See the comments—SangorShop corrected my assumptions that Woolfolk meant Lev Gleason's two-issue 1949 newsmagazine Tops and that Gleason's version had lasted below the Overstreet radar into 1954. I posted without the issue info; that's from SangorShop as well.
The "impossible headlines" Superman story stumps me. Woolfolk sold a story with the same premise in March 1954. He recorded a $125 payment for that one as received in March and a $125 payment for this one in May; they are separate stories. That one fits Superman 92's September date better than this one would.
May 1954 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk
| 10 pg | Superman | impossible Daily Planet headlines |
| [???] | ||
| 10 | Superman | the phantom Superman |
| "The Phantom Superman" Action 199, Dec/54 | ||
| 2 | C-bomb story for Tops | "Goodbye, World! The C Bomb Can End It" Tops, Sept/54 |
June 1954
| 10 | Superboy | worst athlete in Smallville |
| "Smallville's Worst Athlete" Adventure 207, Dec/54 | ||
| 10 | Superman | 3 dooms for Metropolis |
| "Three Dooms for Metropolis" Superman 94, Jan/55 | ||
| 2 | Why Catholics Fight Birth Control (Tops) | "Why Catholics Fight Birth Control" Tops, Oct/54 |
Woolfolk wrote a July heading in his notebook but didn't enter any stories. The next page picks up with income from publishing, and from writing TV and a novel, in 1962. I wonder if a few of his final comics scripts in 1954 could have gone unrecorded; when I was IDing Superman stories by style, twenty years ago, I attributed a few to him that came out later than these.
But one way or the other, this is the chronological end of William Woolfolk's recorded comic book scripting, except for a Superman story done in the 1980s. He began publishing the magazine Space World around this point, and later Inside Story. His first of nineteen novels, The Naked Hunter, came out this year. Two of his novels, paperback originals under the name "Winston Lyon," were comic-book-related: Batman vs. Three Villains of Doom and Batman vs. the Fearsome Foursome (both Signet, 1966) novelized, respectively, Batman comic book stories and the movie "Batman." He wrote for TV shows like "The Defenders" in the early Sixties, and then his novels appeared on the best-seller lists.
The Birth Control article appeared in the October 1954 issue of "Tops in Human Highlights" magazine.
ReplyDeleteThe September 1954 issue of "Tops in Human Highlights" has "Goodbye, World! The C Bomb Can End It!"
ReplyDeleteAnd I see that in the 3rd issue of Tops, Woolfolk is listed as Editorial Director. Looks like it started with a cover date of March 1954 and ran monthly for around 8 issues and had a couple of issues in 1955. Published by J. B. Publishing Corporation - John B. Musacchio, publisher
ReplyDeleteThanks, SangorShop--I've updated the post to add in your info.
ReplyDelete