Hank Chapman
Encyclopedia
Henry P. "Hank" Chapman (living status unknown) is an American
comic book
writer
for Marvel Comics
' two predecessors, Timely Comics
and Atlas Comics
, and later for DC Comics
, where he specialized in war
fiction. Though much of his Timely/Atlas work went unsigned, comics historians estimate that Chapman, a staff writer, penned several hundred or more stories. Noted comics historian and writer-editor Tony Isabella
has written, "Chapman wrote hundreds of fine stories for Timely/Atlas and DC Comics from the 1940s through the early 1960s."
Among Chapman's works is an early self-reflexive story, in 1951, in which he and editor
Stan Lee
appear; and the creation, with artist
Jack Abel
, of the DC Comics character Sgt. Mule, a pack animal that helped its Allied
keepers fight the Nazis in a variety of World War II
stories.
professionals who contributed to the epic crossover
battle between the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch
in Marvel Mystery Comics
#8-10 (June-Aug. 1940), plus an additional story in The Human Torch #5 (Fall 1941; due to a numbering quirk, there was a previous #5, cover-dated Summer 1941). His precise contributions are as lost to history as those of other writers and artists who legendarily jammed on this hastily created confrontation. As described by historian Jess Nevins
, Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett
and Human Torch creator Carl Burgos
...
By the following decade, Chapman was one of at least five staff writers (officially titled editors) under editor-in-chief Stan Lee at Marvel forerunner Atlas, along with Ernie Hart
, Paul S. Newman
, Don Rico
, Carl Wessler
, and, on teen-humor comics, future Mad Magazine cartoonist
Al Jaffee
. Among the titles for which Chapman wrote, beginning in early 1951, are the horror
/fantasy
series Adventures into Terror, Adventures into Weird Worlds, Astonishing, Marvel Tales
, Mystery Tales, Spellbound, Strange Tales
, Suspense, and Uncanny Tales
; the war titles Battle, Battle Action, Battlefield, Battlefront, Battle Brady, Combat Casey, Combat, War Action, War Adventures, War Combat and War Comics; the Westerns
Red Warrior and The Texas Kid; the adventure-drama series Girl Comics, Man Comics, Men's Adventures, and Young Men; the crime fiction
series Crime Exposed and Justice; the romance titles True Secrets Love Romances; and such miscellanea as Sports Action, and Speed Carter, Spaceman.
Chapman's last known Atlas works were in comics cover-dated May 1954. His next known credit is a story in the DC anthology
title All-American Men of War
#18 (Feb. 1955), followed by four years without recorded credits until his name surfaced in two June 1959 DC titles, G.I. Combat
#73 and Our Fighting Forces
#46. These would be the first of at least 105 war stories he would write in those comics along with Our Army at War
, Sea Devils
, Capt. Storm, and Star Spangled War Stories.
His and artist Jack Abel
's character Sgt. Mule — whose name, "Millie", meant she was actually not a mule
(male) but a hinny
(female) — appeared with various keepers including Private Mulvaney (Our Army at War #149 & 160, Star Spangled War Stories #136); Private Skinner (G.I. Combat #104); and Private Smith (Our Army At War #117).
Chapman's last recorded credit is the story "Paper Bullets", with artist Abel, in Our Army At War #181 (June 1967)
Chapman, who married Bonnie Hano, a production staffer at Atlas, later left comics to become a magazine writer.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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....
for 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...
' two predecessors, Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
and 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...
, and later for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, where he specialized in war
War comics
War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II.-American war comics:Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories of wartime adventures in the multi-genre...
fiction. Though much of his Timely/Atlas work went unsigned, comics historians estimate that Chapman, a staff writer, penned several hundred or more stories. Noted comics historian and writer-editor Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella is an American comic book writer, editor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath, DC Comics' first major African American superhero, Black Lightning, and as a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Marvel Comics:Before he joined...
has written, "Chapman wrote hundreds of fine stories for Timely/Atlas and DC Comics from the 1940s through the early 1960s."
