Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary

By Bill Schelly and Richard A. Lupoff

Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary chronicles the career of Otto Binder, from pulp magazine author to writer of Supergirl, Captain Marvel, and Superman comics. As the originator of the first sentient robot in literature ("I, Robot," published in Amazing Stories in 1939 and predating Isaac Asimov's collection of the same name), Binder's effect on science fiction was profound. Within the world of comic books, he created or co-created much of the Superman universe, including Smallville; Krypto, Superboy's dog; Supergirl; and the villain Braniac. Binder is also credited with writing many of the first "Bizarro" storylines for DC Comics, as well as for being the main writer for the Captain Marvel comics. In later years, Binder expanded from comic books into pure science writing, publishing dozens of books and articles on the subject of satellites and space travel as well as UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Comic book historian Bill Schelly tells the tale of Otto Binder through comic panels, personal letters, and interviews with Binder's own family and friends. Schelly weaves together Binder's professional successes and personal tragedies, including the death of Binder's only daughter and his wife's struggle with mental illness. A touching and human story, Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary is a biography that is both meticulously researched and beautifully told, keeping alive Binder's spirit of scientific curiosity and whimsy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books
• Release date: Jun 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781623170387

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OTTO BINDER

OTTO BINDER

THE LIFE AND WORK OF A COMIC BOOK AND SCIENCE FICTION VISIONARY

BILL SCHELLY

FOREWORD BY RICHARD A. LUPOFF

North Atlantic Books

Berkeley, California

Copyright © 2003, 2016 by Bill Schelly. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by

North Atlantic Books

Berkeley, California

Cover art by Michael T. Gilbert and Bill Schelly

Cover design by Jasmine Hromjak

The first edition of this book was published as Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of Otto Binder (Seattle: Hamster Press, 2003).

Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary is sponsored and published by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences (dba North Atlantic Books), an educational nonprofit based in Berkeley, California, that collaborates with partners to develop cross-cultural perspectives, nurture holistic views of art, science, the humanities, and healing, and seed personal and global transformation by publishing work on the relationship of body, spirit, and nature.

North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

Bizarro, Brainiac, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Jimmy Olsen, Legion of Super-Heroes, Lois Lane, The Marvel Family, Mary Marvel, Mystery in Space, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, ™ and © DC Comics. Captain America, The Avengers ™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc. Mighty Samson ™ and © Random House, Inc. Weird Tales ® is a registered trademark owned by Viacom International Inc. Standing Room Only, The Teacher from Mars, ™ and © William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. Alter Ego #7 & Roy Thomas cartoon ™ and © Roy & Dann Thomas. Xero ™ and © Richard & Patricia Lupoff. Adam Link, I, Robot, Jon Jarl, The Life Battery, Lords of Creation, Memoirs of a Nobody ™ and © the Estate of Otto Binder. Amazing Stories, Argosy magazine, Commander Steel, Dan Hastings, Dead End, Dracula, Fatman, Master Comics, The Moon, Our Ever Changing World, The Outer Limits, Planets, Saga magazine, Whiz Comics, Will Eisner Hall of Fame ™ and © respective copyright holders.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Schelly, William, 1951– author.

Title: Otto Binder : the life and work of a comic book and science fiction visionary / Bill Schelly ; foreword by Richard A. Lupoff.

Description: Berkeley, California : North Atlantic Books, 2016. | The first edition of this book was published as Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of Otto Binder (Seattle: Hamster Press, 2003). | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015035354 | ISBN 9781623170370 (paperback) | ISBN 9781623170387 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Binder, Otto O. (Otto Oscar), 1911-1975. | Cartoonists—United States—Biography. | Authors, American—20th century—Biography. | Comic books, strips, etc.—Authorship. | Science fiction—Authorship. | BISAC: LITERARY CRITICISM / Comics & Graphic Novels. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture.

Classification: LCC PN6727.B48 Z85 2016 | DDC 741.5/973—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015035354

To Mary L. Binder

Otto Binder in the Painted Desert, on a 1939 vacation. Courtesy of the Julius Schwartz Collection.

CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD BY RICHARD A. LUPOFF

1—APPLAUSE

2—AN AMERICAN TALE BEGINS

3—CONNECTIONS

4—THE NEW YORK BEAT

5—BANGING THE KEYS

6—CITIZEN LINK

7—SEDUCED INTO COMICS

8—LIGHTNING STRIKES!

