The Truth About Alcatraz!

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A craggy island sits in San Francisco bay. Though it was many years ago when it was given form, it just so happens that it is only today, the 12th of August, 1775, that it will be given a name!
The Truth About Alcatraz!
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Published in	The Transformers issue 17
First published	4th May, 1985
Writer	Yves Duval (uncredited)
Artist	Marc-Renier Warnauts (uncredited)
Letters	uncredited
Translation	uncredited

So why does my spider-sense keep tingling? This article contains content that may be upsetting or discomforting to certain readers. Reason: Outdated language and stereotypical depictions of Native Americans, and a mention of suicide in the notes section.

The history of the prison island of Alcatraz, from pelicans, to prisoners, to protestors, to park visitors.

Synopsis

The prison called Alcatraz in San Francisco bay was once a barren rock, home only to pelicans. Though on the map by the late 16th Century, it was finally named in 1775 by a Spanish-speaking captain after the birds that inhabited it – Isla de Alcatraces, a name that would become Alcatraz.

Alcatraz remained uninhabited for a long time, until it became a prisoner-of-war camp. In 1934, the camp was repurposed as a federal penitentiary for hardened criminals under the strict supervision of warden James A. Johnston. One of the first inmates, armed robber Joe Bowers, didn't plan to stop long, and within months he became the prison's first attempted escapee. He didn't make it far before being shot from the watchtowers.

On the 16th of December, 1937, Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempted escape through a wash-house window. After parting ways and diving into the icy waters, the two men were never seen again.

In 1946, inmate number 548, Joseph 'Dutch' Cretzer, led a mutiny with five other men. Two warders were killed, but Cretzer's plan was to treat them as living hostages to exchange for their freedom. Military troops were brought in as reinforcements; after a prison higher-up commented his belief the hostages to be dead, the troops breached the criminals' stronghold. Cretzer and two of his cohorts, Coy and Hubbard, were shot dead during the assault.

The surviving mutineers were tried, their lawyers paid for by donations from fellow prisoners. After a unanimous guilty verdict, Judge Goodman sentenced Shockley and Thompson to death in the gas chamber, and life imprisonment for Carnes, a Native American inmate.

In 1963, the high council of the penitentiary administration decided that, between the prisoners and the families of warders living on the island, the upkeep of Alcatraz was financially untenable. By the 15th of May that year, the last prisoners on Alcatraz were transferred elsewhere. Despite plans, the buildings were left unoccupied.

Carnes wasn't the only Native American to take residence on the Rock. On the 8th of March, 1964, five Native American protestors occupied the land to try and claim it back from the United States. On the 9th of November, another group of Native Americans led by Richard Oakes invaded the island for similar reasons. The occupation was ended by a sudden outbreak of fire on the 11th of June, 1971.

Two years later, President Nixon signed a plan to refurbish Alcatraz island as a tourist destination, leading to today, where tourists from all over the world are shown around the grim facility.

Featured characters

Cops	Robbers	Others
James A. Johnston Judge Goodman Foreperson of the jury High council of the penitentiary administration President Nixon Alcatraz staff Guards Wardens Warders Snipers Tour guide	Various prisoners Joe Bowers Robert Stroud Theodore Cole Ralph Roe "A2 1041" and cohorts Mutineers Joseph Cretzer Coy Hubbard Shockley Thompson Carnes	Pelicans Captain Captain's subordinate Billy Billy's mom "Indian" protestors Three tourists

Quotes

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—

Notes

Original printing

• "La dramatique histoire d'Alcatraz", Le Journal de Tintin, 21st February 1984
  • French issue number: NT441
  • Belgian issue number: TB08/84

As with other From the Fact Files stories, this comic was produced for the long-running Franco-Belgian magazine Le Journal de Tintin. No personnel are credited by Marvel UK. The original title can be translated to "The Dramatic Story of Alcatraz".

"The Truth About Alcatraz!" appeared in The Transformers issue 17, translated and re-lettered by unknown parties. The contents page refers to this reprint as "From Our Transformers Fact Files", while the actual opening page has a "From the Fact Files" banner.

Real-life references

It really happened! Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was a real prison on Alcatraz Island. Its nickname, "the Rock", is also mentioned; this moniker for the island predated the federal prison. From history, we also know the following:

• The "captain" who named Alcatraz was Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala.
• Referred to here as a "prisoner-of-war camp", the fort on Alcatraz was used as a military prison from 1868 onwards.
• James A. Johnston was indeed the first warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, and his tenure at San Quentin is also mentioned.
• Joe Bowers is based on Joseph "Dutch" Bowers, who was indeed shot during an apparent escape attempt.
• Other prisoners said or depicted to be held in Alcatraz include Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Joseph "Dutch" Cretzer, and Robert Stroud. Stroud and another man are pictured, but the latter does not appear to be any of those mentioned.
• Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe also participated in a real escape attempt. The comic's mention of there being 14 total escape attempts is historically accurate.
• The "dramatic events" in 1946 are more popularly called the "Battle of Alcatraz". Other than Cretzer, the participants were Bernard Coy, Marvin Hubbard, and Clarence Carnes, who were joined by Sam Shockley and Miran Thompson. Two wardens did indeed die during the battle, and the marines were brought in as reinforcements, referred to here only as "troops".
• Judge Goodman is Louis Earl Goodman.
• Alcatraz was closed as a federal prison in 1963 as it was too expensive to run. The last registered man was named Frank Weatherman.
• Native American protestors staged a demonstration on Alcatraz on March 8, 1964. This was followed by the so-called "Occupation of Alcatraz", which lasted between November 20, 1969 and June 11, 1971. Richard Oakes was a key figure. A fire of disputed origin affected the dwindling protest in June 1971.
• The plan signed by Richard Nixon was named "An Act to Establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area", and was a deal for the National Park Service to buy the land from the army.
• "Michigan Boulevard" is indeed a label for one of the street- and landmark-themed corridor names of Alcatraz, though it is more commonly known as "Michigan Avenue".

