Fletcher Hanks

Fletcher Hanks, Sr. (December 1, 1889 – January 22, 1976) was an American cartoonist from the Golden Age of Comic Books, who wrote and drew stories detailing the adventures of all-powerful, supernatural heroes and their elaborate punishments of transgressors. In addition to his birth name, Hanks worked under a number of pen names, including Hank Christy, Charles Netcher, C. C. Starr, and Barclay Flagg. Hanks was active in comic books from 1939 to 1941.^[2]

Fletcher Hanks, Sr.
Born	(1889-12-01)December 1, 1889 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	January 22, 1976(1976-01-22) (aged 86) Manhattan, New York[1]
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist
Pseudonym(s)	Hank Christy Charles Netcher C. C. Starr Barclay Flagg Bob Jordan Lance Ferguson Chris Fletcher Henry Fletcher Carlson Merrick
Notable works	Stardust the Super Wizard Fantomah
http://www.fletcherhanks.com

Early life

Little is known of the life of Fletcher Hanks. He was born on December 1, 1889, in Paterson, New Jersey,^[3] and grew up in Oxford, Maryland. His father, William Hanks, was a Methodist minister,^[2] and his mother, Alice Fletcher Hanks, was a daughter of English immigrants. They married c. 1885.^[4] Fletcher himself married Margaret c. 1912.^[5] In 1910, his mother paid for her son to take the W. L. Evans correspondence course in cartooning;^[2] as early as 1911 he described himself as a cartoonist.^[6] His nickname was "Christy," in reference to the great baseball pitcher Christy Mathewson.^[7]

Career

In 1939, in the wake of the success of Action Comics and Superman, Hanks began producing comic book stories.^[8] Gradually, he abandoned the crosshatch-heavy style he had learned in his Evans courses and settled on a cleaner, thick-lined style that reproduced better in the cheaply manufactured comic books.

Some of Hanks' work was for the Eisner & Iger comic book packaging company. Will Eisner recalled Hanks as a punctual artist whose work was reminiscent of the early work of Basil Wolverton. Hanks did all the work on his comics, from the writing to the lettering, and was considerably older than the other artists who worked there — many of whom were teenagers.^[9] The primary publishers he produced work for were Fiction House and Fox Features Syndicate. His creations include Stardust the Super Wizard, Tabu the Wizard of the Jungle, Big Red McLane, and Fantomah—one of the first female superheroes, predating Wonder Woman.^{[citation needed]}

He produced work for three publishers under a number of alias names, including Hank Christy, Charles Netcher, C. C. Starr, and Barclay Flagg, the last of which he signed to his Fantomah stories. He used his real name on his Stardust the Super Wizard stories.^[10] In all Fletcher Hanks created 51 stories.^[11] His name was also used as an alias for other unknown comic-book artists, as is the case with "The Brain Men of Mars" and "The Solar Pirates". Hanks left the comic book industry in 1941. The reason is still unknown. He continued to live in Oxford, Maryland, where he served as the president of its town commission from 1958–1960.^[12]

Hanks's work may be found in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.^[13]

Notable works of Fletcher Hanks

Fantomah transforming, as seen in Jungle Comics #15 (Fiction House, March 1941)

Splash page from Fantastic Comics #14 (April 1941)

Personal life and death

Hanks had four children: William, Fletcher Jr. (also nicknamed "Christy"),^[7] Alma, and Douglas.^[5] Fletcher Jr. (1918–2008) was the primary source of biographical information on his father. Family members have described Fletcher Sr. as an abusive father and spouse, and an alcoholic, spoiled by an over-indulgent mother.^[14] He made money painting murals for the wealthy, and spent the money on alcohol for himself and his friends. Fletcher Jr. worked odd jobs to support the family; in 1930,^{[lower-alpha 1]} he found his earnings missing, along with his father.^[14] Fletcher Jr. said his mother responded, "It's a small price to pay to be rid of the bum."^[8]

His body was found on a park bench in Manhattan in 1976, having frozen to death. He died penniless.^[11]

