The Engaging Life of Will "Willi" Franz
It was hot! Sticky, humid, a sweltering 90 degrees, and the perfect day to venture in to Brooklyn! If we thought the summer heat was scorching enough, 5 floors up at the offices of ICS, awaited the day's hot topic - Will Franz!
One of the most fascinating things about Will (known then as "Willi") is that he wrote some of the most violent, realistic and cerebral war comics in the history of the genre. Not in the history of Charlton Comics, but the GENRE ITSELF. He contributed to titles such as "Fightin' Army", "Fightin' Marines", "Army War Heroes", "D-Day", "Marine War Heroes", and "War Heroes" with his most famous story line being "The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz". This tremendous saga of a morally torn soldier was heightened with the artwork of the talented artist Sam Glanzman.
Impressive, no? Well, what if we told you that Will was a teenager when he was writing those comics for Charlton back in the mid 60's. Will is especially captivating... ha-ha, but then again, he IS a writer! He spent a few hours regaling us with tales of the old days, his no-nonsense look at the topic of war in print and his subsequent battles with the Comics Code Authority and the editor-in-chief at Charlton as well. You see, without giving away too much, Will is maybe the one and only writer that was censored at Charlton! He pushed the envelope so much that it may have even had a huge effect on his career.
You'll have to watch Charlton Comics: The Movie to hear the full story (and it's a good one). Suffice to say, Will Franz was an amazing interview and completely different from anything we've heard so far.
Up & Atom!
