Back Issue #116 by TwoMorrows Publishing

SUPERHEROES vs. MONSTERS ISSUE! r 2019

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Batman and the Horror Genre • Marvel Scream-Up • Dracula and Godzilla vs. Marvel • DOUG MOENCH and KELLEY JONES’ Batman: Vampire • DC/Dark Horse Hero/ Monster crossovers • Baron Blood with CLAREMONT, CONWAY, DIXON, GIBBONS, GRELL, GULACY, JURGENS, THOMAS, WOLFMAN & more

MONSTERS IN METROPOLIS! SUPERMAN’S SCARIEST BATTLES!

Relive The Pop Culture You Grew Up With In RetroFan! If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!

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Featuring a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and visit the Guinness World Records’ largest Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: an exclusive interview with funnyman LARRY STORCH, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Captain Action—the original super-hero action figure, a vintage interview with Jonny Quest creator DOUG WILDEY, a visit to the Land of Oz, the ultra-rare Marvel World superhero playset, & more! (84-page FULLCOLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 Ships Dec. 2019

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Interviews with MeTV’s crazy creepster SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original Saturday Morning GHOST BUSTERS, with BOB BURNS! Uncover the nutty NAUGAS! Plus: “My Life in the Twilight Zone,” “I Was a Teenage James Bond,” “My Letters to Famous People,” the ARCHIE-DOBIE GILLIS connection, Pinball Hall of Fame, Alien action figures, Rubik’s Cube & more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with the ’60s grooviest family band THE COWSILLS, and TV’s coolest mom JUNE LOCKHART! Mars Attacks!, MAD Magazine in the ’70s, Flintstones turn 60, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Honey West, Max Headroom, Popeye Picnic, the Smiley Face fad, & more! With MICHAEL EURY, ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW!

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THE CRAZY, COOL CULTURE WE GREW UP WITH! LOU FERRIGNO interview, The Phantom in Hollywood, Filmation’s Star Trek cartoon, “How I Met Lon Chaney, Jr.”, goofy comic Zody the Mod Rob, Mego’s rare Elastic Hulk toy, RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC (the real-life Mayberry), interview with BETTY LYNN (“Thelma Lou” of The Andy Griffith Show), TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles, and Mr. Microphone!

HALLOWEEN! Horror-hosts ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and an interview with our cover-featured ELVIRA! THE GROOVIE GOOLIES, BEWITCHED, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and THE MUNSTERS! The long-buried Dinosaur Land amusement park! History of BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, character lunchboxes, superhero VIEW-MASTERS, SINDY (the British Barbie), and more!

40th Anniversary interview with SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE director RICHARD DONNER, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of Aquaman, horror and sci-fi zines of the Sixties and Seventies, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL (home of the Superman Celebration), SEA-MONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages, Superman and Batman memorabilia, & more!

Interviews with the SHAZAM! TV show’s JOHN (Captain Marvel) DAVEY and MICHAEL (Billy Batson) Gray, the GREEN HORNET in Hollywood, remembering monster maker RAY HARRYHAUSEN, the way-out Santa Monica Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, a Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the Spirit movie pilot, British sci-fi TV classic THUNDERBIRDS, Casper & Richie Rich museum, the KING TUT fad, and more!

Interviews with MARK HAMILL & Greatest American Hero’s WILLIAM KATT! Blast off with JASON OF STAR COMMAND! Stop by the MUSEUM OF POPULAR CULTURE! Plus: “The First Time I Met Tarzan,” MAJOR MATT MASON, MOON LANDING MANIA, SNUFFY SMITH AT 100 with cartoonist JOHN ROSE, TV Dinners, Celebrity Crushes, and more fun, fab features!

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Volume 1, Number 116 October 2019 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Michael Golden (A commissioned illustration from the collection of Michael Eury.) COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Neal Adams Dennis O’Neil Cary Bates Martin Pasko Marc Buxton Benjamin Raab Chris Claremont Rose Rummel-Eury Gerry Conway Bill Sienkiewicz DC Comics Jerry Smith J. M. DeMatteis Roger Stern Chuck Dixon Roy Thomas Steve Englehart Steven Thompson Dave Gibbons Roger Stern Michael Golden Toho Co. Ltd. Grand Comics 20th Century Fox Database Film Corp. Glenn Greenberg Marv Wolfman Mike Grell Alan Zelenetz Paul Gulacy Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Heritage Comics Auctions Dan Johnson Dan Jurgens Michael Kronenberg Adam Kubert James Heath Lantz Doug Moench

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Superman vs. Monsters in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 If aliens and mad scientists weren’t enough, Metropolis was also plagued by monsters FLASHBACK: Batman and the Horror Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Batman of the early Bronze Age was a frightful creature of the night PRINCE STREET NEWS: Monster Mash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 A new cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. FLASHBACK: Marvel Scream-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Marvel’s monsters meet, greet, and beat (up) Spider-Man and the Thing BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Baron Blood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 What villain could be worse than a sniveling Nazi vampire? BEYOND CAPES: Dracula vs. the Marvel Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Lord of Vampires stakes his claim in the House of Ideas FLASHBACK: Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The King of Monsters takes on Marvel’s mightiest PRO2PRO: Interviews with the Batman: Vampire Creators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Doug Moench and Kelley Jones’ Batman: Red Rain trilogy BACKSTAGE PASS: Batman vs. Predator and Superman vs. Aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 The earliest DC/Dark Horse superhero/movie monster crossovers BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 News you can use 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, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $82 Economy US, $128 International, $32 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Michael Golden. Superman, Titano the SuperApe, and the Daily Planet TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2019 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by M

There’s a story behind this issue’s theme and cover, and it starts with Man-Bat. Michael Golden’s art blew me away from the first time I saw it, when I was a teenager. You might remember that one of his earliest gigs was the Man-Bat feature that appeared in DC’s Batman Family during the late ’70s. I certainly remembered that, even after those Batman Family pages had yellowed with age. In 1990, no longer a teenager but certainly still a young man, I was sitting behind an editorial desk at DC Comics in New York City, charged with producing the recently rebooted Who’s Who in the DC Universe in its new loose-leaf format. One day, it came time for me to assign an artist to the Man-Bat entry, to appear in Who’s Who #12 (Sept. 1991). While Man-Bat has been illustrated by no end of talented artists, including two of my all-time favorites, Neal Adams, who originated his look, and Jim Aparo, who drew him in a Batman team-up in Brave and Bold, for me, THE Man-Bat artist was Michael Golden, making him my choice for the Man-Bat Who’s Who assignment. Luckily, at that time Michael was also working at DC, as an editor. So I skedaddled down the hall to his office, keeping my inner fanboy in check but allowing just enough of it to bubble forth so that Michael would see my enthusiasm for his work on this character. Apparently, my enthusiasm was contagious, as Michael promptly accepted the assignment, then soon delivered the Man-Bat original art. I wish I’d saved a photocopy of Mr. Golden’s golden line art—not only was it gorgeously rendered, but it featured Man-Bat flying upside-down, arcing downward toward Gotham City. Or did it? I recall flipping the art from top to bottom, again and again, realizing that its clever composition works both ways… making “top” and “bottom” a matter of choice. Since the goal of Who’s Who was to provide a “signature” shot of each DC character, when preparing Michael’s art for production I opted to have Man-Bat soaring upward—which places the background’s intricate gothic architecture coming down from the top. As drawn by Michael Golden, this art, no matter which way you position it, creates a dizzying vertigo effect.

ichael Eury

Fast forward to nearly two decades later. I had just spent a year or so poring through gorilla comics in the research of my TwoMorrows book, Comics Gone Ape: The Missing Link to Primates in Comics. Michael Golden was still one of my favorite artists, and so I commissioned from my old pal a recreation of the Silver Age classic cover for Superman #138, with the Man of Steel being bombarded by Titano the Super-Ape’s kryptonite vision atop the Daily Planet building, an obvious riff on the climactic scene from King Kong. I knew that Michael would provide some off-kilter architecture, as he had with the Man-Bat pinup. Michael’s schedule prohibited his drawing this for a while, but when the original art arrived, it was well worth the wait. It’s framed and is hanging over my office desk. Off and on over the past few years I’ve thought about how I’d like to share it with BACK ISSUE readers, but at face value it’s a Silver Age image, and our purview is the Bronze Age. Every few years I like to do a spooky theme for our Halloween issue. Realizing that we were due one for 2019, I didn’t want to repeat the generic “Bronze Age Horror” grab-bag format of the past. So, in thinking about some monster comics that we’ve yet to cover in BACK ISSUE, I noticed there was a subgenre: monsters fighting superheroes. And a theme was born! But what to feature on our cover? The answer was right there, over my desk: Michael Golden’s Superman vs. Titano commission. Who cares if it was inspired by a Silver Age comic? Mr. Golden got his start in the Bronze Age, and in my Superman vs. Monsters article that begins on the next page, you’ll read that DC’s kryptonite-blasting TM & © DC Comics. Super-Ape made a return in 1978, smack-dab in the middle of the Bronze Age. So I sent a scan of the art to BI cover colorist Glenn Whitmore—no stranger to Superman—and the result is in your hands (or on your screen). So, how do monsters fare when squaring off against men of tomorrow and slingers of webs? And more importantly, what happens when superheroes accustomed to bashing costumed crooks take on creatures born of nightmares? From Dracula to Godzilla and many monsters in between, this issue examines the role of monsters as surrogate supervillains in comics… and despite the creepy subject matter, this issue is a lot of fun, as is the spirit of the classic pantheon of Universal Monsters that has thrilled generations of fans.

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by M i c h a e l

If you were cornered by a thirsty bloodsucker, the clambering undead, or a snarling lycanthrope, you’d probably opt for the Man of Steel in your corner rather than a Van Helsing. Or maybe not, since the supernatural—technically, magic—is among the few weaknesses of the Bronze Age Superman. Yet beginning in 1970, when editor Julius “Julie” Schwartz slid into the Superman editorial chair vacated by the recently retired Mort Weisinger, the DC Comics editor who had shepherded the Metropolis Marvel throughout the Silver Age of Comics, Superman would occasionally encounter monsters, despite Schwartz’s clearly established preference for science fiction over matters macabre.

Eury

Sticking His Neck Out Big Blue versus Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster! Detail from the cover of Superman #344 (Feb. 1980). Art by José Luis García-López. TM & © DC Comics.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

SILVER AGE MONSTER MASH-UPS

Before we unleash the musty odors of those brittle, yellowed pages from the ’70s and ’80s and the fearsome fables they contain, let’s first pry open the Mylar tombs of the previous era of comic books, the Silver Age, for some important historical gravedigging. Blustery, iron-fisted DC editor Mort Weisinger famously kept his eye on trends and conducted focus groups of children (his readership) while fishing for subject matter for his Superman writers. During this time, a proliferation of classic horror films invaded late-night and weekend-matinee television schedules thanks to Shock Theater and its endless slew of clones, low-budget camp-fests hosted by TV weathermen and local goofballs masquerading as spooky, yet witty cryptkeepers. Youngsters were discovering the Hollywood monsters of yesteryear while also being regaled by the current crop of cinematic creepers blobbing and tingling their way into darkened movie theaters. Kids loved monsters, and Mort took notice. And so Superman, Monster Fighter became one of the hero’s tropes when Weisinger was commanding the franchise (at first abetted by World’s Finest Comics editor Jack Schiff, who, as legend has it, often bent to Mort’s formidable will). Amid Superman’s never-ending battle against supermen from other realms, robots, Luthor’s inventions, and a certain female reporter’s nutty marriage schemes, every few issues or so of Superman, Action Comics, World’s Finest, Superboy, and even Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen and Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane forced the Man (or Boy, or Baby) of Steel into conflict with a gruesome grotesquerie guaranteed to make the average kid peek nervously under his bed before turning out the light at night. The majority of those abominations challenging Superman (and at times, his World’s Finest BFFs Batman and Robin), however, were not the archetypal Famous Monsters of Filmland: the vampires, werewolves, and patchwork men of lore, Universal Studios shockers, and Forrest J Ackerman magazines. They were, instead, extraterrestrials. Witness the Frankenstein-ish Bizarro prototype, the “Invulnerable Enemy,” in Action Comics #226 (Mar. 1957), who was actually a “petrified spaceman,” tethering Superman to his sci-fi roots while only flirting with monsterdom. The same can be said of the myriad monsters ambling through World’s Finest in the early ’60s, from the tentacled, pear-shaped “Alien Who Doomed Robin” (issue #110) to the saw-nosed Bigfoot called “The Creature That Was Exchanged for Superman” (#118)—they were among many, many cover-featured interplanetary visitors passing for monsters on Superman-related comics of the day. Weisinger, like Superman himself, was a product of science fiction. As a young man Mort was active in the burgeoning realm of sci-fi fandom, networking and forming professional relationships with other similarly minded visionaries, including Julie Schwartz. Before taking his job at DC, Weisinger edited sci-fi and fantasy pulp magazines—and years later, some of the horrific creatures he encountered in the pulps made their unofficial reappearances in the pages of the Superman titles. A domed-topped, bug-eyed automaton from the cover of the March 1940 edition of the pulp Startling Stories became “Jimmy Olsen’s Private Monster” 20 years later in Jimmy Olsen #43. And a towering, scaly man-monster from a pulp that Weisinger edited, Thrilling Wonder Stories’ July 1940 edition, was appropriated (with a supplanted Jimmy Olsen head) and introduced to DC readers as “The Giant Turtle Man” in Jimmy Olsen #53 (June 1961). Not only did Weisinger’s Boogey-Man Bistro stuff Superman readers silly with generous helpings of sci-fi-inspired monsters, but the editor’s story cauldron also simmered with kid-friendly pastiches of filmland’s most famous monsters that were dipped into by his writers, time and time again. Spooked by Wolf Man movie reruns? Then you’ll howl over Jimmy Olsen’s

Teenage Mutant Cub-Reporter Turtle (top) The terrifying titan on the cover of the July 1940 edition of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories imprinted DC Comics’ Superman editor Mort Weisinger so much that he “borrowed” the beast for (bottom) one of Superman’s pal’s wildest transformations. Cover to Jimmy Olsen #53 (June 1961) by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye. Thrilling Wonder Stories © 1940 Thriling Publications. Superman and Jimmy Olsen TM & © DC Comics.

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Ant Farm (left) Warner Bros.’ Them! drove moviegoers buggy, and Weisinger took notice with

If Weisinger wasn’t in the audience for 1954’s Them!—the schlocky giant ant movie that epitomized (right) Jimmy Olsen #54 (July 1961) and other the atomic-bomb parables of postwar America—some of the children in his focus groups must have seen it comics with Superman fighting giant ants. and excitedly reported to him, as giant ants often Cover by Swan and John Forte. Them! poster bolted from the crevices of Uncle Mort’s House of Super-Scares. Actually, giant ants first infested Weisinger’s courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). mind in the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories’ Them! © Warner Bros. Superman and Jimmy Olsen TM & © DC Comics. December 1938 issue, whose cover depicted a man riding the back of a menacing, enormous ant; this image was cribbed for the Curt Swan-drawn cover of transformations into “The Wolf-Man of Metropolis.” Jimmy Olsen #54 (July 1961), where Superman’s “pal” Shrinking from fear from Dr. Cyclops and The Incredible lorded over kryptonite-wielding giant ants. Also, a giant Shrinking Man? Then Brainiac or an evil Olsen ant engineered “The Defeat of Superman” in Superman imposter is on hand—with pincers— #110 (Jan. 1957), and the Metropolis Marvel to chase after scampering miniaturized himself—with a mutated ant-head that Superman family members. Thrilled by would make The Fly’s David Hedison the mood swings of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. nervously blubber, “Help meeeeee!”— Hyde? Then don’t miss Lois Lane as led a skyscraper-scaling colony of giant the devilishly duplicitous “Madam ants in Action #296 (Jan. 1963). Jekyll of Metropolis.” Has The Mummy Dragons must have also polled high left you unraveled? Then be amazed among the focus-group kids, as Weisinger unleashed those scaly as Superman cowers from a mummy’s unveiling of his “Face of Fear.” Going fire-breathers with alarming frequency ape over King Kong? Then watch in numerous Superman comics, stretching Superman monkey around with Titano, back to 1952 and Superman #78’s the Super-Ape, the lethal leviathan “The Beast from Krypton” (many with kryptonite vision. Frankenstein monstrous Kryptonian creatures of mort weisinger fans muttered, “Mort, Good!” all types would follow). The Silver Age © DC Comics. during the Silver Age: not only was produced no shortage of Superman Superman’s topsy-turvy doppelganger Bizarro a vs. dragon tales, from a dragon from King Arthur’s Frankensteinish view of the Action Ace through a Court, to a space dragon, to return bouts with the cracked lens, but a not-so-scary version of the Flame-Dragon of Krypton. Even after the franchise Frankenstein Monster became a familiar cameo star changed editorial hands in the 1970s, dragons continued in Superman comics. Even Satan—or approximations to thunder into Superman tales, including the Superman/ thereof—raised a little hell in Silver Age Superman Teen Titans team-up in World’s Finest #205 and the tales, making Superman-marriage pacts with lovelorn Man of Steel’s apparent condoning of a dragon eating Lois and turning Supergirl into a demon! Metropolis citizens (!) in Superman #270.

TM & © DC Comics.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Denny’s Inferno Writer Dennis O’Neil put a depowered Man of Might through some serious paces during his stint as Superman writer, including (left) sending him to Hell and (right) “cloning” him with the equally strong “Sand Superman.” Cover to Superman #236 (Apr. 1971) by Neal Adams; cover to #238 by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. TM & © DC Comics.

THERE’S A NEW KIND OF SUPERMAN COMING… OR IS THERE?

a TV news journalist, Julie’s idea. The editor tapped DC’s hottest writer, Dennis “Denny” O’Neil, to join In late 1970, before Mort Weisinger’s retirement cake artists Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson and cover could grow stale, sweeping changes were afoot artist Neal Adams on Superman. O’Neil had recently throughout his former fiefdom, with DC house ads garnered acclaim revitalizing Wonder Woman, Green promising “A New Beginning” and “A New Kind of Lantern and Green Arrow, and Batman. O’Neil’s Superman Coming” for the Action Ace in 1971. Marvel perception of the Man of Steel? “The problem with expatriate Jack Kirby introduced his multi-layered Superman will always be that he’s too powerful”— Fourth World in Jimmy Olsen, the gritty crime so the writer bumped him down a few notchsaga “Rose and the Thorn” became a es, depowering the hero “almost back to backup in Lois Lane, Batman was where he started—not quite, because the original 1938 Superman couldn’t dumped from most issues of World’s Finest for Superman team-ups with fly,” leading Superman into new stoother heroes, and Supergirl started ry terrain. wearing hot pants and acting out of O’Neil eschewed the silly stuff character in writer/artist Mike Sekowsky’s you’d find in a Weisinger Superman story, from flying dogs to from Fifth quirky Adventure Comics. The franchise’s namesake title, Dimensional pixies to Lois Lane’s Superman, was assigned to Julie Schwartz schemes to prove Kent is secretly Superman, (as was World’s Finest). Schwartz, like and in a bold opening salvo made kryptonite “nevermore” in his first Weisinger, hailed from the sci-fi world, working as a literary agent for fantasy issue, Superman #233 (Jan. 1971). dennis o’neil writers before becoming a DC editor. With a sci-fi master as editor and At DC, he was best known for his science- © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. a counterculture-skewed former fiction titles, from anthologies like Strange Adventures journalist as writer charting Superman, the last thing to his Silver Age revamps of DC oldies like the Flash and you’d expect to see there was a monster, that relic Green Lantern, reimagined for a new generation with from the Weisinger age. science as the catalyst of their superpowers. Yet curiously, in his effort to make his not-so-super Under Schwartz’s editorial direction, Superman Superman more down to Earth, O’Neil pitted the Man upset the status quo by having Clark Kent become of Steel against monsters. The first was the so-called

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Sand Creature or Sand Superman, slinking into the picture beginning Have They Flipped Their Lids? with #233. Created in the aftermath of the kryptonite-engine explosion Clark Kent encounters… a headless Superman ghost?? that eliminated Superman’s greatest vulnerability, the Sand Creature was the embodiment of Superman’s diminished powers and From the editorial desk of Murray Boltinoff, the Swan/ eventually became a duplicate of Superman himself. In the third Anderson cover to Action Comics #410 (Nov. 1971). new issue (#235), readers met the frightening Ferlin Nyxly, or Pan, and his Devil’s Harp, and in #236 Superman braved Perdition’s TM & © DC Comics. very flames! In Superman #237, the Metropolis Marvel contracted a virus that mutated those with whom he had contact into non-dangerous form around monsters, and by #241, the humans being a phantom one. Quarrm Demon, a hideous His Superman-ghost ruse is a warrior from another dimension, ploy to lure the Man of Steel to was giving the superhero a help end his unfortunate curse. rough ride, followed by an While gorgeously rendered by “electronic ghost” zapping the the do-no-wrong Swanderson Man of Might in #244. Superman, team, it’s a run-of-the-mill tale that might’ve easily seen print who smugly snacked on a a couple of years earlier when chunk of neutralized kryptonite in #233, was being put through Weisinger was blue-penciling hell by his new writer. the book… not surprising since Superman wasn’t alone. its writer, Geoff Brown, was “…I was having a hellish time actually Leo Dorfman, who had doing Superman,” O’Neil said. crafted lots of Superman family “After about a year, I asked off scripts for Mort and held on to his job on Action once Murray the assignment.” The scribe had considered his ambitious revitaltook over. Dorfman barreled ization an “experiment,” one on forth with more creature which he was ready to pull the features for Boltinoff: Superman plug. Further aggravating matters was on pins and needles from for Denny was that there was no a voodoo master in Action, internal continuity or management and the Teen of Steel became at DC enforcing that his not-asa Super-Phantom, the “Pawn of super Superman be the house the Monster-Maker,” and was style Superman. enslaved inside Madame Sinstra’s R e g a r d i n g S u p e r m a n ’s nightmare mirror in issues of depowering, Murray Boltinoff Superboy. apparently didn’t get the memo. Writer Cary Bates, another Not that he ever did. The oldcarryover from the Weisinger school DC editor—probably era who had started pitching most famous for affording DC’s Superman tales while in his zaniest writer, Bob Haney, carte teens, produced for Boltinoff a blanche on his Batman team-ups disturbing chiller in Action #410 in The Brave and the Bold, which (Mar. 1972), “The Satanic Son of Superman.” Set in the near notoriously ignored continuity and characterization for outlandish future, this story posits the Man plots and hero histrionics— of Steel as the widowed father to a young son, Krys, who, as was assigned Action Comics and readers discover, is a demonSuperboy in the post-Weisinger boy who uses his supernatural editorial reshuffling. While the other Superman powers to harm innocents, titles were getting “with it,” and abilities inherited from his most of DC’s superhero books deceased mother (Superman’s wife), an enchantress. While this sounds like a horror-movie were undergoing a “Relevance” trend, exploring social hybrid of I Married a Witch meets The Bad Seed, Bates issues such as racism, drug abuse, pollution, and student unrest, with a few notable exceptions Murray’s Action revealed in BACK ISSUE #111 that this story was and Superboy didn’t differ much from Mort’s… which inspired by actor-turned-novelist Thomas Tryon’s meant there were monsters on the loose! popular 1971 novel The Other, a terrifying tale about One of Boltinoff’s earliest issues of Action, #406 a boy whose twin may or may not be responsible (Nov. 1971), evoked the eerie atmosphere of DC’s for murders. (The Other might have been on genre sensation of the hour, mystery anthologies Boltinoff’s nightstand, too, as a similar theme with Batman’s witch-boy “son” appeared a few months (which Murray also edited in the forms of The later in the Batman/Phantom Stranger team-up in Unexpected and Ghosts). Its shocking Swan/Anderson the editor’s The Brave and the Bold #98.) cover depicts a headless (>gasp!<) Superman specter! Inside, “The Ghost That Haunted Clark Kent” reads These spooky stories aside, old-style antics like a Hammer film retooled as an Afterschool such as Superbaby frolics and Fortress of Solitude Special, with television newsman Kent investigating Superman stories filled the covers and pages of murray boltinoff Boltinoff’s books, and even Bates’ “Satanic Son” an English castle’s resident S-caped spook. Once Kent becomes Superman and digs deeper, he learns © DC Comics. tale was absolved of any risk-tasking by its brand that this poltergeist is actually a 300-year-old alchemist whose as an “imaginary story.” It was almost if Mort was still holding plague-curing potion cursed him with a death touch, his only down the fort. Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

Mad Monster Party (right) The Kirby/Adams cover to Jimmy Olsen #142 (Oct. 1971). (right) The King pits our heroes against Transilvane’s “Frankenstein” and “Wolf Man” in issue #143. Story and pencils by Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, Superman and Olsen faces by Murphy Anderson. TM & © DC Comics.

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF METROPOLIS

Still, other interpretations of Frankenstein— Yet one trend evolved during the Bronze Age: and Dracula and the Wolf Man, too—tromped, fluttered, Superman’s scuffles with classic monsters began and tore into DC’s four-color pages, ready to give the Man of Steel a run for his money. to lose their innocence. The Comics Code Leave it to Jack “King” Kirby to be the Authority, the arbiter of standards and practices that wielded its Senate first. Jimmy Olsen #142’s (Oct. 1971) scary subcommittee pitchforks and torches cover, by Kirby and Neal Adams, depicts to drive out the undead from comic Superman squaring off against a bat-man— books beginning in the mid-1950s, no, not a certain Gotham Guardian, relaxed its restrictions on vampires, but an honest-to-badness, bloodsucking werewolves, and ghouls in the vampire—while his freckle-faced pal is early 1970s, resulting in a horror in the clutches of a werewolf. As the comics fad that added titles like Marvel’s King’s hyperbolic cover copy screams, Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night “It’s the vampire bit! But like you’ve to your friendly neighborhood never seen it before!” And Jack delivered just that, in his spinrack. Cameos from Weisinger’s non-threatening variation of inimitable fashion. The story, written, cary bates Frankenstein were no more, replaced penciled, and edited by Kirby, with at DC by a Len Wein-imagined Spawn © DC Comics. inks by Vince Colletta, lures Clark Kent of Frankenstein that would eventually, in more recent and Olsen into this mystery upon their discovery that continuities, become a team player with other WGBS (their employer) receptionist Laura Conway is under the sway of a mysterious force. Despite shared offbeat heroes. disbelief, the reporters realize that the bite marks on Laura’s neck and her lack of a reflection in a mirror spell “v-a-m-p-i-r-e.” There’s little room for doubt when a bat flaps into the office, with Clark quipping to young Olsen, “Yeah, I saw the movie, too!” The bat transforms into the vampire Count Dragorin, from Transilvane, and claims Ms. Conway. Kent becomes Superman and rejoins with Jimmy to trail the Count, and next tussles with Lupek, a werewolf (with Kirby’s Olsen apparently forgetting his previous stints as a benevolent wolf-man). Kirby not only offers no subtlety in his versions of movie monsters, he takes monsterdom to an extreme that was wild even for comics’ most unbridled imagination. Transilvane is actually a planet under the thumb of bad guy Dabney Donovan, who conditions its people to a life of classic horror movies by projecting them (as “picture prophecies”) into the world’s skies! The story

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concludes in issue #143 with Transilvane’s versions of Frankenstein, the Mummy, and a lady vampire joining the fray. While there’s a couple of quick scuffles between Superman and the monsters, the Man of Steel here is not portrayed as a monster-fighter but instead a sympathetic soul who strives to help free these creatures from Donovan’s machinations. Cary Bates took a Karloffian cue for the Superman tale “Meet the Metropolis Monster” in Action #415 (Aug. 1972). It opens with a shocking scene where the roaring, inarticulate Frankenstein Monster— actually, a Herman Munsterish surrogate—barges through reporter Clark Kent’s skyscraper office window and rips open Kent’s shirt, revealing his Superman costume underneath. One of Superman’s greatest fears, this identity exposure was also one of the character’s long-standing gimmicks to hook readers… but here, luckily, no one else is in the office to witness the story of the century. By the time he can legitimately switch to Superman and buzz after this “Metropolis Monster,” the Man of Steel encounters a “Dr. Frankenstein” from another realm, who perishes… but is soon reanimated by Superman in a Swan-drawn upgrade to a movie’s mad scientist lab. The Man of Steel gets into another knock-down/drag-out rumble with the Monster but soon learns a valuable lesson about the hazards of judging a book by its cover—or in this case, a monster by his appearance—as neither monster nor monster-maker are what they seem. Bates is in fine form in this story, offering ample Superman vs. Frankenstein action (nicely rendered by the Swanderson team) while providing a Rod Serling-worthy story twist to jolt the reader into an unexpected direction. Cary Bates shares with BACK ISSUE readers his recollections of this story: “Murray Boltinoff was the Action editor that year, having inherited it from Mort Weisinger, just as Julie Schwartz inherited the Superman title. Even though Mort had retired, for Murray I was still plotting using his long-established house style—which often entailed surprise plot twists and/or reversals. “On this story,” Bates continues, “that amounted to a reverse twist on the Frankenstein legend… leading to an ultimate reveal that made it clear the monster was the hero and the scientist was the monster. What the story also exemplifies is how much freedom writers had back then to write standalone stories for major characters that didn’t have to plug into long-term story arcs, let alone company-wide continuity crossovers. Those were the days!” Over in World’s Finest, Superman, under editor Schwartz, had been joining forces with everyone from the Flash to the Atom. In issue #214 (Oct.–Nov. 1972), the Vigilante—the Earth-One version of the cowboy-superhero best known from his Golden Age solo adventures and as a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory (a.k.a. the Law’s Legionnaires)—stepped in for what would be the magazine’s last non-Batman team-up, and Schwartz’s last issue as editor. If a Superman/Vigilante team-up sounds odd, the issue also teams two writers, Denny O’Neil and Steve Skeates. O’Neil, fatigued of writing Superman (as mentioned earlier), agreed to Schwartz’s offer to pen the story—only if he could write the Vigilante portions while someone else scripted the Superman portions. Skeates, who “actually harbored quite a bit of affection for the Man of Steel,” wrote the Superman sequences, as the writer revealed in an interview in BACK ISSUE #33 (Apr. 2009). This unorthodox merger of the two scribes is seamless to the reader,

Frank and Fur (top) Cary Bates cobbles together a “Metropolis Monster” to terrorize Superman in Action #415 (Aug. 1972), starting with this gripping Nick Cardy cover. (bottom) A depowered Superman finds a werewolf too hot to handle in World’s Finest #214 (Oct.–Nov. 1972). TM & © DC Comics.

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but when re-reading the story with this pedigree in mind, it becomes SUPERMAN’S HIT PARADE obvious that there are dual Superman and Vigilante adventures In late 1972, editors Schwartz and Boltinoff swapped World’s that dovetail with the climax. Finest and Action. This enabled Julie to have more control over But we’re here to talk about monsters… Superman’s solo stories, with both Action and Superman under “A Beast Stalks the Badlands,” illustrated by the art team for all his watch, while Murray, with writer Bob Haney, took over World’s of Superman’s WFC team-ups, Dick Dillin and Joe Giella, unites Finest, returning the book to its earlier Superman/Batman team television reporter Clark Kent and the Vigilante on the rodeo circuit formula. If you thought Haney’s Batman team-ups in B&B were in the American West. But once a rodeo ranch-hand named out of this world, his World’s Finest stories often stretched Johnny discovers he’s been videotaped by Kent, he triggers credibility… and pulled ideas from late-night horror flicks: a cattle stampede in an effort to destroy the camera— a South American beast called El Monstro (#219–220), and draws in Superman as a result. Superman, “Bow Before Satan’s Children” (#225), two different apparently not having a Photomat nearby, zips to one-eyed giants (#233, 241), a Hunchback Superman Gotham City to have Batman help him reassemble (supposedly Superman’s twin brother, in #246), the mangled film. The Caped Crusader, sounding a vampiric Man of Steel (#249), and “Invasion of the Deathless Brain” (#251)! very much like Adam West here, immodestly admits that he’s been undergoing “a refresher course in When writer Len Wein stepped in to replace super-naturalism” and notes the photographed Denny O’Neil as one of the writers (with Elliot S! ranch-hand bears the “unique classical look” of a Maggin and Cary Bates) of Superman with issue #246 werewolf. By the time Superman makes it back to the (Dec. 1971), he eased into the gig with a monster Wild West, Vigilante has already met the wolf-man story, “Danger—Monster at Work,” featuring a and Supie swoops in. Here, the Man of Tomorrow problematic protoplasmic blob. More important is still portrayed as the depowered hero from in this issue was Wein’s introduction of S.T.A.R. len wein O’Neil’s Superman stint and is in for the fight of Labs, which became a mainstay in DC’s comic-book his life—and would have potentially perished in Marcelo Braga / Wikimedia Commons. and television continuities. this conflict were it not for a well-aimed silver bullet fired into the In his next outing, two issues later (#248), Wein introduces a beast by the Vigilante, thereby ending ranch-hand Johnny’s curse. monster-like supervillain that signals a tonal shift in Superman’s This quick-pulsed tragedy tugs the heartstrings like a Lon Chaney, rogues’ gallery: the Galactic Golem. Back in February 2006, Jr. movie, although when its struggling Superman is juxtaposed Len told me, “[The Golem] came about because I needed somebody against the jacked-up Metropolis Marvel of Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen, Superman could hit! [laughs] The problem with Superman’s rogues’ who swatted aside Lupek the werewolf as if he were a fly, it seems gallery was, they were all thinkers… they were scientists, or guys the biggest monster trolling the hallways of DC Comics was a lack who built toys. With the Golem, he could hit Superman, and Superman of internal continuity. could hit him back.”

It’s Alive! (left) Lex Luthor one-ups Dr. Frankenstein when creating the Galactic Golem in Len Wein and Swanderson’s Superman #248 (Feb. 1972). (right) The Golem is back, in Superman #258 (Nov. 1972). Cover by Cardy. TM & © DC Comics.

