Woolfolk Records 1954/05 and /06

These are William Woolfolk scripts for DC and for (UPDATE:) J.B. Publishing's Tops in Human Highlights.

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.

I Dream of Jeannie and the Photostats

As I pointed out about Gold Key's The Twilight Zone, on a number of stories the editors reused a photostat of one particular piece of art to add Rod Serling's head atop the body the story's artist had drawn.

On the first issue of Dell's I Dream of Jeannie (Apr/66), the artist takes that to the limit.

On this page, the Tony Nelson faces in panels 1 and 4 are identical. Likewise his faces in panels 2, 3, and 6. (After panel 2, that one is flipped left for right.) In places the head is the wrong size for the body; in panels 1and 5 it's also turned far away from where he should be looking. It's not in the same artistic style as scientist Stella's face at all.

These are the main two images of the character face the artist uses throughout the comic, over and over, traced originally from photos of Larry Hagman. I see a couple of different stats used sparingly on other pages. He relies on only one or two of Barbara Eden as Jeannie, although on this page it looks as if he's actually drawn her face. In a few spots he draws Tony's face—a very few.

"Sky High" is a full-length three-chapter story. The writer is Paul S. Newman, but I have no idea as to the shortcut-taking artist. (For what it's worth, the Grand Comics Database attributes the art to someone the Who's Who never heard of, a Michael Arnes. My level of confidence in the ID wouldn't be improved by finding it a misspelling.)

Woolfolk Records 1954/04

William Woolfolk sold to Lev Gleason, DC, and (though the stories went unpublished, I believe) to Orbit in April.

I misattributed the Mysto story to George Kashdan some years ago, but correctly figured Woolfolk for the writer of the Superman story.

UPDATE: darkmark tracked down the publication of "Crime Town."

April 1954 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

7 pg	Selfish Annie	a gal who's too self-indulgent
		[unpublished]
9	Bright Lights Gang	man organizes crime on Broadway
		"Crime Town" Crime and Punishment 70, Dec/54
10	Superboy	convention of Superboys
		"The Five Superboys" Superboy 35, Sep/54
9	Wings of Passion	stewardess & pilot—and she wants a stable sort of love
		[unpubl]
6	Dressed-Up Doll	a gal who's too flashy, too overdressed
		[unpubl]
8	Mysto	the forbidden trick
		"The Forbidden Trick" Detective 211, Sep/54
12	Superman	Lois Lane becomes great women of history
		"The Six Lives of Lois Lane" Action 198, Nov/54

Who Knows What Evil?

This cover swipe jumped right out at me.

I don’t know the cover artist of Street & Smith's The Shadow pulp for Aug/46; I suppose it was credited on the contents page, but that info doesn’t seem to have made it into Google. There’s certainly no credit for the comic book artist who swiped the pulp’s foreground figure for Cross Publications' The Perfect Crime 14 (July/51).

Woolfolk Records 1954/03

DC and Orbit bought scripts this month from Woolfolk.

Love Diary goes all-reprint with the Sept/54 issue and Love Journal is cancelled after the July/54 issue; I can't find that any of the romance stories this month or next (Woolfolk's final ones for Orbit) were published. (One romance last month was in the July Love Diary.) All were paid for.

March 1954 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

6 pg	The Old Man	the old man teacher of war is only 20
		"The Old Man" Star Spangled War Stories 27, Nov/54
6	The Cold War	what it is like to battle at below 0°
		"The Cold War" SSWS 25, Sep/54
10	Superman	Daily Planet prints impossible headlines
		"The Impossible Headlines" Superman 92, Sep/54
7	Bachelor, Beware!	guy who thinks all women are out to trap him
		[unpublished]
8	Mysto	vs. the magic of the medicine man
		"Manitoba's Magic" Detective 210, Aug/54

Twilight Zone 16-20 Writers

These are my IDs of the writers of most of the stories in the next five issues of Gold Key's Twilight Zone. "TZ 2" and "TZ 3" did earlier stories ("TZ 1" didn't write any more stories that I've seen, after the earliest issues); I can't put names to them.

I defer to the Grand Comics Database for the art attributions—except for the Jerry Grandenetti pencils credited to ghost-employer Joe Orlando. "Nightmare for an Astronaut," "The Man Who Mastered Yoga" (one of its panels is shown here), and "The Plague" were pencilled by Grandenetti. Orlando merely inked them. Orlando did pencil "The Masquerader."

