Sam Glanzman
Encyclopedia
Sam J. Glanzman is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 comic-book 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...

, best known for his Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...

 series Hercules
Hercules (comics)
Hercules, or Heracles, in comics, may refer to:* Hercules , a long-running Marvel character** Hercules, a trainee member of The Order.* Hercules , a DC Comics character...

, about the mythological Greek
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 demigod
Demigod
The term "demigod" , meaning "half-god", is commonly used to describe mythological figures whose one parent was a god and whose other parent was human; as such, demigods are human-god hybrids...

; his biographical war stories about his service aboard the U.S.S. Stevens
USS Stevens (DD-479)
USS Stevens , a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of that name in the United States Navy. This ship was named for both Rear Admiral Thomas H. Stevens, Jr...

 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...

 and 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 the Charlton Comics Fightin' Army
Fightin' Army
Fightin' Army was a bimonthly war comic published by Charlton Comics from 1956–1984...

feature "The Lonely War of Willy Schultz
Captain Willy Schultz
Captain Willy Schultz is a fictional comic-book soldier, a German-American U.S. Army captain during World War II, who after being falsely accused and convicted of murder, escapes and blends into the German Army while seeking a way to clear his name and retain his Allied allegiance...

", a Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

-era serial about a German-American U.S. Army captain 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...

.

Early life and career

Sam Glanzman, whose brother D. C. (Davis Charles) Glanzman is a comic-book artist, and whose brother Louis "Lew" Glanzman began in comics before becoming a fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....

 painter, ended his formal education after grade school. Glanzman broke into comics in late 1939, during the period historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books
Golden 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...

, at Funnies, Inc., one of the early "packagers" that supplied comics to publishers then entering the fledgling medium. There, for Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing Man....

, he wrote two-page text stories with incidental art for Amazing-Man Comics
Amazing-Man (Centaur Publications)
Amazing-Man is a fictional, American comic book superhero whose adventures were published by Centaur Publications during the 1930s to 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Historians credit his creation variously to writer-artist Bill Everett or to Everett together...

.
Later for Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...

, he created Fly-Man in the superhero
Superhero
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 —...

 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...

 Spitfire Comics #1 (Aug. 1941), writing and drawing the feature for at least two issues. He also contributed to Harvey's All-New Short Story Comics (where he published his first recorded war story); Champ Comics (doing the superhero the Human Meteor); and the radio-show tie-in series Green Hornet Comics
Green Hornet
Green Hornet may refer to:* The Green Hornet, a fictional character created by Fran Striker for the 1930s radio program and adapted into several media versions...

through 1943.

Following his 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...

 service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...

 in the U.S. Navy, during which he was stationed on the destroyer U.S.S. Stevens
USS Stevens (DD-479)
USS Stevens , a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of that name in the United States Navy. This ship was named for both Rear Admiral Thomas H. Stevens, Jr...

, he was discharged in 1946. Glanzman eschewed comics ("I was getting $7.50 a page for [Fly-Man], pencils, inks
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...

, story, and coloring
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...

. ... I figured, 'Hell, that's not much money.'") and began a peripatetic career doing manual labor in cabinet shops, lumber mills, and boat yards. After marrying in the 1950s, he worked at Republic Aviation in Farmingdale
Farmingdale, New York
The Village of Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York in the United States...

, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, installing machine guns on military jets. During this time, he lived in Rockaway, Queens
Rockaway, Queens
The Rockaway Peninsula, informally The Rockaways, is the name of a peninsula of Long Island, all of which is located within the New York City borough of Queens. A popular summer resort area since the 1830s, Rockaway has become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods...

, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and in the Long Island towns of Valley Stream
Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population in the village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census...

 and Massapequa Park
Massapequa Park, New York
The Village of Massapequa Park is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 17,008 at the 2010 census.-History:...

.

Seeking to return to art, Glanzman had done some work for the Eastern Color series Heroic Comics and New Heroic Comics in 1950, and found better-paying assignments doing children's-book
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 illustration. He additionally did possibly uncredited work for his brother, Louis Glanzman, on a hardcover-book series for children about aircraft. Work was not steady, however, and Glanzman returned to Republic.

Charlton Comics

Still determined to work in art, Glanzman in 1958 answered a classified ad seeking comics artists, and began working with Pat Masulli
Pat Masulli
Patrick J. Masulli was an American comic book creator, most notably as the executive editor of Charlton Comics from 1955–1966, during much of the Silver Age of Comic Books...