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Wein’s nightmarish tale, “The Man Who Murdered Earth,” illustrated by the unbeatable Swan/Anderson duo, stunned readers with its opening of a desperate Lex Luthor, grieving the destruction of Earth after having unleashed the Galactic Golem as “a man-thing that’ll be more than a match for my old ‘friend’—Superman!” In recapping the Golem’s creation, Wein’s script features Luthor mocking fiction’s most famous monster-maker (“Anything that bumbling Victor Frankenstein can do— Lex Luthor can do better!”) as he siphons energies from the cosmos to empower his creation. Len recalled to me regarding the Galactic Golem’s creation, “My thinking was, ‘Superman is powered by a yellow sun. Well, here’s a character who’s powered by every star in the sky.’” Once Luthor sics his Golem on the Man of Steel, their battle triggers an atomic explosion that wipes out Superman—and the entire population of Earth! Well, not really, readers learn, as Superman once again outsmarts the smartest supervillain in the room with a plot twist I’ll let you discover on your own. The end result of Wein’s story was its creation of a new, and incredibly powerful, foe for Superman. The Galactic Golem made several return engagements. Wein wasn’t alone in producing more intimidating adversaries for the Metropolis Marvel. The very next issue of Superman (#249) debuted Cary Bates’ spacecowboy Terra-Man, and over the next few years Superman’s rogues’ gallery added Solomon Grundy, the Atomic Skull, Amazo, Chemo, and amped-up versions of Toyman, Bizarro, Metallo, and the Parasite, all posing physical dangers for the hero. Then there was our cover-spotlighted monster-villain, the King Kong homage Titano, the Super-Ape, who only has (kryptonite) eyes for the Action Ace in Superman #324 (June 1978). A relic from the Weisinger era, Titano was previously more misunderstood than menacing, a frisky chimpanzee TV star with a Lois Lane fixation that sometimes mutated into big trouble. Martin Pasko, who penned issue #324’s “Beware the Eyes That Paralyze,” transforms Titano into what Superman calls “ferocious,” “a potential killer!” Teleported by the Atomic Skull from an off-world land of giants to Earth, Titano rages toward the Man of Steel, his lethal kryptonite vision slicing about… until Superman nullifies Titano’s deadly peepers with a makeshift lead-pipe blindfold. Superman is puzzled by Titano’s savagery, soon to be revealed as manipulation by the Atomic Skull. There’s another Superman vs. Titano battle in the issue, with the giant ape walloping a kryptoniteweakened Superman, but per the plot-heavy story style enforced by the Schwartz office, Pasko never really gets much of a chance to show Superman trading punches with Super-Ape, instead utilizing super-trickery to make a monkey out of Titano. Almost 30 years after writing that story, Pasko reminisced with me about it: “There was a need for antagonists who could keep Superman jumping, and I thought—foolishly, in retrospect—that I might be able to treat a giant ape that shot kryptonite energy from its eyes with the same straight face I brought to Bizarro. I couldn’t, and matters were not helped by the art. We kept forgetting that what you got when you called upon the hyper-realistic and earthbound Curt Swan to draw menacing giant monsters invariably looked cute and cuddly at best, and at worst, like something that reminded you of an old Toho movie and made you look for the zipper.” Readers weren’t looking for the zipper, but instead for an escape route from the beach, when spying the Mike Grell-drawn cover of Action Comics #456 (Feb. 1976). It shows the flying Man of Steel’s cape

chomped by the choppers of a great white shark, unabashedly playing off the poster for the box-office hit of ’75, Jaws. The movie’s “star,” Bruce the (mechanical) shark, instantly became Hollywood’s most popular monster and spawned a stream of sequels (and a number of shark appearances on comic-book covers on titles ranging from Aquaman to Ghost Rider). DC’s legal department had little reason to fear the legal counsel of director Steven Spielberg or Jaws novelist Peter Benchley, however—the actual menace in Action #456 was actually the Shark, the Green Lantern supervillain moonlighting in Superman territory. Upon occasion, a good, old-fashioned sci-fi monster fable would find its way into the Superman books, usually a gimmick-based concept that might have worked as a plot for a Julie Schwartz anthology like Strange Adventures: sample plots included one of Clark Kent’s neighbors secretly being a shapeshifter (Action #430– 431) and the off-the-wall concept of Steve Lombard having a six-eyed, monster-alien brother (Action #523).

I Only Have Eyes for You Writer Martin Pasko brought back Titano the SuperApe for a kong-sized showdown in Superman #324 (June 1978). Cover by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

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Box-Office Bite The success of 1975’s Jaws inspired Mike Grell’s cover for Action #456 (Feb. 1976), which looks as if it’s pitting our hero against the movies’ latest monster. Copy of original art courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonyscomicbookart.com). TM & © DC Comics.

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THE BRONZE AGE’S FINAL CREATURE FEATURES

Yet such monstrosities roamed the pages of the Superman franchise with decreasing frequency as the Bronze Age crept toward DC’s mid-’80s Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot. Luthor and Brainiac joined the list of amplified Superman foes, and newer supervillains like the intergalactic despot Mongul challenged both Superman’s muscle and mind. A few traditional monster stories shambled into the mix, however, during the waning days of the pre-Crisis Superman. Denny O’Neil penned two connected Superman/Batman stories that combine monsters and Kryptonian lore. In World’s Finest Comics #256 (Apr.–May 1979), O’Neil’s “The Werewolf of Krypton” is unwittingly unleashed upon Earth by a Professor Jeremiah Terry. The beast is actually Kryptonian scientist Lar-On, who, prior to Krypton’s destruction, had acquired a disease that turned him into a beast under a full moon and was ultimately banished to the Phantom Zone. Once Terry’s interdimensional portal sets the superpowered lycanthrope free, the mighty Superman can barely contain the super-strong beast, but with the aid of Batman and a Phantom Zone projector sends Lar-On back to the Zone. Issue #258’s “The Curse of Krypton” features an Earth woman turned into a trampling unicorn after being infected by Lar-On’s Kryptonian disease. While Batman aids Superman in subduing her recurring stampedes, the Gotham Guardian’s behavior turns edgy and violent… and soon Batman, also a victim of the infection, mutates into a heinous man-bat that attacks Superman. Ultimately, the Man of Steel cures both his Bat-pal and the infected woman with blood transfusions. The Metropolis Marvel battles Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster—no, not stand-ins or imposters, but the real deal— in “The Monster Among Us!” in Superman #344 (Feb. 1980), a Halloween-timed issue plotted by Len Wein and dialogued by Paul Levitz. Its José Luis García-López cover art—which opens this article—is terrifying, with the amazing artist conveying through Superman’s fearful expression that he might just be down for the Count. The interior artwork, by stalwart Curt Swan and inker Frank Chiaramonte, while splendid, lacks the cover’s intensity. Yet the threats to Superman in the tale are genuine. The monsters, brought to our plane via a séance conducted by Cassandra Craft, are initially dismissed by Superman, but since “these characters are taking my best punches— and smiling,” the Man of Steel is quickly convinced of their supernatural origins. It’s the medium Craft, not Superman, that initially attracts Drac and Frankie, and the protective Superman finds the monsters’ might a serious challenge to his super-strength. Cleverly, Superman creates an “artificial miniature sun” from a hydrogen balloon by applying his heat vision and super-pressure that weakens the King of Vampires. DC aficionados know that Cassandra Craft hails from the pages of the Wein-scripted Phantom Stranger, whose title star makes an 11th hour (or is that witching hour?) appearance. With a swoop of his bellowing cloak, the enigmatic Stranger returns the monsters to their realm of origin: “the world of nightmare!” This was a fun but startling one-off tale that actually set some limits for Superman’s super-ness. Marv Wolfman provided two of the pre-Crisis Superman’s last three monster encounters—although in a March 2019 email admitted to me that he doesn’t recall either tale. First is Marv’s “The Devil and the Daily Planet,” illustrated by Joe Staton and Frank McLaughlin and appearing in Action #531 (May 1982). One might argue that the story’s monster is Mort Waxman—a pastiche of Mort Weisinger—introduced by WGBS head honcho Morgan Edge as the new publisher

Get a Grip! Denny O’Neil added new nightmares to Superman’s homeworld in World’s Finest Comics (top) #256, which featured a Kryptonian werewolf, and (bottom) #258, where a Kryptonian curse turns Batman into a Man-Bat. Cover by Neal Adams. TM & © DC Comics.

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of the Daily Planet, who vows to ply sensationalized gossip and sex to “bring this paper out of the Dark Ages!” Oddly, the Planet immediately finds itself under attack, first by a shimmering apparition, then by the Frankenstein Monster, who slaps around both Clark Kent and Superman. It turns out that the newspaper is under the spectral protection of its original printer’s assistant—or a “printer’s devil”— who uses supernatural occurrences to scare away Waxman. The story’s use of Frankenstein is nominal, but warrants a cover appearance. A few years later, in 1986, readers were counting down toward what truly would be “A New Kind of Superman Coming”: writer/ artist John Byrne’s The Man of Steel, rebooting Superman’s continuity. Editor Julie Schwartz was marking time to retirement—actually, to consultant status at DC, serving as the company’s “goodwill ambassador”—and a variety of writers and artists were cranking out old-style Superman stories before the Man of Tomorrow became the Man of Tomorrow’s Continuity. Once such tale was “Caitiff: First of the Vampires!” in Action #577 (Mar. 1986), plotted and penciled by Keith Giffen, scripted by Robert Loren Fleming, and inked by Bob Oksner. This trio, with editor Schwartz, might’ve been the creative team behind the wacky Ambush Bug projects, but their “Caitiff” tale was nothing to poke fun at. The horrors start as the Metropolis Center for Disease Control battles “a new form of seizure that has mystified medical experts,” likened to acute anemia. Superman sticks his super-nose into the “disease” and concludes, “Unless I’m losing my mind, those hospital patients are the prey of a modern-day vampire!!” Utilizing deductive skills that would make Batman proud, Superman tracks his prey to his hideaway in the sewers. But as Superman moves in to apprehend the vampire, Caitiff—the last of his people, a race of ghouls that came to Earth generations ago and “gave birth to the legend of Dracula”—leads Superman to the poignant realization that this First of the Vampires is, like the Last Son of Krypton, the “sole survivor” of his race. Caitiff scurries away while Superman is lost in thought, and at story’s end the Man of Steel ponders, when considering what he’d do were he in the vampire’s position, “I’d survive at all costs, for the sake of my race!” Would Superman still honor his duty to capture the vampire? While this tale begs a sequel, the impending revamp would deny it. And now we return to the aforementioned Marv Wolfman, who scripted Superman #422 (Aug. 1986)—the penultimate issue of the pre-Crisis series and the issue before Alan Moore’s landmark “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Wolfman’s is a wolf-man’s tale, “Dark Moon Rising,” its frightening, monochromatic Werewolf Superman cover by Brian Bolland sure to induce nightmares for the faint-hearted. In what was editor Schwartz’s last gimmick cover, this wasn’t actually Superman wearing the “S” but a lycanthrope named Lawrence, who overpowers the Man of Steel in a battle in the story and steals his super-suit as a “trophy” of his victory. Lawrence is one of a group of scientists at Lupus Labs in Metropolis, and when Superman investigates further he discovers a group of scientifically created werewolves and rolls up his sleeves for what might be his last fight.

Bad Moon Rising Late-Bronze Age Superman vs. monsters encounters in (top left) Action #531 (May 1982, cover by Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia), (top right) Action #577 (Mar. 1986, cover by Keith Giffen and Bob Oksner), and (bottom) Superman #422 (Aug. 1986, cover by Brian Bolland). TM & © DC Comics.

The truth is, it was Superman’s last fight with monsters—at least this version of the hero, the Silver/Bronze Age Superman. These monster skirmishes, while generally disregarding previously published similar stories and treating each encounter with its Frankensteins, vampires, and wolf-men as new, emphasized plot contrivances over monster bashing. Yet they also represent a gradual maturation of the comic- book medium, with Superman writers exploring new, more formidable threats for a powerhouse who had been known to push planets and knock out bad guys merely by flicking his finger. They may be considered primitive by contemporary standards, but these Superman vs. monsters stories pointed the character toward the destructive Doomsday and Darkseid wars that would follow… and they each provided 22 or so pages of fun for the reader. Special thanks to Cary Bates and Marv Wolfman. Denny O’Neil, Martin Pasko, and Len Wein quotes hail from 2006 interviews I conducted for my book, The Krypton Companion (TwoMorrows, 2006).

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by M

[Editor’s note: The following essay originally appeared in the book The Batcave Companion by Michael Eury and Michael Kronenberg (TwoMorrows, 2009). It has been edited for publication in BACK ISSUE.] It seems only fitting that Batman, the “creature of the night,” would be pitted against the forces of terror in the form of monsters, ghosts, and ghouls. In Batman’s first year of existence, no less than three issues featured him battling vampires and werewolves in Hungary, and hulking killer monsters created by Hugo Strange. In many ways, the Batman’s own costume and appearance indelibly links him to supernatural forces. In his groundbreaking book The Steranko History of Comics vol. 1 (1970), legendary comic-book artist and historian Jim Steranko wrote, “Heavily steeped in Teutonic atmosphere, Batman conjured up visions of vampires with his black cloak, grim visage and white slit eyes. He moved through cubistic backgrounds of

ichael Kronenberg

warped perspectives and paranoic tilt shots, of shadows and silhouettes that gave credence to the thought that he was indeed more bat than man. Dressed like a wealthy count by day, he would emerge Dracula-like at night for fantastic forays amidst moonlit settings.” Batman’s debut in 1939 closely coincided with Hollywood’s exploration of horror in the movies. With Batman’s Bronze Age conversion, it followed suit that creators would renew his clash with the “armies of the night.” Many of Batman’s brushes with horror in the 1970s mirrored pop culture’s love of “things that go bump in the night.”

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ first collaboration finds Batman embroiled in a case involving a married couple who have been alive for over 120 years. “The Secret of the Waiting Graves” in Detective Comics #395 (Jan. 1970) finds Batman in Mexico investigating the strange occurrences

Creatures of the Night The Gotham Guardian versus Man-Bat! Detective Comics #400 (June 1970), featuring Man-Bat’s first appearance, and his prompt return in issue #402. Covers by Neal Adams. TM & © DC Comics.

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Life or Death Choices (top) Adams’ cover for the gothic chiller “The Secret of the Waiting Graves” in Detective Comics #395 (Jan. 1970), at the dawn of the Bronze Age. (bottom) Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com), original Neal Adams cover art for Man-Bat’s third appearance, in ’Tec #407 (Jan. 1971). TM & © DC Comics.

at the estate of Juan and Dolores Muerto. On the opening splash page the Batman stands over two open graves with the Muertos’ names engraved on them. Bruce Wayne is a party guest of the Muertos. Thugs, wolves, and falcons guard the Muertos’ compound, protecting their dark secret. They have discovered eternal youth through the rare Sybil flower, but the side effect is “total and utter insanity,” as described by a Mexican government agent. The agent confronts the Muertos in the monastery where they hide their cache of flowers. The government agent is attacked by the Muertos and Batman follows closely behind, only to be overtaken by the strong hallucinogenic power of the Sybil flowers. Overcome by the flowers, the agent and Batman are bound and left for ravenous falcons by the Muertos. Through sheer force of will Batman resists the flowers’ effects and defeats the birds of prey. He sets fire to the flowers. When the Muertos discover the fire they panic and run back to the monastery only to see the effects of the flowers’ fumes negated by their excitement. Neal Adams portrays the couple running, and panel-by-panel they age 100 years, dying before our eyes. They drop into the open graves we see on the story’s splash page. The theme of attaining immortality and its final frightening cost has been explored many times in books, movies, and television. In 1935 RKO Pictures released She, produced by Merian C. Cooper, who created King Kong. She is the story of a 500-year old civilization that is discovered in the Russian arctic and whose queen has lived that long by bathing herself in a mystical eternal flame. One of the most famous stories of eternal youth gone wrong is The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Oscar Wilde novel was adapted into a classic movie by MGM in 1945, starring Hurd Hatfield and George Sanders. It tells the story of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who has his portrait painted. Under certain influences he becomes morally corrupt and as he ages, the portrait reflects his debauchery and age, while he remains youthful. Over time, the painting depicts a hideous monster and those close to Gray become suspicious of his eternal youth. Possibly the most underrated movie about the pitfalls of eternal life was Hammer Films’ The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), starring Anton Diffring and directed by Terence Fisher. It features a truly terrifying ending that’s very similar to the final fate of the Muertos in “The Secret of the Waiting Graves.” The story unfolds as Dr. Georges Bonnet (Diffring) discovers he can live forever through periodic gland transplants from young, healthy victims. One of the finest episodes of The Twilight Zone explored the immortality topic in “Long Live Walter Jameson” (Season One, Episode 24, original airdate 3–18–60). Penned by the brilliant writer Charles Beaumont, it starred Kevin McCarthy as Walter Jameson. In this story, a father forbids a history professor from marrying his daughter when he discovers that the captivating lecturer has actually lived for thousands of years. Ironically, not long after this episode was aired, Charles Beaumont began to suffer from a rare form of advanced aging. He died at the age of 38 from Alzheimer’s disease.

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. BAT

The first major addition to Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery in the Bronze Age was the monstrous Man-Bat. Created by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams, he made his first appearance in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970). Bat-researcher Kirk Langstrom desires to attain the powers of the bats he studies so he can “have a natural ability even the great Batman doesn’t possess!” By taking doses of gland-extract from the bats, Langstrom begins to develop super-sensitive hearing and possesses a bat’s natural sonar, which allows him to navigate in darkness. Side effects take place and Langstrom takes on the physical attributes of a giant bat—a Man-Bat. He desperately tries to discover an antidote. In his debut, Man-Bat fights alongside Batman, thwarting a gang of would be thieves at the museum where Langstrom works. Langstrom blames Batman for his condition, telling him, “It was your inspiration… your great fight against criminals of the night—that brought this on me!” In future issues, Man-Bat’s mutation would continue both physically and psychologically. In Detective Comics #402 (Aug. 1970), “Man or Bat?,” we find Langstrom working feverishly to put together 16 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

Terrifying Tribute (left) Neal Adams’ Batman #227 cover, an homage to 1939’s moody Bob Kane cover for ’Tec #31. TM & © DC Comics.

the ingredients for an antidote, but to no avail. He also develops giant RUNNIN’ WITH THE DEVIL bat-wings and can fly. He begins to lose his human traits, thinking and One of Neal Adams’ most celebrated covers is Batman #227 (Dec. 1970), becoming more like a bat. The story continues in Detective Comics #407 featuring an omnipresent Batman hovering over a fog-enshrouded (Jan. 1971), “Marriage: Impossible.” Man-Bat is now fully deranged and mansion, while a caped man lead by ravenous wolves chases a has kidnapped his fiancée Francine. She allows him to inject her with the fleeing woman. Adams’ cover is an homage to the cover for Detective bat-serum—changing her into She-Bat. Using the advanced lab equipment Comics #31 (Sept. 1939), which shows Batman in a similar pose with he possesses in the Batcave, Batman develops an antidote. After a a fog enveloped castle as the Monk (the Hungarian vampire) flees, protracted struggle with the bat-couple, Batman injects both Man-Bat carrying a woman. Batman #227 contains Denny O’Neil’s story “The Demon of and She-Bat with his antidote, returning them to their human forms. Neal Adams thought up and wrote a synopsis for a Man-Bat Gothos Mansion,” illustrated by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. In this Lovecraftian horror tale, Batman agrees to look in on Alfred’s story and intended to present it to Julius Schwartz. “I had been niece Daphne (she had previously appeared in Batman #216, thinking about how I was going to approach Julie because Nov. 1969), who has taken on what has turned out to I didn’t want this Man-Bat story changed and ruined,” be a troubling and worrisome position as a teacher for Adams recollects. He found his opportune time when the family of Clifton Heathrow. Batman finds Daphne a story meeting between Schwartz and writer Frank Robbins turned up nothing fruitful. When Schwartz and quickly discovers she is being held captive by a asked Adams for ideas, he presented his Man-Bat coven of black-magic worshippers led by Heathrow. pitch. Adams was able to convince Schwartz to They are preparing to sacrifice her to the demon Ballk. use his idea, but the story had to be handed over After being captured himself and escaping from a to Robbins to write. deathtrap, Batman must overcome Heathrow’s followMan-Bat’s most recognizable influence is Robert ers and rescue Alfred’s niece. Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Like Jekyll, Some of writer H. P. Lovecraft’s most well-known stories dealt with strange cults that worshipped Langstrom develops an elixir that will transform him demons and attempted to bring them back to life. for the betterment of man, but the experiment goes neal adams Of particular note are The Dunwich Horror and The woefully wrong, transforming him into a hideous Call of Cthulhu. monstrosity. The two finest film adaptations of © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Legendary film director Jacques Tourneur’s Night Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the 1920 version starring John Barrymore and the 1931 version starring Frederic March. March won of the Demon (1957) tells the story of American psychologist John the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal. Holden (played by Dana Andrews) traveling to London, where he The rather obscure 1957 film The Vampire bears some similarities participates in a symposium aiming to expose witchcraft and devil to Man-Bat. It has an interesting twist: The movie’s star, John Beal, worship as fraudulent. Holden focuses his attention on a cult run by plays a mild-mannered, small-town doctor who turns into a vampire Julian Karswell (played by Niall MacGinnis). Holden soon discovers that after accidentally ingesting pills that a deceased scientist had created Karswell does possess the ability to summon demons. Their confrontation while experimenting with vampire bats. The experiment attempted becomes a titanic battle of wits between good and evil. to regress the mind to primitive instincts so that methods could be The movie The Wicker Man (1973) deals with some of the elements found to improve our brains (seems like convoluted logic). But instead of “Demon of Gothos Mansion.” A policeman (played by Edward of improving the doctor’s mind, he becomes ill and addicted. He must Woodward) investigates reports of a missing girl in a strange, isolated take one pill every day. But each time he takes a pill he turns into a town. He finds the missing girl and believes she is going to be sacrificed monstrous and insane killer. by the town’s leader, Lord Summerisle (played by Christopher Lee). Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

Hammer Films’ The Devil Rides Out (1968), based on the 1934 novel by Dennis Wheatley, depicts the battle between aristocrat Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee) and Mocata (played by Charles Gray), the leader of a devil-worshipping cult. Duc de Richleau must try to save his niece from being sacrificed to the Devil by the cult. Xenophobia is a theme that runs throughout many of these narratives, including O’Neil’s. It helps to lend a foreboding and underlying creepiness to all of them. O’Neil would revisit the themes of xenophobia, haunted mansions, and sacrifice in The Brave and the Bold #93 (Dec. 1970–Jan. 1971), “Red Water, Crimson Death,” illustrated by Neal Adams. Appropriately enough, Batman’s co-star in the issue is the House of Mystery.

FEAR THE REAPER

TM & © DC Comics.

While doing some serious celebrating in 1970 at Tom Fagan’s annual Halloween bash in Rutland, Vermont, comic-book professionals Denny O’Neil, Alan Weiss, Gerry Conway, and Bernie Wrightson sat in a nearby forest at midnight. O’Neil recalled in the letters column

of Batman #237 (Dec. 1971) that it was “dark. So dark the eye, hungry for something to see, conjured up shapes that loomed in the night.” This got his friends’ adrenalin pumping. “You remember that weird dude back at the party?” Wrightson asked. “What if he’s a murderer? And what if he doesn’t like comic artists and writers? And what if he’s sneaking through the trees right now?” Later, when the group was back safely at Fagan’s estate with the other partygoers, O’Neil promised that he would use Wrightson’s sadistic fantasy as a Batman plot. A few weeks later, O’Neil was having dinner with his friend, celebrated science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison, and Ellison suggested that O’Neil do a story about Nazi war criminals. “I put Harlan’s and Bernie’s ideas together,” admits O’Neil, “and voila! ‘Night of the Reaper!’” Batman #237’s “Night of the Reaper!” is not only “A Haunting Halloween Novel,” as the cover proclaims, but it is the only socially relevant story that the O’Neil/ Adams team would work on in a Batman comic. Produced near the end of their Green Lantern/Green Arrow run, the theme of “Night of the Reaper!” would have fit nicely into that series. O’Neil weaves from Wrightson’s suggestion a story of murder among the partygoers at Fagan’s Halloween

’70s Shockers Two iconic Bronze Age covers: (left) Adams’ “Night of the Reaper” gripper for Batman #237 (Dec. 1971), and (right) Bernie Wrightson’s unforgettable Swamp Thing #7 cover, Batman’s first meeting with the muck monster. TM & © DC Comics.

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celebration. Dick Grayson attends the festivities with some Hudson University friends who are based upon Wrightson, Weiss, and Conway. A party guest dressed as Batman is murdered and while Robin investigates, the frightening and scythe-wielding Reaper attacks him. By mere chance Robin avoids being decapitated. The Teen Wonder is rescued by Batman, who is in the area hunting down Nazi war criminal Kurt Schloss, following a tip from the venerable Dr. Gruener, an inmate at the concentration camp Schloss commanded. Another partygoer is murdered, and soon Schloss is killed when his car is blown up. The World’s Greatest Detective deduces the Reaper’s identity as Dr. Gruener. Confronting Gruener, Batman says, “You decided on personal vengeance!” Gruener responds, “And who better, right? My father and mother, my sisters… I saw the butcher empty his pistol into their bodies. I heard him laugh as their blood poured onto the filth of the camp! Who are you to judge me? You—who have not witnessed the horror of those days!” A compassionate Batman responds, “True, I have no right to judge! Neither have you!” Gruener then attacks and nearly kills Batman. While escaping across a tall aqueduct, Gruener confronts the story’s “Alan Weiss” character and nearly kills him. But the sight of Weiss’ neck-worn Star of David stuns Gruener out of his violent rage. Uttering, “W-what have I become?,” he shudders and falls to his death. “Night of the Reaper!” is one of the finest mainstream comic-book stories about the victims of the Holocaust, and there have been many told in comics throughout the decades. Another story that dealt with the vengeance of a concentration-camp victim (with a victim/pursuer twist similar to that of “Night of the Reaper!”) was EC Comics’ “Master Race,” memorably told by writer Al Feldstein and artist Bernard Krigstein in Impact #1 (Mar.–Apr. 1955). Perhaps the most famous concentrationcamp survivor in comics is Erik Lehnshurr, better known as the X-Men’s archenemy Magneto, who as a child was enslaved in Auschwitz. [A different version of the Reaper would eventually appear in the Batman mythos in 1987, in Detective Comics #575– 578’s “Batman: Year Two” storyline. This new Reaper was a vigilante who killed lawbreakers in Gotham.]

MUCK MONSTER

adventures in the 1970s, it seemed The award-winning Swamp Thing comiconly natural that DC’s Muck Monster book series debuted in 1972 and turned would end up facing off against the fandom on its ear with its blending of Masked Manhunter. “If there was any classic horror and superhero adventure. character in the DC Universe who fit As revealed in the tragic character’s right into Swamp Thing,” said Wein, origin in issue #1, Alec Holland is a “it was the Batman.” bernie Wrightson scientist working on a secret bioIn Swamp Thing #7 (Nov.–Dec. restorative formula (“that can make Corey Bond / Wikimedia Commons. 1973), “Night of the Bat,” Swamp forests out of deserts”) in the Louisiana swamps. The Thing’s search for Mr. E has brought him to Gotham mysterious “Mr. E” wants the formula and dispatches City. Simultaneously, the Batman battles and defeats a agents to plant a bomb in Holland’s lab. Splashed with gang of smugglers and discovers “the next clue to the burning chemicals in the massive explosion, Holland identity of Mr. E, the mysterious leader of the underworld runs from the lab and falls into the swamp. Sometime combine called the Conclave!” later a creature resembling a humanoid plant appears, Swamp Thing’s appearance has drawn attention in and Swamp Thing is born. Gotham as he battles the police, who discover bullets In each issue of Swamp Thing, writer Len Wein and don’t harm his muck-encrusted form. His super-strength artist Bernie Wrightson introduced a different horror overwhelms them and he escapes. element for their unlikely hero to battle, whether it As both Swamp Thing and Batman search the was mad scientist Dr. Anton Arcane’s misshapen underbelly of Gotham for Mr. E, they inevitably cross creatures the Un-Men, the Frankenstein Monster-like paths. Unable to communicate due to his horrific Patchwork Man, or even a werewolf. Considering that transformation, Swamp Thing tries to avoid battling the horror elements had become more prevalent in Batman’s Batman. Thinking he needs to defend himself from this

Night Fever Batman encounters Swamp Thing on this gorgeous Wrightson page from writer Len Wein’s Swamp Thing #7. TM & © DC Comics.

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Clap for the Wolfman (top) Adams’ “Moon of the Wolf” cover for Batman #255 (Mar.–Apr. 1974). Nick Cardy drew the four panels at the right of the cover, promoting this 100-pager’s reprints. (bottom) The Wein-created moon knight returned in ’Tec #505 (Aug. 1981). Cover by Rich Buckler and Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

weird, mute creature, Batman attacks. This continues a theme that will run throughout Swamp Thing’s existence and one that follows generations of monsters from Frankenstein to King Kong—their appearance belies their misunderstood nature. Begrudgingly, Swamp Thing fights the Batman and easily defeats him. We discover that “Mr. E” is Nathan Ellery, a wealthy and respected businessman in Gotham who sits on the board of the (Bruce) Wayne Foundation. Ellery parades around Gotham with a bizarre pet monkey that resembles something out of The Wizard of Oz. He decides to lure Swamp Thing by activating a transmitter that’s been implanted in Swamp Thing’s pet dog’s head. The dog’s determined journey to Ellery’s penthouse draws the attention of both Swamp Thing and Batman. The three arrive at Mr. E’s home, where Ellery shoots and kills the dog. An enraged Swamp Thing, seeking revenge for the death of his wife, the humanity of which he has been robbed, and the death of his canine companion, begins to beat Ellery mercilessly. Thinking better of it, he tosses Ellery aside. Ellery trips over his monkey, who blindly attacks his master, sending Ellery stumbling over the balcony of the penthouse and to his death. A stunned Batman stands over the terrace, realizing that there was much more to Ellery than he knew. In the ensuing chaos, Swamp Thing is able to escape. Wein and Wrightson’s ten-issue Swamp Thing run was a classic, and through the guidance of editor Joe Orlando, a former EC artist, the book had the feel of an EC horror title. Commenting on Orlando, Bernie Wrightson (1948–2017) told me in an interview for The Batcave Companion, “Joe was just an absolute joy to work with. He was the best editor. He was more than an editor, he was a collaborator. I really miss Joe and I really miss those old days.” The EC connection was also enhanced by Wrightson’s mesmerizing art, which blended the best of EC’s master artists. Wrightson remarked, “I’d been influenced before by comic books, EC comics, when I was a kid—Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, Al Williamson, and all those guys. I didn’t even know their names when I saw their work, but I guess all that stuff kind of came together. Early on I tried copying Frazetta to the best of my ability, which wasn’t very well. But over time, I guess I just mixed that with all the other influences and came up with my own methods and the style that I have.” Swamp Thing #7 offered readers the opportunity to see the Batman in an EC-type story. Even Wrightson’s coloring lent itself toward original EC colorist Marie Severin’s bold and atmospheric style. Wrightson’s version of Batman in the story made quite an impression on readers and collaborator Len Wein (1948–2017), who remarked in a Batcave Companion interview, “If there was ever an artist born to draw Batman, it was Bernie Wrightson. That shot of the Batman standing between the two buildings on page 12, with his cape blowing out between his legs is, for my money, the single best shot of Batman ever drawn.”

THE HOWLING WOLF

Combine an old foe who has a vendetta with a bloodthirsty werewolf, and the Batman is in for some serious trouble. In Batman #255 (Apr. 1974), “Moon of the Wolf,” writer Len Wein, already renowned for his brilliant run on Swamp Thing, plays out this tragic tale like a classic horror film. Neal Adams, working on what would be his last Bronze Age Batman story, illustrates an archetypal battle between two denizens of the night. The Batman’s encounter with this lycanthrope is told in a sympathetic manner, evoking pity for the tormented soul who can’t stop from turning into a ravenous beast. It’s a tale that has been told in several classic movies such as Universal’s The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, and Hammer Films’ Curse of the Werewolf. Batman’s old enemy Professor Milo, who previously appeared in Batman #112 (Dec. 1957), has sworn revenge on the Caped Crusader. Milo encounters Anthony Lupus, a rich and famous Olympic athlete, whose headaches prove painful and intolerable. Milo finds that Lupus suffers from lycanthropy. Lupus unwittingly drinks a “cure” Milo has given him. The headaches begin to subside, but soon 20 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

Milo’s potion turns Lupus into a bloodthirsty werewolf. Milo promises Lupus the antidote only if he, in his werewolf form, will kill the Batman. Lupus reluctantly agrees, if only to stop the madness and to be released his werewolf curse. Milo and a regretful Lupus set a trap for Batman. During a visit to Lupus’ home, Batman is drugged and awakens chained to a construction site. Meanwhile, Milo taunts Lupus with the werewolf cure: “Not a drop! I want the werewolf’s full savage fury unleashed against the Batman!” Lupus then changes into the werewolf and turns on Milo, ravaging the pleading professor. Milo drops and breaks the test tube containing the antidote. The werewolf goes to the construction site and turns its ferocity on the Batman. They battle while an atmospheric lightning storm engulfs the site. Neal Adams illustrates the sequence like a classic horror film. “There are a lot of images lifted,” reveals Adams of his influences. “It’s hard to find really good stuff, and I’ve got an eagle eye out for it, because I always do research. So, anytime I see anything that’s good, I lock it into my head to pull it out later for whatever reason I need it.” After a fierce battle on the top of an unfinished skyscraper, a totally spent, desperate Batman throws a steel rod at the beast, impaling him. The werewolf, surprisingly unharmed, pulls the rod out of his body with glee, only to have it struck by lightning. The presumably electrocuted beast plummets off the building. On the ground below, all the Batman finds is the twisted piece of steel. Wein ends the story true to its classic horror roots with a brief epilogue that shows the werewolf may still be alive and free in Alaska. Asked if the classic horror films of the 1930s and 1940s influenced him on “Moon of the Wolf,” Len Wein admitted, “As I’ve probably mentioned in dozens of interviews over the years, much of what Bernie and I did in Swamp Thing was influenced by the Universal monster movies, but my Batman work, not so much. I think, in the case of ‘Moon of the Wolf,’ I was actually more motivated by wanting to bring back Professor Milo, who had been the villain in the first two Batman stories I had ever read as a kid and who had never been heard from since.” Writer Gerry Conway would revisit Anthony Lupus’ plight in Detective Comics #505 (Aug. 1981), “Werewolf Moon.” In this story, Lupus’ young sister needs a bone marrow transplant or she will die of leukemia. Batman is determined to find Lupus in Alaska and bring him back to Gotham so that both Lupus and his sister can finally be cured. Wein himself adapted “Moon of the Wolf” for television in 1992 as a Season One episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

Much at Stake (left) Mike Grell’s shocking cover for Detective #455 (Jan. 1976). His interpretation of writer Elliot S. Maggin’s vampire was clearly inspired by (right) actor Christopher Lee’s Drac as seen in 1958’s Horror of Dracula (lobby card courtesy of Heritage) and other Hammer films. TM & © DC Comics. Horror of Dracula © 1958 Universal Pictures.

