Sorry to hear of the passing of one of America's great actors, Martin Landau, at the age of 89. Obits like this one will tell you all about his acting career but they'll gloss over his first career. Mr. Landau started out to be a cartoonist and had great success in that field before deciding to try for another.
As you'll see below, Landau drew for newspaper strips, not comic books. At one point though, the belief spread across fandom that he had done the many comic books signed by an artist named Ken Landau. I had met both men so I kept debunking the story that there were one and the same and finally, back when I was writing for Comics Buyers Guide, I decided to settle it once and for all. I contacted Martin Landau and in October of 1998, did the following brief interview with him…
ME: Did you ever draw a comic book in your whole life?
ML: No. I loved comic books, of course. I loved strips and I loved comic books. I remember buying the World's Fair comic in 1939 with Superman, and I still have my copy of Famous Funnies #1. But no, I never worked in comic books, as Ken Landau or any other name.
ME: Do you remember what comics you liked? Books or strips?
ML: Well, Will Eisner was my favorite. The Spirit. He was the best of what we called the "wrinkle artists." These were the guys who drew a lot of folds in clothing and had a lot of texture in their work. Caniff was my other favorite. Those guys…they could create an entire movie on the page. Eisner's work was amazing. I've never seen a storyboard artist in Hollywood who could be as cinematic as what Eisner did on The Spirit. Is he still around?
ME: Still around, still drawing. I see him every year at the San Diego Convention.
ML: Well, when you see him, tell him Martin Landau loved his work. I don't know if that will mean anything to him but he was a terrific inspiration, not just to me but to everyone I knew who drew back then.
ME: Your main experience in comics was with Gus Edson on The Gumps…
ML: The Gumps, exactly. I started working at the News in New York doing illustrations in '47…or maybe it was '46. I was working for them while I was still in high school. Gus had a fellow working with him before me named Sam Hale. He was an old United Features cartoonist and he left. So after I'd been at the News for a few years, I became Gus's assistant. I started off lettering and doing backgrounds and in just a few months, I was drawing whole strips by myself, usually the Sunday page. Gus had a continuity on Monday through Saturday but the Sunday page was an entity unto itself, and he eased me into doing it. At first, he'd write it and maybe rough it out but pretty soon, I was doing the whole thing. I did it for about a year, maybe a little longer.
ME: At the time, did you envision moving on to your own strip some day?
ML: That was the goal, yes. That's what everyone wanted.
ME: But you got interested in acting instead?
ML: Eventually. I started getting that interest and I had to pursue it. But while I was at the News, I loved hanging out with the cartoonists. Some of them worked in the building and there were others who lived out of town but they'd come in once a month or every few months. I had a cubicle for a time right next to Bill Holman. Do you know his work?
ME: Smokey Stover. I have one of his originals on my wall.
ML: Marvelous stuff. Bill was quite a guy and he worked very hard. He had the worst eyesight of anyone I ever knew who made their living with their eyes. He had these Coke bottle glasses — they were the thickest lenses made and even with them, Bill had to get down, with his eyes about two inches from the Bristol Board in order to draw. You know, I have a few originals here. I have a few Terry and the Pirates by Caniff. I loved that work. I was heartbroken when George Wunder took it over. He was one five-hundredth the artist Caniff was. I have a bunch of Edson's Gumps strips, of course. I have a Smitty. I liked all their work. I loved Herriman and Roy Crane…Wash Tubbs. And Winsor McCay, especially.
ME: Do you still draw? When was the last time you drew something for publication?
ML: I draw from time to time. I was drawing this morning…I had a few minutes. I paint. I sometimes do caricatures. But no, I haven't drawn for money since — I don't know — around '51, which is when I left the News.
ME: So we can say with some certainty that you are not Ken Landau the comic book artist.
ML: As far as I know, no. I never drew for comic books. But you know, I had this happen before. When [the nightclub] Studio 54 was open, there was some altercation with some of the people involved. Some fellow who was mixed up in it told the police and told the reporters that he was my brother. They called me and I said, "I remember sisters around the table at home. I don't recall any brothers." I don't recall being Ken Landau the comic book artist, either.
I did convey Martin's regards to Will Eisner, who was very pleased to hear that Landau fondly remembered his work. Will asked me, "Do you know if he was any good as a cartoonist?" I said, "I don't know…but he couldn't have been that bad if he was drawing the Gumps Sunday page at age 22 or so."
Eisner said, "Then it's a shame we lost him to acting. There are a lot of great actors around but we could use more great cartoonists." I'm not sure fans of Landau's acting would all agree.