Gardner Fox literary manuscripts, comic books and other material
Scope and Contents
This collection incorporates material received in 1980 with the original collection received in 1967 (formerly under call number Ax 337). It consists of manuscripts and a variety of published material including fan periodicals, periodicals (some containing Fox's work), comic books, and paperback books.
The manuscripts have been separated into book-length, novellas, and story-length, and are arranged alphabetically by title within each subseries. Most of the manuscripts are carbon copies. When letters from Fox's agent, the August Lenniger Literary Agency, pertained directly to a manuscript, they were included with the manuscript.
Approximately thirty fan periodicals, illustrated by the super heroes of the comic field and arranged by title, begin the published works series. These are followed by Fox's collection of military magazines, and then other periodicals also arranged by title. Issues including Fox's work list the article title. Tear-sheets have been described briefly, but not listed individually. Over 600 comic books, arranged alphabetically by title, make up the next subseries of published works and provide a panorama of this field of writing. Comic books by Fox have not been distinguished from those he collected, although he has scripted the majority of them.
The final series of the collection is miscellaneous material. Over 200 letters from avid fans of all ages are first, followed by four notebooks containing information on costumes, setting, and plots. The collection ends with research notes, plot outlines, business correspondence with literary agencies, stills from a Western movie, circa 1950s, and other miscellany.
Photographs include prints.
Gardner Fox's published books, previously stored in this manuscript collection, have been removed and are now cataloged individually.
Dates
- 1936-1978
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
A prolific author of comic books, westerns, short stores, novels and science fiction, Gardner "Gar" Francis Fox (1911-1986) was one of the most influential comic book script writers in the business. A part of this branch of Americana since its inception, Fox wrote before the advent of Superman and Batman and continued to script comics until his death.
Born in Brooklyn on May 20th, 1911, he graduated from St. John's University with a B.A. in 1932 and later with an LL.B. in 1935. In 1936 he became a lawyer, practicing law by day and writing adventure stories at night. In 1938, his long career of successful free-lance writing began with the publication of stories in Detective Comics. For this series, he created and wrote the scripts for the character Steve Malone, District Attorney. His first published short story, “Weirds of the Woodcarver,” appeared in Weird Stories, 1944, and his first novel, Borgia Blade, appeared in 1953 published by Gold Medal Books.
In the early years of comic books, he created the first Flash comic, wrote for Justice Society of America, did several issues of Detective Batman, Dr. Fate, Spectre and Starman, all for National Comics. He later created Magazine Enterprises' Ghost Rider, one of the most widely read series of the period when heroes began to fade out. For Columbia Comics, he wrote some Big Shot Comics. Later, when revivals were popular, he wrote Adam Strange, Justice Society of America, Justice League and other super hero stories.
Some of the pseudonyms under which Fox wrote are: Jefferson Cooper, Rod Gray, Kevin Matthews, Bart Somers, John Henry Morgan, James Kendricks, John Steele, Simon Majors, Troy Conway and Lynna Cooper.
Extent
31.25 linear feet (65 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Gardner Fox (1911-1986) was a comic script writer and author of pulp fiction. The collection contains manuscripts, comic books, paperback books, periodicals, and miscellany.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into the following series: Series I: Literary Manuscripts; Series II: Published Works, Subseries A: Fan Periodicals, Subseries B: Military Magazines, Subseries C: Periodicals, Subseries D: Comic Books; Series III: Miscellaneous, Subseries A: Fan Letters, Subseries B: Notebooks, Subseries C: Research Notes, Plot Outlines, Business Correspondence and Other, Subseries D: Photographs.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Gardner Fox in 1967 and 1980.
Physical Description
65 containers
Processing Information
Collection processed by Barrett Codieck and Tanya Parlet.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- August Lenniger Literary Agency
- Authors, American -- 20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Cartoonists -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Comic book fans -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Comic books, strips, etc. -- Authorship Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Comic books, strips, etc. -- Specimens Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Comic books, strips, etc. -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Comics Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Detective and mystery stories, American -- Authorship Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fan magazines -- Specimens Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fox, Garnder F. (Gardner Francis), 1911-1986
- Literature Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Manuscripts for publication Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Military art and science -- Periodicals Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Pulp literature, American -- Authorship Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Gardner Fox Literary Manuscripts, Comic Books and Other Material
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Barrett Codieck
- Date
- ©2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
