The Origin of Superman by Jerry Siegel, 1942

Month: July 2020

The Origin of Superman by Jerry Siegel, 1942
The Origin of Superman by Jerry Siegel, 1942

©2020 Ken Quattro Jerry Siegel’s letter to Josette Frank was cordial, friendly and personal.   “Hope Stanley was pleasantly surprised by the acceptance of his synopsis. The check which I sent to DC to be forwarded to him has probably already reached him.” [Jerry Siegel letter to Josette Frank, June 1, 1942]   Although Siegel had gotten the name of…

The Committee On Evaluation Of Comic Books
The Committee On Evaluation Of Comic Books

©2020 Ken Quattro Cincinnati is one of those cities pollsters love to cite as representative of America as a whole. It sits at the bottom end of Ohio, perhaps the most mid-American of all states. While nominally a northern town, it is separated from Kentucky only by the Ohio River, and shares not only its southern weather, but many of…

Visit To A Comic Book Exchange: St. Louis, 1946
Visit To A Comic Book Exchange: St. Louis, 1946

©2020 Ken Quattro In times past, before comic shops and conventions, comic book fans had over means of finding back issues. Often it was a kid-to-kid transaction brokered over a soda or outside a candy store. Other times, though, when a specific issue was desired, someone with a larger inventory was required and that’s where magazine exchanges came in.  …

THE LIFE OF FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (June 1942)
THE LIFE OF FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (June 1942)

©2020 Ken Quattro Even before the United States entered the fighting during World War II, it was abundantly clear to those paying attention that the country lagged behind its potential adversaries in one crucial aspect of the coming conflict. The enemy had leading this effort, a man with a doctorate in philosophy and a reputation as a failed novelist, who…

“Sambo Without Tears” by Georges Sadoul [translated by Samuel Beckett]
“Sambo Without Tears” by Georges Sadoul [translated by Samuel Beckett]

©2020 Ken Quattro Below is an article written circa 1930 by the legendary French film critic, Georges Sadoul. Sadoul was a journalist and one of the first to begin reviewing films as an art form.   In this article, however, he took a look at the presentation of Blacks in French comics. He specifically contrasts the representation of Blacks in…

THE TEACHER AND THE COMICS by Gabriel Lynn (c. 1946)
THE TEACHER AND THE COMICS by Gabriel Lynn (c. 1946)

©2020 Ken Quattro In previous posts I covered Gabriel Lynn and his contributions to the comic book controversy in the 1940s with his writings for the Catechetical Guild. Some of his background was included in the post entitled Wertham’s Forebearers.  His first pamphlet THE CASE AGAINST THE COMICS in its entirety can be found elsewhere on this blog. Here then…

AURORA COMIC SECTION (Dec. 5, 1965)
AURORA COMIC SECTION (Dec. 5, 1965)

©2020 Ken Quattro   Aurora Plastics products comprised a major part of my childhood. I had an Aurora N-guage model trains set, and Aurora slot car set, and I built a ridiculous number of Aurora models during my youth. Model planes, model cars, model ships. When they came out with models based upon historic sporting events–Babe Ruth hitting his 60th…

The Spy, the Reds and THE BUCCANEERS
The Spy, the Reds and THE BUCCANEERS

©2020 Ken Quattro “Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?’”   Lewis Carroll found a way of expressing the absurd lengths one goes once a journey is undertaken. It’s like he knew me.   It began simply enough. I found a giveaway comic up for auction…

THE CASE AGAINST COMICS by Gabriel Lynn (1944)
THE CASE AGAINST COMICS by Gabriel Lynn (1944)

©2020 Ken Quattro   In a previous post I discussed Gabriel Lynn’s 1944 booklet, THE CASE AGAINST THE COMICS published by the Catechetical Guild. As a public service, I am sharing scans of the entire contents of this rare and historical pamphlet. Right click on the smaller images and then click “View Image” to see them in larger size. The…

Wertham’s Forebearers
Wertham’s Forebearers

©2020 Ken Quattro Virtually every comic fan with even a cursory interest in the history of the medium, knows the name of Dr. Fredric Wertham, psychiatrist, author and comic book critic. Just the mention of his name is enough to evoke some slanderous remark, a dismissive eye roll, a curse. But he wasn’t the first to criticize comics. Not by…