Back Issue #101 by TwoMorrows Publishing

ROCK ’N’ ROLL COMICS ISSUE No.101 $8.95 December 2017

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW SAM J. JONES STAR OF THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL SCI-FI CLASSIC FLASH GORDON

SCHOOL’S OUT, TRUE BELIEVER! ALICE COOPER, MARVEL HERO KISS OFF, DOC DOOM!

KISS IN COMIC BOOKS

I THINK YOU LOVE ME!

PARTRIDGE FAMILY, THE COMIC

T.REX’S MARC BOLAN INTERVIEWS STAN LEE! SIR PAUL McCARTNEY, FEARLESS FRONT-FACER! 82658 00115 MARVEL’S STEELTOWN ROCKERS & LILA CHENEY! COMIC-CON’S HOUSE BAND, SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT! 1

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comics-based media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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“Comics Magazines of the ’70s and ’80s!” From Savage Tales to Epic Illustrated, KIRBY’s “Speak-Out Series,” EISNER’s Spirit magazine, Unpublished PAUL GULACY, MICHAEL USLAN on the Shadow magazine you didn’t see, plus B&Ws from Atlas/Seaboard, Charlton, Skywald, and Warren. Featuring work by NEAL ADAMS, JOHN BOLTON, ARCHIE GOODWIN, DOUG MOENCH, EARL NOREM, ROY THOMAS, and more. Cover by GRAY MORROW!

“Bronze Age Adaptations!” The Shadow, Korak: Son of Tarzan, Battlestar Galactica, The Black Hole, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Worlds Unknown, and Marvel’s 1980s movie adaptations. Plus: PAUL KUPPERBERG surveys prose adaptations of comics! With work by JACK KIRBY, DENNY O’NEIL, FRANK ROBBINS, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, FRANK THORNE, MICHAEL USLAN, and sporting an alternate Kaluta cover produced for DC’s Shadow series!

“Eighties Ladies!” MILLER & SIENKIEWICZ’s Elektra: Assassin, Dazzler, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Lady Quark, DAN MISHKIN’s Wonder Woman, WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS and ADAM KUBERT’s Jezebel Jade, Somerset Holmes, and a look back at Marvel’s Dakota North! Featuring the work of BRUCE JONES, JOHN ROMITA JR., ROGER STERN, and many more, plus a previously unpublished cover by SIENKIEWICZ.

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“All-Jerks Issue!” Guy Gardner, Namor in the Bronze Age, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, DC’s Biggest Blowhards, the Heckler, Obnoxio the Clown, and Archie’s “pal” Reggie Mantle! Featuring the work of (non-jerks) RICH BUCKLER, KURT BUSIEK, JOHN BYRNE, STEVE ENGLEHART, KEITH GIFFEN, ALAN KUPPERBERG, and many more. Cover-featuring KEVIN MAGUIRE’s iconic Batman/Guy Gardner “One Punch”!

“Bronze Age Halloween!” The Swamp Thing revival of 1982, Swamp Thing in Hollywood, Phantom Stranger team-ups, KUPPERBERG & MIGNOLA’s Phantom Stranger miniseries, DC’s The Witching Hour, the Living Mummy, and an index of Marvel’s 1970s’ horror anthologies! Featuring the work of RICH BUCKLER, ANDY MANGELS, VAL MAYERIK, MARTIN PASKO, MICHAEL USLAN, TOM YEATES, and many more. Cover by YEATES.

“All-Captains Issue!” Bronze Age histories of Shazam! (Captain Marvel) and Captain Mar-Vell, Captain Carrot, Captain Storm and the Losers, Captain Universe, and Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers. Featuring C. C. BECK, PAT BRODERICK, JACK KIRBY, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN, BILL MANTLO, DON NEWTON, BOB OKSNER, SCOTT SHAW!, JIM STARLIN, ROY THOMAS, and more. Cover painting by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Indie Super-Heroes!” NEAL ADAMS Ms. Mystic interview, Continuity Comics, BILL BLACK Captain Paragon interview, Justice Machine history, STEVEN GRANT/ NORM BREYFOGLE Whisper “Pro2Pro” interview, and the ’80s revivals of Mighty Crusaders and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. With BUCKLER, DEODATO, ELLIS, GRINDBERG, GUSTOVICH, ISABELLA, REINHOLD, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, & a NEAL ADAMS cover!

“Creatures of the Night!” Moon Knight’s DOUG MOENCH and BILL SIENKIEWICZ in a Pro2Pro interview, Ghost Rider, Night Nurse, Eclipso in the Bronze Age, I…Vampire, interviews with Batman writer MIKE W. BARR and Marvel’s Nightcat, JACQUELINE TAVAREZ. Featuring work by BOB BUDIANSKY, J. M. DeMATTEIS, DAVE SIMONS, ROGER STERN, TOM SUTTON, JEAN THOMAS, and more. SIENKIEWICZ and KLAUS JANSON cover!

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“Marvel Fanfare Issue!” Behind the scenes of the ‘80s anthology series with AL MILGROM, interviews and art by ARTHUR ADAMS, CHRIS CLAREMONT, DAVE COCKRUM, STEVE ENGLEHART, MICHAEL GOLDEN, ROGER McKENZIE, FRANK MILLER, DOUG MOENCH, ANN NOCENTI, GEORGE PÉREZ, MARSHALL ROGERS, PAUL SMITH, KEN STEACY, CHARLES VESS, and more! Cover by SANDY PLUNKETT and GLENN WHITMORE. (84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

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“BirdROCK People!” in the Flash BronzeGordon Age, ’N’ Hawkman ROLL COMICS! “DC in the ‘80s!” From the experimental JIM STARLIN’s team-up, star SAM J.Superman/Hawkgirl JONES interview, KISS in to the fan faves: Behind-the-scenes looks TIM TRUMAN’s Hawkworld, Hawk & Dove, comics, Marvel’s ALICE COOPER, T. Rex’s at SECRET ORIGINS, ACTION COMICS Penguin history, Blue interviews Falcon & Dynomutt, MARC BOLAN STAN LEE, PAUL WEEKLY, DC CHALLENGE, THRILLER, Condorman, and CHUCK DIXON and SCOTT McCARTNEY, Charlton’s Partridge Family, ELECTRIC WARRIOR, and SUN DEVILS. McDANIEL’s Nightwing. With GERRY David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman comics, Featuring JIM BAIKIE, MARK EVANIER, CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, Marvel’s Steeltown Rockers,GREG Monkees comics,DAN JURGENS, DOUG MOENCH, MARTIN GULER, RICHARD HOWELL, TONYof the Innocent.PASKO, TREVOR VON EEDEN, and others! & Comic-Con band Seduction ISABELLA, KARLALLAN KESEL, COLLINS, ROB LIEFELD, With MAX JACK KIRBY, Featuring a mind-numbing Nightwing cover DENNY and a GEORGE cover. by ROMEO TANGHAL! BILLO’NEIL, MUMY, ALAN WEISS,PÉREZ and others! (84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

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“BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES’ 25th ANNIVERSARY!” Looks back at the influential cartoon series. Plus: episode guide, Harley Quinn history, DC’s Batman Adventures and Animated Universe comic books, and tribute to artist MIKE PAROBECK. Featuring KEVIN ALTIERI, RICK BURCHETT, PAUL DINI, GERARD JONES, MARTIN PASKO, DAN RIBA, TY TEMPLETON, BRUCE TIMM, and others! BRUCE TIMM cover! (84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

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Volume 1, Number 101 December 2017 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury“thmics” PUBLISHER John “Cougar” Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich “Earth, Wind &” Fowlks COVER DESIGNER Michael “MC5” Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob “Zombie” Smentek

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Remembering Seduction of the Innocent, the band… and Miguel Ferrer

SPECIAL THANKS Jack Abramowitz Neal Adams Zeea Adams Isabel Addie Terry Austin Nick Barrucci Arvin Bautista Stuart Bell Al Bigley Chad Bowers Jarrod Buttery Paul Castiglia Amy Chu Chris Claremont Zal Cleminson Paty Cockrum Max Allan Collins Robert V. Conte Kelly Corvese Peter Criss Kelly Sue DeConnick Dynamite Entertainment Jackie Estrada Fayetteville Comic-Con Tom Florio Stephan Friedt Catherine Glen Chris Glen Dito Godwin Grand Comics Database Larry Hama Ed Hannigan Alex Harvey, Jr. Tyro Harvey Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Andy Helfer Heritage Comics Auctions James Hogg Dan Johnson Sam J. Jones Ken Kelly Mike Kelly Rachel Kilbury Reuben Kincaid Rob Kirby Scott Kolins Hans Kosenkranius David Anthony Kraft Bruce Kulick Elaine Lee Stan Lee Steve Leialoha Paul Levitz

INTERVIEW: Sam J. Jones, Flash Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A chat with the coolest cosmic hero from the rockin’ sci-fi classic

Richard Makinson Scott Manson Bill Maus Max Maxwell Hugh McKenna Bob McLeod Robert Menzies Tim Moen John Francis Moore Bill Mumy Allan Murray Fabian Nicieza Luigi Novi Kevin O’Rourke Dan Parent Keith Partridge Scott Pentzer Carol Rambo John Romita, Sr. Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Chris Ryall The SAHB Fans Facebook Group Jim Salicrup Shannon Steve Sherman Louise Simonson Chris Sims Spike Steffenhagen John S. Stuart Roy Thomas Steven Thompson Mort Todd Gerry Turnbull Peter Vassallo Dennis Woloch

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CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG BIGLEY: Cartoon by Al Bigley . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Take the last train to fanville to replay the Monkees’ comics connections FLASHBACK: Sir Paul McCartney, Fearless Front Facer! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Maybe we’re amazed by this Beatle’s mighty Marvel honor BACKSTAGE PASS: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 The story of the little-known (in the USA) musical Marvelite INTERVIEW: Marc Bolan Interviews Stan Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Man and T.Rex’s front man, plus Angie Bowie as Black Widow FLASHBACK: Saturday Morning Supergroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Tunes from toons, with multimedia stars from your childhood BEYOND CAPES: Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman . . . . . . 30 A psychedelic school bus and two teen idols, in Charlton Bronze Age comics FLASHBACK: Forty Years of KISS in Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 From Marvel to Dynamite, KISS continues to conquer comic books GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: KISS Unplugged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 My KISS Story author Robert V. Conte reveals the KISS comics we didn’t see INTERVIEW: KISSing Up to Amy Chu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Meet the latest KISS comics writer BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Hypno-Hustler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The disco-era do-badder Marvel just can’t forget FLASHBACK: Alice Cooper: From the Inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 School’s in for Professors Hannigan, Salicrup, and Austin as they revisit Marvel Premiere #50 PRINCE STREET NEWS: Cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Comic and cartoon characters’ favorite music artists FLASHBACK: Lila Cheney: Marvel’s (other) Mutant Musician . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 The story of the New Mutants’ teleporting, rock-’n’-rolling super-singer PRO2PRO: Steeltown Rockers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Larry Hama, Elaine Lee, and Steve Leialoha, and their offbeat Marvel miniseries BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Reader reactions BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $73 Standard US, $116 International, $31 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Flash Gordon © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc./TM & © King Features Syndicate. Alice Cooper © Alice Cooper. KISS © Kiss Comics, Ltd. Partridge Family © Sony Pictures Television. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2017 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing, except for Confessions of a Young Bigley TM & © Al Bigley and Prince Street News TM & © Karl Heitmueller, Jr. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by M

ichael Eury

What’s in a name? For some, Seduction I knew Bill Mumy was half of that duo, and approached him at a San of the Innocent conjures bad memories. Diego Comic-Con dance honoring Jack Kirby. He signed something It was the title of psychologist Frederic for me, we chatted, I got introduced to Miguel Ferrer, and (since I Wertham’s scathing indictment that was a comics pro) got invited to hang out. I knew Steve Leialoha wagged a finger of blame at comic books through cartoonist Trina Robbins, and he joined this informal gang for a spike in juvenile delinquency. Doc as we stood taking in a band that none of us liked. I said to Bill, Wertham’s diatribe enflamed a mid-’50s ‘We could go up there cold and do better.’ (I knew Miguel had been witch hunt, sparking US Senate a session drummer.) Bill agreed. Steve, in his low-key way, smiled sub-committee hearings that nearly and said, ‘I play bass.’ Somebody from the con (Jackie Estrada?) eavesdropped all this, and by the end of the evening we had been choked the life out of the comics biz. For others, Seduction of the Innocent invited to play at the next San Diego Con. Miguel named the band evokes nostalgia, back to simpler days ‘Seduction of the Innocent’ that very night. “My ’60s revival band Crusin’, back in Iowa (still together!), had a when the San Diego Comic-Con was just about comic books. Days when mullets list of garage-band stuff that Seduction built its set list around. and parachute pants were cool, when Bill added in some very hip things, like ‘Cinnamon Girl,’ ‘All Along Watchmen and Dark Knight were new, the Watchtower,’ and ‘Shake Your Hips,’ and we practiced in his living and when comics-inspired movies and room, blowing out all the speakers on his stereo (I don’t believe we television were rare. Back then, ever reimbursed him). It fell together pretty easily and we liked each Seduction of the Innocent (SOTI) was Comic-Con’s house other’s company, and laughed a lot. That’s all it takes for a band, gigging there annually and making appearances band to work. at other venues along the way. “Over the next decade, we played San Diego SOTI was a wild mix of creative artists, each with numerous times and had a few other assorted gigs an enviable pedigree: actors (among many other (WonderCon, Charlotte HeroesCon, a private party at the Santa Monica Pier). Chris Christensen (who had talents) Bill Mumy (guitar) and Miguel Ferrer (drums), writer Max Allan Collins (keyboards), and artist Steve produced a Will Eisner LP) offered to put out a Leialoha (bass), all united by their love of comic books, Seduction CD. We wrote songs for it, recorded it at Bill’s (not using his stereo speakers), and it came out rock ’n’ roll… and Jack Kirby. well. ‘Pussy Whipped’ got some airplay, even back in In 2009, Max Allan Collins blogged about the Iowa (Crusin’ had to learn it). Around then, Chris joined band’s origins by offering the first draft of his liner notes to one of SOTI’s albums. With Max’s kind the band (playing drums when Miguel sang out front, permission, the story is shared here for the benefit and guitar when Miguel drummed) and was a max allan collins of BACK ISSUE’s readers: terrific addition. We made a music video of ‘The Truth Hurts’ (with our friend Brandon Lee) and played the “It started with my son Nate, in 1987, only five Courtesy of MaxAllanCollins.com. original stuff at cons. Finally San Diego got too big years old and listening to Dr. Demento. Which meant I was listening and unwieldy to find room for us, and this live performance was our to Dr. Demento, too, and got interested in ‘Fish Heads’ and ‘Party in last to date… although smaller cons are free to inquire about gigs. Your Pants’ and other great bad-taste tunes from Barnes & Barnes. We are actors and artists, and can be bought.” 2 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee and star of The Crow) Seduction of the Innocent. There was no room in my wasn’t the only celeb to jam with Seduction of the book for his SOTI comments… but luckily, this issue’s Innocent. Shaun Cassidy (half-brother of David Cassidy, theme affords me the opportunity to let Bill reminisce who was once the star of his own comic book, as reported about the group. “We were basically a sloppy garage band covering elsewhere in this issue) was one. Peter David was known to sit in with SOTI at cons to belt out a few tunes Sixties rock,” Bill told me. “People dug it for years. There (“Secret Agent Man,” anyone?). were two SOTI albums made—The Golden Age and Live I was fresh off the fandom boat and in my first from Comic-Con.” year as a comic-book editor at Comico the Mumy’s favorite SOTI moment? “It was Comic Company during the summer of ’88 great to perform ‘Our Love is Here to Stay’ when SOTI made their debut at the Inkpot for Jack and Roz Kirby. They danced Awards banquet in San Diego. They alone while we did that tune.” And the weirdest thing to happen to the band? rocked the house, and kept coming back for the next few years. During the summer “Weirdest was probably Wild Man of 1990, I was beginning my second Fisher joining us for a set.” year on DC’s editorial staff and was at When I asked Bill if there was any San Diego in the capacity of the newly chance for a Seduction of the created position of assistant to the vice Innocent reunion, he replied, “I’d do president/editorial director, that editorial it again. But only if everyone else wanted director being my mentor and friend to, not just a few.” Dick Giordano. In our hotel lobby, Dick Less than one year after my converbill mumy introduced me to Bill Mumy and Miguel sation with Bill Mumy, Miguel Ferrer Ferrer, who came over to say hi when died of throat cancer on January 29, they spotted Dick checking in. These Photo by Gage Skidmore. 2017. His passing at age 61 shocked a were famous guys, from my perspective, but I was legion of fans that knew him from his roles in NCIS: Los taken aback at how friendly and accessible they were. Angeles, Twin Peaks, and Robocop, among many, many At Comic-Con, Bill and Miguel weren’t Hollywood other screen credits. But for those of us who danced and celebrities: they were comics fans… who had a band. drank to the sounds of Seduction of the Innocent, or who Back in early 2016, Bill Mumy was kind enough read Miguel’s forays into comics (co-writing, with Bill to grant me an interview for my TwoMorrows book, Mumy, Comet Man and Dreamwalker, among other Hero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, and things), we mourn the loss of one of us. This edition of BACK ISSUE, which explores many of Culture of the Swinging Sixties, which was released this past April. While the interview topic was Lost the great syntheses of comics and music from the ’70s in Space, I asked Bill a couple of questions about and ’80s, is dedicated to the memory of Miguel Ferrer.

The King and Queen of Comic-Con Jack and Roz Kirby in a spotlight dance at the 1989 San Diego Comic-Con, bopping to the music of Seduction of the Innocent. The band (left to right): Max Allan Collins, Steve Leialoha, Miguel Ferrer, and Bill Mumy. Photo by and courtesy of Jackie Estrada, whose two-volume Comic Book People photo books are highly recommended. Photo © Jackie Estrada.

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

by D a n

Johnson

Flash! Ahhh… …Savior of the Universe! The affable, inspirational star of the 1980 film Flash Gordon, at a convention appearance. Photo courtesy of Sam J. Jones. Movie © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc. Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate.

When it comes to comics and rock ’n’ roll, there is no better fusion of the two than the 1980 cult movie classic, Flash Gordon. With its spot-on casting, special effects, and a killer soundtrack by Queen, Flash Gordon has become legendary, with new fans discovering it all the time. At the 2016 Fayetteville Comic-Con, BACK ISSUE got the chance to sit down and talk to the star of the film, Sam J. Jones, to discuss how he came to play one of the greatest space legends of all time, the making of the movie, and the impact the film has had on his life and the fans. – Dan Johnson DAN JOHNSON: First off, how did you get your start in the movie industry, Sam? SAM J. JONES: I was in the Marine Corps playing football and I had this brilliant idea that I would serve one hitch and then I would go play pro football with the Seattle Seahawks. So I got out, and went to Seattle to visit my grandparents, who were living there. JOHNSON: When was this? JONES: This was in 1976. I met with part of the coaching staff and they said, “We don’t want you to play for [the Seahawks], we want you to play for our semi-pro team, the practice team.” So I played one season there and I wasn’t feeling it. You know how we have that spark and that passion to do something and nobody’s gonna stop us? I was 22 and didn’t have that spark anymore. At the same time, I read an article about Clint Eastwood. By ’77, he had already been in [show] business 22 years. I said to myself, “I don’t know if

I can accomplish what he has in those years, but I’d like to give it a shot.” I got prayed up—I really wanted God’s blessing on this, and I felt if I was going to do it, I would give myself six-month intervals. If I went to Hollywood, and I found myself progressing in any way, shape, or form, I would give myself another six months. But if I found myself backstopping, or regressing, in any six-month interval, I was just going to try something else. JOHNSON: Sounds like a solid course of action. I take it you never had cause to second-think the decision? JONES: Actually, the first month I got connected to a really good acting class doing scene study and improvisation, and a month later, we had agents auditing the class and we were doing showcases. [Then I got] a commercial representative, so I was being submitted for TV commercials. Three months later, after about 200 auditions, I ended up getting hired for a Schaefer Beer commercial with the legend, Jerry West of the L.A. Lakers. I did the Schaefer Beer commercial, and that really built up my self-esteem and confidence. From there, I ended up getting a theatrical agent, and then I was being submitted for movies. JOHNSON: How did that process go? JONES: My first 50 to 80 auditions were the same thing. There’s going to be a lot of rejection, for whatever reason, and you can’t take it personally. I reached a point, even at that young age, where I had to dismiss all the negative stuff. [Regarding other actors up for the same roles,] I dismissed the fact that this was not my competition. My only enemy is me, and I needed to walk in that room and be prepared. Once I started doing that, and thinking, “If they want Sam Jones, they’re

4 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

gonna get Sam Jones. If they don’t want Sam Jones, they’re gonna get somebody else.” JOHNSON: Now, when you did make it, your first role was in 10 with Bo Derek. JONES: Yeah, 10. But even before that movie, I reached a crossroads in my life. I was up for a sitcom, and it was my first job other than a commercial. This was a real acting gig. The show was called Co-Ed Fever and I was a guest-star. [The show featured] David Keith and Heather Thomas, very big names in the ’80s. We were rehearsing for a couple of days, and then we have a live audience and we’re getting ready to roll cameras. I was getting ready to go on and I’m really nervous and I’m starting to stutter and stammer, and in my mind this voice was saying, “Just tell the director you’re sick and you can’t do it.” That fear thing came in. Then this other voice said, “If you start making up excuses now, Sam Jones, you’ll be doing this the rest of your life. Just go out there and literally make a fool of yourself. Forget about the fear factor.” I went out there and immediately I started to stutter and stammer a little sam j. jones bit, but that was fine—it’s natural— and then I went right into it. That was my crossroads. I broke that barrier of fear and it freed me up and liberated me. Then I got the audition with Blake Edwards [for 10] and he was an icon in the ’70s. He directed all the Pink Panther movies and his wife was Julie Andrews. During the audition piece I made a fool of myself, and Blake hired me. JOHNSON: 10 was one of the biggest blockbusters of the 1970s. What was it like working on that film? JONES: It was incredible. I sort of embellished the part while we were making it. I was in the movie a lot, but only had one line of dialogue, and I think it was, “I’m gonna get a surfboard,” or something like that. But that film catapulted me. And while I was making the movie, I got a call that Dino De Laurentiis wanted to see me for the part of Flash Gordon. JOHNSON: What was the process like auditioning for the part of Flash? JONES: The auditioning process for Flash Gordon went on for eight or nine months. It was in the early stages of development, and things went back and forth. Finally, in early 1979, Dino flew me to London. This was the old Hollywood screen test that actually used film, and you treated [the screen test] like you were shooting a real movie. They did hair, makeup, and costume, and we got with the same partner and rehearsed together. Now back to me!” And he is brilliant at that. A lot of other That [lasted] 30 days. actors would get upset and mad because they can’t talk, JOHNSON: Tell us about your costars from Flash Gordon. but we just sit back and watch the show. It’s amazing. The entire cast is just stellar and mighty impressive in JOHNSON: Tell us about your Dale Arden, Melody Anderson. regard to star power. JONES: Melody, my leading lady, we’ve travelled a JONES: Max Von Sydow [Ming the Merciless] was great. couple of times [to do conventions together] in the past He was a mentor to me and gave me some great advice few years, and we’re like this comedy team of Jerry and was just wonderful. Lewis and Dean Martin. She is hysterical. [We do shows] Brian Blessed [Prince Vultan] is incredible. He kept and we both have the tables and sit in front of my big everybody laughing on the set. banner and some of the fans will come up to her table We went to London last November [2015] for our 35th and look [at what she has to sell], but they won’t really anniversary reunion, and Brian is such a character. We do buy anything. Then they come to my table and purchase these Q&As, and it will be Melody [Anderson], myself, a poster or something. When they leave, I’ll look at and Brian. All of a sudden, in the middle of this, Brian will Melody and go, “Nah, nah, nah,” and she just flips me grab the microphone and he’ll sit downstage and that’s off. [laughter] We’ve been like brother and sister. When where he’ll remain. He’ll get into a ten- to 15-minute speech I was with my wife in London, Melody lived with us for and he is incredible. He takes authority over the room, three months. She actually denies it and says it was only he’s hysterical, and he’s a bit R-rated, too. Every now and for a couple of days, and I remind her, “Believe me, dear, then, he’ll look back at Melody and me and say, “Oh, my you were with us for three months, and I locked my God! Look at Melody! Look at Sam! Aren’t they beautiful? bedroom door. I need my privacy!” [laughter]

Who Can Save You Now? We know who! The main movie poster for Flash Gordon. Painted art by Richard Amsel. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). Movie © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc. Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate.

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Believe It Or Not… …Flash Gordon was “The Greatest American Hero” before the William Katt-starring TV show of 1981 claimed that name. Flash Gordon movie program cover and interior plates, courtesy of Heritage. Movie © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc. Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate.

6 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

JOHNSON: Melody got to be the good girl in this movie. The bad girl was, of course, Ornella Muti as Princess Aura. What was it like working with her? JONES: The best scene for me in Flash Gordon was with Ornella when she was sitting on my lap and we’re doing the telepathy. That was wonderful! JOHNSON: You poor man. [laughter] How you must have suffered. JONES: [laughter] She was wonderful, too. A lot of people don’t know, but Ornella, by the time she did Flash Gordon, as young as she was, had already starred in over 20 movies in Italian, French, and in English. JOHNSON: What about the film’s Prince Barin, future James Bond Timothy Dalton? JONES: Timothy Dalton is iconic and a great actor. JOHNSON: You and Dalton had the one of the most memorable scenes in the entire film when you were forced to duel on the rotating plate. JONES: There was some funny stuff there with the rotating disc scene with the spikes sticking up. That was kind of cool because they had technicians working the disc and we each had a real bullwhip in our hands. We would be whipping each other, and rolling and tumbling. JOHNSON: Now, that sounds like suffering for your art! JONES: The tips of the spikes were hard rubber, but [the body was] a metal shaft, so every time we rolled, the technicians had to make sure the spikes weren’t in the way. We got hit a couple of times, but it wasn’t too bad. Timothy and I, we spent quite a bit of time being trained with a real bullwhip artist. We both agreed to go easy and not go for the face and not have any accidents. The first time, Timothy whacked me upside my shoulder with his bullwhip. So I said, “Okay. Game on, baby. Let’s go! It’s the Brits and the Yankees!” [laughter] So we had some realism there for a while. JOHNSON: It sounds like you all enjoyed yourselves during the making of the film. JONES: I get asked a lot, “Was it fun making Flash Gordon?” To be quite honest, and I know this may sound crazy, but I’m starting to enjoy it now as I sit back with the fans and go to a screening and watch it. Back then, I only had time to go to the bathroom and eat. I was into everything and at one point, in the early stages, I started to really take in the sets and the creativity of all the designers. At one point, I had that voice saying, “Oh, my gosh, Sam! This is really overwhelming! You’re the lead actor and this is your first big movie and you don’t want to blow it.” Then my other voice said, “Stop. Stop letting the hoopla take you over and just focus on your task at hand.” I had to focus, be prepared, and deliver my performance. JOHNSON: How many times have you seen the film? JONES: I’ve only seen Flash Gordon ten times. I saw it once at the screening, once with my family, and then eight screenings with the fans. Now I just lay back and enjoy it. And I’m discovering things I really wasn’t focusing on at that time and I tell myself, “This is funny!” Visually, it is epic, but obviously, some of the special effects were kind of cheesy and corny. And some of the dialogue is off-the-wall crazy. But I stopped brainstorming it and just enjoyed the ride. JOHNSON: Speaking of the script, it was written by Lorenzo Semple, Jr., who wrote the pilot for the 1966 Batman TV series and set the tone for that show. JONES: Right. JOHNSON: I always thought Semple was trying to bring that same sense of fun they had with first season of Batman to Flash Gordon. JONES: Yes, campy. JOHNSON: I always thought the producers went out of their way to make sure the special effects weren’t too much like Star Wars. It was like they wanted Flash Gordon to

have its own visual style. Plus, with comic-book movies today, costumes are altered and no one worries if actors look like their characters or not, but you and the entire cast looked like you stepped right out of the Alex Raymond comic strip. I always thought the producers were shooting for the same thing Warren Beatty did with Dick Tracy, where the film was meant to look like a live comic strip. JONES: That’s a good point. I have never heard that before, the comparison to Dick Tracy. You are right about us looking like the characters. They took my hair—I was medium dark—and they turned me platinum blonde. And because the original Flash Gordon had blue eyes, and my eyes are brown or hazel, Dino wanted me to have blue eyes too. Now, this was back during the day when they had hard contact lenses, like sandpaper. This became another point about the crossroads in your life. I had been there 30 days doing the screen test and [we had reached the final audition to determine] whether or not Melody and myself would be accepted as the lead characters. I went up to Dino and I said, “Dino, I cannot wear these blue, hard contact lenses. I can’t see, I’m blinking, and it’s a distraction.” And he said, “You don’t wear them, you don’t do movie!” And that’s where you come to the crossroads again in your life. The voice is saying, “If I go against what he is doing, Dino is gonna fire me and I won’t get to do this lead role and probably won’t ever get hired again.” And then this other voice is saying, “Do you really believe that? Nonsense! How dare you be influenced by fear? Do you want to go out there and let this hindrance and distraction take you away from your task at hand? Absolutely not! You just go in there and you do that scene when they roll camera and you do not put the contacts in.” Long story short, I did not put the contacts in, I had great vision, and I excelled in the scene. Afterwards, Dino did not say a word to me and I got the part. We at times, through wisdom, have to encourage the boss to find what should be the right choice. JOHNSON: Did any of your costars experience similar situations? JONES: Melody was a blonde and Dino turned her into a brunette. Of course, Brian Blessed has always been a cartoon character. JOHNSON: There is one thing that really sets Flash Gordon apart from other science-fiction movies of the time. Star Wars had John Williams’ scores and Star Trek had music by Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner, but Flash Gordon had that outstanding soundtrack by Queen (inset). JONES: Yeah, it is amazing. JOHNSON: Did you ever get to meet the band? JONES: Unfortunately, I never had a chance to meet Freddie [Mercury]. Unless the band is actually in the movie, you never see them. We made the movie and it went to the recording studio and that is where the band comes in. JOHNSON: Queen is, in my opinion, the greatest rock band there ever was or will be. Their music is timeless.

JONES: What is really cool is that Ted and Ted 2 opened up a new age demographic for me and the film. When Ted opened up, [it reached] my children’s age bracket. That age group of teenagers to 20-somethings, even if they have not seen Flash Gordon, they refer to it as that movie where Queen did the music. The truth behind that is, Queen not only complemented Flash Gordon, they brought tremendous value to the film. JOHNSON: When I was in college, I worked at a video store. I had customers coming in all the time wanting recommendations, and when it came to science fiction, I always suggested Flash Gordon. I would tell them it was a spot-on adaptation of a classic comic strip that was a fun movie with perfect casting. I would always add, if nothing else, “Think of it as a kick-ass hour-and-40-minute Queen music video.” JONES: [laughter] That’s right! That’s good! I like that. JOHNSON: I’m curious, was there © Queen Music Ltd. ever any talk about doing sequels? The ending of the movie was a perfect setup to a followup movie.

Comic Roots This stunning movie tie-in print was produced in 1980 by the amazing Al Williamson. Signed by the artist. Courtesy of Heritage. Movie © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc. Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate.

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

Ted and Ted 2 © Universal Pictures.