THE VAMPIRE BAT

Batman vs. a vampire—seems like a logical confrontation considering they’re both creatures of the night, cape-cloaked, and take the form of bats. But it wasn’t until Detective Comics #455 (Jan. 1976) that Batman battled a vampire in the “Dracula” tradition. Detective #455’s “Heart of a Vampire,” written by Elliot S! Maggin and drawn by Mike Grell, were obviously very familiar with classic horror movies, especially those produced by Hammer Films. Then-newcomer Grell got the assignment “by being a persistent pain in Julie Schwartz’s ass. I had been doing a number of backup stories for [editor Schwartz’s] Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and the Atom, and I kept asking for a chance at Batman. Eventually, one came my way.” But the behind-the-scenes intrigue of this story doesn’t end there. Grell reveals that he was not the story’s intended artist: “Bernie Wrightson had already done thumbnails of all the art, doing a complete breakdown of the story before scheduling conflicts forced him to withdraw from the project. Now, when you say ‘thumbnail,’ most folks think of a loose scribble—not these. Bernie had drawn every panel in no more than 1/4 the size—if that—of a printed page. They were brilliant and, if we had the technology for enlargement, I could easily have inked over his pencils with minor finishing. I always felt Bernie was cheated of the credit he deserved.” “Heart of a Vampire” begins with Bruce Wayne and Alfred finding themselves in the country, many miles from Gotham City. Their car suddenly breaks down near a spooky and deserted old house. They decide to go in the house to retrieve some water for their car’s radiator. The interior of the house is lavishly decorated and resembles the set of the classic Hammer film Horror of Dracula

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

Good to the Last Drop The Count threatens to take a Bat-bite on this astounding original Grell page from ’Tec #455, courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

he picked the wrong grave to open… the grave of a vampire— whose ranks he joined!” Batman realizes that DeCobra might have transplanted the heart anywhere in the house. He hopes to draw DeCobra into a good fight to get his heart beating heavily so he can discover its location. Alfred and Batman are found by DeCobra and the climactic battle begins. The fight between the Batman and DeCobra rivals the classic conclusion to Horror of Dracula when Dracula (played by Christopher Lee) and Van Helsing (played by Peter Cushing) are pitted against one another. During their fight, Maggin adds a new twist to the vampire legend by having DeCobra reach into a painting and pull out a shovel that he uses as a weapon. As the battle becomes more furious, Batman notices that the grandfather clock in the room is ticking at a fervent pace. With bow and arrow at the ready, Batman aims and fires it at the clock. DeCobra cries out, “Arrghh! The… the clock!! I transplanted my heart… into the clock—!” The vampire withers and dies, leaving only a skeleton. “The first Christopher Lee Dracula film I ever saw was Dracula, Prince of Darkness,” says artist Mike Grell, “and it scared the hell out of me. I was 19 and I loved it. I never found Bela Lugosi the least bit scary, but Christopher Lee really was, so I wanted to make the story a tribute to him. With that in mind, I dug up every photo I could find and worked my butt off trying to get a good likeness. But when I delivered the pencils to Julie Schwartz, he said, ‘Great, except for one thing… the vampire looks like Christopher Lee.’ I tried to argue for my tribute, but he refused to go for it. At Julie’s insistence, I reluctantly changed a few things—hairstyle, scar, nose—and inked it. “Turns out we weren’t fooling anyone, because fans were quick to point out the obvious resemblance that remained. What had begun as a tribute turned out looking like a rip-off. It’s only taken 35 years to set the record straight—thanks!” The story received a very strong reaction from both (1958). In the center of the house’s main room is a the readers and the DC offices, helping Grell land the large and powerful sun lamp, with its rays beating regular penciling job on Batman, beginning with down upon a padlocked coffin. Fascinated by the Batman #287 (May 1977). Asked if people are still curious about this story, Grell says, “Yes, people still lamp, Bruce examines it, only to find the lamp has suddenly turned itself off. Bruce then turns ask me about it. Most of the credit has to go to his attention to finding water for the car’s radiator. Elliot’s story and Bernie’s layouts.” This nearly forgotten 12-page classic certainly A close-up of the coffin’s padlock shows it simply dropping off the coffin and onto the floor without satisfied many horror-movie junkies. Mike Grell was able even unlocking. This is taken directly from a scene in to capture a cinema lover’s dream by casting Batman Hammer Films’ Brides of Dracula (1960). The coffin “in” a Christopher Lee Dracula “film.” Incidentally, opens, and rising from it is a vampire. From this Neal Adams also recognizes Lee as an influence on mike grell point we get a real treat, courtesy of Mike Grell, his Batman “because of the way he moved and the as he draws the vampire to resemble horror-movie way he made his cape work.” legend Christopher Lee. In fact, Grell does such Dr. Dan Yahnian/Mike Grell. Batman would eventually meet up with the real an extraordinary job it’s as if Lee is actually co-starring in the comic. King of the Vampires, Dracula, in the 1992 Elseworlds graphic novel The vampire confronts Bruce, seeking his blood. When Bruce Batman & Dracula: Red Rain. It spawned sequels changes to Batman, a terrific battle ensues. Batman is eventually featuring Batman as a vampire, as explored able to take a wooden stake from a broken windowpane and elsewhere in this issue. The creatures of the shove it through the vampire’s chest. But the vampire mockingly night clashed again in the made-for-DVD pulls the stake out of his body saying, “I suppose, my dear juicy animated film The Batman vs. Dracula (2005). mortal, that a wooden stake piercing my heart would kill me… BI cover designer MICHAEL KRONENBERG is a if you could find my heart!” Fleeing with Alfred for cover, Batman recognizes the vampire graphic designer/artist whose clients include the Film Noir Foundation, Marvel Comics, TwoMorrows as Gustav DeCobra, a brilliant physician who lived a century ago. Publishing, and Gemstone Publishing, among DeCobra was dismissed from Cornell Medical School for insisting others. His award-winning designs are in hearts could be transferred from one body to another. He was magazines and books about movies, comics, music, using whatever means available to continue his experiments, and sports. His fine art is in numerous public and which included robbing graves. Batman deduces “that one night private collections. 22 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

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Beginning with his WPA etchings during the 1930s, MAC RABOY struggled to survive the Great Depression and eventually found his way into the comic book sweatshops of America. In that world of four-color panels, he perfected his art style on such creations as DR. VOODOO, ZORO the MYSTERY MAN, BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. Raboy went on to illustrate the FLASH GORDON Sunday newspaper strip, and left behind a legacy of meticulous perfection. Through extensive research and interviews with son DAVID RABOY, and assistants who worked with the artist during the Golden Age of Comics, author ROGER HILL brings Mac Raboy, the man and the artist, into focus for historians to savor and enjoy. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! Introduction by ROY THOMAS! ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8 • NOW SHIPPING! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.95 Roger Hill’s 2017 biography of REED CRANDALL sold out just months after its release—don’t let this one pass you by!Pre-order now!

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24 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

by D a n

Haunted House of Ideas (left) Morbius invades Marvel Team-Up #3 (July 1972). Cover by Gil Kane and Vince Colletta. (right) A Thing or two, on the Kane/ John Romita, Sr. cover to Marvel Two-inOne #1 (Jan. 1974). TM & © Marvel.

The Marvel Universe has always been filled with wonders and thrills, featuring amazing beings from countless time periods and realms. Some were created to stir the soul and rouse the human spirit. But others are dark and terrifying, created to chill the blood and make the faint of heart quiver. While the Marvel Universe can be a bright and shining place, sometimes the brightest light casts the darkest shadows… and in those shadows lurk the monsters. Before Marvel Comics existed in the form that became popularized beginning in the early 1960s, the publisher was known as Atlas Comics. Atlas was like a lot of the other comics companies of the 1950s. They published war comics, Western comics, jungle comics, humor comics, and even dusted off their best superheroes from the 1940s like Captain America, the Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner, to see if there was a market for them. And then there were Atlas’ horror comics. In the early 1950s, Atlas published such spooky titles as Adventures into Weird Worlds, Menace, and Suspense. Then came Dr. Frederic Wertham’s juvenile-delinquency witch-hunt that

26 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

J o h n s o n and M i c h a e l E u r y

nearly drove a stake through the heart of the comics business. In its wake arose the watchdog organization the Comics Code Authority, and as a result Atlas’ content steered away from horror toward science fiction and fantasy. Comicdom often regards the Atlas era of the 1950s and early 1960s as a monster-lovers paradise, and understandably so: The universe that would eventually spawn the Spider-Man and the X-Men was populated by brutish behemoths like the Glob, Zzutak, Bombu, Googam, Torr, and Fin Fang Foom! Initially, these Atlas monsters were birthed in science, or they came from other worlds, since science-gone-wrong creations and alien invaders were Comics Code-friendly. Plus, these sci-fi stories and the monsters presented therein appealed to kids who were watching chiller and flying-saucer films that ran at their local movie theaters or on television, usually presented by a horror host on their local stations. But Atlas’ publishing content would change with the uniting of superheroes dedicated to fighting for justice… heroes that belonged to the Distinguished Competition.

The Scary Marvel Marching Society (top left) Monsters like Rorgg were a dime a dozen in Atlas titles. (top right) Creature cravers were lured to 1961’s Fantastic Four #1. (middle left) Monster or hero? 1962’s Hulk #1 lets fans decide. (middle right) Spider-Man foe the Lizard would’ve felt at home in an old Atlas comic. (bottom) Marvelous monster-maker Stan Lee in an Atlas era photograph. TM & © Marvel.

WHERE MONSTERS DWELL

As legend has it, Martin Goodman, the publisher of Atlas Comics, saw the success rival DC Comics was having with its revitalized superheroes, especially the newly created Justice League of America. “I was asked to create a team of superheroes because DC’s team was selling well,” Marvel’s editor and writer, Stan Lee, explained in 2004 in an interview for the TwoMorrows book, The Justice League Companion. “Who the team would consist of, what their powers would be, and what they would do was left entirely up to me.” Lee and FF co-creator Jack Kirby hedged their bet by putting the grotesque Thing in their team (it also didn’t hurt that the FF’s first adversary was the freakish Mole Man, who lived on Monster Isle, surrounded by all manner of beasties), a monsterhero who looked as if he might have tromped off the pages of an Atlas monster book. That way people might pick up Fantastic Four and think it was another monster magazine. As issue after issue of Fantastic Four came out, readers sympathized with the plight of poor Ben Grimm, doomed to live out his days as the orange, rocky Thing. Even though Ben was the mightiest member of the amazing quartet, all victims of cosmic-ray mutation, originally he considered himself a hideous outsider who would never be accepted by normal people. Where his teammates could go out in public and have a normal life, the Thing frightened passersby, and cloaked his startling appearance behind a trench coat and hat. Lee and Kirby again mixed the horrific and the heroic when creating the Incredible Hulk, owing more to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein than Superman and Captain Marvel. Scientist Bruce Banner, a man who committed an act of bravery during a gamma-bomb test, as a result was cursed to transform into a monster of pure rage. The US Army, led by General Thunderbolt Ross—who fell just short of wielding a torch and pitchfork—relentlessly hounded the Hulk, who just wanted to be left alone. A fine line separating the horrific and the heroic runs through other origins of the Silver Age Marvel heroes, who were created in the same sciencegone-wrong manner as many monsters in the Atlas stories. For example, Hank Pym’s first appearance in Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962), where he shrinks to become “The Man in the Ant Hill,” is the stuff of nightmares—and Richard Matheson stories. But by issue #35, Pym has become the costumed, sizechanging hero Ant-Man and mastered the ants that once threatened him. As the Marvel Universe grew, many of its superheroes ended up fighting a few monsters. In his first appearance Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

A Scientific Nightmare (top) Six-armed Spidey is slapped silly by the Living Vampire on the Kane/Romita cover to Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Oct. 1971). (bottom right) Peter Parker is haunted by his Morbius clash, in Marvel Team-Up #4 (Sept. 1972). (bottom left) Artist Gil Kane’s rough layouts for MTU #4’s opening page, courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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in 1962, the Mighty Thor battled Stone Men from Saturn, while the next year, Iron Man took on an alien invasion led by a creature called Gargantus. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko famously melded superhero and monster comics in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 (Nov. 1963), when the Web-Slinger came “Face-toFace… with the Lizard!” In this story, Spidey searches for a monster that is terrorizing the Florida Everglades and seeks help from Dr. Curt Connors, a renowned expert on lizards who happens to live in the area where the creature has been seen. Spidey soon discovers Connors’ dark secret: that Dr. Connors is actually the Lizard! Connors, an amputee, studied reptile regeneration in an obsession to regrow his missing arm and, in a tragic twist reminiscent of a Lon Chaney, Jr. Wolf Man flick, transformed into an uncontrollable beast. The Lizard might have felt at home in the pages of an Atlas Comics title just a few years prior, but he was also a forerunner of the Marvel creatures to come in the Bronze Age. As the 1960s marched on, the role of monsters in the Marvel Universe diminished and superheroes and supervillains began to dominate the comics pages. Later in the decade, however, cultural mores began shifting. In 1968, the movie industry established a rating system that clearly delineated between films intended for children or general audiences and films intended for adults. This allowed filmmakers more creative freedom. Soon, horror filmmakers used the new rating system to push boundaries. In the world of comics, a new brand of horror anthologies—in a genre safely branded as “mystery”—began to appear, mostly at DC. In 1971 the Comics Code Authority was revised to once again allow the depictions of vampires, werewolves, and ghouls, which had been banished in the mid-1950s. Now that the monsters were no longer forbidden, they were soon to make a comeback that would prove to be a scream!

N… AS IN NOT A TEAM PLAYER! Giant-Size Defenders #2 (Oct. 1974) features a story called “H… as in Hulk… Hell… and Holocaust!” This story, written by Len Wein and illustrated by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson, besides having a title that is quite a mouthful, features the first time Son of Satan would work with the Defenders. In this issue, the Hulk is trapped into his own hell and tormented by various versions of Bruce Banner. Behind this

is Dr. Strange’s old adversary, Asmodeus, who demands that the other Defenders—Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk—surrender to him and his master, Satannish. Instead of giving up, the team enlists the aid of Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan. While Hellstrom departs at story’s end, this issue introduces him to the team and prepares him for his eventual membership.

WHERE CREATURES ROAM

Soon, Marvel staples like The Avengers and Daredevil shared spin racks and shelf space with a new spate of titles starring monsters. Marvel’s first monstrous creation of the Bronze Age was the swamp monster Man-Thing, who made his debut in the black-and-white magazine Savage Tales #1 (May 1971). Technically, since he appeared in one of Marvel’s magazines, whose target audience was older than traditional Marvel fare, Man-Thing wasn’t subject to the Comics Code Authority, but his first appearance occurred just as the new revisions were going into effect. It would be well over a year before the mute, shambling Man-Thing would return in the Ka-Zar feature in Astonishing Tales #12 (June 1972) before getting his own feature in Adventure into Fear #10 (Oct. 1972) and then his own book with Man-Thing #1 (Jan. 1974). The new era of Marvel Monsters had begun… and soon Man-Thing and others of his frightening ilk would be mixing it up with Marvel’s mightiest. Taking full advantage of the Comics Code’s relaxations was Morbius the Living Vampire, who first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Oct. 1971) in “A Monster Called Morbius.” The story occurs after the issue where Peter Parker, in an effort to rid himself of his spider-powers, administers a supposed cure, then wakes up with four extra arms. He seeks the help of Dr. Curt Connors at the scientist’s Southampton, New York, home. Meanwhile, down the shore, a ship carries a mysterious, terrifying passenger—the pale-skinned, gaunt-faced vampire, Morbius—who had been rescued from the ocean. Since his arrival, sailors have gone missing. When confronted, Morbius holds off the crew and escapes. Washing up on shore near Connors’ home, the Living Vampire seeks shelter there, just a few floors above Spider-Man. Soon, six-armed Spidey and Morbius are mixing it up, and once Connors transforms into the Lizard, the Wall-Crawler finds both Morbius and the Lizard ready to attack him. The story continues in the next issue with “Vampire at Large,” as Morbius and the Lizard spar for the right to kill Spider-Man. In the fight, Morbius bites the Lizard and then escapes. Surprisingly, Morbius’ vampire bite has triggered a change in the Lizard, allowing him to maintain Connors’ intelligence instead of the primitive ferocity that normally guides the Lizard’s actions. Spidey and Connors/Lizard realize that a component in Morbius’ blood could cure them both and go searching for Morbius. While fighting the Living Vampire, Connors is able to extract some of Morbius’ blood and injects himself with it, changing back to human form. After Morbius falls to his apparent doom, Spider-Man recovers the rest of the blood sample, and its injection makes his additional arms vanish. These issues were written by Roy Thomas, who had just taken over Amazing Spider-Man from Stan Lee. The changes in the Comics Code had inspired Stan and Roy to include a vampire in Spider-Man’s pages. “We were talking about doing Dracula, but Stan wanted a costumed villain,” Thomas recalled in BACK ISSUE #36. Roy’s reaction was to create a vampire rooted in science, not horror. (Of course, Marvel finally “did” Dracula in a Spidey story, teaming them in Giant-Size Spider-Man #1, as detailed in this issue’s Dracula article.) As the Living Vampire’s backstory goes, the brilliant Dr. Michael Morbius’ search for a cure for his blood disease transformed him into a vampire. Thomas admitted that the vampire’s name was subconsciously lifted from by the character Dr. Morbius in the 1950s sci-fi classic film Forbidden Planet. Morbius would go on to become an occasional guest-star in the Marvel Universe, soon receiving his own feature in Adventure into Fear and in the darker 1990s, his own self-titled book.

At the end of the Silver Age… …the Silver Surfer encountered Marvel’s version of Frankenstein in issue #7 (Aug. 1969) of the Sky-Rider’s mag. Cover by John and Sal Buscema. TM & © Marvel.

In the wake of Man-Thing and Morbius’ debuts, a commercial crypt was pried open, allowing an influx of monster protagonists to creep forth at Marvel. Werewolf by Night first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #2 (Feb. 1972) and soon went on to star in his own book. The Tomb of Dracula #1 (Apr. 1972) launched a long-running, celebrated series and, despite appearances to the contrary, made the Lord of Vampires a Marvel supervillain, as covered elsewhere in this issue. The flame-skulled motorcyclist Ghost Rider, appropriating the name of an old Western gunslinger, blazed onto the stands in Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972). The Monster of Frankenstein was stitched into the Marvel Universe with his first issue cover-dated January 1973 after his small cameo in 1969’s Silver Surfer #7 (a year earlier, an android Frankenstein had appeared in X-Men). Half-man, half-vampire Blade, the Vampire Slayer made his bow in Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973), quickly followed by the Living Mummy, premiering in Supernatural Thrillers #5 (Aug. 1973). The next month, Ghost Rider got his own comic book, and his first issue introduced one of Marvel’s most controversial heroes, Daimon Hellstrom, a.k.a. the Son of Satan, who soon appeared in the pages of Marvel Spotlight and later, his own title, as well as—oddly enough—the super-team title The Defenders. John Jameson, astronaut son of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson, was branded during a space mission with “The Mark of the Man-Wolf” in Amazing Spider-Man #124 (Sept. 1973) and soon headlined his own Man-Wolf feature in Creatures on the Loose. The Golem— “The Thing That Walks Like a Man!”—stomped into his own short-lived feature beginning with Strange Tales #174 (June 1974). [Editor’s note: These series have been explored in earlier editions of BACK ISSUE.] Despite being monsters, most of these characters were portrayed as heroes, or in a compassionate light. It wouldn’t be long before they would appear side-by-side with the recognized superheroes of the Marvel Universe.

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A Howling Bad Time (top left) Jack Russell first tussled with Spidey in Marvel Team-Up #12 (Aug. 1973). (top right) The first Spidey/ Ghost Rider teamup, in MTU #15 (Nov. 1973). Both covers by Kane and Romita. (bottom) Spidey is told the truth about his gruesome teammate’s “mask” in MTU #15. Original Ross Andru/ Don Perlin art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

MARVEL SCREAM-UP

As detailed in BACK ISSUE #66, Marvel Team-Up #1 (Mar. 1972) was launched with the hugely popular Spider-Man as the main star who would pair off with other characters in the Marvel Universe. Spidey had often been characterized as a harassed outsider, making him a sympathetic teammate to the various monster characters he would encounter throughout the series, plus his role as Marvel’s everyman afforded him an adaptability that made him the perfect teammate for characters ordinary and extraordinary. Spidey teamed up with his frenemy, the Human Torch, in the first three issues of Marvel Team-Up, concluding in issue #3 (July 1972) with the reappearance of Morbius in a story called “The Power to Purge,” written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia. As he explained in BACK ISSUE #36, Conway was attracted to Morbius not because of a vampire’s seduction, but because “I liked the way he looked, and liked the idea of a vampire ‘supervillain.’ And it seemed like he’d be fun to write.” In his story, Morbius’ fiancée seeks out the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards for help for her betrothed’s curse, with Johnny (Torch) Storm looking for Morbius’ former partner and consulting Spider-Man, since the Web-Head and the Living Vampire had squared off before. Spidey also needs to connect with Morbius as he has grown ill from the serum he derived from Morbius’ blood during their previous encounter. Once the parties converge and the Spidey/Torch combo fights Morbius, the Living Vampire slinks away at the end of the issue. Conway continues his story in the next issue, Marvel Team-Up #4 (Sept. 1972), with the X-Men (in their lean years, with their “New X-Men” relaunch yet to occur) replacing the Torch as Spider-Man’s co-stars. Spidey is getting worse and desperately seeks out Hans Jorgeson, Morbius’ one-time associate. Jorgeson has been kidnapped by Morbius, but the ill-timed arrival of Spider-Man mistakenly pins the scientist’s abduction on the Web-Slinger. Charles Xavier (Professor X), an associate of Jorgeson’s, dispatches the X-Men to apprehend Spider-Man, leading to a monster mash-up between all parties. Spidey is ultimately cured, thanks to Jorgeson, and in using the Living Vampire as a supervillain, the “fun” Conway was having as a writer translated to the reader’s enjoyment thanks to this briskly paced tale. Conway plotted a story featuring the unlikely duo of Spider-Man and Werewolf by Night in Marvel Team-Up #12 (Aug. 1973), taking the Web-Head to San Francisco, where wolf-man Jack Russell is recovering from the last full moon. Under the veil of night, Werewolf, as if in a 30 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

trance, assaults Spider-Man. As the sun rises, Werewolf reverts back to his human form and comes out of the trance. A mind-controlling villain called Moondark is behind Werewolf’s savagery, and once the hairy hero-monster is freed from the spell, he and Spidey team up to take down Moondark. With Len Wein dialoguing Conway’s plot, this was an effective twist on the Marvel “fight first, team up later” formula. It’s also a standout due to its dynamite Gil Kane/John Romita, Sr. cover, showing Werewolf clawing mercilessly at Spidey as they scuffle atop the Golden Gate Bridge. Wein’s Marvel Team-Up #15 (Nov. 1973) teamed Spider-Man with Marvel’s Satan-powered stunt cyclist Ghost Rider in “If An Eye Offend Thee!” Here the heroes face off against the Orb, in his first appearance, as the motorcycling villain plots to steal the stunt show that is owned by Johnny (Ghost Rider) Blaze’s girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson, to get revenge against her father. It was an enjoyable romp by Wein, Ross Andru, and Don Perlin, with Spidey unaware of Ghost Rider’s netherworld connections until story’s end, when the Web-Slinger begins to realize that his new ally’s blazing skull isn’t a mask. Spidey’s first MTU partner, the Human Torch, occasionally supplanted the Web-Slinger as the lead hero in Marvel Team-Up [see BI #74’s Torch article for details—ed.], including issue #32 (Apr. 1974)—which teamed the flaming FFer with… the hell-flaming Son of Satan! In “All the Fires in Hell…!,” Daimon Hellstrom wields his fiery trident to exorcise a demon plaguing the tribe of Johnny Storm’s old friend, Wyatt Wingfoot. If this Gerry Conway tale blending exorcism and the Human Torch sounds like an odd mix, even stranger yet was the Son of Satan’s next MTU appearance, #126 (Feb. 1983), where Hellstrom shares an adventure with Marvel’s hero for hire, Power Man. Although it begins with the patented Marvel hero vs. hero brawl, once Luke Cage recognizes Daimon Hellstrom from their shared Defenders connection, he accompanies the Son of Satan in the investigation of the cult, the Sons of Satannish. In the hands of writer J. M. DeMatteis, what could have been a ridiculous team-up was given resonance by the streetwise Cage’s incredulous reactions to this occult scenario, yet all the while acting in character by brazenly punching his way through a Hell on Earth. DeMatteis had an affinity for Daimon Hellstrom, as he related in BACK ISSUE #21, stating, “Characters like Son of Satan are a wonderful metaphor for what we all contain, good and evil, high and low aspirations.” Spider-Man and the Frankenstein Monster? Talk about an odd couple! But Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema, and Vince Colletta put them together in Marvel Team-Up #36 (Aug. 1975) in “Once Upon a Time, in a Castle…” Spidey and Frankie find themselves the prisoners of Ludwig von Shtupf, the Monster Maker, in von Shtupf’s castle laboratory that, according to Spidey, “looks like it’s escaped from the late, late show!” Teaming with Judith Klemmer, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the trio works together to stop the villain before he can unleash an army of ogres.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Launching in 1975 with writer Tony Isabella at the helm, The Champions was a super-team book that featured an offbeat assemblage that made the lineup of the “non-team” the Defenders seem normal: the god Hercules, Russian spy Black Widow, former X-Men Angel and Iceman, and ol’ Flame-Head himself… no, not Johnny Storm, but the ultra-popular Ghost Rider. The macabre motorcyclist proved an interesting co-star when paired with Spider-Man or the Thing in moody tales in those heroes’ team-up titles, but to some readers he didn’t seem like a “team player” for a group book. Still, this bizarre blend of characters commanded 17 issues of their own title and some guest-appearances elsewhere despite The Champions’ creative personnel changes and a fluctuating publication schedule.

Who’s Your Daddy? Oh, could it be… Satan?! Daimon Hellstrom, offbeat team-up partner of the Human Torch, the Thing, and Power Man. TM & © Marvel.

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Lab Rats (left) Spidey comes to beside a patchwork-pal on this Gerry Conway/Sal Buscema/Colletta page from Marvel Team-Up #36 (Aug. 1975). (right) Sheesh, all poor Spidey needs now is ol’ fangpuss Dracula to drop in! Original Sal/Vinnie art from MTU #37, teaming Spider-Man, Man-Wolf, and the Frankenstein Monster. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

The issue ends with an attack on the Monster Maker’s lair, and a cliffhanger where Spider-Man discovers another prisoner being held by the Monster Maker, Man-Wolf. Continuing in issue #37 co-starring Spider-Man and Man-Wolf, the Monster Maker sics Man-Wolf on Spidey and the others. Man-Wolf promptly kidnaps Klemmer and— in a nod to classic monster flicks like King Kong and Creature from the Black Lagoon—takes off with her to make her his mate. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is saved by Spider-Man and Frankenstein, and eventually Man-Wolf is taken into custody. Overhearing Spidey comment about how hard it must be for anyone to love a beast, the Frankenstein Monster sadly shambles off. Since Man-Wolf was a manipulated menace in this story, his branding as a “team-up” co-star is a bit of a cheat, yet this action-packed two-parter evokes some familiar, and satisfying, Universal Monster chords. Though demonic in spirit, Ghost Rider was tethered to the “real world” of the Marvel Universe through his alter ego Johnny Blaze’s stunt cycling, making team-ups with Spider-Man a smooth ride. Next it was writer Chris Claremont who paired them, in Marvel Team-Up #58 (June 1977). This time, the Stunt-Master TV show is shooting on Peter Parker’s street, with Johnny Blaze doing the star’s motorcycle stunts. Soon the long-suffering Marvel baddie the Trapster (formerly Paste Pot Pete) vengefully attacks the taping to strike back at Blaze for sending him to jail in Ghost Rider #13 (Aug. 1975). Blaze becomes Ghost Rider and Parker becomes Spider-Man for the requisite fight scenes, but the story’s conclusion, with Ghost Rider mercilessly searing Trapster’s soul with hellfire,

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deeply disturbs the Wall-Crawler. It also disturbed its writer. As he admitted in BACK ISSUE #66, MTU #58 is not one of Claremont’s favorites: “It was one of those stories where the story was not ideal, and the time was not ideal.” Spider-Man encountered Man-Thing in Marvel Team-Up #68 (Apr. 1978), by the pitch-perfect creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne (with inks by Bob Wiacek). The tale pulls the heartstrings as Peter Parker discovers the Man-Thing exploited as a circus exhibit and intervenes as Spidey. Calling in a favor from Dr. Curt Connors, Spider-Man flies the muck monster back to his stomping grounds in Florida, but their plane is disabled and they’re stranded in the bayou. As they venture into the mire, the Wall-Crawler and Man-Thing meet the Fear Lord known as D’Spayre, who nearly paralyzes them both with terror. The two characters work well together, and this issue is one of a coveted short MTU run by the team that helped popularize The Uncanny X-Men in the Bronze Age. By the time Spider-Man and Ghost Rider teamed up for a third time in Marvel Team-Up #91 (Mar. 1980), Marvel readers might have thought that Peter Parker had traded in his Daily Bugle press pass to live the life of a carny. In a plot point similar to MTU #68’s Man-Thing adventure, issue #91 starts with Parker discovering Ghost Rider as an attraction at a traveling freak show currently pitched in Connecticut. But writer Steven Grant opens a house of mystery as Spider-Man investigates, luring the Wall-Crawler into a macabre “Carnival of Souls” manipulated by Moondark the Magician, who Spidey and Werewolf by Night fought in Marvel Team-Up #12. Ghost Rider’s hellfire

is ultimately able to free the souls ensnared by Moondark, and with no souls left to trade, Moondark is dragged away by the demon from whom he was obtaining supernatural powers. Once again, Spider-Man’s mercy and Ghost Rider’s mercilessness are at odds as they assess Moondark’s fate. In Marvel Team-Up #93 (May 1980), Spider-Man finds himself on the West Coast teaming again with Werewolf to tussle with one of Jack Russell’s oldest foes, the Tatterdemalion. “Rags to Riches” is another moody MTU written by Steven Grant that ties in to previous Marvel continuity with its use of the villain from Werewolf by Night #9. This second Spidey/Werewolf team-up isn’t a standalone tale like issue #12’s, however, as it’s a two-partner that leads into the next issue’s teaming of Spider-Man and Marvel’s Master

Marvel Scream-Up and Tomb-in-One Covers for some of the monster team-ups explored in this article. TM & © Marvel.

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The Teflon Terror Spidey’s web doesn’t stick to Man-Thing, as the Wall-Crawler discovers on this action-packed Kerry Gammill/Mike Esposito page from MTU #122 (Oct. 1982), signed by DeMatteis and Gammill. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

of Darkness, the Shroud. Also of note, #93 features a cameo by Dansen Macabre, an associate of the Shroud. Marvel’s Bronze Age Monster Madness had largely run its course by the early 1980s, but writer J. M. DeMatteis was at the time adeptly mixing superheroes and horror as the scribe of The Defenders, which had taken a supernatural turn during his watch. A late entry in Marvel’s monster roster was the Gargoyle, originally a senior citizen named Isaac Christians who was transmogrified into a winged monstrosity after selling his soul to demons to save his homeland in the DeMatteis-scripted Defenders #91 (Apr. 1981). DeMatteis teamed the Gargoyle with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #119 (July 1982), picking up on Spidey’s guest appearance in Defenders #109, although this MTU issue serves more as a profilebuilding spotlight for Gargoyle since the bulk of the issue is a parallel story instead of a traditional team-up. The DeMatteis-scripted Marvel Team-Up #122 (Oct. 1982) reunites the Wall-Crawler and Man-Thing, reversing their previous team-up’s dynamic by taking the muck monster into the Big Apple! Man-Thing is abducted from his Everglades environs by the mysterious Ian Fate, recently seen in Defenders #104, who uses the creature to settle a grudge against the Daily Bugle’s blowhard publisher, J. Jonah Jameson. Of course, where JJJ and the Bugle are concerned, Spidey can’t be too far behind. [Editor’s note: Coincidentally, the same-numbered issue of the Batman team-up comic, The Brave and the Bold, #122 (Oct. 1975), featured a Batman/ Swamp Thing story where DC’s muck monster was brought into Gotham City.] The Bronze Age incarnation of Marvel Team-Up ended its run with a Spider-Man/X-Men outing in issue #150 (Feb. 1985). The monster team-ups above were a lot of fun, humanized by Spidey’s perspective, their sinister elements often lightened by the Web-Slinger’s wisecracks.

MONSTER MASH-UP Ghost Rider was blazing hot in the mid-1970s, with his own title, random team-ups, and his Champions membership. And that wasn’t all! Marvel Premiere #28 (Feb. 1976) saw the creation (and disbanding) of the Legion of Monsters, a one-time-only team made up of Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Morbius, and Werewolf by Night. In a story called “There’s a Mountain on Sunset Boulevard,” by Bill Mantlo, with art by Frank Robbins and Steve Gan (under a rare Nick Cardy Marvel cover), the Legion of Monsters unite when a mountain appears in Los Angeles, beaconing the monster-heroes to the source. Behind this is the strange being Starseed, the last of an evolved race that originated on

Earth but were abducted by warlike aliens long ago (Mantlo’s tale was clearly inspired by the then-popular book Chariots of the Gods?). Starseed was attempting to connect with his people’s roots, but his restoration of an ancient mountain wreaks havoc in the area and triggers responses from Marvel’s fearsome foursome. Mantlo deftly characterizes each of the monster-heroes, but their disparate personalities and aggressions spell doom for the star traveler. Which is too bad for the Legion of Monsters, as the dying Starseed reveals he had the power to free each weirdo protagonist from his curse.

