Yay! It's Joe Messerli! (Part 1)

One of the great things about having a blog like this is never knowing who might contact you. Before I had finished setting up the site (when it was just "coming soon"), Joe Messerli emailed me out of the blue and informed me that during the 1950's, he had been an assistant to Al Wiseman. He wrote:

"I was ghosting the Napoleon strip and going to The Chouinard Art Institute in L.A.(1955) when I started working for Al Wiseman (penciling and lettering Dennis).

"He hired a few other artists freelance, but ended up taking me to Pine Flat [two miles west of California Hot Springs] with his family. He later told me he'd interviewed 60 or so people. I was flattered.

"Al decided to move away from the city and he recalled that, as a child of seven, had watched his father build the big El Capinero Lodge in Pine Flat, CA."

Above: A 1950's postcard featuring the El Capinero Lodge.

"I worked for Al in Pine Flat, CA in 1955-1956 as his sole assistant. We did go trout fishing. Jim, Al's son, was a little kid. The Wisemans had a dog named Ruff, a small version of Dennis' dog, hair over eyes and all. Jim and his 2 sisters took the school bus down to Porterville every day (an hour's ride).

"I thoroughly enjoyed living there...learned  the value of life in a small village, where everybody knew your name. My home was the lodge, the HUB of life there. (Sad to say, the place burned down in the early 60's).

"I got bored at Pine Flat and left (I was young--25). Went back down to LA, worked on samples for a month, interviewed at UPA Pictures (Mr. Magoo). Got the job. Went in a completely different direction, designing titles, including the very first Twilight Zone logo. Did all the hand lettering on the title of the Kirk Douglas film, The Vikings (it was made to look like the Bayeux Tapestries). Painted backgrounds, airbrushed products for commercials (nowadays they do that stuff with computers), some storyboard work...a little bit of everything.

"Got married to Evelyn, who worked at UPA in 1959. (Still married to her...very UNhollywood). Went to NBC, did a lot of title stuff, including the color drawings for the credits on Bonanza. Still see them on TVLand cable once in a while. NBC did not give people raises, so moved over to Cambria Studios in West Hollywood (Clutch Cargo, Space Angel, etc.)

"-Joe Messerli"


Thanks for all the great info Joe! I'll be following up with interviews about Joe's career in future posts. Recently I emailed him, asking if he knew Al Wiseman's friend (and later Dennis artist) Frank Hill. Joe replied:

"No, but Norman Maurer did a lot of inking for Al for a few months in LA. Norman was married to Moe (Three Stooges) Howard's daughter and later ended up owning the Stooges property. I drew and inked the Stooges comic books for a few years for Western (Gold Key). Norman's son Jeff did a lot of inking for Western."

I thought it was interesting that Joe worked on the Three Stooges comics. There are certain issues that people mistake as being drawn by Al. Joe probably drew those while still under the influence of the Wiseman style.

Joe will be appearing at the Twilight Zone Convention in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersy on August 12 & 13. Stop by and say hello!