     126  Killers from the Sticks
    Kill-Crazy Fred "Banjo" Blore
Oct/     127  Dead Man's Revenge
Nov/     128  Chuck Dorset's Rage Against Death
Dec/     129  Bill Flint, the Lone Wolf
Mar/54  132  I Beg Your Pardon
June/      135  The Crook Who Set His Own Trap
Sep/      137  Mike "Straw Hat" Vanek and His Steel Coffin
    The Bloody Saga of the Chetter Brothers
Oct/      138  The Scapegoat
Nov/      139  Eyewitness
    Joe Mosdek, the Master Dealer
    A Cop's Last Fight
Feb/55 142  The Vengeful Big "Truck" Brown
    Nickel Fare to Doom

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Angel and the Ape Writers--Including Henry Boltinoff

One point makes it easy to tell E. Nelson Bridwell's scripting on DC's Angel and the Ape. Most of the other writers' ape-speak by Sam Simeon is gibberish, but Bridwell's, beginning with #4, is garbled English. In issue #6 the first story, "The Robbing Robot," is credited on the splash page to John Albano (thus I haven't listed it here). "The Ape of 1,000 Disguises" in the same issue is uncredited. Compare the ape-speak, given with translations. The ape-speak in Showcase #77 is garbled English too, but the sound effects confirm the scripting as Howard Post's.

'Anna ik katcha' and 'Miwudjumin'--'Me? What do you mean?'

Angel and the Ape #1 confuses me more each time I look. I would have said Post, perhaps, but the ape-speak is now gibberish.

Henry Boltinoff's writing in #7 is easy to spot when he uses the caption "And..." such as he's used in his page-or-two cartoon features like "Jerry the Jitterbug," where brevity counts. He's the best bet for that issue's other one-pagers that I couldn't be positive enough about to enter here.

I can't tell who plotted a story. In the case of Angel and the Ape #2, which I've left off this list too since it's credited, Sergio Aragonés is in those credits as co-scripter with Bob Oksner, presumably plotter as he's listed first. Showcase #77? Supposedly Nelson Bridwell, supposedly Robert Kanigher, supposedly even Al Jaffee. I'd go with Bridwell from the contemporary On the Drawing Board #67 (June 1968) listing.

Writers:
Angel and the Ape in SHOWCASE

Sep/68 #77  Angel and the Ape Howard Post

ANGEL AND THE APE

Mar-Apr/69 #3  The Curse of the Avarice Clan E. Nelson Bridwell
May-June/     #4  Remember the Chow Mein Bridwell
    The Case of Trouble on the Talk Show Bridwell
    Cheapskater's Waltz Bridwell
July-Aug/      #5  Pigeon Mob John Albano
    Hippie, Hippie, Hooray Albano
Sep-Oct/      #6  The Ape of 1,000 Disguises
  (Would You Believe Four?)
Bridwell

MEET ANGEL

Nov-Dec/69 #7  A Busy Little Aunt Albano

  Suits Me Fine Henry Boltinoff

  The Case of the "Inside Job" Boltinoff
    The Case of the Millionaire Cat Boltinoff

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

CDNP: More Bernstein, a Little More Wessler

As of 1950 Carl Wessler's personal records are complete enough to name most of his scripts for Crime Does Not Pay at Lev Gleason, so stories are noted as his on the Grand Comics Database. The source is Robin Snyder's Wessler bibilography in The Comics, compiled from those records. Here I have another couple of his where the records didn't give the titles. "The Last Mile for Tony" contains both an "Ohoo" and an "Owooo" to show Wessler wrote it. I haven't found any Wessler stories on CDNP after mid-'51 that he didn't fully record.

The GCD wonders if "The Rabbit-Punch Murder Case" could be the 9-page 1951 script for Chip Gardner that Wessler records without a title. Here is an example of why I attribute it to Robert Bernstein: "Ieee!"

CDNP 103 Rabbit-Punch Murder 'Ieee'

Crime Does Not Pay Anthology Stories
1951-52
Written by Robert Bernstein


Feb/51 95  Having a Wonderful Crime
May/     98  Shock Treatment
July/     100  The Smell of Death
    Mission: Murder
Aug/     101  Cain versus Abel
    The Case of the Crooked Politician [CHIP GARDNER]
Oct/     103  The Rabbit-Punch Murder Case [CHIP GARDNER]
The Fruits of Crime
Dec/     105  The Big Cut
Feb/52 107  You Can't Beat the Rackets!
    The State versus "Rock" Madden
Mar/     108  Jim Franton, Bootlegger, versus Bud Rollins, Con-Man
Apr/      109  The Vicious Vendetta Massacre
May/     110  Journey into Horror
    Bootleg "Gold"
July/      112  The Tragic Tale of "Sap" Doretti  (art: Sid Greene)
Oct/      115  Trapped by the Dead
Dec/     117  The End of the Underworld