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MARVEL TOMB-IN-ONE

The popularity of Marvel Team-Up encouraged the House of Ideas to launch a second team-up title with a different headliner. Who, among Marvel’s mightiest, was versatile enough to stand alongside everyone from an Armored Avenger to the Master of the Mystic Arts? Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing of the Fantastic Four, that’s who! Much like Spidey, the Thing had an everyman quality about him that made him perfect to interact with just about anyone in the Marvel Universe. And so, in its final two issues, Marvel Feature—a short-lived Bronze Age tryout title that had earlier rolled out the Defenders and gave Ant-Man another chance at stardom—tested the waters for Thing team-ups. The ever-lovin’, blue-eyed, idol of millions got punchy with the Incredible Hulk in Marvel Feature #11 (Sept. 1973) and partnered with Iron Man to take on Thanos and the Blood Brothers in #12 (Nov. 1973). Irascible but likeable, the Thing proved to be spot-on perfect as a co-star. Marvel Feature was promptly followed by the Thing’s own magazine as, two months after the Iron Man issue, Marvel Two-in-One #1 (Jan. 1974) premiered. Its first issue cover trumpeted a “Monster vs. Monster” brawl as the Thing took on Man-Thing in a story by Man-Thing scribe Steve Gerber. And like many brawls, it started with a grudge… Gerber’s team-up tale picks up on the doings of the two Marvel Feature stories, which had taken Bashful Benjy to the New Mexico desert, with the Thing becoming incensed after seeing a magazine article about the Man-Thing. “Like it ain’t bad enuff just bein’ the Thing,” Grimm growls, “this bug-eyed mudball’s gotta come along and rip off my name!” So instead of returning home to New York, the Thing heads to Florida to give this name-usurper the what-for. In the Merry Marvel Manner, the Thing stumbles onto the machinations of the Molecule Man, who has constructed an artificial son and is out for revenge against the Fantastic Four. Molecule Man temporarily reverts the co-stars to their human forms of Ben Grimm and Ted Sallis, but once the story progresses to the Thing vs. Man-Thing conflict depicted on its stunning Gil Kane/John Romita, Sr. cover, Ben realizes that Man-Thing is, well, pure muck when he punches right through him. Ben feels pity for the mute bog-beast, remarking, “There goes the only guy on Earth unluckier than me!” The Thing’s next monster team-up took place in Marvel Two-in-One #8 (Mar. 1975), a Christmas story featuring a hellish character you might not associate with the most wonderful time of the year: Ghost Rider! On Christmas Eve, both Ghost Rider’s and Grimm’s paths converge in the Arizona desert, the catalyst being the apparent return of the three wise men from the Biblical story of Jesus’ birth and a strange, new star that has materialized over the Native American reservation home of FF supporting-cast member Wyatt Wingfoot. It’s all part of a revenge ploy engineered by the miracle-making Miracle Man, but the unlikely MTIO duo manages to save the day. The Thing, originally thinking Ghost Rider to be merely a costumed guise of “that junior grade Evel Knievel” Johnny Blaze, by story’s end begins to suspect the Satanic Cyclist’s supernatural abilities. Marvel Two-in-One #11 (Sept. 1975) offered a coda to the adventures of the Golem, the stony monster drawn from Hebrew legend that couldn’t quite attract a sufficient audience to keep his spot in Strange Tales. The story sees the Thing and his girlfriend Alicia Masters heading to Florida on a Disney World vacation [decades before Marvel became part of the Disney corporate family—ed.]. There, he finds the Golem on a rampage, puppeted by the sorcerer and would-be world dominator, Kaballa. Marvel’s “walkin’ rockpiles” engage in a few well-paced

pages of punches, and when Kaballa shows up with his demons, the mystically birthed Golem dispatches him… before stumbling into comic-book limbo. The Son of Satan once again was recruited for a team-up, joining forces with the Thing in MTIO #14 (Mar. 1976) in writer Bill Mantlo’s “Ghost Town,” penciled by Herb Trimpe, the original artist of the Son of Satan’s feature in Marvel Spotlight. Reed Richards dispatches Ben to Lawless, Arizona, to investigate eerie disturbances. Daimon Hellstrom has also been attracted there, too, and Grimm and Hellstrom are confronted by the hostile spirit of Jedediah Ravenstorm, a vengeful Old West outlaw who died a century ago. Ravenstorm briefly possesses the Thing, who clobbers the Son of Satan. But Hellstrom soon realizes there’s another demonic force behind the ghostly cowboy. The evil spirits are vanquished at story’s end, and Ben, clearly out of his element, gruffly tells the Son of Satan that he wants no part of such supernatural affairs in the future. Yet Marvel’s Monster Mania had other plans for the rocky FFer, and in the very next issue, Marvel Two-in-One #15 (May 1976), Morbius the Living Vampire was the Thing’s co-star. A cover blurb screams, “It’s ACTION as you never thought you’d see it!”—although what’s hard

Just One More Thing Ben Grimm’s grim reaction to his discovery of the Man-Thing leads to a confrontation between monsters. Page 1 of Marvel Two-in-One. TM & © Marvel.

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Gruesome Twosomes (left) Marvel Two-inOne #77’s (July 1981) Thing/Man-Thing reunion shares space in the issue with a flashback teaming young Ben Grimm with Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. Cover by Ron Wilson and Bob Wiacek. (right) Gentlemen, start your engines…! MTIO #80 (Oct. 1981) cover by Wilson and Chic Stone. TM & © Marvel.

to see are our two headliners, since the Living Eraser is in the process of rubbing them out of existence. The story begins with the thirsty Living Vampire choosing blind sculptress Alicia Masters for a bloodsucking… a bad call since her brutish boyfriend Ben Grimm arrives! After some patented pounding by the Thing, Morbius escapes to find different prey for a bite—this time choosing the nearby Living Eraser. The Thing barges in, having tracked down the vampire, and the Living Eraser dumps them both into Dimension Z, requiring Ben and Morbius to work together to return to Earth and stop the Living Eraser from wreaking havoc. This tale is a bit contrived, weighted down by an otherworldly battle for the throne crowding an already busy adventure. The Thing’s next monster team-up, with Man-Thing in Marvel Two-in-One #43 (Sept. 1978), isn’t the donein-one page-turner some readers might expect from the title. Instead, it’s writer Ralph Macchio’s precursor to the dense-but-applauded multi-part “Project Pegasus” MTIO storyline of the late 1970s. This Man-Thing “team-up” is actually the conclusion of a two-part adventure that commenced in the previous issue with the Thing and Captain America pursuing one-time A.I.M. scientist Victorius, who has stolen the powerful Cosmic Cube from the Project Pegasus facility. With so much going on in #43’s chapter, readers hankering for another Thing vs. Man-Thing match get the short shrift. However, the muck monster inadvertently plays a significant role in the story merely through his ability to burn the fearful. Gorgeously drawn by John Byrne, this one is

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terrific Bronze Age eye candy, but best enjoyed when reading the Project Pegasus saga in its entirety. The macabre Man-Thing returns for the Thing’s next monster team-up, in MTIO #77 (July 1981)—but believe it or not, this issue’s even murkier with characters than issue #43. The entire Fantastic Four are on hand, along with Alicia and S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, as the Thing test-flies an experimental super-jet… and crash-lands into the Everglades, home of a certain swamp monster. What truly crowds this issue is its flashback “team-up” set during World War II with young Ben Grimm alongside (the pre-S.H.I.E.L.D.) Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos. Sure, it’s a lot of fun for the Marvel continuity diehard, but not much of an entry in the Marvel superheroes vs. monsters canon. The cover of Marvel Two-in-One #80 (Oct. 1981) doesn’t add the customary “and” between its co-stars’ names—it promises a conflict in its billing of the Thing “versus” Ghost Rider. But this isn’t a battle of Bashful Benjy’s bodacious fists and the Spirit of Vengeance’s hellfire—instead, they’re racing, with the Thing on his FF Sky-Cycle and Ghosty on his blazing Hell-bike. In this story by Tom DeFalco, Johnny Blaze admits to Ben that he’s struggling to keep the pitiless side of his Ghost Rider persona in check. Once a fiery Ghost Rider races after a carload of teens, the Thing soars in hot pursuit, leading to an exciting battle drawn by MTIO artists Ron Wilson and Chic Stone. The story concludes with the Thing realizing that some of his fellow Marvel monsters like Johnny Blaze carry a burden greater than his own.

HOWLING COMMANDO That Jack Russell always had a wild hair and rarely played well with others! During the Bronze Age he fought no end of monsters, including Marvel headliners Morbius, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Ghost Rider. But the Werewolf by Night also mixed it up with Marvel superheroes in these issues: • Werewolf vs. Tigra the Were-Woman: Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974) • Werewolf vs. Moon Knight: Werewolf by Night (WBN) #32–33 (Aug.–Sept. 1975) (first appearance of Moon Knight) • Werewolf vs. Brother Voodoo: WBN #39 (July 1976) • Werewolf vs. Iron Man: WBN #42–43 (Jan.–Feb. 1977), Iron Man #209 (Aug. 1986) • Werewolf vs. Spider-Woman: Spider-Woman #6 (Feb. 1978), 19 (Oct. 1979), 32 (Nov. 1980), 48 (Feb. 1983)–50 (June 1983) • Werewolf vs. Avengers: West Coast Avengers #5 (Feb. 1986) • Werewolf vs. Captain America: Captain America #330–331 (June–July 1987)

Iron Man vs. Wolf-man From Heritage, a killer Don Perlin page from Werewolf by Night #42, mentioned in the sidebar above. TM & © Marvel.

Marvel Two-in-One closed shop with its 100th issue in 1983, but before doing so made room for one more monster co-star, as the Thing met the Living Mummy in #95 (Jan. 1983). Writer David Anthony Kraft’s “The Power to Live…” excavates the time-honored tropes that made those old Mummy movies such a blast, such as ancient Egyptian artifacts that restore forbidden powers—including the Crown of Hathor, which, when donned by an unwitting Alicia Masters, transforms her into the bride of the Egyptian high priest, Nephrus (who, as readers of mid-’70s issues of Supernatural Thrillers know, inflicted N’Kantu with the curse that made him a Living Mummy). A befuddled Ben enlists the aid of a museum Egyptologist to help save his girlfriend, becoming entombed in a wild tale of an attempted restoration of an ancient order to power, with the Thing finding the Living Mummy a peculiar but welcomed ally. You’ll notice by checking the cover dates of the stories discussed above that most were published during the mid1970s, when comicdom’s monster craze allowed spooks and goblins to run amok. Once Star Wars came along in 1977, sci-fi became the next big thing, and Marvel’s monster titles were cancelled, one by one, with their supernatural successor, The Defenders, ending in late 1985 with issue #152. Occasionally, Marvel’s monsters shambled forth for a guest appearance, but their heyday had past. Or maybe not. Just like an unstoppable creeper in a horror movie, Marvel’s monster-heroes keep coming back for another appearance, or another encounter with a Marvel superhero. And as this issue was heading to press, Marvel announced that Ghost Rider and Hellstrom are being developed for television in new shows on Hulu. Which proves that no matter how much web fluid, clobbering fists, or silver bullets you aim at these guys, you can’t keep a good monster down. DAN JOHNSON is a comics writer and the man behind Empire Comic Labs’ Cemetery Plots. MICHAEL EURY is the high priest of the BACK ISSUE dynasty and walks like an Egyptian.

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As I arrive in the mountains of Romania, an ancient castle lies before me. I knew such castles from my childhood in England, that land of imbecilic knights and screaming maidens. It is a country I have come to loathe. Everyone said Stoker’s penny dreadful was fiction. They mocked me for believing. Yet here I stand. The castle doors will not budge, but I find the servant’s entrance and push it open inch by inch. I laugh. No barrier can long delay the true heir of Falsworth. I enter through a door meant for peasants, but I will leave here the master of this land, with my own undead slaves. My torch lit, I move through the dusty kitchen. I walk into the grand foyer, past an ancient piano and ruined chandelier. Vermin scurry from the flickering light. Finally, I find it. The stone staircase leading to the lower depths. I ignore the cobwebs that lick my face as I tread carefully through broken stones and burn-scarred walls. Fearful locals have destroyed most of this once mighty fortress, except for the hidden room I seek. Checking the small map which cost me dearly, I pull down the wall sconce and the hidden door swings back. I shove hard, forcing an opening wide enough to squeeze through. Ahh… there they are. Four jet-black coffins that still have a sheen of polish to their timeworn exteriors. I pry the largest one open with my hammer and chisel. After some effort, I thrust the lid of the coffin onto the stone floor. And there he is. Alabaster-skinned Dracula, Lord of the Undead. Fortune and glory await me now. I shall control this monster, and the world will be mine… including my despised homeland. Unexpectedly, the demon’s eyes open and he takes me in with a withering glance. “What have we here?” he states, as one would address a cockroach. Before I can reach my cross or stake, he engulfs my throat in a vise-like embrace. “I thirst,” he seethes, and his fangs flash like razors. My last thought of that life is, “How? How can my perfect plans have failed so utterly?” When I wake, I am… something else. I am no longer the master here, if I ever was. I am the slave. Over the decades, creators have done an amazing job bringing nuance to comic-book characters; heroes, villains, even supporting casts. Magneto was scarred by his childhood experiences in a concentration camp. Dr. Doom has an innate nobility and honor to complement his campaign for world domination. However, occasionally superhero fans welcome an antagonist of pure, undiluted malevolence. Fans, meet Baron Blood. John Falsworth, a.k.a. the bloody Baron, is not just a supervillain; he’s a vampire Nazi supervillain. They don’t come more evil than that.

FIRST BLOOD

The good Baron first bit into the Marvel Universe in Invaders #7 (July 1976). The Invaders, of course, were Marvel’s premier superhero team of World War II. Charter members included Captain America and Bucky; the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond; his kid sidekick Toro; and a prickly Namor, the Sub-Mariner. The Invaders spent the bulk of their time in Europe, fighting the Axis menace. Their war cry of “Axis, here we come!” sent many enemy soldiers scattering in fear for their lives [see BACK ISSUE #39 for more on this iconic Bronze Age series—ed.]. The comic was created and written by Roy Thomas, and mostly drawn by artist Frank Robbins. Robbins is often criticized by collectors for having an over-the-top, cartoony style, but his art worked perfectly for Thomas’ kinetic and action-filled Invaders tales.

Bad Blood The Star-Spangled Sentinel necks with Baron Blood in Captain America #254 (Feb. 1981). Cover by John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

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by J e r r y

Smith

World War Tooth Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com), Baron Blood premieres in Invaders #7 (July 1976). Original art by Jack Kirby (signed) and Frank Giacoia, with John Romita, Sr. alterations. (inset) The published cover. Note that the price increase was delayed. Invaders went to 30 cents with issue #8. TM & © Marvel.

Roy Thomas spoke to BACK ISSUE regarding the genesis of Baron Blood: “I was doing takeoffs on various DC and even Marvel heroes, turning them into villains, and wanted to do a Batman type. But Batman is pretty boring power-wise and no match for the Invaders, so I figured a ‘vampire bat-man’ (a phrase from the last panel of Harvey Kurtzman’s ‘Batboy and Rubin’ back in the color MAD) was a better idea. I didn’t know till later that there’d been a movie vampire by that name, or I might not have used it [Baron Blood, a 1972 Italian film]. So I’m glad I didn’t know, ’cause I feel Baron Blood’s a very good name!” As Invaders #7 opens, the Invaders are involved in a fiery air battle in England. After an explosive victory, our boys go out for a night on the town, minus the Human Torch, who feels the need to walk the streets and work out some internal issues. When he hears a woman scream, he foils the attack of Baron Blood on two English civilian volunteers. And what an introduction for the Baron! He is dressed in a body-hugging, gray-and-purple batinspired costume, including a cowl with flared bat-ears. John Falsworth’s upturned nose and bat-like features only increased the character’s bat-like persona. He and the Torch battle on the streets of London, with the bloody Baron whipping up a windstorm to put out the Torch’s flame. Monologuing about how invincible he is, the Baron then beats a retreat into the night. Shouting threats as he flees in fear, his main personality attributes of sniveling and arrogance are highlighted for the first time. bloody Baron, but he still managed to escape. After dinner, The Torch discovers the Baron’s intended victim is the Invaders go hunting for the Baron—and find him. Jacqueline Falsworth, daughter of Lord James Falsworth. Fighting to a standstill, the Invaders are joined by a Returning Jacqueline to the stately family manor, surprise ally—Union Jack! Lord Falsworth has donned her father, Lord Falsworth, relates to the Torch that he his uniform for the first time in decades to fight the was actually the original superhero Union Jack, sort of vampire menace. Blinded by an explosion of silver dust, a British Captain America. Union Jack fought alongside Baron Blood once again snivels off into the night, shouting the superhero team Freedom’s Five in World War I. empty threats. One can just imagine him cowering behind That is also where Union Jack first encountered Baron his creator, Dracula, and shouting at vampire hunters, Blood. As he explains to the Torch, “The mysterious “The master will destroy you!” while he trembles and looks for cover. Baron Blood was the German’s greatest secret roy thomas Thomas finished this first tale of Baron Blood in weapon in the closing days of the last war… a vampire! The one foe we could never defeat!” Probably because Invaders #8, which is filled to the brim with story. © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Baron Blood was too busy running away. Jacqueline Falsworth collapses from her previous attack Baron Blood then stages an attack on the rest of the Invaders, who are by the Baron and is saved by a blood transfusion from the Human flying through the English night in Namor’s airship. The Baron scares the Torch. This later transforms her into the heroine Spitfire, and she holy hell out of them by soaring out of nowhere and doing a full- eventually joins the Invaders. After hypnotizing Union Jack, Baron Blood body crash through their windshield. Toro runs the Baron off, and he confronts Jacqueline and reveals his identity—and his origin story. once again flees laughing into the night. When he lands, the Baron Leaving England in the early 20th Century in search of power, is first revealed to readers as Lord Falsworth’s brother (now immortal John Falsworth’s journey takes him to Dracula’s castle, where the Count and posing as his nephew), John Falsworth! Currently, vampire John is easily overpowers him and transforms him into a vampire. Still bitter living in the Falsworth mansion, posing as a rather obnoxious British about Jonathan Harker trying to kill him (as related in Bram Stoker’s aristocrat (which he is, I suppose). He even reveals to readers that Nazi Dracula novel), Dracula dispatches Falsworth to wreak havoc on England, scientists have given him treatments that allow him to resist sunlight Harker’s homeland. To do this, he joins the German side of World War for short periods, assisting with his human disguise. When asked if he I. After the war, Falsworth returns to Germany and eventually becomes had fun making Baron Blood so delightfully evil, Roy Thomas remarks, a follower of Adolf Hitler, noting, “I recognized him and his followers “I suppose so… I don’t recall. But [when creating him] I had in mind as men truly as evil as myself—aye, even Count Dracula himself.” certain Nazi-sympathizing English lords I knew about.” The Invaders burst on the scene for a battle royale in a local abandoned The story picks up in Invaders #8 (Sept. 1976). During a dinner cave (apparently they’re all over England). In the skirmish, Lord Falsworth’s party, Lord Falsworth relates to the Invaders his final battle of World War Union Jack is crippled and Captain America slams Baron Blood onto a I, fighting Baron Blood on the London Bridge. Union Jack defeated the stalagmite—resulting in his first death. Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

THE BARON’S BACK!

However, the bloody Baron did not stay dead long, as he made a return a few years later in the last issues of the Invaders. In Invaders #39 (Apr. 1979), written by Don Glut and drawn by Alan Kupperberg and Chic Stone (Roy Thomas is listed as editor), Japanese soldiers seek out Baron Blood’s skeleton from his English cave grave. Revived by said soldiers, the last page of issue #39 features the Baron accosting his relatives Jacqueline Falsworth, now in her Spitfire identity, and the new Union Jack, Jacqueline’s brother Brian Falsworth! They’re doing their best to keep superheroing in the family. All is revealed in Invaders #40 (May 1979). The soldiers who revived Baron Blood are under the command of Japanese super-spy Lady Lotus. After an indecisive battle with his niece and nephew, Baron Blood runs away shouting threats and… well, you get it by now. Escaping with the soldiers, Blood is taken to Lady Lotus’ hideout in the US and offered membership in her new group, the Super-Axis. Never one to refuse a bad deed (and after trying to hypnotize her and failing), he accepts. Blood is only a minor supporting player in this drama, as his fellow Nazis Master Man and Warrior Woman, along with the Atlantean villain U-Man, hog most of the story. He does have a fun confrontation with the Invaders, this time aided by the Whizzer and Miss America. Lady Lotus provides the Baron with a cool new costume, the same design only without the stalagmite-shaped hole in the chest. In the climactic showdown in Invaders #41 (the last issue of this volume of the title), Namor throws a wooden shaft through Baron Blood’s chest early in the melee, killing the Baron again. For now. When asked about this second death, Thomas says, “I always left room for returns, but of course what others did later has nothing to do with any vague plans for Baron Blood I might have had.”

BARON BLOOD, ACT TWO

“BargainBasement Dracula” (top) Baron Blood’s alter ego revealed. From Invaders #7 by Roy Thomas, Frank Robbins, and Vince Colletta. (bottom) Miss America’s in trouble on the Dave Cockrum/Joe Sinnott cover of Invaders #40 (May 1979). TM & © Marvel.

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The next act for the Baron is one of the most memorable stories of the Bronze Age, at least for this writer. Creators Roger Stern and John Byrne teamed for one of the best runs on Captain America before or since, Captain America #247– 255. The Baron’s return to prominence began in Captain America #253 (Jan. 1981). A rash of murders in England roger stern forces Lord Falsworth, now an elderly man, to confront the fact that Baron Blood may Andrew Fuld Frazier. have returned. No one takes his paranoid ravings seriously, including his daughter Jacqueline (now widowed and long retired as Spitfire) or her son Kenneth Crichton. Desperate, Lord Falsworth, now in a wheelchair from his WWII fight with Baron Blood, calls Captain America to investigate. According to Roger Stern, “Using the Baron was John Byrne’s idea. When I was editing The Avengers, and John was drawing it, he had suggested a storyline wherein the Avengers would go to England to check into an old case of the Invaders’. For one reason or another, we never got around to pursuing that idea then. But when we later wound up working together on Captain America, I told him that his Avengers idea would work even better as a Cap story. So that’s how it started. We had both loved the Invaders, especially as drawn by Frank Robbins.” Cap arrives in England and quickly finds evidence of Baron Blood’s existence and handiwork. Working with a local physician, the kindly Dr. Cromwell, Cap endeavors to locate the Baron and end his reign of terror once and for all. After wreaking havoc in England through Cap #254 (Feb. 1981), Baron Blood reveals to his brother Lord Falsworth (who is in his Union Jack

uniform one final time as bait) that he is masquerading as Dr. Cromwell! It turns out the original Dr. Cromwell was a pawn of Dracula, and he revived the Baron after being killed by Namor in Invaders #41. Confronting Cap in the Falsworth mansion, he and Baron Blood face off in what will turn out to be a battle to the death. They are joined by a new Union Jack, Joey Chapman (a school friend of Kenneth Crichton). While fighting hand-to-hand, Cap, with a momentary advantage, struggles with the best way to stop the Baron. With an agonizing look on his face, he knows what he must do. In silhouette, as Chapman’s Union Jack looks on, Cap severs the Baron’s neck with his shield. Shocked, all Union Jack can whisper is a muted, “Bloody--!” Bloody hell, indeed. Devastated, Cap and the Falsworths burn the body and head of Baron Blood in two separate fires. While Baron Blood appears many more times in the Marvel Universe (as we shall see), to Marvel’s credit they never resurrected John Falsworth or that version of Baron Blood again. That is fitting, as this “final battle” story packs an emotional wallop. When asked about killing off Baron Blood for good, Roger Stern comments, “Hmm, let’s see… Blood was a vampire… and a Nazi… who was always willing to sacrifice both family and nation. I’d say he was pretty irredeemable. [And], we were faithful to traditional vampire lore. Everything happened off-panel. The readers didn’t actually see what had happened, but they got the point.” Their Baron Blood story was one of the finest from the Stern/Byrne team, with brilliant artwork from John Byrne. Roger Stern agrees. “Oh, that was beautiful,”

says Stern. “It made those issues a joy to script. For that period, I think it was one of John’s best jobs.” Baron Blood’s next appearance was a brief cameo in Avengers Annual #16 (1987), in a story by Tom DeFalco. It is the John Falsworth version, but Blood is in a group of fantasy heroes and villains “brought back from the dead” by the Grandmaster to fight the Avengers, so there are major doubts they were the “real” characters. I’m not counting it as an official resurrection. Leaving John Falsworth dead, Marvel writers couldn’t resist the lure of the name and that wonderful costume, especially Blood’s creator, Mr. Roy Thomas. In Thomas’ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #15 (Mar. 1990), Dr. Strange is pitted against the Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau. Marie has kidnapped Strange’s brother Victor, who has recently returned to life as a vampire (it’s a complicated, but fun, story). To give him a sense of purpose, Laveau gives him the name and costume of Baron Blood. Ultimately unable to control him, in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #18 (June 1990), Victor Strange escapes with supporting character Morgana Blessing to live his own life, ending up as sort of a vampire anti-hero. The two are featured two years later in a short story in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Annual #2 (1992), by Thomas and co-writer R. J. M. L’Officier. Vic Strange is still Baron Blood, feeding off Blessing for sustenance and actually fighting supervillains, in this case the black magician Cagliostro. As time passes, Vic finds it harder and harder to deal with being one of the undead. In Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #56 (Aug. 1993), by Roy Thomas and

Tomb of Blood (left) Original Byrne/ Rubinstein artwork (courtesy of Heritage) to the cover of Captain America #253 (Jan. 1981). Note that some of the art’s moody nuances are removed or muted by (inset) the published cover’s color and graphics. (right) An eerie Baron Blood page from Captain America #253. By Byrne, Stern, and Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

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Geof Isherwood, Vic is calling himself Khiron and preying on the criminal element of New York, slaughtering anyone he thinks is guilty. Even Morgana has decided to kill him if he returns to their apartment. When Dr. Strange forces him to recognize that he almost murdered an innocent, Vic impales himself on a stake, taking his own life. This is the bloody end of the second Baron Blood.

BARON BLOOD, ACT THREE

The third and final version of Baron Blood is revealed in the excellent 1998–1999 miniseries Union Jack #1–3, by Benjamin Raab and John Cassady. Here Union Jack is still Joey Chapman, the character created by the Stern/Byrne team in Captain America. Again, Chapman was a friend of Kenneth Crichton, grandson of the original Union Jack. Kenneth had no interest in continuing the Union Jack legacy, but Chapman, a working-class Englishman, did. Chapman has become adept a being a hero, devoting most of this time to destroying vampires. His friend Kenneth suffers from a rare form of anemia and is in desperately declining health. Enter vampire Baroness Blood—the daughter of the original Cromwell, who was the man the first Baron Blood masqueraded as to infiltrate the Falsworth household in the Stern/Byrne story arc. Baroness Blood is a nasty piece of work, as revealed when she offers to turn Kenneth into a vambenjamin raab pire to cure his anemia. He agrees, and the third Baron Blood, grandson of Lord Falsworth, the origCourtesy of Benjamin Raab. inal Union Jack, is born. According to writer Benjamin Raab, now Writer/Co-Executive Producer on the CW show Arrow, “I bought Invaders #40 off the spinner rack while on a family vacation in Florida. I remember being drawn to the Dave Cockrum/Joe Sinnott cover in which Cap, the Human Torch, and Namor were oblivious to the fact that [Baron] Blood was holding hostage Miss America right behind them. This was my first exposure to the original incarnation of the character. I was probably about eight years old when that book came out. To a young Jewish kid who thought vampires were scary as f*ck to begin with, the idea that one of those bloodsuckers would be in league with the Nazis was doubly terrifying.” Raab continues, “The seduction of Kenneth Crichton that led to him becoming Baron Blood was all about exploiting his desire for power. On the surface, it was about him having the power to overcome his crippling anemia. But on a deeper, more emotional level, it was about him acquiring the power to exact revenge on his friend for stealing the legacy of Union Jack—a legacy Kenneth believed should’ve been his in the first place.” Following instructions from his mistress Baroness Blood, the new Baron Blood steals the Holy Grail from a museum, giving the Baroness an artifact that will make her invincible. She betrays Kenneth to the sunlight, and he crumbles to dust in his friend Joey’s arms. Thus Union Jack declares a bitter goodbye to the last Baron Blood. “[John and I] saw him as being more desperate than evil, per se,” says Raab. “Which is why Union Jack was able to hold out hope that just maybe he could save his friend… up until Crichton’s final moments when he was crumbling to dust in Joey’s hands. At that point, it was clear that there’d be no redemption for Baron Blood.”

Victor Strange, Vampire Supreme (top left) The new Baron Blood, on Jackson Guice’s cover to Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #15 (Mar. 1990). This cover proved controversial and earned Marvel a lawsuit from its unauthorized use of Christian/pop singer Amy Grant in its background. (bottom) Vic’s at it again, on this signed original cover by Geof Isherwood to issue #56 (Aug. 1993), courtesy of Heritage. (top right) The bloody bad guy battles the patriotic paragon on John Cassady’s cover to Union Jack #2 (Jan. 1999). TM & © Marvel.

Although Baron Blood is dead (for now), he is quite busy at modern Marvel. In the Spider-Gwen Universe, Baron Blood is a vampire based on the musician Prince. In the goofy miniseries Marvel Apes, where Earth’s heroes have corresponding ape versions, Baron Blood poses as Captain America in the Ape-Vengers. In the Old Man Logan comics, Logan has a flashback where Baron Blood and other villains stand over the dead bodies of the fallen heroes in that world. The Baron has his own toys, busts, and action figures. What makes this sniveling sensation so popular, 45 years after his first appearance? Roger Stern remarks, “He’s a vampire supervillain with a great name and costume… what else do you need?” Baron Blood co-creator Roy Thomas has an idea, too. “Well, the Baron was a Nazi vampire. There’s both real world and supernatural evil bound up in one individual. It’s not easy to find a more obvious villain.” The author would like to offer sincere thank-yous to Roy Thomas, Roger Stern, Benjamin Raab, Randy Bowen, and Steven Thompson for assistance with this article. Couldn’t have done it without you! JERRY SMITH is a sales rep and freelance writer living in Northern Kentucky. He has read comic books since before he could read. Follow his blog about comics and pop culture at https://jerryshumbleopinions.blogspot.com.

42 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

by G

lenn Greenberg

When The Tomb of Dracula launched in 1972, readers could be forgiven for thinking that the series was set outside the Marvel Universe. Based on its unrelentingly dark mood and tone, its singular style, and especially its insular nature, it was anything but clear that the Lord of the Undead and his most relentless pursuers— Rachel Van Helsing, Frank Drake, and Quincy Harker— lived on the same Earth as the numerous costumed crimefighters, godlike beings, and cosmic crusaders appearing in Marvel’s other titles. That was very much intentional on the part of the Dracula creative team. But over time, as commercial considerations—namely sales figures—became more of a factor, the dividing line between Count Dracula’s world and the Marvel Universe blurred. What had once seemed highly unlikely— Dracula crossing paths with the likes of a certain Web-Slinger, a Master of the Mystic Arts, and a former herald of Galactus—became a reality. Such encounters were kept to a minimum, at first. But a growing number of Marvel’s writers seemed to find the Count as irresistible as his many victims did, and, for better or for worse, Dracula eventually became not just a vampire but a full-blown supervillain. To the writer most associated with Marvel’s version of Dracula, this was not an ideal development.

WORLDS APART

“To me, all of the horror books were outside the Marvel Universe,” says Marv Wolfman, who took over as the writer of Tomb of Dracula with #7 (Mar. 1973) and remained until the very end. (Wolfman’s arrival followed two-issue stints by, in order, Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, and Gardner Fox.) “It was a hard enough problem creating mood, tension, and suspense in a comic book, which is all still pictures. But to then have to worry about superheroes or supervillains at the same time—I didn’t feel that would work,” he tells BACK ISSUE. Wolfman was diligent about keeping Tomb of Dracula its own thing. “Every writer at Marvel at that time had one book that was unique,” he says. “For Roy [Thomas], it was Conan. Steve Gerber—Howard the Duck. Don McGregor— Black Panther. Doug Moench—Master of Kung Fu. Dracula was the special book for me, and I was not going to let that be screwed up, no matter what.” Wolfman was not totally averse to crossovers, as long as they felt natural. He expressed no objections to Dracula’s run-in with Robert E. Howard’s Puritan adventurer, Solomon Kane, who often fought supernatural threats. That encounter, set several centuries in the past, occurred in a story written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Alan Weiss and the inking team “The Crusty Bunkers,” and published in the black-and-white magazine Dracula Lives! #3 (Oct. 1973). (A sequel, by writer Donald F. Glut and artist David Wenzel, ran in The Savage Sword of Conan #26, Jan. 1978.) It also felt appropriate for Dracula to guest-star in The Frankenstein Monster #7–9 (Nov. 1973–

Blood Storm Ororo gets a taste of vampirism on the creepy, cool Bill Sienkiewicz cover of X-Men Annual #6 (1982). TM & © Marvel.

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Mar. 1974), written by Gary Friedrich, penciled by John Buscema, and inked by John Verpoorten. Set in the late 1890s, the three-part storyline revealed that the Frankenstein Monster unwittingly helped to resurrect Dracula shortly after his death at the end of Bram Stoker’s novel. And The Tomb of Dracula #18 crossed over with Werewolf by Night #15 (both Mar. 1974), which made sense too—especially since Wolfman was writing both titles. (Yes, Marvel’s werewolf comic book was at one time being written by a guy named Wolfman.) Still, there came a point when the needs of the company overrode artistic integrity. In 1974, Marvel decided to launch “Giant-Size” 64-page comics starring its top-selling characters, one of which, of course, was Spider-Man. For the Giant-Size Spider-Man series, the idea was to emulate Marvel Team-Up, where each issue would pair the Web-Slinger with another Marvel character. It was decided that the first issue would feature Spider-Man co-starring with— you guessed it—Dracula, whose own title was already receiving widespread acclaim.