, the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

-based executive editor of Derby, Connecticut
Derby, Connecticut
Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,391 at the 2000 census. With of land area, Derby is Connecticut's smallest municipality.The city has a Metro-North railroad station called Derby – Shelton.-History:...

's Charlton Comics, a low-paying publishing company that traditionally allowed its comics creators great creative freedom, albeit from indifference to the quality of the product turned in. He specialized in stories for the war titles Attack, Battlefield Action, Fightin' Air Force
Fightin' Air Force
Fightin' Air Force was a bimonthly war comic published by Charlton Comics from 1956–1966. Telling fictional stories of American military pilots, it was a sister title of the other Charlton war comics Fightin' Army, Fightin' Marines, and Fightin' Navy.Regular contributors to Fightin' Air Force...

,
Fightin' Marines
Fightin' Marines
Fightin' Marines was a bimonthly war comic published by St. John Publications from 1951–1953, and Charlton Comics from 1955–1984, although it was primarily a reprint title from 1978 to the end of its run...

,
Submarine Attack, U.S. Air Force Comics, and War at Sea, producing a large amount of authentically detailed work through mid-1961, when he switched to Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...

. There he draw for the anthology Combat, drew the movie adaptation Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is an American science fiction film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, released by 20th Century Fox in 1961. The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett. Walter Pidgeon starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson, with Robert Sterling as Captain Lee Crane...

(and the suspiciously similar, four-issue Voyage to the Deep), and a range of titles from lost-world adventure (Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle
Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle
Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle is a fictional American comic book character who was featured in his own self titled series, published by Dell Comics in the 1960s....

) to heartwarming animal drama (Lad: A Dog). He occasionally still moonlighted for Charlton, using the initials "SJG" for his work on the 1962 Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...

movie adaptation and elsewhere.

Beginning mid-1964, Glanzman moved regularly between Charlton and Dell assignments, almost exclusively on war stories, but also on a Charlton Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...

 series. With writer Joe Gill
Joe Gill
Joseph Gill was an American magazine writer and highly prolific comic book scripter. Most of his work was for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the superheroes Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster, among others. Comics historians consider Gill a top contender as the comic-book field's most...

, he created the Charlton hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...

 detective
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...

 character Sarge Steel
Sarge Steel
Sarge Steel is a detective/spy character published by Charlton Comics during the 1960s. As he was published during the time of Charlton's Action Heroes line of superheroes, and had loose ties to some, he is sometimes included with that group...

, which would later be acquired by 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...

 in 1983, when a fading Charlton sold the rights to many of its characters.

At this point, during what fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...

, Glanzman, with writer Gill, created the Charlton mythological-adventure series Hercules: Adventures of the Man-God, which would run 13 issues (Oct. 1967 - Sept. 1969), and showcase Glanzman's experimental side, where he might float Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

-bordered panels within action tableaux filled with Hieronymous Boschian nightmares.

He also during this time co-created, with writer Will Franz
Will Franz
William "Willi" Franz is an American comic-book writer and occasional penciler, best known for his Charlton Comics war stories, mostly published during the period 1967–1970. Franz is particularly remembered for the ongoing feature "The Lonely War of Willy Schultz", a Vietnam War-era serial about a...

, "The Lonely War of Willy Schultz", a departure from most other combat features of this time, with its conflicted hero caught between loyalties, in part because of his German heritage. During combat in the European Theater, U.S. Army captain Schultz is falsely accused and convicted of murder; he escapes and blends into the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

 while seeking a way to clear his name and retain his Allied allegiance. The feature, reprinted as late as 1999, was serialized in Charlton's Fightin' Army
Fightin' Army
Fightin' Army was a bimonthly war comic published by Charlton Comics from 1956–1984...

#76-80, 82-92 (Oct. 1967 - July 1968, Nov. 1968 - July 1970).

During the 1960s we well, Glanzman freelanced for Outdoor Life
Outdoor Life
Outdoor Life is an outdoors magazine about hunting, fishing, survival and camping. It is a sister magazine of Field & Stream. Together with Sports Afield, they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing. Outdoor Life launched in Denver, Colorado in January 1898. Founder and...

magazine.

DC Comics

War-comic editor-artist Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert
Joe 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...

 brought Glanzman, a veteran in dual senses, to work on 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:...

