All in Black & White Interview with Nick Cuti - 2008

Welcome to another interview at All In Black & White For 75 Cents!

Last summer, I was lucky enough to get the chance to talk to writer/edtior Nick Cuti for my blog Digest Comics, about his time as editor of DC's last surviving digest title. Nick was friendly to talk to and generous with his time, so of course I bugged him for a second interview, this time about his time as a writer and editor for Warren and Charlton's b/w magazines! Nick was just as generous this time around, too:

All In Black and White: What writers did you read growing up that inspired you to want to write yourself?

Nick Cuti: My favorites were Issac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, H.P. Lovecraft, H.G. Wells and my all time favorite was...Ray Bradbury. I became a writer because I was such a voracious reader. I read anything which caught my imagination, both fiction and non-fiction, and then one day, while serving in the Air Force, I was reading a Creepy comic book and I said to myself, I can write stories like this.

I sent in a story: "GRUB" and it was accepted for which I was paid the incredible sum of $25. Tom Sutton illustrated it and after I saw it in print, I was hooked. While still in the service I contacted Jim Warren and began writing more stories. I preferred the limitations of a comic book script to the free style of a short story or novel. Even today I prefer writing screenplays to novels.

B/W: How did it work, writing for Warren? Were you asked to come up with a story or did you write stuff on your own and submit it?

NC: It was both. Most of the time I just submitted a story but occasionally I was given a photograph of a cover, which a painter had submitted, and asked to write a story around it. On a few occasions, when a painting was particularly striking, Jim would have several writers write a story based on the painting and feature all of the stories in one issue.

B/W: Did you write stories with a specific artist in mind? ("Ooh, Tom Sutton would really go to town on this", etc?)

NC: Of course. While I was writing a story I would imagine how a particular artist would illustrate it and when I submitted the story I would ask for that artist. If they could accommodate me they would but very often the artist I requested was busy with their own assignments while other artists were available.

My biggest and most pleasant surprise came when Russ Heath chose my story "Dime Novel Hero" out of fifteen scripts he had been sent. It was set in the old west and featured an unexpected appearance of "The Lone Ranger" which Russ had been drawing for the newspaper strip. I guess that's why he had chosen it. The results were incredible and that became one of ten favorite stories.

B/W: Was writing an enjoyable process for you? To some it seems to come easily, others its torture getting every word.

NC: That depends. If I need to write a story and there is no inspiration then each word is agonizing. I try to avoid "writer's block" by always writing in my head. This gives me the opportunity to develop a story from a raw idea and then when I need to pen something for a deadline I just pull one of these tales out of my head and the story practically writes itself. If the characters are strong enough, they'll write the story for me.

B/W: If Warren had done an "Best of Nick Cuti" issue, which stories of yours would you have picked?
NC: Let's see. "Dime Novel Hero" about a werewolf hired by cattle ranchers to eat up the sheep herders' sheep, "The Saga of Honeydew Melons" about a android stripper who became so excited by applause that when her clothes are gone she begins to strip off her plastic skin and then her metal parts. Then there's "Cilia" about a beautiful sea creature who rescues a sea captain from drowning and marries him...with tragic results.

"Brother Hawk" told the tale of two pre-Columbian Native American brothers in search of their totem animals only to turn on one another when they find them and in "Closer Than Sisters" a woman travels back in time to protect herself from being murdered by her aunt and uncle. "Little Guy" is about a carnival midget who gets revenge on the magician who cut his wife in half. "The Microbe Patrol" where the crew of a microscopic ship hunt for the answer to the disappearance of other patrols and "The Vorpal Sword" where a knight possesses a sword which becomes a beautiful woman by evening.

"Thinking of You" where a pilot and his fighter plane are in mental rapport with one another all the way until death and lastly "The Tale of The Fox" where a Chinese Empress escapes execution by using her ability to change into a fox. These are my own favorites because upon re-reading them they work for me. Other stories were better in concept than in the telling.

B/W: There's that famous unrealized project, Pow!, that you were going to do with Wally Wood for Warren and you were going to be the editor of. Were you going to write for it, as well? Were there topics or stories you thought would work for Pow! that wouldn't for Warren's other magazines?

NC: Pow! was intended to be a magazine of adult stories which would rely on adult tribulations rather than gimicky plots. Unfortunately, Jim Warren and Wally Wood (who was to be the editor in chief of Pow!) could not see eye to eye on concepts. Woody agreed to do the magazine only if I were the editor and since I was his assistant at the time he knew he could rely on me to follow his ideals. Jim agreed and then went off to Europe.

While he was away Woody and I wrote stories and brought them to various artists. When Jim returned he said he would be the editor in chief and I would just be assistant editor. I became furious and offered to return the editor's salary which I later recanted since I had done the work. In turn Jim refused to pay me for stories I had written and I sued Jim and won the case. About a year later Jim and I met at a convention and settled our feud. He even offered me work and came through when I needed him. I was very glad we didn't remain enemies. He was the man who had given me my first break.

B/W: You did work for some Charlton magazines, too, like Space: 1999 and Six Million-Dollar Man. Did you pursue these assignments or did Charlton come to you?

NC: I was on staff at Charlton at the time as assistant editor and staff writer so when Charlton got the rights to these shows Joe Gill and I wrote a lot of the stories. Later other writers joined in.

B/W: Some of your Space: 1999 stories are very ambitious in their scope, much more elaborate than the show ever got to be. Did they have any input on what you did or were you allowed mostly creative carte blanche?

NC: They had the right of final acceptance but I don't ever recall them turning down a story line or requesting changes. They did censor some of Gray Morrow's art because Gray, a great lover of the female form sometimes showed a little too much anatomy for their tastes.

B/W: Did you enjoy writing for the b/w magazines any more/less than the regular color comics? Was there a huge difference as a writer when coming up with stories?

NC: I tried to come up with more mature ideas for the magazines since they were intended for college students and older who might be reluctant to be seen reading a comic book in public.


Nick was at so many important moments in what I like to think of as the "Golden Age" of the b/w magazine format (1960-1980 or so, I'd say) that it was so fun for me getting to talk to him--again--about his fine work and his experiences at Warren and Charlton. Thanks Nick!

In tribute to Nick, we'll be talking about Warrens all this week, each of them featuring one of the stories Nick mentioned above! Be here, it'll be good!