Jack C. Harris may not be the Eating the Fantastic guest I’ve known the longest — that honor belongs to Paul Levitz, whom I met in 1971 during the 4th of July weekend Comic Art Convention — but I met Jack two years later at the same con where he famously cosplayed at the masquerade as the Batman villain Two-Face, and knowing someone for 52 years is no small thing.

More than half a century later, we got together for dinner the weekend of Ditko Con, which Jack attended because of his many collaborations with the legendary Steve Ditko over the years, including on titles such as The Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, The Demon, Wonder Woman, Legion of Super-Heroes, The Fly, and others. Jack wrote about their relationship in his 2023 book Working with Ditko.

While I was working in the Marvel Comics Bullpen during the mid-’70s, he was one of DC’s Junior Woodchucks, as their assistant editors were called. He worked for a time under editor Murray Boltinoff before becoming a full editor himself. Among the additional titles he wrote were Kamandi, The Ray, Isis, Karate Kid, Metal Men, and others, plus he edited Black Lightning, Firestorm, Madame Xanadu, and more.

We discussed why he decided to abandon his original plan of becoming an artist and chose writing instead, the chance comics shop encounter which led to him being offered a job at DC Comics, why he was astonished when he first saw the colors of Superman’s costume, how his working relationship with Steve Ditko began, an intriguing comparison between Julie Schwartz and Stan Lee I’d never considered, the greatest compliment he ever received during his comics career, the idiosyncrasies of editor Murray Boltinoff, which comics pro was responsible for the flowering of comics fandom, how he felt about the Marvel/DC divide during the time we were both assistant editors, what it was like working with the legendary creators who preceded us, the legacy character he regrets never having gotten the chance to write, his Human Torch story which took 17 years to get published, the contrasting ways Marvel and DC treated their Golden Age characters at the beginning of the Silver Age, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us at Laurel & Grouse —

1) Subscribe at Apple Podcasts — or wherever you choose to consume your podcasts — where I hope you’ll be tempted to sample a few of the 269 previous episodes.

2) Listen via the RSS feed of http://eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com/rss on the device of your choice.

3) Or simply use the embed below.

Here’s what you would have seen us nibbling had you been with us at Laurel & Grouse (save for Jack’s moroccan shrimp, which you can see above and were scarfed down before I remembered to snap a photo of there dish itself) —

Hokkaido Scallops
roasted pepper and almond romesco, melted leeks, picked ramps

Jumbo Lump Crab Tartine
apple, fennel, celery, radish, green goddess, warm foccacia

Beef Short Rib Stroganoff
paprika egg noodles, mushrooms, sour cream, rye breadcrumbs, dill

Scott’s Blackberry Crepe Brûlée
fresh blackberry cheesecake mousse, caramelized crepes

Jack’s Pumpkin Cheesecake Crepes
pumpkin cheesecake mousse, candied pepitas, caramel pumpkin sauce

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support my mission of breaking bread with creators of the fantastic while letting you eavesdrop, there are several ways you can help bring this podcast to the attention of potential new listeners looking for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics ear candy —

One is to rate Eating the Fantastic on Apple Podcasts and like it on Facebook.

Also — you could tell your friends about the show by sending them a link to your favorite episode and letting them know what I’m doing here.

Finally — I hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter of Eating the Fantastic, and help this podcast continue.

You could make a small recurring monthly donation over at Patreon, where there are various perks involved depending on your level of support, such as access to a patrons-only blog, getting a shout-out on the show, stickers, postcards, and more.

Or if an ongoing level of commitment’s not for you, or if Patreon’s just not your thing, then consider tossing a couple of bucks in the tip jar instead and making a one-time donation of any size via Paypal.me.

Or you could head on over to https://ko-fi.com/eatingthefantastic and send me the funds to cover the cost of a cup of coffee.

Coming up two weeks from now, you’ll be able to take a seat at the table for dinner with New York Times resident comic book guru George Gene Gustines.

Thanks for listening!