Sam and Dan Sam J. Jones and Dan Johnson after their interview panel at the Fayetteville Comic-Con, Saturday, October 15, 2016. Photo by Rose Rummel-Eury.

JONES: Oh, yeah. They call that development hell. It’s a funny animal, sequels and all that. It’s been 37 years since we filmed Flash Gordon and over the years, reputable producers have acquired the rights and they did not follow through with the option. However, Fox Studios acquired the screenplay rights to it. People are very sensitive about [calling a project] a sequel or a reboot. Those are very sensitive terms now because everybody wants their own deal. I met with Matthew Riley, who is the producer. It was the same scenario as meeting with Seth McFarlane for Ted. Seth called me and said, “When I was eight years old I saw your movie and it changed my life.” Same thing with Matthew Riley. He was nine years old and saw Flash Gordon and both these guys grew up to be decision-makers in Hollywood. Now I’m getting these calls from these guys to hire me and it is wonderful. JOHNSON: Speaking for myself, meeting someone who was a childhood hero can be the dream of a lifetime. These were the folks who helped define you, after all. It is awesome they remembered you and want to work with you now. JONES: It is a great sign, guys and gals. Don’t ever give up. It doesn’t matter how great a career you’ve had, or whatever your skill sets are, the phone will still ring because somewhere along that line, in life, we hopefully influenced or impacted or touched them in a good way. Maybe even in a tough way, we encouraged them to step up and reevaluate their choices in life. The reason I say that is because Matthew Riley, just like Seth McFarlane, is now in his 40s and the head VP of development for Fox. The reason I think he is going to [make the Flash Gordon sequel] is because of this personal touch in his life, this impact my Flash Gordon had on him. It is in development. They have hired John Davis to produce and they have a couple of writers now and hopefully this will happen. JOHNSON: It sounds like you impacted a lot of people in regard to the direction their lives would take. I can imagine hearing that has got to make you feel good. JONES: Over the years I’ve had people come up to my table at conventions, and like Seth and Matthew, and

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they say, “Hey, man, you impacted my life. I saw Flash Gordon and I knew I wanted to be a creative-type person.” But then I have fans who tell me, “I was going through peer pressure and other kids were beating me up and bullying me and I would take my VHS copy of Flash Gordon and go in my bedroom and I would transport myself to this safe world. You didn’t just impact my life, I wanted to commit suicide, but because I watched you, it kept me alive.” So, yeah, that is huge. We need to be careful about who and what the message is we’re conveying. We better be building people up, that is what I am learning in my older years. JOHNSON: I did want to ask about the guest appearance you made on the SyFy Channel’s Flash Gordon television show. JONES: Yeah, that new series with Eric Johnson that came out in 2007. They brought me in to play this crazy character called Kreb, who had been living in a dungeon for 20 years. I had to spend four hours I hair and makeup and I almost looked like a rat. It was pretty cool. JOHNSON: Up until that series, you had only been the third actor to play a live action Flash Gordon. Before you, there had only been Buster Crabbe and Steve Holland, which is amazing when you think of how many Supermen and James Bonds we’ve had. I’m curious what you would say to whoever plays Flash next? What advice do you have for that actor and what would you say is the defining thing about this space hero? JONES: I would tell the next Flash Gordon, “It’s you. They hired you because of you. Don’t try to do it the way I did it, because I didn’t play it the way Buster Crabbe did it. Study the character and his history and give us your very best. Plus, have fun doing it.” BACK ISSUE would like to thank Michael Chaudhuri of the Fayetteville Comic-Con for allowing us to conduct this interview at his 2016 show. For more information about this event, visit the website at www.fayettevillecomiccon.com. DAN JOHNSON is a comics writer whose work can be found in Cemetery Plots from Empire Comics Lab. His other notable comics work includes Herc and Thor for Antarctic Press and several books for Campfire Graphic Novels. He is also a gag writer for the Dennis the Menace comic strip.

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10 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

by R o b e r t

Know Ye That Sir Paul McCartney Has Faced Front! McCartney as Titanium Man, by John Romita, Sr., and a listing of “The Hallowed Ranks of Marveldom,” taken here from the lettercol of Iron Man #42 (Oct. 1971). Images in this article courtesy of Robert Menzies. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

As one of the most successful musicians and singersongwriters of all time, James Paul McCartney has many accolades to his name. Solo or with the Beatles, he has won a mountain of awards including Grammys, Brits, and an Oscar, as well as the most prestigious national honors from Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama. What is less well known—in fact, almost completely unknown—is that Stan Lee also presented McCartney with Marvel Comics’ highest accolade, a Fearless FrontFacer award! It’s a remarkable irony that Sir Paul can simultaneously be the most famous holder of this title, and yet practically no one knows he has one. This is the story of how it all happened… and what came after.

“MAGNETO AND TITANIUM MAN”

It’s not exactly sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, but the story begins with childcare. After the Beatles, Sir Paul formed Wings. The core members were Sir Paul and Linda McCartney and ex-Moody Blue Denny Laine, although other band members came and went. In the autumn of 1974, the McCartneys, taking a break from recording and touring, had chosen to vacation on an isolated Caribbean island. It was to be a working holiday, with Sir Paul aiming to get some writing done before his return to the recording studio. However, what would be paradise for an adult can, somehow, be dull for a child. Such was the reaction of

12 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

Menzies

Heather, Mary, and Stella McCartney, aged 12, 6, and 3, respectively. They were, to quote Sir Paul, driving him “bonkers.” The savior of the situation was a liquor store selling Marvel Comics. Almost inevitably, Sir Paul, who appeared in Help! (1965) with Superman comics on his piano, couldn’t resist having a look at these four-color adventures himself, and this led to the single “Magneto and Titanium Man” being written. After returning home, three of the recordings for the Venus and Mars album, Wings’ fourth LP, were laid down in London’s Abbey Road Studios in the second week of November 1974. Later, the band flew to the States and completed the recordings in New Orleans. It was there that Wings’ tribute to Marvel’s villains was recorded sometime between January 20 and February 20,1975. On May 27, 1975, the Venus and Mars album was released, soon becoming the number-one album in the US, UK, and around the world. An album consisting of live recordings made during the world tour that followed also sold four million copies and reached number one in the US album charts. The “Venus and Mars/Rock Show” single, with “Magneto and Titanium Man” as the B-side, was released in October 1975 in the US and a month later in the UK. Most copies of the single came in the standard plain paper sleeve that nearly all 45s wore up to the 1980s. There was also a second, much rarer version with artwork cut and pasted from comic books. While the title only

names two supervillains, the song’s narrative actually has three, as the sleeve artwork shows. FOOM #12 (Dec. 1975) claimed that Paty Cockrum (then Greer) in Marvel’s production department created the montage. However, when I asked her about this she kindly replied with a detailed email: “This particular piece was definitely not done by me. It was probably done by Tony Mortellaro. We would glean art from the silverprints we had of every book, clean up the art, take out blurbs and word balloons, and finish the art.” The central Magneto figure, with original art by George Tuska and John Tartaglione, appears in the opening splash of X-Men #91 (Dec. 1974). Titanium Man is by George Tuska and Mike Esposito (under the pseudonym Joe Gaudioso). It is a reversed half-splash image taken from page 6 of Iron Man #22 (Feb. 1970). The Sal Buscema/ Joe Staton Crimson Dynamo figure taken from page 11 of Avengers #130 (Dec. 1974) has also been flipped. It is worth pausing here to remember—and emphasize—that Wings started recording in November 1974, so comic release dates (not cover dates) must predate that date to coincide with the holiday. With this information in mind, the choice of characters is very informative. Magneto, Titanium Man, and Crimson Dynamo all appeared in comics released in October of 1974: Avengers #130 for the Russians and X-Men #91 for the mutant leader. While it may be a coincidence that all three characters made appearances in October 1974, and that this is also the same period when the McCartneys were on holiday, it is an implausibly large one. Knowing the date of the holiday and being able to confirm what issues the McCartneys were reading, it’s intriguing to consider what other comics came out that month. In other words, what other villainous characters could Sir Paul have written songs about? We can rule out the mags with more adult, violent, or horror-based content as unlikely purchases for young girls. The villains in the core superhero titles that month were fairly unimpressive—FF villain Mahkizmo being the nadir—so perhaps it’s no surprise that it was classic characters that appealed most to Sir Paul. There was also an interest in a certain sightless hero. In the May 1976 Soapbox, Stan wrote: “Didja know that Paul McCartney’s MAGNETO AND THE TITANIUM MAN [sic] single is a sensation wherever it’s played?,” before adding the bombshell, “And wait’ll you hear his new DAREDEVIL disc!” Nothing else is heard about that song except for a solitary appeal to Sir Paul in a 1977 edition of FOOM: “[W]hen are you gonna finish that blamed Daredevil disc?”

Anatomy of a Record Cover

MARVEL’S BIGGEST-EVER MASS AWARD

In 1964, Marvel launched the Merry Marvel Marching Society. This fan club instituted the tradition of six ranks of Marveldom which could be awarded for four reasons: buying at least three titles a month, having a letter printed, introducing someone to Marvel, or explaining a mistake (i.e., getting a No-Prize). If you achieved the first four ranks, which was tricky but not impossible, you gained the fifth rank. It was, however, the sixth rank that eluded nearly every fan. This was the FFF, which stood for Fearless Front-Facer. This was a rank given only for devotion to Marvel above and beyond the call of duty and in practice only very rarely awarded. Jump forward to late 1975. British Marvel attempted a short-lived and short-sighted experiment: landscape

“Magneto and Titanium Man” single cover image, and the Marvel Comics’ sources for its figures: Magneto from page 1 of X-Men #91 (Dec. 1974, art by George Tuska and John Tartaglione); Crimson Dynamo from Avengers #130 (Dec. 1974, art by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton); and Titanium Man from page 6 of Iron Man #22 (Feb. 1970, art by Tuska and Mike Esposito). Also, a Wings concert photo showing the menacing metal men. © MPL Music Publishing, 1975. Characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 13

(horizontally laid out) comics [see BACK ISSUE #63 ed.]. The first of two comics to adopt this new format was the new title The Titans, and Stan Lee crossed the Atlantic to front the media campaign, including a radio interview with pop star Marc Bolan and a presentation by Lee and famed Hulk artist Herb Trimpe in London’s Roundhouse Theatre. After Stan’s trip, a full-page of thank-yous appeared in the British weeklies. There were two versions, although they differed only in layout, not content. Version 1 appeared in The Mighty World of Marvel #169 (week ending Dec. 27, 1975), with version 2 in The Avengers #120) and Planet of the Apes #63 (both Jan. 3, 1976), and The Super-Heroes #46 (Jan. 17, 1976): Stan Lee says thanks to all those helpful heroes who aided Marvel in its finest hour at the Roundhouse … when we were promoting the first issue of the TITANS. … Be it known that all the above mentioned may now display the mystical letters FFF (Fearless Front-Facer) after their names in recognition of their services beyond and above the call of duty to Marvel. The remainder of the page was filled with the names of journalists, broadcasters, musicians, the entire British Bullpen, the McCartneys, and others. Alan Murray, art director in London, kindly solved the mystery of why this happened in a personal email to this writer: “The full page of credits to those who attended both events was due to Neil Tennant [UK editor of Marvel’s weeklies] collecting a whole bunch of news clippings, responses, and the visitor list from the ICA and sending them to Stan when he was back in New York,” according to Murray. “Stan was so knocked out with the coverage he got that he said we must make a feature and award the FFFs.” It’s an eye-opening mass award that’s all the more remarkable as it was the highest rank, one many coveted for years and never achieved. The inclusions of Sir Paul and Linda McCartney, and French director Alan Renais, is based on them attending the Marvel Art Exhibition event that was tied into the launch. In 1976, Neil Tennant arranged interviews with comic fan-pop stars Marc Bolan and Alex Harvey, but the McCartneys, and the Bay City Rollers, declined to be interviewed.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIEND, GARY

Sir Paul, Lady Linda, and King Kirby (top) Jack Kirby’s Magneto and Wings artwork. (bottom) Ad for Kirby’s McCartney artwork from the May 28, 1993 edition of Goldmine magazine. (inset) Kirby meets the McCartneys, Los Angeles, June 1976. Magneto TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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In one of the great popculture meetings of all time, Jack Kirby met Paul McCartney backstage at the Forum arena in Los Angeles on Monday, June 21, 1976 (see former Kirby assistant Steve Sherman’s article in The Jack Kirby Collector #8, Jan. 1996). That the meeting happened was entirely thanks to the imagination and efforts of the late Gary Sherman, Steve’s younger brother and a friend of the Kirby family. In the summer of 1976, 20-year-old Gary Sherman had the audacious idea of introducing Kirby to Sir Paul. He telephoned Capitol Records, fabricated a story that Kirby had art for the McCartneys, and managed to arrange a meeting prior to the performance! Gary then asked Kirby to create something in less than an hour, which the King did! During the brief encounter, Kirby presented the McCartneys with a hand-drawn illo of Wings flying from

Magneto’s open palm. (Of the three Marvel characters in the song, Magneto was the only one that Kirby— excuse the pun—had a hand in creating.) After the art was handed over and some photos were taken, Kirby and his party then watched the performance, McCartney’s first in the city since the Beatles played there in August of 1966. Sir Paul even paused long enough to introduce Kirby to the audience of 17,500, a crowd that included Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Sir Elton John, Diana Ross, Cher, Michael Douglas, and many more of the most famous entertainers in the world. Ringo Starr even made an appearance, his only one of the tour. It is hard, perhaps impossible, not to smile with satisfaction that Kirby, the greatest artistic genius in comic history, received an applause from the most illustrious audience of the entire tour. As a postscript to this meeting, the tale of the art itself is worth recounting. Thanks to current owner Hans Kosenkranius of Delaware-based Tri-State Original Art, its provenance is known. At some point, the McCartneys gifted it to one of their tour photographers, a Kirby fan. The photographer appears to have kept it until it was advertised for sale in Goldmine magazine in June 1993. (The designer of the ad clearly had little or no idea about comic characters—or research—as he called it “Wings Over Titanium Man.”) The art was purchased by collector Tim Hodgson, and he owned it until it was purchased by Hans Kosenkranius in 2007.

WE CAN’T WORK IT OUT

In the British weekly The Avengers #127 (Feb. 21, 1976), the editor, without going into any details, made a surprising announcement that Stan Lee and Sir Paul were “conducting a series of negotiations for a whole batch of special joint projects.” So, what were they? In the 2000 Soapbox, Lee states that he first met Sir Paul in London, an episode shown in comic-book form in Amazing Fantastic Incredible (2015), a “graphic memoir” of Lee’s life. According to that book, written by Peter David with contributions from Lee, Sir Paul personally contacted Stan by telephone and invited him over to one of his London homes. Sir Paul wanted to discuss a comic book based on a song called “Seaside Woman” by the band Suzy and the Red Stripes, a pseudonym for Wings with Linda as lead singer. The song was released in 1977 (US) and 1979 (UK), so that possibly dates this meeting to Stan’s promo trip in mid-October 1977. The memoir’s text has Stan narrating, “But thanks to lousy scheduling, our paths didn’t cross for a while. And then poor Linda passed away, and that was that.” There is, of course, more to the story— LISTEN TO WHAT “THE MAN” SAID Linda McCartney did not While the Kirby encounter with Sir die until 1998, two decades Paul is common knowledge, what later—and the project is generally not known, however, did not stall where is that one month earlier, Stan Lee Stan remembers. john romita, sr. had also seen Wings perform the Upon his return to the © Pinguino / Wikimedia Commons. song. In a June 2000 Soapbox, States, Lee called his art director, John Romita, Sr., into his office. Lee wrote about the “Magneto and Titanium Man” Romita helpfully told me that he “was asked song: “I had been to a concert and saw the huge by Stan to do a drawing of Paul McCartney paintings of Magneto and Titanium Man [and the in a Marvel costume and to take it to Linda Crimson Dynamo] hanging on stage as Paul did his McCartney’s [nee Eastman] father’s office not number” (Spider-Woman #12). The song was part of the set list for the Wings Over the World tour, the far from our office to present it to Paul in person.” only tour where this was true, so it seems likely Stan At that time Lee Eastman and his son, John, is referencing 1975–1976. were New York-based business attorneys who Lee does not say in the Soapbox where he saw co-managed Sir Paul. The Eastman and Eastman Wings perform—and when I asked him in October offices were located at 39 West 54th Street, 2015 he didn’t recall—but we can deduce the which, as Romita says, was “a short distance from most likely location quite easily. The Wings Over the the Marvel office” on Madison Avenue. World tour began on September 9, 1975 in the UK. “They were so cordial,” Romita continues, “and There were no performances at all in October, so Lee before I left, Linda asked me if I perhaps would do a comic book for launching a new group called the could not have seen them perform during his visit to Stripes [sic] and I said, ‘Of course.’ I went back to the UK that month to promote the launch of two new weeklies. Wings’ first performance in the US was Marvel and promptly did a sketch of Linda in a not until May 3, 1976. The band then spent the rest red-striped costume and waited to hear further of May and most of June in North America. Lee and plans, but it was never launched. The next his family did not relocate from New York City to Christmas the McCartneys sent us… an album California until the spring of 1980, so the most of Linda’s photos taken that year.” probable conclusion is that he—or they; he may have Somehow, Barbara Rowes at People gone with wife Joanie and/or his daughter J. C.—saw magazine heard about the meeting. Wings perform at Madison Square Garden on either In a January 1979 article with the Monday, May 24 or Tuesday, May 25, 1976. In those long-winded title “Stan Lee, Creator Star in Stripes long-ago days before Marvel became mainstream, of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, John Romita, Sr.’s transformation of a box-office juggernaut, or even “cool,” it must have is America’s Biggest Mythmaker,” been hugely exciting for Lee to see three of his she wrote: “With so many pop Linda McCartney into the Red Stripe. co-creations being sung about by one of the most groups fascinated by comic heroes successful performers of the 20th Century. these days, Stan has become the Art © John Romita, Sr. Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

Wipe Out (left) Letter discussing the possibility of McCartney producing music for a Silver Surfer movie. (right) Stan’s Soapbox from Spider-Woman #12 (June 2000). Contains Stan’s comments on attending a Wings concert and meeting Paul McCartney. © MPL Music Publishing, 1980. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Werner Erhard of the rock world. Paul McCartney asked him to come up with vivid characters to give personality to his second band [Wings].” In March 1980, Sir Paul was also being tapped to compose music for a Silver Surfer film. The movie was first hinted at in the December 1979 Soapbox, before being revealed a month later, with Lee later claiming that the film “is barreling along smooth as silk” (June 1980 Soapbox). He makes no mention of McCartney and, of course, his optimism was misplaced. Stephen Shrimpton, managing director of Paul McCartney’s companies, said in a letter that Sir Paul was “interested,” although what happened next is unknown. As late as 2000, only a few months prior to the release of Bryan Singer’s X-Men, Lee is on record as being keen on the idea of a McCartney score.

HELLO, HELLO: THE LAST LEE/ McCARTNEY MEETING

The Real Stan Lee Facebook page posted a photo on February 13, 2014 of Lee and Sir Paul. Mike Kelly, Lee’s longtime personal assistant, kindly replied to an email for further information by saying, “Stan was attending the Super Bowl in 2014 and briefly met Sir Paul there, and the photo… was taken then. No projects or ideas were ever discussed there, but Stan and Paul remain friendly.” Super Bowl XLVIII, between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, was held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on February 2, 2014. Lee attended his second consecutive Super Bowl as part of a Doritos campaign

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while Sir Paul, a former half-time show entertainer, attended as a fan. It was obviously an important encounter to Lee: the photograph of the two pop-culture giants hangs on the wall behind Lee’s POW! office desk in Beverly Hills, and his biography Amazing Fantastic Incredible devoted two pages to his meetings with Sir Paul.

RIGHT AWARD, WRONG TIME?

In 1975, Stan Lee gave Sir Paul McCartney an elusive Fearless Front-Facer award for his song “Magneto and Titanium Man.” However, the award was really earned eight months later in Los Angeles when, thanks to Gary Sherman, Sir Paul dedicated a song to Jack Kirby in front of Oscar winners and music legends and they all applauded the greatest artist in comic history. A wonderful moment, even if Sir Paul did mispronounce Kirby’s surname and had to be corrected by Linda! This article is dedicated to the memory of Gary Sherman. Thanks to Paty Cockrum, Michael Eury, Mike Kelly, Rob Kirby, Hans Kosenkranius, Stan Lee, Alan Murray, John Romita, Sr., Steve Sherman, Roy Thomas, Gerry Turnbull, and Sir Paul McCartney’s publicist, Stuart Bell. On the same day that ROBERT MENZIES celebrated his eighth birthday, Stan Lee’s FFF award to Sir Paul was first announced in print. (He still wants an FFF of his own!)

by R o b e r t

Menzies

In the Silver and Bronze Ages, the prominent musicians singing about comic-book characters were, surprisingly, not usually American, they were British. Which is not to say, of course, that there weren’t superhero songs in the States. For example, in 1969, mail-order band the Traits complained that “Nobody Likes the Hulk,” and a year later Jimmy Buffett twanged his way through a bizarre love letter to Captain America. The difference was that in Britain, it wasn’t almost exclusively obscure novelty acts releasing songs with superhero references. It was some of the most influential and respected recording artists, a claim that could not be made about the American music scene until the 1980s and 1990s when the likes of Blondie, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Prince, Bon Jovi, and the Ramones reclaimed the heroes as their own. The lineup of talent singing about comic characters in the 1960s and ’70s was far more impressive in Britain than anywhere else. The Beatles name-checked Captain Marvel and Sir Paul McCartney’s Wings sang about Iron Man villains; the Kinks proudly announced their reading habits with hits about Superman, Captain America, Marvelman, and even Plastic Man and Johnny Thunder; Queen sang about Superman; David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Elton John tipped a cap to 1950s legend Dan Dare, pilot of the future; the Who, the Jam, and others sang Neal Hefti’s Batman theme, and Genesis mentioned the Caped Crusader as well; T.Rex’s Marc Bolan was fascinated with the Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange; Donovan referenced Superman and Green Lantern; and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band dedicated a track to Nick Fury. That British culture was ahead of America in celebrating four-color heroes was no more clearly signaled than in the pages of the music bible Rolling Stone. Many fans are aware of the Rolling Stone edition from September 16, 1971. Behind a bold cover dominated by a Herb Trimpe drawn Hulk is an early and detailed analysis of Marvel Comics. However, almost two years earlier, there had been a feature on Marvel inside the UK edition of Rolling Stone (#44, dated Oct. 18, 1969), an edition that displayed a Jim Steranko-drawn Captain America figure lifted from issue #110 (Feb. 1969) of the Avengers’ own title. This article won’t, however, be a dreary recounting of each song reference, but will instead look at Britain’s most notable comic-fan musician. While a strong case can be made for that crown best fitting the Kinks or Marc Bolan (more on him in a companion article), the bearer of that title is actually someone else.

“SERGEANT FURY TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I KNOW”: ALEX HARVEY

Something Borrowed, Something New The Sensational Allan Harvey Band’s True Story program cover (artist unknown), and Marvel Comics swipes from which the band’s poses were based. All images in this article are courtesy of Robert Menzies. © SAHB. Spider-Man art TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

To my great delight, the British musician who was the biggest comic fan, hands down, was my fellow Scotsman and Glaswegian Alex Harvey. While relatively unknown outside Britain, Harvey was a hugely charismatic live performer who defies easy categorization or description. Active since the 1950s, he opened for the Beatles, or three-quarters of them anyway, on their very first Scottish gig in May 1960, and shared billing with the Fab Four in Hamburg. His most famous period came leading the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB), Britain’s most popular live band in the mid-1970s. They played countless gigs across Europe and the US, touring with—and regularly upstaging—the likes of Frank Zappa, the Who, Yes, and Chuck Berry. SAHB’s music shifted from rock to blues to music hall, and many more stops in between, with hugely diverse song subject matter that included the American Revolution (“The Boston Tea Party” was in the UK charts over the Bicentennial summer), a witch (“Isabel Goudie”), and hunting crocodiles (“Amos Moses”). The band’s theatrical, literary, and sometimes outrageous appearances often featured Alex adopting a persona, like a Phillip Marlowe-type private eye. On one occasion he performed “Framed” dressed as Jesus, dragging a large cross around the stage! Unpredictable as ever, Harvey even took time off from the band to go hunting for the Loch Ness Monster! Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

Band on the Run (top inset) Sleeve of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s single “Sergeant Fury” (full title, “Give My Regards to Sergeant Fury”). (top right) Ad for the single from New Musical Express (July 20, 1974). The Fury figure is a redrawn John Severin image swiped from (top center) Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #74 (Jan. 1970). This may have been one of the issues stolen when the band was on tour. (bottom left) Alex Harvey wearing a WMMS Cleveland T-shirt, with their famous Buzzard logo. WMMS was/is an influential radio station that promoted SAHB. At a concert at the Cleveland Agora in 1974, Harvey said to the audience, “This feels like home to us.” (bottom right) Harvey and two glowering police officers. Alex had just suggested, innocently but unwisely, that he was considering going on stage in blackface like Al Jolson! Image taken by Janet Macoska, probably in Louisville, Kentucky, 1974.

In a two-page article by UK editor Neil Tennant, himself a future pop star, Harvey is described as “one of Stan’s greatest fans” and a “Marvel fan since he was a kid” (Spider-Man Comics Weekly #102, Jan. 25, 1975). What it does not say (probably due to it happening after this issue went to print) is that in November–December 1974, Harvey fulfilled one of his lifelong ambitions when he met Marvel Comics boss Stan Lee during a special luncheon given in honor of the band at the swanky Plaza Hotel. A breathless [Harvey] told the NME [New Musical Express]: “Can you imagine? … Any man like that who would just come to my party, well, it’s fantastic. Charles Shaar Murray [famous English music journalist and comic fan] met him in London and told him how much I idolized him. … I’ve got so many of his comics.” (The Sensational Alex Harvey by John Neil Munro, p.141.) Harvey especially admired the humanistic point of view in Lee’s tales and also saw him as a modernday storyteller in the tradition of Robert Louis Stevenson. That love of comic books had a tangible influence on Harvey’s performances. In MWOM #199, Harvey is quoted as describing their shows as “The World’s Only Rock and Roll Marvel Comic!,” a quote originating with Murray. In fact, the band members, all from Glasgow, were sometimes depicted in comic-book form, most notably on The Impossible Dream (1974) album cover and the “One True Story” tour booklet from 1976.

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The latter is worth looking at closely because it contains a comic strip story starring the group. The cover was drawn by an unknown and, to be frank, unskilled artist who was clearly swiping John Romita, Sr. Spider-Man poses from the Marvel sample art in The Penguin Book of Comics (1971). The cover figures, left to right, are Alex Harvey (singer) as the Teacher, a swipe that originally saw print as the page 1 splash from Amazing Spider-Man (ASM) #48 from May 1967. Then behind Harvey is Hugh McKenna (keyboards), a.k.a. the Professor, inspired by the leaping Web-Slinger from page 13, panel 4 of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3 (1966). The middle-rear image of Ted McKenna (drummer) as the Buffer is only a head image and not copied. Second from right is Zal Cleminson (lead guitarist) as the Actor (ASM #48’s page 11, panel 4). Far right is Chris Glen (bass guitarist) as the Punk, lifted from ASM #48, page 11, panel 3. The art would also feature a set of five character badges sold at concerts. Three decades later, Max Maxwell, comic fan, artist, and replacement SAHB lead singer, would update—and greatly improve—this art with his own witty homage. One of Harvey’s recurring on-stage personas was the heroic Vambo, who the singer described as being a cross between Santa Claus and SpiderMan, Harvey’s younger brother’s favorite character. (Harvey alternated Spidey with Captain Marvel.)

The Sensational Allan Harvey Band The True Story tour program centerspread (1976). Artist unknown. © SAHB.

Vambo was from the land of Vibrania, which sounds suspiciously like a combination of the words for the fictional metal vibranium and Dr. Doom’s Latveria, although Max Maxwell believes the name probably originated with the word “vibe,” a popular term at the time. The most direct comic-book influence was the song “Give My Regards to Sergeant Fury,” produced by Derek Wadsworth and written by Harvey and his co-writers Hugh McKenna and David Bachelor. The single itself was released on July 20, 1974 and was one of the tracks on The Impossible Dream album released in October of that year. This song, incidentally, should not be confused with obscure Irish band the Starjets’ song “War Stories,” which rattles off a list of comic-book World War II heroes that includes Sgt. Fury. Or with English band XTC’s hit 1980 single about DC’s own war hero, “Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)”. Fury was Harvey’s favorite character because he identified with Nick’s “tough and punchy way of speaking” (MWOM #200; July 28, 1976). He even took his collection of Fury back issues on tour with him. These were stolen, along with the band’s instruments, in Miami, Florida, on August 28, 1975, when thieves audaciously drove off with the tour trucks. Harvey was told by the Miami Police Department, apparently seriously, that the Syndicate was behind the theft and their instruments were on their way to Cuba! This incident later inspired the song “The Mafia Stole my Guitar.” Harvey makes no mention of the comics in the song but admitted to Murray that it was their loss which upset him most. Clearly, by using the rank of sergeant and not colonel, the songwriters are particularly drawn to Fury’s days leading the Howling Commandos rather than the James Bond-esque agent/director of S.H.I.E.L.D. tales. Adverts in the music press at the time used a redrawn John Severin image of Fury firing a machine gun swiped from the cover of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #74 (Jan. 1970). The lyrics have no obvious links to Fury’s comic-book adventures. The mysterious Mrs. Foster is not referred to in the Marvel Database for Fury’s comic, a title not known for a wealth of female characters anyway. A “Syracuse”—the word is apparently deliberately mispronounced— is also named, although it’s not clear if this is a person or a place. Alex Harvey, Jr. believes that the names are meaningless, existing solely for rhyme. In the 1960s, David Bowie shared a flat with Harvey and he copied Bowie’s habit of writing lists of words, tearing the list into strips, and then randomly matching rhyming words, so it’s probably a fool’s errand to attempt to unravel the song’s narrative. To reinforce that conclusion, here are Harvey’s own comments on the song from a promotional LP released in 1974: “It doesn’t really mean anything,

just give my regards to Sergeant Fury.” The only influence would seem to be indirect: the song’s arrangement. The Big Band sound harkens back to the 1940s, the period when Fury was a young man serving his country on the battlefields of World War II. While the audio version of the song is easily located online, the only readily available footage of the band performing “Sgt. Fury” is a haphazardly mimed and drunkenly filmed Austrian TV appearance on YouTube. Little film of live SAHB performances exists and, unfortunately, the only filmed performance of that song is a hard-to-find, black-and-white bootleg recorded at a concert in—oddly—Syracuse, New York, in 1974. On December 9, 1974, at the Cleveland Agora in Ohio, Alex asked the audience, “Did anybody [here] ever read any Marvel comics?” before playing “Sgt. Fury.” Cleveland, more than anywhere else in the States, embraced SAHB. The city, of course, was home to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman (and by extension the entire superhero genre), so the band’s popularity there seems perfectly appropriate, even if the Man of Steel was and is a character at Marvel’s main competitor. Incredibly, Cleveland still has a SAHB tribute band. When the official SAHB website questioned Alex Harvey, Jr. about his father’s comic collecting, he replied: “Tyro [his younger brother] and I would go with Dad up to various specialist shops to get his comics. The X-Men and Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos were among his favorites. There was quite a collection and, yes, we still have that collection, as well as one of my own.” (https://goo.gl/WJ7EE1) In a further irony, and typical of his occasionally Peter Parker-esque luck, while Harvey, who died in 1982 on the eve of his 47th birthday, was easily the biggest True Believer in the British music biz, he never received a Fearless Front-Facer award for devotion to Marvel like fellow musicians Sir Paul McCartney, Marc Bolan, and Roy Wood. Unluckily, Harvey was on tour stateside when Lee appeared at the Roundhouse, and was unable to take up the invite from London boss Ray Wergan to perform there. So, let’s hope Stan sees this article and awards Harvey, McKenna, and Bachelor one for their song, in the process probably making Alex the first-ever posthumous recipient. Special thanks to SAHB members Zal Cleminson, Chris Glen, Hugh McKenna, and especially Max Maxwell. Grateful thanks, as always, to Gerry Turnbull. Also thanks to Isabel Addie, Catherine Glen, Alex Harvey, Jr., Tyro Harvey, James Hogg, Richard Makinson, Scott Manson, Kevin O’Rourke, Carol Rambo, John S. Stuart, and all the members of the SAHB Fans on Facebook group for their invaluable help.

