Woolfolk Records 1953/02

Back to just Orbit and DC as publishers here.

With "Song of My Heart" paid at a rate lower than for regular writing, I believe that William Woolfolk is revising one of his own stories, but if so, the title has already been revised from one we've seen earlier.

Woolfolk's sole western for DC has been known, like the war stories, from the Julius Schwartz payment records.

February 1953 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

7 pg	revision of Song of My Heart	"Song of My Heart" Love Journal 19, June/53
9	Too Many Sweethearts	girl at an Army post
		"Too Many Sweethearts" L Journal 20, Sept/53
12	Superman	caravan of doom
		"The Covered Wagon of Doom" Action 184, Sept/53
3	S.O.S. for Love	a fat girl's problem
		[untitled SOSFL] L Journal 19, June/53
6	Trigger Twins	one twin is mysteriously missing
		"Legend of a Lawman" All-Star Western 72, Aug-Sept/53

Unknown Aparo Art Again

Jim Aparo is in his first year of work at DC when Girls' Love Stories 142 (Apr/69) comes out. The general rule with the romance comics is anonymity, and here editor Jack Miller makes Aparo even more anonymous by assigning him an overwhelming inker, Bill Draut, on the story "Thrill-Chick." (There are none of the nonconventional, angled panel borders Aparo uses on Aquaman, either.)

I started looking over the late-60s/early-70s DC romance comics in search of possible Richard Hughes scripts, but haven't run across any so far. I can see stories by Robert Kanigher, Jack Miller, and Jack Oleck, but the other writers like Barbara Friedlander, Lee Goldsmith, and Phyllis Reed (as given in the Who's Who) I haven't been able to credit with stories at this point. I'm sure there are writers not yet connected with these books. In other words, I can't ID the writer of "Thrill-Chick."

Woolfolk Records 1953/01

A William Woolfolk story bought by Fawcett is followed here by ones for DC and Orbit. That story isn't published by Fawcett; This Magazine Is Haunted 16 is Charlton's second issue after buying the rights to the title and inventory.

And Woolfolk returns to Archie Publications after writing Black Hood and so forth in the early-to-mid Forties; but with a try at the company's by-now flagship character he scores another rare rejection and moves on.

January 1953 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

5 pg	The Evil Ministers	political leaders who are really demons
		"The Evil Ministers" This Magazine Is Haunted 16, Mar/54
6	Operation Tall Tales	a tall tale teller who does heroic deeds and can't prove it
8		"Operation: Tall Tales" All-American Men of War 6, Aug-Sept/53
12	Superman	the new Krypton
		"The Return of Planet Krypton" Action 182, July/53
4	Archie	the burglar alarm [reject]
7	The Girl That I Marry	bachelor tells why he couldn't marry
		"The Girl That I Marry" Love Diary 35, June/53
6	Flying Blind	a blind pilot has to take in a jet fighter
		"Flying Blind" Our Army at War 12, July/53
12	Superman	the perfect plot to kill Superman
		"The Perfect Plot to Kill Superman" Action 183, Aug/53
3	Prescription for Happiness	girl learns she doesn't love soldier
		[untitled PFH] L Diary 35, June/53
12	Superboy	Clark Kent's double lives in his home
		"The Two Clark Kents" Adventure 191, Aug/53
6	Fighting Man	doctor who wants to see real combat
		"Soldier without Armor" OAAW 14, Sept/53

The Lighter Side of Ponytail

Dell editor D.J. Arneson recalls Lee Holley producing the entirety of the comic book spinoff of his syndicated daily panel/Sunday strip Ponytail, editorial input unneeded at Dell's end, and that's true as of issue 4 (and in fact through the title's run, including at Charlton later). Holley did supply all the covers from the very beginning, and there were some panel reprints.

I'll stick with "produce" rather than just "write and draw", because according to the Bails and Ware Who's Who, Frank Hill assisted Holly on the strip and on the comic book, so the later work was not necessarily Holley solo.

The Who's Who credits Dave Berg and Bob Gustafson with the feature in the first years at Dell. Berg does a pretty good job of ghosting Holley's art style, but he doesn't try to replicate it exactly. Secondary characters are the best place to find something closer to a ghost artist's own style; see Donald's parents in panel 4 above.

The Who's Who credit for Bob Gustafson is for writing, unconfirmed, but his art should be evident. Some Mort Walker-style touches give him away, as in Dell's Gulliver's Travels; he tries even less to mimic Holley on the Cassie back-ups, as above. He may well have written these two issues; it looks like a single writer did all the stories. The Grand Comics Database has given Frank Hill the credit for issue 2's stories, but per Bails and Ware this would be before his time on the strip.

Ponytail 1-3

Jul-Sep/62	1	Half Baked *	w, a: Dave Berg
		Brace Yourself	w, a: Berg
		Swell Smell	w, a: Berg
		Bar-B-Cute	w, a: Berg
		Bubble Trouble	w, a: Berg
		Dress Right Dress	w, a: Berg
		Rain in the Face *	w, a: Berg
Apr-Jun/63	2	Wedding Belles *	w: ?  a: Bob Gustafson
		What the Doctor Ordered	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Danger--Woman Driver [CASSIE]	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Dress Mess	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Gift of Gab	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		The Merry Chase	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Best Test *	w: ?  a: Gustafson
Jul-Sep/	3	Low Down Trick *	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Palsy Walsy	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Tele-wise	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Beautiful But Not Dumb	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Secret Admirer	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Phone-y [CASSIE]	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		Poodle Doodle *	w: ?  a: Gustafson
		(* single page)