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MagazinesSuperheroes

Alter Ego #102 June 2011 (magazine review).

This issue of ‘Alter Ego’ from 2011 focuses on the Green Lanterns and as editor Roy Thomas points out, there were two creators involved with the Alan Scott version and another three creators for the Hal Jordan version, each adding something to the creation. I’d forgotten that Alan Scott was originally going to be called Alan Ladd from Aladdin until editor Sheldon Mayer ruled against it saying that no one would be called that.

Of course, then a movie star came along with that name although no one attributed him to Aladdin. It’s also interesting reading Gil Kane’s comment that the Silver Age Green Lantern costume design was supposed to be an hourglass-shaped leotard that the inkers didn’t always follow. Incidentally, he also point out the swan dive pose for GL in flight started with him.

The extended interview with Marty Nodell about his creation of the Golden Age Green Lantern early in his career is interesting. Back in the 1940s, comicbooks were considered bottom rung and, working in the better paid advertising industry, the pinnacle. As such and not wanting to have his named marked there signed himself as Mart Dellon, his surname being an anagram of his real name and used less letters for his forename simply to save time.

The late interviewer Shel Dorf built up a depthy talk interviewed over a convention weekend. Nodell also worked for a lot of comicbook companies before the more lucrative advertising and the list of advertising characters he created is far more likely to mean more to you American folk out there.

Jim Amash concludes his interview with comics and animation writer Jack Mendelsohn. You might not know his name but he was also a key scriptwriter on ‘Yellow Submarine’ (1968), worked with Jerry Siegel and Mad Magazine amongst others before going to live-action with ‘Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In’ and ‘The Carol Burnett Show’.

For the ‘Archie’ comicbook fans out there, the interview with Betty Tokar by Shaun Clancy should be of interest as she briefly dated its creator Bob Montana and was the template for one of Archie Andrews’ girl-friends.

Michael T. Gilbert investigates the life of letterer Abe Kanegson, whose 5 years work was for Will Eisner’s ‘The Spirit’, who admired his work. The mystery was his disappearance and the discovery he became a folk singer.

This is also the first issue to have a colour section and nice to know when it started. I’ve just hit some of the content above and that’s making for a lengthy review. Be aware, there are references to earlier issues, especially in the letters pages, that will make you want to buy them to read the content and I haven’t got them yet.

GF Willmetts

November 2020

(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $ 7.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6890. Direct from them, you can get it for $ 7.95 (US))

check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=973

UncleGeoff

Geoff Willmetts has been editor at SFCrowsnest for some 21 plus years now, showing a versatility and knowledge in not only Science Fiction, but also the sciences and arts, all of which has been displayed here through editorials, reviews, articles and stories. With the latter, he has been running a short story series under the title of ‘Psi-Kicks’ If you want to contribute to SFCrowsnest, read the guidelines and show him what you can do. If it isn’t usable, he spends as much time telling you what the problems is as he would with material he accepts. This is largely how he got called an Uncle, as in Dutch Uncle. He’s not actually Dutch but hails from the west country in the UK.

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