Captain Billy Joe "Biljo" White was born on this date in 1929. He is perhaps most famous for creating the term "Batmania" with the publication of his fanzine of that same name. White was a dedicated fan artist, one of the best of his time but he never broke into the pros. He created more than a few heroes but for me none match the sheer awesomeness of The Eye which he co-created with Grass Green. Wearing a spell-binding helmet the Eye was a classic crimefighter with a Golden Age gloss in a Silver Age fanzine environment.
Biljo White co-created a hero who is one of the most fascinating superheroes I've run across. Working in a city filled with crime, this hero goes out and deals with the threats in a most direct manner. The visuals on this hero are outstanding, having instant recognizability and long-lasting memory. That impossible helmet, those jodhpurs - outstanding! The original design was dreamed up by Richard "Grass" Green who drew a single image of a strange bloke with a bizarre eye helmet. Later this was used by White to actually fashion a character from the single image.
The Eye operated in Yorkton City. He's actually an undercover cop who uses the guise of the Eye to operate in the underworld as a seeming criminal enforcer. The character debuted in full bloom in Star-Studded Comics #3 and later in Fighting Hero #10 before graduating to his own self-titled comic. He soon became a favorite among the fanzine crowd and went on to appear ultimately in two issues of his own. The combines pulp mystery with superhero hijinks, possessed of a helmet that can hypnotize and blind his enemies. It also allows him to see behind him.
Over that last several decades his adventures have been reprinted in various places by Hamster Press. Even new adventures written by Bill Schelly have been created with the blessing of White himself.
(Jerry Ordway)
(Ron Frenz)
(Bill Schelly)
I got to know The Eye though the publications of the late Bill Schelly's Hamster Press. Here's a link with more on the father of the Eye -- Biljo White:
BILJO WHITE
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