I notice "Max the Magician" is by Howie Post. Ever since I watched a documentary on Wertham's decency in comics fear mongering, whenever I see Post's name, I can't help but think of his reaction to Max Gaines' testimonial in front of Congress. Gaines couldn't sleep the night before, so he took diet pills to try to get through it and Post was quoted as calling him an idiot, because he believed he actually made things worse. We'll never know for sure if that's true (it may well be it would have got worse whatever anyone did), but I have to hand it to him that he tried (maybe he didn't have a choice, he might have been subpoenaed). And I believe it was the same Senator Joseph McCarthy who flamed the communist paranoia who was involved in the comics paranoia too. I seem to recall Max Gaines had a mustache, so I wonder if Max the Magician is meant to be a spoof of him.
I've seen several photos of Max Gaines, and only one on which he had a moustache. And, I think he only had that for a short year or two, when he was reasonably old, and his son, Bill was running the business. And to top it off, his moustache wasn't pencil thin, but rather reasonably full. Furthermore, Gaines was short and somewhat stout, while "Max The Magician" was portrayed as being tall and fairly thin.
So it wouldn't have been a caricature of him. Most importantly, Wonderland #4 was issued in April, 1946, 8 years before Max's son Bill testified in those Senate hearings. So, Post couldn't have been spoofing either Gaines in his "Max The Magiciuan strory". However, Post, working out of New York, could potentially have worked for both, before those hearings. had issues with Max Gaines, as he was not such a friendly boss as his son Bill, and drawn a parody of him. But from what I've read and heard, Bill Gaines was well liked by his workers. But "Max The Magician didn't look anything like Max OR Bill Gaines.