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In the 1970s, it was practically tradition for Stan Lee to cross the Atlantic to promote the launch of the latest British Marvel comic. In the autumn of 1975, the Man was back again. On Monday, October 20th, Lee appeared at the Marvel Art Exhibition, which was running for a fortnight at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) as part of Marvel’s promotion of The Titans weekly. That evening, Lee also walked onto stage at the Roundhouse Theatre with legendary Hulk artist Herb Trimpe, who was then living in England. At the ICA press gathering, one of the most unusual interviews in comicdom history took place. This is where music superstar Marc Bolan, often called the father of the 1970s phenomenon of glam rock, interviewed Stan Lee for BBC Radio 4’s highly respected Today program. The iconic status that Bolan attained in Europe cannot easily be overstated. While Bolan’s success in North America was limited, at one point his band T.Rex was responsible for 6% of total British domestic record sales, and the hysteria around his band—termed “T.Rexstacy” by the tabloid— was comparable to the Beatles at their peak. The songs “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” (1971) and “Children of the Revolution” (1972) are perhaps his most famous, and the resurrection of 1973’s “20th Century Boy” in a 1990 Levi jeans commercial helped launch the career of Brad Pitt. The ICA meeting was announced in the Bulletin pages throughout October of that year and Bolan had a rare two-page feature in The Mighty World of Marvel #199 the following summer, where he filled in some details on the encounter with Lee. Meeting Bolan was the tip of a day full of surprising encounters, as Roy Wood was also pictured with Lee and Bolan. Wood was the driving force behind the creation of the influential Electric Light Orchestra (or ELO), and after leaving that band he formed Wizzard—yes, with two zs—in 1972. Wizzard was extremely successful in the UK with number ones, gold discs, and frequent TV appearances. Their 1973 single “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” is a British tradition, seemingly coming from every radio and shop Tannoy [P.A. system] throughout the festive period. Legendary music journalists Charles Shaar Murray and Keith Altham were also present. Murray was a self-confessed comic fan as well as one of the pre-eminent music commentators of that time, and had already interviewed Lee for Fantasy Advertiser #55 (May 1975). Altham’s publicity company represented the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, as well as Bolan and Wood, and he is also credited with giving Jimi Hendrix the idea of setting his guitars alight. It is very doubtful that Lee was familiar with either Bolan’s or Wood’s music, or realized the influence of Murray or Altham. Nevertheless, it was almost certainly the first time Lee had been surrounded by so many major players in the music industry. At the time of the interview, Bolan’s life was going through enormous changes. Earlier that year, Bolan had returned to the UK from tax exile and his marriage had unraveled because of an infidelity with the singer Gloria Jones, herself a successful Motown singer who had also written songs for the Jackson 5, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Diana Ross, and Marvin Gaye. This relationship, which lasted until Bolan’s death,

Getting Friendly with the Man (top) Roy Wood, Marc Bolan, and Stan Lee at the Marvel Art Exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA), the Mall, London, October 20, 1975. Originally printed in The Avengers #121 (Jan. 10, 1976). Unless otherwise noted, images in this article are courtesy of Robert Menzies. (middle) Ads for the Marvel Art Exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Arts and the Roundhouse Theatre event, both in London, England. Taken from The Titans #1 (Oct. 25, 1975). (bottom left) Stan Lee and Marc Bolan, October 20, 1975. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Alan Murray. (bottom right) Marc Bolan with Creatures on the Loose #33 (Jan. 1975). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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by R

obert Menzies

led to the birth of a son, Rolan, on September 26, 1975, barely three weeks before the ICA event. While he still enjoyed chart success, Bolan’s music career had passed its peak and he now dabbled in other media, notably his own TV show and radio interviews. Which leads us neatly to the Lee interview. Unfortunately, only a meager three minutes and 36 seconds of the Bolan-Lee interview—which can be found at: https://soundcloud.com/rexpert/today—is currently available online. Due to the abrupt opening and limited duration, the interview was presumably longer. Even so, it does cover a surprising amount of ground. Bolan had been a Marvel fan since 1967, and the first two heroes that Bolan asks about are telling, as he wrote songs that featured both heroes. The first is Dr. Strange, mentioned in the 1972 song “Mambo Sun” (track taken from the 1971 album Electric Warrior). BOLAN: Dr. Strange and the Dreaded… what was his name? The Dreaded…? LEE: Dormammu. BOLAN: I could never say that, you know. LEE: The Dread Dormammu. A lotta people put in “Dreaded,” they put in that extra syllable, but you lose the rhythm of it, and you’d understand that. BOLAN: The pacing. LEE: Yeah. The Silver Surfer is mentioned in the lyrics to Bolan’s “Teenage Dream” (1974), lifted from the album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow, and he asks Lee about him next. The T.Rex frontman calls the Surfer “beautiful” and his “main man,” and Lee echoes this by saying, “Yeh, he’s one of my favorites [too]”, before Bolan asks what is happening to the Zenn-La-vian now that he no longer has his own comic and makes rare appearances. Misinterpreting the question, Lee retells the familiar story about giving Jack Kirby an outline for Galactus and Kirby adding the idea of a herald. When Lee reports that upon seeing the completed art he “saw this nut on a surfboard,” Bolan laughs out loud. While Lee continues to recount the development of the character, Bolan politely waits till Lee finishes his story. Bolan follows up by saying he was “sad” that the Surfer was a rare presence in Marvel comics in recent years—before repeating his question about the future plans for the former Herald of Galactus. Stan confesses, “I love writing him so much that I don’t want anyone

else to write the Silver Surfer stories. This past year or so I haven’t had time to do any comic writing. So until I get the time he’s gonna be in limbo, he’s gonna be out there.” The Surfer, of course, continued making infrequent cameos for the rest of the decade. They then discuss the reason for Lee’s presence in Britain: the launch of The Titans weekly starring Captain America; the Inhumans; Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; the Sub-Mariner; and Captain Marvel. Stan confirms that the primary reasoning for The Titans’ unique—at that time—landscape orientation was value for money. For a 12.5% rise in price (8 pence to 9 pence), there was a 50% rise in content over a standard weekly. At this point in the interview, Bolan passes a copy to Lee so that he can demonstrate what he means about two pages of a US edition appearing on one page of the new weekly. (The art exhibition where Lee and Bolan are speaking, and the Roundhouse fan event later that day, are advertised in the comic.) As they continue talking, Lee picks up on Bolan’s use of “English comics” as a synonym for “British comics,” but he soon corrects himself. The weeklies were, of course, distributed throughout the United Kingdom—that means Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—and even reached as far as Australia. “The English market is so wonderful and the English fans are so responsive [that] I think we’re just going to really concentrate on doing more and better things here in Britain.” In the summer of 1975, broadcasts had begun of the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon series. Unsurprisingly, Bolan asked about the possibility of animated adventures of Dr. Strange or the Silver Surfer, adding the Hulk and Thor into the mix as well. Admitting that “many of them are being considered now,” Lee adds that David Bowie’s wife, Angie Bowie, would be meeting with him about a proposed Black Widow TV series (or film, as it’s sometimes described) when he returned to the States. A good friend of the Bowies, Bolan—who calls Angie “Ang”—informed Lee he’d be interviewing her in two weeks. Lee describes the test images as “beautiful” and Bolan calls them “fan-tas-tic.” The Black Widow project is perhaps the least widely known, and most fascinating, of the topics discussed. David Bowie and Cypriot-born Mary Angela Barnett were married from 1970 until 1980. The DD/Widow TV series proposal did not go beyond test photography, and 22-year-old Angie—under the awful stage name of Jipp Jones—actually looks surprisingly comic-accurate

From Russia, With Love (left) Angie Bowie as Black Widow, 1975. Photo by Terry O’Neill. (right) Feature from FOOM #12 (Dec. 1975). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Bolan Faces Front Double-page article from The Mighty World of Marvel #199 (July 21, 1976). Interview conducted by Neil Tennant, probably in late May 1976. While the Bolan interview with Stan took place on October 20, 1975, the photograph at the far right is much later than the ICA image as Bolan is holding MWOM #193, which came out June 2, 1976. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

and appealing in the role. (The less said about Dirty Dozen actor Ben Carruthers’ Daredevil costume, the better.) Angie Bowie has spoken on numerous occasions about the background to the Widow TV project. In an April 2014 interview for the London-based Express newspaper, Bowie explained in detail just how accidental the germination of the Widow series had been: “I’ve always been a Marvel fan. As a kid I would pick up a two-foot stack of comics and read them in the back of my dad’s car on long journeys across the States. I loved the outrageous costumes but I also loved the stories. “[Years later] I found myself back in the US promoting David’s live show. I was having a meeting about doing a cartoon version of Ziggy Stardust and I got invited to lunch with… Stan Lee. “We got talking about… Black Widow. Everybody round the table started getting really excited about it, and suddenly there I was paying Stan Lee one dollar for the movie rights. “Back in London I set to work with Natasha Korniloff, who designed some of the costumes for Ziggy Stardust, and the photographer Terry O’Neill. With Terry’s help, I pushed and pushed the project, but what I didn’t realize in all my youthful enthusiasm was that the specialeffects business wasn’t quite advanced enough to make the film that I wanted to make. Making the film would have been impossible without some serious money behind it, and unfortunately no one was prepared to take a chance.” (https://goo.gl/ehsnNp) The following year, Bolan was interviewed by UK editor Neil Tennant—yes, that Neil Tennant, later of the Pet Shop Boys!—in a feature interview printed in The Mighty World of Marvel (MWOM) #199 (July 21,

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1976). Tennant spoke about the interview to Rob Kirby in October 2016: “It was the first time I’d done an interview, and I went to his publicists’ office in Earls Court with a cassette recorder that Alan [Murray] in the office had lent me. We started talking by a table and I turned on the cassette recorder and then we sat on the sofa and I just left the cassette recorder there. And Marc Bolan obviously thought I was an idiot and he walked across the room, got the tape recorder, walked back across the room, put it between us, like, ‘This is what you do!’ It was very, very sweet of him. One of my few regrets is that he gave me a copy of the album Futuristic Dragon, and I was too cool to ask him to sign it. To this day, I bitterly regret that I do not have a copy that says ‘To Neil, Love Marc.’ ” During the interview, which probably dates from around May of that year, Bolan spoke about the Widow project as if it were still a possibility. He also delivered his theory on why he thought musicians liked comics: “I think the great thing about comics, especially for kids, is that they’re [a] great release. That’s also probably why so many rock bands like them—they’re pure escapism, aren’t they?” Bolan then added that he was interested in actually writing comic books and that Lee had encouraged him, presumably the day of their interview encounter. He never did realize that dream, alas, as less than two years after the ICA interview he was dead, killed in a road accident at the age of only 29. Lee returned to the UK four weeks after Bolan’s death to promote the landmark Captain Britain comic, and one can only speculate whether the two men would have reconnected during Lee’s return.

Saturday Morning Jam Session From Heritage’s archives (www.ha.com), cels from The Archies, Groovie Goolies, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and The Jackson 5ive. Archies © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Groovie Goolies © Filmation Associates. Fat Albert © Filmation Associates/Bill Cosby. Jackson 5ive © Rankin-Bass Productions/Motown.

Synergy is something that is sorely lacking in comic books today. We see a plethora of big-budget feature films starring our favorite Marvel and DC characters, but the huge box-office returns do not guarantee increased comic-book sales. In fact, many times one does not mention the other, where in the past, comic books would bear legends such as “Look for me on TV” and TV shows would say, “Based on the copyright feature appearing in Action Comics and Superman Magazines.” Today is different. The synergy of media seems to be a lost art today and appears to be a strong reason why you don’t see a proliferation of Saturday morning supergroups today, coupled with the fact that there isn’t a Saturday morning cartoon TV schedule anymore. The peak period for this phenomenon was roughly from 1968–1973, where supergroups would star in a TV series, a record album, and, of course, a comic-book series. Sometimes the music came first, sometimes the show, and sometimes the comic book.

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THE FIRST CARTOON SUPERGROUP

Though cartoon characters had theme songs from virtually the very beginnings of the talkies, expanding the song into an album collection sung by the starring characters didn’t occur until 1961 with The Alvin Show. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were sped-up “Chipmunk” voices created by David Seville, a.k.a. Ross Bagdasarian. In early 1958, Bagdasarian had a hit with a single sped-up voice on a record called “Witch Doctor.” Later in the year, Bagdasarian figured that if one sped-up voice sold millions, imagine how three sped-up voices would sell. It turned out to be a lucrative gamble as “The Chipmunk Song,” a.k.a. “Christmas, Don’t Be Late,” became a massive hit at Christmas 1958, and soon, a Christmas perennial. Bagdasarian expanded this one Chipmunk song to two, and then eventually an album. By 1961, the Chipmunks had three albums under their belt. The next step was to break into television. Although Bagdasarian had appeared with puppet Chipmunks on The Ed Sullivan Show, the decision was made to opt for a cel-animated series from Format

by M a r k

Films. It was also decided to make the Chipmunks more cuddly looking and less realistic. The original Chipmunks drawings looked like they could bite! In the meantime, the Chipmunks started appearing in comic books, initially as part of Dell’s Four Color series with #1042 (Oct.–Dec. 1959), where they were billed as The Three Chipmunks. Later, the series began proper with Alvin #1 (Oct. 1962), also published by Dell. The series ran 28 issues, through October 1973 (cover date). Strangely, at the time, The Alvin Show concept didn’t spawn any imitators. Even when real-life rock band the Beatles became a Saturday morning cartoon series in 1965, The Beatles didn’t beget a comic-book series. The next cartoon show to record a music album— but without an accompanying comic-book series— was The Beagles, starring Stringer and Tubby, two dogs who played a guitar and a standup bass. The series was created by Total TeleVision productions (TTV), best known for their previous series such as King Leonardo, Tennessee Tuxedo, and Underdog. Unfortunately, The Beagles and the associated album were both flops.

Arnold

KIRSHNER’S SUPERGROUPS

The next successful synergistic music group that did have a comic book and a TV series (but not on Saturday mornings) was The Monkees. Unlike the Chipmunks, The Beatles, and The Beagles, The Monkees debuted on TV and then released an album and had a Dell comic-book series that ran for 17 issues, from March 1967 to October 1969 (cover dates). The TV series aired in primetime from 1966–1968, and then began a new life in reruns on Saturday mornings from 1969–1973. The Monkees caught on like wildfire and actually started touring in 1967. Their ongoing popularity has led to numerous reunion tours as recently, at this writing, as 2016. The main impetus behind the Monkees’ success initially was Don Kirshner. As The Monkees’ actor/ singers fought for their independence in 1967, Kirshner moved on and eventually worked with animation studio Filmation and Archie Comics to create The Archie Show, which included music by the supergroup, the Archies. Singer Ron Dante was recruited to sing

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Tra La La… (left) Gold Key Comics’ The Banana Splits #1 (June 1969). (right) The Cattanooga Cats make a cover appearance on Hanna-Barbera Fun-In #3 (Aug. 1970). Cover art by Phil de Lara.

on the Archies recordings. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #33 for Mark Arnold’s interview with Ron Dante.] Unlike the Monkees, the Archies singers’ names were initially anonymous. Kirshner has gone on record saying that he preferred working with the Archies since cartoons never want creative input. The success of The Archie Show was the catalyst that exploded the genre for the next few years, through 1973. Archie Comics even started another new title named after one of the Archies’ songs called Everything’s Archie, which ran for 157 issues from May 1969 through September 1991 (cover dates). Its focus on the Archies rock band was intermittent after the first year or so, and the title became just another Archie title.

A HANNA-BARBERA HAPPENING!

Hanna-Barbera Productions, not to be left out on any new trend, created The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, a live-action/ animated series with a group named reminiscent of the Monkees. The Banana Splits also had an LP, released on Decca Records, along with various singles and a Gold Key comic-book series that ran for eight issues from June 1969 through October 1971 (cover dates). Prior to that, Hanna-Barbera briefly dabbled with the concept with the “Impossibles” segments of the Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles cartoon show, in 1966. Though a one-shot comic book appeared from Gold Key and a test record was made for the Impossibles, their greatest success was in the pairing up with the Frankenstein Jr. segment on TV. The series is now available on DVD from Warner Archives. The Banana Splits format—a show starring title characters that introduced shorter segments within the show—was continued by Hanna-Barbera in 1969 with The Cattanooga Cats. As The Cattanooga Cats proved to be far less successful than The Banana Splits, they never had their own comic-book series and instead only appeared in issues #2 (May 1970) and 3 (Aug. 1970) of the Hanna-Barbera Fun-In

anthology title, published by Gold Key. They also had an LP released through Forward Records. Hanna-Barbera attempted a third series in 1969 with music that also had a comic book, but the stars were not part of a band, so they didn’t have an associated album until 1998 with Kid Rhino’s Scooby-Doo’s Snack Tracks: The Ultimate Collection, featuring various songs from the series soundtrack. It was a little show called Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Like The Cattanooga Cats within The Banana Splits, 1969 premiered Filmation’s The Hardy Boys, which was much less successful than The Archie Show. The Hardy Boys was loosely based on the long-running children’s book series, but unlike the books, Tom and Frank Hardy were not only amateur sleuths, they also headed up a rock band. There were two LPs of music released by RCA and Gold Key published a four-issue comic-book series from April 1970 through January 1971 (cover dates). The TV series ran for two seasons, with the second season consisting entirely of repeats. Not to be left out, in 1969 a small company called Ken Snyder Productions, which previously created Roger Ramjet and The Funny Company, took Mattel’s wildly successful Hot Wheels toy car line and created a singing group around it, with an album from Forward Records. This time, a six-issue Hot Wheels comicbook series was issued by DC. It ran from March–April 1970 through January– February 1971 (cover dates), and featured artwork by Neal Adams and Alex Toth. None of these tie-in items were particularly successful. One other company that did this triumvirate in 1969 of a comic book (Gold Key), a TV show, and an album (from Capitol Records) was Sid and Marty Krofft with H.R. Pufnstuf. So successful was this series that a theatrical film with a soundtrack was released. The Gold Key series lasted eight issues from October 1970 through July 1972 (cover dates). The TV series ran a single season, but reruns were aired on Saturday mornings through 1972.

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. © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions

TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

LONG TAILS, AND EARS FOR HATS

Fall 1970 saw the premieres of more TV series that released LPs and had comic-book series. While in most cases none of the shows, comics, and albums were as successful as in previous years, more shows were attempted. Hanna-Barbera always felt that they missed out on a good thing when Filmation had a smash hit with The Archie Show and the Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” became a #1 radio hit. Archie comic-book sales soared, so when Hanna-Barbera’s Banana Splits and Cattanooga Cats shows were winding down, they sought out Archie Comics to see if they had any other cartoon characters in their stable to use, especially since Filmation also glommed onto Archie’s Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch, and had success with it (although no record album deal). Archie came back to Hanna-Barbera with their character, Josie, who was similar to Archie, but traditionally lived

Hello Kitty Music education courtesy of the Pussycats on this original art page from Josie and the Pussycats #55 (June 1971). Script by Frank Doyle, art by Dan DeCarlo and Rudy Lapick. Courtesy of Heritage. © Archie Comics Publications, Inc.

in her own comic-book universe. Josie had no band like the Archies, so Josie and the Pussycats was created. The Josie comic book reflected this change with issue #45 (Dec. 1969). The TV series was a success and eventually was transitioned into Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space in 1972. As a comic-book series, Josie and the Pussycats ran until #106 (Oct. 1982), but has been revived on occasion since. The characters even guest-starred in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, a newer series that featured various celebrity guest-stars teaming up with the Scooby-Doo gang. The resulting album of Josie and the Pussycats, released by Capitol in 1970, did not gain even a hint of the Archies’ recording success, although it did help launch the career of Cheryl Ladd (here billed as Cherie Moor), who later would also have modest success as a solo recording artist in a few years. She would have her greatest success in replacing Farrah Fawcett-Majors on the hit TV series Charlie’s Angels in 1977. Archie also transitioned away from music by 1970 and 1971. As record sales started to slow, The Archie Show became Archie’s Funhouse, Archie’s TV Funnies, Everything’s Archie, and The U.S. of Archie in the following years. Don Kirshner was not left out in the cold, as he had left the Archies project and was now part of the next Hanna-Barbera project from 1970, The Globetrotters. The Globetrotters was an animated series based upon the eccentric personalities of the world-famous Har-

Krofft’s Supergroups Original cover art by Frank Roberge for Charlton Comics’ Bugaloos #1 (Sept. 1971). Courtesy of Heritage. (inset) Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, starring on the photo cover of Gold Key’s The Krofft Supershow #1 (Apr. 1978). © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions.

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Groovy Groups (left) The Hardy Boys #1 (Apr. 1970). Cover by Dan Spiegle. (middle) The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan #1 (May 1973). Cover by Warren Tufts. (right) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids headline Hanna-Barbera Fun-In #11 (Apr. 1974). Cover artist unknown. Hardy Boys © Filmation Associates. Amazing Chan and Butch Cassidy © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

lem Globetrotters basketball team. The Kirshner album was not a success, but the Gold Key comic book ran for 12 issues, from April 1972 through January 1975 (cover dates), as The Harlem Globetrotters. Prior to that, they appeared in issue #8 (July 1971) and 10 (Jan. 1972) of Hanna-Barbera Fun-In. Like Josie and the Pussycats, the characters also appeared in three episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In the meantime, primetime TV had a new success more in line with the Monkees, with a musical family loosely based on real-life family singing group, the Cowsills, called the Partridge Family. The Partridge Family aired from 1970–1974 on ABC. And their albums initially sold as well as the Monkees’ and the Archies’ albums did. They had a #1 hit with “I Think I Love You.” The Partridge Family had two comic-book series published by Charlton: The Partridge Family and a separate title starring series heartthrob David Cassidy, both of which are explored in the article following. A Saturday morning animated series followed with Hanna-Barbera’s Partridge Family: 2200 A.D. in 1974. The series premiered a little too late in the game and was canceled after one season. The Partridge Family also had a little-remembered primetime spin-off called Getting Together starring pop sensation Bobby Sherman, who had previous acting success on Here Come the Brides. His series was short-lived, but Sherman did have record album and single success and a Charlton comic-book series (see article following). Bobby Sherman also appeared in DC’s Binky #77 (Feb.–Mar. 1971).

MUSICAL MONSTERS, MONKEYS, AND MORE

Don’t cry for Filmation because Hanna-Barbera was upping their game; in 1970, Filmation spun off The Groovie Goolies from Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch with an animated TV series and an album from RCA. Unfortunately, since these characters were not created by Archie Comics, a comic-book series was not forthcoming. Perhaps a deal was negotiated with Archie,

but Archie may have wanted partial or full ownership of the Filmation characters, so a comic series never appeared. After their success with H. R. Pufnstuf, Sid and Marty Krofft took a cue from The Monkees and created a British version of a prefabricated band, The Bugaloos, which aired from 1970 to 1972. Legendary comedic actress Martha Raye portrayed the villain in the show. The Bugaloos appeared in four Charlton comic books from September 1971 through February 1972 (cover dates), and they had a music album, released by Capitol Records. Not to be left out, Sandler-Burns-Marmer Productions created a live-action show called Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, which featured actual chimpanzees with human voices overdubbed saying silly things. It ran from 1970–1972. Link was also part of a musical group called the Evolution Revolution, which released a record from ABC Records and also had a comic-book series from Gold Key that ran for eight issues from May 1971 through February 1973 (cover dates). Finally, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, which had tremendous theatrical success with The Pink Panther, also broke into the Saturday morning market. Their first and only venture into a TV show that spawned a musical group was with their animated adaptation of Doctor Dolittle, which featured a musical group called the Grasshoppers, which were literally grasshoppers. The album was called Doctor Dolittle Presents the Grasshoppers and was released on Carousel Records. This venture was a complete flop for DFE, and no comic book was issued. Strangely, there was a comic-book series based on the TV show in the UK and in Sweden, but none in the US, and these didn’t appear until 1973, long after the show had gone of the air in America. In fact, a DFE-based comic book didn’t appear until 1971 with The Pink Panther, followed by The Inspector in 1974. Both were published by Gold Key. Moving to 1971, Rankin/Bass Productions, which had previous success on Saturday mornings with The King Kong Show and various holiday TV specials such as Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, took a cue from King Features’ Beatles cartoon show and created a Saturday morning TV cartoon series based upon the latest hot musical act, The Jackson 5ive, featuring Michael Jackson. However, no corresponding comic book appeared. It would be another decade before a comic book would appear starring the King of Pop. By that time, the J5 animated series was a distant memory, although MTV did rerun the show when Jackson hit it big as a solo artist. Rankin/Bass followed up the success of The Jackson 5ive series by producing another series featuring a real-life family group, The Osmonds, the following year, but again, no comic-book series appeared, although the group did make an appearance in DC’s Binky #79 (June–July 1971).

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Things were winding down by this time and the fad was almost over. Filmation made an animated spin-off of the popular live-action series The Brady Bunch (1969–1974) by creating The Brady Kids in 1972. Taking a cue from The Partridge Family, Paramount Records started issuing Brady Bunch albums. Their third album, The Kids from The Brady Bunch, took images from the animated series. Comic books were sparse, but there was a two-issue Brady Bunch series from Dell from 1970 and a 1976 Kite Fun Book. Barry Williams (Greg Brady) made an appearance in DC’s Binky #78 (Apr.–May 1971). Filmation had one last great success with Bill Cosby’s Fat Albert character, first introduced on a Cosby comedy album in 1967. There was an animated TV special produced in 1969 and then the long-running Saturday morning TV series called Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and later, The New Fat Albert Show, from 1972–1985. A Fat Albert comic-book series from Gold Key ran for 29 issues from March 1974 through February 1979 (cover dates). An official music album of songs from the show by Fat Albert’s Junk Band was not issued until 2005 when DVD releases of the show included CDs of music. In 1973, Filmation tried once again to put lightning in a bottle when they had Australian singer Rick Springfield star in his own Mission Magic series. Wizard Records issued an album, but there was no comic series. Springfield would have to wait another decade before General Hospital propelled him to superstardom in the US.

THE END OF THE SATURDAY MORNING SUPERGROUPS

The fad was over, save for a belated attempt in 1976, with Sid and Marty Krofft’s Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. A music LP was issued on Epic Records, which flopped. A six-issue comic-book series was issued by Gold Key under the title of The Krofft Supershow. The Saturday morning show was done in the same format as Hanna-Barbera’s Banana Splits all those years ago. Again, it was a modest success. Krofft did try again with actual Scottish group The Bay City Rollers in 1978, but this type of synergy of TV show/ record album/comic book was now effectively dead. Hanna-Barbera had other Saturday morning shows that featured music, such as The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (featuring the Bedrock Rockers), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, and Jabberjaw (with Jabberjaw and the Neptunes). But after 1973, the novelty of issuing a soundtrack album that was probably destined to flop ended. While none of those H-B shows had a record album, the Archies’ Ron Dante provided vocals for The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan’s songs, and that show has been released onto Warner Archives DVD, which does preserve the songs for those interested. Comic books were issued on occasion for Saturday morning shows, usually by Gold Key, but sometimes by Charlton. The only major attempt, post–1970s, was with Harvey Comics and the New Kids on the Block in the early ’90s. Harvey saturated the market with eight ongoing New Kids titles at once from 1991–1993, and there was once again a Saturday morning animated series. Of course, the New Kids had major album success on Columbia Records. At this time, Harvey also published an Alvin and the Chipmunks comic-book series, to bring the story full circle. A live-action Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch series (1996– 2003) aired in primetime, and had a new comic book published by Archie (1997–2009, although the TV series tie-in ended in 2004). There was also a live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie (2001) that had a tie-in album and some new comics miniseries from Archie. These were latterday attempts by Archie to rekindle the same synergy as before, but the format had basically had basically run its course. Comic books today are rarely, if ever, tied into any current TV series, Doctor Who being a major exception. Current teenybopper groups like One Direction don’t do the TV series and comic-book bit anymore. It’s a lost art. Will it return? Unlikely, as long as standard comics industry is based upon superheroes and Saturday morning TV is non-existent. This, coupled with the fact that music acts rarely look to comic books and children’s TV to expand their revenue and exposure. Today’s musical stars, whether they be manufactured or organically grown, look toward the music-awards shows or the occasional TV special or social media for their exposure and extensive touring and merchandise for their added revenue stream. Comic books and Saturday morning TV or even primetime TV series no longer figure into the marketing plans. MARK ARNOLD is a comic-book and animation historian. His most recent books are about Dennis the Menace and Harvey Comics. He is currently working on books about the Monkees and Harvey comic-book artist Warren Kremer.

Toon Tunes Record covers starring some of our Saturday Morning Supergroups. Scans courtesy of Mark Arnold. © the respective copyright holders.

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by S t e v e n

Charlton Comics Sound Machine Issues of The Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman. Scans courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). © Sony Pictures Television.

It’s not easy to pinpoint an exact moment when it happened, but sometime in the 1960s, rock ’n’ roll and pop music became two very distinct things. The history of rock progressed from the Beatles to Cream to Led Zeppelin and beyond. Meanwhile, the history of pop included the Monkees, Bobby Sherman, and David Cassidy and the Partridge Family. One trivial difference is that all of the latter groups and singers got their own comic books! Although it would seem a natural in retrospect, Elvis Presley never had his own comic book. Not a single issue. Too “threatening,” perhaps. DC did give the completely non-threatening Pat Boone a brief five issues in 1959– 1960, but as pop/rock music rose rapidly throughout the next decade, it’s surprising how few real-life singers or groups got their own comics in an industry never known for shying away from bandstand jumping… in this case, literally. The Beatles only got a one-shot bio, a few cameos, and an adaptation of Yellow Submarine from Gold Key.

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Thompson

The Monkees were really the only group to get a sustained title, from Dell, but that comic ended as the decade (and the group) ended. DC tried a completely fictional rock group, the Maniaks, for a trio of Showcase issues. The Archies, of course, appeared in comics, but they had been doing so in one form or another since before rock ’n’ roll began, so they don’t count. In 1968, Harvey Comics gave the family-friendly Cowsills a one-shot double-length 25¢-priced comic. The band consisted of several brothers, a sister, and (much to their chagrin) their mother. With hits like “The Rain, the Park and Other Things,” “We Can Fly,” and “Indian Lake,” the Cowsills had attracted the attention of TV producers who wanted to fashion a new sitcom out of them. Ultimately, though, they opted for a fictional, more easily controllable family band with fictional characters—a fictional mom with two fictional daughters and three fictional sons: the Partridge Family.

