How to start a research on Charles Biro

[vaillant]

As I already told you, the main responsible for getting me so involved and fascinated with the golden age of comic books (besides of course the work of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, which I already knew a little through articles) has been Charles Biro with his Daredevil.
Now I see that beside occasional articles and quotations (Joe Simon speaks briefly of him in his autobiography) it’s not so easy to find written/visual material on him, his work, and the output of Lev Gleason as a whole.

Besides books, or internet resources, for example, I’d just love to find photos, papers, documents, original material about him and the publisher.
As per your knowledge, is there someone in the USA doing a research on his work?

Many thanks in advance.

[jfglade]

 Generally, Biro's name will come up in any book dealing with the Comics Code because he is credited/blamed with creating the first Crime Comic, "Crime Does Not Pay," and a few have advanced the theory that the real purpose of the Comics Code was to put him out of business (I personally think that was a side effect and not the real hidden agenda). I know of no one who is specifically doing research on Charles Biro, but someone likely is doing just that.

 Check early issues of MLJ's "Zip Comics" for the first six or eight issues of "Steel Sterling" and you'll see things that will remind you of Biro's later work since he drew, and possibly wrote, some of those stories.

[JVJ (RIP)]

A long (LONG) time ago (say, 1975 or so), my friend Art Scott did a scholarly piece of great depth on Mr. Biro for his APA-5 zine, Nobody Asked Me, But". I don't recall the issue or the particulars, but I assure you that to date it is the most comprehensive Biro article ever published. Last I heard from Art he was living in Liverpool, California and the last email I had for him was ascotteotu@yahoo.com.

Maybe he can help you.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[vaillant]

@jfglade: Thank you. In fact I was quite surprised, as I started collecting golden age a few months ago, to learn that "Crime does not pay" was the first crime comic, and thus associated with the whole phenomenon and almost univocally blamed for the "anti-comics hysteria" of the 1950s. I was surprised because I was in the process of collecting Daredevil, and have started to read his more mature stories on the title, which appeared to me nothing short of amazing because of the absolutely unusual "pedagogic" take which was such a substantial part of the stories without sounding out of place or pedantic in an entertainment means. I got the impression, however, that "Crime" was more conceived together with Bob Wood, than the other titles.

From the little I have learned on Biro, however, what you report about criticism tendencies seems to me it could be more appropriately applied to Lev Gleason as a publisher. He was suspiciously looked at for his sympatization with forms of communism, so I guess in the 1950s many people developed a beforehand attitude of refusal towards all of his work in general. Just an idea.

@JVJ: I am very grateful for the information and suggestions, and coming from you it's an assurance…
I will try to contact Art Scott. Was "Nobody Asked Me, But" the fanzine title? And what’s APA-5? I guess those fanzines are pretty rare now.

[Yoc]

Hi Vaillant,
If you talk with Mr Scott, please ask for permission to share the feature on the site as a text or jpg scans if he has a copy.
I think many others here and online would like to read it as well.

-Yoc

[vaillant]

Sure Yoc, if I’ll be able to get in touch with him.

In 2002, as I was already fascinated by Daredevil (in fact I have been fascinated since the early 1990s, as we started to buy our first Overstreet guides and the little I could see from those small b/w cover reproductions impressed me more than early Timelys) I have been briefly in touch with Michael Norwitz, who used to have a site which is now defunct. When I asked him if he knew some collector or person to know more of Daredevil and Biro he addressed me to a guy named Mark Svensson. I never contacted him, since those were still pretty early Internet times, and surely golden age comics weren’t so easily available to purchase online, let alone to look at, but I should try that old email address as well.

Thanks again.

[Yoc]

 
Your story is eerily similar to my own V.
I too fell hard for Daredevil while reading the Overstreet 1980 edition.
Silver Streak Comics #6 with that classic cover just mesmerized me for years and was I thrilled to finally get to read it online over 20 years later.

The last 6 years have been a golden age for comic scanning and sharing.

[vaillant]

It seems to me Biro knew what you should expect from a cover.
In fact, I was lucky enough to buy a Daredevil #45 many years ago, when on eBay there was almost nothing.
I must admit I was a little disappointed, since the internal artwork wasn’t so impressive, and I expected to find more Daredevil in action, while the Little Wise Guys were starting to become the book stars'. Anyway, it was my first Golden Age book.
Not that I have many, now. Costly as they are you are forced to very slow proceeding, but at least now sellers are more approachable from Europe, thanks also to eBay (which has the drawback to alter the perceived value of a comic, if you want my opinion).

If I may ask, how old are you Yoc? In 1980 I think I was more or less reading The Eternals and Omega the Unknown (in italian), which appeared both on an antologic title dedicated to the Eternals. See here: http://atomik67.altervista.org/COMICS-EDITORI/CORNO/ETERNI-DOCUMENTI/Eterni_Crono_1.htm
I was 11 years old, and I did not even know an Overstreet price guide existed.

[Yoc]

I'm a couple years older than you V.  And I was reading The Micronauts and Rom at the time along with Ghost Rider.