Back Issue #119 by TwoMorrows Publishing

ROCKET RACCOON and STAR-LORD, Before the Guardians 020

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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Featuring interviews with a galaxy of comic stars including TOM DeFALCO, KEITH GIFFEN, ROB LIEFELD, AL MILGROM, ROGER STERN, JIM VALENTINO & more!

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Volume 1, Number 119 April 2020 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTISTS Jim Valentino and Chris Ivy (commissioned illustration from the collection of William Colosimo)

COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Paul Anderson Spencer Beck Sallie Bent Michael Browning Sal Buscema Jamie Buttery Jarrod Buttery Chris Claremont Sadie Colosimo William Colosimo Alan Davis Tom DeFalco Steve Englehart Agnes Garbowska Keith Giffen Al Gordon Grand Comics Database Timothy Green II Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Heritage Comics Auctions Joe Jusko John Lewandowski Rob Liefeld Francis Manapul Michael Mantlo

Marvel Comics Paul Mason Stuart McKenny Chris McQuinlan Mike Mignola Allen Milgrom Doug Moench Fabian Nicieza Luigi Novi Tom Palmer, Jr. Tom Palmer, Sr. George Pérez Rose Rummel-Eury Alex Saviuk Andy Schmidt Mary Skrenes Evelyn Stein Eric Stephenson Roger Stern John Trumbull Aaron Valentino Diane Valentino Jim Valentino Bob Wiacek Chance Wolf David Yardin

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INTERVIEWS: Guardians of the Galaxy: The Bronze Age. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Milgrom, Stern, Skrenes, and Wiacek, all unguarded BEYOND CAPES: A Star-Lord is Born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Star-Lord’s history, pre-Guardians, with insights from creators PRINCE STREET NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 “Extreme Costume Conundrums,” a cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. INTERVIEWS: Guardians of the Galaxy: The Copper Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Valentino (and family), DeFalco, Liefeld, Nicieza, and friends discuss the 1990s GOTG series FLASHBACK: Rocket Raccoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 How a throwaway character became a superstar and Bill Mantlo’s legacy ART GALLERY: Rocket Raccoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 A private collection of Rocket sketches is private no more! INTERVIEWS: Guardians of the Galaxy: The Modern Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Editor Andy Schmidt and writer Keith Giffen discuss the Guardians’ makeover BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Reader reactions on issues #113 and 114

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: $89 Economy US, $135 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Jim Valentino and Chris Ivy. Guardians of the Galaxy and Rocket Raccoon TM & © Marvel. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2020 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows except Prince Street News, © 2020 Karl Heitmueller, Jr. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by W

illiam Colosimo

The Guardians of the Galaxy first debuted in issue #18 of a tryout book called Marvel Super-Heroes, dated January 1969. The team went without a second appearance until writer Steve Gerber decided to utilize them, and from 1974–1975 the Guardians made several guest appearances in Marvel Two-inOne and The Defenders before being launched into the lead feature in Marvel Presents. Gerber continued to lead the team into their own series for a time, which got off to a rocky start. For the purposes of this article, we focus our interviews in this section on the team’s first actual solo series, which was called Marvel Presents: Guardians of the Galaxy. The book didn’t last long, although it (alongside the team’s appearances in The Avengers #167–177’s “Korvac Saga”) created quite the impression on many Marvel fans of the day. In this section, we talk with series penciler (and occasional inker) Allen Milgrom, along with the writer on the later portion of the series, Roger Stern. We also get some short comments from Mary Skrenes (writing partner of Steve Gerber, who helped Steve create the character of Nikki and also co-wrote one issue), along with Bob Wiacek, who inked the latter half of the series.

The Original Guardians Show this cover to your average 2020 Marvel Studios moviegoer and they’ll no doubt be puzzled, but here’s what the GOTG— (left to right) Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Martinex, and Yondu— looked like in their inaugural appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (Jan. 1969). Cover by Gene Colan and Mike Esposito. TM & © Marvel.

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AL MILGROM © Marvel.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Do you remember how you got the assignment for the Guardians of the Galaxy series? AL MILGROM: At the time, Marvel was still in the throes of expanding, and not having enough talent to do all the work. And once you had a few jobs under your belt— if they thought you were remotely reliable, they would tap you for new assignments. Having done Captain Marvel, which had a lot of outer-space science-fiction-y stuff, and cosmic stuff… I think they felt like I might be a good fit for [Guardians]. Up ’til then, I think all I had done was just take over books that [Jim] Starlin quit, you know? He did Captain Marvel, and when he decided to leave that, I got it. And then he was doing Master of Kung Fu, and when he decided to quit, I got that—briefly. This was the first one where I think they said, “Yeah, let’s just skip Starlin and go straight to Milgrom on this one.” I don’t honestly think they offered him that book— he was probably busy doing other stuff. I’m just saying that had been the pattern until then with me. COLOSIMO: The Guardians guest-starred in five issues of The Defenders. During that run, it seemed like you were tapped to pencil the Guardians series. Though Starhawk first appeared in Defenders, do you remember helping design anything about his look as you were set to draw the regular series? MILGROM: No, I don’t think so. In fact, the Guardians costumes that I was drawing—early on, at least—I believe were all Dave Cockrum designs. Dave was really into that stuff. He would design new costumes, new characters— all the time. Marvel used him for doing some of that work. Cockrum did the character designs and the costumes that they appeared in, as opposed to their earliest appearance that Gene Colan drew [Marvel Super-Heroes #18—ed.]. COLOSIMO: Cockrum took Charlie out of the spacesuit and gave him a different look. MILGROM: Yeah, I remember he had kind of a yellow spacesuit—it was weird. Although I did like the way Gene drew him—real big and blocky. He didn’t look like any of the other massive characters. He had a very distinctive look. But Colan’s stuff was pretty distinctive, too. COLOSIMO: I was curious why Dave Cockrum did the costumes, if he never drew any Guardians books. But it sounds like he did that for a lot of Marvel properties.