COME ON, GET HAPPY

Initially there were two distinct ideas at play. One was to create a viable TV vehicle for Academy Award-winning actress and musical comedy star Shirley Jones. (There was a trend at that time for major film stars such as Debbie Reynolds, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and Shirley MacLaine to move into TV.) The main hope, though, was to create a live-action, artificial pop/rock band that could rise to the top of the Billboard charts as well as the Nielsen ratings. In the classic tradition, the music industry movers and shakers wanted to get their hands on teenage allowances by selling records and licensed merchandise. The faux family consisted of the recently widowed mother Shirley (originally named “Connie”) Partridge (Shirley Jones), her oldest boy, Keith (played by her real-world stepson, David Cassidy), close-in-age-to-Keith daughter Laurie (Susan Dey), young Danny (Danny Bonaduce), and even younger Chris and Tracy (Jeremy Gelbwaks—replaced by Brian Forster after Season One—and Suzanne Crough). The only other regular was former Laugh-In star Dave Madden as long-suffering manager Reuben Kincaid. The TV actors were never meant to actually do any of the singing on the show or on the records and certainly would never perform live. That was the plan until the point where somebody realized that David Cassidy could actually sing. And he was good. By the time the Partridge Family TV series premiered in September of 1970, the “group” already had a hit single out— “I Think I Love You.” The series had gotten some good advance buzz amongst the critics in the months leading up to the new TV season, but the consensus seemed to be that it was doomed to quick cancellation. It was slotted on ABC’s fall schedule against the only sure thing that season—CBS’ Headmaster, the highly touted return of TV legend Andy Griffith to series television. (Granted, he’d only been gone a couple of years, but he had been sorely missed.) Rather than bring back his folksy comedy, however, Andy’s Headmaster opted to be “relevant.” “Relevance” was a buzzword of the time in pop culture, even in comic books, where it gave us Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Spidey’s Codeless drug issues. The problem was that the critics and fans didn’t want it from good ol’ Andy. Within just a couple of weeks, Andy’s new show had dropped completely out of the Top 40 in the ratings! Andy’s loyal public, sick of all the heavy-handed teenage angst of Headmaster, had changed their channels to ABC. ABC was about the only network young people would watch on Fridays anyway. “Grown-up” series like The Interns, The High Chaparral, The Name of the Game, and Bracken’s World ruled CBS and NBC, but ABC smartly countered with a slate of family-friendly sitcoms that included The Brady Bunch (in its second season), Nanny and the Professor (which had premiered at mid-season), and the classic That Girl (in its final season), all followed up by the slightly risqué Love, American Style. It was into the middle of that mix that our friends the Partridges were inserted.

Family Feud (top) The real-life inspiration for the Partridges, the Cowsills, got their own Harvey one-shot (Oct. 1968). (bottom) The Partridge Family #1 (Mar. 1971). The Cowsills © Cowsills-Stogel, Inc. The Partridge Family © Sony Pictures Television.

WE THINK WE LOVE HIM

The reason the networks didn’t program anything for young viewers on weekend nights was the thinking that it was date night for teens. ABC had realized that this wasn’t always the case. Teens quickly took control of the TV set in their homes and gravitated to The Partridge Family. They told their friends and before long, teenagers were purposely staying home on Fridays particularly to watch the show! The reason? David Cassidy. At 20, Cassidy had already racked up some impressive acting credits on episodic drama series of the day including Bonanza, Ironside, Adam-12, and Medical Center. He played a mean guitar and, like so many others of his age, longed to be a musician. Suddenly all his dreams had come true and, as often happens, fame would become a double-edged sword. But David wasn’t the only reason the Partridge Family became a hit. Its episodes were genuinely amusing and it didn’t hurt that Shirley Jones was gorgeous and sexy and became the mom everyone wanted to have. Meanwhile, 11-year-old Danny Bonaduce stole every single scene he was in—particularly those playing off adult co-star Madden as the family’s manager, Reuben. With his Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

Sherwood’s Sure Good at Photo References (left) Courtesy of Heritage, an alternate, unused cover to Partridge Family #6, and (right) the issue’s actual published cover. © Sony Pictures Television.

deadpan, precocious delivery, Danny was very much like a live-action Peanuts cartoon character. But it was David who started appearing on the covers of teen zines Tiger Beat and 16, at first with small photos but quickly replacing Bobby Sherman as the shirtless teen idol cover boy of the moment. Soon enough, he became a whole industry, with his name and face licensed for a hundred different types of moneymaking merchandise. In a 1993 interview with the Asbury Park Press, David said, “When you have a company that owns your name and likeness, they can make a David Cassidy doll—which they did—they can make David Cassidy lunchboxes, comic books, and all of that.” Charlton Comics—of all companies— put out the Partridge Family comic book and its attendant spin-offs. Once again, real, live-action music performers were represented in four colors. In a way, at least. The Partridge Family comic book’s first issue was cover-dated March 1971. This would place it on the stands in January

of ’71, which means it was likely one of the earliest licensing deals for the series which had itself only premiered in September of 1970. In an online interview a few years before his 2014 death, Dave Madden was asked how he felt about seeing his face and character in comic books. “Well,” he replied, “there are some that say that’s where I belong, in a comic book. So I can’t argue that point.” The credited artist on every issue is Don Sherwood. The controversial Sherwood was a successful newspaper cartoonist for many years before his Charlton work. Beginning his illustrating career at the Oneonta Star in New York, Sherwood utilized his own background in Korea to create a strip called Will Chance, starring a US Marine hero. He worked his way up to national newspaper syndication with another comic strip Marine, “troubleshooter” Dan Flagg, beginning in 1963. Obviously inspired by strips such as Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon and the George Wunder version of Terry and the Pirates (on which Sherwood had briefly worked as an assistant), the title character was visually based on Sherwood’s friend, actor don sherwood Robert Taylor, who, in 1967—the year © jtsherwood / Wikimedia Commons. the strip ended—was supposedly set to star in a TV version that never happened. Dan Flagg originally met with quick success and was initially widely syndicated. Sherwood was even invited to the White House with his fellow cartoonists whose strips had military settings. His success was short-lived, though. A 1967 newspaper article about Sherwood and Taylor in Sherwood’s hometown paper, the Oneonta Star, notes that Dan Flagg was by then appearing in only 75 markets. Having a pro-military strip set partially in Vietnam as that war escalated and opposition to it began to grow steadily was controversial enough, but Sherwood’s reputation suffered an earlier hit that dogged his career.

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Featuring Special Guest… Who?? Sherwood’s acquaintance David W. Brenner made an appearance in PF #15. Images courtesy of Steven Thompson. © Sony Pictures Television.

He was said to be the model for the protagonist in the infamous and often-reprinted horror comics classic “The Success Story,” written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by EC great Al Williamson in Warren’s Creepy #1 (1964). In this tale, a successful cartoonist has hired one person to write his strip, another to draw it, and another to letter it. Each man presumes the cartoonist himself is doing all the other work when, in fact, he’s not doing any of it… which they slowly come to realize when they compare notes. Goodwin had written Dan Flagg for Sherwood. Williamson—along with others such as Angelo Torres, Alden McWilliams, and George Evans—had ghosted it. Years later it was Evans, who had also replaced Sherwood as assistant on Terry, who revealed that his former boss was, in fact, the inspiration for the Warren magazine story. Exaggerated, certainly, but it’s true that nearly all successful newspaper cartoonists have assistants and ghosts at one time or another to maintain the neverending pace of cranking out a daily strip for six days every single week and then the larger, color Sunday strip. “You can’t get ahead. All you can do is stay even!” Sherwood himself once said.

Charlton’s Partridge Family contract must have covered a lot of ground, as Sherwood even provided one-off, full-page pinup shots that popped up in quite a few of the I WOKE UP IN COMICS THIS MORNING david w. brenner The early Partridge Family issues were drawn quite company’s many romance pleasingly, even if pretty much every single thing in every titles—Sweethearts, Secret single panel was clearly photo-referenced. It was a style. It was Sherwood’s Romance, Career Girl Romances, Teen signature style. This made him the perfect choice for the Partridge Family Confessions, and others. Sometimes, the comic book since the characters had to look consistently like the seven Partridge pinups—and we’re talking Danny, different regular TV actors or the result would have been rather off-putting. even, not just Keith!—would even get In spite of the fact that the comic’s indicia states the usual caveat plugged on the romance comics’ covers! about how “characters… portrayed in this periodical are entirely fictitious If there was any doubt whatsoever that the comic—no matter how and no identification with actual persons, living or dead, is intended,” enjoyable it may have been on its own terms—was just another Sherwood regularly used friends and celebrities as supporting characters method to exploiting the short but intense popularity of the characters, in his comics stories, such as a local (to him) Otsego County Representative that’s dispelled as even the interior ads evolve over time to be almost named David W. Brenner. Brenner provided the photos to the artist and exclusively for Partridge and David Cassidy merchandise! There are, for example, a total of 11 ads in issue #10 (June 1972), and appears as himself—by name—in issue #15 (Jan. 1973). The appearance even got the small-town politician some coverage in his local newspaper all but one are Partridge-centric! After you read about their latest adventure, for his four-color cameo. you could order David’s “Super Luv Stickers,” or his concert tour book. In another issue, actor Robert Taylor, Sherwood’s longtime friend Or perhaps you’d prefer Susan Dey’s new book, Boys, Beauty, and Popularity. and the inspiration, you’ll recall, for his Dan Flagg newspaper strip hero, Only $1.00 per copy! Another page offers her previous book, Susan Dey’s plays a cowboy in “Back at the Ranch” (Partridge Family #7, Feb. 1972). Private Journal! Also, only $1.00 per copy! The remainder of the advertisements— Lots of other characters in various issues give every indication of also including on the inside front and back covers and the back cover itself— being real people, but we have no way of knowing who they might be. are for posters, “autographed” pictures, Tiger Beat mags and specials, Although all issues are credited to Sherwood as artist, several stories and, of course, membership in the official Partridge Family Fan Club! Partridge expert Joey Green, author of the book The Partridge Family look very much to my eye to be ghosted by veteran Alden McWilliams, known to have ghosted for Don before. One such story is “Partridges Album (Perennial, 1994), had this reaction to Charlton’s pulp-paper version: Don’t Lay Eggs” in issue #12 (Sept. 1972), which finds the family in [They’re] “so bad they’re great. ‘Danny’s Psychology Lesson’ reads like a Hollywood working on a feature film (and Danny sneaking onto an really tacky version of a Lovelorn comic book. It seems like the comic books X-rated movie set!). Other stories look to be ghosted by an unknown were marketed to junior high school girls, catering to their crushes on artist or artists, but all have the distinctive Sherwood signature. David Cassidy. Just like in the television show, Danny is the real star of the In some issues, Sherwood was either bored or just pressed for time comic books as the voice of reason from a comic perspective. And the best as backgrounds not only became non-existent, but so did panels at comic relief is any conflicts between Danny and Mr. Kincaid.” times. Quite often, the artist would throw in full-page images that were The Partridge Family comic ran for a total of 21 issues, which included literally nothing more than a quickly sketched closeup or headshot of one double-sized, 25¢-priced “Special Summer Edition,” with the last Shirley, Keith, Danny, or one of the others. issue (#21, Nov. 1974) hitting the stands just as the TV show’s fourth There were also pages of song lyrics (á la Charlton’s Song Hits and and final season was beginning. Hit Parader magazines), some just made up for that issue but others taken directly from the actual singles or album cuts. POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION OF CHARLTON COMICS Most of the actual stories are inconsequential, original scripts written Oddly enough, that required legal wording about all characters being along the lines of the TV episodes only within the boundaries of the completely fictitious comes into play more in regard to The Partridge comics medium. A rare exception is “Pets for Profit” in issue #15 Family’s spin-off title, David Cassidy. You see, ostensibly David is not (Jan. 1973), which is a six-page retelling of a 1971 second-season TV a Partridge in this book but, instead, the “real-life” David Cassidy, episode “A Tale of Two Hamsters,” in which the younger kids attempt who, for some reason, lives alone or with his stepmother, Shirley Jones to raise hamsters. For some unfathomable reason, the Charlton version (it varied from story to story), owns the Partridge’s first season dog, Simone, and is managed by Reuben Kincaid, the completely fictional felt the need to substitute gerbils. Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

Partridge manager played by, and drawn here as, Dave Madden. So while Don Sherwood was peppering the parent book with real people, this title, about a real person, was not just purely and completely unreal but also downright surreal! From covers to stories to almost every single page of ads, pretty much the whole package was about the adventures and misadventures of the real-life David Cassidy himself! Said adventures were, however, sanitized greatly for your protection. According to his autobiography, C’Mon, Get Happy: Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus (revised and re-released as Could It Be Forever?), the oh-so-human David spent much of his time during this period making out with groupies and fans after his weekend concerts, stumbling through the TV production schedule due to lack of sleep and some highly questionable pharmaceuticals, and fighting off-stage with his famous father, Broadway, TV, and film actor Jack Cassidy. In these comics, however, David spends his time helping people and trying to get dates with nice girls. In that 1993 interview, in regard to the image the fan mags created, Cassidy said, “It was very frustrating. I would sit down and have an interview with them and say, ‘Really and truly, my favorite music is Hendrix or Clapton.’ They’d write, ‘David loves the Monkees.’ I could tell them that I was into bondage and they would have written, ‘David loves to go to sleep with his puppy at night.’ ” Most of the David Cassidy stories were signed by Su Gumen. At a time when there was a heavy influx of cheap labor into the US comics market from the Philippines, it would have been easy for fans to presume Sururi “Su” Gumen was yet another talented Filipino, but he was actually from Turkey. In fact, he’d been in the US since the mid-1950s, ghosting mainly for Kerry Drake’s ostensible creator Alfred Andriola on various projects as well as cranking out the occasional romance or supernatural story for Charlton beginning in the 1960s. Eventually, Gumen would become a mainstay for Cracked, but in the meantime, he became the main artist on the David Cassidy comic book.

The Other Partridges (right) A Danny pinup from Charlton’s romance title, Sweethearts #130. (inset) Don’t look for this one in your Price Guide! It’s Steven Thompson’s fantasy cover for Reuben Kincaid’s own comic! © Sony Pictures Television.

Ironically, Andriola, like Don Sherwood, had not actually created his biggest strip. That was Allen Saunders. Nor had he likely ever drawn it at all, according to various sources! There were always ghosts. Toward the end of the run in the 1970s, Gumen was finally given co-credit, at least. Along with being better drawn overall, Charlton’s David Cassidy comic was generally more entertaining, too, in spite of—or perhaps because of—its surreal qualities. You’d see him occasionally on the Partridge set—with cameos from his pre-teen co-stars—but mainly he was out surfing, scuba diving, playing tennis, dating cute girls, or helping friends and strangers alike. There’s also a surprising amount of guns and fights and implied—and sometimes explicit—violence as David protects friends from kidnappers, motorcycle gangs, and potential rapists. The script does a fairly good job with hip lingo of the period with words like “groovy,” “dig,” “pad,” “threads,” and such, but the uncredited writer dates himself with words like “beatniks” when he means “hippies.” Joe Gill, who would have been in his 50s at that time, is presumed to have written most, if not all, of the David Cassidy solo series.

CHARLTON, DO YA LOVE ME?

Debuting in the exact same month as David Cassidy was Bobby Sherman. Charlton’s Bobby Sherman comic was in no way a spin-off of its Partridge Family book, but Bobby Sherman’s TV sitcom, on which its early issues were based, began as a pilot at the end of the first season of the TV Partridge Family. Got it? As noted earlier, Bobby Sherman had been in David Cassidy’s shoes. Twice. Once on Shindig in 1965, and more recently as the co-star of the TV series Here Come the Brides, which helped sell Bobby’s albums and singles and posters and love beads and...! But then Brides was canceled. Bobby filled the gap with hipper fashions and more music, but he was no longer hitting the top of the charts. David Cassidy had replaced Bobby in the all-important and ever-fickle hearts and minds of the American public. Almost ironically, it was on The Partridge Family where Bobby was given one last shot at reviving his quickly sagging career. In spite of the teen mag rumors of a feud between he and David, Bobby appeared on a firstseason episode as a singer/songwriter who needed a lyricist. That role was filled by Wes Stern, a quirky young actor with an improbable name who had made a small impact in a few countercultural movies on the big screen in the years just prior. The backdoor pilot was enough to get Bobby another series. Getting Together debuted in the fall of 1971 and was quickly followed by an LP highlighting some of the not-bad pop songs from the series. The new show expanded on the pilot’s premise with the two struggling songwriters, Bobby Conway and Lionel Poindexter, now living in an antique store with Bobby’s kid sister, Jennifer. The latter was played by Susan Neher, formerly of the TV series To Rome, With Love, and rumored in Tiger Beat at the time to be an item with Danny Bonaduce! Our heroes’ transportation was a hearse, and the show’s only other regulars were Pat Carroll as their landlady and Jack Burns as her police officer beau. Presumably on the strength of its Partridge success, Charlton licensed Bobby Sherman and the new Getting Together series. Apparently the comic originally was originally to be named

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after the TV series as Bobby welcomes readers to the first issue of Getting Together in the opening splash. The problem was that the show—placed opposite the mega-hit All in the Family on CBS—had quickly tanked and sputtered to a stop just about the time its comic tie-in hit the stands, with the last of only 14 episodes appearing on January 8th of 1972. Seemingly due to a last-minute revision, the Charlton title was changed to simply Bobby Sherman and the book lasted another seven months! At least in the earliest issues of the book, the amiable stories are about Bobby and Lionel and the TV cast, but midway through the run, the book becomes, like David’s, just a fictional representation of Bobby himself. Unfortunately, Bobby’s waning star was, by that point, not enough to make it work. Illustrator Tony Tallarico, a veteran of these kinds of TV comics for Dell in the ’60s, was brought on to do up yet another comic whose art was largely traced from stills provided by ABC Television. The artist also drew up—as had been done with the Partridges—a series of full-page pinups for Charlton’s many romance comics throughout the run of Bobby’s book. In a piece that ran in Alter Ego #108 (Apr. 2012), the artist confirmed to interviewer Jim Amash that he was provided reference material for the Bobby Sherman book and that he got paid a bit more from the notoriously tight Charlton for drawing licensed products. “It was really fun,” said Tallarico. I was good at drawing likenesses; that’s why I got Bobby Sherman…” He added that it took

longer to do those kinds of projects. “I probably couldn’t do more than two pages a day then. Everything had to be accurate.” In addition to the Getting Together stars, in a nod to its Partridge roots, Bobby Sherman #1 (Feb. 1972) features a one-panel appearance by Danny Partridge. Later issues feature likenesses of other celebrities such as Groucho Marx, Ronald Reagan, and even Jackie Onassis. Perhaps the most interesting real person to appear in Bobby Sherman, however, shows up in an inside joke undoubtedly missed by nearly all the likely readers at the time. Issue #2 (Mar. 1972) features a brief appearance by one “Honest” Ed Justin, doing “his famous imitation of a duck” on a television show. Who was Honest Ed Justin? He was, in point of fact, the man in charge of merchandising for Screen Gems and Columbia for many years (and eventually a Screen Gems vice president)— the man who arranged for the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman comic books to have been created in the first place!

Spin-Offs (left) Chicks flipped for David’s hair! Photo cover for David Cassidy #6 (Sept. 1972). (right) Bobby Sherman #4’s (June 1972) photo cover also depicts Bobby’s Getting Together co-star Wes Stern as Lionel Poindexter. © Sony Pictures Television.

STEVEN THOMPSON is Booksteve of Booksteve’s Library (booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com) and a dozen other blogs. He has written for Fantagraphics, TwoMorrows, Yoe Books, Bear Manor Media, and Time Capsule Productions.

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Over the past four decades, only one rock ’n’ roll band has consistently transcended to and from music to the four-color world of comic books—KISS! Although they have endured multiple incarnations, the group remains stronger than ever with the support of its legion of devout fans—the KISS Army! The band’s eternal declaration “You Want the Best, You Got the Best” applies to their illustrated adventures dating back to 1977 when Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss first appeared in Marvel Comics Group’s Howard the Duck, created and written by the late Steve Gerber. Howard had already become a sleeper hit, but KISS’s appearance in issues #12 and 13 (May and June 1977), penciled by the late Gene Colan and inked by Steve Leialoha, sparked unusual interest. “My then-partner David and I were having lunch with Steve [Gerber] at the recently closed Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, New York,” recalls then-Mad Genius Associates co-founder and now Papercutz editorin-chief Jim Salicrup. “We had helped him package the Howard the Duck for President buttons and campaign package and he mentioned how Stan [Lee] wanted him to write a KISS comic.” “This was exciting, and I flew up to Toronto, Canada, to see KISS in concert,” recalls comic-book writer, editor, and music journalist David Anthony Kraft. “As fate would have it, I wound up escorting Gene to a comic-book shop in the area. He knew all the great stories, writers, and artists—including me! I was astonished and soon realized no one knew who he was because, back then, KISS was never photographed without their makeup!” Teaming KISS with Marvel seemed like a natural fit. After all, two of the band’s founding members, Simmons and Stanley, grew up reading comics and knew people that would eventually become industry pros including Marv Wolfman and Howard Chaykin. “When we were teenagers, Marv and I wrote and published our own fanzines,” said Gene Simmons in a 1994 interview. “I would write Marvel all the time about how much I loved their characters. One day I received a postcard from Stan Lee himself with a handwritten note that I ‘will do great things.’ Life changed for me at that moment. Marv wanted to become a comics writer, so that’s what he did. I wanted to be different and went into another direction.” “Gene has an incredible photographic memory,” remarked Stan Lee from a 1995 interview. “He also has one of the most bright marketing minds I’ve ever encountered. He was the one who suggested making the KISS comic magazine-sized with bonus features so it could be racked next to People and Time. I wasn’t so sure about that at first, but we went along with it.”

Bloody Good Comic Front cover to 1977’s legendary Marvel Comics Super Special #1, the magazine-sized first KISS comic! Cover art by Alan Weiss and Gray Morrow. TM Kiss Catalog, Ltd. © Kiss Comics, Ltd.

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by R

o b e r t V. C o n t e

MARVEL COMICS SUPER SPECIAL #1: KISS (1977)

A magical case containing an enchanted talisman transforms four teenagers into KISS who, with help from Marvel heroes including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and Dr. Strange, combat Dr. Doom to thwart his evil intentions! To meet a quick publication date, each chapter of writer Steve Gerber’s story was assigned to different artists including Alan Weiss, Allen Milgrom, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, and Rich Buckler. With the headline “The Sight of Blood,” Marvel Comics Super Special #1 was offered as a mail-order item inside KISS’s Platinum-selling Love Gun album. Another unprecedented gimmick propelled sales: each band member added drops of their own blood into the red ink of the first printing! Original KISS drummer Peter Criss (www.petercriss.net) has interesting recollections about the first official KISS comic, which he shares with BACK ISSUE readers: “Even though I wasn’t into Marvel Comics as a boy— I was more into [Warren Magazines’] Creepy and Eerie—it was an honor to meet Stan Lee. Such a great talent. “I thought putting my blood in a magazine was crazy,” Criss recalls. “The guy who put the needle in me screwed up and my blood was all over the place!” Jim Salicrup adds, “In those days, it was unheard of to sell magazines direct to customers for full cover price and not risk having unsold copies returned. Marvel was unprepared for this and quickly reprinted it without the band’s DNA in the ink. This was before later printings were identified in the indicia, so you can’t tell which is which.”

Reportedly, Marvel was initially involved in the film, but its participation was not to be. The movie had been a disaster on multiple levels. This, however, did not prevent a second KISS comic-book story from being published, in Marvel Super Special #5 (Sept. 1978). [Editor’s note: This full-color Marvel comic magazine’s first four issues were titled Marvel Comics Super Special, but with issue #5 the “Comics” was dropped from the title.] Written by Ralph Macchio and Alan Weiss, the script pits the band against the evil sorcerer Khalis-Wu in the land of Khyscz. It was illustrated by John Romita, Jr. and Tony DeZuniga. As the Superheroes of Rock ’n’ Roll seem immortal, the same could not be said of their comic-book counterparts. Sales of the second special were good but paled in comparison to the previous effort. Readers expressed disappointment that KISS was taken out of the Marvel Universe and wanted them to return. By several accounts, initial negotiations began for KISS to return for a third Marvel comic book, but

First KISS (right) KISS is trapped in a world they never made on the cliffhanger last page of Howard the Duck #12 (May 1977). By Steve Gerber, Gene Colan, and Steve Leialoha. (left) The first Marvel Special’s title page. Howard the Duck TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. KISS TM Kiss Catalog, Ltd.

MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL #5: KISS (1978)

By the end of 1977, KISS was not only the biggest band in the world, they became the biggest comic-book stars around. The concept of “real-life superheroes” was relatively new and the idea to make a KISS made-fortelevision film, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, had already been green lit by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

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Work in Progress Behind the scenes of Marvel Comics Super Special #1: (top left) Correspondence by writer Steve Gerber to Bill Aucoin, KISS’s then-manager; Allen Miller; and Sean Delaney, creative consultant at Aucoin Management. (top right) Copy of Gerber’s story outline for pages 4–7. (bottom) Stat of pencils for story page 6, marked “Milgrim,” a misspelling of inker Al Milgrom’s name. (inset) Also shown is an undated photo of Steve Gerber. Documents and stat given by Steve Gerber to Robert V. Conte in 1994. Courtesy of the Robert V. Conte collection. Gerber photo by John Tighe. © Kiss Comics, Ltd.

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disputes over ownership of the material would lead to official KISS comics being placed on indefinite hiatus for 15 years. Below are more official KISS comics that have been published since the band’s original 1970s adventures:

KISSTORY (1994)

At the 1994 San Diego Comic-Con, Gene Simmons announced an ambitious project—the band’s own self-published KISStory. The 440-page, slipcased, hardcover book featured all-new interviews, scarce photos, and an exclusive comic book! Writer Spike Steffenhagen and artist Scott Pentzer (scottpentzer. deviantart.com)—the team behind Revolutionary Comics’ Hard Rock Comics #5: KISS Tales from the Tours and the three-issue KISS: Pre-History series (all unofficially endorsed by the band)— were picked to deliver the goods. “Writing KISStory was an amazing experience,” says Steffenhagen. “The band was completely accessible and had input, but they never told me what to write. Being acknowledged by such role models as KISS was beyond validating.”

They’re Evil, Kneivel! (top) This Bob Larkin painted cover graced KISS’s second Marvel issue, Marvel Super Special #5. (inset) Its back cover identified the members of the white-hot band and recruited fans to the KISS Army! (bottom) KISS stands up to bad-ass bikers on this double-page spread from Marvel Super Special #5. Original John Romita, Jr./Tony DeZuniga art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM Kiss Catalog, Ltd. © Kiss Comics, Ltd.

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KISSNATION (1996)

Highly anticipated by fans since its announcement, KISS’s new partnership with Marvel Music seemed to have all the right ingredients: The plot was co-written by Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Marvel Music’s editor-in-chief Mort Todd (morttodd.com); the full script was penned by Stan “the Man” Lee; and the cover was painted by Destroyer and Love Gun albums artist Ken Kelly (kenkellyart.com). Former fourth KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick (KULICK.net) recalls, “At that point, I had been with the band close to ten years. Even though I never wore makeup, it was exciting to see my illustrated self in the comics.” Although well intentioned, KISSnation’s teaming the original band with the X-Men was met with mixed reactions. The book was essentially packaged by Simmons himself and turned into Marvel, as opposed to the traditional method of the publisher selecting all of the talent. “Gene was given a budget, so he selected and paid the creators involved in the project,” recalls Todd. “He had final say.” Although the issue was solicited with the Kelly cover, that image was moved inside the book and was replaced by an image from interior artists Dave Chlystek and Eric Lusk. “My wife Rose and I met with Gene and Paul in a restaurant to plan the cover art,” recalls Kelly. “I thought the piece turned out well and we were told it was the cover. When KISSnation was released, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Later I learned my piece was moved inside at the last minute.”

KISS ROCKS THE WORLD! (1997)

Back with a Vengeance! Ken Kelly’s unbranded cover art to 1996’s KISSnation #1, from Marvel Music. Scan courtesy of Robert V. Conte. (inset) The oneshot’s published version. Cover art by David Chylstek and Eric Lusk. © Kiss Comics, Ltd.

“It was surreal and amazing and stressful,” recalls Pentzer. “I paid great attention to their costumes, makeup, looks, etc. At that time, there were few pictures of KISS from the 1970s without makeup. I would improvise by tracing, for example, Ace’s face from a picture but not including his makeup design, then filling in his eyebrows. This turned out well and it is still a treat to look at those comics.” Although KISStory proved to be a success, its $158.95 price tag alienated prospective customers solely interested in its comics. “I’m honored to say I worked with my favorite band of all time,” says Pentzer, “but it could have been printed better. Some of my line work got blown out when the colorist scanned it in.” “My niece bought a KISS poster that turned out to be the very last page of the comic,” says Steffenhagen. “That was one of the coolest things ever!”

KISS CLASSICS (1995)

Billed as “The Originals That Started the Marvel Age of Music!,” this ambitious debut of the Marvel Music imprint collects Marvel [Comics] Super Special #1 and 5, reprinted together for the first time from their original magazine format to comic-book size. These stories are digitally recolored, and the collection includes a tease of the forthcoming KISSnation comic.

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Sterling/MacFadden’s Metal Edge magazine, an iconic publication dedicated to Heavy Metal music, secured rights to reprint KISSnation #1 inside of its second all-KISS special. Unlike the traditional comic-book-sized format, this version was printed as originally intended— magazine-sized with bonus material, totaling 234 pages! It was sold at newsstands and at merchandise booths during KISS’s 1996–1997 Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour. This version was not available to the comics direct market.

KISS: PSYCHO CIRCUS (1997)

Marvel’s reign of publishing KISS comics was over. Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane, whose McFarlane Toys had purchased rights to manufacture KISS action figures, helped broker a deal with the band for new, official comics. As the toys set a new standard with startling detail and articulation, the all-new KISS: Psycho Circus series expanded the band’s illustrated adventures with a significant expansion of characters and a concept tying into KISS’s soon-to-be released album with the same title. “That series was fantastic!” says Spike Steffenhagen. “Brian Holguin’s writing synthesized the mythology into something more compelling than just ‘spot the song references,’ and Angel Medina’s artwork was perfect.” Clayton Crain eventually replaced Medina as penciler, and Kevin Conrad inked the series. This series has another distinction of being the longestrunning KISS series published as of this writing, with 31 consecutive issues. Several stories were combined and reprinted in the five-issue KISS: Psycho Circus Comic Magazine sold on newsstands, and others were collected into trade paperbacks.

Image… and Bongo Issues #1 (Sept. 1997) and 29 (Apr. 2000) of Image’s long-running KISS: Psycho Circus title; covers by Angel Medina and Clayton Crain, with Kevin Conrad inking both. (right) A KISS (and friends) cameo, in Treehouse of Horror #10 (Sept. 2004). © Kiss Comics, Ltd. Treehouse © Bongo Entertainment.

