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Author’s Preface to
Words of Wonder, The Life and Times of Otto Binder

The simplest way for me to explain what Otto Binder’s writing means to me, personally, is to point out that he scripted most of the stories in the first comic book I ever read, an eighty-page giant published in 1960 called the Superman Annual #1. Since the nine stories in that extra-thick comic book introduced me to the comics medium, which has been a great source of joy and fascination for me ever since, it would be hard to overstate Binder’s importance in my life. Would another author’s stories have had an equally thunderous effect on me? Maybe. Maybe not.

Like a space rocket, Otto’s significance to me came in more than one stage. Stage two arrived within weeks after I discovered comics fandom in 1964, and received a copy of one of the premier fan magazines, Alter Ego. Its seventh issue featured a lengthy article about the exciting and sometimes whimsical adventures of Captain Marvel and the other members of his “family,” Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel. I venture to say that “One Man’s Family,” the article in A/E by Roy Thomas, inspired hundreds of comics fans to look for old Fawcett comics featuring the “Big Red Cheese,” as he was affectionately dubbed. Roy’s piece perfectly captured the charm of those Golden Age comics. Soon I managed to get my hands on tattered copies of some of those vintage comic books, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Captain Marvel instantly became one of my favorite characters. Though the stories bore no credits, I knew who had written by far the majority of them, because he’d had a long letter in the back of that same issue of Alter Ego: Otto Binder.

While books on the lives and work of the best comic book artists are not in short supply, few have been devoted to comic book writers (not writer-artists). A disparity is understandable, given the emphasis on visuals in comics … but why is it so lopsided?

Recently, I resolved to do something to remedy that inequity by writing a book about Otto Binder that would delve into his life and career in depth. I was, however, immediately beset by an obstacle: I had never met the man. He had passed away in 1974. While I intended to focus in large part on his writings, his ideas, and the trajectory of his career, it would seem an incomplete book without conveying something of the man himself: his background, his motivations, his creative methods, his personality, his disappointments and his triumphs. What sort of person was he? My main avenue was to seek out those who had known him. In that pursuit I was blessed by the generous cooperation—nay, active participation—of numerous intimates of Otto Binder: his friends, colleagues and collaborators. Aid of immeasurable importance was also provided by the family of Otto’s wife, especially Patricia Turek, and Jack Binder’s daughter Bonnie Binder Mundy. Invaluable, too, was the assistance offered by a man who knew Otto for forty years: legendary DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz.

In addition to that were the numerous fans whom Otto had welcomed into his houses, both in Englewood, New Jersey, and Chestertown, New York. These fans, who were the recipients of Binder’s generosity of time and energy, often had ongoing contact with him, some to the extent they should be numbered among his friends. He was unfailingly open to his fans, and some of the interviews he gave were tape-recorded (including one in 1973 that had heretofore been lost), as was his panel discussion at the first full-fledged comic book convention in New York in 1965. I’ve been able to listen to Otto Binder reminisce about the gala days of comics in the 1940s, discuss his views on the potential of the medium, and share his sometimes unorthodox opinions on everything from UFOs to communication with the dead—just like those lucky souls who were able to listen to him so many years ago, in person.

Then, at the eleventh hour, came a wonderful discovery: Otto’s manuscript from 1948 for the autobiographical book Memoirs of a Nobody. Completed, unpublished and apparently forgotten, this charmingly light-hearted look at his life was among Binder’s papers bequeathed to SF historian Sam Moskowitz, which were acquired by the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M University upon Sam’s passing. I owe a great debt of gratitude to curator Hal Hall for providing a copy of this memoir, as well as about fifty letters from the correspondence between Otto and his brother Earl, during and after their writing partnership. To my knowledge, the contents of these letters have never been published before.

Thus, if this book succeeds in evoking the personality and essence of Otto Binder, it’s because I came as close to meeting him as anyone could—who didn’t.

One thing I chose not to do was try to relate an all-inclusive history of Fawcett Comics, or their most famous characters, the Marvel Family. While Otto’s thirteen-year stint as chief writer for Fawcett is certainly examined in some detail, I was chiefly interested in what Otto and Jack Binder contributed to those memorable Fawcett comic books. But the Binder brothers were only two of the dozens of writers and artists who contributed mightily to the success of Fawcett. For those who are interested in a more complete history of Fawcett comics, I recommend P. C. Hamerlinck’s excellent Fawcett Companion (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2002) and The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 2 (Supergraphics, 1972). Between the two of them, you’ll get the whole picture.

Otto Binder’s decade-long stint as a writer for science fiction and weird pulps was largely unknown to me when I began this book. I took great delight in learning about this work, which goes far beyond the Adam Link series. That portion of his career comprises about twenty percent of Words of Wonder. The rest is devoted to his thirty years writing comic books, where (in my estimation) he achieved his greatest heights. It has been a privilege to chronicle the life of such a huge talent.