©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…

©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.  …

©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…

Several years back, I discovered this short piece in a 1940 issue of VARIETY concerning a a lawsuit filed by Victor S. Fox and Fox Publications, against Timely Publications, et. al. The article below gives some background to this suit, but unfortunately, at this time I haven’t found out whether this even went trial. I welcome any further information anyone…

I couldn’t just scan the one Joe Simon and Jack Kirby illustration from MARVEL STORIES vol. 2 #2 that accompanied the text of “Cycle” from my last post. That just wouldn’t be right So, as a special treat, below you will find scans of each Simon and Kirby illustration appearing in that issue. And don’t overlook the bonus scan at…

Some years back, I first wrote this partially tongue-in-cheek article as a response to one of the most enduring arguments among comic book fans and historians, “Who was most responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four?” Like everyone else who wasn’t in the room with Jack Kirby and Stan Lee–I can’t say for certain. But that hasn’t ended the…

©2019 Ken Quattro The details were purposely oblique, in keeping with military protocol. “…now at the Hotel Astor is Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, who was in command of the mounted detachment of the A.E. In G., who will go from New York to Washington to ask for a leave while he returns to Sweden for his wife, who has a Swedish…

©2019 Ken Quattro As with all soldiers, Second Lieut. Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson spent his first months in the Army in training. Upon finishing his instruction at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, he was temporarily assigned to Fort Meade in South Dakota to await the return of the Second Cavalry from the Philippines. He finally joined up with them when they arrived at…

©2019 Ken Quattro The dawn of a new century brought with it the chance of a new life for Antoinette Strahan and her children. To make a complete break with her past, Antoinette (aka Nettie) made a formal declaration of her separation from her husband, Lola. “As order of publication of summons was entered in the case of Antoinette W.…

©2019 Ken Quattro Not every story related to comics history involves super-heroes or the people who drew them. What follows is a story, a long story told in four parts, of a man, how he came to be and how he arrived at one point of his life. And like every story, this one has a beginning. Though you won’t…