Legacy

A cult following developed around Hanks' work. His stories and art have been reprinted in the magazine Raw and several comics anthologies, and archival material of his work has been the subject of two books edited by Paul Karasik and published by Fantagraphics Books: I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! (2007) and You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! (2009),^[15] as well an omnibus collecting both previous books titled Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Destroy Them All! (Fantagraphics, 2016).^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

The following is a list of Hanks' published works, organized by character and the pen-name under which they were published:

• Stardust the Super Wizard (as Fletcher Hanks)
  • "Presidential Assassination," Fantastic Comics #1 (Fox Feature Syndicate, Dec. 1939)
  • "Rip the Blood," Fantastic Comics #2 (Jan. 1940)
  • "The Demon's Tidal Wave," Fantastic Comics #3 (Feb. 1940)
  • "The Mad Giant," Fantastic Comics #4 (Mar. 1940)
  • "Wolf's Eye Vacuum Tubes," Fantastic Comics #5 (Apr. 1940)
  • "The Brain Men of Mars," Fantastic Comics #6 (May. 1940) ^{[Note 1]}
  • "Gyp Clip's Anti-Gravity Ray," Fantastic Comics #7 (June 1940)
  • "The Emerald Men of Asperus," Fantastic Comics #8 (July 1940)
  • "The Solar Pirates" Fantastic Comics #9 (Aug. 1939) ^{[Note 1]}
  • "The Super Fiend," Fantastic Comics #10 (Sept. 1940)
  • "Skullface Takes Over New York," Fantastic Comics #11 (Oct. 1940)
  • "Kaos and the Vultures," Fantastic Comics #12 (Nov. 1940)
  • "The Fifth Columnists," Fantastic Comics #13 (Dec. 1940)
  • "The Sixth Columnists," Fantastic Comics #14 (Jan. 1941)
  • "The World Invaders," Fantastic Comics #15 (Feb. 1941)
  • "Slant Eyes," Fantastic Comics #16 (Mar. 1941)
  • "DeStructo and the Headhunter," Big 3 #2 (Fox Feature Syndicate, Winter 1941)
• Space Smith (as Hank Christy)
  • "Captured by Skomah," Fantastic Comics #1 (Fox Feature Syndicate, Dec. 1939)
  • "The Martian Ogres," Fantastic Comics #2 (Jan. 1940)
  • "The Leopard Women of Venus," Fantastic Comics #3 (Feb. 1940)
  • "The Thinker," Fantastic Comics #4 (Mar. 1940)
  • "The Hoppers," Fantastic Comics #5 (Apr. 1940)
  • "The Vacuumites," Fantastic Comics #6 (May 1940)
  • "Planet Bloodu," Fantastic Comics #8 (July 1940)
• Big Red McLane (as Chris Fletcher or Charles Netcher)
  • (Fletcher) "King of the North Woods," Fight Comics #1 (Fiction House, Jan. 1940)
  • (Fletcher) "The Red River Gang," Fight Comics #2 (Feb. 1940)
  • (unsigned) "The Timber Thieves," Fight Comics #3 (Mar. 1940)
  • (unsigned) "The Lumber Hijackers," Fight Comics #4 (Apr. 1940)
  • (Netcher) "The Sinister Stranger," Fight Comics #5 (May 1940)
  • (Netcher) "The Paper Racketeers," Fight Comics #6 (June 1940)
  • (Netcher) "Sledge Sloan Gang," Fight Comics #7 (July 1940)
  • (Netcher) "The Monk's War Rockets," Fight Comics #8 (Aug. 1940)
  • (Netcher) "Searching for Sally Breen," Fight Comics #9 (Sept. 1940)
• Fantomah (as Barclay Flagg)
  • "The Elephants' Graveyard," Jungle Comics #2 (Fiction House, Feb. 1940)
  • "The City of Gold," Jungle Comics #3 (Mar. 1940)
  • "The Super-Gorillas" Jungle Comics #4 (Apr. 1940)
  • "Mundoor and the Giant Reptiles" Jungle Comics #5 (May 1940)
  • "Phantom of the Tree-Tops," Jungle Comics #6 (June 1940)
  • "Diamond Thieves," Jungle Comics #7 (July 1940)
  • "The Temple in the Mud Pit," Jungle Comics #8 (Aug. 1940)
  • "Lions Loose in New York," Jungle Comics #9 (Sept. 1940)
  • "The Flaming Claws," Jungle Comics #10 (Oct. 1940)
  • "The Scarlet Shadow," Jungle Comics #11 (Nov. 1940)
  • "The New Blitzers," Jungle Comics #12 (Dec. 1940)
  • "The Tiger-Women of Wildmoon Mountain," Jungle Comics #13 (Jan. 1941)
  • "The Revenge of Zomax," Jungle Comics #14 (Feb. 1941)
  • "Org's Giant Spiders," Jungle Comics #15 (Mar. 1941)
• Whirlwind Carter (as C. C. Starr)
  • "Mars Attacks," Daring Mystery Comics #4 (Timely Comics, May 1940)
  • "Planet of Black-Light," Daring Mystery Comics #5 (June 1940)
• Other characters:
  • Tabu the Jungle Wizard (as Henry Fletcher): "The Slave Raiders," Jungle Comics #1 (Fiction House, Jan. 1940)
  • Tiger Hart (as Carlson Merrick): "The Dashing, Slashing Adventure of the Great Solinoor Diamond," Planet Comics #2 (Fiction House, Feb. 1940)
  • Yank Wilson (as Lance Ferguson): "The Saboteurs," Fantastic Comics #6 (Fox Feature Syndicate, May 1940)
  • Buzz Crandall (as Bob Jordan): "Lepus and the Colliding Planets," Planet Comics #7 (July 1940)

