Flo Steinberg, Marvel Comics stalwart, dies

Flo Steinberg

UPDATE II (5:55 p.m. ET) The New York Daily News says Flo’s age was 78.

UPDATE (5:30 p.m. ET): I don’t have a specific age for Flo. Apologies.

ORIGINAL POST: Florence “Flo” Steinberg, at one point Stan Lee’s “Girl Friday” at Marvel Comics and later a comic book publisher, has died, according to the Newsarama website.

Today, Marvel is a part of Walt Disney Co. and known mostly for its movies. When Steinberg worked there in the 1960s, Marvel was a modest operation. It had nearly gone out of business in the 1950s. It actually relied on a sister company of much larger rival DC Comics for distribution.

She gained the nickname “Fabulous Flo.”

Steinberg departed Marvel in 1968. Here’s an except from the Newsarama obituary about what happened next.

Steinberg was also a key figure in the independent comics scene, launching what many consider to be the link between “underground” comics and modern-day “alternative comix” with the 1975 one-shot Big Apple Comix. Featuring work by such luminaries as Neal Adams, Wally Wood, Mike Ploog, and Marie Severin, Big Apple Comix broke ground in employing “mainstream” comics creators in stories featuring more sexual and real-world elements than most typical fare of the time.

Another website, The Comics Beat Culture, also posted a tribute. Heidi MacDonald wrote, “Flo returned to Marvel in the 90s as a proofreader, where I met her, as did many Marvel staffers of the era and she become an icon all over again.”

Flo didn’t receive regular credits in Marvel Comics published in the 1960s. But she was a presence in a 1965 record. That year, Marvel started a fan club, the Merry Marvel Marching Society. The record was part of what you’d receive if you joined.

The record is part of this YouTube video:

Some tributes to Steinberg were posted Sunday afternoon by comic book professionals past and present.

This is a hard hit. Flo Steinberg has passed away.https://t.co/6mAXKugVMI pic.twitter.com/JFTQUsTNqG

— Dan Slott (@DanSlott) July 23, 2017

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Flo was the living heart of 1960s Marvel. https://t.co/UJIsK6QH1K

— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) July 23, 2017

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R.I.P. Flo Steinberg. Only met her a few times, but she radiated kindness and light. She was a comics icon and I mourn her loss.

— Tony Isabella (@thetonyisabella) July 23, 2017

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Flo Steinberg self-published BIG APPLE COMIX in the mid-1970s, with contributions from anyone who was anyone. A forgotten gem. pic.twitter.com/z08Jp89zl2

— Tom Brevoort (@TomBrevoort) July 23, 2017

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A moment of silent prayer for FABULOUS FLO STEINBERG, whom we lost this week! No sweeter, better, or cuter person existed in the universe!!!

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 24, 2017

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