Today in Comics History, September 29: Happy birthday, Russ Heath!

Born on this day in 1926: award-winning comics and commercial artist Russ Heath, of many DC war comics (Our Army at War, G.I. Combat, All-American Men of War, Star Spangled War Stories, Our Fighting Forces), Kid Colt Outlaw, The Brave and the Bold, Showcase, Sea Devils, Wild Western, Little Annie Fanny (um, not that I know anything about that), and many, many more, including those military war illustrations that accompanied ads for toy soldier sets you'd see in the comics!


self-portrait from The Comics Journal #117 (Fantagraphics, October 1977), art by Russ Heath
Here's another TCJ illustration: drawn by Joe Kubert for war comics writer Robert Kanigher, featuring the great artists who worked on those books with Kanigher. Heath's on the upper right.


cover of The Comics Journal #85 (Fantagraphics, October 1983), art by Joe Kubert
Happy birthday, Russ Heath!


self-portrait from The 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention Program Book (Marvel, 1975), art by Russ Heath

Today in Comics History; July 29: Happy birthday, Dave Stevens!

Born on this day in 1955, Dave Stevens, comics writer and artist and animation and movie storyboarder. We know him best as the creator and author/artist of The Rocketeer, and he's also done work on Jonny Quest, Airboy, and Bettie Page Comics (natch!)!



from Amazing Heroes #37 (Fantagraphics, December 15, 1983)

Today in Comics History, May 16: Happy birthday, Jenette Kahn!

Born on this day: Jenette Kahn, former publisher, president, and editor-in-chief of DC Comics, and visible editorial face of the company for much of the '80s and '90s.


cover of Savvy (January 1984)

Where the Heck? (Credit Where Credit Is Due)

So, I'm really pleased...more pleased than punch, tickled beyond pink...that at last Marvel has begun properly crediting (some of) its character's creators. And long past time too. I do understand the tricky legal precedent of Marvel's putting this in published writing on work-for-hire characters, which is probably why we're not seeing it on characters created after the sixties. (This lucrative movie mania may have something to do with it as well.) I'm not privy to whether Marvel is compensating creators who did work prior to the royalty programs (I'm going to guess, sadly, no). I don't know whether creators are getting proper royalties on trade paperback or digital comics sales — publishing platforms that were pretty much inconceivable at the time of paychecks stamped with a "legally binding" work for hire shorthand (endorse the check to get your money and you've signed the contract). (Again, gonna guess maybe no.) I'm hoping these credits are just the beginning of more proper recognition for and compensation to Marvel's creators. (Anyway, it sure beats the days when all you got was "Stan Lee Presents…") Here's some recently published credits from Marvel mags:


Take note of that last one, which is (properly) credited on every book entitled "X-Men," from Uncanny to Amazing to Adjectiveless, even though the books don't, in most cases, star any of the characters from that very first issue of X-Men back in 1963. (Except for the increasingly inaccurately titled All-New X-Men.) So, too, you get proper credits for the first creation of the characters even if they're not exactly the ones created back in the Silver Age. F'r 'bother example, I'm pretty sure Joe 'n' Jack, and Stan 'n' Larry 'n' Jack , never foresaw a cool flying black Captain America, a kick-ass female Thor, or a soon-to-star in his own major motion picture ex-con Ant-Man. And it sets a particular precedent: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby are the creators of Captain America, even tho' Stan Lee and Gene Colan created Sam Wilson, the new Captain America.


Pay special attention to those last couple: they set up a precedent I'll be talking about later.

Now, I happen to think that this following created by credit oughta be in reverse, seeing as Kirby drew the Silver Surfer into Fantastic Four with Stan Lee having no idea at the time who or what he was. But it fits the template: scripted goes first. Eh, close enough.


There's a small handful of more recent characters who get creator credit, but it seems to be mostly those creators who have (justly) raised their voices about it.


Still, no in-magazine creator credit for characters headlining modern-day series like Black Widow (created by Stan Lee, Don Rico, and Don Heck), The Punisher (created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru), or Rocket Raccoon (created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen), for instance. I hope they are soon. Like I said, it's a darn sight better than "Stan Lee Presents..." and a good improvement on Marvel's hesitant and halting attempts only about five years ago to be cloyingly clever about it without spelling out anything that might sound legal, as in these credits-page "salutes" to Stan and Jack in Fantastic Four circa #571-575:


The "cutesy" (and yeah, I put that in quotes, Marvel!) credits are generally joking or punning nods to the story titles, a process which, on a story called "Solve Everything," gives us FF #570's most tone-deaf clueless credit of them all:


OH FOR PETE'S SAKE MARVEL WHO THE HECK THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA probably the same guy at DC who okayed "Triumph of the Will" as an appropriate Green Lantern story title

Anyway, my point...and I do have one...is that we get these credits on this week's Secret Wars: Armor Wars book:


Um.


I bow to very few in my sheer love of and admiration for Jack Kirby, but...while he did pencil the iconic cover of the first appearance of ol' Shellhead (hey! how come nobody calls him that anymore? Get on that, Marvel)...


Cover of Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Don Heck
But take a big Silver Age Gander (worst duck-based superhero ever) at the credits page for Mister I. Man's origin:


Yep:


Much in the way Larry, brother of Stan but with added "ber," got credit (see above!) for co-creating Thor and Ant-Man (writing scripts for Stan's plots), so too should he get credit here. And definitely it's a big mistake to leave Don Heck off the list. So, Marvel, I humbly suggest you have these credits wrong and I hope to see them corrected by Armor Wars #2 to "Iron Man created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby."

Mind you, I'm a little sensitive on the subject of Don Heck. As far as I'm concerned, Don's Silver Age Marvel stuff is pretty powerful. For example: despite the iconic portrayals of the Prince of Power by Jack Kirby and Bob Layton, for my money Don Heck portrayed the definitive Hercules:


Pin-up from Avengers King-Size Special [Annual] (1967 series) #1 (September 1967), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Don Heck, inks by George Roussos, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Part of the reason I get my back up when Heck's work is passed over or disparaged is the infamous interview with Harlan Ellison (a man whose writing I can respect but never his personality) by Gary Groth (a man I've worked with personally and like and respect, but whose tolerance for superhero comics is thin) in the pages of The Comics Journal, in which they run Heck through the wringer, calling him "the worst artist in the field." And then Ellison goes on to slam Dick Ayers, who he has mistakenly credited with the Nova work of Sal Buscema. Geez.


Portion of Harlan Ellison interview by Gary Groth from The Comics Journal #52 (January 1980)
"Five thousand Don Hecks are not worth one Neal Adams." Cold. Bitchy. And for my money, the beginning of my respect for Don Heck and my complete loss of interest in the opinions of Harlan Ellison. (Gary, you didn't help matters here.)

Ahem. Anyway. Don Heck. Know him, love him, credit him.

Iron Man created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber,
Don Heck, and Jack Kirby

Today in Comics History Future: We got ninety-nine problems one problem but crime, inflation, unemployment, sexual and racial discrimination, deterioration of moral values, junk food, bad TV and so on ain't one.

House ad for The Survivors! (aka Jeremiah) from The Comics Journal #76 (October 1982), art by Hermann Huppen