I wrote, Marvel published BIG BOY Comics. Later, Marvel stopped and Sol ( or someone else?) took over the publishing,. I don't think I wrote any of those.
I believe Stan meant that Sol took over the packaging, not publishing, since it was only distributed to the Big Boy restaurant chains, not sold in stores, but note he did not say Martin Goodman packaged or published the later Big Boy's. While Stan says he doesn't think he wrote the later stories (1957 until around 1964) I suspect he did work on some of them; certainly the cover copy on many issues reads very much like his gags for the humor strips he wrote. I ordered a Big Boy comic through Ebay; when it arrives I'll try to decipher if Stan was involved in the story.
I mentioned to Stan that I thought Sol was not only a decent artist and inker, but an important contributor to early Marvel; someone Stan could rely on to get the work out and make sure everything ran smoothly (and also understood all aspects of the business). Stan replied:
Sol helped me with layouts and by getting photos for books like GOLFERS ANONYMOUS and BLUSHING BLURBS which I myself published.
Sol was a tremendously great help to me as a layout man and production man and all-around assistant. He was the very best.
I wish Sol Brodsky was still alive to ask these questions to (and so many others about Marvel's early days), but some of the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.
More on Big Boy, and certainly Sol Brodsky, in future Blog Posts....
Fascinating stuff as always, Nick. It's just a shame Stan doesn't have a better memory, but he's always suffered from poor recall, even as a young man. Must be nice being able to email 'The Man' whenever you want to know something about comics history. Wasn't it Sol Brodsky who designed the FF and Amazing Fantasy logos (which were both the same), based on The Twilight Zone logo?
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work.
By the way, Stan now does remember Blushing Blurbs, although he didn't mention it when he was doing his recent political photo funnies. He told reporters that a fan had him sign Golfer's Anonymous which made him think of doing something like that again. I guess Blushing Blurbs with it's racy content didn't fit the story then. I have Blushing blurbs, but not Golfer's Anonymous. Do you know GA is offered for $100 to $200 in several places?
ReplyDeleteHi Kid and Ger,
ReplyDeleteStan's mind is usually on what he's currently doing (and i'm still amazed at how active he is), but whatever he can add is worthwhile. Sol is credited with designing a number of early logs, which may have been completed by Artie Simek, including the FF and Avengers.
I don't have Golfer's Anonymous but Barry does, and there are a number of interesting pictures that likely feature some of the Marvel staff. There are also a number of cartoons, mainly by Stan Goldberg, although one or two may be by Kirby (according to Stan G the last time the Yancy Street Gang spoke to him at a con, he revealed that Kirby actually INKED one of his drawings!). More on this in a future blog.
When you (or Stan) say Sol worked on "later" BIg Boy issues, define your era, please.
ReplyDeleteBecause the title continued to be available well into the 1990's and maybe beyond. I know Craig Yoe was packaging it for awhile and actually hired Steve Ditko to draw at least one story (which is reprinted in Yoe's Kidz Komics volume).
Steve,
ReplyDeleteI noted in my first Big Boy post that it appears Brodsky stopped packaging around 1964. however I will clarify on this post as well.
Others who worked on long runs of Big Boy comics from the 1960s-1980's include Shelly Moldoff and Manny Stallman. I believe Yoe took over the packaging in the 1990s.