The Twilight Zone 16-20 Writers

July/66	#16	Nightmare for an Astronaut	Dick Wood
		The Ghost Gunner	"TZ 3"
		The Wisdom of the Beast *	"TZ 2"
		The Perfect Criminal	Leo Dorfman
		When the Ball Is Over	Paul S. Newman
Sept/66	#17	The Masquerader	Dorfman
		Once upon a Dream	"TZ 3"
		He Walked on Water *	"TZ 2"
		The Ship That Knew *	"TZ 3"
		Crystal Clear	"TZ 3"
		Mars: Dead or Alive	Wood
Nov/66	#18	Second-Hand Clothes	Dorfman?
		When the Lights Go Out	Dorfman
		Dead Man's Train *	"TZ 3"?
		The Man in the Green Coat *	"TZ 3"?
		Programmed Vacation	Wood
		The Impressionist	Wood?
		Strange Reunion *	Dorfman
Jan/67	#19	The Crime-a-Day Town	Wood
		Into Worlds Beyond	"TZ 3"
		Big-Foot *	"TZ 3"?
		The Man Who Mastered Yoga	?
		Our Man on Planet Ergo	Wood
Mar/67	#20	The Plague	Dorfman
		The Prodigy	Dorfman
		The Day That Couldn't Get Lost	?
		The Portal	Dorfman
		* (single-page stories)

Woolfolk Records 1954/02

William Woolfolk's buyers of scripts this month were DC, Orbit, and Lev Gleason. Gleason's Buster Crabbe, however, would be cancelled with the issue that printed Woolfolk's December-written script.

UPDATE: I since found the Prescription for Happiness.

February 1954 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

12 pg	Superman	Lois Lane—wanted
		"Lois Lane—Wanted" Action 195, Aug/54
3	Prescription for Happiness	girl afraid she'll lose guy if he goes back to college
		[untitled PFH] Love Diary 44, June/54
8	Buster Crabbe	the spear in the stone
		[unpublished]
8	Mysto	can he repeat "impossible" stunts of a dead magician?
		"The Three Feats of Peril" Detective 209, July/54
9	Lover, Don't Leave Me	gal falls for a rover—a bridge worker
		"Lover, Don't Leave Me" L Diary 45, July/54

Not Really Comics: Ben Casey Film Stories

Here's a curiosity. While Dell was publishing the Ben Casey comic books, Gold Key published a tie-in, in comic book dimensions, that wasn't in comic book format. It adapted a couple of the TV episodes in prose, with photos, and although in a panel-style layout, it wasn't fumetti; it used no captions or dialog balloons. In black and white, at 36 pages including covers (each story was 16 pages), it cost 35 cents when the same-size Gold Key comics that month were 12 cents.

To quote the inside front cover: "These authentic picture stories have been created directly from BEN CASEY television films. They bring to life in a dramatic new form all the famous personalities, thrilling action, and suspense of the original stories. The following pages offer an unusual visual experience and exciting adventure in reading entertainment."

That same month Gold Key advertised the Gunsmoke Film Story but didn't publish it, as far as I can see.

I get the Newman credit from the Who's Who, which lists him as writing Ben Casey for Western, not Dell, in 1962. If he wrote Ben Casey, this is it. Note that since there are two stories, the title is not Ben Casey Film Story, singular, as Overstreet and the CGD have had it.

Ben Casey Film Stories—Written by Paul S. Newman

Nov/62	#1	Operation Tycoon	photos
		Thirty Days to Live	photos

Woolfolk Records 1954/01

William Woolfolk sells to Orbit and DC this month.

Again, a couple of the romance stories for Orbit may not have been published (although paid for).

Woolfolk's records book scanned by Marc Svensson with the permission of Donna Woolfolk.

January 1954 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

6 pg	Love-Starved	girl who falls in with wild mob is tease
		Love Diary or Love Journal or [unpublished]
8	Mysto	boy's school of magic
		"School for Boy Magicians" Detective 208, June/54
7	Crazy for His Kisses	giddy gal & serious doc
		"Crazy for His Kisses" Love Diary 44, June/54
6	The Know-Nothing	ignorant GI and college trained platoon
		"The G.I. from Maine" All-American Men of War 12, Aug/54
7	We Both Wanted Him	girl in young club wants leader's guy
		L Diary or L Journal or [unpublished]

Ben Casey and Dazzler Writer

I worked out Carl Memling's writing style by finding the writer who worked on both Jungle War Stories and Ghost Stories at Dell; the Who's Who has him listed on those two.

For a doctor series like Dell's Ben Casey TV tie-in, ambulance sirens are just as helpful in determining the writer as the police car sirens in Adam-12. Memling's sirens go "Rowrrr," whereas Paul S. Newman's go "Areeeee," John Warner's "Whee-eee," and Leo Dorfman's "Howwweeee."

The Who's Who lists both Frank McLaughlin and Dick Giordano as Ben Casey inkers. Giordano may be helping on the ones where I see mostly McLaughlin work.

