William Franz, who wrote as Will Franz, Willi Franz, and Willie Franz, is an American comic-book writer and occasional penciler, best known for his Charlton Comicswar 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 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, 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. It appeared in most subsequent issues through #37, with the script mostly credited to Willi Franz. That same month, Franz and Glanzman co-created the Charlton feature "The Devil's Brigade". First appearing in War Heroes #27, 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 is falsely accused and convicted of murder; he escapes and blends into the German Army while seeking a way to clear his name and retain his Allied allegiance. Franz opposed the American war in Vietnam, 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, and was serialized through issue #92. 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 miniseriesThe Lonely War of Willy Schultz #1–4, 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-shotStar Combat Tales #1. Critic Mark Evanier 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 anthologyWeird War Tales #5. In the 2000s, Franz re-teamed with "Willy Schultz" artist Glanzman on the Roman centurion series The Eagle, portions of which were published in the comics anthologyNegative 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, introducing writer Will Franz and artist Sam Glanzman' feature "Captain Willy Schultz|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.
