Roy Thomas: Corrections & Suggestions
There is probably nobody in the comic book industry that I like and respect more than Roy Thomas. The man is truly a Legend and if I have to list his accomplishments for you...well, you are...
View ArticleRoy Thomas: More Corrections & Suggestions
In the immediately preceding post, legendary comic creator Roy Thomas offered his perspective on details and events discussed in Sean Howe's recent book, MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY. In this...
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Sincerely Yours, Busy
Before email, before texting, when only birds tweeted, people wrote letters. Letter writing was a craft, an art form in deft hands, wherein thoughts could be expressed with nuance not limited to...
View ArticleMen of Steal
An Editorial by Ken Quattro: To say I'm indebted to the Internet would be a huge understatement. It has opened doors into research that were never available before it existed. It allows me to...
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That's The Spirit
Return with me now to those thrilling days of last year, when I first posted theMystery of the Radio Spirit. My plaintive plea for help in finding details about the elusive radio program based upon...
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Harry 'A' and the Flying Cadet Mystery
It was the itch I couldn't scratch. A decade of research resulting in my biographical study of Archer St. John and his publishing company, Archer St. John & The Little Company That Could,left...
View ArticleJosette Frank: Alone Against the Storm, Part 1
The history of modern American comic books is haunted by one person. Much anger has been directed at and much written about Dr. Fredric Wertham and his almost monomaniacal crusade against comics....
View ArticleJosette Frank: Alone Against the Storm, Part 2
March 10, 1942 The Most Reverend John F. Noll, D.D., Bishop of Fort Wayne,Fort Wayne, Ind.Your Excellency: It has been called to my attention that our most recent publication, "Sensation Comics",...
View ArticleJosette Frank: Alone Against the Storm, Part 3
May 23, 1944 To The Sponsors of SUPERMANMutual Broadcasting CompanyGentlemen: This is written in a spirit of friendly criticism, but definitely criticism. Your Superman Program seems to me to...
View ArticleJosette Frank: Alone Against the Storm, Part 4
Once again he was testifying as an psychiatric expert, this time in an obscenity trial. He had appeared as a defense witness for a murderous cannibal, an Oedipally-wrought, matricidal teenager and...
View ArticleJosette Frank: Alone Against the Storm, Part 5
On April 27, 1953, the U.S. Senate established the Senate Special Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Partly in response to public concern and partly as a political stage in an approaching...
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The 1905 Comic Fan
(Sometimes a mystery begins with a small clue. This is one.I'd like to thank Rod Beck, Allan Holtz, Frank Motler, Dave Reeder and Jeff Howard-Lindsey for their kind contributions.--Ken...
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The Spectre and the Almost Man, Part 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS(This project has been long in development. I would like to thank the following kind individuals for their contributions, patience and help. I couldn't have done this without them:Jim...
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The Spectre and The Almost Man, Part 2
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed: And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but...
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Mr. Gleason, are you now or have you ever been...?
( Was he or wasn't he? Like many of his peers in comic book publishing, Lev Gleason was a staunch supporter of liberal, even leftist, causes. Unlike most of them, though, he was suspected of...
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The Unexpected Michael T. Gilbert
It's not always a matter of hard-nosed sleuthing. Sometimes a gumshoe just gets lucky. This is one of those times. Michael T. Gilbert--famous comic artist, writer, historian, creator of Mr....
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Michael T. Unleashes Rich E.!
Not only am I getting older; I'm getting luckier. Once again Michael T. Gilbert has dug into his personal files, reached across the ether and made me an offer I can't refuse:Hi Ken!I just...
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William Ekgren -- Movie Star!
Uddevalla is an ancient town, once Norwegian, presently Swedish. The world has changed, the borders may change, but Uddevalla endures. So, too, does current resident William Ekgren. My...
View ArticleWoolfolk on Weisinger
Tradition requests that you don't speak ill of the dead. It's a concept nearly as old as civilization; a courtesy extended to a defenseless soul lest the violator incur bad karma or at least...
View ArticleWeisinger on Woolfolk
My most recent posting of William Woolfolk's scathing "obituary" of Mort Weisinger has stirred some emotions. While most of the responses I've received echo Woolfolk's dim view of Weisinger, one...
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Mystery of the Radio Spirit
Sometimes its just the incidentals that intrigue me. The flotsam and jetsam of comic book history that float along outside the mainstream issues. It doesn't take much; sometimes it's just a...
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Mystery of the Radio Spirit -- Solved!
[Announcer] In the previous episode, our intrepid detective was last seen staring at his computer screen, intently pondering the puzzle before him. His decades long search for information about the...
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Two Views of 3-D Comics
There are problems inherent to writing this blog that I cannot overcome. My type of detailed research takes a long time. Following a lead may take weeks, months, sometimes even years. One...
View ArticleTale of the Tape
How would it really feel to be that fly on the wall; to hear history in the making? As recounted in my previous post, there was a basic disagreement over who was the creator of the process...
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OWENS v. AMERICAN STEREOGRAPHIC
This is the third and final installment of my investigation into the litigious back story of 3-D comic books. To get a full understanding of what follows, it is best to have read both of my...
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