Among Chapman's works is an early self-reflexive story, in 1951, in which he and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
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....
appear; and the creation, with 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...
Jack Abel
Jack Abel
Jack Abel a.k.a. Gary Michaels was an American comic book artist best known as an inker for leading publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was DC's primary inker on the Superman titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and inked penciler Herb Trimpe's introduction of the popular superhero...
, of the DC Comics character Sgt. Mule, a pack animal that helped its Allied
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
keepers fight the Nazis in a variety of 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...
stories.
Career
Chapman's earliest known credit is as one of the many Golden Age of comic booksGolden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
professionals who contributed to the epic crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
battle between the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch
Human Torch (Golden Age)
The Human Torch, also known as Jim Hammond, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics-owned superhero. Created by writer-artist Carl Burgos, he first appeared in Marvel Comics #1 , published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics....
in Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
#8-10 (June-Aug. 1940), plus an additional story in The Human Torch #5 (Fall 1941; due to a numbering quirk, there was a previous #5, cover-dated Summer 1941). His precise contributions are as lost to history as those of other writers and artists who legendarily jammed on this hastily created confrontation. As described by historian Jess Nevins
Jess Nevins
John J. Nevins, MA/MS, is an American author and librarian, born 30 July 1966 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana , and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction...
, Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
and Human Torch creator Carl Burgos
Carl Burgos
Carl Burgos was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 Carl Burgos (né Max Finkelstein, April 18, 1916, New York City, New York; died March 1984) was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating...
...
Ernie Hart
-Early life and career:Ernie Hart was part of the Timely Comics "animator" bullpen, separate from the superhero group producing comics featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America...
, Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s...
, 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...
, Carl Wessler
Carl Wessler
Carroll O. "Carl" Wessler was an American animator of the 1930s and a comic book writer from the 1940s though the 1970s for such companies as DC Comics, EC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing....
, and, on teen-humor comics, future Mad Magazine cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Al Jaffee
Al Jaffee
Abraham Jaffee , known as Al Jaffee, is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. As of 2010, Jaffee remains a regular in the magazine after 55 years and is its longest-running contributor...
. Among the titles for which Chapman wrote, beginning in early 1951, are the horror
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
series Adventures into Terror, Adventures into Weird Worlds, Astonishing, Marvel Tales
Marvel Tales
Marvel Tales is the title of three American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics, the first of them from the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...
, Mystery Tales, 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...
, Suspense, and Uncanny Tales
Uncanny Tales
Uncanny Tales may refer to one of the following publications:* Uncanny Tales , an American pulp magazine* Uncanny Tales , a Canadian pulp magazine...
; the war titles Battle, Battle Action, Battlefield, Battlefront, Battle Brady, Combat Casey, Combat, War Action, War Adventures, War Combat and War Comics; the Westerns
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
Red Warrior and The Texas Kid; the adventure-drama series Girl Comics, Man Comics, Men's Adventures, and Young Men; the crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
series Crime Exposed and Justice; the romance titles True Secrets Love Romances; and such miscellanea as Sports Action, and Speed Carter, Spaceman.
Chapman's last known Atlas works were in comics cover-dated May 1954. His next known credit is a story in the DC anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
title All-American Men of War
All-American Comics
All-American Comics was the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948, at which time it was renamed All-American Western. In 1952, the title was changed again to All-American Men of...
#18 (Feb. 1955), followed by four years without recorded credits until his name surfaced in two June 1959 DC titles, G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat is a long-running comic book series published first by Quality Comics and later by National Periodical Publications, which was the primary company of those that evolved to become DC Comics.-Publication history:...
#73 and Our Fighting Forces
Our Fighting Forces
Our Fighting Forces is a DC Comics war-anthology comic book series that ran for 181 issues from 1954-1978.Writer-editor Robert Kanigher and writer-artist Jack Kirby were among the comics creators whose work appeared in the title...