Galaxy Quest Original GOTG scribe Steve Gerber took the space team elsewhere in the Marvel Universe, including (top) Marvel Two-in-One #5 (Sept. 1974) and Giant-Size Defenders #5 (Jan. 1975). (center left) Enter: Starhawk, in Gerber’s Defenders #28 (Oct. 1975). (center right) Avengers scribe Jim Shooter utilized the GOTG starting in issue #167 (Jan. 1978). (bottom) Bashful Benji team-ups in Marvel Two-in-One #61 (Mar. 1980) and 69 (Nov. 1980). TM & © Marvel.

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Marvel Placeholder Adventurer Ulysses Bloodstone launched this and the second issue of Marvel Presents in stories originally intended to run in Where Monsters Dwell. Issue #1 (Oct. 1975) cover by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia. (opposite page) From the collection of Al Milgrom, Al’s original cover pencils for the Guardians’ first issue. (below) For the published version— for Marvel Presents #3 (Feb. 1976)— cover artist John Romita, Sr. kept Milgrom’s basic layout but altered some of the characters’ positions and poses. TM & © Marvel.

MILGROM: I think he did. He designed a lot of those new X-Men costumes—of course, he was drawing the book at the time, but, yeah. He was one of the guys they’d call on to do stuff like that. COLOSIMO: In that run of The Defenders where the Guardians were basically in a tryout, the letters page of the first issue—Giant-Size Defenders #5—stated that there would be a new series coming out, the book was already set, and it was to be called “Starhawk and the Guardians of the Galaxy”—not “Marvel Presents.” Then what happened… the Guardians book was apparently running late, so I guess the title got changed to Marvel Presents, so different features like Bloodstone could go in there first. Do you remember anything about that? MILGROM: No, I actually don’t think that was the case. I think what happened was, they decided to do the Guardians series. Gerber was running late, because he was doing probably more work than he really should have been doing. Although I had been doing Captain Marvel—which was a bimonthly—I was still not a real fast, professional penciler. It took me too long to get stuff done. So, I think what happened was, they were supposed to appear in the first issue. And they saw that we were not gonna make that deadline, and then they said, “Let’s slot something else in here.” That’s where the two issues of Bloodstone came in, I believe. I don’t think it was intended to be a tryout book. After the Guardians run ended, Marvel Presents didn’t continue, did it? COLOSIMO: No, it didn’t. MILGROM: I know they’ve had other incarnations through the years, but that was it. Essentially it was a flop. A lot of people seemed to like it and it had kind of its own little niche in the cosmic… in fact, a couple of times I tried to alter the Comics Code stamp that they had on all the covers, so instead of “Comics Code,” it read “Cosmic Code.” COLOSIMO: Didn’t Starlin’s Warlock have that on there? MILGROM: He might have, but I did it first—but they caught it and changed it back. And I think Frank Brunner

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did it on an issue of Doctor Strange, too. So, we were being rebellious young snots. We kind of felt like Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel, Master of Kung Fu, Guardians, Warlock—all those books were sort of our own little niche in the Marvel Universe, where we were doing some sort of unusual sci-fi-based stuff—not so much Shang-Chi [Master of Kung Fu], that wasn’t sci-fi- but it was sort of like the new guys carving out their own little niche and the old guys were still doing all the major characters. So yeah, that was my idea… I cut out the letters and reversed them—“comics” and “cosmic”—and taped them back down. And I think somebody at the office said, “Why is there tape on this Comics Code stamp here? Wait a minute!” Nobody mentioned it to me, nobody got mad at me. They may not have known I had done it, for that matter. But they switched it back. COLOSIMO: Just to be clear: That was Captain Marvel, it wasn’t on the Guardians, that you did that? MILGROM: I don’t remember actually; it was one of the two books. Since it didn’t make it into print that way, it sort of didn’t matter. I do remember seeing Brunner doing it sometime after that, and I’m pretty sure it was Doctor Strange—that’s mostly what he did. I don’t think Bloodstone was just a character they were throwing out there, like a Showcase or Brave and the Bold kind of book, where they were, “Well, we’ll do this series, and then we’ll do this series.” I think [MP] was intended to be the Guardians from the beginning. COLOSIMO: I think so, because in #2 they already had the Guardians letters page header and they said the next issue would be the Guardians. What’s interesting is, Marvel Presents #1 with Bloodstone came out during the Guardians trial run in Defenders, so if the Guardians would have been on time, it would have overlapped with the Defenders tryout. Roger Stern had mentioned previously that Marvel Presents was cancelled because of sales figures on the early Gerber issues. So back then you didn’t have access, apparently, to sales figures of the last several issues… even though it was a bimonthly. MILGROM: It took I don’t remember how many months for them to get the final sales figures in, but it took at least three or four months or so. So, we could have been up to issue #5, and then if the sales of #3 were poor, they might have said, “Well, let’s see what the next one does,” but there was not a lot of wiggle room. Anytime you see a book that was cancelled in fewer than four or five issues—either they got disastrous results on the first issue sales, or they’d sort of already made up their minds that it wasn’t going to be successful. COLOSIMO: I know you submitted your own pencil version of the cover to Marvel Presents #3. John Romita had done the published cover, but it was off of your pencils—he just switched around a couple of the positions of the characters. MILGROM: Yeah. I don’t think he traced it off, but it’s the same exact layout, and he reversed a couple of the characters from one side to the other. And I don’t know why. John’s a fine artist; don’t get me wrong. I love his stuff and I respect it, and I just don’t understand why it was necessary. I don’t think he ever told me. I think I might have been out of town, when I came back—that was the cover that was on the book. And, of course, if they were going to use mine, I probably would have inked it too. I really don’t know what possessed him to redo the cover in virtually the same configuration—but he did, and that’s the cover. COLOSIMO: Was a debut cover by Romita thought to improve sales, or get readers to check the book out? MILGROM: Well, he was clearly a highly regarded artist. And he was probably already working as the de facto art director up there. So, that’s possible. They might have said, “Yeah, Milgrom can’t sell any comics; let’s put

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Into the Maw of Madness! (left) Charlie-27 leads the charge on this dynamite Al Milgrom cover (pre-graphics) to Marvel Presents #4 (Apr. 1976). (right) Milgrom’s cover, with Joe Sinnott inks, to Marvel Presents #5 (June 1976). Original art scans courtesy of Al Milgrom. TM & © Marvel.