WORLDS COLLIDE

“For some months now, we’ve been on the receiving end of letters regarding the possibility of an issue of our everpopular Marvel Team-Up mag being devoted to a meeting of two of Marvel’s mightiest super-stars—none other than the Amazing Spider-Man and the diabolical Count Dracula,” then-Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas wrote in an article published in Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 (July 1974). “An equal number cried ‘Heaven forfend!’ to the whole thing, and decreed/demanded that Morbius and the Man-Wolf were fine, since they fit in the same science-fictional atmosphere as the Wall-Crawler himself—but that a non-negotiable curse would descend upon our heads if we dared cross the line… to feature Dracula and his Undead ilk.” But, as Thomas revealed, the story was inevitable, based on the popularity of both characters. He acknowledged the “vague, uneasy relationship” between Marvel’s superhero titles and what he termed the company’s “mystery mags.” A story starring Spider-Man and Dracula would, he explained, finally answer a question that readers had been asking for quite some time: “Where does Dracula fit in the Marvel Universe? Is he in the same space/time continuum as Spider-Man… Morbius… the Hulk… Conan, for that matter?” Thomas answered with an unequivocal “yes.” Explaining his reasoning, he wrote that, as opposed to DC Comics, “What Smilin’ Stan Lee had in mind there, a little over a decade ago now, was a consistent Universe—where Spidey and Dr. Strange and the Hulk could develop side by side with yet-undreamed-of Marvel co-stars like Dracula, Conan, and even Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds.” There was one problem, however. Wolfman was opposed to a Spider-Man/Dracula encounter—enough to decide to have nothing to do with it. “I turned it down,” he says. “They had someone else write it because I wouldn’t do it.”

Team-Ups of Terror (top left) Drac and the Monster, in Marvel’s Frankenstein #8 (Jan. 1974). Cover by John Buscema. (top right) A Count/Wall-Crawler team-up (sort of) in Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 (July 1974). Cover by John Romita, Sr. (bottom) Tomb of Dracula scribe Marv Wolfman’s first Dracula/Marvel crossover, with Brother Voodoo, in #35 (Aug. 1975). Cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer. TM & © Marvel.

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Strange Tales A two-part crossover, in Tomb of Dracula #44 and Doctor Strange #14 (both May 1976). Covers by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. TM & © Marvel.

That “someone else” was Wolfman’s close friend and colleague, CALL IN THE DOCTOR Len Wein, who teamed up with penciler Ross Andru and inker Don Dracula’s next foray into the Marvel Universe—albeit its outer fringes— Heck for an unusual mix of superheroics and the supernatural. In the occurred in Tomb of Dracula #34–37 (July–Oct. 1975), in which Jericho story, Spider-Man has to sneak aboard a Manhattan-bound ocean Drumm, a.k.a. Brother Voodoo, guest-starred. Drumm and the Count liner to find the eccentric Doctor A. J. Maxfield, who is transporting an never meet, but the Voodoo master does come to the aid of Dracula’s experimental medicine designed to fight a powerful and deadly new descendant, Frank Drake, in Brazil, where Drake, as part of a plot strain of flu. With Aunt May having contracted the virus, and time launched by his ancestor to kill him, is set upon by a horde of zombies running out for her, the Wall-Crawler has only a matter of hours (called “zuvembies” in the story, to adhere to the Comics Code to reach Maxfield and bring the drug back to the city. Authority’s then-ban on the walking dead). Meanwhile, Dracula also boards the ship secretly, Several months later, Wolfman finally committed to a to track down the same doctor. The vampire, for reasons full-on crossover, one that would bring Dracula face to that are never fully explained, sees Maxfield and her face—and in direct conflict—with one of the major Marvel characters introduced in the Silver Age. Tomb of drug as a potential threat to his plans for world Dracula #44 kicked off a two-part story that concluded domination, so he intends to eliminate them both. in Doctor Strange #14 (both May 1976), which should To complicate matters further, mob boss Anthony clue you in on the identity of the vampire’s adversary. Cavelli and his goons are on board as well, with Cavelli determined to force Maxfield into turning After Dracula attacks and apparently kills Dr. the drug over to him, so he can use it as a negotiating Strange’s faithful servant, Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme hunts down the Lord of the Undead to avenge the tool to gain re-entry into the United States after murder—and hopefully find the means to restore having been exiled. While the storylines weave in and out of each Wong to life. Dracula proves to be more than a other, Spider-Man and Dracula never actually face match for Strange, however, and kills the mage too. marv wolfman off—they don’t fight, nor do they team up against a But considering this is the Master of the Mystic Arts Facebook. common enemy. The only time they cross paths is a we’re talking about, death isn’t really the end—and in short, two-panel scene where an out-of-costume Peter Parker literally their rematch, it’s the vampire who goes down, seemingly once and for all. bumps into the Count as each man pursues his own agenda. Wolfman no longer remembers what prompted the crossover, Presumably Wein, who passed away in 2017, shared Wolfman’s view but suspects it was an effort to increase the sales on Dracula. “When you that mixing the two genres wasn’t such a great idea. Putting the two have the sales figures in front of you, you can make adjustments,” lead characters in the same place yet keeping them apart was a clever he says. “And my view was, only if there was a significant problem solution, to be sure, and perhaps the only one that would satisfy about would I do a crossover or a guest appearance. I considered any of the crossovers as anomalies, and I did very few of them.” as many readers as it disappointed. Why Dr. Strange? Wolfman can’t recall, but there is one thing he On the art side, Spider-Man is served well enough—no real surprise there, since Andru was the regular penciler on The Amazing is certain of. “I know that I didn’t have a problem with it,” he says, Spider-Man at time. But it captured very little of the mood and “because Dr. Strange fits into a very different universe to begin with, atmosphere generated by the regular Tomb of Dracula art team of because of his unique nature and his ability to move through dimensions Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. and stuff like that. Even though he teams up with superheroes, I could Wolfman, incidentally, can offer no opinion of the story. “I never make an excuse as to him fitting into the supernatural universe, so that read it,” he says. “I saw no reason to.” was acceptable to me. Same with Brother Voodoo. Spider-Man wasn’t.” Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Lord of the Vampires From the vault of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), original Colan/ Palmer art from Doctor Strange #14. TM & © Marvel.

Wolfman also notes that with this crossover, Colan and Palmer illustrated both chapters, as they were the art team on both series at the time, so he knew the story would have a consistent, unified look. However, Wolfman did not write the second part. That task fell to Dr. Strange’s then-regular chronicler, Steve Englehart, who was delighted to be involved in the event. “I thought Tomb of Dracula was excellent,” Englehart says, and adds that he agrees in principle with Wolfman that the Count is better off not mixing with the superhero set. “Putting Dracula on the same level as Dr. Doom— I don’t think that works because Dracula has that ambiance. Doom has his own, but Dracula has a whole lot longer history and a more defined, specific feeling.” On the other hand, Englehart notes, “I’m the guy who had Dr. Doom meet Luke Cage and people said,

‘You’re mixing genres,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, but I really wanted to see the conflict between the two approaches.’ So I’m happy to do that.” Englehart continues, “When I was writing Dr. Strange, he was in his own world to a great extent—obviously he was part of the Defenders and he was out there with the other Marvel superheroes, but I gave him this heavy mystical world that nobody else really got involved in most of the time. He was battling supernatural beings, and as far I was concerned, Dracula was one of them, so I didn’t have a problem with it. But I do think Marv was right about not having Dracula get involved with the Marvel Universe.” In collaborating with Wolfman on the story, Englehart remembers one thing distinctly: “We both agreed that we would kill the other guy’s character— we thought that would be fun.” Of course, by the end of the crossover, Dracula and Strange—and Wong—were back on their feet, steve englehart since they still had their own titles to appear in. Strange walked away © Marvel. blissfully unaware that the vampire had not truly been destroyed—a plot point that would be picked up on nearly a decade later. In the meantime, readers would not have to wait long for the Count’s next clash with a major Marvel character—perhaps the most surprising one of all.

SEND IN THE SURFER

The notion of Dracula fighting the Silver Surfer, of all Marvel characters, still seems like the epitome of “far-fetched.” Supernatural horror and science fiction are an uneasy mix to begin with. Then there was the fact that Tomb of Dracula had always been written as a fairly “grounded” series, set in as realistic and relatable a world as possible—with Dracula, vampirism, and other supernatural elements being the only things demanding suspension of disbelief on the part of readers. It was therefore a real challenge to accept the sudden presence of a cosmically powered being from the stars who once served as the herald of the planet-eater, Galactus, and who has traveled the universe and witnessed countless unimaginable celestial wonders. And yet, Wolfman went ahead with the idea anyway. In Tomb of Dracula #50 (Nov. 1976), the Count is in Boston, having recently taken charge of the Church of Satan there, posing as the Evil One himself. Newly married to a human woman named Domini, a member of his congregation now pregnant with his child (conceived through occult means), Dracula is looking towards the future and expanding his influence upon the world. Little does he realize that one of his key henchmen in the church, a man named Anton Lupeski, has deduced the vampire’s true identity and is plotting to get rid of him. Using a mystical spell, Lupeski manipulates the Silver Surfer into attacking Dracula with murderous righteousness. Wolfman acknowledges the offbeat nature of the story. “In all honesty, I was trying to goose sales,” he says. “[The Silver Surfer] was not something I would normally have done, but it was an anniversary issue, the 50th issue, and every so often, I had to do certain types of stories that I knew would help the sales.” Having committed to the idea, he was determined to make it fit within the context of the series. “The Surfer was the pure representation of good at that time,” Wolfman says. “And I thought of it as a story about destiny, about fate, about goodness, about purity— 46 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

because you could say about the Silver Surfer, at that point, that he was a pure character, that he was the exact opposite of Dracula.” The story gave Wolfman, Colan, and Palmer a chance to work on a character that, at the time, was being used very sparingly. Marvel’s then-publisher, Stan Lee, had a strong affinity for the Silver Surfer, and wanted to retain creative control over him. As a result, if another writer wanted to use the Surfer in a story, that writer had to first get approval from Lee himself. Such was the case with Wolfman on the Dracula issue—and to Wolfman’s relief, Lee signed off on the idea. “Since [Stan] gave the approval, and he had always turned people down, I have to assume he was okay with it,” Wolfman says. “I guess at the point that I got to him, he knew that he wasn’t going to be writing much anymore, and was probably not going to be doing anything with the Surfer—I mean, he did [later on], but I don’t think he expected to. I think he saw [the Dracula story] as outside the Marvel Universe too, but I’m not sure.” Whatever the reason was behind Lee’s approval, Wolfman says he was determined not to squander the opportunity. “He gave me permission, and I wanted to make sure I honored that,” he says, “because I cared very much not only about the Silver Surfer character, who I liked a lot, but also about Stan.” In the grand scheme of things, the long-range effects that the Dracula/Silver Surfer encounter had on both characters was negligible. Neither of them ever really referred to it again, nor did any subsequent writer ever choose to sequelize it. That said, the story worked surprisingly well. Wolfman portrayed both characters masterfully, with the stark dichotomy between their two natures well drawn. Colan and Palmer’s interpretation of the Surfer was consistent with Jack Kirby’s and John Buscema’s, but still very much their own—moodier, and perhaps even more otherworldly than usual.

While Wolfman would write many more Dracula stories, Tomb of Dracula #50 marked the last time that he would pit the Count against one of Marvel’s superpowered heroes. However, the writer was not quite done when it came to having the vampire lord transcend his own little universe. This article would not be complete if it did not acknowledge the time when Dracula menaced the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

WHERE NO VAMPIRE HAS GONE BEFORE

The Tomb of Dracula ended with #70 (Aug. 1979), which featured the death of Dracula and the destruction of his castle, both at the hands of his longtime enemy, Quincy Harker—the son of Jonathan and Mina Harker mentioned at the very end of Stoker’s novel—who perished with the Count. But just two months later, the series was revived as a black-and-white magazine, picking up where the color comic left off and, naturally, showing Dracula’s resurrection. Wolfman wrote the first three issues of the Tomb of Dracula magazine, and at the same time was writing Marvel’s new Star Trek comic-book series, which spun out of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In Star Trek #4

Norrin Radd Gets Mad (left) The Colan/ Palmer cover to Marv Wolfman’s unusual Silver Surfer/ Dracula story, Tomb of Dracula #50 (Nov. 1976). (right) Wolfman’s offbeat good vs. evil struggle in that same issue. TM & © Marvel.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

Quirky Crossovers (left) Trouble on the Enterprise in Star Trek #4 (July 1980). By Wolfman, Cockrum, and Janson. (right) Is Howard quacking up? From Howard the Duck Magazine #5 (May 1980), by Mantlo, Golden, and McLeod. Star Trek TM & © CBS Studios, Inc. Dracula and Howard the Duck TM & © Marvel.

(July 1980), Wolfman kicked off a two-part story in which the Enterprise is confronted by a series of seemingly supernatural horrors, one of which is the sudden materialization of Dracula on the bridge of the ship. And not just any Dracula—it’s the Tomb of Dracula incarnation, with artists Dave Cockrum and Klaus Janson following the Gene Colan template. And, as Spock notes to Captain Kirk, “Fascinating, Captain. Dracula was an Earth legend who supposedly survived 500 years until slain by a man named Quincy Harker. There were reports of his return, but they proved to be unfounded!” Ultimately, it was revealed that “Dracula” was just an illusion given physical form, but that doesn’t change the fact that Marvel’s version of the Count appeared in the Star Trek universe—something that, in 2019, comes as a shock even to the man who wrote the scene. “Oh, my goodness, oh, good God—I have no memory of that whatsoever,” Wolfman says when the scene is mentioned to him. “That’s hysterical! If you had said, ‘For $10 million, did you ever do a crossover with Star Trek and Dracula?’ I would have said ‘No!’ And I would have lost $10 million on my own work!” It would prove to be the last time Wolfman would have anything to do with Dracula for more than a decade. In December 1979, he left Marvel for DC Comics, where he would enjoy great success on projects including The New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and, in collaboration with John Byrne, the 1986 revamp of Superman. Wolfman left the Tomb of Dracula magazine with issue #3 (Feb. 1980), and the magazine itself was cancelled a short time later, with #6 (Aug. 1980).

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In between Wolfman’s departure and the magazine’s cancellation, Dracula crossed paths with another denizen of the outskirts of the Marvel Universe when he gueststarred in the black-and-white magazine Howard the Duck #5 (May 1980), in a typically less-than-completelyserious story written by Bill Mantlo and illustrated by Michael Golden and Bob McLeod. But with the second volume of Tomb of Dracula ending exactly a year after the first one did, Dracula, for the first time in his history at Marvel, was a character without a home. Other Marvel writers sought to give the Count a temporary place to hang his cape, and with Wolfman no longer in charge of the vampire’s destiny, the barriers that had previously kept Dracula mostly removed from the Marvel Universe were now lifted. Readers couldn’t be sure where he would pop up next. In his first appearance since losing his own title, Dracula faced an old adversary who, this time, had some friends with him.

DEFENDERS IN DARKNESS

Under writer J. M. DeMatteis, penciler Don Perlin, and inker Joe Sinnott, The Defenders featured a multi-issue story arc now referred to as “The Six-Fingered Hand Saga,” the core of which ran in #94–100 (Apr.–Oct. 1981). In the storyline, six lesser demons join together to form a group called the Six-Fingered Hand, through which they can combine their strength and increase their influence on Earth. Determining that the superhero “non-team” the Defenders represents a major obstacle to their plans, the demons manipulate other beings into attacking the heroes, to distract and destroy them.

As If the Son of Satan Weren’t Enough… One of those beings is Dracula, who, in Defenders #95 (May 1981), suddenly crashes into Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, where Strange …Marvel’s non-team faces Drac in Defenders #95 is hosting his occasional teammates Hellcat, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Daimon Hellstrom (the Son of Satan), and new associate Gargoyle. (May 1981). Cover by Pat Broderick and Al Milgrom. Dracula attacks them wildly, without reason—it turns out that he’s been TM & © Marvel. possessed by a dozen evil spirits at the direction of one of the Hand’s six demons, Puishannt. (Interestingly, while Dr. Strange acknowledges his earlier encounter with Dracula, he shows no surprise that the vampire Looking back on the Defenders story, DeMatteis says he still thinks it still exists—remember, the last time Strange had seen Dracula, the Count works, and mentions that he loved appeared to have been destroyed. collaborating with Perlin, who he calls This would not go unnoticed, and “one of the hardest-working artists would be explained in a later story— I’ve ever worked with.” Perlin’s version stay tuned!) of Dracula remained faithful to Colan’s, After Hellstrom exorcises the in detail if not quite in mood. But as spirits from Dracula, the vampire and DeMatteis acknowledges, Colan was the Defenders agree to a truce, and a tough act to follow—as was to work together to stop Puishannt, Wolfman. “All we could do was tip who has also turned all of Dracula’s our hats in Marv and Gene’s direction Undead minions in Transylvania and do our best,” he says, “and if we could achieve even half of what they against their master. Throughout the uncomfortable alliance, Hellstrom is achieved, that would be pretty good.” tempted to betray Dracula at the first opportunity and ensure the vampire’s THE UNDEAD MEETS destruction, but the Son of Satan is THE UNCANNY forced to consider whether honor Dracula’s next two appearances may exists even in Hell. well have given him his largest “It was just a natural outgrowth comic-book audience to date. of where the book was,” DeMatteis After all, he was now guest-starring says about the Dracula guestin what had become one of the appearance. “It was in this whole most popular, highest-selling titles supernatural realm, with demons in the industry. and Satan and Hell and other kinds The Uncanny X-Men #159 (July of craziness, and it just seemed that 1982) was a unique issue even Dracula might be a fun thing to beyond the fact that it featured Dracula as the villain. Published bring into the book.” DeMatteis was a huge admirer during Dave Cockrum’s second of Tomb of Dracula, ever since he stint as regular penciler, the one-shot discovered the series while traveling story was illustrated by guest artist cross-country with friends circa 1976. Bill Sienkiewicz, with inking by “I think it’s some of Marv’s best work Bob Wiacek. ever,” he says. “A real peak for Marv Regular X-Men writer Chris and for Gene Colan, and one of the Claremont was certainly well suited absolute best books of the ’70s, for the subject matter. “I’d read the without question. I loved it. And it’s novel, I’d seen the movies, I was not like I was a big vampire fan, either, reading The Tomb of Dracula,” he or a big horror fan at that point of my says. “I enjoyed the hell out of The Tomb of Dracula.” life—though I had read the novel He was also one of the few people who wrote Dracula stories for Dracula in college and was amazed at how good it was.” (DeMatteis, of course, would go on to write, among many other things, the Marvel Marvel concurrently with Marv Wolfman. Claremont wrote the lead graphic novel Greenberg the Vampire—no relation to yours truly.) tales in Giant-Size Dracula #2 and 3 (Sept. and Dec. 1974), for which DeMatteis only used Dracula the one time in Defenders, he had to work around Wolfman’s ongoing continuity in the but years later, he plotted a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange team-up, main series. In those two Giant-Size stories, as well as in the in which they battled the vampire lord, for Spider-Man X-Men issue, Claremont’s portrayal of the Count basically fell into line with Wolfman’s, but Claremont tended Team-Up #6 (Mar. 1997)—a story that ended up being to show a somewhat more human—and humane— scripted, ironically enough, by Marv Wolfman. And while side of Dracula. The vampire lord was still evil, but he DeMatteis has only written stories featuring Dracula was also not quite as vile or as vicious. interacting with superheroes, he shares Wolfman’s opinion that the vampire is best left far removed “The challenge with Dracula as a character is from the center of the Marvel Universe. “Within the that one can either run with the cliché of ‘I am the context of The Defenders at that time, when it was a ultimate villain,’ or try to turn it on its head, which is: supernatural book, or in Doctor Strange—that fits,” Can we find a circumstance, as with Magneto, where he says. “But when you take a character like Dracula he can become something more?” Claremont and drop him into a whole other genre, it’s going to says. “Because in his own heart, Dracula viewed j. m. dematteis feel weird—at least it does to me. I do understand himself as a liberator—he was defending his country the desire to do it and why it would be fun if you’re against the Turks. So, do you play with that? Federico Vinci. writing Spider-Man or the X-Men or whatever. Do you go with the traditional cliché? In my stories, But when I take a half-step back, I think maybe Dracula needs to be I was trying to switch to the other side of that. He would encounter left in his own little corner of things. Because Marv really created an someone who provoked him to deal with a situation in a nonentire universe of his own for that book.” Dracula sense. The trick is to get the readers in a situation where, Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49

In Mortal Combat (top) This cover startled not only the X-Men but their readers, too. (bottom) Signed Bill Sienkiewicz original art (from Heritage), from X-Men #159 (July 1982). Story by Chris Claremont, inks by Bob Wiacek. TM & © Marvel.

by the time they get to the end, they care about Dracula as a person, not as a cliché.” Uncanny X-Men #159 could actually be considered a dark love story, with Dracula preying on Storm because, as he explains to her, he is genuinely attracted to her beauty, her courage, and her strength. Claremont faithfully follows the pattern established by Bram Stoker in the original novel, with Dracula feasting upon Storm over several nights, and as she gets closer to death, she increasingly takes on vampiric qualities—red eyes, fangs, and a more sinister personality. Ultimately, it’s up to Kitty Pryde to put her own life on the line to try to reach Storm’s rapidly fading humanity and convince her to reject Dracula’s corrupting influence. Considering that Dracula’s own title had been cancelled several years earlier, and the character had made only one appearance since then, what inspired Claremont to bring the Count into the X-Men’s world, establishing a connection that has solidified in recent years under different writers? Claremont says it was intended to be nothing more than a one-off story, a fill-in issue, on which he and Sienkiewicz could collaborate. “The idea,” Claremont explains, “was to just have fun and to emphasize the aspect of the X-Men canon that the only thing we can guarantee without question is that we guarantee nothing. Anything can happen, any genre can become part of the X-canon, any character can become integrated with the X-canon.”

THE FASHION OF DRACULA

Longtime Tomb of Dracula readers were undoubtedly taken aback when they saw the makeover the Count was given. His wavy widow’s peak hairstyle BILL SIENKIEWICZ was changed to something of a lustrous pompadour. Instead of a simple all-black suit © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. with buckled shoes, he now wore a white ruffled shirt, a black vest, skintight black pants, and thigh-high black boots. His wispy little moustache was replaced by a thick goatee. The Jack Palance-inspired Gene Colan design had been supplanted by a new look that made Dracula seem more dashing, more romantic, more swashbuckling. Even his cape was changed to reflect this new approach. “That all came from Bill,” Claremont says, “a matter of each artist bringing to the presentation of a character the vision that works best.” Sienkiewicz says that he had been a faithful Tomb of Dracula reader, and had kept up with the series even after he started working professionally in the comic-book industry in late 1978. “When Chris asked me about doing the Dracula story, it seemed like a really fun opportunity to mix the X-Men in with another genre that I love,” he explains. The artist notes that he was a huge admirer of Gene Colan’s Dracula work. However, when deciding how to depict the Count, he looked to other sources for inspiration. “I was heavily influenced by, and loving, what Bernie [Wrightson] had done, [along with] the classic Stoker version, and of course Neal [Adams]. I felt like I needed to place a stamp on the character, as well—do my own take on it.” Sienkiewicz, who early in his career drew in a style closely resembling that of Neal Adams, suggests that he didn’t go nearly as far as he would have liked to when redesigning Dracula. “I never really saw him with that goatee—that was what Neal had done,” he says. “I was always partial to Orlok, the original, from [the 1922 German film] Nosferatu. But at the time, I probably added the goatee based on my affinity for Neal’s stuff. I was still in the thick of the ‘Neal-isms.’” (The goatee would actually become a plot point in a later story—keep staying tuned!) Both Claremont and Sienkiewicz enjoyed the collaboration. And while their story was conceived and executed as a one-off, ending with Storm back to normal and a defeated Dracula escaping into the night, the two creators had enough enthusiasm for the idea of the X-Men versus Dracula that they decided to do it again—only longer, and with real consequences. 50 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

THE VAMPIRE STRIKES BACK

X-Men Annual #6 (1982) reveals that Storm is not as free of Dracula’s influence as she had seemed to be— and the Count now has need of her. Meanwhile, as Kitty is going through a family crisis, an outside force takes possession of her and sends her on a mission somehow tied in with Storm and Dracula’s reunion. “The idea was to resolve the situation as best we could,” Claremont says. “We teased [in the first story] that something was going on with Ororo—what would come next?” This time, Dracula requires Storm’s unique abilities to procure for him a book that contains the Montesi formula, a mystical spell that can eradicate all vampires on Earth. But the story begins with the vampire lord achieving one of his greatest triumphs, in terms of his history at Marvel. Dracula finally succeeds in killing Rachel Van Helsing, granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing from Stoker’s novel, and turning her into his vampiric servant— something he had been vowing to do throughout the entire run of Tomb of Dracula. In fact, in Giant-Size Dracula #3, written by Claremont eight years earlier, the vampire lord mused, “[Abraham] Van Helsing will curse God himself the night I take his granddaughter! I will enjoy that.” Claremont had no idea in 1974 that he would ever pay off on that bit of dialogue. But when the opportunity to do so presented itself, he took it. “The whole point with the Rachel Van Helsing story was, let’s close this loose end in an exciting way, but how can we throw some curves into it?” Claremont explains. “And the curve into it at the end is Logan taking her out to watch the sunrise and letting her bid farewell on her own terms and come to the end of her story.” Claremont says he felt driven to make the story have real impact and not wrap up with everything back to the way it was at the beginning. He acknowledges the business rationale for maintaining the status quo of a long-running, ongoing series, and for preserving characters that could be utilized in perpetuity. But he also says he feels strongly that stories suffer when there is no real sense of drama or jeopardy to them. “Stan’s whole point was, you are getting use of the series and characters for a time, but your responsibility as a creator is to put the toys back in the sandbox the way you found them, because someone else is going to come along after you and you can’t screw them up,” Claremont says. “The downside, of course, is, sadly, there is no suspense. No one is ever truly at risk. There are no consequences for any action or any decision, because an issue later, or a year later, or a writer “They were Dracula stories,” he says. later, or an editor later, it could all be “And I never viewed X-Men as superhero overturned and reversed—which I stories. They are characters who are defined learned the hard way.” (If you don’t by their abilities and their role in society, know what Claremont is referring to, but I don’t think any of the X-Men, even here’s a hint: the capital of Arizona.) though we often may have said it, in text, Killing off Rachel, he explains, was considered themselves superheroes.” something he could “offer up to For Sienkiewicz, the “X-Men/ the readers as legitimate suspense.” Dracula Duology” was indeed “a very Otherwise, he argues, “What reason, weird mix of doing superheroes chris claremont really, does a reader have to follow these and horror, so it was an interesting © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. kind of thing for me. … Working with stories and invest in these characters with the awareness that nothing that happens to them matters?” Chris on the X-Men, and with Dracula, was just a blast.” The Annual delved even deeper into Tomb of Dracula As well done as The Uncanny X-Men #159 and X-Men lore, bringing in the Count’s eternal nemesis, his daughter Annual #6 were, with Claremont, Sienkiewicz, and inker Lilith. Ultimately, Dracula is killed, providing this Wiacek all in fine form, it can nonetheless be argued story with more closure than its predecessor had. that the two issues support Marv Wolfman’s view. It is As far as Claremont was concerned, it was the final indeed very difficult to create mood and an atmosphere word on the Lord of the Undead operating in the of genuine darkness and terror when you’ve got optic world of the X-Men. But overall, he says he felt the blasts firing and Wolverine and Colossus executing a mixing of horror and superheroes worked. “Fastball Special” maneuver.

Blood Feud Storm encounters the Lord of the Undead once again in X-Men Annual #6 (1982), by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Bob Wiacek. TM & © Marvel.

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BLOOD AND THUNDER

Months later, Dracula inexplicably turned up alive (well, undead) in Chicago, for a two-part storyline in The Mighty Thor #332–333 (June–July 1983), written by Alan Zelenetz and illustrated by Don Perlin, Mark Bright, and Vince Colletta. Now worshipped by a dark cult of human followers, Dracula is hell-bent on increasing his powers and gaining true immortality—and believes he has found the key to both when he discovers the presence of the Asgardian goddess Sif in the city. As he did with Storm, Dracula preys upon Sif, biting and gaining control over her. Having added her blood to his, he experiences the boost in strength that he had been seeking. Of course, the stage is then set for a major showdown with Sif’s lover, the God of Thunder, Thor—arguably the most powerful combatant the vampire lord has ever faced. Zelenetz remembers going “high and low to every comic-book store that existed in Brooklyn” to hunt down the entire Tomb of Dracula series once he discovered its existence. “I thought, ‘Where have I been?’ with regard to that particular series,” he says with a laugh. Considering that his only Dracula story pitted the Count against Thor, it may come as a surprise that Zelenetz agrees fully with the philosophy that it’s best to keep Dracula away from superheroes. “I felt the integrity in Tomb of Dracula, which I intuited—not ever having spoken to Marv—was that it was a series that was going to stay far from the Marvel Universe,” Zelenetz says. “You knew that sometimes if a character like the Silver Surfer was showing up, it wasn’t because the story of Dracula was calling for the Silver Surfer. It was a gimmick to sell a few more issues or what have you. I couldn’t—with my full heart—embrace that kind of thing. I’m not saying the Silver Surfer story didn’t work, I’m just using it as a metaphor.” That being the case, Zelenetz says he struggled to give the Thor storyline some integrity. “I know that [then-Thor editor] Mark Gruenwald loved operatic moments,” he says. “Mark was a great mythologist. His eyes were as large as saucers with the idea of bringing in Dracula—it was grand opera that he wanted.” To that end, the story was designed to focus purely on good versus evil. “Dracula was evil incarnate, he was death,” Zelenetz says. “And the question became, what happens when evil incarnate absorbs the blood of a goddess? Our punchline was that the blood of a goddess, rather than adding to Dracula’s prowess and powers, became very toxic. It was a bad blood match!” By this point, Dracula was indeed functioning as a standard Marvel supervillain, with little to differentiate him from other boastful, bloviating evildoers like Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, and Dr. Octopus. Zelenetz expresses some regret that the story was far more focused on plot, action, and adventure rather than on character. He also describes it as “looking alan zelenetz like a shadow of a shadow of a shadow of an early-1960s comic with a lot of word balloons and captions and a lot of panels on each page. It’s hilarious!” But he has nothing but praise for the covers, both of which were illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz, who was by then starting to emerge from his “Neal Adams phase” and developing a distinctive, unique, expressionistic style all his own. “I was thrilled,” Zelenetz says. “You get more of the grand opera in the Bill Sienkiewicz storytelling in the two covers than you get in the story itself!” It should also be noted that Doctor Strange guest-stars in the story, which is thoroughly appropriate, because at the same time that this two-parter was running in Thor, yet another Dracula storyline was getting underway in Strange’s own title—a five-parter intended to end the vampire’s presence in the Marvel Universe once and for all.

STRANGE BREW

For Roger Stern, who was then in the midst of writing what now stands as one of the most highly acclaimed runs of Doctor Strange ever produced, it was getting to the point where the only way to restore Marvel’s Dracula to greatness was to destroy him completely. “I read The Tomb of Dracula from the very first issue,” Stern says. “Marv, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer together did this wonderful, long, sustained line of

God vs. Lord Super Sienkiewicz covers to Drac’s clashes with the Thunder God in Thor #332 and 333 (June and July 1983). TM & © Marvel.

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work—probably the only thing that would come close to that would be Lee and Kirby on The Fantastic Four.” Given his druthers, Stern never would have gotten to write Dracula at all. “I thought the great thing about Tomb of Dracula was that it has a beginning, it ran for 70 issues, and it ended. It was a really good unit,” he explains. “And I wish they’d never brought Dracula back, because it was so good.” You can count Stern among the writers who feel that Dracula doesn’t fit in very well with the Marvel Universe. “There are all these people—the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men, whoever. They would be like, ‘There’s Dracula—we really need to stop him right now,’” Stern says. “And they would devote every waking hour to doing that, unless Galactus came to town and distracted them. But if they stop him, that’s the end of the Dracula storyline, and if they don’t, they’re not very good at their jobs!” That said, the 1976 crossover between Tomb of Dracula and Doctor Strange worked for Stern. “I thought they did a good job,” he says, “in that, at the end, Strange has saved the day, he’s saved himself, he’s saved Wong, and he’s ended the threat of Dracula—as far as he knows. Of course, in the next issue of Dracula, we find out that Dracula used subterfuge to make Strange think he was dead. That’s good, because if Dr. Strange knew that Dracula was still out there, he wouldn’t rest until he stopped Dracula. That’s who Dr. Strange is. So Dr. Strange can’t know that Dracula is still out there, or it becomes one long, extended series.”

It should come as no surprise that Stern was less than enthused about what was done with the vampire lord after Tomb of Dracula ended. “Once he was back, and Marv left Marvel, Dracula started appearing everywhere,” he says. “That was one of the things that led me to write my story. [It felt like we were] about six months from discovering that Dracula is a mutant!” Invited to pitch ideas for Marvel’s then-new graphicnovel line, Stern proposed a Dr. Strange story he called Destroy All Vampires, but was told it wasn’t “big” enough for the format. “So it ended up becoming five issues of Doctor Strange, which was longer than what graphic novels were, so I got more room and was able to let the story breathe,” he says. In the five-parter, which ran in Doctor Strange #58–62 (Apr.–Dec. 1983), Dracula is at the peak of his power, mystically enhanced by his faithful cult of worshippers, the Darkholders (the same group shown in Thor #332– 333, though in that story, they’re never identified by name). Stern establishes that Dracula has overcome his vulnerability to sunlight and religious objects, become slightly younger in appearance, and is even able to grow facial hair—hence the beard he’s been sporting lately. With the cult’s assistance, Dracula intends to gain possession of the Darkhold, the ancient, evil, mystical tome from which the Montesi Formula was originally derived. Tipped off by vampire private detective Hannibal King—one of Stern’s favorite Tomb of Dracula supporting characters—about Dracula’s resurrection and recent

Rematch The Master of the Mystic Arts isn’t glad to see Vlad in Doctor Strange #60 (Aug. 1983, left) and 61 (right). Cover by Dan Green and Terry Austin. TM & © Marvel.