Artwork and technical errors

• Despite saying the prison opened in 1934 and closed in 1963, the comic repeatedly states this to be a period of 28 years, rather than 29.

Historical inaccuracies

• The opening caption refers to Alcatraz as being comprised of 12 acres. In reality, it is closer to 22 acres.
• The naming of Alcatraz by Juan Manuel de Ayala is a whole disputed thing:
  • Here, he gives it the name "Isla de Alcatraces" – this is actually the modernised version of Ayala's name, "La Isla de los Alcatraces".
  • Ayala may have actually given the name La Isla de los Alcatraces to a neighbouring island, Yerba Buena Island, which somehow got switched onto what we now call Alcatraz.
  • The name comes from the word "alcatraces", commonly thought to mean "pelicans", but there's a good chance it meant "gannets".
• Alcatraz is said to have been uninhabited for a long time before World War I, when it had been a military prison since 1868. The comic calls it a "prisoner-of-war camp", which is a bit of an oversimplification; during this time, it held Civil War prisoners, Native American protestors and, during World War I, conscientious objectors.
• The comic gives January the 1st, 1934 as some sort of significant date for the prison. In reality, the penitentiary opened its doors on August 11th that year.
• The reasoning behind Joseph Bowers' escape attempt is disputed, with his being out of bounds attributed to a bid for escape, an attempt at suicide by sniper, picking up litter, or feeding seagulls. Regardless, he ignored the guards' signals to stop climbing the fence and was shot.
• Robert Stroud, the famed Birdman of Alcatraz, was not actually permitted to keep birds in the prison. He did so in his previous incarceration at Leavenworth.
• Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe's escape attempt wasn't via a wash-house; they went through the window of a "mat shop", a room where prisoners turned discarded tyres into rubber mats for the U.S. Navy.
• Though the comic is correct on there being 14 recorded escape attempts, the actual breakdown of the figures is slightly incorrect, claiming 39 prisoners attempted, 26 of which were caught, seven shot, and six disappeared. In real life, there were 36 individual attempts (counting two men who tried twice), of which 15 were caught, eight gave up, seven were shot, one confirmed drowned, and five missing.
• It was Bernard Coy, not Joseph Cretzer, who was the real ringleader of the Battle of Alcatraz. It was not intended to be a hostage situation from the outset, with that becoming a desperate back-up plan after their first plot failed. Nine officers were taken hostage, eight of whom were still alive when the marines breached the cell block. Two prison officers did indeed die, but not in the manner depicted here:
  • William A. Miller was a hostage, and was shot by Cretzer, but he died from his injuries the following day.
  • The other officer, Harold Stites, was hit by friendly fire during the breach.
• Interestingly, the comic skips over the June 1962 escape attempt, often considered a factor in Alcatraz being put under scrutiny and leading to its closure.
• The "high council of the penitentiary administration", if presented as a proper noun, is made up, presumably a lost-in-translation version of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Given the comic's provenance, it may have been influenced by the French equivalent, the Direction de l'Administration pénitentiaire.
  • It's uncertain where the "ninety dollars a day" figure comes from – in real life the cost of Alcatraz's upkeep cost ten dollars per prisoner per day.
• The last prisoners were emptied from Alcatraz on March 21st, 1963, not May 15th. The last prisoner, Frank Weatherman, had a register number of 1575, not "A2 1041". Prisoner 1041 was Hiller Arthur Hayes, and the "A2" appears to be a corruption of "AZ", short for "Alcatraz".
• Putting aside the fact that the "Indians" are more properly known as Native Americans...
  • The March 8th protest consisted of about 40 people, not the five depicted here.
  • Richard Oakes was a key figure, but not a "chief" – he was a university student activist.
  • The Oakes-led occupation on November 9th was hardly the gun-toting invasion dramatised here. In real life, it first consisted of him and two other men trying unsuccessfully to swim onto Alcatraz's shore, followed by a later boatful of 14 protestors staying peacefully overnight.
  • The fire broke out before June the 11th, and the number of protestors had dwindled from the hundreds there had been at peak. June the 11th was merely the day government forces removed the 15 remaining protestors from the island.
  • Also, these depictions of Native Americans are not accurate to the protestors' appearances and have not aged well.
• Nixon is said to have signed the $119 million plan two years later than June 1971. In real life, he signed it in October 1972, and the funds allocated were $120 million.

Continuity errors

• Most of the comic takes place during the James A. Johnston's tenure as warden. If every panel featuring a warden is intended to be him, then his appearance (particularly his weight) fluctuates dramatically.
• James A. Johnston, new warden of Alcatraz federal penitentiary, turns up by boat on January 1st, 1934, to open his new prison and seemingly immediately meet with his warders to lay down his no-nonsense regime... but on his arrival, one of the guards asks "Who's the guy getting off the boat?" What, did he miss a briefing or something?

Other notes

• Marc-Renier Warnauts's speech bubbles are dope.