John Romita here.” ’Cause again, there’s not enough difference between what I did and what he did to make it seem like it was worthwhile to have him do it. Listen, Marvel—especially in those days—was pretty brutal if they weren’t happy with the cover for whatever reason. Jack Kirby had plenty of covers rejected or reworked. I remember as a kid visiting their offices one time, and there was a Jack Kirby Avengers cover sitting on somebody’s board. They had statted it and they were moving characters all around. There was absolutely nothing wrong as far as I could see with the original illustration, but I’m sure what happened was, Stan [Lee] said, “No, no, we want to get this guy bigger, we want to emphasize this guy over here…” and so they were blowing up stats, and reducing stats, and rearranging the elements of the cover to make it the way Stan wanted it. If they’re willing to do a hatchet job on a Jack Kirby cover, they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same on mine. You know, it was a fine cover and John did a great job. Apparently it didn’t help it sell very well, but there you have it. COLOSIMO: One of your Marvel Presents covers, the #10 cover, was altered prior to publishing. They added a lot of black to the backgrounds and changed the rock Charlie was throwing. MILGROM: Yes. They made the rock smaller that Charlie was throwing. Anybody could have thrown that rock. Not that the one I drew was that much bigger. But yeah, they added a lot of black, and I don’t know why.

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COLOSIMO: Those changes didn’t make sense to me. MILGROM: Well, maybe just for the fact that they worked it in outer space. It didn’t hurt the cover. I always say, a lot of black or a lot of white on a cover always makes it stand out. It might not have been a bad decision; I don’t know why I didn’t do it myself. But, I didn’t and they did. COLOSIMO: While we are on the topic of covers, for the whole run—including #3, because you did the layout— you worked on all the covers except for #6; that was Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia. Is that a case of you handing in a cover, and it got rejected and they redid it? MILGROM: No, I don’t remember doing a cover for that issue. They probably just said, “Oh, Milgrom’s struggling to meet the deadlines,” because I was doing that and Captain Marvel and probably inking some random stuff at the same time too. Buckler to them was a very popular cover guy; he did tons of covers for Marvel and DC. He probably came into the office one day, and they gave him ten covers to do, so that was one of them. COLOSIMO: This series was fairly early in your career. Did editor Archie Goodwin give you much direction, or did you have more free rein to layout and pencil as you saw fit? MILGROM: I don’t remember Archie giving me much input. He probably worked more with Gerber and possibly Sterno [Roger Stern]—if he was still the editor then—on the storylines. Archie did have a very strong visual sense and he drew very well himself—cartoony kind of stuff, but nice stuff. Archie and I were good buddies, and I think I would have remembered if we’d had a lot of interaction on it.

So, I think probably he was fairly happy with what I was turning in. He either was busy working on other titles or just working with the writers more. COLOSIMO: You think he was probably more hands-on with the scripting, the direction the book would take? MILGROM: I don’t know, since I wasn’t present for that stuff. I know at one point I was talking to Steve [Gerber], and I said, “Where are you going with the storyline, Steve?” He looked me and he kind of grinned and laughed sheepishly, and said, “Al, I have no idea.” Then he just laughed. I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “I don’t usually work that way where I have the end in mind when I start working on something. I kind of work and organically it goes along. And I come up with ideas, and some of the subplots go off in one direction that I hadn’t foreseen, or another direction. I am confident that eventually I’ll tie it all together and come up with a good ending.” I thought that was funny, because I just assumed that writers planned stuff out more strictly than that, but he did not. But, of course, that whole idea with the… I can’t remember the name of him now, but the giant guy in outer space… COLOSIMO: The Topographical Man. MILGROM: The Topographical Man. Yeah. And they’re exploring, and they find that whole cavern with the sisters of whatever they are… and then the whole thing came to I thought a pretty satisfying conclusion. So, he did what he said he would do, figure out a way to wrap it all up at the end, and he did. COLOSIMO: I’ll jump ahead because you brought up Topographical Man story that was in Marvel Presents #7. That was a cosmic coupling of Nikki and Vance. Gerber said it was the highpoint of the series and very controversial, and you both could’ve gotten in trouble. So what was the story behind that? What were you trying to accomplish here? MILGROM: I was just drawing what he told me to draw. It was in the plot, it was a giant spirit form of Nikki and a giant character that was really multiple galaxies, I guess. Yeah, I was a little surprised that they didn’t balk at having them juxtaposed so that it looked like they were having sex, which is essentially what Gerber was saying that they were doing. Either the Comics Code didn’t notice it—I can’t believe that’s the case—or they just didn’t think it was overt enough to worry about it. With Marvel, there were instances—I said this at the time and got into trouble for it, but I heard this—that Marvel was always running so late at that period that sometimes the books were so far behind deadline, behind schedule. If they were too late, then they would incur all kinds of extra costs from the engravers and the printers, because they had a schedule. And if you didn’t keep the schedule, if they had idle press time where the Guardians or some other book was supposed to be printed at the time, they would charge Marvel penalties. So, a lot of times Marvel would just send them the books and they’d go to print. Marvel, at the same time, would send photocopies to the Comics Code, and if the Comics Code wrote them back and said, “Well, no, we don’t like this,” or “You have to change this,” and the people at Marvel would go, “Uh, oh! It’s too late!” And I don’t know whether they would write back and say, “Okay, we’ll take care of it,” because I don’t know if anybody at the Comics Code ever followed up on any of this stuff. They would send their admonitions and if you said, “Okay, we hear you; we’ll do it…” I don’t think they went out and picked up comics at the newsstand and read ’em to make sure that you complied. I know nothing about that organization. I don’t know how many people they had working for them. If you were reading every comic published by Marvel, DC, Charlton, Archie, and everybody else in the comics publishing business at the time, you either had