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The Final Chapter (right) Cover to Doctor Strange #62 (Dec. 1983), concluding the Master of the Mystic Arts’ latest battle with Dracula. (left) A shocking interior page from that same issue. Art by Steve Leialoha. TM & © Marvel.

activities, a determined Dr. Strange embarks on a journey to stop the vampire. As far as Stern was concerned, this was a delayed response on the sorcerer’s part, and it needed to be explained. Stern says that upon reading Defenders #95, he was surprised by Dr. Strange’s reaction when Dracula showed up. “Dr. Strange was saying, ‘It’s Dracula, we have to stop him!’ and I was going, ‘Wait a minute, you thought you did that already! Shouldn’t that upset you a lot?’” he explains. “I actually got some letters from readers about it, so I knew I was going to have to address the Defenders story.” Stern’s solution was to have Strange realize that he had been made to forget his second encounter with Dracula in Defenders, the memory of it blocked from his consciousness by Mephisto, for reasons having to do with the archdemon’s involvement with the Six-Fingered Hand. “Mephisto numbed my mind to Dracula’s presence,” Strange declares. “He knew that, otherwise, I would have immediately set out to exterminate Dracula… upsetting his plans.” Along the way, Strange forges alliances with Avengers members Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), and, ultimately, with King, Frank Drake,

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and Blade the Vampire Slayer (another Stern favorite). In a dramatic showdown in Transylvania, during which Strange and Dracula battle on the interdimensional plane, the Sorcerer Supreme seizes the Darkhold and reads the Montesi Formula aloud, casting the spell to wipe out Dracula and all the other vampires on Earth. The sole exception is Hannibal King, who, during his entire time as one of the Undead, never took a human life to sate his hunger for blood. “One of the things I wanted to make sure to do was to save Hannibal King,” Stern explains. “This guy is too good of a character, and he’s been too good of a man, to sacrifice him in stopping Dracula.” Stern says he did his best to make the story feel like it was a natural extension—and a fitting coda—to Tomb of Dracula, albeit within the context of a Dr. Strange story. “Tomb of Dracula had such a great ending with #70, and I wanted to provide some sort of closure,” he explains. The storyline was well served by penciler Dan Green and inker Terry Austin, who, in the first three chapters, managed to capture much of the mood, dark atmosphere, and gritty realism of Tomb of Dracula. Aside from including the goatee added by Sienkiewicz, they mostly depicted Dracula the way Colan had drawn him—as a malevolent demon in human form. Austin bowed out with part four and was replaced by Rick Magyar, who gave Green’s artwork a somewhat slicker, smoother, and more open feel. With the final chapter, Green himself was gone, and Steve Leialoha took over on full art chores, delivering an entirely different and highly distinctive style. “Dan did a fantastic job,” Stern says. “I wish he could’ve stuck around for the whole thing. But they needed an inker on X-Men, and Doctor Strange couldn’t compete with those X-Men royalties.” Despite the radical shift in art style, Stern says he was pleased with the conclusion of the story. “No one was going to draw [the rest of the story] the way Dan did,” he notes. “But I’ve always loved Leialoha’s art, and I

thought, ‘At least he captured the feel that we were going for. The final battle, with all that weird, moody stuff in Transylvania—it worked for me.” With Dracula and all of his minions erased from existence, Stern’s mission was accomplished and he could move on. But as Chris Claremont noted, what one writer taketh away, another writer can giveth back. Seven years later, the effects of the Montesi Formula were undone in “The Vampiric Verses,” a storyline written by Roy and Dann Thomas and illustrated by Jackson Guice, Jim Valentino, and Tony DeZuniga, that ran in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #14–18 (Feb.–June 1990). The door was left open for Dracula to return again. And of course, a short time later, that’s exactly what he did. “It was probably going to happen eventually,” Stern says. “I mean, Bucky finally came back! And props to Ed Brubaker—he figured out a way to make it work!” Dracula’s next appearance, however, was in a story set in the past that deepened his ties to the Marvel Universe even further, by pairing him with Sgt. Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos during World War II. This three-parter by Doug Murray, Tom Lyle, and Joe Rubinstein ran in Marvel Comics Presents #77–79 (May–June 1991) and was covered in BACK ISSUE #110.

WHILE THE WOLFMAN’S AWAY…

Marv Wolfman did not make a point of keeping up with what was being done with Dracula in his absence. “I was aware of some of it,” he says, “only because somebody would tell me something. I wasn’t reading any Marvels at the time, so I never bothered to look at them. I wouldn’t have anyway, at that point, because I think the powers-that-be probably wanted to do things that I would not have accepted.” Claremont says he’s never spoken to Wolfman about his own use of Dracula in X-Men, or about the death of Rachel Van Helsing, but he can imagine how his old colleague felt about it. “I think Marv’s attitude towards other people writing Dracula is the same as mine towards other people writing the X-Men,” he says. “I would suspect that as far as he’s concerned, his Dracula is Dracula and it ended when he left, and the rest of us are all just poseurs—and I totally respect that. … And I would fully expect him, if he were ever to come back on the character and have that impulse, to invalidate my story right off the bat to do whatever was necessary to bring back his characters.” As a matter of fact, Wolfman did return to Dracula, with Gene Colan, in late 1991, for a four-issue Tomb of Dracula limited series published by Marvel’s Epic imprint (reissued as a trade paperback in July 2019). But in the story, Wolfman acknowledged Rachel’s death, and adhered to it—though he didn’t like it. “I would not have killed off Rachel,” he says. “She was a vital character. But I’m professional enough that I could [pick up on continuity established by another writer].” Wolfman adds, however, “I could not avoid Rachel’s death anyway. [The editors at Marvel] would not have let me say she was alive, I know that.”

EVIL-UTION

In recent years, Dracula has been redesigned extensively and moved even closer to the center of the Marvel Universe, encountering the likes of Captain Britain, Dr. Doom, the Hulk, and lately, the Avengers. The current interpretation of the vampire lord bears almost no resemblance to his original Marvel incarnation. That may actually be for the best, as it has the effect of preserving the Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan version as its own thing, one with a beginning, middle, and end, and guided mostly by one creative vision.

“I really sat on Dracula, and really didn’t let people screw it up while I was there,” Wolfman says. “Everybody wanted a hand in it because they all liked the book. But my knowledge was that they would not have gotten it correct, even if they were far better writers. They just wouldn’t have done the Dracula that I had done.” In all likelihood, every writer who followed Wolfman on Marvel’s Dracula would agree with that assessment— a testament to Wolfman’s indelible work on the character. But as the saying goes, you can’t blame a guy for trying, can you? GLENN GREENBERG is an awardwinning editor and writer. In fact, he’s one of the writers who followed in Marv Wolfman’s footsteps on Marvel’s Dracula, and feels honored and privileged to have been able to contribute to the character’s history.

Merry Marvelites Yep, that’s Count Dracula himself, front and center, in this spectacular poster by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott produced for the Mighty Marvel Comicon 1975! Courtesy of Heritage. All characters © Marvel, except Conan © Conan Properties, LLC and Doc Savage © Condé Nast.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55

On the current cinema scene, Marvel and Godzilla are two of the biggest box-office attractions in the world. Fans love both the superhero smash-ups of Marvel and the Kaiju [Japanese giant-monsters—ed.] smackdowns of the world of Godzilla, and it seems that every subsequent film focusing on both hero and on monster will make box-office bank. Imagine if the two words collided—if the world of Godzilla and the world of Marvel crashed together in a seismic, Kaiju-versus-hero rumble with Iron Man, Thor, Dr. Strange, or the Hulk, testing their heroic mettle against the biggest, baddest monster of them all. Verily, the heavens would shake. In the Bronze Age, fans did not have to imagine this improbable monster-versus-hero mayhem because in the late ’70s, Marvel versus Godzilla was a reality. In 1977 writer Doug Moench and the late, great artist Herb Trimpe delivered the blazing-hot Godzilla #1 (Aug. 1977) to ravenous Marvel fans. At that time, Godzilla was a TV staple, with the King of the Monster’s films appearing all over syndicated and local television in various “Monster Week” incarnations. Yes, Godzilla was huge in 1977, and so was Marvel, as the House of Ideas became home to many outside licenses. Marvel welcomed with open arms Toho Co. Ltd.’s Godzilla into the house that Stan and Jack built. Herb Trimpe was no stranger to big, green, angry protagonists, as he had already become one of the DOUG MOENCH most legendary Incredible Hulk artists in Marveldom assembled. Trimpe taking the artistic chores of a bigger and greener monster just seemed perfect, and with the new Godzilla title basically being a Kaiju tour of the Marvel Universe, it made sense to have a yeoman Marvel artist like Trimpe leading the charge. Many Marvel heroes would appear in the pages of Godzilla, but it was a Marvel legend of a different kind that recruited writer Doug Moench to the project. “As I recall,” Moench tells BACK ISSUE, “I believe this was the one time Stan Lee himself asked me to do something specific. I don’t know why [he thought] I would be good for the project, but I remember going to a screening of a new Godzilla movie with Stan. He had a great time; he just laughed and clapped the whole time, but I thought it was really goofy. But I thought it was a good opportunity to do something different, to write a book aimed at younger readers.” In many of the Toho films, kids were Godzilla’s greatest allies, and it was this youthful appeal that drew Moench to the project. “I kept telling Stan, ‘Our readership is aging with us. At this point, most of them are adults.’ I thought we should be targeting kids more. If we couldn’t do it with the price, we’d do it with the kind of stories… I would do Godzilla deliberately aimed at kids. It wouldn’t be juvenile, it wouldn’t be talking down to kids. I would try to do it in a way adults could also enjoy. It would be designed to hit those things kids responded to in Godzilla. And kids were obsessed with Godzilla. Stan took three seconds and said, ‘You got it, Doug.’” So a title was born, a Godzilla book that would merge the world of Godzilla with the Marvel Universe, with the mission statement of attracting young readers. Unfortunately, Marvel’s deal with Toho did not allow for Godzilla’s more famed friends like Rodan or Mothra or foes like Gidorah to accompany Godzilla to the House of Ideas. But fans did get to see Trimpe’s Godzilla go against some of Marvel’s most legendary heroes. Plus, fans even got to witness some of Moench and Trimpe’s original creations survive and become part of the Marvel Universe after the Big G’s book was cancelled. So let us observe Kaiju history from a safe distance and witness the greatest geekdom battle royal of all, Godzilla versus the Marvel Universe, brought to us by two true legends, Moench and Trimpe!

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes vs. the King of Monsters Marvel’s Big Guns take on Toho’s Big G on the Herb Trimpe/ Dan Green cover to Marvel’s Godzilla #23 (June 1979). Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel.

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by M a r c

Buxton

GODZILLA VS. S.H.I.E.L.D., ROUND 1

Moench had a very good reason for frequently relying on familiar Marvel icons as he attempted to merge the worlds of Marvel and Toho. In a 2004 article by Tom Stewart about Marvel Comics’ Godzilla published in BACK ISSUE #6, Moench recollected, “I think in comics, which don’t have the I’m ready for my scale of movies, it’s very hard to have the main character be a monster. close-up, Mr. Lee! You need to offset it, very strongly, with the human element. In movies, they do it with the movie stars; in comics, they do it with the stars from Big G’s Marvel the other titles. I felt he probably needed a little… humanization?” debut, in Godzilla To humanize the giant lizard, Moench turned to the characters of the Marvel Universe. Imagine today, if Big G stomped onto an IMAX screen, #1 (Aug. 1977), shooting white-hot nuclear fire at a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. It would pure Moench/ melt the brains of moviedom assembled! But this impossible battle happened in the first issue of Moench and Trimpe’s Godzilla. Trimpe magic During Trimpe’s legendary run on The Incredible Hulk, the Green putting (bottom) Goliath was taken on a world tour and faced some of the best international stars and settings Marvel had to offer. Trimpe and Moench’s S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Dugan Godzilla would follow a similar plot structure. and Woo on the In the first issue of the King of the Monsters’ comic, Godzilla surfaced in Alaska. By setting the opening tale in the United States instead of monster’s trail. Godzilla’s usual stomping grounds of Japan, Moench allowed the book to include instant Marvel guest-stars. And sure enough, almost right after Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel. Godzilla starts destroying Alaska’s oil pipeline (during the ’70s energy crisis—the denizens of the MU must have felt that at the pump!), Dum Dum Dugan and Jimmy Woo, famed and familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, show up on the scene to combat this new gargantuan menace. Nick Fury shows up as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. throws Stark weaponry at Godzilla, to no avail. S.H.I.E.L.D. was a natural for inclusion in Godzilla. Moench tells BACK ISSUE, “S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t have their own book at the time, [and as such] we wouldn’t impact continuity. They had this helicarrier that was huge and could go against Godzilla.” Furthermore, S.H.I.E.L.D. was used in Godzilla to protect the reputations of Marvel’s bigger guns. “Any of the other Marvel characters, if they weren’t able to stop Godzilla, they’d seem weak… you’d just be diminishing the reputations of the Marvel characters,” Moench Godzilla editor Archie Goodwin was aware of the King explains. “‘You mean, the Fantastic Four can’t stop of Monsters’ inherent economic realities. It was he who wanted Godzilla in the Marvel Universe and asked this?’ ‘You’re telling me Thor can’t stop this giant Moench to make it happen. Moench tells BI, “Archie lizard? He’s fought dragons, for Pete’s sake!’ The said, ‘You know, it would really help sales if we could S.H.I.E.L.D. guys worked. Then you only had to overlook, ‘Where’s Thor and the other guys when Godzilfeature some Marvel characters in here.’ I remember la’s stomping around?’” always thinking Archie was the best editor I ever worked Dum Dum Dugan is an excellent choice to play with. He didn’t bother you much. Everything he ever Captain Ahab to Big G’s white whale as Moench suggested was good. The people who bought it would be establishes S.H.I.E.L.D. as Godzilla’s main adversary for exposed to the Marvel Universe.” [Editor’s note: Starting the new title. Jimmy Woo is also a welcome addition. with issue #12, a succession of editors—Jim Shooter, As one of the few Asian Marvel characters at the time, Bob Hall, Jo Duffy, and Al Milgrom—oversaw Marvel’s herb trimpe it was appropriate to have Woo appear in a comic Godzilla until its conclusion with issue #24.] inspired by one of the biggest film sensations on that great continent. Yeah, Woo was Chinese and got his start in the “yellow GODZILLA VS. S.H.I.E.L.D., ROUND 2 peril” Yellow Claw title from 1956, but the character had become one Along with S.H.I.E.L.D. appearing as recurring characters, Moench and of the standouts in issues of Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and gave Trimpe also introduced a team of Japanese Godzilla experts in the Godzilla much-needed and culturally appropriate diversity. pages of the new mag. The young Robert “Rob” Takiguchi, the kindly Fans expecting to see Nick Fury lead the charge against the Big G and brilliant Tamara Hashioka, and the cold, yet humanistic Dr. Yuriko would be in for a disappointment, however. Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. Takiguchi (Rob’s grandfather) all make their debut in the premiere issue didn’t have its own book at the time, “we couldn’t use Nick Fury because of Godzilla, and believe me, these cats are right out of Toho central he was being used here and there,” Moench says. “It would complicate casting. (I think there’s an international law that states that every Kaiju any plans for Nick in other books if he was stuck on permanent Godzilla story has to have the brilliant older scientist, the warm-hearted female scientist, and the Godzilla-loving young boy.) assignment. It had to be the second-tier S.H.I.E.L.D. characters.” Also making his Godzilla debut in the second issue (Sept. 1977) is By going up against the King of the Monsters, the “second-tier” S.H.I.E.L.D. characters became first tier very quickly. After all, Dugan and S.H.I.E.L.D. legend Gabe Jones, one of the first African-American Marvel Woo were battling one of the biggest international film stars the world heroes [from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos—ed.], who joins had ever seen! Another reason that S.H.I.E.L.D. became such a regular his S.H.I.E.L.D. brothers to take the fight to Godzilla as the King of the part of Marvel’s Godzilla was because the writer liked the concept and Monsters stomps across Seattle and tries to eat the famed Sky Needle its history. Moench fondly relates, “I was one of the few on my block who like a Smashburger. With the help of their three new Japanese friends, actually loved Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. I thought it was great. Dugan’s S.H.I.E.L.D. unit—now officially dubbed “the Godzilla Squad”— I loved Dum Dum Dugan. I wanted Dum Dum to fight Godzilla.” uses non-lethal weapons to force the Big G back into the Pacific. The first The first issue also gave readers a truncated origin for Godzilla, mention of Tony (Iron Man) Stark occurs in this issue as well, but sadly, one that would be familiar to audiences. Like in the films, Godzilla was this does not lead to a Godzilla versus Godzilla-buster Iron Man battle. awakened and mutated by a nuclear explosion. So Godzilla joined the No, sadly, the hopes of that epic throw-down has to live in the ranks of character like the Hulk, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and Daredevil imaginations of Marvel fans, but those fans would not have to wait as a Marvel character enhanced by radiation during the Cold War. long for Godzilla’s first direct confrontation with Marvel superheroes. Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 57

Big Trouble (left) The King of Monsters vs. the Champions, on the Trimpe/Marie Severin cover to Godzilla #3 (Oct. 1977). (right) Doug Moench’s Ultra Man analog, Red Ronin, stood tall in Godzilla and elsewhere in the Marvel Universe. Godzilla #8 (Mar. 1978) cover by Ernie Chan (Chua). Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel.

GODZILLA VS. THE CHAMPIONS

You would think that Marvel would not be able to wait to have the legendary Godzilla go up against the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four, or even the Defenders (Hulk, ya’ll!). But the first superhero squad that Godzilla would go towering toe-to-toe against would be none other than… the Champions! Yes, the short-lived super-team that defended the West Coast popped up in Godzilla #3 (Oct. 1977). On paper, this does not really seem like a fair match-up. Yes, Hercules versus Godzilla is intriguing. But the other members of the Champions? Angel, a winged billionaire versus a reptilian engine of destruction? Nope. Iceman? Poor Bobby Drake, a guy made of ice, would do against an immense beast made of nuclear fire about as well as a snow cone on a hot day. Black Widow? Listen, we love ourselves some Natasha, but what is she going to do against Godzilla… espionage him to death? Now, the Champions’ Ghost Rider would make an awesome opponent for Godzilla, especially if Moench could have contrived a way to present a giant Ghost Rider, but alas, the flame-headed hell-biker doesn’t even make an appearance in this issue. Moench tells BACK ISSUE that the use of this semi-esoteric super-team was “a request from Archie [Goodwin]. Archie called me and said, ‘We got this book, The Champions, that’s not selling well and can use a boost. Could you put them in Godzilla?’ I said, ‘I don’t really want to, Archie. Is it a personal favor? Then, okay.’” The favor to Goodwin narratively begins when Godzilla arrives in San Francisco. It’s up to this makeshift team of two mutants, an Olympian god, and a future Scarlett Johansson character to stop him! Through all the tumult, there is an absolutely bonkers Herculesversus-Godzilla fight that results in the mythic Olympian tossing Godzilla ass-over-tea kettle. It’s pretty insanely epic, truth be told. The other three Champions run interference for Herc, but that doesn’t stop Godzilla from smashing the Golden Gate Bridge and the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Imagine that on the big screen! As if all that isn’t enough, Tony Stark makes his first on-panel appearance as the billionaire industrialist meets with James Woo and his three Japanese friends, and Stark’s latest project is destined to burst from the pages of Godzilla and into Marvel history.

GODZILLA VS. THE CREATURES OF DR. DEMONICUS

Before we get more of Tony Stark, we meet another Moench character that would find life outside the pages of Godzilla. In Godzilla #4–5 (Nov.–Dec. 1977) by Moench and guest artist Tom Sutton, the Kaijucreating Dr. Demonicus first appeared. As Moench tells BACK ISSUE, Dr. Demonicus was created because of “Marvel not having the money for [Toho’s] Rodan and Mothra. I had to create my own giant monsters to square off against Godzilla. Rather than just have the same thing over and over—a thing in suspended animation for millions of years, and a nuclear test wakes it up—I thought, what if there was one guy who deliberately creates these things? That seemed easier.” In these issues, Moench and Sutton reveal that Dr. Demonicus was once a scientist who was blasted by radiation. His ensuing obsession with the secrets of radiation leads to his firing by his company. Exiling himself from mankind, he discovers an irradiated meteor called the Lifestone that can mutate lifeforms. Dubbing himself “Dr. Demonicus,” he gathers simple creatures like moths, bats, and lizards and exposes them to the meteor. Boom—insta-Kaijus! As for the Marvel Universe connection, Godzilla #4–5 is essentially a S.H.I.E.L.D. story. Dugan takes center stage in the battle against Demonicus’ monsters while Jones gets Demonicus to reveal his origins and plans. Gabe singlehandedly takes down Demonicus while Godzilla roasts the new beasties. In fact, it’s almost as if Godzilla becomes an honorary member of S.H.I.E.L.D. in these issues. Dr. Demonicus might have seemed like a generic threat and a throwaway villain, but he would fill a fascinating part of Marvel history, appearing again in the pages of West Coast Avengers, Iron Man, and most recently, in the pages of New Avengers. Appropriately, Moench also brought Dr. Demonicus to another licensed title, Shogun Warriors, where the plans of the not-so-good doctor were fleshed out his villainous creation. “I really liked the name,” Moench fondly remembers. “He was a way to just produce endless monsters.” Moench never got to deliver a Godzilla-versus-Shogun Warriors series, but if he had, one could predict that Dr. Demonicus would have been the Big Bad.

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GODZILLA VS. RED RONIN

Dr. Demonicus was not the only idea from Marvel’s Godzilla that impacted the Marvel Universe. The world was also introduced to the mighty Marvel mech Red Ronin in the pages of Godzilla #6–8 (Jan.–Mar. 1978). In these issues, Trimpe returns to render a three-way battle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and their new Godzilla-crushing helicarrier dubbed Behemoth, Red Ronin, and Godzilla his-own-self. What is Red Ronin, you ask? Earlier in the series, a new, specialized weapon designed by Tony Stark was teased. That weapon is introduced in Godzilla #6: a towering, Ultra Man/Shogun Warriors-inspired mech suit, to be operated by a human inside. When Godzilla threatens a California nuclearweapons base, S.H.I.E.L.D. unleashes the Stark-designed suit. However, Robert Takiguchi, the young Japanese boy introduced earlier in the series, steals the suit in order to protect Godzilla. “This was before Marvel got the rights to Shogun Warriors,” Moench says. “I remember talking to Archie about this other cool stuff coming out of Japan. These cool robots and some of them turn into spaceships and stuff. And he said, ‘Why don’t make one up like that and put it in Godzilla?’” It turns out that Moench named the brave, youthful Rob after a childhood friend! “Red Ronin was controlled by my best friend in high school, Rob Takiguchi,” Moench says. “He’s still one of my best friends. We lost touch for a little while… he was going to Boston University. In his dorm, someone was reading comics. He picked one up and saw the name of the writer. He tracked me down, maybe through Marvel, and said, ‘Is this really you?’ We hooked up and became good friends again. He was always really amazed that his pal from high school was writing comic books, so I said, ‘I’ll put you in one of them! You’re not going to sue me right?’ He was tickled pink.” Red Ronin would continue to fight the good Kaiju fight as part of the Marvel Universe decades after it first appeared in Godzilla, in series including The Avengers, Wolverine, and Thunderbolts.

In the first part of a four-part arc, S.H.I.E.L.D. turns to Pym to find a solution to their Godzilla problem. S.H.I.E.L.D. wants a way to contain Godzilla without hurting him, so enter Pym and his patented shrinking gas. Pym never battles Godzilla himself, but S.H.I.E.L.D. does use Pym’s Ant-Man tech to make Godzilla pint-size. This all leads to the surreal scene of Dum Dum grabbing Godzilla by the tail while Gabe Jones football-tackles the King of the Monsters. The brilliant use of the Pym particles is a perfect way to entrench Godzilla in the Marvel Universe, and the use of the shrinking gas kicks off the most offbeat Godzilla tale ever told. How offbeat? How about Godzilla arriving in New York and battling a bona fide New York City sewer rat? That’s right! Godzilla! The King of the Monsters, who has fought Mothra, Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, Megalon, and so many more beasts, fights a rabid rodent in the offal-strewn sewers of New York City, all thanks to Henry Pym’s shrinking gas. Godzilla’s strange New York adventure begins with the effective inclusion of the original Ant-Man (with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her appearance by Janet Van Dyne) and a rat and ends with the Kaiju King clashing with some of the most famous figures of the Marvel Universe.

Watch Your Step! With S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Dum Dum Dugan watching from the helicarrier, Red Ronin and the King of Monsters poise for battle on this Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida original art page courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonyscomicbookart.com). Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel.

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING GODZILLA

Godzilla #17 (Dec. 1978) features one of the most crushingly misleading covers in Marvel history. Well, that might be a bit of personal hyperbole, because imagine me, your guide through comic-book history, at five years old, hitting my favorite newsstand in upstate New York. I spy an Herb Trimpe-drawn cover of Dum Dum Dugan, derby on head, cigar in mouth, towering over Godzilla. After I plopped down my 35 cents, was I to witness a giant Dum Dum Dugan, mustache hairs the size of redwoods, taking down my favorite Monster Week Kaiju? Sadly, no, as it wasn’t Dugan who grew to Galactussize proportions (the other, other great tragedy of the Bronze Age)—it was Godzilla who shrunk! My disappointment over the lack of a giant Dugan aside, this arc remains one of Moench’s favorites. The writer fondly recalls the genesis of mini-Godzilla: “Everything had to be humongous, but wouldn’t it be great if we could have Dum Dum Dugan actually fight Godzilla? So I thought, ‘Wait a minute, what about Hank Pym?’ “One of my favorite movies as a kid was The Incredible Shrinking Man. I remember in that movie, the hero got so small he had a giant epic battle with a spider. So I thought, ‘If Godzilla kept shrinking, he’d have to fight rats, and now he had to be the little guy.” At first, Moench’s little-Godzilla story rubbed his collaborator the wrong way. “I remember Herb thinking it was a terrible idea,” Moench recalls. “He didn’t want to do it. He finally called me and said, ‘This is great; I can’t wait to get started!’” Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 59

MINI-GODZILLA VS. THE FANTASTIC FOUR

Godzilla #19 (Feb. 1979) has the surreal distinction of featuring a bare-knuckled dockside brawl between a six-foot Godzilla and Dum Dum Dugan. And listen, the old-school Toho classics featured just about every Godzilla story imaginable, but they never featured Godzilla getting mugged while wearing a fedora and a trench coat. Wow. That all leads up to the main event in Godzilla #20 (Mar. 1979) as Big G, albeit a not as big as usual Big G, goes up against Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four! “Once I got the idea,” Moench remembers, “it felt like that if any of the established Marvel characters were right to go up against Godzilla, it was the FF. I don’t know why: If it was the fact that there were four of them and they could surround him. They also had their Fantasticar. They just felt right. If a giant monster was stomping Manhattan, the FF would be the ones to go to.” As the FF step onto the Kaiju stage, the still-diminutive Godzilla is growing bigger and bigger. So if you ever wanted to see an NBA-sized Godzilla fight the Thing, well, here you go. It’s all note-perfect with strength against strength when Ben Grimm slugs it out with Godzilla and flame against flame as Johnny Storm tries his Human Torch luck. The FF lure Godzilla to the Museum of Natural History and try to contain the ever-growing Godzilla beneath the high ceilings (really, I’s just an excuse for Trimpe to draw beautiful prehistoric backgrounds for Godzilla to smash). Fans never got to see the fully powered, size-restored Godzilla versus the Fantastic Four, but in 1979, just the sight of Godzilla and the FF sharing a comics page would make any fanboy scream with delight. It is the FF who stand victorious and must now work with S.H.I.E.L.D. and our supporting cast to solve the Godzilla problem… and the solution will send Godzilla crashing up against another offbeat part of the Marvel Universe.

GODZILLA VS. DEVIL DINOSAUR

Really, isn’t this just about everything awesome about the Bronze Age? At this point in time, Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur series had been cancelled for a couple of months (the last issue, Devil Dinosaur #9, was cover-dated December 1978). But Marvel did not forget about Devil or his pal Moon Boy and found the perfect vehicle in which to continue Big Red’s adventures. We’re still in Godzilla #21, and the FF and company decide the only solution to the Godzilla problem is to send the creature back to the prehistoric era where it can find peace. Reed Richards uses Dr. Doom’s time platform to do the deed, and of course, Godzilla lands right into the heart of the Flame-Valley, the setting of Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur. Almost instantly, Godzilla is attacked by the Lizard-Warriors, some of the main protagonists in Kirby’s prehistoric classic, and must ride their domesticated-but-still-savage dinos, the Beasts of Strife. The Kirby Kreations arrive fast and furious as Moon Boy and his steed Devil Dinosaur take the stage to see what the commotion is about. That’s where the Bronze Age Marvel magic really bursts into flames as Devil and Godzilla attack each other. Trimpe does his level beast to render Devil Dinosaur in the best Kirby homage possible, as the love for the King of Comics is evident. The prehistoric team-up continues in Godzilla #22 (May 1979), where Moench and Trimpe bring in more elements from Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur such as the character the Hag from the Pits. “My love for Kirby was only overshadowed by Herb’s love for Kirby,” Moench says. While big G and Devil pal around, the Godzilla Squad starts to fold up shop and head off to their next assignment. Meanwhile, Reed discovers Godzilla’s irradiated body has messed with Doom’s time platform, causing it to destabilize. Reed realizes the platform is about to spit Godzilla back out, so the FF race to Times Square to get ready for Godzilla’s arrival. Just as Devil Dinosaur, Godzilla,

Get Shorty Moench’s admiration of (left) the sci-fi classic The Incredible Shrinking Man inspired (right) Godzilla’s “shrinking” story arc. Godzilla #17 (Dec. 1978) cover by Trimpe and Bob Layton. Movie poster courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel. The Incredible Shrinking Man © Universal Pictures.

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and Moon Boy defeat their adversaries thanks to Moon Boy’s guile, Godzilla is sucked back into the present day, the Pym particles wear off, and Godzilla returns, full-sized, to Times Square. Before we clear up that skyscraping cliffhanger, let us look at the myriad elements of the Marvel Universe used in this storyline. There’s S.H.I.E.L.D., the Fantastic Four, Doom’s time platform, Henry Pym’s Ant-Man tech, and Jack Kirby’s insane prehistoric world of Devil Dinosaur. In fact, Godzilla #21–22 is the first time elements of the Marvel Universe merge with Kirby’s world of dinosaurs. That’s a ton of moving Marvel parts to juggle, and Moench and Trimpe handle them all with style. But for now, we must say goodbye to Devil Dinosaur, but with Godzilla back in New York City, we must prepare for a conflict that would make any big-budget film producer envious… the most unlikely clash of all, one that would melt the minds of modern day finds should it take place today.

GODZILLA VS. THE AVENGERS

Godzilla #23 (June 1979) really serves as a tour of the Marvel Universe for Big G. In this issue, not only does a fighting-mad Godzilla emerge in Manhattan, he takes on some of Marvel’s biggest superstars. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Fantastic Four are already on the case, but as Godzilla starts rampaging around New York City, the Avengers receive the call to action. Before the King of the Monsters clashes with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Godzilla has one more unexpected Marvel meeting with none other than J. Jonah Jameson! In the funniest scene of the series, a blustering Jonah demands to know what’s going on in Midtown. As he screams at Daily Bugle managing editor Joe Robertson to get the details, Godzilla’s red eye appears at Jonah’s window. Jonah does what Jonah does and starts screaming at Godzilla, calling it a menace. Playfully, Godzilla shoots a puff of hot air at Jonah. It’s pure Marvel magic. From that bit of silliness, it’s all-out action as the Human Torch summons the Avengers to help with the Kaiju problem. Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Henry Pym in his Yellowjacket guise, and the Wasp all answer the call, while Captain America and Scarlet Witch stay behind to monitor the situation. Moench and Trimpe give each Marvel legend his or her moment, but in the end, Godzilla emerges from the Hudson River, angry and ready to unleash hell. All good things must come to an end, and Godzilla #24 (July 1979) would be the final issue of the series… but, man, does it go out with a nuclear bang! Godzilla attacks the Empire State Building (King Kong’s lawyers shall hear of this!), and only the Marvel team-up of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and S.H.I.E.L.D. can stop him. At one point Godzilla tries to knock over the Empire State Building, but Thor pushes back in the mightiest tug of war of all time. But whatever the heroes of Marvel throw at Godzilla, nothing works. The combined intellect of Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and Henry Pym cannot figure out a way to stop Godzilla. Where force doesn’t work, kindness does. Enter young Rob Takiguchi, former pilot of Red Ronin, who begs Godzilla to leave New York. The tears of young Rob succeed where Uru hammers, repulsor rays, and helicarriers fail. Godzilla listens to his young friend and heads into the Hudson River. It’s a perfect Toho conclusion, with Godzilla’s young Japanese friend tearfully bidding farewell to the beast that oh, so briefly made a huge impact in the Marvel Universe.

Appropriately, it is Marvel’s number-one son, its corporate icon, Spider-Man, who has the last word. As Godzilla walks off into the sunset, Peter Parker takes a picture and says goodbye to the King of the Monsters. As does Marveldom assembled. So, what would have happened if Godzilla continued into a titanic third year? There were so many Marvel heres, villains, and legends that would have been unforgettable and epic in Godzilla clashes. Imagine Godzilla in Asgard, Godzilla versus Fin Fang Foom, Godzilla versus the X-Men, or Godzilla against Black Goliath or anyone of Henry Pym’s titanic skyscraper heroic identities. None of those were to be, but one Marvel exclusion remains a true head-scratcher. With Herb Trimpe onboard as artist, how on Earth did the Hulk never appear in Godzilla? How did Marvel never present its two strongest, fiercest, greenest monsters of them all locked in nuclear combat? The answer will surprise you. “I had many discussions with Herb about that and Herb said, ‘I will never draw the Hulk again,’” Moench reveals. “I said, ‘Come on, Herb, you did the greatest Hulk.’ And he said, ‘Nope, I’ll never draw him again.’ There must have been some bad experiences towards the end of his run. Or he was just totally sick of the Hulk.

