Carl Burgos

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Carl Burgos
BornMax Finkelstein
(1916-04-18)April 18, 1916
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 1984 (aged 67)
Jack Kirby Hall of Fame
(1996)

Carl Burgos (

Golden Age of comic books
.

He was inducted into comic books'

Jack Kirby Hall of Fame
in 1996.

Biography

Early life

Carl Burgos was born as Max Finkelstein in New York City, the child of Jewish parents.[3] He studied at the National Academy of Design in Manhattan,[2] where, he recalled in the late 1960s, "I quit after one year because I couldn't learn enough".[4]

Early career

Burgos took a job with the Franklin Engraving Company, which engraved the printing plates for comic books produced by

Amazing-Man Comics #5 (Sept. 1939).[5][7]

Burgos and others, including Centaur Publications writer-artist

Funnies, Inc.[7] As Everett later described, "Lloyd... had an idea that he wanted to start his own art service — to start a small organization to supply artwork and editorial material to publishers. ... He asked me to join him. He also asked Carl Burgos. So we were the nucleus ..."[8] He added, "I don't know how to explain it, but I was still on a freelance basis. That was the agreement we had. The artists, including myself, at Funnies, worked on a freelance basis".[8]

Following an unsuccessful attempt at

science-fiction pulp artist Frank R. Paul
featured the Torch.

Burgos' character proved a hit, and quickly went on to headline one of comics' first single-character titles, The Human Torch (premiering fall 1940 with no cover date and as issue #2, having taken over the numbering from the single-issue Red Raven).[5][9] He next created the superhero character the White Streak in Novelty Press' Target Comics #1 (Feb. 1940), and, with writer John Compton, the superhero the Thunderer in Timely's Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941).[5]

Burgos left for

Signal Corps and then to an engineer division.[4]

Atlas and the 1950s

Following his return from the war, Burgos attended

jungle-girl to war comics, though fellow Atlas artist Stan Goldberg, who joined the company in 1949, recalled in 2002 that "Burgos was on staff most of the time I was there".[12]

Avon Comics
. Cover art by Burgos.

His most prominent comics work during this time came during Atlas' mid-1950s attempt at reviving the dormant superhero field with Timely stars the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and

science-fiction/horror anthologies, including Astonishing, Journey Into Unknown Worlds, Strange Stories of Suspense and Strange Tales of the Unusual, “Haunted Thrills”, among many others.[5][11] His last credited Atlas story was the five-page "Dateline - Iwo Jima" in Battle #70 (June 1960).[11]

He did humor for Pierce Publishing's Frantic, Satire Publications' Loco, and Major Magazines'

I.W. Publications
.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Burgos worked for the Pro-Art Company[citation needed] and later for the Belwin Company,[citation needed] where he drew covers for sheet-music books, sometimes assisted by Susan Burgos, one of his two daughters.[citation needed] He also worked for a greeting-card company.[citation needed]

Silver Age and afterward

In the mid-1960s, during the era fans and historians call the

Johnny Storm since 1961. Little, if anything, came of this legal action.[13] Burgos nonetheless contributed art to a Johnny Storm Human Torch story in Strange Tales #123 (Aug. 1964), as well as to three Giant-Man stories in Tales to Astonish #62–64 (Dec. 1964 – Feb. 1965). Burgos drew himself and writer-editor Stan Lee
into the final panel of the Torch story, with Lee adding the avuncular dialog:

Stan (referring to the Torch and the

Thing
): "There go the greatest guys in the world, Carl."
Carl: "Aw, you're just prejudiced, Stan."

Fellow Atlas/Marvel artist Stan Goldberg observed in 2005, "Carl and Stan never really got along, because their personalities clashed. When Atlas became Marvel, Carl never really got back into the company, or really into comics, either".[12]

Marvel eventually revived Burgos' original Human Torch for present-day stories, starting with The Fantastic Four Annual #4 (Nov. 1966).[5] That same year, Burgos created a short-lived character called Captain Marvel for Myron Fass' M. F. Enterprises as a result of Fawcett Comics losing its trademark. He was quickly ordered to cease by Marvel Comics.[14] His last recorded comics art was the cover of Captain Marvel #4 (Nov. 1966).[5]

From 1971 to 1975, Burgos served as an editor for Fass' Eerie Publications line of black-and-white horror-comic magazines, including Horror Tales, Weird, Tales from the Tomb, Tales of Voodoo, Terror Tales, Weird, and Witches Tales.[5] Through 1984 he edited magazines for Harris Publications.[2] At the time of his death from colon cancer,[15] he lived in Nassau County, New York,[1] on Long Island.

References

  1. ^
    FamilySearch.org
    . Note: Gives only month and year of death.
  2. ^ a b c d Bails, Jerry; Ware, Hames. "Burgos, Carl". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on November 24, 2007.
  3. ^ Lund, Martin (2016). Re-Constructing the Man of Steel: Superman 1938–1941, Jewish American History, and the Invention of the Jewish–Comics Connection. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 103.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Steranko, Jim (1970). The Steranko History of Comics - Volume One. Reading, Pennsylvania: Supergraphics. p. 58.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Carl Burgos at the Grand Comics Database
  6. ^ Golden Age Directory: A
  7. ^ a b Nevins, Jess. "The Timely Comics Story". WebCitation archive.
  8. ^ a b Bill Everett interview, originally published in Alter Ego #11, 1978; reprinted in Alter Ego vol. 3, #46 (March 2005); p. 8 of the latter.
  9. ^ The Human Torch at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
  10. ^
    Lambiek Comiclopedia. Archived
    from the original on July 27, 2018. Note: Gives erroneous birth year.
  11. ^ a b c d Carl Burgos in AtlasTales.com
  12. ^ a b Interview with Atlas/Marvel artist Stan Goldberg, Alter Ego #18 (Oct. 2002), p. 9
  13. ^ Interview with daughter Susan Burgos, Alter Ego #49, June 2005, "The Privacy Act of Carl Burgos", p. 9: "I know he had a lawsuit against Marvel Comics. ... I do know that he went to see a lawyer. I assume it was about getting the rights to the Human Torch, and I read in Alter Ego that they settled out of court. I'm sure that's what happened the day he threw [all his Golden Age comics] away [in 1966]. I have no idea how it was settled or even if it went to court, though I don't think it did"
  14. ^ Captain Marvel Archived 2012-04-09 at WebCite at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
  15. ISBN 978-1932595871
    .

External links
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