to have a pretty good-sized staff or one or two overworked people just doing the best they could. So I mentioned that at a convention and I said, “Oh, yeah, sometimes we send out stuff so late, that we don’t even hear back from the Comics Code in time to make changes, even if they want them.” This was when I was up at DC as a matter of fact, I remember ’cause Joe Orlando said, “Oh, somebody at a convention published that comment, and now the Comics Code is really mad at us!” I may have also implied that the Comics Code was an unnecessary entity in that day and age. And he said, “You’ve got to write them a letter of apology; they’re demanding an apology!” I said, “Really? That seems petty.” [But] I said, “Well, okay.” So I sat down and wrote a letter saying, “No, I realize that you guys helped save the industry in the ’50s and, of course, it’s an industry I love and I work in and I don’t mean to demean or diminish your contributions.” And they apparently were satisfied with that. COLOSIMO: That is funny. [laughter] MILGROM: It is funny, I thought. What I said was true, but at the same time, it was pretty insincere. I really didn’t think that we needed to be regulated anymore. But all it takes is one irate parent looking at these two characters screwing in outer space to say, “What?!” and write a congressman, and the next thing you know, it’s cause célèbre and you get another Joe McCarthy up there—or in this case, maybe Fredric Wertham.

All Hands on Deck! Howard Chaykin assisted Al Milgrom on the art for Marvel Presents #5, although the splash is likely all Al’s work. TM & © Marvel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

WORKING WITH WRITERS

Captain Planet Original Rich Buckler/ Frank Giacoia cover art for Marvel Presents #6 (Aug. 1976), the issue that featured the Topographical (or Planetary) Man. TM & © Marvel.

COLOSIMO: Let’s talk about the collaboration between you and the writers. Let’s start with Steve Gerber. I talked to Mary Skrenes. She told me that Steve told her that he sent plots to you and he dialogued them later in the typical Marvel fashion. Gerber basically said the same thing in an interview in FOOM #21—he’d type up a plot, send it to you, then you’d contact him with any questions, and the two of you would work it out. Does that sound accurate? MILGROM: Yeah, I think so. I don’t remember us doing a lot of talking about the plot line before he wrote it. I was as busy as I could be at the time; Steve was too. Everybody was at Marvel in those days. I’m not a great writer; I’m not a great plotter. I’ve written some comics over the years; a small handful. I always felt they were competent, but my ideas—I could never come up with something that I thought was really original, or clever, or earth-shattering. I did stuff. I could write the dialogue well, but the plots themselves, I’m not sure I did

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anything earth-shattering. And because I felt that way about my work, I was happy to let the writers write. Steve Englehart and I did a little more give and take on ours, where we’d discuss stuff first. But by and large, I said, “You write it, I’ll draw it; let’s work.” COLOSIMO: And as the artist, as someone laying out the story, you can take that plot and twist it into a way you want to interpret it. MILGROM: That was the whole beauty of the Marvel style. Stan, when he was writing the entire line—virtually—he could do very brief plot synopses or just have an artist come in and talk with him a little bit. He didn’t have to give Jack Kirby any ideas; Jack Kirby had all the ideas. But the plots I got were clear enough and explicit enough. The artist did the visual storytelling and as a result, I may have trimmed down certain things and extended other things. Maybe I choreographed some of the fight scenes. COLOSIMO: Going back to Steve Gerber and his plots for the book, do you remember how detailed they were? Would he give you say, a page with a paragraph or two? MILGROM: He was pretty thorough. I don’t remember how long the plots would be… but probably four or five pages long. So maybe four or five pages of story per plot page. Something like that. It wasn’t the briefest of things. Some guys would go crazy, giving you very long and explicit plots. So, they were detailed enough, and if I did any extra fleshing out, then that was the whole point of working Marvel style. But hopefully, I came up with interesting visuals. I know on that book, I did a fair number of those Kirby-esque two-page spreads and I’d usually put in several inset panels, so it wasn’t just one giant panel going across two pages. There would be insets of the characters on the ship, and they’d be talking and reacting to stuff. So, there’d end up being a total of maybe a few less panels than a regular page, but still it would move the story along and I got to do some really big, hopefully impressive, art spreads that way. COLOSIMO: When Steve started teaming up with Mary to do scripts, Mary did full scripts and then Steve apparently liked that idea and then moved to the full-script format. Did he ever give you any of those for Marvel Presents? MILGROM: No, I don’t think so. I don’t recall ever working off a full script with him. There were only like, ten issues, and one of those, of course, was the Silver Surfer reprint [in Marvel Presents #8—ed.]. In the letters column Steve said he was running late, and I was probably running late, too. They probably just said, “Let’s not make things any worse, and we’ll throw this in there.” I’m pretty sure I only worked off of plots. I hate working off full scripts. When I worked off full scripts at DC, I just didn’t like it. Although, Gerry Conway and I on Firestorm worked Marvel style anyway. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #20 and 112 for more on Firestorm.] COLOSIMO: When you were doing the art, would you ever put dialogue suggestions in the gutters around the panels? MILGROM: Oh, yeah. I would write either a brief description—although usually it was pretty clear what was going on. Or, yeah, I’d write dialogue, but I don’t know how much of it—if any of it—Steve ever used, but just suggestions. COLOSIMO: Was Roger Stern any different? I think when he took over scripting, the book was very late. He mentioned a couple times working with you, he was able to sit down and discuss plots before going off to type it up. Do you remember any of that? MILGROM: I don’t. If he said it, I’m sure it’s true. We worked Marvel style, I think Sterno was very complete in his plotting.