KISS: THE OFFICIAL PSYCHO CIRCUS TOUR MAGAZINE (1999)

Metal Edge released another all-new KISS magazine featuring band interviews, photos, and an exclusive 30-page comic book adapting the controversial album Music from the Elder. “The idea for this comic happened at Revolutionary Comics, but they closed,” recalls Steffenhagen. “Scott Pentzer pitched it to Gene and he approved it. I did a complete rewrite of the script, though some elements of the initial outline survived.” “Gene wasn’t too stressed about it, so I worked on it over a three-month period,” adds Pentzer. “The colors turned out amazing. We took the KISS personalities and turned them into the Elders. I thought Paul turned out cool; we made it so his face was literally a ceramic mask with the star cut out to reveal his actual body underneath looked like stars in the night sky, like he was more ethereal but inside of this outer costume.” “It was faithful to the album from my viewpoint,” says Steffenhagen. Many people loved it and others hated it. [The Elder] is such a unique KISS album that everyone has their own vision of it.” Pentzer adds, “I wish KISS would have printed it as a standalone comic and not stuck it into a magazine. Nobody even seems to know that it exists!”

DARK HORSE COMICS (2002)

Having declined previous opportunities to publish KISS comics, in 2002 Dark Horse Comics finally secured rights to publish its own take on Heavy Metal’s superheroes. The series included writers like Joe Casey, Scott Lobdell, and Mike Baron. Mel Rubi illustrated most of the issues, and various artists including Scott Kolins drew the covers. “I told the editor [Scott Allie] I was a big KISS fan and he suggested me doing a cover,” Kolins says. “I had heard Gene knew of my DC Comics run on The Flash, and the band wanted to create characters named after their songs. So I designed ‘Mr. Speed’ and agreed to the unusual

Runnin’ with the Devil Unbranded cover art to Dark Horse’s KISS #7, with Mr. Speed, by former Flash artist Scott Kolins. (inset) Variant cover for #7 featuring ’70s and ’90s photos of the original band. © Kiss Comics, Ltd.

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When Worlds Collide

caveat that the band would own my physical art. In return, I asked for an autographed photo, which Gene happily sent.” Photo variant covers were printed that confounded longtime KISS fans—melding a Peter Criss picture from 1976 with a Gene Simmons 2000 shot did not work for many. This series ran its 13-issue course and, with the final departures of original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, KISS comics were placed on hold.

(top) Issue #5 (Nov. 2007) of Platinum’s KISS 4K, with cover art by Rodolfo Migliari. (bottom) Dan Parent drew Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead in KISS gear on this first issue cover for 2011’s Archie Meets KISS miniseries.

PLATINUM STUDIOS (2007)

Determined to surpass the success of all previously published KISS comics, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley formed KISS Comics Group and partnered with Platinum Studios’ CEO and chairman Scott Mitchell Rosenberg to launch their all-new concept: KISS 4K. “Gene and I are old friends, and it all started with him calling me,” says Rosenberg. “He and I cooked up our publishing plans as I asked him, ‘What if we made KISS 4K the biggest comic in the world?’ ” True to that idea, a special “Destroyer Edition” of the first issue of KISS 4K: “Legends Never Die” was printed and holds the Guinness World Record for Certified Largest Comic Book Ever Published—measuring 2 ½‘ x 1 ½‘! “[Platinum] held a KISS signing at the March 2007 Wizard World Comic Convention, and people were lining the walls holding huge $50 KISS 4K comics!” recalls Rosenberg. Six standard-sized issues and a Merry KISSmas Special were published with special variant covers, followed by a Web-only series that has yet to see the printed page. Creators included Chuck Dixon, Tone Rodriguez, and Fred Van Lente.

KISS TM Kiss Catalog, Ltd. © Kiss Comics, Ltd. Archie and related characters © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.

HARPER DESIGN (2009)

The KISS Kompendium 1,280-page hardcover collects most KISS comics available up to that point. Packaged by former Platinum Studios publisher Sean O’ Reilly, this tome includes the recolored versions of the 1977–1978 Marvel Super Specials, “KISS Meets the X-Men” from KISSnation, the KISStory comic, Image’s Psycho Circus series, and Dark Horse’s KISS series. It also includes a new introduction by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and bonus material from the band’s Sonic Boom tour. Although an ambitious effort, this volume notably excludes “The Elder” comic from Metal Edge’s KISS Psycho Circus Tour Magazine and the Platinum Studios KISS 4K series; perhaps this material will be slated for a future volume.

ARCHIE COMICS (2011)

Many KISS fans believed the announced crossover between the band and Archie Andrews and gang was, at best, bizarre. But where KISS is concerned, anything’s possible! “I was asked to draw the series by our publisher, John Goldwater,” explains Dan Parent (danparent.com), longtime illustrator of Riverdale’s timeless teenagers. “Gene Simmons was familiar with my work, so that helped, too!” Writer Alex Segura (alexsegura.com) was chosen to scribe the four-issue series, and Archie Meets KISS proved to become a credible addition to the mythos of both intellectual properties. “Archie Meets KISS is a fun romp—it doesn’t take itself too seriously,” says Segura. “It honors what KISS has been in the past, in terms of comics and music, but adds a fun, ’80s monster movie vibe to it.” One of the story titles, “Rock ’n’ Roll All Fright!,” encapsulates the miniseries’ plot: Riverdale is plagued by monsters and zombies right before Halloween. Sabrina the Teenage dan parent Witch is out of her league to handle what’s © Luigi Novi / happening, so guess which superheroic rock Wikimedia Commons. band has the power to stop them? One of the covers, featuring the Archies band in KISS makeup— with Betty and Veronica sporting the Catman and Starchild makeup—teased an interesting possibility for Parent: 42 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

“Drawing KISS in the [Archie] series is unique because it’s a more cartoony take on the characters. If I had another opportunity to draw them, I would illustrate an all-female version of the band,” says Parent. A version of KISS as women would soon be published by KISS’s next publisher…

IDW (2012)

KISS’s comics publishing license was again available and IDW Publishing was ready to pounce upon it. “We’d been in business with Gene for a couple years already,” says chief creative officer Chris Ryall. “We launched the Simmons Comics line (Gene Simmons’ House of Horrors, Dominatrix, and Zipper) and had a good working relationship with him, so when the time came to take the KISS license elsewhere, we made it happen.” Along with co-writer/co-editor and editor-in-chief Tom Waltz, Ryall soon found himself in the throes of working with KISS immediately. “We spent time at [Gene’s] house, backstage, and in the studio. But we also met with the entire band during the recording of Monster to go over artists and plans for the comics. Gene is definitely the most comics-savvy of the group, but we had good conversations with Tommy [Thayer] and Eric [Singer], and Paul [Stanley] was very helpful in nailing down some artists and stylistic approaches, too.” With illustrators including Jamal Igle, Wagner Reis, and Kenneth Loh, IDW branched off into experimental story arcs including KISS Solo one-shots featuring tales of the individual bandmates; KISS Girls, a two-issue stint with KISS transformed into women; and the one-shot Mars Attacks KISS, featuring aliens from the classic Topps trading cards in a parody of Marvel Comics Super Special #1. “I think everyone who’s done KISS comics has tried to do their own thing,” says Ryall. “Marvel made them superheroes, [Image’s] Psycho Circus stuff went more for funhouse-horror, and we aimed to really lean into KISS lore in ours, basing the stories on either albums like Dressed to Kill, paying homage to things like KISS Meets the Phantom, and even doing the first-ever all-ages KISS Kids. That series was our attempt at Tiny Titans-style KISS comics, just chock full of in-jokes and references. I had great fun with that series.” In addition to new comics, IDW also published five volumes of KISS Greatest Hits—the first reprinting Marvel [Comics] Super Special #1 and 5 and the others reprinting Image’s Psycho Circus. After collecting their own stories in subsequent trade paperbacks, KISS would move on to yet another publisher.

You Wanted the Best… …You Got the Best! A sampling of IDW’s various KISS titles. © Kiss Comics, Ltd. Mars Attacks © Topps. Credit: Eddie Day/Dawn Guzzo.

ROBERT V. CONTE is a 30-year veteran of the comics industry. He wrote the first-ever unauthorized KISS comic—Rock ’n’ Roll DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT, chris ryall Comics #9, published by Revolutionary INC. (2017) Comics in 1990. He was also KISS’s first-ever © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. catalog consultant, responsible for the reKnown for its repertoire of licensed comics including Ash vs. Army of Darkness, Mighty Mouse, packaging and remastering of 21 and The Shadow, Dynamite’s all-new KISS adventures albums and other official merchandise. includes a series written by Amy Chu and drawn by Now Robert is a pop-culture historian Kewber Baal; KISS: The Demon; and, as of this writing, who has written, edited, packaged, KISS/Vampirella. Keeping with the company’s tradition, and brokered over 2,500 projects. Conte’s upcoming autobiographical multiple cover variations are offered (well over 100 memoir, My KISS Story, chronicles different art and photo images thus far), with no how his love for KISS led him to end in sight! a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity working with his childhood idol and So, what does 2018 hold in-store for future printed mentor, Gene Simmons! For more adventures of the Demon, Starchild, Catman, and Spaceman? information on Robert V. Conte and his forthcoming book, visit Keep in touch with KISS by visiting kissonline.com. www.robertvconte.com. ’Nuff said!

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Adams Unplugged Man, to think that we missed out on a third Marvel KISS comic—drawn by the amazing Neal Adams! Here’s a glimpse at what might’ve been. (Visit the Neal Adams Gallery in New York City: nealadams.com/theneal-adams-gallery/.) Art © 2017 Neal Adams. KISS TM Kiss Catalog, Ltd.

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by R o b e r t V. C o n t e book, (excerpted from the forthcoming ISSUE) BACK for edits r mino with My KISS Story,

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Heavy Metal’s Superheroes This 1977 publicity photo shows KISS in all their glory! (left to right): Paul Stanley (The Starchild), Gene Simmons (The Demon), Ace Frehley (The Space Ace), and Peter Criss (The Cat). Photo credit: Barry Levine, from his book, The KISS Years (Studio Chikara, 1997). TM Kiss Catalog, Ltd.

KISS is, arguably, the most successful rock ’n’ roll band that has ever been adapted to the four-color page. Many official and unauthorized KISS comic books, graphic novels, and trade paperbacks have been successfully published over the past 40-plus years. Even the most knowledgeable KISS fans, however, may be surprised to learn that several comics projects featuring Heavy Metal’s “Fantastic Four” were proposed that, to this day, have not seen publication.

to write that comic; maybe Len Wein or Marv Wolfman were in the running for that. There was an outline drafted, but I have no idea where it is or even if it still exists.” Although it is generally believed this project didn’t materialize because Marvel and KISS disputed as to which entity would own copyright of the band’s illustrated adventures (KISS won that fight and owns publishing rights to the previous two Marvel Super Specials, including the pages featuring Dr. Doom, Spider-Man, and the Avengers—a highly unusual circumstance by DESTROY KISS (c. 1979–1980) today’s licensing standards), Adams argues In late 2016, KISS and comic-book fans that his proposed story may not have been alike were delighted when a piece of published by Marvel anyway. KISStory was unearthed that had “It was KISS’s people that compreviously only been rumored to exist— missioned me to do the art,” he says. pencil art to the proposed-but-never“I remember taking my kids down to published third Marvel Super Special a loft in Manhattan where the band featuring KISS! Better yet, the awesome was being photographed for press shots. pencil art was created by none other My son Joel was the biggest KISS fan of all than the legendary Neal Adams! Known my kids, and I remember him leaning against for his iconic covers and interior art on a wall in astonishment the entire time we were there. Once Paul [Stanley], Batman, X-Men, and the one-shot Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, Adams’ Peter [Criss], Ace [Frehley], and Gene neal adams own advertising agency, Continuity [Simmons] came out to greet us, he was © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Studios, had previously created art stuck to that wall and would not move!” for KISS merchandise. Former KISS art director Dennis Woloch recalls that As for the proposed story, which suggests an evil, day as well, with laughter: “I invited Neal to photographer larger-than-life wizard attacking KISS from behind Bernard Vidal’s studio in Manhattan to discuss possible their Dynasty-era stage set with a killer pinball (perhaps projects while the band was being fitted for their all-new partially inspired by the 1978 KISS pinball machine by Dynasty costumes. He asked me if he could bring his Bally), Adams has few recollections: kids to watch. I told him no, because it was a small space “My memory of what that story could have been are and there were hair and makeup people and other pros vague at best,” he chuckles. “I don’t believe I was going everywhere. We had work to do. He brought them anyway,

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Additional KISS Kommentary by… ZEEA ADAMS! “I’ve been asked to tell the story of when I met KISS,” says Neal Adams’ daughter, comics colorist Zeea Adams (www.zeeart.com). “Readers should understand this tale is from the view of the small child I was back then, and I have chosen to keep that memory as such. I have not checked and marked the date of this event, where exactly it was, or the circumstances of the how and why because the fact that it happened at all is—and has always been—plenty enough for me. “My two elder brothers, Joel and Jason, and I were already KISS fans. We had their albums, and our dad—Neal Adams—had taken us to one of their concerts. Joel and Jason persuaded our mom, the multi-talented Cory Adams, to recreate their costumes for convention costume contests—and we were unfairly disqualified once because the judges thought they were professionally made! Joel dressed as the Catman, Jason as Space Ace, and Joel’s friend as the Starchild. As badly as I wanted in on all this, I was, after all, a girl and much younger and smaller than the boys. I imagine, had I been more vocal about it, Mom would have made the Demon costume for me. But it seemed like a thing for ‘the boys,’ and I had not really felt strongly about ‘I wanna be this character when I grow up!’ (At least, not yet!) “Dad was not only working on comic books, but also in advertising and licensing. It was about the time the KISS merchandising was booming and he worked on the KISS ‘Rub n’ Play’ kit. It was awesome and I still have one! So this one weekend in… my best guess is late-’78–early -’79, which would have made me eight-to-nine years old, we were spending the weekend with Dad. He tells us we were going someplace special. Dad and his wife Marilyn, Joel, Jason, and I all head out. I don’t recall if we took a cab or walked but, either way, we arrive at this building in Manhattan, hop on an elevator, and come out to this studio. We stepped into this somewhat smallish room. To the right was a maybe 20-foot dimly lit hallway, along which had another room on the left side and further down, who knows what. We were cordially greeted and told to wait where we were. I hear footsteps coming down the hall and see a very tall figure coming our way. It was none other than Paul Stanley in his new black, magenta, and silver costume! Admittedly, we kids geeked out! Our special event turned out to be the KISS Dynasty costume fitting! “The Starchild greeted Dad and Marilyn, then turned to us kids, our mouths agape! He was so super-nice, smiled at our bewildered expressions, our likely wet-noodle handshakes, and stammered questions. Paul gave us each a guitar pick and even squatted down to my eye level to give me mine. “Next down the hall was the Catman, Peter Criss, with his big, green, fluffy tails hanging from his shoulders. He seemed… well… acutely nonplussed to see us. Admittedly, having a parental unit that does a lot of meet and greets, I fully understand how one can be really hungry and that a perfectly good cheeseburger going cold in the other room might cause one to become, shall we

say, sharp? He eased up a bit when introduced to Marilyn, then he hastily gave us each a set drumsticks and removed himself to work on that cooling cheeseburger in the other room. As Forrest Gump would say, ‘And that’s all I have to say about that.’ “Next was the Spaceman, Ace Frehley! We were dazzled by the silver cape and the big, blue, mirror-encrusted V over his torso and cuffs! Truly intergalactic! Ace was really friendly, greeted each of us, and gave us picks. Ace was Jason’s favorite, but we were all dazzled by his new costume! He removed himself politely, I imagine to also get himself some lunch. “In truth, I knew who came next but hadn’t dared imagine… “Boots that looked like dragon claws tromped down the hall! Silver scales climbing up past his knees, the spiked and scaly body armor, the cape red as boiling blood, and that face! I can’t vouch for anyone else, but I froze right there! I’m quite sure Gene Simmons greeted Dad, Marilyn, and my brothers, but I can’t honestly remember. I just remember this gigantic, fearsome creature who then turned his eyes on me. I must have looked like a bunny in the headlights! Rather than swallowing up me whole, right then and there, this enormous demon’s eyes softened. A gentle smile spread across his face. Then he did the unimaginable—this great and terrible beast started singing and tap dancing in those enormous boots! I was enchanted by his warm and gentle nature. He then squatted down to my level as Paul had done and spoke gently to me. I can’t for the life of me tell you what the song was or what we talked about (I’d been so scared), but, by the time he handed me a guitar pick, tousled my hair, and stood to his full height again, I swear I was ready to sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas! “I don’t know if any member of KISS remembers this day. I have not had the pleasure of meeting any of the gentlemen again after that. But I can say the Demon, Gene Simmons, has held a special place in my heart. The little nine-year-old girl never forgot that day. “Oh, and ‘A World Without Heroes’ will always be on my playlist.”

The Neal Adams family, KISS style, circa 1978–1979. Courtesy of Zeea Adams. Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

Battle of the Bands Long before KISS and Archie’s pals and gals teamed up (see previous article), a proposed flashback one-shot featured KISS as the opening act for… the Archies! Bang-A-ShangLang, baby! © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.

which really pissed me off. I thought about kicking him out but realized he was an icon to comics as KISS was to music, so I let him and his kids stay. It all worked out.” When asked how such an amazing piece of art was forgotten for over 35 years, Adams has this to say: “I really can’t explain why the KISS piece was hidden for so long. When you draw thousands and thousands of art pieces—especially for projects that aren’t given the go-ahead—they sometimes get misfiled or lost to the universe. I recall drawing some KISS art that was inked by [the late] Dick Giordano, so it wouldn’t surprise me if more turns up at a later date.” Another KISS-related revelation from Adams is that, sometime between 1978’s KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park and 1981’s proposed-but-canned film project Music from the Elder, he had developed a screenplay for a KISS theatrical film! “My KISS film outline had the band—with all their superpowers—fighting cyborg-like robots inside a steel mill,” Adams says. “I remember speaking with Gene about the concept and wanting it to be big budget and futuristic like Blade Runner, which was out around then. Unfortunately, the outline was ahead of its time, and I believe it was Gene who canceled the project. When I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator a couple of years later, I knew my movie would have been a hit!”

ARCHIE and KISS in “BATTLE OF THE BANDS” (1992)

Twenty years before Archie, Reggie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica joined KISS in fighting off zombies in the 2011 Archie Meets KISS series by Alex Segura and Dan Parent, there was a little-known pitch made to Archie Comics in their former offices in Mamaroneck, New York, where the Archies music group would have met KISS. 48 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

“At that point in time, the KISS comic I wrote for Revolutionary had been in fifth printing and I stopped writing for the company,” says Robert V. Conte. “I loved the Archies cartoon show as a youngster in the 1970s, and I thought how cool would it be for the gang to meet the original KISS in their original, shock-rocking glory before they became superstars.” Partially inspired by the 1990 NBC film and comicbook adaptation Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again, which featured Archie and his supporting characters as adults, Conte wrote the entire script on-spec with a simple plot: 1973. The Archies group—known for the hits “Sugar Sugar” and “Bang-A-Shang-Lang”— are invited by a mysterious promoter to reform for a one-time performance at Cafe Wha?, the legendary landmark club in Greenwich Village, New York. As the group arrives from Riverdale and starts setting up their stage, they are introduced to the opening band—a little-known group named KISS. Archie, Jughead, and their pals are freaked and try to leave. One of the new band’s members, Gene Simmons, pleads with them to stay: “Sugar Sugar… KISS… Get it?” exclaims Gene, in full-blown demonic makeup with skull-and-crossbones T-shirt, to Archie. “We need you guys to help sell tickets for this show, otherwise the gig is canceled. Dig?” Eventually, the Archies aren’t so fearful of their stalemates and perform the show. As an in-joke to die-hard fans, Conte wrote famed music and TV producers Dick Clark and Don Kirshner into the story.

Clark gave KISS their first TV appearance on In Concert in 1974 and Kirshner helped form the Archies and in 1976 had KISS on his show, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. As for a creative team, Conte recalls one artist really wanted to be involved: “The late, great Mike Esposito—whom I knew previously and worked with on Zen Intergalactic Ninja before it was published by Archie Comics—insisted that, if the pitch was approved, he would ink it, Stan Goldberg would pencil it, and Barry Grossman would handle coloring. Had the story been approved, I think Mike would have completely taken it over.” Alas, the idea was not approved for publication and only two copies of the printed script exist. Conte has the original, and the only known copy is locked somewhere in the Archie archives. Perhaps one day, KISS and Archie will meet again…

THE BAD BOYS OF KISS – PETER CRISS and ACE FREHLEY (1994)

In the early 1990s, Malibu Comics Entertainment, which had achieved prosperity with its Ultraverse line of superheroes comics and a revolutionary computer-coloring system for its publications, launched Rock-it Comix, an imprint featuring authorized stories about music artists. Dubbed “Music for Your Eyes,” the initial offering of full-color comics—including Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, and Lita Ford—seemed to pave the way for the line’s long-term success. But soon after the first few titles shipped to comic-book stores and newsstands, one of several complications arose—including new competition. “Marvel Music had debuted months after Rock-it Comix’s initial launch with titles such as Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli’s Alice Cooper: The Last Temptation and Dave McKean’s Rolling Stones: Voodoo Lounge,” says then-editor Robert V. Conte. “We found ourselves

Additional KISS Commentary by… PAUL CASTIGLIA! “In 1992, while working on-staff at Archie Comics as an editor, the time were met with: a combination of reverence for the outwriter, archivist, and director of new product development, of-the-box thinking combined with, ‘We’re not sure our brand’s I received a call from my friend Robert V. Conte. I’d known current fan base is ready for such a creatively “out-there” idea.’ Robert since the late 1980s, having met him at the comic shop he “While an Archie/KISS crossover didn’t pan out in 1992, I like managed and ran in Huntington Station, New York—Collector’s to think the germ of the idea of ‘mixing Archie up with characters Kingdom. In addition to selling comics, Robert was determined to that are unexpected by comics fans’ embedded itself into some create them, as both a publisher and editor. We hit it off instantly, of our heads. The proof of that would come two years later when and he was one of the first people to express an interest in my Victor Gorelick embraced the idea presented to him by writer comics-writing skills. Plans were afoot for an anthology that would Batton Lash of Archie meeting Marvel’s edgy, vigilante anti-hero, include some of my characters. Although that idea ultimately the Punisher. I joined the crusade to champion that cause, and didn’t pan out for logistical reasons, Robert and I kept in touch with enthusiastic support from Marvel’s editorial and marketing and stayed interested in each other’s endeavors, helping each teams lead by Don Daley and Jim ‘Ski’ Sokolowski, respectively, other out whenever possible. (Three years later, Robert became my Goldwater and the Silberkleits came on board as well. [Editor’s editor on one of my fondest comic-industry opportunities: note: Discover the story behind the Archie/Punisher crossover writing stories featuring classic Tex Avery animation in the next issue of BI.] I don’t think we could have pushed that fondly recalled, bestselling crossover characters for Dark Horse Comics!) issue through had it not been for the impression “On this particular day, Robert phoned with a Robert V. Conte made. Conte’s enthusiasm for unique and highly unusual proposition: what if Archie and his pals from squeaky-clean suburban the Archie-meeting-KISS concept, as well as his Riverdale High were to meet the most outraskill in pitching just why it would result in a geously jaw-dropping rock band in history? crowd-pleasing hit, was infectious! That’s right—KISS! Robert had the foresight to see “Putting aside the differences in the Archie and that combining the world’s premiere wholesome KISS personas, there’s one last element that in comic-book characters with the edgy, otherhindsight helps make the idea of Conte’s Archie/ worldly rock gods could result in a masterful KISS pitch not so far-fetched after all: It turns out entertainment as comically combustible as Gene Simmons is a fan of classic comedy! I know paul castiglia Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein! As that this as I am an executive producer on an upcoming classic film showed, the juxtaposition of comical © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. documentary on the East Side Kids and Bowery characters with supernatural ones, letting the comedians get Boys called Bowery Rhapsody: the Rise & Redemption of Hollywood’s their laughs while the monsters played it straight, was a recipe Original Brat Pack. In the course of making this film, we learned that Gene loves the Bowery Boys. Given the fact that Archie Comics’ for fun and fright, and delights audiences to this day. “Prior to Robert’s call, the only comic crossovers for Archie and Jughead character and Sach (played by Huntz Hall) in the Bowery the gang were the previous year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Meet Boys are spiritual cousins, and predecessors to such oddball Archie, and some brief run-ins here and there with Archie’s classic classic TV characters like Ed Norton from The Honeymooners and superhero characters. But what Robert proposed was something Kramer from Seinfeld, this should come as no surprise. entirely different—not merely mixing it up with a group of characters “It should also come as no surprise that no good idea stays the company either already owned (their superheroes) or already buried for long. Archie and the gang eventually did meet KISS, licensed (Ninja Turtles), but specifically embarking on a collaboration under a different team of Archie editorial and business management. for the unique purpose of an historic team-up! Additionally, none of That it didn’t happen in 1992 I merely chalk up to the fact that, the previous Archie crossovers seemed all that unexpected, and despite the success of Archie Meets the Punisher, both Archie’s certainly didn’t have the edge of the barons of bubblegum pop, management at the time as well as its fanbase just weren’t ready for a slew of ideas that pushed the envelope. Believe me, we tried. Not just the Archies, meeting the sheiks of shock rock, KISS! “A meeting was set up for Robert to come in and pitch the me but a team of talented writers, artists, and editors like Dan Parent, idea to myself, Archie’s owners, Michael Silberkleit (CEO) and Bill Golliher, Chris Allan, Scott Fulop, Daryl Edelman, and several Richard Goldwater (president), David Silberkleit (director of Archie others attempted to break new ground in the 1990s, but it just wasn’t licensing), and then-managing editor Victor Gorelick. The idea our—or more precisely—the concept’s time. Which makes Robert was met with what most out-there ideas presented to Archie at V. Conte’s pitch of Archie meeting KISS well ahead of its time!” Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49

Rock-it Comix Four of Malibu Comics’ magazinesized Rock-it Comix authorized editions, published in 1993 and 1994, which featured comics and photo features. The Rock-it line also included Black Sabbath, Pantera, and World Domination one-shots. © the respective copyright holders.

competing to strike deals with music artists to create brand-new, fully licensed adventures. We had acts like Pantera, Santana, and Yes. Marvel had Bob Marley, Billy Ray Cyrus, and had just resigned KISS. Two of the band’s original members were no longer in the group, so I had an idea…” Conte pitched an issue of Rock-it Comix featuring Peter “Catman” Criss and “Space” Ace Frehley detailing their post-KISS years as solo artists and ultimately reconnecting to go on tour together. At that time, Criss had a forthcoming album due to launch from indie label Tony Nicole Tony (TNT) Records, while Frehley agreed to guest-star on the record while touring with his band. “The proposed comic was cool and in-sync with what was planned for the company,” recalls veteran musician and producer Dito Godwin (ditogodwin.com), then-CEO of TNT Records. “Take George [Harrison] and Ringo [Starr] out of the Beatles and what do you have? Just John [Lennon] and Paul [McCartney], which is fine, but it’s no longer the Beatles. That was our approach working with Peter [Criss] and Ace [Frehley]; those two individuals are equal parts of what made KISS a worldwide brand. In my opinion, TNT was instrumental in bringing the original KISS back together.”

Conte’s two meetings—one at TNT’s office in Encino, California, to obtain Criss’ endorsement, and the second with Ace Frehley and his then-publicist Carol Kaye, in her Manhattan, New York, office—were encouraging. “That was my first time meeting Ace and it was surreal,” says Conte. “We discussed plot, artwork, licensing guarantees, and all. Ace even posed with me and a Rock-it Comix placard for publicity purposes. It was an awesome day.” After creating a budget to produce the Criss/Frehley issue of Rock-it Comix—which would have been offered inside the new Criss solo album and on sale as a merchandise item on Frehley’s tour—seemed like a no-brainer to Conte. He was wrong. “Malibu would have regular meetings where we would vote on projects submitted by the editors,” says Conte. “In this case, my fellow colleagues voted to publish the comic. Our editor-in-chief, however, vetoed it for various reasons—mostly political—that he wouldn’t discuss in detail with me. I had to go back to Dito and Carol to explain what happened. It was disappointing and humiliating. My days with the company were numbered, anyway.” Although the aforementioned comic did not materialize, Criss and Frehley did move forward with a “Bad Boys of KISS” tour that helped clear a path for them to return to the group. In an ironic twist of fate, Malibu Comics Entertainment was purchased by Marvel Comics in late 1994 and both Marvel Music and Rock-it Comix lines were canceled. Both imprints had several unfinished titles in various stages of development including Megadeth, The Doors, Elvis Presley, and Snoop Dogg.

KISS VS. GODZILLA (1995)

Robert V. Conte joined Dark Horse Comics in 1994 and was entrusted to produce several licensed titles for the company including The Shadow, Tex Avery Comics and Stories, G.I. Joe: Extreme, and Godzilla. “I loved those comics—especially Godzilla,” says Conte. “In addition to the monthly series, one-shot crossovers including Godzilla versus Hero Zero (written by BACK ISSUE editor Michael Eury) and Godzilla vs. Barkley (yes, that’s basketball pro Charles Barkley) were published. I thought the next logical step was pitting the King of the Monsters against the Superheroes of Rock ’n’ Roll—KISS!” Conte, who had previously interviewed bassist Gene Simmons for the now-defunct Comics Buyer’s Guide, simultaneously pitched the idea to him and United Productions of America (UPA, home to characters like Mister Magoo and Dr. Seuss’ Gerald McBoing Boing), at the time Godzilla’s North American licensing agent for Toho Company, Ltd. “This was around the time KISS were writing songs for Carnival of Souls—their last studio album sans makeup,” recalls Conte. “Gene pledged the band’s full support. Henry Saperstein of UPA initially loved the concept, too.” The plot: It’s 1977 and, in an alternate universe, Godzilla survives the Oxygen Destroyer that killed him in the original 1954 film. The King of Monsters lay dormant until he is found by an alien race intent on conquering Earth. Soon, Godzilla is unleashed in New York City and destroys the Empire State Building! Four familiar teenagers, blessed with the powers of Khyscz, transform into the superheroes KISS to battle the giant, fire-breathing behemoth before he takes down his next target—the Twin Towers! “This story was to take place following the Marvel Super Specials,” says Conte. “I wanted Steve Gerber to 50 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

write it (I was acquainted with Steve from our Malibu days— he co-created Sludge for the Ultraverse) and Herb Trimpe (long-famed artist of the 1977–1979 Godzilla series from Marvel Comics) to draw it. Steve, unofficially, helped me with the outline submitted to KISS and Toho Co., Ltd. We thought it would materialize rather quickly.” Unfortunately, the project started being attacked from several angles—first from within Dark Horse Comics by its founder and publisher, Mike Richardson. “Mike called me into his office and told me—in no uncertain terms— that he did not want Trimpe to draw it,” says Conte. “I tried explaining the importance of this one-shot being ‘retro,’ before the term became commonplace. My pleas fell on deaf ears, so we asked our Godzilla cover artist, Bob Eggleton, to draft a cover sketch paying homage to Fantastic Four #1, except Godzilla was rising from the sea with the band in the same positions as the FF were on that iconic image.” Second, Toho Co., Ltd. advised their annoyance through UPA when Gene Simmons announced the project at the very first KISS Unplugged Convention held in Los Angeles, California in late 1995. “Gene was so excited about KISS vs. Godzilla that he broadcast it in front of the entire audience,” Conte recalls. “We only had a preliminary deal memo at that point. This revelation was highly premature and a few people at Dark Horse were not happy with Gene for jumping the gun.” The third and final strike came when UPA and Toho read the proposed first draft of the script. “Mr. Saperstein called me in a rage and canceled the project because, unbeknownst to me at that time, Godzilla canon doesn’t allow him to die—even temporarily,” Conte says. “Our story ended with KISS ‘killing’ the King of Monsters until the last panel when the ‘Big G’s’ red eyes reopened underwater. This was a no-no, to the point I distinctly recall having my ass handed to me by my then-editorial supervisor. That was the end of that!” “The concept was exciting and could have been one of the best crossovers ever,” recalls longtime Godzilla artist Bob Eggleton (bobeggleton.com). “Projects that require multiple sign-offs from many people, at virtually every stage, become so hard to pull off. It didn’t work when both Godzilla and KISS were being published by Marvel in the 1970s and, unfortunately, it didn’t work here, either.” Fortunately, some good came out of those unfortunate circumstances. Eggleton’s sketch inspired the cover and interior poster to Marvel Music’s KISSnation #1. Dark Horse Comics would eventually license KISS comics in the early 2000s and Conte, who left the company in late 1995 due to creative differences, was given the dream job of his lifetime— KISS hired him in 1996 to become their first Catalog Consultant. The rest is… KISStory!

