Skywald Publications was an American publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

anthologies ''Nightmare'', ''Psycho'', and ''Scream''. It also published a small line of comic books and other genre magazines. Skywald's original comics were similar in appearance and quality to rival black-and-white publisher

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren (publisher), James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include ''After Hours (magazin ...

, and even employed many of the same creators. Skywald operated from 1970 to 1975. Comics professionals who produced work for the Skywald magazines include writers T. Casey Brennan,

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

Gary Friedrich Gary Friedrich (; August 21, 1943 – August 29, 2018) was an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' and in the following era, the series '' The Monster of Fr ...

Doug Moench Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer of comics, novels, short stories, newspaper feature articles, weekly newspaper comic strips, film screenplays and teleplays. He is notable for his ''Batman'' wo ...

Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, known for his comic book ''Cerebus the Aardvark, Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political an ...

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

, and

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...

; and artists

Rich Buckler Rich Buckler (February 6, 1949 – May 19, 2017) was an Americans, American comics artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deat ...

Gene Day Howard Eugene Day (August 13, 1951 – September 23, 1982) was a Canadian comics artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Star Wars'' licensed series and ''Master of Kung Fu''. He was considered a mentor by independent comic writer/art ...

Vince Colletta Vincente Colletta (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991)Vincent Colletta

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie (comics), Zombie and Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil ...

, Bruce Jones,

Pablo Marcos Pablo Marcos Ortega, known professionally as Pablo Marcos
at the

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. B ...

Chic Stone Charles Eber "Chic" Stone (January 4, 1923July 28, 2000)Charles E. Stone
at the Soc ...

, and

Tom Sutton Thomas F. Sutton (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2002) He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1955, and worked on art projects while stationed at Fort Francis E. Warren, near Laramie, Wyoming. Later, stationed at Itam ...

. Many who also contributed to rival Warren employed pseudonyms. Future industry star John Byrne published his first professional story, a two-pager written by editor

Al Hewetson Alan Hewetson ( August 30, 1946 Interview conducted May 26, 1973. – January 6, 2004) Additional . was a Scottish-Canadian writer and editor of American horror-comics magazines, best known for his work with the 1970s publisher Skywald Publ ...

, in Skywald's ''Nightmare'' #20 (Aug. 1974).

History

Founding

The company name is a combination of those of its founders, former

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

production manager

Sol Brodsky Soloman "Sol" Brodsky (April 22, 1923 – June 4, 1984) was an People of the United States, American comic book artist who, as Marvel Comics' Silver Age of comic books, Silver Age Unit production manager, production manager, was one of the key arc ...

("Sky") and low-budget entrepreneur

Israel Waldman Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

("wald"), whose

I. W. Publications I.W. Publications (also known as Super Comics) was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The company was part of I.W. Enterprises, and named for the company's owner, Israel Waldman. I.W. Publications was notable fo ...

(also known as Super Comics) in the late 1950s and early 1960s published unauthorized comic book reprints for sale through

grocery A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

and

discount store Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs. Types (Uni ...

s. Skywald was based in New York City. Brodsky, who also served as editor, brought in

– briefly an assistant to Marvel chief

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

and a freelancer for the

horror magazines and others – as a freelance writer. "Archaic Al", as he later jokingly called himself in print, quickly became the associate editor, and when Brodsky returned to Marvel after a few months, Hewetson succeeded him as editor. Hewetson, aiming at a more literary bent than the work of industry leader

, developed what he called "the Horror-Mood" and sought to evoke the feel of such writers as Poe,

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

and

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

. Interview excerpt from Hewetson, Al. ''The Complete Illustrated History of the Skywald Horror-Mood'' (Critical Vision : 2004), Skywald's first publication was ''Nightmare'' #1 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d Dec. 1970). The first issues of magazines like ''Nightmare'' and ''Psycho'' featured some original work and a lot of reworked reprint filler, mostly from horror comics published by

Avon Comics Avon Publications is a leading publisher of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reaching and ma ...

in the 1950s.Arndt, Richard J
''Horror Comics in Black and White: A History and Catalog, 1964-2004''
(McFarland, 2013), p. 162. In an unusual arrangement, Hewetson managed editorial from his home in

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Canada, though the publisher was based in Manhattan. As he described in 1973,

Non-horror magazines

Skywald also produced two issues of the magazine '' Hell-Rider'' (Aug. and Oct. 1971), featuring a vigilante motorcyclist with a

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...

