Splash page for the Phantom Lady story from Police Comics (vol. 1) #18 (April, 1943) by Frank Borth.
Weirdly enough, years and years ago I knew Frank Borth when we both lived on the East End of Long Island. I don't mean to infer that we were good friends, but were friendly adversaries on the local political front; I was the deputy mayor for the town's Democratic administration, and Frank was a Republican committee member from Montauk.
Back then, at least at that level of politics, people could still be on opposite sides of an issue but at the same time be cordial and even downright friendly with each other. And Frank had some history in the town, as he had been a Town Council member long before I even made the scene at town hall.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until long years after I had moved away and Frank had passed away that I learned he had been a comic book artist during the Golden Age. Much of his work was done at Quality Comics, where he worked on the Phantom Lady and Spider Widow features.
Phantom Lady splash page from Police Comics (vol. 1) #17 (March, 1943).
The first appearance of the Spider Widow by Frank Borth from Feature Comics (vol. 1) #57 (June, 1942).
Had I known that while I was living there I'm sure I would've regularly been making the thirty minute drive to his house in Montauk, just to talk to him about working in comics back in the Golden Age.
I never got to do that, but I have the next best thing: a three-part interview/profile of Frank and his illustrious career by Jon B. Cooke, published in the TwoMorrows' magazine Comic Book Creator issues #31 (Summer, 2023), #32 (Fall, 2023), and #34 (Spring, 2024).