Some plotters will say, “Page 1, this happens… page 2, this happens… page 3, this happens…” And sometimes they’ll say, “Let’s do one of those three-panel zoom-in sequences,” where you get closer every panel. That will happen. And usually it’s a reasonable suggestion, because most of the writers of comics tend to think visually also. We’ve all seen all the same movies and like the different storytelling techniques. But his plots, I seem to recall being very complete. Maybe a little less flexibility in there than maybe Steve’s stuff. But I can’t swear to that because it’s been so damn long. When I read the books you sent me, I read them over and I said, “I don’t even remember this story or what happened here!” A lot of time has passed. COLOSIMO: Marvel Presents #4, the second issue of the series. That saw the debut of two characters: Nikki, and for all intents and purposes, Aleta—because she had only appeared in one panel in Defenders prior to that. I want to start with the character of Aleta—Starhawk’s other half. Do you remember anything about designing her costume, or helping to create that character in any way? MILGROM: Yeah, I designed it in as far as when she showed up in the plot, I drew a costume that was a very feminine, very short-skirted version of Starhawk’s costume. That was about all the thought that went into that one. There’s not that much to it. COLOSIMO: When you have to do something like that, and you’re creating a character’s look for the first time, do you have to do some kind of bible or style guide for other artists or do you just draw it into the panels? MILGROM: No, there are instances where I take the time to sit down and try out different approaches, or different designs. But again, back in those days, in the early days of the Marvel… sort of renaissance—I mean, right after the Kirby/Ditko, the progenitors— when a bunch of us younger guys got into it, we were usually up against deadlines that were so tight and so rapidly ongoing, that I really did not have a lot of time for sitting down and designing different approaches. I didn’t have to talk to anybody; nobody had to approve it. I just basically said, “Okay, this is Starhawk sort of morphing into Aleta,” so I just gave her the same blue, its got the little starburst belt—although a much thinner one—and a very short, clingy dress. What was that old expression, about how long a dress needed to be? It had to be “short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.” I kind of went with that. And I don’t think this was conscious, but looking at her now, I wonder if she wasn’t loosely based on Zsa Zsa Gabor—I mean, she’s got the kind of broad cheekbones… COLOSIMO: Oh! Now that you say that, I see it! MILGROM: Yeah, I’m not sure I was even thinking it. At the time I wasn’t especially enamored with Zsa Zsa Gabor, but I tried to give [Aleta] a sort of exotic look, with the very cat-like, slanted eyes. And looking at it now, all these years later, I’m going, like, “Well, looks like one of the Gabor sisters.” Maybe I did have that in mind, I don’t know. But basically, all that went into the costume was a feminine version of what Starhawk was wearing. I didn’t have to show it to an editor,

Things Look Tricky for Nikki From the artist’s collection, original Al Milgrom cover art (missing some paste-ups graphics) for Marvel Presents #7 (Nov. 1976). TM & © Marvel.

or bring it by the office to get approval. Up against a tight deadline, I drew it into the story. I don’t think I got any feedback; I don’t think anybody said, “Oh, this is terrible,” or “This is great.” I think they just said, “Okay, there it is. Next!” I’d like to say there was a lot more thought that went into the process, but my thought was to try to make my deadline. COLOSIMO: The other character, Nikki—now, she was a Mercurian. I know Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes co-created her, basically. We saw some Mercurians show up in The Defenders prior to Marvel Presents #4, so we knew they had the gray skin, the flame hair, and they were humanoids. I know you had created her costume. Do you remember giving any input into that character? MILGROM: When she first appeared, she sort of has a—hold on, I’ve got the issue in front of me. [flipping through comic] First she’s in that tattered green thing, which is all she had left to wear. And then the next issue, yeah, I did design her a costume, which I think at some point changed again. COLOSIMO: I think it might’ve got tweaked in the last issue, Marvel Presents #12. MILGROM: The one she’s got here… it’s green, which is the color she first showed up in—the tattered sort of coveralls, they look like they may have been functional at one point. But here they had, again, bare arms and shoulders. It fit her like a one-piece bathing suit, so it’s fairly short. And then later in the series, I remember she had something that kind of had cut-out sides on either side of her midriff. COLOSIMO: The very last issue, if you’ve got that in front of you, she changes it up there a little bit. MILGROM: Yeah, it’s got the scooped neck, and the scooped sides. And it’s got the little, the sort of old Western rawhide shirts, where there’d be fringe hanging down from it—she’s got that at the bottom of her suit. I seem to remember doing that on some other character, maybe somebody in Captain Marvel. But I think I liked that fringe, just because it gave me something to play with—and it was on her shoulders, too. It gave me something to play with when she was moving. The direction those things would flow in would be indicative of her movement. COLOSIMO: Was Nikki’s hair supposed to be actual fire, or just a hairstyle shaped like fire? MILGROM: I think I was thinking it was actual flame. They must have given me some reference from The Defenders, and said, “This is what the character looks like.” I probably just assumed it was flames. As best as I can recall, my guess is I intended it to be flames.

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 9

“ALL HANDS ON DECK”

Voided Variation (left) Never before published, Milgrom’s original layouts for page 1 of Marvel Presents #7. Courtesy of Al Milgrom. (right) The published version, where Al drastically altered the scene’s composition. TM & © Marvel.