Written by Carl Wessler


Apr/51 97  The Last Mile for Tony
June/     99  Reprieve Granted--Prisoner Is Dead

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Andru & Esposito? (I've Burned Myself on IDing Them Earlier)


I let myself see Ross Andru and Mike Esposito on Dell's Monkees #1 but at least after "Lee" and Mark Evanier correctly suggested Mo Marcus, that led me to more Marcus IDs elsewhere. If anyone has a better idea on this funny animal art than Andru and Esposito, I'd be gratified to hear it.

"Outboxed the Boxer," the first story in Tom Cat #4, April/56--the first issue; yes, Charlton, why do you ask?--is drawn in a style not used in the other stories in that issue or the rest of the 5-issue run. The later issues are by Al Fago, who signs a cover and a story, and perhaps other artists in his style.

With the wildly different, comparatively "realistic" style of this first story, I'd think that it was another one of those examples of Charlton's buying up the inventory of a defunct company, but the writer, whoever it may be--"Ngaaa!" and Kurrash--continues on the feature throughout the run.

I'm guessing Andru and Esposito more by the inks than the pencils. Although this is a comical comic book, the figures aren't in the industry-wide "make it look like Mad but not anything actually like the Mad artists" style that Andru used on Get Lost.

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Robert Bernstein Continues on Crime Does Not Pay

Here's Robert Bernstein's next couple of years writing for Crime Does Not Pay for Lev Gleason. I hadn't convinced myself of his writing the Who Dunnit? story in #70 when I did the first list.

CDNP closes out 1950 with #94, but I don't see Bernstein work in those last issues of the year.

As I was looking for Bernstein stories I found a couple by Carl Wessler that didn't get to the CGD from his records. In this tier from "Jack Rosca," note the exclamation that I haven't seen Robert Bernstein ever use.

'Aghhrr!'

Crime Does Not Pay Anthology Stories
1949-50
Written by Robert Bernstein


Dec/48 70  Who Dunnit?
Jan/49 71  Hank Charters
Feb/     72  Craig Denby, the Movie-Struck Egomaniac
    Andy Yole
Mar/     73  Dennis Mayhew and Everett Johns
May/     75  Who Dunnit?
June/     76  Clarence Reese, the Hero-Worshipper
Who Dunnit?
July/     77  Sheriff Ted Benton
Aug/     78  Who Dunnit?
Sep/     79  Spike Spitz
    Who Dunnit?
    Frankie Darrell vs. Lieutenant Jim Scott
Oct/      80  Vince Grey

  The Black Panther Murder Case [WHO DUNNIT?]
Dec/      82  Death in the Hobo Jungle
    Who Dunnit?
Jan/50  83  The Long Manhunt for Les Voyles
Feb/      84  Who Dunnit?
Mar/      85  Police Teamwork and 3 Blind Rats
    Confessions of a Racketeer's Widow
Aug/     90  Over My Dead Body!
    Unexpected Guest
Sep/     91  Murder Plays Hide-and-Seek

Written by Carl Wessler


Sep/49 79  Jack Roscar
Feb/50 84  Death House Blues

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Ken Fitch Writes Tony Gay

The early 50s company Star is best known for its covers by co-owner L. B. Cole. On the insides it made do with a lot of reprint material from various publishers, most notably Novelty, from whom it continued some titles and characters. Teen-age model Toni Gay, for instance, is a continuation of Novelty's Toni Gayle girl detective strip.

Star's romance and teen-age books did contain some original material, and every so often in the romance titles Ken Fitch got a scripting credit. So I knew to look for him at Star, and I found him on at least the first two Toni Gay stories. This tier from "The Hoaxed Hoax" shows not only his typical "Aiy-y-y-y-y-y" but the "Eeeeeee" found in some of his romance stories. The artist is Norman Nodel.

Toni Gay 'Aiy-y-y-y-y-y' 'EeeeEEE'

On many of the stories in the other strips in School-Day Romances/Popular Teen-Agers--Ginger Snapp/Ginger Bunn/Honey Bunn, Midge Martin, and Eve Adams--I find one writer whom I can't identify who uses the expression "Sufferin' Susie" often.

Ken Fitch Scripts on Toni Gay
in School-Day Romances


Nov-Dec/49 The Hoaxed Hoax
Jan-Feb/50 Mixed Pix