Demon Gene vs. Big Green? (top) A glimpse of what KISS vs. Godzilla could have been. Black-and-white Godzilla-1954 sketches by Bob Eggleton. (bottom) KISS and Godzilla were getting along pretty well in this publicity shot taken in Japan in 1978. Both were licensed by Marvel for comics at that time for various territories worldwide, but a crossover was not to be. Godzilla © Toho Company, Ltd. Godzilla art © Bob Eggleton. Photo supplied by United Productions of America to Robert V. Conte, 1989. Courtesy of the Robert V. Conte collection.

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Big Hair Hero The chatted-about KISS/Superman crossover would have happened back during the infamous Supermullet era. Would Supie have appeared in his more traditional look in the book? We’ll never know… TM & © DC Comics.

KISS/SUPERMAN (c. 1995–1996)

Shortly after the KISS vs. Godzilla project fell though, band co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley started shopping the idea of new KISS comics to various publishers. They met with DC Comics—specifically thenvice president/publisher Paul Levitz and former editor Andy Helfer—about publishing the group’s next shockrock adventures. The publisher’s experimental imprint, Piranha Press, had already published two successful comics based on the late musician Prince [see BACK ISSUE #27]. Written by the late Dwayne McDuffie and illustrated by various artists, Prince: Alter Ego #1 and Prince and the New Power Generation encouraged DC to pursue and develop comic-book stories on other musicians. Among them, of course, was KISS. “We had other titles in development including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ice T,” says Levitz, “but they were later abandoned.” “In contrast to Prince, who wanted to make a good comic,” says Helfer, “Gene just wanted to make money. That’s the reason it never happened.” Although there was speculation that a treatment had been written and concept art produced featuring the original KISS battling Superman in the skies over Metropolis, both Levitz and Helfer deny this. “No, we never got that far in planning,” says Helfer. “We mostly spent time eating meals—on DC’s dime— to discuss possibilities.” “I do recall some nice conversations with Gene,” continues Levitz, “not just about comics but shooting the breeze about [our New York backgrounds] and such.”

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Apparently, there seems be no documentation or recollection as to whether the project would have been “KISS Meets Superman” or “KISS vs. Superman.” “From a publisher’s perspective it doesn’t matter,” says Levitz— suggesting sales for either option would have been bombastic. As for possible creative teams, there seemed to be an unforeseen obstacle: “It may have been hard to find interested writers for the music-related projects,” says Helfer. “I had no problems finding artists, but no one credible would write.” Ultimately, the Rulers of Rock ’n’ Roll did not meet or battle the Man of Steel. Negotiations between the two iconic brands ceased. “[KISS] probably liked another publisher’s pitch better, either creatively or in business terms,” says Levitz. Levitz was correct. KISS soon returned home to their original comics publisher under its new imprint, Marvel Music, with KISSNATION.

KISSNATION #2 (1997)

Shortly after the first and only issue of KISSnation was published by Marvel Music for the direct market, the company canceled this imprint and reprint rights for the material reverted to KISS. Marvel Music’s theneditor-in-chief, Mort Todd, recalls some of the frustration with Marvel Music’s final days: “Basically, I had left Marvel Music before KISSnation #1 came out. Gene Simmons, in his usual savviness, had a contract with Marvel that forced them to put it out, so he got me rehired to freelance-edit and finish the book. While many of the [Marvel Music] books sold quite well with cross platforms of retail, the company didn’t follow those avenues for most of the titles and, despite the talent used in the books, direct sales didn’t have much interest.” Not to be deterred, Gene Simmons and KISS’s thenlicensing agent Sony Signatures quickly negotiated a new publishing deal for KISSnation to be published in a

magazine-sized special published by Metal Edge Magazine. Sold exclusively on the newsstand, Kiss Rocks the World included KISSnation #1, with all-new interviews, photos and other bonus material. Due to legal conflicts between KISS and Marvel Music, one story originally slated for inclusion in KISSnation was “God of Thunder vs. God of Thunder…?!,” written by Robert V. Conte with the proposed art team of Matt Haley and Tom Simmons, both of whom were then illustrating Ghost Special and other projects for Dark Horse Comics. “I remember riding as a passenger in Gene’s SUV and giving him the outline and sample page by Haley and Simmons,” says Conte. “All three of us were KISS fans and it showed. He loved the idea and hired me to write the script immediately, which basically was a battle between the Demon and Marvel’s Thor as to whom truly had the right to call himself the God of Thunder.” Although Haley and Simmons could not draw Conte’s complete script due to scheduling conflicts, Gene had another artist in mind to depict the epic battle between the Lord of the Wasteland and the Son of Odin: Simon Bisley. “We both loved Lobo and having Simon involved would have been incredible. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be and KISSnation #2 was shelved,” says Conte.

ERIC CARR: ENTER THE FOX (1999)

When original drummer Peter Criss left KISS in 1980, the band’s future was uncertain. Fortunately, replacing Criss with unknown Paul Caravello—a.k.a. Eric Carr— helped take them to new heights as they shed their infamous makeup to begin a second chapter of KISStory. Carr’s thunderous drums, harmonious backing vocals, and unmatched enthusiasm propelled KISS to a new level of musicianship. Sadly, his tenure as KISS’s second of three drummers would end in tragedy: he passed away from cancer in November 1991. In 1998, packaging and publishing company Studio Chikara obtained permission from the Caravello family to publish various products based on Eric Carr’s life. “We produced bestselling trading cards and lithographs exclusively featuring Eric,” company founder Robert V. Conte says. “To some, his popularity equaled—if not exceeded—that of some of KISS’s original members.” First, Conte commissioned an exquisitely airbrushed cover by veteran artist, lifelong KISS fan, and musician, Shannon (www.theshannongallery.com), who has created imagery for music celebrities like Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. “When creating Enter the Fox, I remember detail was important, as is with every portrait,” recalls Shannon. “Eric [Carr] was important to me, personally, because from what I read he truly loved his fans. Eric was an amazing drummer, and he wore his canine alter ego with pride in the name of KISS.” A script for a biographical comic book was co-written by Conte and the late C. J. Henderson (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Neil Gaiman’s Lady Justice, Punisher: The Prize), with interiors to be illustrated by longtime Nira-X: Cyberangel writer and artist Bill Maus (www.billmausart.com). “Even though the comic was never produced, I was happy to be a part of things,” says Maus. “KISS is such a historically big part of pop culture that being included, even on a peripheral level, was still exciting.”

“Working with Robert [Conte] was interesting!” says Shannon. “Most of the artwork he was interested in was right up my alley. From Rockers to Monsters—it was always cool.” By the time the Eric Carr comic was offered for sale in 1999, the 1996–1997 KISS Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour had enjoyed three years ranking as the #1 tour and merchandising music brand. The market became oversaturated with product and several proposed projects—including the comic book—did not sell enough copies to justify manufacturing costs. “In hindsight, we shouldn’t have offered a standard and limited-edition metallic cover version,” says Conte. “Both were also magazine-sized, hoping to entice non-comics retailers. If it had been published a year earlier, I believe it would have been a success.” Although Shannon’s Enter the Fox cover wasn’t used for the comic book as intended, it was used on a cover of Non Sport Update promoting Studio Chikara’s Tale of the Fox trading cards. As for the unpublished comic, it may yet see the light of day. “I owe it to my friend C. J., Eric Carr, and KISS fans worldwide to see the comic come to life,” says Conte. “Perhaps it will be included, in whole or part, in my forthcoming book, My KISS Story, due for 2018 release.”

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Over the past several years, female comics writers have become more popular in the mainstream than ever before in the industry’s history. Writer Amy Chu is certainly one of those rising stars, having created stories featuring iconic characters including Wonder Woman ’77 for DC Comics, X-Files Deviations for IDW, X-O Manowar for Valiant, and All-New Deadpool for Marvel. She’s also an independent publisher, co-founding Alpha Girl Comics and receiving success for 2012’s critically acclaimed Girls Night Out. Some would say—particularly those who listen to a certain rock ’n’ roll band that wears kabuki-like makeup, outrageous costumes, and performs on of the most bombastic stage sets ever created—that Amy’s greatest achievement to date has been writing the new comic-book adventures of the “Hottest Band in the Land”—KISS! Longtime KISS ARMY member Peter Vassallo recently had the opportunity to interview Amy about her role as newest scribe on the current KISS comic-book series published by Dynamite Entertainment… – Robert V. Conte PETER VASSALLO: You’ve been working in the comics industry as a writer for a while now. How did you break in? AMY CHU: I’m relatively new, actually. I got into comics by accident. I was just trying to help a friend publish her comic but then I got hooked, and it just kind of escalated from there. VASSALLO: What were the circumstances that led you to work on the new KISS comics from Dynamite? CHU: I had finished the Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death miniseries for DC Comics and Dynamite asked if I was interested in writing any of their series. They mentioned KISS and I jumped on it. KISS comics have been around for decades, so I wanted to try something new. They let me go with a sci-fi storyline. VASSALLO: The band’s first appearance as comic-book superheroes was in 1976, in Marvel’s Howard the Duck #12—over 40 years ago! How does it feel to be the first woman ever to write an official KISS comic book? CHU: Sure, I’m the first woman to write KISS, but I honestly don’t think about that. VASSALLO: That first official KISS comic book, Marvel Comics Super Special, published in 1977, used the gimmick of having the original members put a vial of their own blood into the red ink. It appears sales gimmicks to move KISS comics remain a vital part of their success. To date, almost 100 different variant covers of your comics have been printed—resulting in increased sales that do not necessarily equate with actual readers. As a writer, how does that particular kind of marketing make you feel? CHU: I have no problem with variants. People buy them and it makes them happy. If they stop buying them, then publishers will stop printing them. I would much rather have someone buy a variant cover and not read it than someone illegally downloading the book and tell me how much they liked it. VASSALLO: Have you met and/or spoken with any current or past member of KISS? If so, have they commented and/or given you direction on your work? CHU: I work with the editors at Dynamite, but I was surprised to find out that Gene Simmons does indeed approve every page of the script. And I was told he likes the storyline very much. I’m meeting him at Wizard World in Philadelphia, so I guess I’ll find out for myself! VASSALLO: Were you a KISS fan growing up? CHU: I would like to say yes—all the cool kids in the neighborhood were KISS fans, but I grew up in a pretty strict household where we weren’t allowed to listen to that kind of stuff, so I guess this is my way of rebelling now as an adult. VASSALLO: What is your favorite KISS album, and why? CHU: I’m really a fan of [1981’s] Music from the Elder, which is what the comic series is based on, mostly because it was completely underrated and unfairly maligned, in my opinion. VASSALLO: What other music do you enjoy? CHU: I listen to a pretty eclectic range of music, mostly through the magic of Spotify and YouTube. I travel quite a lot, so I enjoy listening to what’s

Meet Amy Chu The current KISS writer reading one of her comics in Dynamite Entertainment’s New York satellite office. Photo by Matt Humphries. 54 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

interview by P e t e r V a s s a l l o conducted by email in May 2017

Comic-Con KISS Two happy fans and their signed KISS comics. Photos by Amy Chu.

popular around the world. You’ll see some crossover with some Japanese metal in the second arc of the KISS series! VASSALLO: What’s your first memory of being aware of KISS and their fandom? CHU: Oh, ha! They’ve been a part of our culture as long as I can remember. My husband’s first album was KISS. That does give me another story idea: an alternate world without KISS. That would be interesting… VASSALLO: KISS in comics has largely differed in interpretations over the years, from superheroes to a “Greek chorus” in the lives of unrelated characters. How did you decide what your approach would be? CHU: A lot had been done already, and I really wanted to do something different, something that would really tap into the fan experience more than, “What’s it like inside Gene Simmons’ head?” VASSALLO: The first story arc uses “The Elder” mythos and storyline reimagined as a dystopian society. Where did that idea come about? CHU: A lot of fans started listening to KISS during their early teens, so I wanted to capture that feeling of discovery and just the idea that there was more out there. VASSALLO: Have you read the previous KISS comics and/ or graphic novels, and will they influence your direction in future story arcs? CHU: I read some, but not all. I wouldn’t say they’re an influence, but it is useful to know what other creative teams have done in the past. VASSALLO: Writers and artists of past KISS books have put in “Easter eggs” that die-hard fans would recognize. Do you plan to continue that trend? CHU: Oh, of course! Everyone on the book is a fan, from the artist to the letterer, so there’re Easter eggs I don’t even know of hidden in all those pages… VASSALLO: Are there any secret gems that KISS fans may look forward to in future issues of your comics? CHU: Definitely! I’m always looking to surprise and entertain with my stories. Comics fans can be incredibly jaded, so it puts a lot of pressure on me to always have some kind of reveal in each issue. VASSALLO: What are the challenges of taking something with a very established and varied history like KISS or Red Sonja and putting your own spin on it while remaining true to the original creators’ vision? CHU: It’s a nice thought staying faithful to the original creators, but what’s most important is being faithful to the character, and sometimes these characters evolve over time.

I’m not interested in tearing down what others did before me just so I can put my own personal stamp on everything. VASSALLO: Who are your favorite comic writers, both past and present? CHU: Mike Mignola, Terry Moore, Gail Simone, and Jeff Lemire all do great stories. I like minimalism paired with emotion. VASSALLO: What are your favorite comics both to read and to write? CHU: There’s so many good comics coming out these days, it’s hard to keep up. I’ve been doing a lot of research for Red Sonja. Shelton Drum at Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find [in Charlotte, North Carolina] sent me a whole box of issues from the ’80s, so I’m really enjoying reading through those right now. I like to write everything, except maybe horror and romance. VASSALLO: Is there anyone in particular that has had the most influence on your individual writing style? CHU: I have no idea. I’m not trying to copy anyone. I just try to cherry-pick things that work, and I write differently for different characters. I would be interested in finding out what readers think. VASSALLO: Now there’s a KISS: The Demon spin-off series—the first time a comic-book series has been published featuring only one KISS member. In this case, it’s co-founder Gene Simmons. Are there more comics planned to exclusively feature co-founder Paul Stanley and current members Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer? Or perhaps past members such as co-founders Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, or even the late drummer Eric Carr? CHU: No one has mentioned that to me yet, but I think it would be great! VASSALLO: How far ahead are you thinking in terms of story arcs, and are there any parts of the KISS mythos that you wish to explore? CHU: I am on board for ten issues, so I pretty much thought through the entire two arcs before I wrote everything. VASSALLO: Has writing the book given you an insight to how large and vocal the KISS ARMY is? CHU: Oh it’s not the comics, but the conventions I’ve attended. I’m completely amazed how devoted and diverse the fanbase is. Kids, adults, women, and men. It’s pretty astounding! Special thanks to Robert V. Conte. Want to learn more about Amy Chu and her KISS comics published by Dynamite? Check out her website: amychu.com.

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When the late, great Mike Wieringo was drawing one of Marvel’s Spider-Man comics, he was very interested in reviving some of Spidey’s more obscure— shall we say, lamer—villains, such as the Looter. I told him, “You’ve got to bring back the Hypno-Hustler,” but he had no idea who that was. With the Internet still in its infancy, I had no way to quickly send Mike any reference material, so he never got around to using the character. In fact, the Hypno-Hustler (a.k.a. Antoine Delsoin) was such an obscure villain that he never appeared in the pages of John Byrne’s Sensational She-Hulk, a comic in which the title character battled some of the lamest villains in Marvel history. Hypno-Hustler wasn’t even worthy of being killed by Scourge, a mysterious executioner who gunned down one obscure villain after another throughout various Marvel comics in the mid-’80s. So, when discussing the Hypno-Hustler, we are talking about the lamest of the lame— truly one of the most obscure supervillains of all time. A villain whose name and gimmick were so mired in the ’70s that he wouldn’t be seen again until the next century, by which time the ’70s were making a comeback.

SATURDAY NIGHT FUROR

Almost a year after the hit film Saturday Night Fever premiered, Marvel published Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #24 (Nov. 1978). In a story titled “Spider-Man Night Fever,” written by Bill Mantlo and illustrated by Frank Springer, Peter Parker’s friends drag him out to the Beyond Forever disco club, even going so far as to dress him up in a white disco suit resembling John Travolta’s from the Saturday Night Fever movie. The entertainment for that evening is the Hypno-Hustler and His Mercy Killers (a trio of female backup singers). Their act is similar to that of the Ringmaster and His Circus of Crime, as the combination of the Mercy Killers’ voices and the sound emitting from the Hustler’s guitar puts the crowd into a hypnotic trance, enabling the crooks to rob the audience without anyone remembering what happened. Backstage, the club manager, Bernie, catches the Hustler robbing his safe before the show and is outraged, since he gave the Hustler his start and paid his expenses. “Oh, yeah, Bernie,” the villain says as he puts the manager under his trance. “You took me off the streets, an’ I thank ya for that! But this disco dude’s got plans—an’ if it takes some grand larceny supplementin’ my music to put me over the top… well, I can dig it!” When the Hustler and His Mercy Killers perform, the entire audience falls under their spell, except Peter Parker, who is somehow able to resist long enough to change to his costume and use webbing to plug his ears so he can no longer hear the hypnotic music. Despite being unable to hear the taunts of his opponent, Spidey makes fairly short work of the Hustler. Even the Hustler’s gimmicked boots, which include retractable blades and emit knockout gas, fail to slow the Web-Slinger down. “A few more gadgets and he could give lessons to the Tinkerer,” Spidey notes. Realizing that the Mercy Killers are the ones keeping the crowd in a trance, Spidey removes the Hustler’s special headphones, which protect him from the hypnotic effect of their singing. The Hustler falls under his own spell, giving Spidey a chance to change back into Peter Parker and take his place in the crowd, as everyone awakes to find the Mercy Killers’ mouths webbed shut and the Hypno-Hustler webbed to the disco ball on the ceiling.

THAT ’70s VILLAIN

It would be over 23 years before the Hypno-Hustler would return (without the Mercy Killers, who were apparently never seen again), in a two-part story in Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #16–17 (Sept.–Oct. 2002). By that time,

Get Down Tonight The first—but surprisingly, not the last, as you’re about to read—appearance of the happenin’ Hypno-Hustler. Cover to Spectacular Spider-Man #24 (Nov. 1978) by Frank Springer. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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by D

aniel DeAngelo

’70s nostalgia was in full swing and That ’70s Show was one of the top-rated sitcoms on TV. In “Heartbreaker,” written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Leandro Fernandez, the master criminal Tombstone is transferred to a maximum-security prison called the Cage. He quickly forms his own gang, consisting of fellow inmates Big Ben, the Rocket Racer, and, of course, the Hypno-Hustler. The Hustler questions how effective they will be, since “Don’t nobody respect us…” Tombstone growls, “Don’t nobody respect you—an’ for good reason. I seen your costume, you disco reject.” However, the Hustler’s fears prove accurate, as the three ex-villains are easily beaten to a pulp by Tombstone’s rival, the Kangaroo. Still, they wind up serving their purpose in Tombstone’s overall plan to escape from the prison. The Hypno-Hustler turns up next in Spider-Man Unlimited vol. 3 #12 (Nov. 2005). In “Amends,” written by Christos N. Gage and illustrated by Mike McKone and Lary Stucker, the Hustler is seen as part of Vil-Anon, a support group for supervillains attempting to reform. The group includes such “luminaries” as the Stilt-Man, Armadillo, Man-Bull, Equinox, the Schizoid Man, and the Shocker. When ex-villain Big Wheel successfully turns his life around, HypnoHustler is inspired to do the same. “I’m up for parole next week,” he tells Big Wheel, “and when I get out, I’m gonna do exactly what you did.” However, any such retirement from crime would turn out to be short-lived. The Hustler next has a cameo in Amazing Spider-Man #645 (Dec. 2010) during the five-part “Origin of the Species” saga written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Paul Azteca. The Hustler seeks protection from the police against Spider-Man, who is on a rampage against the city’s supervillains following the Chameleon’s kidnapping of Menace’s baby.

DISCO DREAM

The Hustler finally makes his “big” comeback in Avenging Spider-Man #12–13 (Sept.–Oct. 2012), written by Robot Chicken’s Kevin Shinick and illustrated by Aaron Kuder. In an homage to the movie Inception (2010), the story starts off with Spider-Man dreaming he is back in high school, where Deadpool leads him through a gauntlet of former friends and enemies. After Spidey battles his way to freedom, he awakes to find out that he was not actually dreaming. Spidey is in a prison, where it turns out that Deadpool tricked him into battling the guards in order to release the prisoner who hired him—the Hypno-Hustler! Deadpool planted a transmitter in Spidey’s mask, enabling the Hustler to project hypnotic illusions directly into his mind. “Get with the scene, Spider-Man,” the villain says. “The Hypno-Hustler has returned! And you’ve just helped me seal your fate forever!” In the second issue, the Hustler explains, “Every camera in here caught you beatin’ a path to my door! Now your rep ain’t hep, and the Hypno-Hustler is back in action!” It turns out that Hustler’s cellmate, the Tinkerer, helped to upgrade his equipment (ironic since Spidey originally compared Hustler to the Tinkerer), enabling the Hustler to project an image of himself as “a foe to be reckoned with,” including a muscular body with a variation of his old costume and twin brass knuckles that read “SUPER” and “FUNK.” As “Boogie Man” and “Do the Hustle” play in the background, the Hustler projects more false images into Spidey’s mind, causing him to see the inmates of the prison as major villains such as the Green Goblin, Morlun, and Kraven. However, when the Hustler tells Deadpool to kill Spider-Man, the mercenary refuses. “Not part of the deal, dancin’ queen!” he says. At one point the Hustler tells Deadpool to “dig,” which prompts the Merc with a Mouth to reply, “Seriously, dude. It’s the 21st Century. Nobody says ‘dig.’ ” Hustler uses his hypnotic powers on Deadpool to force him to fight Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Hustler visits his locker to reclaim some of his prized possessions—his mood ring, pet rock, socks with toes, and a “Fonzie for President” flier. “I’m gonna have to brush up on my knowledge of the outside world if I’m gonna control it,” he says.

We Want the Funk Hypno-Hustler, as seen in Avenging Spider-Man #13 (Oct. 2012). By Kevin Shinick and Aaron Kuder. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Suddenly, Deadpool appears with a seemingly dead Spider-Man impaled on his sword. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash!” the Hustler exclaims. “It worked! They thought I was a joke, but I actually engineered the death of Spider-Man.” Wanting to see this with his own eyes, the Hustler removes his hypnotic goggles, enabling “Spider-Man” to take him down. It turns out that “Spider-Man” is actually Deadpool in disguise, as he and Spidey overcame the Hustler’s hypnosis and switched costumes, so Deadpool’s healing power enabled him to impale himself on his own sword and make it look like he had killed Spidey. The Web-Slinger uses the Hustler’s hypnotic equipment to plant the illusion in Deadpool’s mind that he is performing the “Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show and locks Deadpool, the Hustler, and the rest of the escaped villains back in their cells. The Hustler also makes an “appearance” in the letters page, where he complains, “That’s it?! Two issues and I’m done?! Hear that? That’s the sound a’ readers dropping this book. Jive turkey!”

STAYIN’ ALIVE

After that, it was back to the minor leagues for the Hustler. He has another cameo in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man vol. 2 #5 (Feb. 2014) as part of an army of supervillains hired by the Kingpin’s son, Richard Fisk. He also appears in a one-page comic-strip-style advertisement in AXIS: Hobgoblin #2 (Nov. 2014), being defeated by the Hobgoblin, who temporarily becomes a hero and tries to help other villains reform. Since then, he has tangled with the Heroes for Hire in Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 3. Alternate-reality versions of the Hustler have appeared on Earth-58163 in a House of M cameo, as well as 30 years in the future of Earth-70237 as part of Spider-Man: Reign, in which an elderly Hustler comes out of retirement to aid Spider-Man, only to be shot down by the police when the batteries in the boombox he uses to hypnotize them run out (he probably should have used Energizer). On television, Hypno-Hustler has a cameo in the “Some Assembly Required” episode of the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series as part of a group of escaped villains being hunted down by the Avengers. He’s also referred to in the episode “This Hostage Earth,” as Hawkeye tries to remember the name of the villain Chemistro and guesses “Hypno-Hustler” as well as “Paste-Pot Pete.” In videogames, Hustler is mentioned in the console version of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe when Spidey battles the Rhino. “They’re really scraping the bottom of the villain barrel now,” Spidey remarks. “Who’s next, Hypno-Hustler?” Hustler actually makes an appearance in the PS2 and PSP versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, where he provides an assist by defeating all enemies in the area with his guitar music (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypno-Hustler). Where and when will the Hypno-Hustler appear next? Who knows, but when it happens, you can bet he will probably make a bunch of ’70s puns, get ridiculed by any other villains in the story, and have his butt handed to him by Spider-Man once again. Can you dig it?? Disco DANIEL DeANGELO writes and draws cool stuff in funky Florida. He wants to give some skin to dancin’ David T. Allen for boogie-in’ down to help with this article. Right on!

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Alice Cooper is a comic-book character with a long pedigree. She came to prominence in the Silver Age as the only adult who would allow the rock band the Archies to practice in her home. Even today, she appears as a major character on the primetime television drama Riverdale. Of course, we are speaking of Alice Cooper, mother of Betty Cooper, in Archie comics. But readers are probably more interested in rock star Alice Cooper, born Vincent Damon Furnier, whose music career stretches back to the late 1960s and is still going strong today. Cooper has also enjoyed a sporadic life as a comic-book hero. He was first graced with a one-off story published by Marvel in 1979. This was followed in 1994 by a deluxe, three-issue miniseries, penned by Neil Gaiman and published by Marvel’s short-lived Marvel Music imprint (since reprinted by other publishers). In recent years, Cooper’s adventures have been told by Dynamite Entertainment, including a crossover with such Chaos! characters as Evil Ernie, Chastity, and Purgatori. Here, we shall address Cooper’s groundbreaking initial foray into a four-color universe.

