After Alice in Wonderland and Ali Baba Chad Grothkopf drew another story for Famous Flagg. Either this one took longer or the second, later ones were used out of their normal run. I went to Alberto Becattini's web contribution about Grothkopf here (http://alberto-s-pages.webnode.it/news/chad-grothkopf/, scroll down for English) but unfortunately he did not add a list. I am sure he may have one, Alberto knows more than most historians. Anyway, here you see rothkopf taking the realistic version of hs style even further. According to one online source Stan Lee wrote this adaptation and maybe even another. But if that is true it wold be the first and only time I have seen Lee spell the word 'through' as 'through'and not 'thru' (even in his private contacs). Maybe the syndicate was more precise in their spelling or Grothkopf for them? For now I feel this counts as a disqualifier for Lee's involvement. But still.. can anyone help me get a more complete set?
Not a large sample but how do you think this compares with Classics' adaptation by Maurice del Bourgo?
ReplyDeleteNot sure that the spelling of through means anything in this context. Le was his own editor; not so sure that a syndicate editor wouldn't change the spelling.
ReplyDeleteToo: My aged, decrepit recollection is that may have been the letter responsible for spelling through as thru -- Artie Simek, I think.
I agree that in this case the editor may have been responsible for the correction. Or even Chad Grothkopf thinking for the editor - or whoever lettered this strip. On your second point, I came to my conclusion about Lee's spelling after reading just about everything he wrote between 1941 and 1961. It first struck me as odd that he would spell through as through and then it occured to me that he did so everytime, from the earliest moment on. After that, I noticed he had done so in the Marvel years as well, and - more tellingly - all through his correspondence with his agent Toni Mendez (whose archives are kept at Ohio State University) and to any and all newspaper editors he contacted through her. Now, he wasn't the only one to do so. Hank Chapman used thru as well, in books that were published under Lee's regime but probably edited by Don Rico (who did not use thru). Too many different letterers wer involved in this period to be the culprit for so many occurences of thru in stories signed by Stan and non occurences in stories not signed by him, but edited by him. Only one explanation remains - thru is a disqualifier for Stan Lee's presence as a writer, nothing more and nothing less. Unless, likt in this cicomstance another narrative can be constructed. Then we just don't know.
ReplyDeleteSorry, the spelling corrector corrected the first thru....
ReplyDelete