Alter Ego #180 March 2023 (magazine review).
Much of this edition of ‘Alter Ego’ is devoted to a Roy Thomas-produced DC Comic, ‘The Young All-Stars,’ from 1987. Created to replace ‘All-Star Squadron’ after the ‘Crisis On Infinite Earths,’ where all his characters vanished in the chaos, it introduced the next generation.
The three main artists involved, Brian Murray, Howard Simpson, and Lou Manna, all provide interviews here. They share insights into Roy Thomas’s writing style, which adhered to the Marvel way—detailed where necessary.
These artists also expressed a penchant for illustrating 1940s characters in groups—a necessity, given the abundance of characters. Lou Manna notes that his experience with Jim Janes on ‘Legion Of Super-Heroes’ was excellent preparation for team books. Much of this is uncharted territory for me, but I suspect that financial constraints were pushing me away from comic books during this period. Interestingly, two Earth-2 enthusiasts, Johnny Blaze Leavitt and John Joshua, have repurposed cover designs for their characters. They cite their sources and likely rely on the readers’ memories—or Google—for comparisons.
This issue seems more visually focused, with Michael T. Gilbert’s ‘Mr. Monster’ featuring some of his art portfolio, though I’m curious about how much he reveals of the Spectre’s face.
We also have memorials for comic book artist Frank Thorne (1930-2021), writer M. Thomas Inge (1936-2021), and designer/colorist Andy Yanchus (1944-2021).
‘The Fawcett Collector’ examines the latter half of editor Stanley Kauffmann’s career at Fawcett, highlighting his memoirs that used pseudonyms for colleagues and recounted various pranks. The mischievous targeting of British editor Henry Perkins was particularly audacious, and it seems Kauffmann was fortunate in how lightly he got off in return. In contrast to practices over here, where pranksters typically reveal themselves, their anonymity added an extra layer of mischief.
Read and learn.
GF Willmetts
November 2023
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6890. Direct from them, you can get it for $10.95 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=1664