ORIGINS

Ed Hannigan, who provided the comic’s script, gives some insight into the project’s origin: “Some of us around the office, particularly Dave [David Anthony] Kraft (DAK), Jim Salicrup, and I, were the other alice cooper very interested in doing some kind of rock comics. We were all Alice fans. © Archie Comic I had a Time magazine cover on my Publications, Inc. wall with President Gerald Ford’s picture on it that I had drawn Alice Cooper makeup on. It got lots of remarks. This led to talk about doing some kind of Alice project. “At some point Paul McCartney had gotten in touch with Marvel asking about doing a project. I remember some of the powers-that-be were cold about the idea, thinking Paul and the Beatles were passé. This was just before [Wings’] Venus and Mars came out, which became a monster hit, with references to Magneto and the Titanium Man, so obviously Paul was not passé. “DAK, Jim, and I were not happy that the thing went nowhere. David Bowie was also interested in Marvel. I remember his wife at the time, Angela, came into the office with their son, Zowie. “My recollections might not be totally accurate, but I think Dave and Jim somehow got Stan to do an adaptation of the Sgt. Pepper movie that was coming out then, and I think that got the idea of doing rock comics going. “The KISS comic came out of that, and so did the Alice Cooper comic. Jim asked me to write it and I jumped at the chance.” Jim Salicrup, credited as one of the tale’s three plotters (alongside Roger Stern and Cooper himself), reiterates

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by J a

ck Abramowitz

Hannigan’s fondness for Cooper’s music in his retelling of the comic’s genesis: “It probably started because Ed Hannigan liked Alice Cooper, and I remember he had some kind of Alice Cooper poster hung by his drawing table in the Marvel Bullpen. Ed knew a lot about so many things that this was just one more thing I discovered because of Mr. Hannigan. Once I got into Alice Cooper, I was sold! I loved everything about Alice and I still do! I couldn’t get enough of Alice Cooper! At one point during the Alice Cooper band’s huge success, Marvel was contacted about becoming involved with creating an Alice Cooper comic that would’ve come packed in with his next record album. I thought that was sheer genius and would’ve loved to work on that, but I wasn’t in a position at that time at Marvel to help make it happen, and like a few other projects like that, it unfortunately fell through the cracks. “Later on, after the original band had broken up, Alice’s PR people contacted Marvel again because some kind of snake-inspired villain was appearing in the syndicated Spider-Man comic strip. It wasn’t the Cobra but a new villain Stan created for the newspaper comic strip. They were hoping that Stan would work in a mention of Alice Cooper into one of Spidey’s clever one-liners, but when I got wind of this, I saw this as my chance to finally put together an Alice Cooper comic. I was assistant editor to Roger Stern then, and Roger was getting ready to leave staff and become a full-time writer. So I was getting ready to move up and become a full editor, taking over Roger’s titles, which included Marvel Premiere, a title designed to try out new characters and concepts. “David Anthony Kraft, Ed Hannigan, and I had been talking about doing comics like this for some time—to bring in new audiences to the world of comics. In fact, it was David Anthony Kraft and I who convinced Steve Gerber to actually do the KISS comics. Stan Lee had mentioned the idea to Steve, who didn’t know much about KISS, and wasn’t all that interested in doing it. But when he casually mentioned ‘the crazy idea’ Stan mentioned to him at a dinner at the Carnegie Deli to David Kraft and me, we insisted that he go for it! I saw Alice It cost no more than any other issue ed hannigan Cooper again recently at a horror of Marvel Premiere, as the Alice Cooper convention. He said he had just run © fumnov / Marvel.wikia.com. people were looking at this as promotion into Stan Lee the weekend before at for the album and not as a licensed a comic-book convention, and Stan told him how he project designed to generate royalties. In fact, all they remembered being there when Gene Simmons put a wanted was copies of the comic to sell through the drop of his blood into the red ink at the printers for the Alice Cooper fan club.” Unlike the KISS specials, which were played as fairly KISS comic. Alice said he told Stan Marvel should’ve used the rest of their blood to print the Alice Cooper comic!” straightforward superhero tales, the Alice Cooper comic was presented in a more humorous vein. According to ADAPTING THE ALBUM Hannigan, such an approach just “seemed like a natural. While Alice Cooper and KISS are thematically similar in The album (From the Inside) was kind of a horror parody a number of ways, the manner in which Marvel chose to thing, kind of a parody of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s present their adventures varied widely, not the smallest Nest. I think taking those characters seriously would have of which was format. KISS starred in two magazine-sized been a mistake. It’s not high drama.” “The comic was an adaptation of Alice’s comeback issues of Marvel [Comics] Super Special, complete with special features about the band, while Alice headlined a album, From the Inside, which Alice wrote with Bernie regular comic-sized issue of Marvel Premiere—impressive, Taupin,” details Salicrup. I think the only way to have but certainly more modest. Why did Marvel opt for such adapted that album in a Comics Code-approved comic was to do it humorously, which is not to say there isn’t different approaches? “Alice had been away for some time at that point, a lot of humor in the album. But just look at the songs and KISS had sort of stepped into the void that Alice’s on the album. I know if we tried to do a straight version of, absence had created,” Salicrup explains. KISS was super- say ‘Cold Ethel,’ it would’ve been impossible. It’s about hot when their comic came out, whereas Alice had making love to a corpse!” Salicrup provides another reason for the comic’s almost faded away. I managed to put that deal together so it wasn’t as risky as doing a full-color magazine. humorous slant: “Tom Sutton was one of my favorite

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cartoonists and Not Brand Ecch was one of my favorite that might have been, but it would make sense if it Marvel Comics—and both he and Marie Severin worked was Jim Salicrup) and said, ‘You’re right, this isn’t funny. on NBE, so I couldn’t resist going the funny route!” And by the way, no thank you!’ (Artist Sutton passed away in 2002. This author met “Now, don’t get me wrong—I understand the difficulties on the editorial side of monthly with colorist Severin in preparing this article, but, unfortunately, she could not recall anything publications (specifically comic books). In those about her work on Marvel Premiere #50.) days at least, the schedule was paramount; Much of the comic’s appeal comes you had to put something out every from visual gags provided by Terry month, even if it was a hastily assembled Austin, who says that he “came to the reprint when the creators of the story project in its later stages. As I recall, slated for that issue failed to deliver at I dropped by the office one day and the 11th hour…. I understood that they there was much wringing of hands had passed these pages around Editorial going on outside the editorial offices Row and the consensus was that they near the fabled Bullpen area. I was had ended up with a big dead mackerel and they were looking to me to make passing by when someone thrust the it a bit less stinky. I really wanted no penciled and lettered pages for Alice Cooper into my hands and said part of it until they said this next thing jim salicrup something like, ‘Can you do anything which stopped me dead in my tracks with this?’ ‘What’s the problem?’ © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. and turned me around: ‘You can do I naturally inquired. ‘It’s not funny!’ I was told. anything you want with it—we really don’t care!’ “I sat down in a nearby office and skimmed through Complete freedom—now that was something I could the pages. I’ll have to confess here that I wasn’t really a work with!” (Salicrup recalls, “Terry said he took on the huge fan of Alice (despite the fact that we both hailed Alice Cooper job because it seemed like I wanted him from the Motor City) and, although I thought that Tom to do it so much that he felt sorry for me.”) Sutton was fine on horror stories, I never understood “I took the pages with me on a two-week visit with why they kept trying to make him into a humor artist. my mom and pop back in Michigan,” Austin continues. Marie Severin drew funny. To me, Tom drew oddly, and “I knew that I couldn’t change any of the major odd is miles away from funny! So, I returned the pages elements such as the words lettered in the balloons to whoever had handed them to me (I’ve forgotten who or the figures involved in the foreground action, but

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I could slather in the ‘chicken fat’ (visual gags and signage) in the background of the panels as the brilliant artists such as Bill Elder and Wally Wood had done with the wonderful satires that Harvey Kurtzman wrote in the first 30 or so issues of the MAD comic book. I ended up adding everyone from Marvel characters such as the Mole Man, Hulk, and the Sub-Mariner to Kermit the Frog, Archie Andrews, Hoppity Hooper, Fearless Fosdick, the Penguin, Krazy Kat, Crusader Rabbit and Rags, Alley Oop, and yes, Popeye, Wimpy, and Bluto (in Group Therapy for the Punch Drunk). I guess I figured that if anyone questioned any of this, well, the story did take place in an insane asylum, and my little flights of fancy could be explained away as the hallucinations of our unreliable narrator. Frankly, I was rather appalled at some of the characters in the foregrounds of the panels (a deranged war veteran and a foot fetishist, to name two), and I figured that anything I did to shift a little of the attention off of them was probably a good thing! “There was one panel where I stepped into the foreground (sorry, Tom!). Page 6 is where Alice is mistakenly dragged out of the waiting room of a clinic to an insane asylum by two policemen. In panel 5, Tom had drawn two policemen and I thought, ‘What’s funny about two regular policemen?’ I erased the generic cops that Tom had drawn and added the likenesses of Officer Toody and Muldoon from Ned Hiken’s brilliant TV comedy series Car 54, Where Are You?, hoping that it might provoke a reaction similar to the one the audience underwent during the airport sequence in the movie It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, where two everyday goofs who aren’t pilots are trying to land a plane which they are supremely unqualified to do and the control tower calls for all emergency personnel to stand by and the camera pans over from the emergency vehicles to the Three Stooges standing there in firemen gear holding axes and they don’t have to say a word, the audience recognizes them and supplies the joke in their heads: Those poor guys in the plane are doomed! I figured that anyone who recognized Toody and Muldoon would understand how the mistake was made that ended up with poor Alice being wrongly committed! “I don’t recall any particular reaction when I returned to New York and turned the job in (I can only assume that poor Tom Sutton had a giant WTF? moment when he saw the job in print). Though I was asked to supply one additional change before the book went to the printer—they didn’t like Alice’s face on the cover that Tom had penciled and I had inked so they asked me to do another one on the spot. I grabbed an extra stool in the Bullpen, put the cover on the lightbox (so that the

size of the head would be correct), and proceeded to pencil and ink several Alice faces. They pointed to the one that they liked, so it was back to the Bullpen, where I grabbed an industrial-size jug of rubber cement, cut out the new head, and glued it in place. So, yes, that’s my Alice Cooper head on the cover (hold your applause, please; I embarrass easily).” As noted, the Marvel comic story is based extremely loosely on From the Inside, Cooper’s 1978 concept album about his stay in a sanitarium to treat his alcoholism. The characters in the songs—including Nurse Rozetta, Millie, and Billie—were based on actual people Cooper met in the sanitarium. The comic version of the tale has Alice confused with Alex Cooper, “a certified paranoid schizo with a radial tire fetish.” “We could not do a direct adaptation for whatever legal reasons, so we came up with a story of our own,” Hannigan recalls. “We used some characters and created some of our own. Since we were doing an insane asylum as a backdrop (a theme Alice had used in previous songs/ albums, too) we could do whatever we pleased more or less, the crazier the better.”

Busted… and Bustin’ Out (left) Terry Austin’s likenesses of Car 54, Where Are You?’s Toody and Muldoon. (right) Alice springs himself from the cuckoo’s nest. © Alice Cooper. Comic © 1979 Marvel Comics.

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Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper Courtesy of BACK ISSUE reader Tom Florio, Tom’s (left, standing) meeting with Alice Cooper at the singer’s appearance on October 24, 2015, at a car dealership in East Hanover, New Jersey. (inset) MP #50, signed in gold by Alice, from Tom’s collection!

Salicrup notes other limitations to doing a straight adaptation: “It’s really a great album, with the potential to be an awesome graphic novel, but we were limited to just 17 pages and, as I said, it had to be approved by the Comics Code Authority, which was the self-censoring agency for the comics industry at the time, so we took a fairly light-hearted and slightly dark approach to the whole thing. All the characters are there, but somewhat simplified and less overtly ‘sick.’ ” For example, Alex Cooper’s radial tire fetish “seemed like something we could get away with, as opposed to something a bit closer to some of the stuff on the album.” According to Hannigan, incongruous elements were added to provide “random nuttiness.” “I don’t remember the radial tire thing,” he says, “but I do remember moo goo gai pan was a recurring thing, again, because it sounds funny. I think I had that for dinner shortly before doing the story.” Aside from Alex Cooper, another character added to the story was “deadly Doctor Fingeroth.” But why name the resident mad doctor after Marvel writer/ editor Danny Fingeroth? Salicrup explains, “There was an unnamed doctor that was originally in the plot, that we were planning to call ‘The Doctor,’ like we did on the cover (which had nothing to do with the Doctor Who material we wound up running in issues #57–60), but when we saw how artist Tom Sutton drew the

character, it kind of looked like Danny Fingeroth, so I thought ‘Doctor Fingeroth’ sounded funnier. It became an inside joke, which seemed appropriate for a story called “From the Inside.”

RECEPTION

The creators differ as to their recollections of the book’s overall reception. According to Hannigan, “I think it did okay. Not a huge hit. Bob Greene, a columnist, tried to stir up some phony boycott, so I spent a bunch of time on the phone trying to defuse the outrage, which frankly was good publicity for Marvel. I doubt sales were good enough to warrant a sequel.” “As far as I’m aware,” Austin recalls, “the issue came and went without any fanfare (outside of a blurb on the Bullpen Bulletin Page). They always say that you can tell when a fad is over by the fact that someone decides to publish a comic-book tie-in, and I fear that that might have been the case here. I think that Alice’s popularity with the general public was on the wane, (although I’m sure he has always held on to his dedicated core fan base), and I can only surmise that the sales on that issue didn’t exactly have Spider-Man quaking in his little red booties since they never did another one.” According to Salicrup, however, the comic “went over very well, and sold well, too! It got great publicity thanks to Alice Cooper’s people hiring the top PR firm at the time. It even got into Rolling Stone!” Unfortunately, the possibility of a sequel was squashed by an administrative oversight. “After I pretty much put the whole deal together from Marvel’s side, I was upset to learn that Marvel dropped the ball and never sent the Alice Cooper people their comics to sell through the fan club. This bothered me because it made me look like I didn’t keep my word. So as much as I loved working on this comic, I didn’t want to be placed in that position again. I was very young and idealistic at the time. So when Marvel got the sales figures, and came to me to do more Alice Cooper comics, I decided not to do anymore. The Alice Cooper people never held it against me, and were even interested in doing a Blondie comic, which now I regret that I didn’t pursue.” I reached out to Neil Gaiman, author of the next Alice Cooper comic, The Last Temptation, published 15 years after Marvel Premiere #50, to see if the earlier comic influenced his series in any way. A spokesperson replied, “He said the comic didn’t really work as separate from the album it was based on. He remembers reading it when it first came out, but didn’t love it. And he didn’t go back to it when writing his book.” As far as the star himself, Salicrup says that “Alice Cooper had to approve it, so he liked it a lot. And said he wished his biceps were as big as they were in comic. When I saw him again recently, I noted that when he does autograph signings, he sells lots of concert photos of himself but the only non-concert photo he has for sale is a reproduction of the cover of Marvel Premiere #50. None of the other comic-book covers he’s been on are offered. I was flattered by that. I guess you always remember your first!” JACK ABRAMOWITZ is a writer, editor, and educator living in New York City. He has been studying the drums since January, so he’s not a rock god just yet.

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In his superb book, Comic Creators on X-Men (Titan Books, 2006), Tom DeFalco admitted that he suggested a new title to Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter: “If X-Men was our biggest seller, why not do a second X-Men book?” Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont and editor Louise Jones [Simonson] declared that a) if there was going to be a second X-Men book, they were going to do it, and b) it would focus on the school. Thus was born The New Mutants. Debuting in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (Jan. 1982), and continuing in New Mutants #1 (Mar. 1983), the next generation of mutants solidified their corner of the Marvel Universe. Claremont told DeFalco: “We could be more idiosyncratic. We could do stories about kids without putting them in the high level of jeopardy that we used in X-Men. We felt we could go in different directions with New Mutants, try different things.”

THE COSMIC CANNONBALL CAPER

In New Mutants Annual #1 (1984), the kids attend a rock concert by Lila Cheney. During the sound-check, Lila is almost crushed by a sabotaged speaker tower—saved only by the quick-thinking and speed of Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball. A second attempt on Lila’s life—during the concert itself—precipitates Sam and Lila’s disappearance. For not only is Lila the hottest gig around, she’s also a mutant teleporter. And not just short-range teleportation powers like other familiar X-characters, but Lila can teleport interstellar distances. (Technically, she can only teleport interstellar distances, and only to places she’s visited before, but the rules are frequently bent.) Sam finds himself with Lila on a Dyson Sphere light-years from Earth. She is grateful— very grateful—to Sam for saving her life. However, we soon discover that Lila is an interstellar thief, currently involved in a shady deal to sell the entire Earth to alien Vrakanín slavers. Fortunately the rest of the team (via Warlock) are able to follow our protagonists, free the captured Sam and Lila (who had been double-crossed), defeat the Vrakanín, and stop an alien stargate from exploding. Lila subsequently bob mcleod teleported everyone home, promised © Luigi Novi / not to try stealing the planet again, and reaffirmed her attraction to Sam. Wikimedia Commons. Bob McLeod, New Mutants co-creator and artist on their graphic novel and the first four issues of their ongoing book, returned for this story, set between issues #21 and 22: “I have to thank my editor, Louise Simonson, for offering me that job,” McLeod tells BI. “She just called and asked if I’d like to do it, and I was very excited to get another shot at penciling and inking them. I wasn’t fast enough to pencil and ink the monthly comic, which is one of the reasons I left the series, so I really enjoyed doing the Annual.” McLeod penciled, inked, and lettered the story. “I always prefer inking my own pencils whenever possible,” he

Debut Gig Lila Cheney first took the Marvel stage in New Mutants Annual #1 (1984). Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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by J a

rrod Buttery

admits, “and I learned hand-lettering when I worked in production at Marvel at the start of my career, and have always enjoyed it, although I don’t claim to be very good at it. I would have happily colored it as well, but coloring didn’t pay well at all back then. And many thanks to the great Tom Palmer for helping me meet the deadline by inking five pages of it for me at the last minute.” Lila’s teleportation sequences involved some gorgeous McLeod artwork but were printed in yellow colorhold overlays. One has to tilt the comic at the right angle and catch the light to appreciate the art. “Yeah, I always tried to make the most of the technology available to us at the time, but Zip-A-Tone and colorholds were about it,” laments McLeod. “The yellow holds didn’t print well at all. It was not my idea to make them yellow… I put a lot of work into those colorholds. The printing was so horrible back then, and I was never happy with the coloring my jobs got.” McLeod was heavily involved with the look of the book, but what about the plot? Did he have any involvement with the story? “That was all Chris [Claremont],” he states. “I was always just an artist, and wasn’t interested in plotting. That goes back to the fact that I wasn’t really a big superhero comic fan, but more of a humor fan, primarily reading MAD magazine growing up rather than comics.” But can McLeod take credit for Lila’s look? “Yes, I don’t remember for sure, but I think Chris probably suggested in the plot that she was to be kind of a Joan Jett type. That’s who I based her on” (inset). But did Lila leave a lasting impression on McLeod? “Not at all. As with all of my work, I just wish I had done a better job with her, but have no special affinity for her. Maybe if I’d had a © Blackhearts Music. chance to do another issue with her, but that was a long time ago.” Claremont elaborates, “As I recall, Lila came out of a desire to create more hopefully interesting characters to involve in the team’s lives, which were unique to the New Mutants and the context of their lives rather than those of the X-Men. Uber-concept. “Also, I wanted to focus more on Sam and try to take him out of his natural character zone. How does a kid from coal country West Virginia deal with meeting— and in the process, falling for, big-time—a rock star, only to discover that she’s also a superpowered intergalactic thief? I thought of Lila back then as the absolute dichotomy of Sam, pretty much everything he wasn’t or even dreamt of. So, of course, such apparently polar opposites were automatically totally attracted to one another. My intent/ hope was to use Lila as a means to help Sam begin to question his automatic responses to surface appearances and start to judge people by whom they are rather than how they appear.” chris claremont

MEETING MOM

Bill Sienkiewicz painted the cover for the Annual as a Conan homage, and contributed a one-page piece in New Mutants #25 (Mar. 1985), but Lila next appears when Sam pays her a visit in issue #29 (July 1985). Sam (and we) also meet Lila’s bodyguard, Guido Carosella. Appearing in over 130 issues of X-Factor, Guido—as Strong Guy— transcended this cameo appearance and became a

star himself. This issue also established that Dazzler had joined Lila’s band. Following Secret Wars II, Claremont presented some beautiful standalone tales: “I’m always looking for emotional, character-driven stories. In this instance, after a season of mandatory crossovers, the intent was to return the reader and story focus to the characters of this specific series, rather than having them serve as pawns in some vaster, more grandiose, management-mandated crossover.” In New Mutants #42 (Aug. 1986), Sam took Lila to meet his mom. She arrived in rock-star mode—and Sam accepted her. Claremont explains that this was the culmination of Sam’s evolution: “She showed up for her first intro to Sam’s mom dressed in total glam-rock style—just to make a point to the young man she loved: If you feel the same about me you have to be prepared to take me as I am—which he did. At which point, she switched to a more appropriate

She’s Outta Here! Lila pulls a vanishing act on this gorgeous original art page from Uncanny X-Men #269 (Feb. 1990). Written by Chris Claremont, penciled by Jim Lee, inked and autographed by Art Thibert. Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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“A mutant Madonna with an enormous gun”… This article’s writer, Jarrod Buttery, notes, “Every artist draws Lila differently—just like a rock star, she’s always changing her appearance—but Jim Lee’s version in Uncanny X-Men #273–277 is perhaps one of Lila’s most distinctive depictions.” From UX-M #276 (May 1991), by Claremont/Lee/Scott Williams. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

look. Lila was an exemplar of one of the core themes of both team and series, that people (and events) should never be taken at face value.” Louise Simonson took over writing New Mutants and Lila appeared in issues #55 (Sept. 1987) and 67 (Sept. 1988)— the latter of which was the first installment of a four-part deep-space story. It was a long time ago, but Simonson volunteers, “I expect I used Lila because Chris had set her up beautifully for that kind of encounter.” The storyline introduced the alien Gosamyr, on the run from Spyder, who subsequently kidnaps Lila in the hope of harnessing her abilities. The New Mutants follow into space and Spyder’s plans spiral out of control. Shockingly, in issue #70, Lila sacrifices herself by teleporting several rampaging alien behemoths into a nearby sun. “I don’t remember why she died, but I never ‘kill’ a character if I don’t know how I’d bring them back,” winks Simonson. “I don’t remember how at this point, but if you don’t see the body, they aren’t really dead. Heck. Even if you do. You saw Doug’s body and… he’s baaaack. (It is comics!) After all, Chris invented her and Marvel owned her. She was just mine to play with for a while.” Lila did indeed return, in Uncanny X-Men #269 (Oct. 1990), with a footnote explaining that she… “Obviously didn’t die in New Mutants #70!” At this point, Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, had been in space for 70 issues. Lila warns the X-Men that the professor is in trouble and teleports the team to Chandilar, the Shi’ar homeworld. The X-Men foil a Skrull plot to infiltrate and overthrow Chandilar, and Professor X returns to Earth. Writer Chris Claremont was asked—with the greatest respect— if Lila was simply a tool in retrieving Charles. “As opposed to what?” he laughs. “The X-Men weren’t the FF or the Avengers; they didn’t have access to space-age hyper-tech. It was always intended (by me, anyway) to utilize Lila as the means to that end.”

WEDDINGS, PARTIES, ANYTHING

Lila demonstrates some interdimensional-teleportation abilities by jumping to the Mojoverse in X-Men #6 (Mar. 1992), and uses one of her concerts celebrating diversity to give Charles Xavier a platform to promote peace in Uncanny X-Men #294 (Nov. 1992). She performs at Scott and Jean’s wedding in X-Men #30 (Mar. 1994) and at Brian and Meggan’s wedding in Excalibur #125 (Oct. 1998).

Character development occurred elsewhere. In X-Force #19 (Feb. 1993), Lila tells Boomer, “Sam Guthrie and I are just friends. I’m too busy, he’s too young. We had a little fling, that’s all. You want him, then you go for it.” Writer Fabian Nicieza was asked about this change in direction. “There was no editorial decision to end the Sam/Lila (non)relationship,” Nicieza replies. “As writer I preferred pursing what I considered the more realistic and interesting possibilities between a Sam/Boomer relationship.” Sam and Lila reaffirmed their affection in X-Treme X-Men #32 (Dec. 2003), but eventually, Sam forged a relationship, and had a son (Josiah), with Izzy Kane (Smasher) in Avengers #35 (Nov. 2014). Lila’s other great connection was Guido, and she accepted his help in X-Factor #110–111 (Jan.–Feb. 1995). Again being chased by aliens for stealing, she and X-Factor saved the Earth from destruction—immediately before the biggest X-over of all.

AGE OF APOCALYPSE

On the other side of the universe, in Uncanny X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977), D’Ken, mad emperor of the Shi’ar Empire, attempted to open a gateway— the M’Krann Crystal—to unleash “The End Of All That Is.” Issue #108 saw Jean Grey repair the Crystal, thus preventing the release of a rogue neutron galaxy which would have destroyed the Multiverse. In X-Men #41 (Feb. 1995), a time-traveling David Haller (Legion)— Charles Xavier’s mutant son—accidentally kills his own father. The disturbance awakens the mutant Apocalypse earlier than expected, and the resultant timequake erases the X-Men and years of history. All the X-books were canceled and replaced with alternative titles. Apocalypse takes over the world. Magneto, honouring the slain Xavier’s dreams, assembles a ragtag bunch of survivors to oppose Apocalypse. The time-traveler Bishop, unaffected by the paradox, remembers the true timeline. Together, they attempt to counter Apocalypse, but everything they do on Earth is paltry in the face of the greater challenge. Jahf, First Guardian of the Crystal, puts it best, in Gambit and the X-Ternals #3 (May 1995): “Charles Xavier’s death meant Jean Grey was never trained in the use of her powers. She never became Phoenix, and therefore never repaired the M’Krann Crystal in the actual reality.” The X-Men needed a fragment of the M’Krann Crystal to repair the timeline, thus preventing The End Of All That Is. And this was Lila’s biggest moment. She was the one who got our heroes to the Shi’ar Galaxy. She helped save the multiverse. Everyone played their part, but this was Lila’s greatest gig. Fabian Nicieza surmises, “I think Bob [Harras, editor-in-chief] and Scott [Lobdell, writer] determined which characters would be on which teams. I had nothing to do with it, though it’s logical that a heist caper involving interstellar travel should include Lila.” John Francis Moore plotted X-Factor #109–111. He recalls, “Initially, I was going to start writing X-Factor with the ‘Age of Apocalypse’ storyline. Given the continuity-heavy content of the entire X-line, jumping on board with an alternate-reality event was a great starting point. Then-editor Kelly Corvese asked me to start earlier, but due to other projects, I could only plot the three issues leading up to AoA. “As I recall, the stories were basically handed to me,” Moore continues. “They needed a chapter of the Legion crossover, and they wanted a

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Double Takes From the collection of Jarrod Buttery, Lila Cheney illos by (top left) Stephanie Hans and (top right) animation artist Richard Bailey. (bottom) A rockin’ Lila Cheney appearance in Captain Marvel #9 (Jan. 2015). Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and drawn by David Lopez. Lila Cheney © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Lila Cheney/Guido story to follow. Lila’s presence in X-Factor #110–111 was editorially driven. I think they wanted to feature her because she was going to play a big role in Gambit and the X-Ternals. “The truth is that there wasn’t a lot of long-term planning going on in the X-universe at the time. The main X-books (Uncanny, X-Men, and Wolverine) set the course, and the satellite books had to constantly adjust. It was frustrating and the main reason I left X-Factor. That being said, I really enjoyed working with Kelly Corvese and Jaye Gardner in the office, and seeing Steve Epting bring my stories to life was incredibly satisfying.” Corvese concurs: “One of my favorite collaborations at Marvel was hiring John and Steve. As I recall, we needed to keep Lila front and center before ‘Age of Apocalypse’ so that longtime readers would appreciate the changes that occurred when AoA took place. I remember our editor-in-chief at the time, Bob Harras, absolutely hated Lila and would have been very happy had we gotten rid of her years earlier. I believe he really disliked her mutant power. He thought it was silly and useless. But I thought she added ‘another dimension’ (pun intended) to X-Factor.”

LILA CHENEY’S FANTABULOUS TECHNICOLOR ROCK OPERA

Subsequent appearances have been sparse. Lila recently teamed up with Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel #9 (Jan. 2015) when writer Kelly Sue DeConnick had Carol exploring deep space. “It started with my wanting to use the idea of music,” explains DeConnick. “Dazzler wasn’t available, so someone—I don’t remember Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 69

Fab Four Arvin Bautista, Bill Sienkiewicz, Sage Montclair as Lila Cheney, and Gentry Roth as Dazzler. Photo courtesy of Arvin Bautista.

who anymore—suggested Lila. I read up on her and built the story she was actually a criminal! I loved her slight moral ambiguity and her around her power set.” sense of fun and adventure, especially as the X-Men/New Mutants of Whilst co-writing the retro series X-Men ’92, Chris Sims and Chad the ’80s were becoming increasingly dark. Bowers joked about celebrity guest-stars. This developed into featuring “My becoming a filmmaker is intrinsically tied to my passion for the Flaming Lips in issue #6 (Oct. 2016). “I think Lila’s inclusion was one visual storytelling,” Bautista continues. “When I wanted to try to make of Chad’s ideas,” volunteers Sims. “If memory serves, Chad came up a fan film, I loved the idea of making a music video. Dazzler was a with ‘Lilapalooza’ and everything just fell into place from there. character that hadn’t been explored in the movies, and at the We knew we wanted to have the X-Men have a grand space time had quite a lame reputation. adventure, and with Fabian Cortez as one of the Upstarts, “That the Dazzler music video was so enthusiastically having him overcharge Lila’s powers to teleport the X-Men received was a huge and affirming shock. When I blindly into deep space felt like something that hadn’t had been convinced to do a sequel, I wanted to do been done before. Plus, once we knew we could get something different, both on a broader scope as well the Toadies and the Flaming Lips, we had to have them as with more obscure subject matter, and Lila gave all rocking out together, right?” me an opportunity to do all that: a badass rock song, Bowers agrees: “One thing I wanted to do with an outer-space setting, featuring not just Dazzler, but the New Mutants as well! The response was even X-Men ’92 was to make sure we touched on all our bigger than before!” favorite bits of ’90s X-Men. And for me, that meant doing Both the Dazzler and Lila videos can be found on a weirdo semi-animated adaptation of Uncanny X-Men YouTube, or at Arvin’s website: Greasy Pig Studios. #273–277. That was my first time reading about Lila, but after one issue, I was hooked! I mean, she’s mutant Louise Simonson gives it two thumbs up: “I very much kelly sue deconnick Madonna with an enormous gun—what’s not to love? enjoyed the video. I wish the whole X-Men: Apocalypse DiScOrD tHe LuNaTiC / Wikimedia Commons. Why is she not at least as big a deal as Dazzler?” movie had felt like that!” Dazzler is Marvel’s pop star, but Lila is their hard rocker. You want your characters enjoying a concert, or visiting outer space—look no I WILL STEAL YOUR HEART Maybe she is—at least on YouTube. Independent filmmaker Arvin Bautista further. Lila may be a plot device, but she has has produced a music video featuring Lila and the New Mutants. He explains fans both old and new within the comics what led him to produce a Dazzler music video first, then a sequel community and beyond! featuring Lila: “While I clearly have a love for ‘70s and ’80s-era X-Men, I’m a ’90s kid at heart, and was first introduced to them as a kid in the The author would like to express his sincere gratitude Philippines. One of the very first comics I ever owned was Uncanny X-Men to Arvin Bautista, Chad Bowers, Chris Claremont, Kelly Corvese, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Bob McLeod, John Francis #294, which opens with the X-Men attending a Lila Cheney concert. “I had no idea who Lila was, but it all contributed to this awesome, Moore, Fabian Nicieza, Louise Simonson, and Chris Sims overwhelming feeling of a giant and fully formed world and history of for their generous help. the X-Men, and that was part of the appeal for me. As I read the older JARROD BUTTERY lives in Western Australia. He has issues, I came to really appreciate first Dazzler, and eventually Lila. written over a dozen articles for BACK ISSUE— They were mutants who had specific personal lives outside of the usually in-between holidaying on a Dyson Sphere X-Men. As an artist, that resonated with me more deeply than the idea with his intergalactic-teleporting kleptomaniac of abandoning your old life to become a crimefighter. In Lila’s case, rock-star girlfriend. 70 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

by S t e p h a n

Friedt

Real-life in comic books… you wouldn’t think the two things went together… but they have for decades. Classic and long-running comic strips like Rex Morgan, M.D. (created in 1948) and Judge Parker (created in 1952) still attract readers today without the use of capes, spandex, or superpowers. Within the pages of comic books reality is less common, but single issues depicting the biography of a famous person or event were once staples. DC’s Real Fact Comics ran for 21 issues from 1946–1949, presenting “True stories from the drama of life!” There have also been decades of stories of kids and young adults putting together bands, mostly in the movies, including the Busby Berkeley-directed Strike Up the Band (1940) with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, the John Landis-directed The Blues Brothers (1980) with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the Alan Parker-directed The Commitments (1991), and the Tom Hanks-directed That Thing You Do! (1996)… and many more in between. Put “real life” comic-book storytelling and “kids in a band” together and you have Marvel Comics’ Steeltown Rockers, a six-issue miniseries from 1990. The idea for the series came from Larry Hama. Larry has worked in comics since the mid-1960s, with his first published work in The Castle of Frankenstein magazine. He’s worked in the undergrounds and as an assistant to Wally Wood on Sally Forth and Cannon. Larry was part of Neal Adams’ Continuity Studios, where he co-created Bucky O’Hare. He’s been an editor, a writer, and an artist for Marvel Comics on a variety of series, but is most well known for his work on the licensed series G.I. Joe, where he garnered a strong following including an abundance of female readers thanks to his strong female characters. Hama also spent time as an editor at DC Comics and worked for Atlas/ Seaboard and several other independent companies. His work with longtime friend Ralph Reese was featured in many issues of National Lampoon. Larry also spent a couple of years as an actor on stage and screen, with appearances in the TV series M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live. Beginning in 2012, he released his first novel, the three-part vampire series The Stranger. At this writing, Hama is working with filmmaker Mark Cheng on the original film Ghost Source Zero. Elaine Lee is an award-winning writer, an actress, a playwright, and a producer. She received a Daytime Emmy nomination for her performance as Mildred Trumble in NBC’s The Doctors. Her well-known work with Michael Wm. Kaluta, Starstruck, was an off-Broadway play that she wrote and acted in before it became a comic-book series and series of graphic novels. Elaine was a writer and co-producer for the AudioComics Company, which specializes in audio-book adaptations of comic books and other original works. She’s worked in

Rock This Town The band’s first gig on the comic-book stage, Steeltown Rockers #1 (Apr. 1990). Cover art by Steve Leialoha. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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animation and has credits with Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and other comic-book companies. Steve Leialoha has been in comics since his first work appeared in the “ground-level” series Star*Reach and Quack, published by Mike Freidrich. He’s worked as an inker and artist for Marvel on Warlock, Howard the Duck, and many others, and as an inker on DC’s long-running series Fables. Steve has also worked for Dark Horse, Claypool, and Comico. Steve and J. M. DeMatteis co-created Greenberg the Vampire for Marvel. Steve’s longtime partner is comic artist and historian Trina Robbins.

He’s a Bad Hama Jamma From this photo of young Larry (top) to this later shot of him with the K-Otics (bottom), Hama’s been gigging for a long time. Photos courtesy of Larry Hama.

Having spent several years hauling equipment in and out of an old van myself, I was able to relate to the premise of Steeltown Rockers. Larry Hama was no stranger to the experience, at one time being a member of the band K-Otics, and Steve Leialoha paid his dues as the bass player of the band Seduction of the Innocent, discussed in this issue’s editorial. Elaine Lee had gained her insights performing in theater, both amateur and professional.