Notes

1. The US census return for 1930 describes Hanks as an artist, living with his wife, Margaret, widowed father, William, and his children Douglas, Alma, Fletcher Jr, and William.^[5]

1. Hank' name was used as an alias by an unknown artist.

References

1. Social Security Death Index entry no. 051-22-1426 New York from FamilySearch.org
2. Karasik 2009, Introduction 1.
3. Draft registration card (1917) from FamilySearch.org
4. 1900 U.S census return for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania from FamilySearch.org
5. 1930 U.S census return for Trappe District, Talbot County, Maryland from FamilySearch.org
6. Manifest of Passengers for S.S. Oceana, arriving New York May 1st 1911 from FamilySearch.org, with detailed manifest available at www.ellisisland.org
7. Karasik, Paul. Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All! (Fantagraphics, 2016) ISBN 1606999672.
8. Karasik 2009, Introduction 3.
9. Karasik 2009, Introduction 5.
10. Karasik 2009, Introduction 4.
11. Karasik 2009, Introduction 7.
12. "Talbot County, Maryland: Municipalities - Oxford". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
13. "Fletcher Hanks".
14. Karasik 2009, Introduction 2.
15. "Paul Karasik Announces Second Fletcher Hanks Collection Following Eisner Win". The Comics Reporter. July 28, 2008. Retrieved September 7, 2012.

Further reading

Collections

• Karasik, Paul, ed. (2007). I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-56097-839-8.
• Karasik, Paul, ed. (2009). You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-60699-160-2.
• Karasik, Paul, ed. (2016). Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All!. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-60699-967-7.

Work appearing elsewhere

• Jones, Gerard (2005). Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York, NY: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-03657-8. (appearing on the dust jacket only)
• Nadel, Dan (2006). Art out of Time. New York, NY: Abrams Books. ISBN 0-8109-5838-4.
• Sadowski, Greg (2009). Supermen!: The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1939–1941. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-56097-971-5.

External links

• Fletcher Hanks at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Kousemaker, Kees (December 16, 2017). "Fletcher Hanks". Kees Kousemaker's Lambiek Comiclopeida.
• Moore, Tom (August 5, 2007). "FLETCHER HANKS, JR. (1917 - 2008)". China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC).
• Pringle, Bruce (Spring 2004). "The pull of memory". Lehigh University. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012.
• "Pure Excitement Comics". Glen-Kel Publishing, Inc. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009 – via FortuneCity.