{"id":2701,"date":"2019-03-05T15:34:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T23:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2701"},"modified":"2024-01-09T15:37:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T23:37:03","slug":"maggies-world-069-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-069-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie\u2019s World 069: Age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World 069: Age<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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At Comic-Con in 1992, Todd McFarlane received an Inkpot Award. He was 31 at the time (and had been experimenting with how to draw comics since he was a kid, having begun to develop Spawn <\/em>when he was 16 years old). My husband, Don, noted in the presentation that Todd had begun to earn devoted fans while in his 20s. Don commented that many of the creators whom fans considered to be super-stars had also been young when they began their careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That night, Rick O\u2019Shay<\/em> creator Stan Lynde (who\u2019d won an Inkpot 15 years earlier) thanked Don and noted that he, too, had been a young artist when he\u2019d launched his own career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I recently looked through a copy of Stan Lee\u2019s 1947 pamphlet Secrets Behind the Comics<\/em>, I noticed that Stan had made a point of encouraging would-be young professionals to try their hand at the comic-book art form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numbers<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

So it was out of curiosity that I decided to check out more about creator ages. (It wasn\u2019t for fun, because math and I are on only tentative terms. Hey, whereas Barbie first hit store shelves in March 1959, she was 33 when \u201cTeen Talk Barbie\u201d endorsed my experience, \u201cMath class is tough.\u201d And I didn\u2019t do that math until just now.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evaluations are complicated by the fact that a lot of comics art is collaborative. For example, I began by considering inclusion of Archie in the research, but that quickly got nuts. Sure, artist Bob Montana was 20 when Pep <\/em>#22 (December 1941) was published, but how old (and who, exactly) was writer Vic Bloom? Quickly, of course, I found myself in a deep dive into the involvement of John Goldwater. And Joe Edwards. And Harry Shorten. Heck, for that matter, should Archie\u2019s evolution involve 1928\u2019s and 1937\u2019s Andy Hardy and 1938\u2019s Henry Aldrich? Let\u2019s just tiptoe away from such matters, while acknowledging that \u201ccreation\u201d can itself be controversial, what with frequent involvement of a number of folks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Developed when their writer and penciller were 23, The Spirit (Will Eisner, Register and Tribune Syndicate\u00a0Spirit<\/em>\u00a0section, June 1940) and Thanos (Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich,\u00a0Iron Man<\/em>\u00a0#55, February 1973) caught on with readers. (Speaking of \u201cage,\u201d the\u00a0Spirit\u00a0<\/em>copy shows it. Treasured, nonetheless.) The Spirit \u00a9 2019 Will Eisner Studios, Inc., Thanos \u00a9 2019 Marvel Characters, Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So it is that I\u2019ve done little more than scratch the figurative surface of a topic that could eventually be the focus of some grad-student treatise. I\u2019ve begun by picking a few creations at random in order to consider the age of their creators (dodging the detail of editorial contributions to the credited initial writer and penciller).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[To digress, in Dell Four Color<\/em> #148 (Albert the Alligator and Pogo Possum, May 1947), Walt Kelly (writing at age 33) commented that a character was firing at random up the chimney. \u201cRandom is a thin man and hard to hit.\u201d Indeed. So the random list picked for this project wouldn\u2019t match the random choices of other comics buffs. Just note that fact.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Also: I focus on cover dates; old hands know that the issues were on newsstands a few weeks prior. If you didn\u2019t know that already, just keep it in mind.