STEELTOWN ROCKERS: THE SERIES

Steeltown Rockers chronicles how guitarist Johnny Degaestano attempts to realize his dream of being a rock-and-roll star, along with his friends, as they form a band in an economically depressed steel town… In the first issue (Apr. 1990) we are larry hama introduced to Johnny and the tribulations his family experiences when the steel mill his father works at is closed and the family finances are destroyed. We meet brothers Mike and Eddie Johnson, two black musicians that are quickly added to the band. We also meet Sadie Rae Spivey—“Syd” to her friends—a multitalented musician and fellow classmate of Johnny’s whose mother is full of ideas for the band. Issue #2 (May 1990) brings in Kevin, their current and soon-to-be-fired drummer with a commitment problem, and introduces Terry Campbell, their future drummer, and Jason, an electronics whiz and smart kid whose family is fostering Terry. Jason’s dad draws comic books for a living and sets up a practice studio for the band in his basement. Issue #3 (June 1990) gives us more background on Johnny’s family problems, and the alcoholism and drug abuse that often surfaces in a depressed economic area. We also get insights into how the dynamics of the band members’ interpersonal relationships are forming. Issue #4 (July 1990) finds the band setting up for their first gig… at the local bowling alley. This issue also introduces Adora, a potential new singer for the band. Nothing goes right except the gig itself, which is more typical than you would imagine. Issue #5 (Aug. 1990) gives us more insight into Adora’s personality and takes us through the problems that a night of poor judgment and drug abuse can bring. With issue #6 (Sept. 1990), the band plays a comicbook convention… we get more insight into Mike and Eddie Johnson’s family dynamics… we learn why Terry lives with Jason’s family… the band gets its first recurring gig… and they lose Terry as their drummer, bringing back Kevin for one gig only, and gaining the new member Sean Harrigan, a young man with Tourette Syndrome and a talent for drumming. So it’s off to the first night of their new ongoing engagement. And on that note the series ends… another promising series with great potential that died far too early. I had a chance to talk to the three main creators via email about their experiences with this book—consulting editor and original idea man Larry Hama, writer Elaine Lee, and series artist Steve Leialoha… STEPHAN FRIEDT: Larry, what prompted you to create Steeltown Rockers? I’m betting your own experiences in music had something to do with it. LARRY HAMA: I knew something about playing in rock-and-roll bands, and Marvel was actually looking for properties that weren’t superheroes at the time. It’s the way I got Mort the Dead Teenager and Dakota North approved.

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Opening Night FRIEDT: Elaine and Steve, what do you recall of the project? ELAINE LEE: I need to add a disclaimer. This was a long time ago and Johnny D. grooves the house on the splash page to Steeltown I may have misremembered some of this. I have to say that I learned Rockers #1. By Lee/Leialoha/Hama and company. so much from Larry Hama. I had been living in a little creator-owned comic dream world, doing strange work like Starstruck, where many TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. of the rules of mainstream comics need not apply. Larry taught me a lot about the rules, so it was a valuable experience for me. I also recall that the HAMA: Well, it sort of project nearly died on the existed in the same vine. [Editor-in-chief] Jim universe as Dakota North, Shooter left Marvel, then and Dakota has been Larry left not long after, used by other writers in in order to pursue more the Marvel Universe. freelance work. Larry was LEE: Nope. As far as I know, responsible for quite a few we were completely outside the Mar vel unusual, non-superhero books being published by Universe. The band does Marvel, some of them a song about mutants, very successful. And Jim but superheroes are the Shooter had trusted him same for them, as they enough to let him take on are for us, fictional. these unusual projects. FRIEDT: Larry, how did you Larry was also known for come to give it to Elaine working with female Lee and Steve Leialoha? creators, long before Steve, did you do all of the that was a popular thing artwork and inking? to do. Mary Wilshire HAMA: I knew Steve drew Red Sonja for Larry. from the early ’70s, and Martha Thomases wrote I liked his work. I also Dakota North. liked Elaine’s writing on Starstruck, and I wanted If you look at the credits some fresh blood on the in the books, Bobbie Chase new titles. was the editor of record. Bobbie’s great. I did LEE: I was actually his coloring on some of her second choice. The book titles. But Larry, who is was Larry Hama’s idea. He listed as consulting editor, first conceived of it as a was both the origin of and project for his assistant, Pat the force behind Steeltown Redding (now Pat Redding Rockers. He’s the reason it Scanlon). But I guess there happened. And once he was some sort of rule at left, it took a really long Marvel that prevented time to get the book out. Pat from doing it, so Larry called me. Though I do I don’t think I’d be stepping on any toes to say I don’t think Larry liked some think Bobbie or Tom things about my work on Starstruck, particularly my DeFalco would’ve chosen to do the book. But we characters and dialogue, were pretty far along on which would be important it and money had been for a book like this. spent, so the six issues LEIALOHA: I actually don’t were eventually published. remember other than Larry asking if I’d be Larry, Steve Leialoha, and I had not planned it to be interested. I did up some a six-issue miniseries. It was samples, and so on… I did supposed to be ongoing. There just wasn’t the will all of the art, penciling and inking. there to let it have time to find its audience. We had FRIEDT: Larry, you were credited as “consulting editor”… started talking about Steeltown Rockers by the end Did you oversee the entire project or give the idea to of 1986, it wasn’t published until 1990, and it was them to run with and then step back? Was there a lot of back-and-forth input, or not so much? pretty much canceled before it was published. So, what you see is what you get. HAMA: I came up with the title and the basic premise. STEVE LEIALOHA: I had worked for Larry Hama I let Elaine work up her own cast of characters and before [on Conan and G.I. Joe] and I was a fan of pretty much gave everybody free rein. I always Starstruck. Larry and I have been in [different] thought the main job of an editor was to have good taste, and then step out of the way. It’s all bands and have a real working sense of what that’s about choosing the right talent for the job and like. I don’t remember if Elaine Lee had been, but elaine lee letting them do it. her background in musical theater is much the same. I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of LEE: I’ve already said a lot about Larry, but I guess music-based comics, of trying to convey music in comics. I could add that he’s really funny. If you walked into his office, FRIEDT: Did it or did it not exist in the “Marvel Universe”? you were going to laugh. It was Larry I mainly worked with. Steve did I’m guessing not… come to New York and we got to talk about the series and plan Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

Reality Bites From its vantage point outside of the Marvel Universe, Steeltown Rockers dealt with real-world matters. (left) On page 4 of #1, would-be rock guitarist Giovanni “Johnny” Degaestano and his sis, Gina, discuss Johnny’s older brother, the late George. (right) On page 22 of #1, Johnny comes home from rehearsal to discover his unemployed father has passed out drunk—again! —in front of the TV. Scans courtesy of Stephan Friedt. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

things. But I turned in scripts to Larry, who sent LEIALOHA: Larry and Elaine explained the story and them to Steve. Steve’s wonderful and perfect for where it was going. I think it was mainly Elaine’s this kind of story, as he’s so good with telling an story. It was great working with them. FRIEDT: Elaine, did you incorporate any of your emotional story through facial expressions. Not all comic-book artists are good at that. own experiences? Then again, if your characters all wear LEE: You know, I had to go back and read the cowls and masks, you don’t necessarily books before answering this. It’s been such need to be. Our characters were not a long time. And I was surprised to realize that, other than the fact that I’m physical specimens, there wasn’t not a musician, almost everything in much in the way of fighting, and the story was from my personal exthe whole story was about how the characters were feeling. It was perience. I never started a band, but all in the face and body language. some friends and I started a theater Steve really made that work. company and many of the problems He’s also incredibly laid back and are the same. Like, “What do you do easy. A truly nice guy! when one of the members isn’t working out, but they’re your friend?” I don’t remember having any sort of conflict, which is unusual Ostensibly about a young rock on a creative project. Larry Hama band, Steeltown Rockers is really steve leialoha a “teen problem” book. So, we get was just a great editor and I learned a lot from him. He got me stories about unrequited love, risky to talk less and show more. I love words, but you behavior, racial prejudice, substance abuse, and financial woes. “What does a kid do when his dreams can sometimes be too dependent on them in this for his own future conflict with his responsibility to medium. For example, the scenes between Johnny and his alcoholic dad have the fewest words of any family?”… that sort of thing. scenes in the series, but are the most emotionally The character Syd has a mother who gives charged. Steve’s art is really dark in these scenes, unsolicited advice during the band’s rehearsals, the characters sometimes in silhouette. But the embarrassing her daughter, which is how I felt about figures manage to convey so much, even if they’re my own mother when I was that age. And Johnny’s just black shapes. beer-swilling father’s behavior is perfectly lifted from

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Last Show Tonight Leialoha’s covers sizzled with energy and cutting-edge fashion. Steeltown Rockers’ fourth and sixth (and final) issues. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

someone I knew. The kids, Adora and Terry, courting danger by playing with fire on the railroad tracks, was absolutely something I did with my high school boyfriend, Mike. Neither of us ended up in the hospital, but everything else happened just like that. The two African-American brothers, Mike and Eddie, have a similar dynamic to that of my sister, Susan, and me. We used to write and perform together. I’m the wise elder sister, she’s the wildly talented but irresponsible (from my elder-sib POV) younger sister. Many of the characters are based on people I grew up with. Jason, the kid who is a terrific musician, but less than socially adept, is based on a guy I knew in high school, with a bit of my little brother thrown in for good measure. My high school friend once threw a puzzle at a wall because I completed it, while he hadn’t been able to. So, that scene between Jason and Syd was something that happened to me in real life. Jason’s cool dad is based on my artist friend James Sherman [of Legion of Super-Heroes fame]. We never say he’s a comic-book artist, but we see the kids walk by his studio door, where he is working at his drawing table. FRIEDT: Any interesting anecdotes or stories associated with the project? HAMA: It’s been a while, and everybody on the project got along with each other. The only interesting stories rise out of negative experiences, sadly. LEE: I have some! Larry had thought, at first, that Barry Windsor-Smith might draw the book. Guess that means that both Steve and I were second choices! I had dinner with Barry to talk about the project. I remember talking to him about a scene I wanted to set in a bowling alley and Barry said, “I’ve never been to a bowling alley.” I suggested a field trip, but I don’t think a book about working-class American kids in a rock band was exactly Barry’s cup of tea. A big earthquake hit San Francisco while we were working on Steeltown Rockers. I remember calling Steve and Trina to see if they were okay. It turned out that I had more information than they did, as all the electricity was out in San Francisco, and this was before everyone had mobile phones. Back in New York, I was watching it on TV. When I was first working on the book, I sat in on a teacher friend’s high school English class. The school was in Hell’s Kitchen, over on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan. I got to ask the kids what the current slang was and it was really helpful. But the book was taking so long to come out that I started to worry about the slang being out of date. Even thought about going back to school for a refresher course, but decided not to do it. Figured it would probably take New York slang an extra year or so to spread around the country. After all, my New Jersey cousins got bellbottom jeans a good year before I saw them as a high school student in North Carolina. Also, I became a mother during this project. I think it was when Steve Leialoha was in town and we went out to eat with Larry and some other folks who worked with him. Mary Wilshire was sitting next to me and Martha Thomases came in with her baby boy in a stroller. Mary leaned over and whispered, “Do you ever think about doing that?” And I said, “I am doing that.” It was the first time I had told anyone. At a later work lunch in a Japanese restaurant, I was trying not to drink caffeine while pregnant, so I ordered green tea because I thought it had no caffeine in it. (We all know better now.) Larry set me straight. “Elaine, look over there. They’re cleaning the tables with the stuff!” LEIALOHA: The real problem with Steeltown Rockers was that there was an editorial change at Marvel, and they weren’t interested in continuing, so the original 12-issue story arc was cut short. They didn’t give it a chance. Still, it was great working with Elaine and Larry on the few issues that we did. My heartfelt thanks to Larry Hama, Elaine Lee, and Steve Leialoha for taking the time to reminisce about the old days… STEPHAN FRIEDT continues to reread the old comic books in his collection, secreted in the hinterlands of Oregon, looking for interesting tidbits to write about for articles and on his Facebook page… his band days far, far behind him. Every summer he commutes for a weekend to Indianapolis to see to it that the comic-book professionals he convinced to attend Indy Pop Con have a great time. www.indypopcon.com.

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BACK ISSUE’S GREATEST HITS

I’m cranking up my gratitude to 11 with a standing ovation to Tim Moen for suggesting this issue’s theme in BI’s Facebook group. This isn’t the first time we’ve plugged in to rock ’n’ roll comic books, by the way. Here’s a quick list of BI’s previous music-inspired comics coverage:

Thank you, Pierre! (If you haven’t read Mr. Comtois’ Marvel Comics histories published by TwoMorrows, you should!) Eventually BI will explore the other Archie/Red Circle superhero books, as well as DC’s take on those characters via its Impact line.

Also, this is a good place to mention another Bronze Age rock mag that wasn’t a comic book— but was published by Marvel! Curtis Magazines, Marvel’s earlyto mid-’70s imprint for its blackand-white magazines, produced in 1975 Tommy: The Movie, the “Fantastic Filmbook of the Rock Opera Smash” directed by Ken Russell and featuring an all-star cast that included Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Roger Daltrey, and Elton John. This 68-page oneshot, published in B&W with eight color pages, featured stills from the movie that adapted the Who’s rock opera. Finally, just for fun, here’s the cover (right) of Marvel’s Spoof #3 (Jan. 1973), deliciously delineated by Marie Severin, featuring David Cassidy being sworn in as US president among an audience of rock ’n’ rollers and pop stars. Can you name ’em all?

BUCKLER BOOSTER

I can no longer stand by in silent admiration of your efforts regarding BACK ISSUE magazine! I speak of issue #94 and Bryan Stroud’s article on The Mighty Crusaders. By coincidence, just about a year before, I came across Mighty Crusaders #2 in a dollar bin while on vacation in Florida, and thumbing through it noticed it featured unadulterated art by Rich Buckler (who has always been at his best when inking his own stuff, save for 76 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

, Ltd.

• The Archies (interview with lead singer Ron Dante): BI #33 • The Beatles: BI #63 • Captain EO (Michael Jackson film): BI #11, 93 • Dazzler: BI #90 • Nightcat: BI #95 • Prince: BI #27 • Rock & Rule (Marvel Super Special movie adaptation): BI #89 • Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Marvel Super Special movie adaptation): BI #89 • Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero (record album): BI #49 • The Wiz (unpublished movie adaptation): BI #11 • Xanadu (Marvel Super Special movie adaptation): BI #89

, Inc.

Find BACK ISSUE on

Send your comments to: Email: euryman@gmail.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief • BACK ISSUE 118 Edgewood Ave. NE * Concord, NC 28025

those times when he was well served by the likes of Klaus Janson and Pablo Marcos). Being starved for decent comics to read following decades of drought (to mix a metaphor), I decided to take a chance and spent the 100 coppers for the ish. I was not disappointed! While not quite up to snuff with Silver or Bronze Age Marvel, it showed definite promise. I scoured local comics shops to find more, discovering along the way that Rich was also the editor of a whole line of these comics (the Black Hood issues were especially impressive). And while he fell short here and there, there were definitely signs in budding characterization and subplots that something more could grow from it all. But alas! It seemed Rich’s efforts were for naught as he was apparently yanked from his editor’s seat by the suits at Archie. Still, this was a line full of promise while it lasted, and I was glad to be able to find out the whys and wherefores provided in Stroud’s article. – Pierre Comtois

Just as this issue went into production, we were saddened to learn of the May 19, 2017 passing of the ultra-talented Rich Buckler. Rich was a good friend to BACK ISSUE and will be sorely missed. Our condolences to the Buckler family.

LOVED THE MOON KNIGHT INTERVIEW!

Excellent interview [in BACK ISSUE #95, “Creatures of the Night”]. I enjoyed the candid insights from Doug [Moench] and Bill [Sienkiewicz], especially Doug’s reasoning for creating the character of Moon Knight and Bill’s transition from his grounded Neal Adams influence to his explosive renderings of a sketchy nighttime, with a crooked buildings backdrop. I would never have known that BS was in a learning mode. I enjoyed the mentioning of the inkers that worked on his pencils, most notably Joe Rubinstein and other greats, and what they did to make BS better in recognizing his own flaws. Christopher Larochette asked great questions. While I read the Moon Knight issues when they first came out and even subscribed, along with DD (Miller), FF (Byrne), and Iron Man (Layton), reading this interview made me appreciate the three sides of Marc Spector. My intro to Moon Knight was in the back of the Hulk magazine. I loved the Neal Adams art style, and it bothered me none that Bill adapted that style since Neal was nil on the monthly comic-book scene at the time. I needed my Adams fix and happily received it with Bill Sienkiewicz. I searched for back issues of Moon Knight and got Werewolf by Night. It was an easy score. I enjoyed WBN’s Don Perlin art. When Bill’s style changed in the Moon Knight issues, I was along for the ride. It was extremely innovative and bizarre at the same time, and probably set the path for many others to follow with personal artistic expressions tilted slightly out of the norm. Isn’t that what art is all about? Unfortunately, in today’s industry I see a lot of very good talent limited into exactly what corporate wants, which is that titles have to all look the same. There is no individuality. Think about the talent that just can’t get in the door because of the “continuity.” This continuity is very flashy and bold, but isn’t grounded to our world. Even as crazy as Bill’s art was, it was still land-ho. Like Miller’s Daredevil, it pulled you in as if you were witness to the scene, as so many other artist teams did. Today’s comic books make me feel like I’m in the middle of the ocean without a paddle. There’s really no overall or interim starting point anymore. One oversight I want to mention is, there was a Moon Knight B&W magazine. Or at least I didn’t see it mentioned in the interview. I recall the back cover of two issues of Comics Journal, with an illustration by Bill showing Moon Knight tripping Batman, and a follow-up response by Neal Adams with Batman flinging his Batarang to foil Moon Knight. Great, bantering fun. In the interview I enjoyed Doug’s assessment that Moon Knight is not Marvel’s answer to having a Batman-type character. I also recall on the back cover of another Comics Journal a well-rendered montage painting of Moon Knight with all the alternate personalities. Very action-oriented.

Lastly, the eluded item I was never able to get my hands on, the Moon Knight Portfolio. Never in any of my travels to comic-book conventions have I ever seen it to be able to buy it. I often wondered if it really existed. The only proof I have is there was an advertisement in a magazine, I think it was in Jim Steranko’s Mediascene/Prevue, the mag with all the girlie hot bodies and call-in phone numbers stuff in the back of it. Odd. But anyway, I’ve never given up on trying to find it. Thanks, BACK ISSUE, for another excellent, spellbinding issue. Off to read the other features! – Louis Koza, via Facebook Louis, that magazine you’re remembering was actually Marvel Preview #21 (Spring 1980), starring Moon Knight by Moench and Sienkiewicz, with a Shroud story by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Steve Ditko. We’re sharing its cover (center), a collaboration by Sienkiewicz, Klaus Janson, colorist Steve Oliff, and Bob Larkin.

HERE’S TO THE LITTLE DETAILS

One of the great things about a magazine like BACK ISSUE is the scope to shift the focus widely across different aspects of comics even within one themed issue. Now, personally, I’ll always gravitate more towards the more heavily historical features or straight-out interviews than the lighter-weight features talking through the runs of a particular series (usually finding the ones that weave in new interview material along the way more appealing), but that’s the beauty of an anthology, there should be something for everyone. So I have to differ slightly from David Allen (writing in BI #92 about #86’s enjoyable spotlight on Marvel’s Giant-Size comics), although I understand the point he was making, because sometimes it’s from an accumulation of seemingly unconnected smaller details that a new and larger picture can be formed. Speaking personally, it was partly through the efforts of all your feature writers, and those over in Alter Ego, that it first became clear to me that far more than just covers and pinups were being specially created for Marvel’s British editions, information that was invaluable in my attempt to chronicle and explain the history of the UK division for my own ongoing book project (From Cents to Pence!) and how the department operated in its earliest days—of which so little was known when AE and BI were just aborning. A few words here from Doug Moench and a few words there from Tony Isabella—at least before speaking personally to them both later on—plus one- or two-line references to UK work by Marshall Rogers and others might not have seemed so much in isolation, but put them altogether as other contemporary information was uncovered and suddenly a much richer and larger picture began to appear. So I guess I’m saying, don’t knock the little details. Just like acorns, mighty oaks can sometimes grow from them. And if not for the likes of BACK ISSUE, then we might never get to read such revelations. So keep those surprises coming! – Rob Kirby

Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 77

There was a time, years ago, when I bought an issue of BACK ISSUE based only on its theme. If I didn’t care for, say, war comics, then I’d skip the “War Comics” issue. The “Creatures of the Night” issue seemed to be top-heavy with a lot of characters I was never into. But I have since learned that BI is so packed with information that there is always something worth reading in every issue, so I picked up BI #95. Glad I did. This issue covered Moon Knight, I… Vampire, Night Nurse, Nightcat, and Ghost Rider, all characters I never followed or were only marginally familiar with. And yet I enjoyed all of the articles about these characters. I have never picked up an issue of Marvel Fanfare either, but I look forward to #96. My point is, it is to your credit that you can take something unappealing to me and make it interesting. You do this in almost every issue, and I thank you for it. Three quick suggestions: 1) I know you work pretty far ahead on BI, but is there any chance of bumping a theme in favor of a Bernie Wrightson issue? With the exception of Neal Adams, Wrightson was possibly the most influential artist of the ’70s. No other artist has come close to his intricate, gothic line work. His passing is a major loss for the industry. If a Wrightson-themed issue is not possible, would you consider a one-shot magazine edition celebrating his art, or maybe an extended section in BI dedicated to him? 2) I’m loving TwoMorrows’ line of books (your Hero-A-Go-Go is on my want list), but for those of us on limited incomes, would you consider publishing a line of cheaper, one-shot magazines? The 80-page glossy format BI uses is perfect for specific themes and subjects (the Bernie Wrightson theme mentioned earlier would be one). You could incorporate a “Best of” series to reprint articles from earlier issues—the best articles you’ve published on Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Spider-Man, etc., reformatted into one magazine. 3) Finally, you could use that format to publish an 80-Page Giant of Karl Heitmueller, Jr.’s “Prince Street News” strips (reprints from past issues coupled with new material). If you do that, I will personally come to your home and kiss you on the lips. (Or, at your request, I won’t.) I’m getting curious about #100! Thanks for a consistently entertaining magazine. – Michal Jacot Michal, I’ll pass on that smooch, but accept your praise for BI with tremendous gratitude. Re your suggestions: 1) Truly, Bernie Wrightson was one of the Bronze Age’s most influential artists. Jon B. Cooke’s Comic Book Creator did a Wrightson spotlight before Bernie’s death, and BI has examined much of his work in the past, with interviews, on topics as varied as Swamp Thing (saluted at right) and The Weird. 2) Re magazine specials, I’m passing this on to TwoMorrows publisher John Morrow for consideration. 3) While Congenial Karl Heitmueller, Jr. hasn’t yet created enough strips to fill an 80-page mag, he’s got another “Prince Street News” in this issue—and there’s also a “Confessions of a Young Bigley” from Our Pal Al Bigley, too. Two toons, for the price of one!

ALWAYS SOMETHING WORTH READING

the world behind the curtain. The acknowledgement that the industry is a job of work, and that people’s livelihoods can sometimes hang in the balance, was refreshing to read. I realize that the issue-by- issue breakdown articles have their place, and over the years I’ve learned about one or two gems I would otherwise have known nothing about, but sometimes, let’s be honest, the subjects don’t quite stand up to scrutiny. All the best, and looking forward to that centenary issue. – Simon Bullivant

BARR, BEHIND THE SCENES

Just a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed the Mike W. Barr interview [in BI #95]… it was the real plum in the pudding. I particularly enjoy those interviews or articles where creators reveal something of Deadpool and Cable TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. BACK ISSUE TM & © TwoMorrows.

78 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue

Next issue: MERCS AND ANTI-HEROES! Exclusive interview with the first Deadpool writer, FABIAN NICIEZA! Histories of Cable, Taskmaster, Deathstroke the Terminator, the Vigilante, and Wild Dog, plus… Archie meets the Punisher?? Bonus feature: Visit the Hall of Heroes Museum in Elkhart, Indiana! Featuring TERRY BEATTY, JOE CASEY, IAN CHURCHILL, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, CHRISTOS GAGE, GENE HA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, BATTON LASH, JEPH LOEB, DAVID MICHELINIE, CHUCK PATTON, TOD SMITH, MARV WOLFMAN, and others, under a rollickin’ Deadpool vs. Cable cover by ROB LIEFELD! Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

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Follow-up to Mark Voger’s smash hit MONSTER MASH!

From WOODSTOCK to “THE BANANA SPLITS,” from “SGT. PEPPER” to “H.R. PUFNSTUF,” from ALTAMONT to “THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY,” GROOVY is a far-out trip to the era of lava lamps and love beads. This profusely illustrated HARDCOVER BOOK, in PSYCHEDELIC COLOR, features interviews with icons of grooviness such as PETER MAX, BRIAN WILSON, PETER FONDA, MELANIE, DAVID CASSIDY, members of the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, CREAM, THE DOORS, THE COWSILLS and VANILLA FUDGE; and cast members of groovy TV shows like “THE MONKEES,” “LAUGH-IN” and “THE BRADY BUNCH.” GROOVY revisits the era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, MOVIES, ART—even COMICS and CARTOONS, from the 1968 ‘mod’ WONDER WOMAN to R. CRUMB. A color-saturated pop-culture history written and designed by MARK VOGER (author of the acclaimed book MONSTER MASH), GROOVY is one trip that doesn’t require dangerous chemicals!

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Showcases GIL KANE, with an incisive and free-wheeling interview conducted in the 1990s by DANIEL HERMAN for his 2001 book Gil Kane: The Art of the Comics—plus other surprise features centered around the artistic co-creator of the Silver Age Green Lantern and The Atom! Also: FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and BILL SCHELLY! Green Lantern cover by KANE and GIELLA!

STAN LEE’s 95th birthday! Rare 1980s LEE interview by WILL MURRAY—GER APELDOORN on Stan’s non-Marvel writing in the 1950s—STAN LEE/ROY THOMAS e-mails of the 21st century—and more special features than you could shake Irving Forbush at! Also FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), BILL SCHELLY, and MICHAEL T. GILBERT! Colorful Marvel multi-hero cover by Big JOHN BUSCEMA!

Golden Age artist FRANK THOMAS (The Owl! The Eye! Dr. Hypno!) celebrated by Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt’s MICHAEL T. GILBERT! Plus the scintillating (and often offbeat) Golden & Silver Age super-heroes of Western Publishing’s DELL & GOLD KEY comics! Art by MANNING, DITKO, KANE, MARSH, GILL, SPIEGLE, SPRINGER, NORRIS, SANTOS, THORNE, et al.! Plus FCA, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Unsung artist/writer LARRY IVIE conceived (and named!) the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, helped develop T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, brought EC art greats to the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and more! SANDY PLUNKETT chronicles his career, with art by FRAZETTA, CRANDALL, WOOD, KRENKEL, DOOLIN, and others! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

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BACK ISSUE #100

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BRICKJOURNAL #48

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DRAW #34

100-PAGE SPECIAL featuring Bronze Age Fanzines and Fandom! Buyer’s Guide, Comic Book Price Guide, DC’s Comicmobile, Super DC Con ’76, Comic Reader, FOOM, Amazing World of DC, Charlton Bullseye, Squa Tront, & more! ALAN LIGHT, BOB OVERSTREET, SCOTT EDELMAN, BOB GREENBERGER, JACK C. HARRIS, TONY ISABELLA, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT, BOB LAYTON, PAUL LEVITZ, MICHAEL USLAN, and others!

MERCS AND ANTIHEROES! Deadpool’s ROB LIEFELD and FABIAN NICIEZA interviewed! Histories of Cable, Taskmaster, Deathstroke the Terminator, the Vigilante, and Wild Dog, plus… Archie meets the Punisher?? Featuring TERRY BEATTY, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, PAUL KUPPERBERG, BATTON LASH, JEPH LOEB, DAVID MICHELINIE, MARV WOLFMAN, KEITH POLLARD, and others! Deadpool vs. Cable cover by LIEFELD!

ALL-STAR EDITORS ISSUE! Past and present editors reveal “How I Beat the Dreaded Deadline Doom”! Plus: ARCHIE GOODWIN and MARK GRUENWALD retrospectives, E. NELSON BRIDWELL interview, DIANA SCHUTZ interview, ALLAN ASHERMAN revisits DC’s ’70s editorial department, Marvel Assistant Editors’ Month, and a history of PERRY WHITE! With an unpublished 1981 Captain America cover by MIKE ZECK!

THE WORLD OF LEGO MECHA! Learn the secrets and tricks of building mechs with some of the best mecha builders in the world! Interviews with BENJAMIN CHEH, KELVIN LOW, LU SIM, FREDDY TAM, DAVID LIU, and SAM CHEUNG! Plus: Minifigure customizing from JARED K. BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, & more!

GREG HILDEBRANDT (of the Hildebrandt Brothers) reveals his working methods, BRAD WALKER (Aquaman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birds of Prey, Legends of the Dark Knight) gives a how-to interview and demo, regular columnist JERRY ORDWAY, JAMAR NICHOLAS reviews the latest art supplies, and BRET BLEVINS and Draw! editor MIKE MANLEY’s Comic Art Bootcamp! Mature Readers Only.

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #15 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #16 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #17

KIRBY COLLECTOR #72

KIRBY COLLECTOR #73

Celebrating 30 years of artist’s artist MARK SCHULTZ, creator of the CADILLACS & DINOSAURS franchise, with a featurelength, career-spanning interview conducted in Mark’s Pennsylvanian home, examining the early years of struggle, success with Kitchen Sink Press, and hitting it big with a Saturday morning cartoon series. Includes rarely-seen art and fascinating photos from Mark’s amazing and award-winning career.

A look at 75 years of Archie Comics’ characters and titles, from Archie and his pals ‘n gals to the mighty MLJ heroes of yesteryear and today’s “Dark Circle”! Also: Careerspanning interviews with The Fox’s DEAN HASPIEL and Kevin Keller’s cartoonist DAN PARENT, who both jam on our exclusive cover depicting a face-off between humor and heroes. Plus our usual features, including the hilarious FRED HEMBECK!

The legacy and influence of WALLACE WOOD, with a comprehensive essay about Woody’s career, extended interview with Wood assistant RALPH REESE (artist for Marvel’s horror comics, National Lampoon, and underground), a long chat with cover artist HILARY BARTA (Marvel inker, Plastic Man and America’s Best artist with ALAN MOORE), plus our usual columns, features, and the humor of HEMBECK!

FIGHT CLUB! Jack’s most powerful fights and in-your-face action: Real-life WAR EXPERIENCES, Marvel’s KID COWBOYS, the Madbomb saga and all those negative 1970s Marvel fan letters, interview with SCOTT McCLOUD on his Kirby-inspired punchfest DESTROY!!, rare Kirby interview, 2017 WonderCon Kirby Panel, MARK EVANIER, unpublished pencil art galleries, and more! Cover inked by DEAN HASPIEL!

ONE-SHOTS! We cover Kirby’s best (and worst) short spurts on his wildest concepts: ANIMATION IDEAS, DINGBATS, JUSTICE INC., MANHUNTER, ATLAS, PRISONER, and more! Plus MARK EVANIER and our other regular panelists, rare Kirby interview, panels from the 2017 Kirby Centennial celebration, pencil art galleries, and some one-shot surprises! BIG BARDA #1 cover finishes by MIKE ROYER!

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