MattBrady
03-12-2007, 05:51 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/general/arnolddrake.jpg" border="0" align="right">He wasn’t as well known as say, Bob Kane or Siegel and Shuster, but if you read DC Comics produced in the ‘60s and up, you surely read some of the work of Arnold Drake, who died today, after a short bout of “a touch of pneumonia” and other complications for which he was recently hospitalized. News of Drake’s death came via writer and comics historian, Mark Evanier.
Though his comics writing career spanned thousands of stories and pages, fans will likely best remember Drake as the creator of Deadman and The Doom Patrol, as well as Stanley and His Monster.
In part, Evanier’s biography of Drake reads (http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_03_12.html#013083):
<i>Drake was born on March 1, 1924. At age 12, a bout with scarlet fever kept him confined to his bed for a year. He spent much of the time drawing his own comics and, though he later did do some cartooning work, he found that his primary interest was not in drawing characters but in deciding what they'd say and do. That sent him off on a writing career and he studied Journalism at the University of Missouri and later at New York University.
Then he met Bob Kane, the official creator of Batman, who happened to be a neighbor of Arnold's brother. He worked with Kane on a few projects and the artist introduced him to the editors at DC. Before long, Drake was writing for DC books including House of Mystery, My Greatest Adventure, Mark Merlin, Space Ranger, Batman and Tommy Tomorrow. Most of his new creations in the sixties came about because an editor said to him, "This comic is in sales trouble and needs a new feature." My Greatest Adventure was down in sales so Drake, working with artist Bruno Premiani and fellow writer Bob Haney, invented The Doom Patrol, a band of misfit heroes very similar to Marvel's X-Men, which went on sale at almost the exact same time. Strange Adventures was in sales trouble so Drake, working with artist Carmine Infantino, came up with the acclaimed Deadman character. The Fox and the Crow was down in sales so Drake, teamed with Bob Oksner, fashioned Stanley and His Monster — a highly-imaginative kids' comic that preceded (but contained many of the elements of) the newspaper strip, Calvin and Hobbes.
But Drake was a feisty guy who had trouble getting along with editors. In the late sixties, he fought with the management at DC, partly over what he considered inept editorial direction and partly over business matters. He was a loud voice in a writers' revolt during which several of the firm's longtime freelancers were demanding health insurance, reprint fees and better pay. Many of them were ousted, including Arnold, and he then worked for a time for Marvel before settling down at Gold Key Comics for many years. For them, he wrote many comics including The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and a particularly long and delightful stint on Little Lulu.
Arnold wrote other things including plays, movies (Who Killed Teddy Bear? and The Flesh Eaters, among others) and novels. In the fifties, he authored a long comic book in book form called It Rhymes With Lust for a small publisher and later touted it, with some justification, as the first graphic novel. (Dark Horse will soon reissue it.) He also worked extensively with a group called the Veterans Bedside Network, writing materials to aid in the rehabilitation and nursing of men and women who'd served in the armed forces.</I>
Re-discovering his fans over the past few years on the convention circuit, Drake had become a regular at the country’s larger cons where along with meeting with his fans, was a tireless crusader for the plight of older creators who had been mistreated by publishers over the years. It was Drake, in fact, who first suggested the Bill Finger Award, which would be given to shame people and companies who had mistreated creators over the years. Shortly after, and separate from Drake’s efforts, the Finger award was created, but rather than a sign of shame, the award was given to creators who had not been given the proper recognition for their efforts. Drake was one of the first reipients of the award, and in 2005 (http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_finger_1.shtml), creator Jerry Robinson said of Drake:
"Like Finger and Siegel, Drake is a consummate professional writer. As the author of hundreds of stories from the Silver Age to the present, his credits demonstrate an amazing versatility, ranging from the superhero and adventure such as Doom Patrol to the wry humor of Little Lulu."
The award was presented to Drake at the 2005 Eisner Award ceremony, and the aging creator charmed the crowd, singing a satirical song (http://homepage.mac.com/mikecatron/Main/iMovieTheater72.html) about the industry while wearing a Doom Patrol t-shirt.
"I think the primary thing we can do for Bill is to wipe out the Bill Fingers of today -- that is, the writers who starve to do what they love,” Drake said.
Last November (http://www.newsarama.com/general/ArnoldDrake/DrakneInterview.htm), Newsarama’s Daniel Robert Epstein had the pleasure of interviewing Drake about the DVD release of <i>The Flesh Eaters</I> as well as a variety of other topics showing that, even in his advancing years, Drake was still as vital as ever and a creative force with which to be reckoned.