#46. These would be the first of at least 105 war stories he would write in those comics along with Our Army at War
Our Army at War
Our Army at War was the title for a comic book published by DC Comics that featured war themed stories and was the first appearance for popular heroes such like Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace. The series started in August 1952 and ended in February 1977....
, Sea Devils
Sea Devils (comics)
The Sea Devils are a team of characters in comics published by DC Comics. They are a team of conventional adventurers, in undersea adventures. They were created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath ....
, Capt. Storm, and Star Spangled War Stories.
His and artist Jack Abel
Jack Abel
Jack Abel a.k.a. Gary Michaels was an American comic book artist best known as an inker for leading publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was DC's primary inker on the Superman titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and inked penciler Herb Trimpe's introduction of the popular superhero...
's character Sgt. Mule — whose name, "Millie", meant she was actually not a mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
(male) but a hinny
Hinny
A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid that is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey . It is similar to the more common mule, which is the product of a female horse and a male donkey....
(female) — appeared with various keepers including Private Mulvaney (Our Army at War #149 & 160, Star Spangled War Stories #136); Private Skinner (G.I. Combat #104); and Private Smith (Our Army At War #117).
Chapman's last recorded credit is the story "Paper Bullets", with artist Abel, in Our Army At War #181 (June 1967)
Chapman, who married Bonnie Hano, a production staffer at Atlas, later left comics to become a magazine writer.
Reprints
Chronological by date of original publication- Monsters on the Prowl #21 (Feb. 1973)
-
- "The Drop of Water" (art: Gene ColanGene ColanEugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
), from Marvel Tales #105 (Feb. 1952)- Crypt of Shadows #4 (July 1973)
- "Locked up!" (art: Carmine InfantinoCarmine InfantinoCarmine Infantino Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (born May 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York is an American comic book artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age of Comic Books...
), from Adventures Into Weird Worlds #9 (Aug. 1952)- G.I. CombatG.I. CombatG.I. Combat is a long-running comic book series published first by Quality Comics and later by National Periodical Publications, which was the primary company of those that evolved to become DC Comics.-Publication history:...
#148 (July 1971)
- G.I. Combat
- "Blind Bomber" (art: Mort Drucker), from Star Spangled War Stories #84 (Aug. 1959)
- DC Special Series #18 (Fall 1979)
- "Frogman Fury" (art: Ross AndruRoss AndruRoss Andru was an American comic book artist and editor. He is best known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Flash and Metal Men....
& Mike EspositoMike Esposito (comics)Mike Esposito , who sometimes used the pseudonyms Mickey Demeo, Mickey Dee, Michael Dee, and Joe Gaudioso, was an American comic book artist whose work for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and others spanned the 1950s to the 2000s...
), from Our Army at War #102 (Jan. 1961)- G.I. Combat #146 (March 1972)
- "The Secret Battle Eye" (art: Joe KubertJoe KubertJoe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...
), from Our Fighting Forces #66 (Feb. 1962)- Our Fighting ForcesOur Fighting ForcesOur Fighting Forces is a DC Comics war-anthology comic book series that ran for 181 issues from 1954-1978.Writer-editor Robert Kanigher and writer-artist Jack Kirby were among the comics creators whose work appeared in the title...
#133 (Oct. 1971)
- Our Fighting Forces
- "No Place for a PT Boat" (art: Joe Kubert), from Our Fighting Forces #76 (May 1963)
- G.I. Combat #144 (Nov. 1971)
- "Straw Pilot" (art: Joe Kubert), from Our Army at War #147 (Oct. 1964)
- "The Drop of Water" (art: Gene Colan
External links
Further reading
- "Hank Chapman, Man Of Mystery", The Tomb #13 (June 2004): UK horror-comics magazine, Peter Normanton, editor
- Bails, Jerry, & Ware, Hames, "The Who's Who of American Comic Books" (privately published, 1973–76); entry, p. 31