9—PLAYING THE FIELD

10—LIFE IN ENGLEWOOD

11—GOOD-BYE FAWCETT, HELLO EC

12—SITTING PRETTY

13—THE MOST DIFFICULT MAN IN COMICS

14—BINDER IN FANDOMLAND

15—TOUGH SLEDDING

16—MARY

17—A NEW LIFE

18—THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE

19—LEGACY

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX

ENDNOTES

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Otto Binder. Courtesy of Michael Turek.

The Mystery of the Flying Saucer, written by Otto Binder, brings two of his favorite things together: super heroes and UFOs. Captain Marvel Adventures #116 (January 1951). ™ and © DC Comics.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

WHERE FACT MEETS FICTION

The first thing anyone should know about Otto Binder is that he was a writer who was successful in four fields of the written word: science fiction, comic books, science fact, and ufology.

To fans of science fiction (SF), he’s the man who invented the first sentient robot, Adam Link, in the story I, Robot and wrote many other stories that appeared in the SF pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.

To fans of comic books, he’s the writer of about half of all the stories featuring the original Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family in the 1940s. Then he wrote many of the most important Superman stories of the 1950s and 1960s, creating (or co-creating) Superman’s cousin Supergirl, the Legion of Super-Heroes, the villain Brainiac, the bottle city of Kandor, and more.

To those interested in the space race of the 1960s, he’s the editor of Space World magazine, a writer for NASA, and author of popular science books for young readers such as The Moon: Our Neighboring World and Planets: Other Worlds of Our Solar System.

To those drawn to the study of UFO phenomena, he’s an important ufologist who published What We Really Know About Flying Saucers (1967), wrote articles about Ted Owens (the PK Man) for Saga magazine in the early 1970s, and explored the possibility of ancient astronauts from other worlds in his co-authored book Mankind: Child of the Stars (1974).

Otto Binder’s writing can be seen as a bridge between science fact and science fiction, appropriate creative territory for a visionary writer whose work exists on the frontier where the known meets the unknown. That he was also a prolific writer of stories and educational matter for young readers is fitting, because he never lost his inner child. Indeed, that childlike ability to dream unfettered contributed a great deal to his ability to write words of wonder that entertained and enlightened readers for over four decades.

This second edition corrects errors in the original text; expands the endnotes; introduces additional material to give more attention to certain aspects of Binder’s creative life; presents new photographs; and, in the appendix, displays several pages from Binder’s personal records. While it may not qualify as an expanded edition, the improvements in this new edition give the reader a more complete portrait of Otto Binder’s life and work.

BILL SCHELLY, 2016

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

WHY OTTO BINDER?

The simplest way for me to explain what Otto Binder’s writing means to me, personally, is to point out that he scripted most of the stories in the first comic book I ever read, an eighty-page giant published in 1960 called the Giant Superman Annual #1. Since the nine stories in that extra-thick comic book introduced me to the comics medium, which has been a great source of joy and fascination for me ever since, it would be hard to overstate Binder’s importance in my life. Would another author’s stories have had an equally thunderous effect on me? Maybe. Maybe not.

Like a space rocket, Binder’s significance to me came in more than one stage. Stage two arrived within weeks after I discovered comics fandom in 1964 and received a copy of one of the premier fan magazines, Alter Ego. Its seventh issue featured a lengthy article about the exciting and sometimes whimsical adventures of Captain Marvel and the other members of his family, Captain Marvel Junior and Mary Marvel. I venture to say that One Man’s Family, the article in A/E by Roy Thomas, inspired hundreds of comics fans to look for old Fawcett comic books featuring the Big Red Cheese, as he was affectionately dubbed. Roy’s piece perfectly captured the charm of those Golden Age comics. Soon I managed to get my hands on tattered copies of some of those vintage comic books, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Captain Marvel instantly became one of my favorite characters. Though the stories bore no credits, I knew who had written by far the majority of them, because he’d had a long letter in the back of that same issue of Alter Ego—Otto Binder.

Giant Superman Annual #1 (June 1960) was the author’s first encounter with the writing of Otto Binder. (Binder wrote six of the nine stories in this 25¢ comic book.) ™ and © DC Comics.

While books on the lives and work of the best comic book artists are not in short supply, few have been devoted to comic book writers (not writer-artists). A disparity is understandable, given the emphasis on visuals in comics … but why is it so lopsided?

