Al Hartley
Encyclopedia
Henry Allan Hartley known professionally as Al Hartley, was an American
comic book
writer
-artist
known for his work on Archie Comics
, Atlas Comics
(the 1950s precursor of Marvel Comics
), and many Christian
comics. He received an Inkpot Award
at the 1980 San Diego Comic-Con.
Hartley was the son of Congressman Frederick Allan Hartley, Jr.
(Republican
from New Jersey), co-author of the Taft-Hartley Act
of 1947.
, New Jersey
, and studied at the Art Students League of New York
before serving as a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber pilot in Europe during World War II
. On his return, he became a commercial artist while beginning to freelance for comic books. He wrote and drew the backup feature "Roger Dodger" Exciting Comics #51-67 (Sept. 1946 - May 1949), from pulp magazine
publisher Ned Pines' mix'n'match Standard Comics / Better Publications / Nedor Publishing
. Hartley also did humor one- and two-pagers for that company's America's Best Comics #20-28 (Dec. 1946 - Nov. 1948), "Zippie" in The Fighting Yank, and pieces for Startling Comics and Wonder Comics.
During this time he also did the backup features "Debbie" and "Teen Tales" in Michel Publications' Cookie, The Funniest Kid in Town; and "Peg" for ACG
's The Kilroys. As well his worked appeared in the titles All Romances, Dotty, Dotty and Her Boyfriends, and Vicky for A. A. Wyn, Inc.'s Ace Comics
.
At Atlas, Hartley he worked across a gaggle of genres and made his mark with a more than decade-long run on the Patsy Walker
teen-girl titles. With writer-editor Stan Lee
, Hartley drew the redheaded high schooler's lightly comic adventures in her namesake series (which ran through 1964) and in its spin-offs, Patsy and Hedy (which ran through 1967) and the single-issue A Date with Patsy (Sept. 1957). Well into the Marvel era, Hartley also drew the "Special Queen Size Annual," Patsy Walker's Fashion Parade #1 (1966). Walker would be integrated into Marvel Universe
continuity in the 1970s as the supernatural superheroine Hellcat
, married to Daimon Hellstrom
, the "Son of Satan", long after Hartley had left the character.
Also for Atlas, Hartley co-created Leopard Girl with writer Don Rico
in Jungle Action, and drew such features as "The Black Rider" in Wild Western, and "Cliff Mason, White Hunter" in Jungle Tales. Hartley drew as well for the horror
/suspense titles Mystic, Spellbound, Strange Tales
, Adventures Into Terror, and Mystery Tales, among many other Atlas books.
"Thor
" in Journey into Mystery
#90. He dabbled in Marvel scripting on two stories: the "Iron Man
" feature in Tales of Suspense
#68 (Aug. 1965), and the last "Giant-Man" feature, in Tales to Astonish
#69 (July 1965).
Among Marvel miscellanea, Hartley drew the 1961-63 Marvel Age series Linda Carter, Student Nurse, which began as a humor comic then became a romance with issue #2. (Although never explicitly a sequel, Marvel published Night Nurse, starring Linda Carter, from 1972-73.) After fellow Atlas artist Joe Maneely
was killed in an accident in 1958, Hartley succeeded him on writer Stan Lee's syndicated
comic strip
Mrs. Lyon's Cubs. Hartley had done a short-lived gag-panel cartoon, Suburbia, the year before.
In 1967, feeling "sterile, numb, and filled with fear", Hartley became a born again Christian, as did his wife, Hermine, and, years later, their children, Alana and Fred. At the time, he was among several artists who drew the black-and-white, "nudie cutie" secret-agent feature, "The Adventures of Pussycat
", that ran in some of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman
's men's magazines; Hartley told the publisher he couldn't continue.
He began writing and drawing for Archie Comics
, infusing some of the stories with his Christian beliefs. At one point he was directed to cut back. "I knew God was in control, so I respected my publisher's position and naturally complied". He later received a call from publisher Fleming H. Revell, for whom he then freelanced a comic-book adaptation of David Wilkerson
The Cross and the Switchblade
in 1972, quickly followed by adaptations of God's Smuggler by the pseudonymous Brother Andrew and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
. Inspired, Hartley helped launch the Spire Christian Comics
line, and pitched Archie president John L. Goldwater to let him license the Archie guys 'n' gals. The Jewish Goldwater, himself religious, agreed, and Spire went on to release 59 comics — at least 19 of them Archie titles — as well as six Bible stories, 12 biography adaptations, four other book or movie adaptations (including Hansi: The Girl Who Loved the Swastika), and nine children's comics.