-equipped bike. The character was created by

(who would go on to co-create the Marvel motorcyclist ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple superheroes or antiheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'') and

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

Ross Andru Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21. In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan (comics), T ...

. Backup features were "The Butterfly" and "The Wild Bunch", both written by Friedrich, with art credits disputed by different sources for issue #1; the second-issue "Butterfly" story is credited to penciler

and inker Esposito, the second "Wild Bunch" to penciler-inker

. Another two-issue title, ''The Crime Machine'', consisted solely of comic-book

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

reprints from the 1950s. A remaining title, ''Science Fiction Odyssey'', was planned for September 1971 publication, but withdrawn; some of its stories eventually appeared in the horror magazines. The company also published a small number of magazines unrelated to horror or comics. Among these was ''

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

'' (1970), a "special tribute issue". Hewetson said in 1973, "We produced, when this company began, a production called ''The Judy Garland Book'' which is the most threatening thing which ever happened to our company. We printed far too many copies and we sold maybe four or five. We lost a lot of money." Interview conducted May 26, 1973. Skywald published two issues of the men's adventure title ''King: The Magazine for the Man's Man'' in 1971; the first issue featured a Harry Rosenbaum cover and interior illustration by

Boris Vallejo Boris Vallejo (born January 8, 1941) is a Peruvian-American painter who works in the science fiction, fantasy, and erotica genres. His hyper-representational paintings have appeared on the covers of numerous novels in the science fiction, sword ...

.''The Complete Illustrated History of the Skywald Horror-mood'' edited by Alan Hewetson, pg. 255

Comic books

The short-lived color comic-book line, edited by Brodsky, comprised the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

titles ''Blazing Six-Guns'', ''The Bravados'', ''Butch Cassidy'', ''The Sundance Kid'', and ''Wild Western Action''; the

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

title ''Tender Love Stories''; the

series '' The Heap''; and ''Jungle Adventures''. These all were combinations of new material and reprints. Contributors, in addition to some of those noted above, included

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

Mike Friedrich Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949) is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series '' Star*Reach'', one of the first independent comics. He is also an ar ...

, Jack Katz,

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics '' Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, e ...

, and

John Tartaglione John Tartaglione (January 14, 1921 – November 12, 2003),'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 a.k.a. John Tartag and other pseudonyms, was an American comic book artist best known as a 1950s romance-comics artist; a Marvel ...

. Notably, ''The Sundance Kid'' #1–2 (June–July 1971) contained

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

Western reprints from ''Bullseye'' #2–3 (Oct. and Dec. 1954). None of the comics lasted more than three issues, except the

romance comic Romance comics are a genre of comic books that were most popular during the Golden Age of Comics. The market for comics, which had been growing rapidly throughout the 1940s, began to plummet after the end of World War II when military contracts to ...

''Tender Love Stories'', which ran four. "The color comics, more or less, broke even," Hewetson said in 1973. "I think we could've continued with them to try and establish a color comics area, except for the fact that, at the very same time as Skywald began the color comics,

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

were engaged in a price war which hurt just about everybody."

Demise

Editor

, in an interview given shortly before his death of a heart attack on January 6, 2004, asserted the demise of Skywald was caused by: Skywald lasted through early 1975, with ''Psycho'' #24 (March 1975) being its final publication. ''Nightmare'' published 23 issues and ''Scream'' put out 11 issues.

References

External links

* * {{Comic book publishers in North America Comic book publishing companies of the United States Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Magazine publishing companies of the United States Companies based in New York City Horror comics Defunct companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies established in 1970 1970 establishments in New York City

History

Founding

Non-horror magazines

Comic books

Demise

References

Further reading

External links