Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: harry donenfeld

Hal Seeger and Bill Williams' G.I. Jane Comic Book, Up for Auction

The most succesful title from obscure publisher Stanhall Publications, G.I. Jane was the creation of animators Hal Seeger and Bill Williams.

Hal Seeger (1917-2005) is best known as a creator and producer of animated cartoons, most famously with the 1960s series Batfink, Milton the Monster, and Fearless Fly from his own Hal Seeger Studio, but he also had a hand in the comic book industry during the late Golden Age.  Seeger's path in both comics and animation began with Fleischer Studio, where he was originally hired as an assistant to Bud Counihan on the Betty Boop comic strip.  Seeger proceeded to work on a variety of animated cartoons at Fleischer until the company went bankrupt in 1941.  Seeger's career in comic books was brief but memorable, beginning with work on DC Comics' Leave it to Binky, and including titles for Stanhall Publications like The Farmer's Daughter, Oh, Brother and G.I. Jane.

Stanhall Publications was owned by the father and son team of Michael Estrow and Stanley Estrow and was created as a vehicle for Seeger's comic book work, with the company name deriving from Stanley and Hal's first names. The publisher was part of a constellation of periodical publishing companies with loose connections to DC Comics foundational figures Harry Donenfeld and Paul Sampliner. Best remembered for becoming a co-owners of DC Comics and of distributor Independent News among other entities, Donenfeld and Sampliner had a hand in a number of other comics and magazine industry companies throughout the 1940s and early 1950s.  Beyond Stanhall, other parts of this constellation which specifically involve the Estrow family include Ribage and Trojan Publishing.

G.I. Jane's final issue was published by a company called Merit Publications. Merit Publications has obvious connections to the Estrow comic publishing empire via continuing titles from Stanhall, Trojan, and Ribage, along with having the same editorial office address as Stanhall.  But New York City corporation Merit Publications was founded in 1939 by former Prentice-Hall execs Glen Hutchens and G.P. Anthony, along with Mary Pinto. Merit Publications was primarily a publisher of inexpensive diet and self-help books.  The exact details of Merit's brief entry into comics is unknown, but it's generally believed that the Estrow companies were failing or otherwise exiting the comic book business at this time, as was happening with many publishers with the onset of the Comics Code.  Note that Merit Publishing (as opposed to Merit Publications), best remembered for the Whiz Bang-style illustrated joke book Hot Dog a few decades prior to this is likely unrelated here.

At 11 issues, Stanhall's G.I. Jane was the company's most successful title, and is best remembered for some suggestive covers by Bill Williams, who had been a Walt Disney Productions animator.  It's a brief but polished series featuring some underappreciated stories and artwork, and there's a G. I. Jane Group of 5 (Stanhall / Merit, 1953-55) Condition: Average GD+ up for auction in the 2024 June 23-25 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122426 at Heritage Auctions.

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