More Marvel Mix-Ups (top left) Versus the Fantastic Four, on the Trimpe/Bob McLeod cover of Godzilla #20. (top right) Versus Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur, on Trimpe’s cover for #21. (bottom) A hilarious encounter with blowhard J. Jonah Jameson in Godzilla #23. Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel.

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What Goes Around, Comes Around (bottom) Original Herb Trimpe/Dan Green art from the final issue of Godzilla, #24, showing a flummoxed Thunder God. Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). (top) The Marvel Universe’s Godzilla returned… sort of… in Iron Man #193 (Apr. 1985). Cover by Luke McDonnell, Ian Akin, and Brian Garvey. Godzilla © Toho Company Ltd. Marvel characters TM & © Marvel.

You never know what strikes deep into the heart of another person. He could have drawn him so many times he was sick of it or he could have had bad memories on how his run ended. I just know it was obvious, and we didn’t do it.’” With that greenest itch left unscratched, it looked like Godzilla stomped into the sunset of the Marvel Universe for good. Or did he?

GODZILLA VS. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Despite a fun, energetic, moving, and at times, completely insane series, Godzilla’s ties to Marvel were severed. But what of those Moench and Trimpe tales? Were readers expected to believe that a huge nuclear lizard rampages from coast to coast, through time and space, and no one ever mentions it again? In Iron Man #193 (Apr. 1985), writer Dennis O’Neil and artist Luke McDonnell set out to solve the Marvel Kaiju conundrum. This issue of Iron Man in question is set right after Tony Stark’s relapse into alcoholism and sees Stark struggling with the inner conflict of whether he should return to being the Armored Avenger. All that is secondary to our monstrous purpose because in this issue, Dr. Demonicus returns to the Marvel Universe. And with Demonicus is a very familiar green amphibious giant lizard. O’Neil’s story reveals that during the years between Moench and Trimpe’s Godzilla series and this issue of Iron Man, Demonicus has gained control of the creature formerly known as Godzilla. Demonicus further mutates Godzilla, making the Kaiju look more amphibious as the titular monster from Moench and Trimpe’s monster mash now has a large aquatic fin and two facial horns. The monster is also smaller in size, but in this issue, Demonicus’ thrall brings down a Quinjet flown by West Coast Avengers member Tigra and fights Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tony Stark in his original gray Iron Man armor. Iron Man defeats the mutated Kaiju and defeats Demonicus three issues later in the Rich Buckler-drawn Iron Man #196 (July 1985), but for our purposes, these issues confirm that Godzilla’s clashes with the Champions, S.H.I.E.L.D., Demonicus, the Fantastic Four, Devil Dinosaur, the Avengers, and a sewer rat were indeed wonderfully strange parts of Marvel continuity, and now, thanks to Demonicus mutating Godzilla to a point where Toho’s lawyers can’t sue, Godzilla can remain part of the Marvel Universe! The newly mutated, legally protected Godzilla would return in another creature feature in The Thing #31 (Jan. 1986) by Mike Carlin, Ron Wilson, and Kim DeMulder. Oddly enough, in this offbeat issue, Ben Grimm doesn’t fight Neo-Zilla. Instead, the mutated Kaiju goes up against an animatronic Devil Dinosaur. You see, Thing was filming scenes for Devil Dinosaur: The Movie when the former Big G shows up and begins to wreck the set. The Thing stays inside his trailer while the Devil Dinosaur robot takes the fight to the creature formerly known as Godzilla. It’s all a great deal of fun and a wonderful tribute to the Bronze Age madness that was Marvel’s Godzilla. At the end of the monstrous day, Godzilla is everything that was special about the Bronze Age. It was an offbeat comic series by two masters of the craft that never took itself too seriously but still had a huge heart. The series took the best of two mediums and jammed it all up together in a book that should never have worked—but did. Marvel’s Godzilla remains a fevered dream of cross mediums and cross genres that stands the test of time and is still an absolute joy to revisit. MARC BUXTON is a proud contributor to websites like Comic Book Resources and Den of Geek US. He is an English teacher, and Marc’s loving wife thinks he owns way to many comic books. Marc has been reading comics since the dawn of time and is still deeply in love with every era of the great medium.

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Batman vs. Dracula Kelley Jones’ Batman & Dracula: Red Rain promotional art from 1991. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

conducted by C h r i s t o p h e r L a r o c h e l l e transcribed by Rose Rummel-Eury

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As explored recently in BACK ISSUE #111, DC Comics has a rich history of “imaginary stories,” or tales in which comic-book creators cast a different light on the familiar situations faced by the company’s characters. 1989 saw the publication of Gotham by Gaslight, which thrust Batman into Victorian England in a story written by Brian Augustyn and drawn by Mike Mignola. Gaslight led to DC editorial crafting a new imprint called Elseworlds that would become a revitalization of the “imaginary story” concept forged in previous decades. While many Elseworlds stories came about before the imprint quietly folded in 2003, it wasn’t every story and creative team that really tapped fully into the potential the imprint offered. Some of

the finest examples of the Elseworlds comics were the “Batman: Vampire” comics that ran sporadically throughout the 1990s, courtesy of the collaborative vision of writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones. A trilogy of graphic novels (1991’s Red Rain, 1994’s Bloodstorm, and late 1998’s Crimson Mist) chronicles the Dark Knight’s darkest journey ever. While horror elements have been a part of the Batman mythos since some of the character’s earliest stories, no creative team ever had the opportunity to take that part and run wild with it quite like Moench and Jones did. – Christopher Larochelle

Interview with Batman: Vampire Artist Kelley Jones Kelley Jones is renowned for being a master of horror-filled comic-book art. Some key projects at DC directly led to his involvement with the Batman: Vampire graphic novels. 1989 saw the publication of Deadman: Love After Death, a Prestige Format story written by Mike Baron that really let Jones cut loose on a style that emphasized the darkness that was completely befitting the character. Not long after, Jones collaborated with Neil Gaiman on some key stories for Sandman (most notably, the Season of Mists arc, which featured a journey straight into the depths of Hell). The work on Sandman directly led to a phone call from Doug Moench, and for years afterward, the names of Moench and Jones would become synonymous with great Batman stories.

Batman Has Risen from the Grave (obviously) Covers to the Batman: Red Rain trilogy, plus Batman: Dark Joker: The Wild. TM & © DC Comics.

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CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE: How was it that you became attached to the Red Rain project? You were pretty busy with DC work at the time. KELLEY JONES: Malcolm Jones III called me and said he was working with Doug Moench, which made me freeze up. Doug was a hero of mine. I was working with contemporaries at the time: Mike Baron, John Ostrander, Neil Gaiman. I hadn’t really worked with legendary people—no one I had grown up reading. At that point, Malcolm said, “If you want, I’ll pass on your number. He has an idea that he wants to ask you about.” I said, “Of course, I’d love that.” I was all nervous. I thought he’d call in a couple of days and he called 20 minutes later! He said, “I’d love to pitch you an idea. It’s something different.” He said it would star Batman and he would fight… Dracula. My heart just sank! I was thinking I would get the Joker, the Penguin, one of the cool rogues… a big special project! It’s going to be like The Killing Joke or something! But it sounded silly to me… Dracula? Doug said, “Look, I’ve typed this up and I’m going to FedEx it to you. Before you say anything, I want you to read it over. Then we’ll talk about it and you can decide whether you want to do it.” I’m thinking about how I can get out of this and not offend him. If I’m going to do Batman, I’m going to do Batman. I’m thinking that this project is Classics Illustrated or something. Anyway, the mail arrives and I’m thinking, “I’m going to read it over, at least. I can point out certain things I’m not crazy about or certain things that are silly.” I was ready to defend my position of not taking it. I was used to proposals like Neil Gaiman’s Season of Mists, which was on one page. This was easily 20 pages. It’s pretty detailed. I read three pages of it and it was so good, I put it down and called him up and said, “I’m in.” He said, “How did you like it?” I said, “I don’t know; I only read three pages.” Things moved quickly from there. I had been offered Sandman monthly, but I couldn’t turn this down. LAROCHELLE: So you were convinced. JONES: Yes. But as much as I loved this new project, I still didn’t see it as being a big hit. I saw it as a very

niche project. I would be told, [Batman group editor] Denny O’Neil said, “You know, people always say they’re going to do something special… particularly with Batman. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they don’t. This is pretty special.” I was only maybe 20 pages into it. As much as you like hearing this, it freezes you up. Then, as we got closer to the release date, all I was hearing over the summer was, “You have to see how good Simon Bisley and Alan Grant’s Judge Dredd/Batman is. This is amazing work.” I would always hear that from the office. I had a chance to see a little of it and it was amazing work. It was better than I thought it was going to be. LAROCHELLE: Oh, yeah, that must have been coming out around the same time. JONES: It wound up being scheduled for release the same week as our book! I just went, “Oh, it’s over. I’ve done all this work and sacrificed everything. There’s no way to compete with that.” Simon was at his full strength, fully painted; Alan was known for Batman and Judge Dredd. But… fast forward a bit and Red Rain came out on a Thursday. I was told on Friday that it was completely sold out. I do not know how we outsold Judge Dredd/Batman. I don’t. LAROCHELLE: But it happened. JONES: What retailers told me at store signings was that people were just discovering it and buying it and then it became a mad rush to get what was left. Stores were buying from other stores, if they could. It was insane. I think nobody expected it, but when it came to this, I remember Simon Bisley saying, “Who the hell’s idea was it to release…?” He was now saying it. But his book did great, our book did great… nobody suffered. Red Rain was a $25 book and they had no idea how big it was going to be. At that point, it did tremendous business, got nominated for awards, and again, I did not see that happening! Doug was the one who always said, “I think this is going to do great.” When the book came out, we got it a day or two before it was released and he was just going through it. He called me up and said, “This is as good a thing as I’ve ever had released.” I agreed. Les Dorscheid colored it beautifully, the printing was exceptional, the lettering was great. There was no “I wish I had this to do over” or “I wish I could get this right.” That rarely happens! There’s almost always a page or a panel where you want to do something, but deadlines make you have to get it done. Doug wanted me to know, since his career had been going on for a while, that this is rare and I should enjoy it. Editorial said, It worked so easily into a story with “Start thinking of a sequel.” Doug was Dracula. It just fit. It looked like we had the one who said, “Well, I don’t know— planned this out for years, rather than I it’s like this perfect thing already!” But then had just signed on to something. Doug is very competitive, especially LAROCHELLE: Before we get to with himself, so he said, “I’ll think of talk about how the vampire stories something.” He asked me if I was on continued… there’s a graphic novel kelley jones board, and of course I was! that seems to often get overlooked LAROCHELLE: Something that I really Gage Skidmore. called Dark Joker: The Wild. appreciate about Red Rain is how it starts off seeming JONES: I agree. We had already started to think about like an ordinary Batman story. Maybe the buildings in Bloodstorm, but Dark Joker came first. I got it and I read it Gotham are a little different, but it seems familiar. and thought, again, what I liked was that it was a complete JONES: I figured Gotham is New York really, so you’ll story. It had a great fantasy element to it, which is something have the Dutch part; you’ll have the original streets built unusual for a Batman story. That’s when John Beatty and by the British. You’ll have different sections of the city I finally got to work together. Initially Malcolm Jones was that reflect different economic strata, different social going to do it, but he couldn’t stay. Some pages were lost and I had to redraw them. I still enjoy that book. It’s one strata, historical significance… all those things. I was big on making Gotham a character. The Gotham that people do forget about. But when it was reprinted I saw kept building upon itself. recently, I got a ton of feedback about how good it was. That was where it came from, and when DC would LAROCHELLE: Let’s talk about Bloodstorm. It seems ask me about that, they would never say, “Don’t do it.” like you guys were—probably because of the success They would say, “That’s interesting… why are you doing of Red Rain—allowed more leeway with things. that?” I’d say, “Well, it’s backstory for me.” There’s more graphic horror… it’s ramped up.

Gordon the Vampire Slayer Batman and Commissioner Gordon are drawn into a dark world they never before imagined. Original art page (courtesy of Heritage) from Batman: Red Rain, by Doug Moench, Kelley Jones, and inker Malcolm Jones III. TM & © DC Comics.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 65

The Real Man-Bat (top) Alfred is shocked by Bruce Wayne’s Red Rain transformation. (bottom) Later in the Elseworlds tale, the Batman vs. Dracula confrontation takes a deadly turn for our hero. TM & © DC Comics.

JONES: I have to say, I tested to see if they’d let it be gorier. After Red Rain, everybody knows what the gig is and everybody knows that it’s kind of transcended into more of a horror story, so I can’t use superhero shtick—I can’t use the stereotypes of the superhero—I have to use the horror of it. I remember thinking, “I’ll just wait to see if they say no.” And they didn’t! Then again, I was thinking, “This is an expensive hardcover. It’s not part of continuity. People are going to want to see something a little different. If they want to see the regular stuff, they can get the regular book.” LAROCHELLE: And it’s available every month! JONES: Exactly. If we were going to do this, the trick was not to do it for the gruffness of it, but the terror of it. The first time you see how nasty this stuff gets, it really works because Batman is still going to be Batman—except he’s undead. Doug said that Batman is a force… a character of great will. Now, his great will was resisting a supernatural curse, and that was a challenge! LAROCHELLE: Talk about your approach for the Joker in Bloodstorm. Was there anybody you had in mind for inspiration or did you cook up your own version of the character? JONES: People always did the grim and the grim and the grim. I wanted him to make different faces that would be insane, and I found a book at the library. It was about the “treatment of” people in the asylum, years before we became more enlightened on mental illness. There were photos of these people and their faces weren’t always leering, but you could clearly tell there was something not right. So I took that idea and started applying it to the Joker. I always asked questions: “Is he always grinning? Is the grin natural, or is he forced to grin and can’t make any other face?” DC said, “When he’s at rest, he makes the grin, but he can speak and stuff, so he makes other faces. When he’s at rest, it’s always this odd grin.” I went from there and gave it a lot more range. I increased his pupils a little bit. Little things like that, and I think it worked pretty well. LAROCHELLE: There’s obviously a lot of attention to your approach. It does stand out because it’s a different Joker. JONES: Yeah. I’ve always felt the creepiness of that character was that it’s the little things that made him scary to me. Doug was doing a practical thing in having him being a person (albeit nuts) running a vampire gang. You’d have to be crazy to do that. All still for the point of defeating Batman… being Batman’s victim. That was terrific. That’s as insane a thing as there is. Of course, Batman has to make sure the Joker doesn’t come back as a vampire… that would be worse! The Joker… how do you make him more upsetting in a world of vampires? Doug figured that out wonderfully and I had to follow suit and make the character different enough where he was worse, almost. LAROCHELLE: And then there was Crimson Mist, following your tenure as the regular artist on Batman. JONES: Yes, I was busy working with Doug on Batman for a few years, but right after Bloodstorm came out, Denny O’Neil said, “It did really well. We’d like it to be a trilogy now.” Doug responded, “If we knew that, I would’ve saved the Joker for the third one… but we’ll come up with something.” I remember, all I said was, “In this one, he’ll just kill all the rogues.” LAROCHELLE: There’s a lot of characters in Crimson Mist. JONES: They’re all in it! All I said was to kill them and Doug went with that and did his thing. I said, “Doug, this really, really, really has to be the end because we’re killing everybody.” LAROCHELLE: Talk about the stamps decorating the pages that you added throughout Crimson Mist. JONES: I went and got a book of all these very old illustrations. It was all black and white from old stories. I had to go through DC legal and prove to them that is was stuff that was 150 years old, and I was doing it for the decoration and the atmosphere of it… something that I can’t do myself. I would read the page, draw the page, and then when it was done, I would think, “Well, what would work on it?” I thought it was a neat trick. Old MAD magazines had Sergio Aragonés draw little cartoons in the margins, so I thought it would be a really cool thing to try with a different genre. LAROCHELLE: As we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to say about your Batman stories with Doug? JONES: When it comes to Batman… I’m grateful you’ve got “O’Neil and Adams,” you’ve got “Englehart and Rogers,” and it felt good that “Moench and Jones” could be thrown right in there because of how well we worked together. 66 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

Interview with Batman: Vampire Writer Doug Moench By the time that Batman/Dracula: Red Rain was published, Doug Moench had been working in comics for over 20 years. He had already helmed the main Batman title for several years in the 1980s and had left behind many monuments at Marvel, including Master of Kung Fu and Moon Knight. Undeniably, something else that was really special happened in Moench’s career when he and Kelley Jones first started talking about what would happen if Dracula and Batman should meet…

exist and Gotham is a little weirder. But everything else, all the mainstays of Batman—all the things you like about Batman—I’m going to deliver in spades, I hope. And since it was an Elseworlds, we could end it with that stunning thing where Batman becomes a vampire. I thought that was kind of cool. LAROCHELLE: And it was a hit! MOENCH: Not only did Denny think it was the best Batman project being done at the time, but it sold really, really well and could’ve sold way better if they printed more! They solicited the orders without telling people anything more than “Batman and Dracula.” They got really high orders, but they didn’t show any pages, so nobody knew how unique it looked. Then, when people saw, I think three preview pages, they had all of these reorders. The reorders were actually higher than the initial orders, but it had already gone to the printer. I said, “Do a second printing.” They said, “No, no, no, we’ll bring out the

CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE: Red Rain came out during your second tenure as a Batman writer. What led up to you working on this particular book? DOUG MOENCH: When I decided I had to quit Marvel, I called up [DC editorial director] Dick Giordano and said, “You’ve been wanting to take me out to lunch? How about tomorrow?” We met, I explained I’d like to work at DC again, and he doug moench asked me what I wanted to do specifically. In his office, he threw his hand across all the DC books on the wall. I said, “Well, my favorite character has always been Batman,” and he said, “You got it!” That’s how I started (again) on Batman, and then editor Andy Helfer liked what I had done on the title. He was editing Legends of the Dark Knight. LAROCHELLE: That must have led to the Prey story. [Editor’s note: “Prey,” written by Moench and illustrated by Paul Gulacy and Terry Austin, ran in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #11–15 (Sept. 1990–Feb. 1991).] MOENCH: Yes. Denny O’Neil read Prey and said, “That thing you did for Helfer was the best thing coming out of the company. I want you to do a Batman graphic novel.” I said, “What kind of graphic novel?” He said, “Well, you can do an Elseworlds.” I preferred doing an Elseworlds because then I wouldn’t have to worry about the continuity. That night, after Denny asked me to do a graphic novel, Malcolm Jones called me up. I mentioned that Denny O’Neil asked me to do a Batman Elseworlds comic. He asked, “Are you going to do it?” I said, “I don’t know.” Malcolm said, “Well, if you were gonna do it, what would you do?” I said, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe put the two most famous bat guys together… Batman and Dracula. Dracula does turn into a bat, after all.” Malcolm said, “You gotta do that; you gotta do that.” I said, “You really think I should do it?” “Oh, yeah, and I know the perfect artist to do it. There’s this guy—I just inked this guy on Sandman— Kelley Jones, and he’d be perfect for a Batman/Dracula comic. You gotta call this guy, Kelley,” Malcolm said, and gave me the number. I had seen Kelley Jones’ stuff, Deadman. I hadn’t seen Sandman. I said, “Yeah, you know, that’s really a weird style, but maybe that’s what Batman/Dracula needs.” So, I sat down and wrote a 40- or 50-page proposal. LAROCHELLE: I want to ask about your approach with Red Rain. It almost seems like it’s supposed to be an ordinary Batman story at first, and then it obviously goes off into new directions. MOENCH: Yeah. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to do the kind of Batman that Batman readers like, except in this one, the supernatural exists… and vampires

Bad Moon Rising Batman’s not the only Gothamite transformed in the Moench/Jones chiller. Here, from Batman: Bloodstorm, Selina Kyle becomes even more of a catwoman. TM & © DC Comics.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 67

That’s What Friends Are For (left) Two old friends put an end to Batman’s vampirism (or so we’re led to believe) in Batman: Bloodstorm. Original Jones/John Beatty page courtesy of Heritage. (right) Loyal Alfred rues his decision to revive his macabre master on page 18 of Batman: Crimson Mist. TM & © DC Comics.

paperback quicker.” I thought that was stupid. There were probably 70,000 hardcovers selling for $25 each. Back in 1991, that was a big deal. There were reorders on top of the initial orders and DC was like, “Nah, we’re just going to throw away profit.” It was crazy! Nevertheless, they were high on how many copies it sold, so I said, “Well, I could do another Elseworlds Batman with Kelley… if you want.” No surprise, they did. It didn’t occur to me to do a sequel to Red Rain right away, though. I came up with a really extreme Elseworlds where there’s no Gotham and Batman is a fantasy Batman. That really pushed the Elseworlds part of it. LAROCHELLE: Dark Joker: The Wild? MOENCH: That’s it. LAROCHELLE: It’s interesting how the vampire stories turned into a trilogy, but The Wild was just a standalone. Did you ever have plans to continue with that? MOENCH: I may have ended it in such a way that there wasn’t any more I could do. Then again, I thought that with the way I ended Red Rain, that was it, too. How could we top revealing that Batman is a vampire? Wait a minute, we could do one where Batman is a vampire all the way through! And that’s how I came up with Bloodstorm. LAROCHELLE: When it comes to Bloodstorm, it really seems that the graphic horror of it all has been increased from what we saw in Red Rain.

68 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

MOENCH: Yeah. “Let’s top the first one,” that was the attitude. “Let’s really go for it.” I knew, “Okay, this is a sequel, except it ain’t gonna have Dracula. What can it have?” I thought, “A truly demented horror version of Joker is the obvious thing. Let’s do an Elseworlds Joker.” Sure, we had already done a Joker in The Wild. This one would be closer to the actual Joker, but in this supernatural reality we had made for Red Rain. We also did a different version of Catwoman, a.k.a. Selina Kyle. I remember saying to Kelley, “Selina is going to be a werecat. Selina means ‘the Moon,’ after all, and that’s what makes her change.” There’s so many possibilities that open up if you hit—if I do say so myself—a good idea. There are all these things: “We can do this and then we can do that.” It worked out really well. LAROCHELLE: Is there anything in particular you want to share about this version of Joker? He’s really different. MOENCH: I could imagine what Kelley Jones would do with a horror version of the Joker, and knew that it would be cool. So I wrote it that way, to try and push him to do his craziest horror style version. LAROCHELLE: Bloodstorm is about Batman trying to hold onto that little piece of himself that’s left… and then, like you do with all of these stories, there’s a big ending with Batman killing the Joker! MOENCH: Yeah, I wanted to top the first one! And then with the third one, I wanted to top the second one.

Cleaning Up Gotham (top) The Joker bites the dust in Dark Joker: The Wild. (bottom) From Batman: Crimson Mist, vampire Batman’s murderous mayhem in Arkham Asylum. TM & © DC Comics.

LAROCHELLE: So before that third book, Crimson Mist, came out, you and Kelley did the regular Batman title for a few years. MOENCH: Yeah. I did Bloodstorm as soon as Kelley needed something to do. I felt like I needed to hold onto this guy… he was just perfect for this stuff. I didn’t want to let him go and work somewhere else. So I called up Denny O’Neil and said, “Kelley needs something else… how about we do a monthly Elseworlds title called Haunted Gotham?” He liked the idea and things seemed to be moving forward. Later, there was another conversation with Denny and he said, “I want to put Kelley on Batman.” I said, “Why? You just approved the Haunted Gotham book; he’s perfect for that.” The work I did setting up Haunted Gotham turned into, instead of an ongoing monthly book, a four-part Prestige Format story that Kelley and I did some years later. Working on Batman with Kelley was a good time. I just never felt like, other than Kelley—which was like a different version of Batman—I never got to work with a really, really great artist on Batman, and that’s what I wanted. Jim Aparo was one of my favorite artists, but by the time I got to work with him, he was getting up there and his stuff wasn’t quite as good anymore. They would have different artists do two issues or three issues, and I just felt like it wasn’t going anywhere. Then, they wanted me to come back and be a part of these endlessly continuing whatevers… Knightfall, Knightquest, Knightsend… you name it. Then when Denny said, “I want Kelley Jones to do the monthly book,” I said, “Okay, but you have to let me separate from all the other Bat-books and do my own self-contained stories.” Of course, it was a rough time for comics across the board. As I was told by marketing, though, “Retailers are telling us that Batman is holding up better than the others because you don’t have to buy 14 different books to get it to make sense. They can just read Batman and the story is all there.” That was a reason it was doing better. I think Denny hated that even more because then it meant that I wasn’t a good team player. I said, “Denny, I was the main guy in Knightfall, for God’s sake! How can you say I’m not a good team player? I just don’t want to do this forever. It was supposed to be a special thing. When we keep doing this endlessly, it’s no longer special.” And these crazy things like Contagion and Prodigal… it’s just an excuse to keep doing stunts, and now the stunt is the normal thing! LAROCHELLE: How about Crimson Mist? MOENCH: Yeah, that one had to be the humdinger. Mike Carlin, the editor… he hated Elseworlds. I think he called me and said, “I just read this Crimson Mist proposal. I’ve approved it… with one suggestion. I think you should let Gordon and Alfred live at the end.” And I said, “NO! You don’t understand this at all! The whole point is a totally apocalyptic ending! Nobody survives, man. It’s all going down. That’s the whole point! It’s the third one; it’s the last one ever.” I don’t know why it was okay for Batman to die, but not Gordon and Alfred… LAROCHELLE: In Crimson Mist, it’s just so fun that you get to throw in plenty of characters you didn’t get to yet in this little Elseworlds corner you made for yourself. We have Two-Face, Killer Croc, the Penguin, Scarecrow… and it’s all before Arkham Asylum is even seen… we have all these characters. Like you say, it’s an apocalyptic thing—Batman’s there to destroy them. MOENCH: He sure is. LAROCHELLE: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to mention? MOENCH: I really liked the titles for the vampire stories. You’ve got Red Rain, Bloodstorm, Crimson Mist—red… blood… crimson! Then the precipitation: “rain,” “storm,” and “mist.” I sometimes think I did the third one just so I could use that title. Seriously, though, I’m really proud of these books. At a young age, CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE discovered superheroes on the small screen in cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men. He got his first comics a short time after that and still adds to the collection today.

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 69

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by J a

mes Heath Lantz

DC Superheroes vs. Dark Horse Movie Monsters (left) Chris Warner’s rock ’em-sock ’em cover to Batman versus Predator #3 (1991). (right) Dan Jurgens and Kevin Nowlan’s Superman/Aliens #3 (1995) cover. Batman and Superman TM & © DC Comics. Predator and Aliens TM & © 20th Century Fox.

“Soon the hunt will begin.” (Tagline for Predator.) Who is the hunter? Who is the hunted?

“In space no one can hear you scream.” (Tagline for Alien.) What if the scream comes from a Kryptonian?

Those questions probably came to mind when DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics creators got together for the Batman versus Predator and Superman/Aliens projects. Combining the cinematic creatures that took on Sigourney Weaver and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the big screen with DC Comics’ World’s Finest heroes was nothing more than fanboy questions of “What if Batman Fought the Predator?” and “Could Superman beat a Xenomorph?” before 1991’s Batman versus Predator and 1995’s Superman/Aliens were released. BACK ISSUE has a ringside seat to fandom’s battles of the century as the Dark Knight takes on the extraterrestrial hunter and the Man of Steel fights Xenomorphs and Facehuggers. Watch out for the acid blood, dear readers.

BUT FIRST…

In 1979, director Ridley Scott, writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, and artist H. R. Giger gave horror a new face from space to scare-film audiences in Alien. Seven years after Alien’s crew of the USSS Nostromo was slaughtered by what was later called a Xenomorph, the ship’s sole survivor, Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, is awakened after being in suspended animation for 15 years to battle a colony of the creatures in James Cameron’s sequel Aliens. In 1987, one year after Aliens, cinema audiences went to the jungles of Central America with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and their group of special-forces commandos as they go from hunter to prey. They are pursued by a menace from the stars, a tech-cloaked “invisible” slayer—often called Yautja or Hish-qu-Ten in expanded media—

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RoboBat An armored Batman battles the extraterrestrial hunter on this dynamite Kubert/Kubert original art page from Batman versus Predator #3. Art scan courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Batman TM & © DC Comics. Predator TM & © 20th Century Fox.

created by effects wizard Stan Winston in writers Jim and THE HUNT BEGINS John Thomas’ and director John McTiernan’s Predator. The success of AvP led Dark Horse Comics to plan their The Aliens and Predator film franchises, 20th Century next steps for the franchise. That ended up being an Fox properties, expanded when Dark Horse Comics intercompany crossover. Dark Horse and DC Comics got published comic books based upon them beginning in together to bring the Predator to what writer Dave the late 1980s. Their universes merged into Aliens versus Gibbons describes as the perfect hunting ground, a Predator (AvP) comic books in 1990. They would go surreal and gloomy place called Gotham City. Batman on to inspire video games and films where both versus Predator #1 combined the worlds of the Caped Crusader and the “one ugly mother killer space creatures would duke it out. Batman and Superman both have a long, [BLEEP]” that pursued Arnold together with rich history that spans many decades in that December 1991 cover-dated book, launching a three-issue miniseries. comics, film, and television. Both DC A heat wave has come to Gotham Comics superheroes have been the subject of great stories in every medium City. A Predator arrives, believing a and have been seen on many big heavyweight-boxing match between and small screens all over the world. Marcus King and Bull Bersaglio to be a Four Superman films starring Christopher contest of who is the greatest warrior on Reeve and two Batman movies helmed Earth. No one is safe when the creature’s grisly hunt paints the streets red with by Tim Burton starring Michael Keaton were perhaps the most prominent for blood, not even the fighters’ gangster BACK ISSUE readers. bosses Alex Yeager and Leo Brodin. dave gibbons As 1991 drew to a close, Superman When Batman arrives to investigate Gage Skidmore. their murders, the hunter from the suffered a “Blackout,” and Batman fell victim to “The Idiot Root” in their main comics, stars becomes curious. Perhaps the human dressed as a while the first Aliens versus Predator series was collected nocturnal flying creature will be a better trophy for him. in a trade paperback. Our story begins here…. The first bout between Batman and the Predator leaves the Dark Knight battered, beaten, and nearly blind. However, in spite of Alfred Pennyworth’s protests, he must battle the Predator once again. This time, the Caped Crusader dons a sonar armor that allows him to see his foe when it is invisible. Their final round takes them from Gotham City’s rooftops to the Batcave with Alfred firing the family heirloom blunderbuss at the Predator. One of Batman’s weapons of choice is, appropriately, a baseball bat that knocks the extraterrestrial beast for a loop. Their conflict eventually concludes at the outskirts of Wayne Manor, as a ship full of other Predators lands. The one who stalked Batman commits honor suicide, and his kinsmen give the Masked Manhunter its sword as a trophy. After the spacecraft leaves, Alfred worries about the monsters returning. “They won’t,” Batman reassures his closest confidant, “Not now that they’ve met what lives in Gotham.” A hunter’s moon greets Batman and Alfred leaving the latter and readers to wonder how correct the Dark Knight is about the Predators. Batman versus Predator, due to two publishers working in tandem, had a pair of editors overseeing the project: Dennis O’Neil for DC and Diana Schutz for Dark Horse. According to O’Neil’s account of events in his introduction for the Batman versus Predator collected edition, he had to do very little work as he had faith in Schutz and the creative team of writer Dave Gibbons and artists Andy and Adam Kubert. Gibbons and Adam Kubert took time out of their busy schedules to tell BACK ISSUE how Batman versus Predator came to be. Kubert begins by talking about his winning the 1992 Eisner Award for Best Inker for the project. “Andy and I have a running joke,” Kubert says. “He calls the award ‘Best Tracer,’ and I say I made him look good. Seriously, though, it was an honor to win the award. I wasn’t there to receive it, but my good friend Diana Schutz was kind enough to accept it for me.” Kubert tells BACK ISSUE of when he and his brother Andy were assigned to Batman versus Predator, “I can tell you it was a dream project. Diana Schutz called Andy and me up and asked us if we’d be interested in drawing Batman versus Predator, which was a no-brainer [successful project] to begin with. Then we found out Dave Gibbons was writing it, which was the icing on the cake.