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kids<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Yep, Bob Montana was just out of his teens when he drew that first Archie story. In fact, an Excel-sort on a bunch of trail-blazing characters turn up several creators who were 23 when their characters\u2019 first appearances hit newsstands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, they\u2019d been working on the character since they were teens, but Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were 23 by the time Superman made his debut in DC\u2019s Action Comics<\/em> #1\u2014and artist Bob Kane was also 23, when Batman was introduced in Detective Comics <\/em>#27, though writer Bill Finger was a couple years older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that matter, 23 seemed to be a terrific creative age for such other pros as Carl Burgos (Marvel\u2019s Human Torch), Harry Lampert (DC\u2019s Flash), Will Eisner (Register and Tribune Syndicate\u2019s Spirit), Jack Kirby (Marvel\u2019s Captain America), Jim Starlin (Marvel\u2019s Thanos), Mike Friedrich (Thanos again!), and Rob Liefeld (Marvel\u2019s Deadpool).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Writer Len Wein (age 26) teamed with penciller Herb Trimpe (age 35) to provide a full introduction of Wolverine in\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Incredible Hulk<\/em>\u00a0#181 (November 1974). \u00a9 2019 Marvel Characters, Inc. Writer Neil Gaiman (age 28) worked with penciller Sam Kieth (age 26) to bring readers\u00a0Sandman<\/em>\u00a0#1 (January 1989). \u00a9 2019 DC Comics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Maturity<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Of course, some innovators had clearly trained for years before they introduced classic characters. Whether it was in military service, work in such studios as Walt Disney\u2019s or Will Eisner\u2019s, or freelancer activity, their eventual \u201covernight\u201d success often followed long apprenticeships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Schulz was 27 when Peanuts<\/em> first appeared in newspapers. Chic Young (Blondie), C.C. Beck (Captain Marvel), and Fabian Nicieza (Deadpool) were 29 when those characters were introduced. Chester Gould was 30 when Dick Tracy<\/em> began tracking down villains; Marjorie Henderson Buell was 30 when Little Lulu<\/em> began to bring wordless chaos to the lives of those about her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heck, Harley Quinn resulted from the collaboration of Bruce Timm (31 when her first adventure aired) and Paul Dini (35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Come to think of it, Stan Lee wrapped up this discussion back in 1947 (when he was 24 or 25).\u00a0Secrets behind the Comics<\/em>\u00a0\u00a9 2019 Marvel Characters, Inc. (The art was by Ken Bald, then 26 or 27\u2014later a Guinness Record-holder as the oldest active cartoonist in the world).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Time Spans<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

OK, thanks especially to \u201cThe Marvel Method\u201d (in which the writer suggests a concept, the artist makes it clear, and the writer provides a follow-up script), Stan Lee went through a spectrum of development that included (but was clearly not limited to) Spider-Man and Fantastic Four at 38, Hulk at 39, X-Men at 40, and Black Panther at 43. And, yes, Jack Kirby\u2019s work included (but was also clearly not limited to) Captain America at 23, Fantastic Four and Hulk at 44, X-Men at 46, and Black Panther at 48. (Heck, Kirby was hired away by DC at age 53, where he developed his \u201cFourth World\u201d cosmos, and so on and definitely so forth.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We used to run lists of birthdays in Comics Buyer\u2019s Guide<\/em>, and one well-known writer asked that we delete our listing of the year he was born, because he felt it would make editors less likely to give him work. So there\u2019s that. Which is to say it\u2019d be great to realize that \u201cexperienced\u201d does not mean \u201cover the hill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too young? Too old? Heck, the age of pros when they create classics doesn\u2019t matter\u2014any more than do other aspects not clearly on exhibit in the story we hold in our hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So \u2026<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Ah, the heck with it. I began with curiosity backed by a couple of quickly constructed Excel files to see whether I could come up with some sort of wise generalization on \u201ckids are best\u201d or \u201cexperience is obvious.\u201d Which I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And past and present mysteries remain, anyway. Even with Google at my beck and call, I can\u2019t find much information on specific creative ages of Archie writer Vic Bloom, Patsy Walker writer Stuart Little [Hah! Yeah! Just try to find a non-mouse reference!], Sandman artist Mike Dringenberg, or Ms. Marvel artist Adrian Alphona. I guess we\u2019ll just have to be satisfied by continuing to enjoy their stories. Which is to say, \u201cThanks!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the first Monday of every month here on<\/em> Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n