CREATOR PROFILE: FLETCHER HANKS (1889-1976)
Fletcher Hanks may not be a household name in the world of comic books but his sheer creativity and influence on the later underground comics of the 1960s earn him a place in comics history.
Born Dec 1st 1889 Hanks was active in the comics industry for only three years from 1939-1941 but his work featured some of the most imaginative characters and story situations ever seen before or since. He worked under a variety of pseudonyms including Hank Christy, Charles Netcher, C.C. Star, Barclay Flagg, Bob Jordan, Lance Ferguson, Chris Fletcher, Henry Fletcher and Carlson Merrick– his most notable works were STARDUST THE SUPER WIZARD and FANTOMAH.
Getting his start from a correspondence school Hanks eventually found himself working under Will Eisner at his extremely busy Eisner & Iger Shop which was responsible for creating comic book content for many of the major publishers. Eisner recalled Hanks as a very punctual artist whose early work was very much in the style of the better known Basil Wolverton. Hanks was the sole producer of his comics, handling the writing, art, lettering and coloring and found himself one of the oldest creators in the stable.
Hanks would produce most of his work for Fiction House and Fox Features Syndicate and his ghostly “mystery woman of the jungle”, Fantomah first appeared in JUNGLE COMICS #15 predating Wonder Woman by several months.
Fantomah was visually striking, his ability to render a beautiful woman was unique and owed a great deal to fashion illustrators of the time, but Fantomah’s power was the ability to transform into a hideous skull faced creature to met out justice to evil doers.
Hanks crude style was at home in the Golden Age of Comics where many titles were produced by artists whose work had been rejected by the more prestigious comic strip syndicates or who were in the early phases of their own careers.
The Super Wizard STARDUST featured a striking physique and a too small for his body head, giving his frame a massive appearance that looked like he could go toe to toe with Superman and barely break a sweat.
His stories broke conventional norms and often featured bodiless heads attacking or other equally bizarre situations; in one example Earth loses its gravitational pull sending mankind floating endlessly into space. It’s unknown if he truly left the comics industry in 1941 but it would seem he did. Documents show him reappearing in 1958 as a politician in Oxford, Maryland until the 1960s.
His work was rediscovered by a small group of underground comic creators in the late 1960s and he gained a cult following for his oddball style and insane storylines.
Little is known of Hanks personal life other than his marriage to a woman named Margaret in 1912 and their having four children, many of whom have provided the few biographical bits of information we have.
Hanks was found dead, penniless, frozen to a park bench in Manhattan on January 22nd 1976, but the legacy of his work goes on. Fantagraphics Books collected two volumes of his work I SHALL DESTROY ALL THE CIVILIZED PLANETS in 2007 and YOU SHALL DIE BY YOUR OWN EVIL CREATION in 2009. In 2016 Fantagraphics collected both volumes in one omnibus retitled TURN LOOSE OUR DEATH RAYS AND DESTROY THEM.