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“Batter Up!” “I’m not positive,” Kubert says of working on a crossover featuring a character from film, “but I don’t think there were any corrections or Bruce Wayne comes out swinging on this battle really any problems with licensing. We has such a tight deadline (we had page from Gibbons/Kubert/Kubert’s Batman three months to complete the three issues) that I think they may have been a little lenient. I just remember by the time we finished the project versus Predator #3. I was glad to be done. The Predator has so many different textures and Batman TM & © DC Comics. Predator TM & © 20th Century Fox. accouterments on his costume, I was getting a little tired of inking him.” Dave Gibbons, perhaps best known as the artist of the seminal work Watchmen, chimes in to share how he became involved with bringing hell of a lot of interest and style. They absolutely did the best job Batman versus Predator to the comics I could imagine. They got all the pages. “As I recall, I was asked savagery into it, they got all the directly to write the series. I’ve always been on very good terms with feeling of Gotham… they did a great DC Comics and with Dark Horse, Batman and a fantastic Predator.” and this was essentially a crossover Despite their on-page chemistry, between Batman, a DC character, the writer and artists worked and Dark Horse, who published the independently. “I didn’t ever talk Predator franchise. I believe that to them during the course of doing Mike Richardson, who owns Dark it,” Gibbons recalls. “I have met Horse, knew I was very keen to do them both subsequently, and I once more writing work and thought this interviewed their dad on stage at would be a good thing to offer me. a comic convention. I’m a great admirer of all the Kuberts.” I leapt at the idea because I did indeed want to do more writing. On a side note, “Bersaglio” “[Batman and Predator are] (pronounced ber-sal-yo, with very two really, really strong characters, little emphasis on the l) means “target” and almost immediately, I could in Italian. Bull Bersaglio was a target see the kind of story that I would in Batman versus Predator, but the want to tell,” Gibbons continues. ones that really were in the three “It was pretty straightforward. red-dotted crosshairs of the Predator Predator comes to Gotham. He were Marcus King, who dies brutally, quickly realizes that Batman is his and the Batman, the creature’s true competitor. He’s the one that he bersaglio. Dave Gibbons explains to focuses on to show who’s the boss BACK ISSUE some backstory about Bull Bersaglio’s name. in Gotham, and that was kind of “I really can’t remember how I echoed by the heavyweight boxing came up with the name,” Gibbons match and the rivalry between the states. “I may have wanted to give two gangsters. The whole thing was just about conflict, really. I think I him an Italian name, thinking about managed to make every point I previous heavyweight champs of wanted. Other than some very light Italian origin, and flipped through an Italian dictionary until I found copyediting, I don’t think anything something that fit the character. was chosen or replaced or imposed He is indeed a target, after all.” on me editorially. It really just came out exactly the way I wanted it to. Gibbons also discusses the I wanted to open with a very clear characters and editorial freedom fight between boxers and then he had with Batman versus Predator. broadening it by having the Predator “I think there’s not very much the attack the guy who had been Predator wouldn’t do. He’s just watching it on TV. I think, even as about as bad as they get. He’s all I said in my introduction to one of the editions of it, about hunting people down and killing them and drama is about conflict, and Batman versus Predator winning and being the biggest bad ass around. There was is about as much conflict as you can get I think.” no particular problem that we had in showing the Gibbons reveals to BACK ISSUE that Andy and Predator in a good light. Because I’ve worked for DC Adam Kubert weren’t originally slated to draw Batman quite a bit and have drawn my own Batman stories and versus Predator. have been a reader of Batman comics since I could read, “Interestingly enough,” Gibbons says, “the original I had a pretty good idea of what Batman would do and not do. There were no real problems there. artist was supposed to be Geof Darrow [of Frank “Denny O’Neil more less left us alone. I think he Miller’s Hard Boiled fame]. That was one of the things adam kubert was quite happy with my understanding of the that attracted me to the project. You can only characters and the fact that Diana Schutz had a very imagine how incredible it would’ve looked with Geof’s Tracy Kubert. good knowledge of comics and would shepherd the hyper-detailed artwork. However, I don’t think he project through, which indeed she did.” would have gotten it done in a reasonable time. Aside from Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, Batman’s extended “I was really, really happy to be working with the Kubert brothers. I’ve always admired their work, and indeed [their father] Joe Kubert’s family isn’t seen in Batman versus Predator. “I didn’t want Robin in the story work as well. It was a real thrill to do something with them, and they because if we had Robin getting attacked by a Predator and Batman having absolutely knocked it out of the park. I think they brought everything to it to rescue him, that spoiled the direct conflict,” Gibbons explains. “I just that it needed. They, like their father, fall in the area between superheroes wanted it to be head-to-head, toe-to-toe between Batman and Predator. and real-world adventure. They’ve got a way of drawing superheroes Alfred’s there because Batman needs somebody to talk to, to explain what that fits exactly with the real world that gives them a bit of grit and a he’s doing. It kind of worked out well as if Batman was the knight, and Alfred Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

Hunting Party Paul Gulacy/Terry Austin-drawn promo poster for 1993’s Batman versus Predator II: Bloodmatch. Batman and the Huntress TM & © DC Comics. Predator TM & © 20th Century Fox.

was the squire—you know, the guy who made sure [the knight] was fit for battle and he had all his weaponry with him and looked after him if he got wounded. I wasn’t really delving too deeply into Batman continuity. I wasn’t trying to introduce the Rogues’ Gallery or anything like that. “As for the Predator, he’s a kind of nomad, a violent wanderer. If he looks right and acts right, that takes care of the continuity from that end. Plus, there’s also race of Predators, so he was only one of the Predators. We do see the other Predators towards toward the end of the story. He’s a pretty simple character to understand.” Gibbons reminisces fondly of conversations with Diana Schutz during the time in which he worked on Batman versus Predator. “Because of the time difference between the American West Coast [home of Dark Horse’s editorial offices] and the UK [where Gibbons resides] when I spoke to Diana Schutz, I think I mainly spoke to her when artwork was coming in and she sent me copies of it. I’d maybe want to change some dialogue to fit a bit better, or I’d have some comment on it. We’d speak on the phone, and she always seemed to call me on a Friday night just after I had opened a beer. We had many cheerful phone conversations. I’ve always been a great admirer of Diana, both personally and as a professional. It was a huge pleasure to work with her. “I was very happy with it,” Gibbons concludes. “Looking back, I think I came up with a pretty straightforward, but quite effective, story and I wasn’t given a lot of editorial interference. In fact, there was virtually none. I was given the chance to do it, which was great because it allowed me to expand my profile as a writer rather than just an artist. I have no regrets about it at all. “It was also great, I recall, when we got different artists to do variant covers, pinups, trading cards, and things,” Gibbons says. “It really got well promoted. The fact that people like readers of BACK ISSUE are still interested in it after all these years proves that between us all, we must have done something right.”

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MORE PREDATORS, MORE PREY

As is the case with cinema, when a comic-book miniseries becomes a success, there are times when a sequel is produced. The Aliens and Predator comic franchises had their share of follow-ups to their original stories, and Batman versus Predator’s success made both Dark Horse and DC ready for a rematch. That came in the form of Batman versus Predator II: Bloodmatch #1–4 (Dec. 1993– Mar. 1994). The first series’ writer was offered a chance to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. “They did come back to me and asked me if I wanted to do Batman versus Predator II,” Dave Gibbons reveals. “I really didn’t want to do it. I felt I’d said everything that I have to say in the original one that I wrote.” And so the project was offered to the versatile Doug Moench—no stranger to Batman—who was paired with his Master of Kung Fu collaborator, penciler Paul Gulacy, with inks by Terry Austin. Diana Schutz originally planned to edit the miniseries but her busy schedule led her to offer it to her one-time editorial protégé at Comico the Comic Company, BACK ISSUE’s own Michael Eury, who had recently taken a job at Dark Horse after being an editor at DC. Scott Peterson served as DC’s editorial liaison. While the first Batman versus Predator series had more direct conflict between the main characters in the story, both of its sequels show how Batman’s extended family are affected when they are caught in the middle. Batman versus Predator II features the Huntress [the Helena Bertinelli post-Crisis Huntress whose history was explored in BACK ISSUE #113—ed.]. Her relationship with Batman is touched upon when they must form an uneasy alliance to bring druglord Manny Terraro to justice and take on the Predator. Pride is a central theme in Batman versus Predator II. Its renegade Predator is a full of it when he kills anyone who stands in the way of his getting Batman. Government agents, Gotham police, and even his own kind become

part of the body count. Batman’s pride doesn’t allow him “I made it known in the Batman offices that Rodolfo to want the Huntress’ help. This could also be because Damaggio and I were very interested in a new crossover he doesn’t want her to be in danger with a creature with the Predator,” Dixon explains. “I pitched the clearly targeting him. The Dark Knight’s ego also makes core idea but was told that there were no plans for him create a less-cumbersome weapon against the further crossovers at the time. My editor was frank Predator, an electromagnet gauntlet that can disable the with me, explaining that everyone was tired of dealing creature’s cloaking device. Huntress’ self-esteem is bruised with the legalities of it all. when the Predator first attacks her and turns away when “But I wasn’t about to give up,” Dixon continues. he realizes she isn’t Batman. Even supporting character “Something came up, a question of ownership rights Lieutenant Stocker’s pride gets the best of him when that I was willing to compromise on in exchange for he becomes part of the task force out to eliminate the a few ‘gimmes’ from DC. Top of the list was me and Predator. He does, however, redeem himself when he Rodolfo on a Batman/Predator crossover… and voila!” impales the Predator with its own spear, buying time for The result was the miniseries Batman versus Predator III: Batman and the Huntress to escape on a Predator ship. Blood Ties #1–4 (Nov. 1997–Feb. 1998), by writer Chuck Paul Gulacy reminisces with BACK ISSUE about Dixon, penciler Rodolfo Damaggio, and inker Robert Campanella, with DC’s Scott Peterson as editor. working on Batman versus Predator II with Doug “I pretty much called the shots the whole Moench and of their previous experience in way,” Dixon said of his creative freedom on Gotham City. “Batman is an old friend of ours,” he states. “We did things with that Batman versus Predator III. “There was some character no one ever did before [in their back and forth between DC and Dark Horse acclaimed Batman: Prey story arc in Legends over a few of my choices. Scott Peterson, my editor, told me that Dark Horse was of the Dark Knight #11–15]. We explained how and why he needed a night signal concerned over how conversant I was with to contact Gordon. We actually showed how and why he needed a car to creep around Gotham at night. We showed him working on it. We also showed Batman dropping in at night to Gordon’s apartment at night as Gordon was paul gulacy tucking his son in. Nobody ever did this.” For their collaborations, Gulacy and Moench employed a “standard procedure that goes years back. We get the gig and discuss where we go from there. We start with a phone call. Either one of us would say, ‘What do you want to do’ [to open the story]?” With Batman versus Predator II, “One of us, maybe Doug, suggested opening up with a drug deal on the Gotham docks that goes bad when the Huntress interrupts Batman’s attempt to bust [it]. This procedure goes way back to our Master of Kung Fu days. I’m not a writer, but I often had my nose in the plotting for the most part, sometimes to the extent of who lives and who dies.” Gulacy wasn’t surprised by the commercial appeal of pairing the Dark Knight with a movie monster. “It was like a shoe-in, and it worked. It was a terrific concept and an awesome gimmick. Who wouldn’t want to see Batman having to deal with a creature like that?” Were there any challenges in drawing Batman versus Predator II? “No matter what character I am working on, above all else I am dealing with a deadline,” Gulacy says. “That is numero uno. However, the real difficult part for me was having to draw the creature [Predator] on a daily basis. It was designed for film. I studied how the creature behaved and moved and tried to capture that.” Gulacy concludes by sharing some of his favorite Batman versus Predator II moments and recalling overall experience of the project.“Maybe dragging a couple of the movie Aliens in would have been cool. Just kidding,” he laughs. “We had everything in this story you can imagine. The Huntress, the creature trashing the Bat-signal… a second Predator showing up. It was intense. We designed a Batcycle that no one ever saw before. I especially loved drawing the full-page shot of a thug on a pier with a gun at night. Batman, instead his standard entrance of swooping in from above, comes crashing in from below with shards of the wooden deck flying all over the place. It was intense.” Despite the success of Moench and Gulacy’s Bloodmatch, its follow-up, Batman versus Predator III: Blood Ties, almost didn’t get made, according to scribe Chuck Dixon, a writer experienced with both Predator and Batman.

Head Games Predator’s got the upper hand on our hero on the cover to Batman versus Predator II #2. Original Gulacy/ Austin cover art courtesy of Heritage. Batman TM & © DC Comics. Predator TM & © 20th Century Fox.

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Like Father, Like Son (left) Batman vs. Predator, and (right) Predator “Junior” vs. Robin and Alfred in the Batcave. From Batman versus Predator III: Blood Ties #3. Batman, Robin, and Alfred TM & © DC Comics. Predator TM & © 20th Century Fox.

the Predator bible. Scott assured them that, ‘Chuck could Dixon also shares with BI something special he placed write the Predator bible.’ It’s true, I’m a huge Predator geek in Batman versus Predator III: “I got it all in there. and was as dedicated to getting the character right as Even a few continuity Easter eggs. One of those is the the licensors would be. Considering the most recent ‘daddy’ Predator. He’s the same one I used in my only other Predator story [from Dark Horse Comics #10–12], movie [2018’s The Predator], maybe more dedicated.” As its subtitle suggests, parental concern and father- in which he gets his arm ripped off by a lion.” Dixon reveals that his inclusion of Mister Freeze in and-son relationships are at the core of Batman versus Predator III. The story puts a new spin on the fatherBlood Ties created an unanticipated rough patch with and-son hunting trip with a Predator and his Predator’s comics publisher. “Another issue the son coming to Gotham City. Their targets editors dealt with was the scene where are Batman and Tim Drake as Robin. Mister Freeze freezes the Batmobile’s The Predator and his son, as Batman tells wheels until the tires shatter. Dark Horse his protégé, see the Dynamic Duo as put forward that Batman would have father-and-son warriors. protection against that eventuality. Batman has always been a father DC insisted they knew better and the figure to the various Robins over the scene remained. Batman installing years. He doesn’t tell Tim Drake of his temperature controls on his ride’s tires was previous encounters with the Predator moving into the ‘shark repellent’ realm.” as a show of concern and attempt to Editorial challenges aside, Dixon had protect his young partner-in-crimea lot of fun working on the project. “I had fighting, although Tim himself feels Rodolfo, the only artist I know who likes his mentor is keeping too many secrets. drawing helicopters, for that awesome chuck dixon “The Tim Drake iteration of Robin extended Batcopter set piece,” he beams. Facebook. “The scene where the Predator can’t plays an important part in this story,” Chuck Dixon says. “So, the father-son theme is at the ‘see’ Mister Freeze, and Alfred defending the Batcave with heart of the story. I’m usually not that big on writing his trusty fowling gun were also fun to do. to a theme. I prefer to leave up to the reader whatever “It’s a career high point for me,” he admits. “It’s one subtext (conscious or unconscious) they can find. of my tighter stories, I think. And that gorgeous artwork But having a father and son hunting Batman and Robin by Rodolfo, inked by Robert Campanella, just made the was as natural as it was obvious.” whole thing work on an epic scale.”

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XENOMORPHS IN ARGO

The July 1995 cover-dated Superman/Aliens (also known as Superman vs. Aliens) #1, the first of a three-issue Prestige Format miniseries, showed readers how Kal-El would hold up against the monsters designed by H.R. Giger and Carlo Rambaldi. Dan Jurgens, one of the creators responsible for such classic post-Crisis Superman comics as The Death of Superman, brought the worlds of the Last Son of Krypton and Aliens together. “I wasn’t assigned to it,” Jurgens tells BACK ISSUE of the conception of Superman/Aliens. “In this case, Superman editor Mike Carlin, Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson, and I were together at a distributor event in Hawaii, and after that, a convention in Australia. We ended up at dinner together a couple of times, and the conversation began with a question: “‘Gee, wouldn’t it be fun to do a Superman/Aliens crossover?’ “We spoke about various ideas and concepts for it—only in the most general of terms—and said, ‘Maybe one day down the road.’” “Eventually, that day came. I think my connection to the main Superman books, as well as traveling with Mike Carlin and Mike Richardson, was a factor. I obviously had a high level of familiarity with Superman and was quite a fan of the Aliens franchise as well.” And so Dan Jurgens became the writer/penciler of Superman/Aliens. Like Batman versus Predator III: Blood Ties, Superman/Aliens has a family theme to it. When Superman hears a probe’s message spoken in Kryptonian, he sets out to find out if those who sent it are alive. Thus he begins a quest in hopes of finding kinsmen and women who survived his birth world’s destruction. The Man of Steel arrives on Argo, a floating colony from the planet Odiline, whose people appropriated Kryptonian language and culture from the Cleric who gave Kal-El the Eradicator. There, the Last Son of Krypton, far away from a yellow sun that gives him superpowers, finds survivors he thinks need medical attention. They are actually infected with immature Xenomorphs that chest-burst when they arrive at LexCorp’s space station. Superman also meets a young woman named Kara, who helps him fight the Aliens and acts as his eyes when acid blood blinds him. He treats her as a surrogate sister during their battles and searches for a means to escape Argo. There are some jammed escape pods and transporter booths in a crashed freighter, but to get to them Kal-El and Kara must fight a horde of Aliens using it as a nest. To make matters worse, they have Xenomorphs inside them, implanted by a Facehugger when he was trapped the Alien Queen’s lair. Can the Son of Jor-El and his newly found sibling escape these monsters before it’s too late? Superman/Aliens presented a challenge not only to the Man of Steel, but to the creator behind the story. “The first challenge was to deal with Superman’s powers,” Jurgens reveals. “Obviously, if we left him with his normal set of powers, the Aliens wouldn’t have been much of a threat. Dealing with that was step one. “Beyond that, we had to make the nature of a Superman story a bit more grounded. It had to be based on reality a bit more than the typical, wide open, more fantastic type of Superman story. Once we did all of that, I think it fit quite well with the overall nature of the Aliens. I felt like we had a lot of freedom.” This cross-company co-production was edited by DC’s Mike Carlin, then the Superman group editor, with Michael Eury as Dark Horse’s editorial liaison. Jurgens reveals that it was a smooth editorial process. “I don’t really remember much of anything being rejected,” he says. “Some of that is because we’d already discussed it, I’m sure. We had a common understanding of what was needed to bring the two properties together in order to make the story work.” Superman/Aliens’ miniseries format differentiated the project from the other types of Superman comics Jurgens was used to producing for DC. “It was different in the sense that it was very much a standalone project,” Jurgens explains. “It was a very specific story with a beginning, middle, and end, whereas the nature of the monthly books was to keep the ball rolling no matter what. At the same time, we wanted to make sure that Superman reflected and was consistent with the Superman appearing in the monthlies at the time, which explains his longer hair.” Superman/Aliens’ lush artwork, with Jurgens’ layouts inked by Kevin Nowlan, has made the book a must-have even for Superman fans who lack an appreciation for the Aliens movie franchise. While Nowlan stated in his blog that he felt he may have gone overboard with his Superman/Aliens finished art and inks over Jurgens’ layouts, Dan Jurgens himself disagrees.

Chest-Bursting Excitement (top) Big Blue tries to play nice in this encounter in Superman/ Aliens #1. (bottom) On that issue’s final page, a familiar-faced blonde reveals her name. By Jurgens and Nowlan. Superman TM & © DC Comics. Aliens TM & © 20th Century Fox.

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MORE DC vs. A/P BOUTS

The Aliens and Predator franchises’ encounters with the DC Universe continued beyond the initial crossovers discussed in this article to also include: • Batman/Aliens (1997) • Batman/Aliens II (2001) • Green Lantern vs. Aliens (2000) • JLA vs. Predator (2001) • Superman vs. Predator (2001) • Superman/Aliens 2: God War (2002) • Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator (2007)

“Among my favorite moments on Superman/Aliens was having Kevin Nowlan as inker,” Jurgens says. “He did a remarkable job bringing the atmosphere of the Aliens films to the page. It was a moodier approach than what we were shooting for in the monthly Superman books. That extends to Greg Wright’s terrific color work as well. From my first conversations with Mikes Richardson and Carlin, all the way through to the final page, it was a fun, very challenging project that was an intense creative challenge with a lot of fun wrapped in. I really don’t have any regrets at all.” Back in the Supergirl-themed BACK ISSUE #84, Dan Jurgens discussed his original intentions to bring Kara from Superman/ Aliens into the main Superman comics. He elaborates further on this. “I always thought, ‘You know, we could eventually make her Supergirl if wanted.’ At the time, the Supergirl appearing in the monthly books was a very different sort of character. I had a couple of different ideas on how to make that happen. I think it could have been fun, but it was also one of those things that just wasn’t going to work out. In part, because we would have been unable to refer to it as we could only use the Aliens in that specific property. But I think their relationship sort of touched on that general idea.” Kara isn’t the only strong female character in Superman/ Aliens. Lois Lane and Dr. Cheryl Kimble of LexCorp’s space station are pretty tough cookies in their own right. Kimble, while proving she’s better than her male counterparts, shows this strength while also giving into pride, greed, and obsession for studying the Xenomorphs, creating carnage on her space station. Lois, from the beginning, has proven that she can get the big scoops and handle herself better than any soldier boy her father General Sam Lane ever commanded. In fact, much like Ellen Ripley in the Alien films, Lois kicks some spiny Xenomorph tail in order make sure Earth is safe from these vicious monsters while Superman is on Argo. Superman/Aliens ends with a shot of Kara in a space pod. Readers wondering about what happens next had to wait for Chuck Dixon and Jon Bogdanove’s 2002 sequel, Superman/ Aliens 2: God War, which saw Darkseid attempt to control the Xenomorphs. You, dear BACK ISSUE readers, can keep both the Aliens and Predators under your reading control by checking your local comics shops, online bookstores, and/or Comixology to get the full experience of the Dark Knight’s and the Man of Steel’s confrontations with the Predator and Aliens. If you don’t, you may face the wrath of the Alien Queen. For Mister Bo. You were tougher than Batman, Superman, Ripley, Aliens, Dutch, and the Predator combined. Dedicated to my beautiful and incredible wife Laura, whose love and patience are as infinite as space itself; Pupino, Odino, and our four-legged Alien and Predator hunters who all Xenomorphs fear; my nephew Kento, who put Facehuggers all over the house; the late H. R. Giger and Stan Winston; and Dave Gibbons, Andy and Adam Kubert, Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy, Chuck Dixon, Rodolfo Damaggio, Dan Jurgens, Kevin Nowlan, and all the creators who brought the Aliens, the Predator, Batman, and Superman to the big screen and comic pages. May the cosmos keep you safe and watch over you always.

Thing from Another World We agree with Dan Jurgens that Kevin Nowlan’s finishes over his Superman/Aliens layouts were amazing! From Heritage’s archives, a fight scene page in original art form from issue #2. Superman TM & © DC Comics. Aliens TM & © 20th Century Fox.

JAMES HEATH LANTZ is a freelance writer who was heavily influenced by television, film, old-time radio shows, and books—especially comic books—growing up in Ohio. He’s co-authored Roy Thomas Presents Captain Video with Roy Thomas. He also wrote the introductions for Pre-Code Classics: Weird Mysteries vols. 1 and 2 and Roy Thomas Presents Sheena – Queen of the Jungle vol. 3 (PS Artbooks), self-published his Trilogy of Tales e-book (Smashwords.com and other outlets), and reviews various media for Superman Homepage. James currently lives in Italy with his wife Laura and their family of cats, dogs, and humans from Italy, Japan, and the United States.

78 • BACK ISSUE • Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue

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Send your comments to: Email: euryman@gmail.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief • BACK ISSUE 112 Fairmount Way * New Bern, NC 28562

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EISNER NOMINATION

As I write this column (on June 7, 2019), BACK ISSUE and ye ed have been nominated for an Eisner Award in the category of “Best ComicsRelated Periodical/Journalism.” I am deeply grateful to be nominated, and must thank those who help make this magazine worthy of such an honor: designer Rich Fowlks, cover designer Michael Kronenberg, cover colorist Glenn Whitmore, proofreader Rob Smentek, publisher John Morrow, and our talented team of freelance writers. By the time you read this, the award winner will have been announced at San Diego Comic-Con, but, quite frankly, the fact that this magazine continues to march forward after 16 years with a loyal readership is an award in itself. Thank you, readers!

RARE EURYMAN CON APPEARANCE

I don’t get around much anymore, at least as far as conventions go, but I’m a guest at the Fayetteville Comic Con on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20, 2019, at the Crown Complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina. This is a great mid-sized show that welcomes the worlds of both old-school comics collecting and cosplay. The guest list is still fluid at press time, but Bronze Age darlings Al Milgrom and Larry Hama will be there, along with Sgt. Slaughter, Battlestar Galactica’s Jack Stauffer, and Doom Patrol artist Richard Case— as well as BI’s own Dan Johnson. Plus I’ll have the latest editions of BACK ISSUE and my other TwoMorrows mag, RetroFan, available. Stop by, say hey, and have fun! www.fayettevillecomiccon.com Beta Ray Bill Thor © Marvel. BACK ISSUE TM & © TwoMorrows. All Rights Reserved.

IN MEMORIAM

With sadness we announce the passing of acclaimed Star Trek artist Keith Birdsong (above) , who died at age 59 on June 4, 2019, as a result of injuries sustained in an auto crash. His photorealistic portrait of the Michael Keaton-helmed 1989 Batman movie was featured as a pinup in BACK ISSUE #113. Our condolences to his family and fans.

CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE DEPT.

On page 15 of BACK ISSUE #74 (Aug. 2014), you reprinted a centerspread poster from Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #174 (June 9, 1976). At the time no one knew the artist(s), and in the note provided you explained how I’d asked Wilson, Bender, and Hunt, all of whom denied they drew it. You then asked if anyone knew the artist(s) to get in touch. I don’t believe anyone did. Thanks to the incredible efforts of Jason Schachter, we now know it was produced by Steve Stiles and Frank Giacoia. I know you’re keen to provide credit wherever possible and thought I’d pass it so you could add this to the Back Talk section under one of your “Credit where it’s due” headings. Again, this was all Jason’s detective work. I’m only passing on his info. – Robert Menzies Robert, as we learned recently with your “Panther’s Rage” UnKnown Marvel article in BI #114, Jason Schachter is indeed a valuable resource with art IDs. Thanks, Jason! Speaking of credit, we apologize for omitting the credit for the Carmine Infantino photograph used on page 2 of BI #110. It’s a 1958 portrait taken by Bill Crawford and seen in the extraordinary book, The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino, by Carmine Infantino with J. David Spurlock. Next issue: Superhero Stand-Ins! John Stewart as Green Lantern, James Rhodes as Iron Man, Beta Ray Bill as Thor, Captain America substitute U.S.Agent, new Batman Azrael, Superman’s Hollywood proxy Gregory Reed, another gut-busting Prince Street News strip from KARL HEITMUELLER, JR., and we’ll catch up with your letters in an expanded Back Talk column! Featuring NEAL ADAMS, CARY BATES, JOHN BYRNE, KIERON DWYER, TOM GRINDBERG, CULLY HAMNER, RALPH MACCHIO, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN, RON MARZ, FABIAN NICIEZA, PAT OLLIFFE, DENNIS O’NEIL, ROGER ROBINSON, WALTER SIMONSON, ROY THOMAS, and more, under a Beta Ray Bill Thor cover by Simonson. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

Superheroes vs. Monsters Issue • BACK ISSUE • 79

A 25 Year Celebration! th

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

In 1994, amidst the boom-&-bust of comic book speculators, THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #1 was published for true fans of the medium. That modest labor of love spawned TwoMorrows Publishing, today’s premier purveyor of publications about comics and pop culture. Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this special retrospective look at the company that changed fandom forever! Co-edited by and featuring publisher JOHN MORROW and COMIC BOOK ARTIST/COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine’s JON B. COOKE, it gives the inside story and behind-the-scenes details of a quartercentury of looking at the past in a whole new way. Also included are BACK ISSUE magazine’s MICHAEL EURY, ALTER EGO’s ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY (author of KIMOTA!, EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE, and other books), MIKE MANLEY (DRAW! magazine), ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON (MODERN MASTERS), and a host of other comics luminaries who’ve contributed to TwoMorrows’ output over the years. From their first Eisner Award-winning book STREETWISE, through their BRICKJOURNAL LEGO® magazine, up to today’s RETROFAN magazine, every major TwoMorrows publication and contributor is covered with the same detail and affection the company gives to its books and magazines. With an Introduction by MARK EVANIER, Foreword by ALEX ROSS, Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ, and a new cover by TOM McWEENEY! SHIPS NOVEMBER 2019! (224-page FULL-COLOR Trade Paperback) $34.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-092-2 (240-page ULTRA-LIMITED HARDCOVER) $75 Only 125 copies available for sale, with a 16-page bonus Memory Album! HARDCOVER NOT AVAILABLE THROUGH DIAMOND—DIRECT FROM TWOMORROWS ONLY! RESERVE YOURS NOW!

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #78

(SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE!)

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Published 25 years after the launch of THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #1, this special SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE shows how Kirby kickstarted the Silver Age of Comics with Challengers of the Unknown, examines how Jack revamped Golden Age legacy characters for the 1960s and beyond, outlines the lasting influence of his signature creation The Silver Surfer, and more! It includes special shout-outs to the fan and pro contributors who’ve helped publisher/editor JOHN MORROW celebrate the life and career of the King of Comics for a quarter century. And echoing John’s fateful choice to start this magazine in 1994, we’ll spotlight PIVOTAL DECISIONS (good and bad) Jack made throughout his comics career. Plus: A Kirby pencil art gallery, regular columnists, a classic 1950s story, and more! The STANDARD EDITION sports an unused Kirby THOR cover with STEVE RUDE’s interpretation of how it looked before alterations, while the DELUXE EDITION adds a silver cardstock outer sleeve featuring the Surfer with RUDE inks. SHIPS WINTER 2020!

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BACK ISSUE #117

BACK ISSUE #118

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SUPERHERO STAND-INS! John Stewart as Green Lantern, James Rhodes as Iron Man, Beta Ray Bill as Thor, Captain America substitute U.S. Agent, new Batman Azrael, and Superman’s Hollywood proxy Gregory Reed! Featuring NEAL ADAMS, CARY BATES, DAVE GIBBONS, RON MARZ, DAVID MICHELINIE, DENNIS O’NEIL, WALTER SIMONSON, ROY THOMAS, and more, under a cover by SIMONSON.

GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD! ALEX ROSS’ unrealized Fantastic Four reboot, DC: The Lost 1970s, FRANK THORNE’s unpublished Red Sonja, Fury Force, VON EEDEN’s Batman, GRELL’s Batman/Jon Sable, CLAREMONT and SIM’s X-Men/Cerebus, SWAN and HANNIGAN’s Skull and Bones, AUGUSTYN and PAROBECK’s Target, PAUL KUPPERBERG’s Impact reboot, abandoned Swamp Thing storylines, & more! ROSS cover.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ISSUE! A galaxy of comics stars discuss Marvel’s whitehot space team in the Guardians Interviews, including TOM DeFALCO, KEITH GIFFEN, ROB LIEFELD, AL MILGROM, MARY SKRENES, ROGER STERN, JIM VALENTINO, and more. Plus: Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon before the Guardians, with CHRIS CLAREMONT and MIKE MIGNOLA. Cover by JIM VALENTINO with inks by CHRIS IVY.

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ALTER EGO #162

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER

Career-spanning tribute covering Legion of Super-Heroes, Warlord, & Green Arrow at DC Comics, and Grell’s own properties Jon Sable, Starslayer, and Shaman’s Tears. Told in Grell’s own words, with PAUL LEVITZ, DAN JURGENS, DENNY O’NEIL, MARK RYAN, & MIKE GOLD. Heavily illustrated! (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $27.95 (176-page LTD. ED. HARDCOVER) $37.95 (Digital Edition) $12.95 • Now shipping!

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STAR WARSTM THEMED BUILDERS! Travel to a galaxy far, far away with JACOB NEIL CARPENTER’S DEATH STAR, the work of MIRI DUDAS, and the LEGO® photography of JAMES PHILIPPART! Plus “AFOLs” by GREG HYLAND, “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art with TOMMY WILLIAMSON, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Now shipping!

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: The 1990s

REMEMBERING STEVE DITKO! Sturdy Steve at Marvel, DC, Warren, Charlton, and elsewhere! A rare late-1960s Ditko interview by RICHARD HOWELL— biographical notes by NICK CAPUTO— tributes by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, PAUL LEVITZ, BERNIE BUBNIS, BARRY PEARL, ROY THOMAS, et al. Plus FCA, JOHN BROOME, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Spider-Man cover by DITKO!

Full-issue STAN LEE TRIBUTE! ROY THOMAS writes on his more than 50-year relationship with Stan—and shares 21stcentury e-mails from Stan (with his permission, of course)! Art by KIRBY, DITKO, MANEELY, EVERETT, SEVERIN, ROMITA, plus tributes from pros and fans alike, and special sections on Stan by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and even the FCA! Vintage cover by KIRBY and COLLETTA!

WILL MURRAY presents an amazing array of possible prototypes of Batman (by artist FRANK FOSTER—in 1932!)—Wonder Woman (by Star-Spangled Kid artist HAL SHERMAN)—Tarantula (by Air Wave artist LEE HARRIS), and others! Plus a rare Hal Sherman interview—MICHAEL T. GILBERT with more on artist PETE MORISI—FCA— BILL SCHELLY—JOHN BROOME—and more! Cover homage by SHANE FOLEY!

The early days of DAVE COCKRUM— Legion of Super-Heroes artist and co-developer of the revived mid-1970s X-Men—as revealed in art-filled letters to PAUL ALLEN and rare, previously unseen illustrations provided by wife PATY COCKRUM (including 1960s-70s drawings of Edgar Rice Burroughs heroes)! Plus FCA—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on PETE MORISI—JOHN BROOME—BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Year-by-year account of the decade when X-MEN #1 sold 8.1 million copies, IMAGE COMICS was formed, Superman died, Batman had his back broken, and Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN led to the VERTIGO line of adult comic books. Go behind-thescenes in that era of gimmicky covers, skimpy costumes, and mega-crossovers. By KEITH DALLAS and JASON SACKS.

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #77 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #20 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #21 COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

MONSTERS & BUGS! Jack’s monster-movie influences in The Demon, Forever People, Black Magic, Fantastic Four, Jimmy Olsen, and Atlas monster stories; Kirby’s work with “B” horror film producer CHARLES BAND; interview with “The Goon” creator ERIC POWELL; Kirby’s use of insect characters (especially as villains); MARK EVANIER and our other regular columnists, Golden Age Kirby story, and a Kirby pencil art gallery!

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOES! Interview with JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER (CRY FOR DAWN, VAMPIRELLA), a chat with JOE SINNOTT about his Marvel years inking Jack Kirby and work at TREASURE CHEST, JOE JUSKO discusses the Marvel Age of Comics and his fabulous “Corner Box Collection,” plus the artists behind the Topps bubble gum BAZOOKA JOE comic strips, CRAIG YOE, and more!

ERIC POWELL celebrates 20 years of THE GOON! with a career-spanning interview and a gallery of rare artwork. Plus CBC editor and author JON B. COOKE on his new retrospective THE BOOK OF WEIRDO, a new interview with R. CRUMB about his work on that legendary humor comics anthology, a look at DAVE COCKRUM’s design work for Aurora Models, JOHN ROMITA SR. on his admiration for the work of MILTON CANIFF, and more!

AN ORAL HISTORY OF DC COMICS CIRCA 1978! Marking the 40th anniversary of the “DC Implosion”, one of the most notorious events in comics (which left stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished and spawned Cancelled Comics Cavalcade). Featuring JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and others, plus detailed analysis of how it changed the landscape of comics!

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