I didn't list the single-page featurettes (they may or may not have been written by Memling), but Norman J. Nodel initialed the inside back cover of #4, "They Were First," as "NJN," as he likewise initialed Bachelor Father and Barbie and Ken pages. Here's a sequence from that issue's Ben Casey story; recall that Nodel drew a certain spy movie adaptation in 1962...

Ben Casey—Written by Carl Memling

July/62	#1	The Man Who Hated the World...	a: Norman Nodel
Oct/62	#2	Bite the Hand...	a: Nodel
Dec/62	#3	The Killing	a: Nodel
Feb/63	#4	Terror at 59 West	a: Nodel
Apr/63	#5	Fight Fire with Ice...	a: Nodel
June/63	#6	Three against Tiberius	a: Gene Colan
Oct/63	#7	One Second...to Disaster	p: John Tartaglione  i: Vince Colletta
Jan/64	#8	You Could Die Laughing	a: Colan
Dec/64	#9	The Troubler Maker	p: Tartaglione  i: Frank McLaughlin
Aug/65	#10	Danger on the Ward	p: Tartaglione  i: McLaughlin

The Dazzler I mentioned in the post title isn't Marvel's Disco Dazzler. The Ben Casey back-up series stars a young intern.

The GCD suggests Vince Colletta as penciller as well as inker on #7's Dazzler story (it certainly isn't Tartaglione), but since I've never seen Colletta's pencils that I know of, I can't say yes or no.

Dr. Dan Dazzler—Written by Carl Memling—in Ben Casey

Oct/62	#2	Dial Emergency...	a: Nodell
Dec/62	#3	Rumble!	a: Nodell
Feb/63	#4	One Heartbeat from Death	a: Nodell
Apr/63	#5	Deadly Playmates	a: Nodell
June/63	#6	Open-Shut Case	a: Colan
Oct/63	#7	9 Lives Has Dr. Dazzler	p: ?  i: Colletta
Jan/64	#8	I Can't Breathe	a: Colan

Woolfolk Records 1953/12

DC, Orbit, and Lev Gleason are still Woolfolk's publishers.

A few romance stories at Orbit on this month's list may not have been published (although all were paid for); I can't track them down.

UPDATE: darkmark supplied the faithless fiancé and guns-to-gangland stories' dispositions as well as the mother chasing away boyfriends one.

December 1953 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

8 pg	Buster Crabbe	case of the bald-headed corpses
		"The Strange Case of the Shaven Heads" BC 4, June-July/54
6	The Man I Couldn't Trust	girl thinks her fiance is faithless
		"The Man I Couldn't Trust" Love Journal 24, May/54
8	Mysto	the conquerors of crime
		"The Conquerors of Crime" Detective 207, May/54
6	Small Town Lover	gal bored with small town, runs away to circus
		Love Diary or L Journal or [unpublished]
8	The Gun Runners	man who sells guns to gangland
		"The Gang War Murders" Crime and Punishment 68, July/54
3	SOS for Love	girl's mother chases away boyfriends—by implying marriage
		L Journal 24, May/54
10	Superboy	adopts, unwillingly, a space pet
		"The Pet from Outer Space" Superboy 33, June/54

Dell Mystery Artist

Here are the inside front cover pages from two Dell comics of 1962: the first issue of Bachelor Father (Four-Color 1332) and Barbie and Ken 1. That would be New Dell, by the way; these were not produced by Western Publishing. The rest of the issues' art is in the same style as these pages.

This artist's individual issues at Dell have gone unidentified—the Who's Who credits him there with "various features," 1961-62. Gerald McCann did the second issue of Bachelor Father; John Tartaglione and other pencillers (perhaps including Hy Eisman, Vince Colletta's 1960-64 ghost penciller), with Colletta inking, took over Barbie and Ken for #3-5.

I must admit that it took me a while to place the artist, but take a good look (click to enlarge). There's more to go by than his style. I name him in the first comment. This isn't his only work for Dell; I'll get to more in another post.

Barbie and Ken is an interesting concept: I take it as all imaginary stories. The fan club girls relate their meetings with Barbie and Ken, but the evidence is that they've made up the stories for entertainment; this way the couple can start over in a new job in each story (for the sake of wearing the different doll outfits). At the end of the first issue, they even get married, but the unknown comic book writer's not stuck with that; no deal with Mephisto is needed to retcon it away. Or are all the stories made up? After one in which, according to its narrator, Barbie and Ken promised to visit the fan club, the couple arrives in the flesh.

This is certainly Mad Men-era; in the first issue, Barbie is an airline stewardess, but Ken is the pilot; Barbie is a nurse, Ken a doctor. From the perspective of fifty years later, it's obvious that Barbie would have made a fine pilot or doctor herself, because the five issues portray her as super-competent at each new job. No "Math is hard" from this Barbie!