COLOSIMO: Issue #5 lists you and Howard Chaykin as artists, but it doesn’t get more specific. You told me recently you thought the splash was all you—I assume you meant pencils and inks, but then Chaykin laid out a good chunk of the rest of the job with your finishes? MILGROM: Yeah, this was pretty early in my career. I started in ’72, did inking pretty much exclusively through ’73 or so. I was probably doing this at the same time I was doing Captain Marvel, which means that I was probably trying to do more work than I was really capable of, even though Mar-Vell and this were both bimonthlies. But I was probably still inking other people on other stuff at the same time. I mean, I really loved doing the work, I loved being in the business, and as a result my guess is I was probably loath to turn anything down. Since I was doing two bimonthly books, and I don’t know what the page count was in those days, probably less than… COLOSIMO: The Guardians stories were somewhere around 17 or 18 pages. MILGROM: …Marvel was trying to find ways to cut costs. Considering how they were at the time—they

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were very popular and had already overtaken DC, I believe. But why suddenly cut the amount of story? I’m surprised the fans didn’t get annoyed with that, or maybe they did. In fact, they even at one point, had that gimmick where they actually took a regular page of drawing paper, turned it sideways—and made it a two-page spread—but you only got paid for doing one page. Are you familiar with that? COLOSIMO: Yeah. I’ve seen an original art page from Marvel Two-in-One #5, the second appearance of the Guardians. And it was just like you said, it was two pages on one 11x17-inch board. MILGROM: Right. They did that with all the books. They were paying you for drawing one page, but they were using it as two pages. That was sort of adding insult to injury. But to make matters worse, because they were drawn on that page and then inked at that size, they actually then went and made an enlarged Photostat to blow it up to proper size of the other pages. Nowadays with computers, you can use Vector or whatever the hell they call the program… but you can do that and not lose any of the integrity of the line. But in those days, when you blew up the line, blew up the artwork—if you did an enlarged stat—the edges of it would get very rough. It would look very crude. I remember thinking at the time that the only guys who could sort of pull it off without losing a lot of quality in the look of the work were Joe Sinnott and Jack Abel, who were like two of the very slickest inkers around. But the rest of us… the stuff kind of suffered when it got enlarged like that. So anyway, if I was doing 18 pages a month, then that should have been well within my capabilities even then. But again, I was probably inking another book or two, and taking on whatever, filling in, helping out wherever I could—if they needed an emergency two or three pages inked—which I sort of made a habit of doing my whole career. So, a lot of times with this stuff, you just went ahead and designed things, and did things, and tried to do them on the fly. It’s possible Steve may have described some of the stuff he wanted—including the hair or the costumes—but I don’t remember that. He may

Issue #8 Ran Late Original Milgrom cover art to Marvel Presents #9 (Feb. 1977), courtesy of the artist. Its issue number signifies that it was intended for the preceding issue, which became a fill-in featuring a Silver Surfer reprint. Mary Skrenes assisted Steve Gerber on this issue’s tale. TM & © Marvel.

have said, “Here in this panel, Nikki puts on a new costume. She’s got a new costume.” It might have been no more than that. I’m sure I didn’t just do it on my own. There would have been an instruction asking for that. As for the Chaykin issue… Howard helped me lay out #5. I’m sure that splash is all mine. It just doesn’t look like his… COLOSIMO: You think the splash is your pencils and inks, but the rest of the book he penciled and you inked? Or, did you finish the pencils and then ink? MILGROM: Well, Howard wasn’t as familiar with the characters. I’m looking at it now… It looks like probably the second page is all mine also. But then starting with page 3… that looks like it might be Howard’s layouts. He had done breakdowns. And the funny thing is that I said, “Howard, can you help me out on a job, like lay out a bunch of it?” He said, “Sure.” So he did breakdowns, which are basically, moderately tight pencil drawings, but with no shading and no blacks filled in. Okay? So, it’s basically the kind of thing Sal Buscema did for his breakdowns, if you’ve ever seen those. Basically everything is there, but it’s up to the inker to add textures, and blacks, and that sort of thing. Any kind of rendering. I think what happened was, I said, “Well, if Howard helps me with the layouts, I can dive right in—ink it. And as a result, keep the characters true to what I’ve been drawing, but it will still help me get a jumpstart.” And by the way, I was saying how this was early enough on that I wasn’t really quite professional enough to do the stuff quickly, and make deadlines on two books. Also, a number of the early issues of both this and Captain Marvel, I was inking my own pencils. So it wasn’t penciling a book a month—I was actually penciling and inking, in some cases. That was just foolhardy. But they were so pressed for time and talent in those days, that I guess they probably just said, “Okay, try to get it in on time.” But it looks to me like maybe I just did the full pencils on the first two pages and everything else looks like it’s probably Howard. I think Howard told me after the fact, that he actually had Alan Kupperberg lay it out for him, and then Howard traced it off and made it more like his own stuff. Kupperberg was a competent, solid penciler. Howard was inspired—but Alan was solid. So Howard obviously must have paid Alan to do the layouts, and then he’d tighten them up. I don’t remember what I paid for them. But I said, “Well, you should’ve just told me, and Alan could’ve done the layouts for me himself.” It seemed like they were cutting that paycheck up pretty fine, to have two guys doing that part of the job. Later in that series, Starlin also laid out an issue, or maybe two for me… COLOSIMO: Yeah, #10. It was the one with Charlie throwing the smaller rock on the cover. Jim Starlin helped you lay it out. That was Roger Stern’s first full issue writing, and he had Chris Claremont help him with the story. Was that common, where a number of people would jump in and help if needed? MILGROM: In those days, it was sort of, All hands on deck. Especially among the younger guys, where we weren’t necessarily quite as competent at making a deadline as the old pros were. Starlin… it’s funny, because Jim never went out of his way to do a lot of work. He would do one or two books, and often write them and he did great quality stuff, obviously—some brilliant stuff—but he was capable of drawing at a terrific rate of speed. So, he did the breakdowns for this job for me. It’s funny, I didn’t give Jim any credit on it; I wonder why? COLOSIMO: I think he did get credit… somewhere later on. MILGROM: I hope so. I mean you can see, the splash—just the way the figures are drawn—does not look like my ordinary style… I mean, my stuff and Jim’s stuff were close enough stylistically. A lot of my