(for years illustrating the feature "Haunted Tank"), Our Army At War, Star Spangled War Stories, Weird War Tales and other combat titles at 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...

, one of the two industry leaders. Glanzman would also occasionally draw stories for DC's supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

-mystery anthologies. By late 1979, with most of DC's war titles either canceled or converted to character series with established teams, Glanzman remained solely on G.I. Combat and began freelancing again for Charlton. Following his last "Haunted Tank" story, in G.I. Combat #288 (March 1987), Glanzman drew two more stories for DC a year later, in Sgt. Rock #420-421 (Feb.-April 1988). He would return to ink penciler Tim Truman on the Western
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...

 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo (Sept.-Dec. 1993), Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such (March-July 1995), and Jonah Hex: Shadows West (Feb.-April 1999).

Later career

Glanzman also contributed a handful of war stories to 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...

 from 1986-1989, in the black-and-white adventure magazine Savage Tales
Savage Tales
Savage Tales is the title of three American comics series. Two were black-and-white comics-magazine anthologies published by Marvel Comics , and the other a color comic book anthology published by Dynamite Entertainment.-Marvel/Curtis:The first of the two volumes of Savage Tales ran 11 issues, with...

,
the Marine Corps
Marine corps
A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...

 series Semper Fi, an issue of The 'Nam, and most notably A Sailor's Story / Marvel Graphic Novel #30 (March 1987), a 60-page true account, which he both wrote and drew, of his time on U.S. S. Stevens during World War II. Unusually for Marvel's graphic-novel line, it was released in hardcover rather than as a trade paperback. A trade paperback edition followed, together with a sequel, A Sailor's Story, Book Two: Winds, Dreams, and Dragons, which continued the story up to the end of the war.

Other work in the 1990s included inking some issues of Turok Dinosaur Hunter
Turok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...

for Acclaim Comics and Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....

for Topps Comics
Topps Comics
Topps Comics is a division of the American trading card publisher and gum/candy distributor the Topps Company, Inc. that published comic books from 1993–1998, beginning its existence during a short comics-industry boom that attracted many investors and new companies...

, and writing and drawing a serialized feature in Flashback Comics' Fantastic Worlds #1. His last known works are in two anthologies: Writing and drawing the 10-page, true-life story "On the Job: Cooks Tour," in the graphic-story trade paperback Streetwise (TwoMorrows Publishing
TwoMorrows Publishing
TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina...

, 2000, ISBN 1-893905-04-7), and the donated, four-page "There Were Tears in Her Eyes," in the squarebound benefit comic 9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember #2 (2002).

From 1999-2001, the Avalon Communications imprint America's Comic Group / ACG (not to be confused with American Comics Group
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...

 / AGC) reprinted copious amounts of Glanzman's Charlton Comics work in a number of mostly one-shot titles, including Hercules, Flyboys, Nam Tales, Star Combat Tales, Total War, and ACG Comics Presents Fire And Steel.

In 2003, Glanzman began working on webcomics, writing and drawing the 19th-century nautical adventure Apple Jack, and reteaming with his "Willy Schultz" writer, Will Franz
Will Franz
William "Willi" Franz is an American comic-book writer and occasional penciler, best known for his Charlton Comics war stories, mostly published during the period 1967–1970. Franz is particularly remembered for the ongoing feature "The Lonely War of Willy Schultz", a Vietnam War-era serial about a...

, on the Roman centurion
Centurion (Roman army)
A centurion , also hekatontarch in Greek sources, or, in Byzantine times, kentarch was a professional officer of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC...

 series The Eagle.

USS Stevens stories

Glanzman's USS Stevens stories 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...

 appear in:
  • 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....

    #220, 223, 225, 227, 230-232, 235 238, 240-242, 244-245, 247-248, 256-259, 261-262, 265-267, 275, 281-282, 284, 293, 298 (1970-1976)
  • 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...

    128, 132, 134, 136, 138-139, 140-141, 143 (1970-1972)
  • Weird War Tales
    Weird War Tales
    Weird War Tales was a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics which ran from September 1971 to June 1983.-Background:...

    #4 (1972)
  • G. I. Combat #152 (1972)
  • Star Spangled War Stories #167, 171, 174 (1973)
  • Sgt. Rock #308 (1977)

External links

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