Comics writer Kathleen Webb
wrote,
Hartley also illustrated Christian children's books in the 1980s, He wrote a 1977 memoir, Come Meet My Friend! (New Life Ventures) (F. H. Revell, ISBN 0-8007-9001-4), and a 1997 inspirational hardcover, It Takes a Family: How to Create Hope and Celebrate Your Future (Barbour Publishing, # ISBN 1-55748-946-7.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
-artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
known for his work on Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
(the 1950s precursor of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
), and many Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
comics. He received an Inkpot Award
Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
at the 1980 San Diego Comic-Con.
Hartley was the son of Congressman Frederick Allan Hartley, Jr.
Fred A. Hartley, Jr.
Fred Allan Hartley, Jr. was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey. Hartley served ten terms in the United States House of Representatives where he represented the New Jersey's 8th and New Jersey's 10th congressional districts...
(Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from New Jersey), co-author of the Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act
The Labor–Management Relations Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S...
of 1947.
Early life and career
Al Hartley was born in KearnyKearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and studied at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
before serving as a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber pilot in Europe during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. On his return, he became a commercial artist while beginning to freelance for comic books. He wrote and drew the backup feature "Roger Dodger" Exciting Comics #51-67 (Sept. 1946 - May 1949), from pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
publisher Ned Pines' mix'n'match Standard Comics / Better Publications / Nedor Publishing
Standard Comics
Standard Comics was a comic book imprint of American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics...
. Hartley also did humor one- and two-pagers for that company's America's Best Comics #20-28 (Dec. 1946 - Nov. 1948), "Zippie" in The Fighting Yank, and pieces for Startling Comics and Wonder Comics.
During this time he also did the backup features "Debbie" and "Teen Tales" in Michel Publications' Cookie, The Funniest Kid in Town; and "Peg" for ACG
American Comics Group
American Comics Group was a New York City-based comic book publisher which operated during the Golden and Silver Age of comic books. ACG published one of the first horror comics titles, Adventures into the Unknown. Another of ACG's claims to fame was the character of Herbie Popnecker, who starred...
's The Kilroys. As well his worked appeared in the titles All Romances, Dotty, Dotty and Her Boyfriends, and Vicky for A. A. Wyn, Inc.'s Ace Comics
Ace Comics
Ace Comics was a comic book series published by David McKay Publications between 1937 and 1949 — starting just before the Golden Age era of comics...
.
Patsy (and Hedy)
Hellcat (comics)
Hellcat is a fictional character published by Marvel Comics. She premiered as the star of a teen romantic-comedy series and was later integrated into Marvel superhero franchises such as the Avengers and the Defenders....
teen-girl titles. With writer-editor Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, Hartley drew the redheaded high schooler's lightly comic adventures in her namesake series (which ran through 1964) and in its spin-offs, Patsy and Hedy (which ran through 1967) and the single-issue A Date with Patsy (Sept. 1957). Well into the Marvel era, Hartley also drew the "Special Queen Size Annual," Patsy Walker's Fashion Parade #1 (1966). Walker would be integrated into Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
continuity in the 1970s as the supernatural superheroine Hellcat
Hellcat (comics)
Hellcat is a fictional character published by Marvel Comics. She premiered as the star of a teen romantic-comedy series and was later integrated into Marvel superhero franchises such as the Avengers and the Defenders....
, married to Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:He first appeared in Ghost Rider Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics...
, the "Son of Satan", long after Hartley had left the character.
Also for Atlas, Hartley co-created Leopard Girl with writer Don Rico
Don Rico
Donato Francisco Rico II was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters Jann of the Jungle, with artist Jay Scott Pike, and Leopard Girl, with artist Al Hartley. His pen names include Dan Rico, Donella St...
in Jungle Action, and drew such features as "The Black Rider" in Wild Western, and "Cliff Mason, White Hunter" in Jungle Tales. Hartley drew as well for the horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
/suspense titles Mystic, Spellbound, Strange Tales
Strange Tales
Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...