early drawing was sort of inspired by his drawing, because when I first met Jim, we met in junior high school; we went to the same school. Immediately I saw, “Well, this guy’s way better than I am, maybe I’ll just see if I can ink his stuff.” It took several years for me to develop my drawing ability to the point where I could get work. But, Jim did breakdowns on this—again—kind of straightforward pencil outlines, but without all the texture and blacks, and I went back in and tightened up the pencils to make them complete. And then Bob inked that combination of Jim’s layouts and my pencils. COLOSIMO: Bob Wiacek started inks with issue #7, so basically out of that ten-issue run—although one was mostly a reprint—he did the last six issues. Before that, most every issue had a different inker. Pablo Marcos, to you, then you at issue #5 again, then Terry Austin… any reason why the book had rotating inkers until Bob came along? MILGROM: The book was late. They would just probably take whoever was available or willing. Again, I inked a couple, which was probably ill-advised, considering the way the deadlines were going. Marvel, in those days, you would often see a different inker on consecutive issues of almost any book. And often you’d see in the credits, multiple listings for inkers—and occasionally for pencilers, too. But mostly the inkers, because the inker is sort of the last guy in line… except for the colorist, of course. So let’s say if a penciler turns in ten pages of story, and say, Bob Wiacek is inking it, and he’ll be inking it. The penciler is trying to finish the next half of the book, and he sends in another five pages. And let’s say Wiacek hasn’t finished the first ten yet, and if the book’s running late, they might say, “Well, who else can we get to do this next batch of pages?” And although inkers’ styles can be

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

fairly distinctive, your average person is not necessarily going to notice the difference. Once it’s reduced, and colored, and the characters are fairly consistent—real comic fanatics and other artists will go, “Oh, look, this page is by Terry, this page is by Wiacek, this one’s by Sinnott, oh, here’s Craig Russell…”—they might be able to spot it and actually get a kick out of figuring out “Where’s Waldo?” in terms of the inkers, but your average reader—your kid off the street in those days—wouldn’t know the difference. COLOSIMO: I know you’ve seen the cover to #8, with the Silver Surfer, listed as Joe Sinnott’s inks in some sources. MILGROM: I have. I inked that; I’m almost… I’m actually positive. I think I was doing my best Joe Sinnott impression. But it’s not Joe. I look at some of the buildings in the background, and they’re rather crude compared to what Joe would do. Although I love Joe’s work, and I admired it, and frequently tried to emulate it—I couldn’t quite get there. It’s close. And I can see why somebody would… in fact, I ought to check—if it’s listed in the Grand Comics Database, I should tell them they’re wrong. So, I’m positive that I did it. COLOSIMO: I think they have a note on their site that said you’re pretty sure it’s your inks. MILGROM: Yeah. The only thing that throws me off a little, is it looks like—possibly—John Romita retouched the Silver Surfer. That head does not look like one of my heads. It might’ve been his, because that’s what he would do often. If he didn’t think the character looked quite right, he’d “fix” it. I’m putting “fix” in quotation marks there. But, I’m almost positive that that’s me and not Joe. The drapery on the trunks of the monster don’t look like Joe. It’s just… 20% less slick and polished than Joe’s stuff. You know what I’m saying?

stuff. I remember looking at it and going, “You know, I should have just inked it the way I usually ink stuff.” But in that case, I remember trying to do something more “Image-y”—and it wasn’t Image at the time, they hadn’t started yet—but the style of those guys like Jim Lee, and Rob Liefeld, and some of the inkers that they had doing their stuff. COLOSIMO: It’s interesting you say that. Because Herb Trimpe penciled a couple issues of Valentino’s Guardians series, and from what I understand, editors pressured him to change his style to more of the “Image-y” style to continue getting work with Marvel in those years—around 1991, 1992. You’re not the first person I’ve heard that about. MILGROM: I don’t think anybody told me to do it. I think I saw the writing on the wall, and said, “I’d better see if I could adapt to this new approach.” I could do a fairly good impression of whatever that… I’ve got a whole theory about the way that inking style developed, but that’s just my theory and it’s not important—but the bottom line is that they had this different approach going on, everybody seemed to be enamored by it, and I thought, “Well, I’d better see if I can adapt so I’ll be able to continue working here.” But in retrospect, I can’t help wondering if I would’ve been better off just doing what I did best—which was old school, Frank Giacoia, Joe Sinnott… classic Marvel artwork—and not tried to do what the young guys were doing. But it was what it was. And, it worked out. I was happy enough with the story and the overall look of it, but I feel like I was sort of working against type there.

THE GUARDIANS’ GOODBYE

COLOSIMO: Marvel Presents #12 was the last issue. I think Roger Stern had mentioned in the past that you had found out the book was cancelled while you were penciling it, so you were able to put a little team send-off on the last page. Do you remember anything about this book getting cancelled? MILGROM: My guess is that there must have been a little bit of advance notice. But yeah, there they are, waving goodbye. I’ve got Charlie with his hands on the shoulders of the other characters, walking off into the sunset, if you will. So, yeah, I guess I just decided to do a little, “Hey, the end for now. We had fun doing it. We’ll see you in the pasture.” COLOSIMO: You didn’t necessarily work in advance, so you and Roger didn’t talk about the plot to Marvel Presents #13 before the series got cancelled? MILGROM: No, not at all. I was not one of the most agile co-plotters. Occasionally, I’d talk with whoever was writing the books I was doing, and they might ask for some input, or I might have an idea or two, but more often than not the writers would write the stuff and I would just draw it. COLOSIMO: He had said something along the lines that the two of you lived on the same floor of the same apartment and you would sometimes go across the hall and pass pages off and work on the same book. I don’t know if that was Marvel Presents, or not. MILGROM: I don’t remember when Sterno moved into the building. This was an apartment building in Queens. Walt Simonson and I lived in an apartment there. At some point, Chaykin moved into the building, and Bernie Wrightson moved into the building. Bernie moved out of the building, and Sterno moved into the building, and Alan Kupperberg moved into the building. I don’t know exactly what order that happened in, but we were living in the same building. I don’t remember if we were working on the Guardians at the time. COLOSIMO: About 15 years after the series ended, in 1991, there was a group of four Annuals—the “Korvac Quest” Annuals. The first one, Fantastic Four Annual #24, featured the Guardians, and you wrote, penciled, and inked it. The storyline finished up in Jim Valentino’s Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1, but your FF Annual #24 started it off. Do you remember coming back and doing that story? MILGROM: It was a treat for me to get to do those characters again. I remember at the time, it was already the era of all the new guys who were bound to become the Image guys. The way I tried to ink it was more like the inking style of the day. My drawing was my drawing; I didn’t really have that approach—I could copy some of the superficial

Guardians Assemble! Roger Stern took over for good as the Guardians’ guardian with Marvel Presents #10 (Apr. 1977). TM & © Marvel.