<i>Newsarama offers our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Drake's family and friends.</i>
Though his comics writing career spanned thousands of stories and pages, fans will likely best remember Drake as the creator of Deadman and The Doom Patrol, as well as Stanley and His Monster.
In part, Evanier’s biography of Drake reads (http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_03_12.html#013083):
<i>Drake was born on March 1, 1924. At age 12, a bout with scarlet fever kept him confined to his bed for a year. He spent much of the time drawing his own comics and, though he later did do some cartooning work, he found that his primary interest was not in drawing characters but in deciding what they'd say and do. That sent him off on a writing career and he studied Journalism at the University of Missouri and later at New York University.
Then he met Bob Kane, the official creator of Batman, who happened to be a neighbor of Arnold's brother. He worked with Kane on a few projects and the artist introduced him to the editors at DC. Before long, Drake was writing for DC books including House of Mystery, My Greatest Adventure, Mark Merlin, Space Ranger, Batman and Tommy Tomorrow. Most of his new creations in the sixties came about because an editor said to him, "This comic is in sales trouble and needs a new feature." My Greatest Adventure was down in sales so Drake, working with artist Bruno Premiani and fellow writer Bob Haney, invented The Doom Patrol, a band of misfit heroes very similar to Marvel's X-Men, which went on sale at almost the exact same time. Strange Adventures was in sales trouble so Drake, working with artist Carmine Infantino, came up with the acclaimed Deadman character. The Fox and the Crow was down in sales so Drake, teamed with Bob Oksner, fashioned Stanley and His Monster — a highly-imaginative kids' comic that preceded (but contained many of the elements of) the newspaper strip, Calvin and Hobbes.
But Drake was a feisty guy who had trouble getting along with editors. In the late sixties, he fought with the management at DC, partly over what he considered inept editorial direction and partly over business matters. He was a loud voice in a writers' revolt during which several of the firm's longtime freelancers were demanding health insurance, reprint fees and better pay. Many of them were ousted, including Arnold, and he then worked for a time for Marvel before settling down at Gold Key Comics for many years. For them, he wrote many comics including The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and a particularly long and delightful stint on Little Lulu.
Arnold wrote other things including plays, movies (Who Killed Teddy Bear? and The Flesh Eaters, among others) and novels. In the fifties, he authored a long comic book in book form called It Rhymes With Lust for a small publisher and later touted it, with some justification, as the first graphic novel. (Dark Horse will soon reissue it.) He also worked extensively with a group called the Veterans Bedside Network, writing materials to aid in the rehabilitation and nursing of men and women who'd served in the armed forces.</I>
Re-discovering his fans over the past few years on the convention circuit, Drake had become a regular at the country’s larger cons where along with meeting with his fans, was a tireless crusader for the plight of older creators who had been mistreated by publishers over the years. It was Drake, in fact, who first suggested the Bill Finger Award, which would be given to shame people and companies who had mistreated creators over the years. Shortly after, and separate from Drake’s efforts, the Finger award was created, but rather than a sign of shame, the award was given to creators who had not been given the proper recognition for their efforts. Drake was one of the first reipients of the award, and in 2005 (http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_finger_1.shtml), creator Jerry Robinson said of Drake:
"Like Finger and Siegel, Drake is a consummate professional writer. As the author of hundreds of stories from the Silver Age to the present, his credits demonstrate an amazing versatility, ranging from the superhero and adventure such as Doom Patrol to the wry humor of Little Lulu."
The award was presented to Drake at the 2005 Eisner Award ceremony, and the aging creator charmed the crowd, singing a satirical song (http://homepage.mac.com/mikecatron/Main/iMovieTheater72.html) about the industry while wearing a Doom Patrol t-shirt.
"I think the primary thing we can do for Bill is to wipe out the Bill Fingers of today -- that is, the writers who starve to do what they love,” Drake said.
Last November (http://www.newsarama.com/general/ArnoldDrake/DrakneInterview.htm), Newsarama’s Daniel Robert Epstein had the pleasure of interviewing Drake about the DVD release of <i>The Flesh Eaters</I> as well as a variety of other topics showing that, even in his advancing years, Drake was still as vital as ever and a creative force with which to be reckoned.
<i>Newsarama offers our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Drake's family and friends.</i>