Recently, I resolved to do something to remedy that inequity by writing a book about Otto Binder that would delve into his life and career in depth. I was, however, immediately beset by an obstacle: I had never met the man. He had passed away in 1974. While I intended to focus in large part on his writings, his ideas, and the trajectory of his career, it would seem an incomplete book without conveying something of the man himself: his background, his motivations, his creative methods, his personality, his disappointments and his triumphs. What sort of person was he? My main avenue was to seek out those who had known him. In that pursuit I was blessed by the generous cooperation—nay, active participation—of numerous intimates of Otto Binder: his friends, colleagues, and collaborators. Aid of immeasurable importance was also provided by the family of Otto’s wife, especially Patricia Turek, and by Jack Binder’s daughter Bonnie Binder Mundy. Invaluable, too, was the assistance offered by a man who knew Otto Binder for forty years: legendary DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz.

Another valuable resource was the numerous fans whom Binder welcomed into his houses, both in Englewood, New Jersey, and Chestertown, New York. These fans, the recipients of the writer’s generosity of time and energy, often had ongoing contact with him, some to the extent they should be numbered among his friends. He was unfailingly open to his fans. Luckily, some of the interviews Binder gave were tape-recorded (including one in 1973 that had heretofore been lost), as was his panel discussion at the first full-fledged comic book convention in New York in 1965. I’ve been able to listen to Otto Binder reminisce about the glory days of comics in the 1940s, discuss his views on the potential of the medium, and share his sometimes unorthodox opinions on everything from UFOs to communication with the dead—just like those lucky souls who were able to listen to him in person, so many years ago.

Then, at the eleventh hour, came a wonderful discovery: Otto’s manuscript from 1948 for the autobiographical book Memoirs of a Nobody. Completed, unpublished, and apparently forgotten, this charmingly lighthearted look at his life was among Binder’s papers bequeathed to SF historian Sam Moskowitz, which were acquired by the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M University upon Moskowitz’s passing. I owe a great debt of gratitude to former curator Hal Hall for providing a copy of this memoir, as well as about fifty letters from the correspondence between Otto and his brother Earl during and after their writing partnership. To my knowledge, the contents of these letters have never been published before. Thus, if this book succeeds in evoking the personality and essence of Otto Binder, it’s because I came as close to meeting him as possible.

One thing I chose not to do was try to relate an all-inclusive history of Fawcett Comics, or their most famous characters, the Marvel Family. While Binder’s thirteen-year stint as chief writer for Fawcett is examined in some detail, I was mainly interested in what Otto and Jack Binder contributed to those memorable comic books. But the Binder brothers were only two of the dozens of writers and artists who contributed mightily to the success of Fawcett. For those who want a more complete history of that comic book publisher, I recommend P. C. Hamerlinck’s excellent Fawcett Companion (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2002) and Jim Steranko’s The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 2 (Supergraphics, 1972). Between those two sources, you’ll get the whole picture.

Otto Binder’s decade-long stint as a writer for science fiction and weird pulps was largely unknown to me when I began this book. I took great delight in learning about this work, which goes far beyond the Adam Link series. That portion of his career composes about 15 percent of this book. His writing about UFOs makes up another 5 percent. The rest is devoted to his thirty years writing comic books, where (in my estimation) he achieved his greatest heights. He was simply one of the most brilliant and prolific comics writers of all time.

Think I’m exaggerating? Read on!

BILL SCHELLY, 2003

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following people (some posthumously) for their invaluable help in researching and illustrating this book:

First, I must thank Roy Thomas for more or less suggesting it, and providing nearly all the visual material on Adam Link: pulps, comics, paperback books. I’m also grateful that he read an early draft of the manuscript and provided many helpful suggestions.

Others took the time to read the manuscript in various forms, for the purpose of checking my facts: Robert Madle, Jerry Bails, and Dick Lupoff. Their comments and corrections were invaluable, and Dick’s introduction provides both an entertaining and informative jumping-off point for the story of Otto’s life and work.

I am also indebted to Paul Hamerlinck for allowing me to use art and photographs from the Fawcett Companion (TwoMorrows Publishing), and for permitting me to quote extensively from the excellent interview with Otto Binder therein. Special thanks to Jim Steranko for his fabulous history of Fawcett Comics and Otto Binder in the second volume of his History of Comics, which I highly recommend.

Many of Otto’s friends and colleagues assisted, none more extensively than the late Julius Schwartz, who gave unstintingly of his time (and photo collection). Thanks also to Murphy Anderson, D. Bruce Berry, Al Feldstein, Max Flindt, and William Woolfolk (who passed away just as the manuscript was being completed).

