Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 19:55:19 GMT -7
THE SHADOWY LIFE OF A COMIC BOOK ICON
by Laura Steinman
Daily Bugle 'Pop Culture' Editor
September 22, 2015
With the news that the original edition of Shadowhawk #1, once thought lost to history, will receive its first public unveiling at the New York Comic Con this weekend, interest has renewed in both the comic book superhero and its enigmatic creator.
Robert Taylor Zane was born in 1908 Manhattan to wealthy stock broker Martin Zane. Despite his privileged childhood, tragedy struck early for the young Zane. At the age of five, Robert lost his mother Dorothy who died in a car accident. His father was at the wheel, losing control on an icy patch of road and driving off a bridge. A criminal investigation cleared Martin Zane of any wrongdoing but public sentiment condemned him and he turned to alcoholism. Robert was shipped off to a succession of boarding schools before attending his family's alma mater Harvard. Tragedy struck again for the newly graduated Robert when his father committed suicide at the age of 44 in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash.
Left penniless, Robert drifted for a number of years. He was paving roads in Arkansas for the WPA when he disappeared in 1931. His whereabouts for the next three years remain unknown to this day. The first record of Robert's reappearance emerged in a newspaper photo in the August 12, 1934 Sacramento Bee, picturing him working for Upton Sinclair's campaign for California governor. Later documents reveal that Zane joined the Communist Party of America.
In 1935, Zane went to work for National Publishing in New York City as a copywriter. Traditionally a publisher of pulp fiction and men's fiction, the company experienced newfound success in the just emerging market of comic strip books. Simply a collection of old newspaper comic strips complied and bound, the books proved remarkably popular for a weary Depression-era audience hungering for escapism. Inspired by Walter B. Gibson's The Shadow, Zane struck upon the idea of writing and drawing an original 24 page comic strip story. Thus, the first true comic book in history was created.
The hero for Zane's comic story was a wealthy bachelor who lost both his parents to crime at a tender age. The parallels to Zane himself are unmistakable. The hero, Bryce Payne, disappears for several years, traveling to Tibet and learning mystical forms of combat and wisdom from a secret monastery of monks. Upon his return to New York City, he dons a black bodysuit and cloak and fights for the downtrodden as Shadowhawk.
Shadowhawk's debut tale received an initial press run of 1000 copies. Those copies were all burned immediately after. The reason has never been explained. Zane retained the only existing copy of that debut story. Zane's second story appeared as Shadowhawk #2 in October, 1936. It proved an immediate success and national phenomenon. At first, echoing the progressive sentiment of the 30s, Shadowhawk fought shady corporate titans and abusive forces of authority victimizing the everyman. With the onset of World War Two, Shadowhawk transformed into a war hero, fighting the Axis and fifth columnists at home.
In 1943, Shadowhawk gained another first, the first comic book sidekick in the form of Jayhawk. Gibson "Gippy" Dixon, described as a "12 year old scrappy fireplug of a boy filled with fight and vim," joined the cloaked crimefighter as his ward and partner. The term "partner" would take an ominous turn in the fifties when the Senate Subcommittee on Morals accused Shadowhawk of promoting homosexual deviancy. Zane adamantly refuted the claims but his private life fanned the flames. To placate the rumors of his own sexuality, Zane married model and actress Joy Monroe in 1955. They had one child, a son, two years later.
In the Sixties, Shadowhawk acquired newfound fame with his own hit, live-action TV show. Starring Aidan Best as the titular hero, the show deviated from the dark origins of its namesake for a camp, pop art take on the comic book. No where was this more evidence then in the representation of Shadowhawk's arch-nemesis, Dr. Grin. A mad dentist who overdosed on laughing gas and committed heinous crimes while unable to stop laughing, Dr. Grin was first envisioned as a truly nightmarish villain. His garish red doctor's robes and bleached skin drove home the idea of his psychotic bloodlust. But for the show, he was transformed into an innocuous prankster. In the same way, the sexual tension between Shadowhawk and the villainous Minx was neutered. The rest of the crimefighter's rogue gallery including The Walrus and The Puzzler received identical revision.
A notable exception and the only significant new contribution from the TV show was the creation of Shadowhawk's superheroine counterpart, Skylark. Rebecca "Becka" Roth, a twentysomething librarian and daughter of the police commissioner, offered an model of female empowerment for young girls. And her skintight blue costume made her a hit with young boys.
With the start of another decade, the comic book hero once again experienced a tidal shift. Shadowhawk became an anti-hero outsider, consistent with the distrust of public institutions brought upon by Watergate. Not until 1989 did the crimefighter return to his roots with Tim Burton's Shadowhawk. The dark scourge of the underworld returned in full glory with Jack Nicholson's performance as Dr. Grin a standout. The renaissance continued into the 90s. Jayhawk grew into brooding, leather-clad young adulthood while Skylark de-aged into a kickass 17-yr old in a Nancy Drew-ish vein, losing the cape and dressing all in black.
Of course, Christopher Nolan's Dark Hawk Trilogy re-imagined the 80 year old hero for a brand new generation. Unfortunately his creator would not live to see it. Robert Zane had fallen into destitution by the late 70s, having been cheated out of the royalties to his signature character. Passing away in 2003, his estate was the focus of a 11 year legal contest between his old employers and his son. Robert Zane Jr proved victorious but the victory was bittersweet when he died of a heart attack at the age of 57. The entire Zane leagcy fell to his son, Robert Taylor Zane's grandson, Avery Zane. And now its Avery Zane who will keep the torch of his grandfather and his grandfather's most famous creation, Shadowhawk alive at this year's New York Comic Con with the unveiling of Shadowhawk #1. And with it, one of the many mysteries surrounding the life of its creator will finally be solved.
by Laura Steinman
Daily Bugle 'Pop Culture' Editor
September 22, 2015
With the news that the original edition of Shadowhawk #1, once thought lost to history, will receive its first public unveiling at the New York Comic Con this weekend, interest has renewed in both the comic book superhero and its enigmatic creator.
