Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, Al Hartley!

Born on this day in 1921: comics writer and artist Al Hartley, who worked for Standard/Nedor/Pines and Marvel/Timely/Atlas, including more than a decade on the Patsy Walker books!


from "Meet the Gang in the Merry Marvel Bullpen" in Marvel Tales Annual #1 (Marvel, September 1964)



Al also wrote drew a whole slew of Archie comics, including a lot of the "Betty and Me" and "Betty's Diary" feature.




from Betty and Me #44 (Archie, September 1972), pencils and inks (and script?) by Al Hartley
(Speaking of Betty's Diary: gee, I really wish this misspelled story title had actually been about Betty takin' care of cute little cows!)


from Betty and Me #12 (Archie, February 1968), creators uncredited and unknown
But you might know Al Hartley more for his born-again Christian religious comics than for his regular ones. He put his own beliefs...


from Barney Bear Family Tree (Fleming H. Revell, 1982)
...into quite a large line of titles, an imprint later named Spire Christian Comics.


house ads from Archie's Love Scene (Revell, 1973), The Cross and the Switchblade (Revell, 1972), and Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (Revell, 1976)
Hartley wrote and drew a series of mostly gentle but heavily anvilicious comic books for religious (read: Christian) publisher Fleming H. Revell. Some of 'em are pretty infamous. Here, I have edited out the Nazi flags so that you can still read my blog in Germany:




from Hansi, The Girl Who Loved the Swastika (Revell, 1976), script and art by Al Hartley



from The Cross and the Switchblade (Revell, 1972), script and art by Al Hartley
Hartley's comics often were biographical in nature, spotlighting noted Christians like (ick) Anita Bryant and Nixon's hatchet man and one of the Watergate Seven, Chuck Colson. Another fun friend!



from Born Again, and not the Daredevil one (Revell, 1978), script and art by Al Hartley
"Vell, now zat you mention it..."


I'm fairly fond, however, of Hartley's comic about Johnny Cash (with, if not the exact words of, at least certainly endorsed by Cash).





from Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (Revell, 1976); script by Billy Zeoli; pencils, inks, and letters by Al Hartley
HANG ON JOHNNY, HANG ON! GOD'S A-COMIN'!


Naturally, if you're not a die-hard born-again Christian, some of Hartley's Spires were absolutely BAT-NUTS CRAZY, like this Book of Revelation comic with momentarily-popular-in-the-'70s Christian Zionist author Hal Lindsey (The Late, Great Planet Earth):





from There's a New World Coming (Revell, 1973), script by Hal Lindsey, pencils by Al Hartley, inks by Jack Abel, letters by Bill Yoshida
Brrr! The Rapture sounds pretty scary, huh kids WHOA HELLO THERE DEVIL GIRL GWEN STACY ♥


After the success of several of Revell's titles, Hartley convinced Archie prez John Goldwater to license to him Spire's biggest star: a red-headed teen named...aw, you know his name! The coldest blood runs through his veins! Archie Andrews!


house ad from The Cross and the Switchblade (Revell, 1972)
Hartley created 19 Archie Spire Christian comics, each one more religiously anvilicious than the rest. Pity the poor '70s kid whose mom picked up one of these instead of a reg'lar Archie.





from Archie's Love Scene (Revell, 1973); script, art, and letters by Al Hartley
OFF-MODEL NEOTENOUS VERONICA IS STARING INTO OUR VERY SOULS!


Anyway, I think you mostly meant well, so God bless ya, Al Hartley, and happy birthday to you!

BUT NOT YOU, HAL LINDSEY. I ain't even gonna do a post for you on November 23 even tho' you're still alive.


from There's a New World Coming