The following individuals provided immeasurable help: Jim Amash, David Armstrong, Robert Beerbohm, Jon Berk, Murray Bishoff, Louis Black, Al Bradford, Gary Brown, David Carsteins, Mark Chiarello, Bob Cosgrove, J. Randolph Cox, Dennis Cresswell, Mark Evanier, Tom Fagan, Jeff Gelb, Don Glut, Martin Greim, Michael E. Grost, Jack C. Harris, Morgan Holmes, Michael Kaluta, Robert Klein, David Anthony Kraft, and Matt Lage.

More thanks to Richard Lieberson, Arthur Lortie, Russ Maheras, Don Maris, Alden McWilliams, Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Brian Morris, John Morrow, Bonnie Mundy, Frank Mundy, Edwin and Terry Murray, Michelle Nolan, Patrick O’Connor, Bud Plant, Diana Schutz, David Scroggy, Robin Snyder, Bill Spicer, Dan Stevenson, Maggie Thompson, Alice Turek, Michael Turek, Patricia Turek, Michael Uslan, Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., Edward Waterman, Alan Weiss, Ted White, George C. Willick, and Bill Wormstedt. My appreciation also goes to the National Library of Canada and National Archives of Canada for valuable historical information about Anglo-American Publishing.

For assistance with this second edition, I extend my appreciation to Dana Andra; Jean Bails; Steve Bissette; Terry Bisson; Louis Black; John Cassiello; Michael Cassiello; Jon B. Cooke; Brian Cremins; Clark Dimond; Bertil Falk; James Kealy; Jan Kouba Tabert; Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD; Robert Morrison; Ted Owens; Philip Smith; Neale Smith; Bill Spicer; and Bernie Wrightson. I am especially pleased with the new cover by Michael T. Gilbert.

Help from beyond the grave was provided by C. C. Beck, Joe Orlando, Gerry de la Ree, Don Thompson, and most of all to Jack, Otto, and Earl Binder, who contributed through interviews and surviving correspondence. Much of that correspondence, and the excerpts from Memoirs of a Nobody, came from the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M University. Again I acknowledge the aid of Hal Hall, former curator of the special collections at Cushing, for coming through in heroic fashion, late in the game.

Finally, I must extend my appreciation to my friend and editor of the first edition, Barbara Barker. Not only was she easily able to correct my errors in the finer points of grammar and spelling, but Barbara contributed much beyond that. Her suggestions improved the book immeasurably.

FOREWORD: BINDER, RHYMES WITH TINDER

BY RICHARD A. LUPOFF

The first time I came across the byline Eando Binder, I was reading a copy of Captain Marvel Adventures. I was a comic book fanatic, my favorite character was Captain Marvel, and this monthly dose of Shazamania was a regular highlight of my elementary school days. I loved that comic book so much, I even read the little text stories that appeared in each issue. This was something that nobody, but nobody, in my comic book-devouring circle, ever did.

Of course Fawcett’s house policy was to keep its writers and artists anonymous, but for some reason they relented when it came to the text stories, and here was an adventure of Jon Jarl, futuristic space policeman, by Eando Binder. I had no idea at the time that Eando was a joint pseudonym of Earl and Otto Binder. I just thought it was an unusual name. Probably pronounced "Yann-doe," or something like that.

And of course I didn’t realize that most of the stories in every issue of Captain Marvel Adventures were written by Eando Binder, too. Or, more accurately, by Otto Binder, his brother Earl having left the writing team to pursue other business opportunities.

In that same era—I’m talking about the mid-1940s—I was also developing an interest in science fiction. A little later, as a high school student, I stumbled across some old pulp magazines and discovered that Eando Binder had written stories for them as well. I was especially taken with his Via Etherline series that ran in Thrilling Wonder Stories, one of my favorites in those days. By now Otto (or Eando) was not seen in the pulps any longer, save for an occasional reprinted short story, and I thought that he was eking out a meager income writing Jon Jarl yarns. I came very close to sending him a sympathetic and encouraging letter, urging him to struggle and get back onto his feet. He could climb back up to the heights of Thrilling Wonder Stories, I thought, if only he’d try. And there I was, all unaware that Eando was writing comic book scripts at a furious pace and making a very good living at it, and that Jon Jarl represented just the smallest part of his output.