Robert Taylor Zane was born in 1908 Manhattan to wealthy stock broker Martin Zane. Despite his privileged childhood, tragedy struck early for the young Zane. At the age of five, Robert lost his mother Dorothy who died in a car accident. His father was at the wheel, losing control on an icy patch of road and driving off a bridge. A criminal investigation cleared Martin Zane of any wrongdoing but public sentiment condemned him and he turned to alcoholism. Robert was shipped off to a succession of boarding schools before attending his family's alma mater Harvard. Tragedy struck again for the newly graduated Robert when his father committed suicide at the age of 44 in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash.
Left penniless, Robert drifted for a number of years. He was paving roads in Arkansas for the WPA when he disappeared in 1931. His whereabouts for the next three years remain unknown to this day. The first record of Robert's reappearance emerged in a newspaper photo in the August 12, 1934 Sacramento Bee, picturing him working for Upton Sinclair's campaign for California governor. Later documents reveal that Zane joined the Communist Party of America.
In 1935, Zane went to work for National Publishing in New York City as a copywriter. Traditionally a publisher of pulp fiction and men's fiction, the company experienced newfound success in the just emerging market of comic strip books. Simply a collection of old newspaper comic strips complied and bound, the books proved remarkably popular for a weary Depression-era audience hungering for escapism. Inspired by Walter B. Gibson's The Shadow, Zane struck upon the idea of writing and drawing an original 24 page comic strip story. Thus, the first true comic book in history was created.
The hero for Zane's comic story was a wealthy bachelor who lost both his parents to crime at a tender age. The parallels to Zane himself are unmistakable. The hero, Bryce Payne, disappears for several years, traveling to Tibet and learning mystical forms of combat and wisdom from a secret monastery of monks. Upon his return to New York City, he dons a black bodysuit and cloak and fights for the downtrodden as Shadowhawk.
Shadowhawk's debut tale received an initial press run of 1000 copies. Those copies were all burned immediately after. The reason has never been explained. Zane retained the only existing copy of that debut story. Zane's second story appeared as Shadowhawk #2 in October, 1936. It proved an immediate success and national phenomenon. At first, echoing the progressive sentiment of the 30s, Shadowhawk fought shady corporate titans and abusive forces of authority victimizing the everyman. With the onset of World War Two, Shadowhawk transformed into a war hero, fighting the Axis and fifth columnists at home.
In 1943, Shadowhawk gained another first, the first comic book sidekick in the form of Jayhawk. Gibson "Gippy" Dixon, described as a "12 year old scrappy fireplug of a boy filled with fight and vim," joined the cloaked crimefighter as his ward and partner. The term "partner" would take an ominous turn in the fifties when the Senate Subcommittee on Morals accused Shadowhawk of promoting homosexual deviancy. Zane adamantly refuted the claims but his private life fanned the flames. To placate the rumors of his own sexuality, Zane married model and actress Joy Monroe in 1955. They had one child, a son, two years later.
In the Sixties, Shadowhawk acquired newfound fame with his own hit, live-action TV show. Starring Aidan Best as the titular hero, the show deviated from the dark origins of its namesake for a camp, pop art take on the comic book. No where was this more evidence then in the representation of Shadowhawk's arch-nemesis, Dr. Grin. A mad dentist who overdosed on laughing gas and committed heinous crimes while unable to stop laughing, Dr. Grin was first envisioned as a truly nightmarish villain. His garish red doctor's robes and bleached skin drove home the idea of his psychotic bloodlust. But for the show, he was transformed into an innocuous prankster. In the same way, the sexual tension between Shadowhawk and the villainous Minx was neutered. The rest of the crimefighter's rogue gallery including The Walrus and The Puzzler received identical revision.
A notable exception and the only significant new contribution from the TV show was the creation of Shadowhawk's superheroine counterpart, Skylark. Rebecca "Becka" Roth, a twentysomething librarian and daughter of the police commissioner, offered an model of female empowerment for young girls. And her skintight blue costume made her a hit with young boys.
With the start of another decade, the comic book hero once again experienced a tidal shift. Shadowhawk became an anti-hero outsider, consistent with the distrust of public institutions brought upon by Watergate. Not until 1989 did the crimefighter return to his roots with Tim Burton's Shadowhawk. The dark scourge of the underworld returned in full glory with Jack Nicholson's performance as Dr. Grin a standout. The renaissance continued into the 90s. Jayhawk grew into brooding, leather-clad young adulthood while Skylark de-aged into a kickass 17-yr old in a Nancy Drew-ish vein, losing the cape and dressing all in black.
Of course, Christopher Nolan's Dark Hawk Trilogy re-imagined the 80 year old hero for a brand new generation. Unfortunately his creator would not live to see it. Robert Zane had fallen into destitution by the late 70s, having been cheated out of the royalties to his signature character. Passing away in 2003, his estate was the focus of a 11 year legal contest between his old employers and his son. Robert Zane Jr proved victorious but the victory was bittersweet when he died of a heart attack at the age of 57. The entire Zane leagcy fell to his son, Robert Taylor Zane's grandson, Avery Zane. And now its Avery Zane who will keep the torch of his grandfather and his grandfather's most famous creation, Shadowhawk alive at this year's New York Comic Con with the unveiling of Shadowhawk #1. And with it, one of the many mysteries surrounding the life of its creator will finally be solved.