, Adventures Into Terror, and Mystery Tales, among many other Atlas books.
Silver Age of Comic Books
For Marvel in the 1960s, Hartley drew a single superhero comic: an episode of the Norse god superheroSuperhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
"Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
" in Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery was an American comic book series published by Atlas Comics, and later its successor Marvel Comics. It featured horror, monster, and science fiction stories...
#90. He dabbled in Marvel scripting on two stories: the "Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
" feature in Tales of Suspense
Tales of Suspense
Tales of Suspense is the name of an American comic book series and two one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Don Heck, then featured...
#68 (Aug. 1965), and the last "Giant-Man" feature, in Tales to Astonish
Tales to Astonish
Tales to Astonish is the name of two American comic book series and a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics.The primary title bearing that name was published from 1959-1968...
#69 (July 1965).
Among Marvel miscellanea, Hartley drew the 1961-63 Marvel Age series Linda Carter, Student Nurse, which began as a humor comic then became a romance with issue #2. (Although never explicitly a sequel, Marvel published Night Nurse, starring Linda Carter, from 1972-73.) After fellow Atlas artist Joe Maneely
Joe Maneely
Joseph "Joe" Maneely is an American comic book artist best known for his work at Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics, where he co-created the Marvel characters the Black Knight, the Ringo Kid, the Yellow Claw, and Jimmy Woo.An exquisite draftsman whose delicate yet solid, fine-line...
was killed in an accident in 1958, Hartley succeeded him on writer Stan Lee's syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Mrs. Lyon's Cubs. Hartley had done a short-lived gag-panel cartoon, Suburbia, the year before.
Christian comics
The Adventures of Pussycat
The Adventures of Pussycat was a risqué, black-and-white comics feature that ran throughout various men's adventure magazines published by Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company in the 1960s...
", that ran in some of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman
Martin Goodman (publisher)
Martin Goodman born on was an American publisher of pulp magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, launching the company that would become Marvel Comics....
's men's magazines; Hartley told the publisher he couldn't continue.
He began writing and drawing for Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
, infusing some of the stories with his Christian beliefs. At one point he was directed to cut back. "I knew God was in control, so I respected my publisher's position and naturally complied". He later received a call from publisher Fleming H. Revell, for whom he then freelanced a comic-book adaptation of David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson
David Ray Wilkerson was an American Christian evangelist, best known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade...
The Cross and the Switchblade
The Cross and the Switchblade
The Cross and the Switchblade is a book written in 1963 by pastor David Wilkerson with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. It tells the true story of Wilkerson's first five years in New York City, where he ministered to disillusioned youth, encouraging them to turn away from the drugs and gang violence...
in 1972, quickly followed by adaptations of God's Smuggler by the pseudonymous Brother Andrew and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Corrie ten Boom
Cornelia "Corrie" ten Boom was a Dutch Christian, who with her father and other family members helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. Her family was arrested due to an informant in 1944, and her father died 10 days later at Scheveningen prison where they were first held...
. Inspired, Hartley helped launch the Spire Christian Comics
Spire Christian Comics
Spire Christian Comics was a line of comic books published by Fleming H. Revell starting in 1972. In 1981 Hugh Revell Barbour started his own company, Book Bargains, which soon became Barbour & Company...
line, and pitched Archie president John L. Goldwater to let him license the Archie guys 'n' gals. The Jewish Goldwater, himself religious, agreed, and Spire went on to release 59 comics — at least 19 of them Archie titles — as well as six Bible stories, 12 biography adaptations, four other book or movie adaptations (including Hansi: The Girl Who Loved the Swastika), and nine children's comics.
Comics writer Kathleen Webb
Kathleen Webb
Kathleen Webb is an American comic book writer and artist and one of the first female writers for Archie Comics.-Biography:...
wrote,
Hartley also illustrated Christian children's books in the 1980s, He wrote a 1977 memoir, Come Meet My Friend! (New Life Ventures) (F. H. Revell, ISBN 0-8007-9001-4), and a 1997 inspirational hardcover, It Takes a Family: How to Create Hope and Celebrate Your Future (Barbour Publishing, # ISBN 1-55748-946-7.
External links
- Spire Christian Comics fan site with scans. WebCitation archive.