The Via Etherline stories had originally been published under the pseudonym Gordon A. Giles. When I learned that Giles was really Eando Binder—this was a few years later, when I was a college student—I was fascinated. Gordon A. Giles contains a clue to the fact that it was a pseudonym. The initials spell out GAG—the name was all a joke. As an active science fiction fan at the time, I proceeded to create a double pseudonym for myself, in honor of both Eando and Gordon A. Giles. Thus, for a little while, I became twins—Frank Arthur Kerr and James Otho Kerr. Reduce the given names to initials and the result is Faker and Joker. Not long after this, Captain Marvel and the other Marvels disappeared from the newsstands. I was going through a lot of changes, too. I received my degree, earned an army commission, was called to active duty for several of those tense Cold War years, finally returned to reserve status, took a job in the then-fledgling computer industry, and married.

By 1960 my bride and I, having tried suburban life and found it not to our liking, moved into the heart of Manhattan. Seeking a creative outlet (computer manuals being no more exciting to write than they are to read), we inaugurated a fanzine, Xero. This was published in the context of science fiction fandom, but in fact it was a broad-spectrum journal of popular culture. It addressed films, fantasy literature, theater, television, and sociology. And, of course, comics.

In the first issue we ran a nostalgic essay that I’d written about my comics reading days. I called it The Big Red Cheese, and to my surprise it led to a series of essays by diverse hands, at least two books, and is regarded by many cultural historians as seminal in the creation of comics scholarship and comics fandom. Those were the days when a hardy few people dared suggest that comic books, the most despised form of literature, might actually have some value and might even merit serious attention.

By now the wall of anonymity at Fawcett and most other comics publishers was starting to crumble, and fans and scholars were beginning to track down the talented writers and artists and editors who actually created those exciting, colorful stories. Otto/Eando Binder had been discovered (or rediscovered), and I was impressed to learn that he had not only written many hundreds of stories for Fawcett but had worked for some of the other, lesser publishers in the 1940s.

When Fawcett dropped out of the comics business in the early 1950s, Otto wound up working for Fawcett’s former rival, DC. Not content with merely spinning out new yarns about existing characters, Otto was instrumental in the creation and development of new and fascinating aspects of the Superman mythos—Superboy, Supergirl, the lost bottle city of Kandor, Brainiac, and Superman’s odd doppelganger, Bizarro.

And still later, in 1990, when I was in Hollywood and visited the set where a film based on one of my own short stories was being shot, I met Helen Slater, who had played Supergirl in an earlier film. We live in a strangely interconnected world!

Just as the word Shazam has entered the English language (did you catch it on the soundtrack of the 2002 Spider-Man film?), so too has the concept of Bizarro, in contexts as varied as office-cooler conversation and the Seinfeld television series. But still, Otto’s greatest work, I thought, was the work he did with the Marvel Family for Fawcett. I was intrigued to learn that he didn’t create the character, nor was he the first scripter to turn out Captain Marvel stories. That honor belonged to another Fawcett veteran, Bill Parker. But there is no doubt that Otto Binder, along with artist C. C. Beck, gave the feature its distinctive quality, its brilliant amalgam of action, imagination, suspense, and wit.

Nothing like it had existed before Otto got his hands on the Cheese, and nothing like it has ever happened since. A later revival of the Marvel Family took place under the aegis of DC Comics. Bill Schelly discusses this event so I won’t go into it in detail, but the fact is that the magic of those thick 1940s comics was never recaptured. Cap and his family still hover around the edges of the comics publishing industry, making ghostly guest appearances in various DC periodicals, and a feature film is rumored to be in production, but I doubt that we will ever again see anything to match those grand adventures scripted by Otto Binder and drawn by C. C. Beck. They are treasures all their own, and their availability in reprint editions is cause for celebration.

Since my 1960 essay dealt chiefly with Captain Marvel, I took a copy of Xero Number One to the offices of Space World magazine, where Otto was now working along with his onetime colleague at Fawcett Comics, Bill Woolfolk. I’m not certain but I think Otto’s wife, Ione, was sitting behind the receptionist’s desk when I arrived. I handed her the magazine, asked her to give it to Mr. Binder, and started to leave. Don’t you want to give it to him yourself? she asked.

Fiction is not life. Fiction shows things the way they ought to be, not the way they are. —Otto Binder. Courtesy of Michael Turek.

