Sam Glanzman facts for kids

Samuel Joseph Glanzman (born December 5, 1924 – died July 12, 2017) was an American comics artist and writer. He was known for drawing and writing comic books. Glanzman was famous for his Hercules series, which was about the powerful Greek demigod. He also wrote true stories about his time serving in World War II on the U.S.S. Stevens. Another well-known work was "The Lonely War of Willy Schultz", a story about a German-American soldier during World War II.

About Samuel Glanzman

His Early Life and First Comics

Samuel Glanzman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 5, 1924. His parents were Florence and Gustave Glanzman. He had two brothers, D.C. Glanzman and Louis "Lew" Glanzman, who also became artists. Lew later became a painter.

Sam finished school after grade school. He started working in the comics industry in late 1939. This time is known as the Golden Age of comic books. He worked for companies that created comics for publishers. For Centaur Publications, he wrote short stories with drawings for Amazing-Man Comics.

Later, for Harvey Comics, he created a superhero called Fly-Man. This character appeared in Spitfire Comics #1 in August 1941. Sam wrote and drew Fly-Man for at least two issues. He also worked on other Harvey Comics, including war stories and superhero tales about the Human Meteor. He even contributed to comics based on the radio show Green Hornet Comics until 1943.

Serving in the Navy

During World War II, Glanzman joined the U.S. Navy. He served on a destroyer ship called the U.S.S. Stevens. He left the Navy in 1946. After the war, he decided not to work in comics for a while. He felt the pay was too low. Instead, he worked in different jobs, like in cabinet shops and boat yards.

After he got married in the 1950s, he worked at Republic Aviation. There, he helped install machine guns on military jets. During this time, he lived in different towns in New York, including Rockaway, Valley Stream, and Massapequa Park.

Sam wanted to return to art. In 1950, he did some work for Heroic Comics. He also found better-paying jobs illustrating children's books. He might have helped his brother Lew with a series of children's books about airplanes. However, work was not always steady, so he went back to Republic Aviation for a time.

Working with Charlton Comics

Glanzman's cover for Hercules #11 (May 1969).

In 1958, Glanzman started working for Charlton Comics. This company was known for paying less, but Sam created many detailed stories for their war comics. These included titles like Attack, Battlefield Action, and War at Sea.

In 1961, he moved to Dell Comics. He worked on their Combat anthology and drew the comic book version of the movie Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He also drew other comics, from adventure stories like Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle to animal dramas like Lad: A Dog. Sometimes, he still did freelance work for Charlton, using his initials "SJG".

From 1964 onwards, Glanzman often worked for both Charlton and Dell. He mostly drew war stories. He also worked on a Tarzan series for Charlton. Even though some people thought he helped create the detective character Sarge Steel, Sam said he only created "U.S.S. Stevens", "Attu", and A Sailor's Story.

In the 1960s, Glanzman and writer Gill created the Hercules: Adventures of the Man-God series for Charlton. This series ran for 13 issues from 1967 to 1969. It showed Sam's creative and experimental art style.

During this time, he also co-created "The Lonely War of Willy Schultz" with writer Will Franz. This story was different from other World War II comics. It was about an American soldier named Willy Schultz who had German family. He was wrongly accused of murder and escaped. He then blended in with the German Army while trying to clear his name. This popular story appeared in Charlton's Fightin' Army comic.

Moving to DC Comics

War comics editor Joe Kubert brought Glanzman to work for DC Comics, a very big comic book company. Sam drew for popular war titles like Our Army at War, Star Spangled War Stories, and Weird War Tales. For many years, he drew the "Haunted Tank" feature in G.I. Combat.

At DC, Glanzman began his series of true stories about his time on the U.S.S. Stevens. These stories first appeared in Our Army at War #218 in April 1970. He also drew stories for DC's supernatural-mystery comics. He helped create the first issues of Ghosts and Blitzkrieg.

By the late 1970s, many of DC's war comics were ending. Glanzman continued to work on G.I. Combat and also started freelancing for Charlton again. After his last "Haunted Tank" story in 1987, he drew two more stories for DC in 1988. He later helped ink (add ink lines to) other artists' work for Western miniseries about Jonah Hex.

Later Career and Famous Works

A Sailor's Story / Marvel Graphic Novel #30 (March 1987).

Glanzman also drew war stories for Marvel Comics from 1986 to 1989. These appeared in magazines like Savage Tales and the Marine Corps series Semper Fi. Most notably, he wrote and drew A Sailor's Story for Marvel Graphic Novel #30 in March 1987. This was a 60-page true account of his time on the U.S.S. Stevens during World War II. It was released as a hardcover book. A paperback version came out later, along with a sequel called A Sailor's Story, Book Two: Winds, Dreams, and Dragons, which continued his wartime experiences.

In the 1990s, he inked comics like Turok Dinosaur Hunter and Zorro. He also wrote and drew a story for Fantastic Worlds #1. Later, he contributed to anthologies, including a true-life story called "On the Job: Cooks Tour" in Streetwise (2000). He also drew a four-page story for a benefit comic called 9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember, Volume Two (2002).

From 1999 to 2001, a company called America's Comic Group reprinted many of Glanzman's Charlton Comics works. These included titles like Hercules, Flyboys, and Nam Tales.

In 2003, Glanzman started creating webcomics. He wrote and drew a 19th-century nautical adventure called Apple Jack. He also worked again with writer Will Franz on a Roman centurion series called The Eagle. In 2012 and 2013, new "U.S.S. Stevens" stories by Glanzman appeared in the Joe Kubert Presents comic series. In 2015, all of Glanzman's "U.S.S. Stevens" stories and A Sailor's Story graphic novels were collected into books by Dover Publications.

Samuel Glanzman passed away on July 12, 2017, in Maryland, New York.