William Franz, who wrote as Will Franz, Willi Franz, and Willie Franz, is an American

comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

writer and occasional

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

, best known for his Charlton Comics war stories, mostly published from 1967 to 1970. Franz is particularly remembered for the ongoing feature " The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz", a Vietnam War-era serial about a

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

U.S. Army captain during World War II. The Willy Schultz storyline was a departure from most other combat features of this time, with its conflicted hero caught between loyalties.

Biography

Early career

Franz broke into comics with the seven-page story "The Sniper" in ''Charlton Premiere'' #19 ( cover-date July 1967), from the Derby, Connecticut-based Charlton Comics. There he would write and occasionally helped draw war-comics stories for such titles as ''Army War Heroes'', ''D-Day'', '' Fightin' Army'', ''Marine War Heroes'', and ''War Heroes''. With artist Sam Glanzman, Franz co-created the feature " The Iron Corporal", starring a World War II American corporal fighting with the Australian Army in the Southwest Pacific, in a 10-page story in ''Army War Heroes'' #22 (Nov. 1967).Will Franz
at the Grand Comics Database It appeared in most subsequent issues through #37 (April 1970), with the script mostly credited to Willi Franz.Willi Franz
at the Grand Comics Database That same month, Franz and Glanzman co-created the Charlton feature "The Devil's Brigade". First appearing in ''War Heroes'' #27 (Nov. 1967), it also appeared in ''Fightin' Army'' #79, 82, and 83. The series revolved around commando troops in North Africa. According to Franz:

"The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz"

During this time Franz co-created, with artist Sam Glanzman, " The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz". During combat in the European Theater, U.S. Army captain Schultz (a

) is falsely accused and convicted of murder; he escapes and blends into the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

while seeking a way to clear his name and retain his

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

allegiance. Franz opposed the

American war in Vietnam The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and his Willy Schultz stories, featuring a conflicted hero caught between loyalties, reflected the divisiveness of the era. Despite an initial inclination to kill Schultz at the end of the war, Franz instead had him go off with the daughter of a German general to start a new life. "The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz" debuted in Charlton's '' Fightin' Army'' #76 (Oct. 1967), and was serialized through issue #92 (July 1970). Selected stories were reprinted by Charlton many times thereafter. Following Charlton's dissolution in the 1980s, stories were collected by Avalon Communications/America's Comics Group in the 1999

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

''The Lonely War of Willy Schultz'' #1–4 (May–Nov. 1999), with the script credit now reading Willie Franz. One was reprinted, along with an "Iron Corporal" story and Charlton war-comics stories by others, in the Avalon

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

''Star Combat Tales'' #1 (2000; no

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

). Critic

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and bl ...

observed In 1970, Franz left Charlton and, for the most part, the world of professional comics.

Later career

In 1972, Franz had one short piece, "Slave," published in the DC Comics anthology '' Weird War Tales'' #5 (May–June 1972). In the 2000s, Franz re-teamed with "Willy Schultz" artist Glanzman on the Roman

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

series ''The Eagle,'' portions of which were published in the comics anthology '' Negative Burn''. In late 2007, Franz was ill and having difficulties paying his medical expenses. Franz's "Willy Schultz" collaborator Glanzman auctioned pages of original art from the series to help finance Franz's expenses. As of summer 2011, a recovered Franz was teaching writing and hosting event nights for Independence Care System, a nonprofit organization for Medicaid patients with long-term disabilities and other health issues.

Accolades

Charlton Comics' ''Fightin' Army'' #76 (Oct. 1967), introducing writer Will Franz and artist Sam Glanzman' feature " The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz", is among the comics included in author and comics essayist Tony Isabella's ''1,000 Comic Books You Must Read''.

References

External links

* Additiona
WebCitation archive
made June 15, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Franz, Will Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American comics writers