No, no, I gasped over my shoulder as I fled the premises. I was so awestricken at the prospect of actually meeting the great and famous Otto Binder, I couldn’t deal with the reality. I had failed twice to connect directly with this man who was one of my boyhood heroes. I hadn’t sent the Jon Jarl letter in 1950 and I hadn’t handed him the fatal fanzine in 1960.

That might have been as close as I ever came to meeting Otto Binder, but fortunately it wasn’t. Otto read The Big Red Cheese and was obviously pleased by it, as he sent me a lovely, gracious letter of thanks. He also pointed out some errors in my essay, added an anecdote or two, and Pat and I ran his letter as a little article in the third issue of Xero.

Since Pat and I lived in Manhattan and the offices of Space World were also located there, and the Binders lived nearby in northern New Jersey, our exchange of letters led to phone calls and finally to an invitation to dinner at the Binders’ home. Otto and Ione lived in a comfortable, colonial-style home in a pleasant suburban town.

Ione greeted us at the door. She was an attractive, well-dressed woman, the epitome of the Eisenhower Era Donna Reed-style homemaker, with dark hair and graceful features and wearing a classic hostess dress. Otto shook my hand, and Pat’s. I was initially overwhelmed, but Otto made me feel comfortable and at home. He was a slightly stocky man of medium height, several inches shorter than myself. He had a warm, pleasant manner, completely unpretentious and without egotism.

I must have mumbled something clever on the order of, I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Binder. I pronounced his name with a long i, as in spine.

Otto smiled and said, It’s pronounced ‘Binder,’ giving the i its short sound, as in spin.

It’s a German name, Otto added, it means ‘binder,’—pronouncing that word the way I had first done!

We also met the Binders’ young daughter, Mary, a sweet and lovable child.

It was a delightful and unforgettable event. Otto offered us drinks, Ione served a delicious meal, Mary added a bright and happy note. Otto took us upstairs to his workshop, showed us some of his Marvel memorabilia, and talked about his career in and out of comics. As a souvenir he gave me a copy of an early 1930s fanzine called simply, Science Fiction. This had been published by two schoolboys in Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and featured a short story, The Reign of the Superman—arguably the first appearance ever of the Man of Steel. (That fragile, mimeographed pamphlet is now part of my son Ken’s personal collection.)

A few weeks later Pat and I reciprocated by inviting the Binders to our home for a meeting of the Fantasy Film Club.

This organization was run by two friends of ours, Chris Steinbrunner and David Foley. Chris was manager of the film library at a New York television station, and was able to snag 16mm prints of a wide array of movies. This was, remember, pre-VCR, pre-videocassette, pre-DVD. If a movie you wanted to see was on television, you made it your business to be home in front of the tube at the scheduled time, or you were out of luck.

But not for the lucky few in the Fantasy Film Club.

Chris would lug the heavy prints to his home or to the homes of other members of the club and screen programs of feature films on Sunday afternoons and evenings. We would have an Agatha Christie day, a Sherlock Holmes day, a Frankenstein day. From time to time Chris would vary the program by showing a serial: The Green Archer, The Purple Monster Strikes, The Spider, Captain America.

This Sunday the attraction was the Adventures of Captain Marvel, the grand 1940s Republic serial starring Tom Tyler in the title role, the magnificent Nigel De Brulier as the wizard Shazam, and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Cap’s youthful alter ego, Billy Batson. Pat and I were the proud parents of a baby boy at the time, and before our guests of honor arrived we togged little Ken out in a pair of bright red tights blazoned with a golden lightning bolt. When Otto and Ione and their daughter Mary entered our apartment, we presented them with "Captain Marvel

Reviews for Otto Binder

[mckait · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Earl and Otto binder were brothers of german descent. They originally worked together to write sci fi stores as well as comic book stories.
They worked together for some time, then earl went off to follow another dream leaving Otto to continue writing. He wrote for various magazines and moved from Fawcett to DC comics.

His story I Robot created a stir when it appeared in Amazing Stories magazine in 1939. So much so, that Otto's original pan to have the robot Adam Link kill himself after being blamed for the death of his creator. It was changed due to the popularity of Link. Link felt emotion and felt sad about the death. Adam wanted to be accepted among humans, and his journey was a popular read at that time.

This book is a surprisingly fascinating story about the success of the man Binder. It includes photographs and examples of the illustrations from Binder's comics and stories. I have to admit that this book is so much more interesting than i expected it to be. I have never been much of a comics fan, but sci-fi is another story. This is the story of a man who contributed a great deal to that genre.