DAN DECARLO

After the war, he started working in the field of comics, first with Stan Lee (as you’ll read in the interview) and then defining a look that most people throughout the world will recognize in an instant.  He worked for Archie Comics for over 40 years.

I met Mr. DeCarlo on the first day of the NYC Big Apple Con in November 2000 and set up an interview with him, which he graciously agreed to do on the second day.

Mr. DeCarlo has recently made headline with his dispute with Archie Comics on the creator status of Josie and the Pussycats.  Read on for further details, folks.

Wacky hi-jinks ensue.

Interview Conducted By
Ed Mathews

Mr. DeCarlo, when did you decide that you wanted to be a cartoonist?

I think when I was born.

Oh, very good.

Really, I started at a very early early age and I’ve been drawing ever since.

Let’s see…  which was the first character that you created?

Oh, I don’t think I created anything until a few years ago, but if you mean what was my first job…

Ok...

When did you make the switch from Marvel, to I guess Archie? They’re not Harvey are they?  Now they’re Harvey?

Oh, no…

It’s all Archie…

Well, Stan Lee and I were doing a syndicated strip, called Willie Lumpkin, and when that died I figured out that I wanted to spread out. I didn’t want to work just for Marvel anymore. So I went to Archie. And I was doing a story every now and then, and working for two or three other publishers. Then they started giving me more and more work. Finally, Harry Shorten, the editor, says, “We’ll give you all the work you want if you work exclusively for us.” I said fine. And that’s the way its been for forty years.

And recently you were let go by these people?

Yes. I can’t really talk about the lawsuit you know.

Fair enough.

It’s a gag order., but I’m suing them, and they fired me because of that after 40 years. So that’s the status now. I’m not working for them. I’m working for The Simpsons…

Oh, very good.

…and I’m doing some Scooby Doos for DC.

Oh,  excellent. So DC comic …  they were smart enough to say “Here’s Dan DeCarlo! Yeah, lets hire Dan DeCarlo.”

More or less, that was it. But it’s not on a full time basis, but I like it that way better.

Oh yeah?

Yeah, I’m a little, getting old you know? So a couple less days a week suits me fine.

Excellent. So that give you time to do (I point to some of Mr. DeCarlo’s work at his table)…  do you enjoy the conventions?

Yeah, Gives me time to paint, which I wanna do.  So to get around that, to paint, I’m painting the Josie characters.  ‘Cause I’m allowed to draw that. Josie and Sabrina [the Teenage Witch]. I’m allowed to draw those characters, but I can’t draw Archie…

Ah…  because you created Josie, you created Sabrina.

Yeah, I’m saying I created them so that gives me the right to continue drawing it until they decide in court whether I have a case or not.

Did that Bono… Sonny Bono’s amendment… that’s the one we’re talking about, right?

Yeah, yeah…

I think that I  heard that supposedly, a creator can come back and reclaim their…

Yeah.

I hope that works out, because….

That’s basically part of the fight. But they’re arguing on the strength of the “work for hire” agreement.  That everything I did belongs to them. And my lawyer says that the fact that I was freelancing, that that doesn’t hold completely true, because I did a lot of other things besides Josie. That’s where is stands now.

And now Josie is based on…

(Mr. DeCarlo points to his wife, Josie) She gave me the idea of doing a syndicated strip, but no name. It did have a name actually.  It was called Buzzing Bunny, but I wasn’t happy with it. And she walked into the hairdressers one day with a little bouffant hairdo, and a little bow, and I said, “That’s it!” I fashioned my girl to look like that. I got the hair; I might as well give it a name! And I called her Josie.

Perfect!  Over the years you’ve probably met a lot of different fans. Are there any favorite stories, anybody that you’ve met who stands out in your mind?

As a fan?

As a fan. We can talk about pros in a minute, but any fans? I mean, you don’t have to name them, but any stories, you know.

It’s hard to say, I didn’t socialize with any of them. But I did meet one artist, who is a friend of mine; a fan of mine.  We became good friends: Terrie Austin. Are you familiar with him?

Oh, yeah!

We’re very good friend now.

Excellent.

But most of them are just like you. You see them fleetingly at conventions. Sometimes you’re hitting it off, you have lunch or dinner with them. There’s another guy in California, Scott Jeffery. He’s a good fan. Every time I go to California for a convention, I always go to lunch or dinner with him.

So, there’s a good social aspect to these conventions?

Yes.

Not just…

Not just business.

Right, right. Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans while you’re here? Any message? You know, thank you, or uh…

Yes! I certainly want to thank them for coming, and I especially appreciate their coming to this table, and even more so if they buy stuff.

Ah!  Very good! (I smile)

But… I like the fans.

Thank you Mr. DeCarlo, Thank you very much and I hope everything goes your way in a very Sonny Bono way.  [We mean in a good way, not the way Bono ended up - Ed.]

I hope so, too.

Take care, thank you.