Comic-book artist and writer Sam Glanzman, "who for nearly 80 years brought a gritty, richly detailed style to illustrating war stories, including his own," died July 12, the New York Times reported. He was 92. In about 70 stories for DC and two graphic novels for Marvel, Glanzman re-created his experiences during World War II serving in the Pacific on the destroyer Stevens. While he built his reputation on wartime comics, he also worked on Tarzan and Hercules comic books as well a dinosaur series called Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle.
Glanzman's books include A Sailor's Story and U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories. Drew Ford, a publisher who is editing reissues of Glanzman's works, said when he began to gather the rights to the Stevens stories from DC and Marvel in 2014, he had asked the writer why he had created them. "He got emotional," Ford recalled. "He banged his fist on the table and said, 'Because they really happened.' "
"His fantasy worlds were very coherent," said Mark Evanier, a comic book writer and historian. "Everything was of a piece, and nothing was phony. He took a bold legend like Hercules and gave it an interesting spin. Kona was a neat comic, very silly but very convincing. He was one of those artists you'd follow anywhere. 'We're fighting dinosaurs now? O.K., I believe it.' "