12 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

ROGER STERN Alexander Fuld Frazier.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Steve Gerber’s last issue on the series was Marvel Presents #9, featuring the first part of Starhawk’s origin. I know he told you that he didn’t have the rest of the origin worked out for the following issue, but did he give you any other insight or advice on the series at all—general direction of the book, information on character’s personalities, etc.? Once issue #10 was done, did he review it with you and provide any feedback? ROGER STERN: No, I never heard anything from Steve about the Guardians. Of course, he was always busy with his other projects. We all were. COLOSIMO: Gerber said his series didn’t have a theme as a whole—but if it did, it would be about five exiles as much outsiders on Earth as they would be among the stars. Did you have a basic theme for the book? STERN: The outsider theme was certainly at the core of the series. I saw the Guardians as the story of seven outcasts, each the last of their kind, looking to find their purpose in a post-revolutionary galaxy. And, of course, fighting the good fight along the way. COLOSIMO: During the Marvel Presents run, series penciler Al Milgrom and yourself both lived in the same apartment complex on the same floor and would at times pass pages back and forth to work on. Due to this, was there a lot of synergy on the book—where you gave him ideas on costumes or layouts, and he gave you ideas on plot, character’s personalities, or dialogue? How would the two of you go about creating the next story that was due? STERN: The only costume request I made to Al—and it was a request, without any real suggestions—was to change Charlie-27’s outfit. To me, a bare-chested spaceman didn’t make much sense. I thought that the new outfit Al designed was a major improvement, but that design was all his. As far as collaborating on plots, we never got to do that as much of that as I would have liked. Al is a great story man, but the book was almost terminally late when I got the writing assignment, and deadlines were coming at us so fast and furiously that we never got much breathing room until the very end. A couple of times we were able to sit down over dinner at some burger joint, to talk about general directions. Then I’d have to run off and quickly type up a plot, so that Al could start drawing the issue. COLOSIMO: How much guidance and direction did editor Archie Goodwin give you with the book—were you allowed to do what you wanted with fairly limited restrictions? STERN: I don’t really recall Archie setting any restrictions. I do remember that every bit of advice he ever gave me was helpful. Plus, most of what I know about placing copy on a page, I learned from watching Archie do that. He really was the best at just about everything. COLOSIMO: Marvel Presents #10 seemed to be a team effort. Chris Claremont helped you plot it, and Jim Starlin helped Al Milgrom lay it out. At the time, was pitching in like this common when the need arose? STERN: Oh, yeah… people were always happy to pitch in with suggestions. There was a great camaraderie around the Bullpen.

COLOSIMO: Marvel Presents #12 was the last issue. You had stated in a previous interview that the series was cancelled based on sales of early issues. Did you ever find out if Gerber’s later issues or your issues picked up steam sales-wise? STERN: I’m afraid that I couldn’t tell you what the issues sales were—only that they must have dropped below some critical threshold. Very few of us were privy to current sales figures in those days. That wouldn’t really change until sales-based royalties were instituted some years later. COLOSIMO: Based on older interviews, we know some of the general plans that were in store had the series continued: a return to Earth (although I’m unsure if that meant 20th or 31st Century), match-ups against already-established 31st-Century Marvel villains such as Korvac and Sise-Neg, issues devoted to exploring individual team members’ pasts (such as Charlie in Marvel Presents #12), continuing a rocky relationship between Aleta and Stakar—and possibly having Aleta becoming Starhawk for a while. That said, I wanted to

Planet of the Vampires Our pal Al delivers the goods on yet another explosive GOTG cover! Marvel Presents #11 (June 1977) cover art scan courtesy of Al Milgrom. TM & © Marvel.

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ask several questions on other potential plans for the series, if you happen to recall any of these. And then there’s one of your comments on Nikki from the interview in BACK ISSUE #65: “I saw her ‘power’ as being able to adapt to virtually any environment.” The letters column for Marvel Presents #6—during Gerber’s run—hinted at Nikki having a power or two. Do you remember having any power reveal in the pipeline? STERN: No, I didn’t have all that much in the pipeline. The benefit of writing a bimonthly book was that we had twice as much time to come up with stories, but even at that, we were still getting caught up to some pretty outrageous deadlines. And I learned that Marvel Presents was being cancelled shortly after plotting the 12th issue. COLOSIMO: Gerber created a blossoming relationship between Vance and Nikki. Did you plan to continue exploring and developing that, had the series continued? (The letters page in Marvel Presents #11 hinted at possible surprises coming up for them.) STERN: The Vance/Nikki relationship was going to play out over the next year’s worth of issues. Basically, I saw any possible romance there as quickly running out of steam. If the series had continued, I think that I would have built more of a friendship between Nikki and Charlie. COLOSIMO: While both were adults—Nikki was the youngest Guardian, at 18 years old—and Vance was the oldest, at over 1,000 years old, did this dynamic factor in… was it seen as something to play off of while deciding the course of their relationship? STERN: Oh, it was most definitely a factor. Vance, after all, was a guy who’d grown up watching Star Trek, and Nikki had basically grown up living Star Trek. If there was any hope of a romance there, it would have been very much a December/May romance. And to my mind, Vance was never very comfortable with it. COLOSIMO: Did you have any plans to reveal what it meant for Starhawk to be the “One Who Knows”? STERN: Eventually. It’s sort of like being cosmically aware, but it was different from Captain Mar-Vell’s brand of cosmic awareness. Being the “One Who Knows” came about as the result of that giant Hawk-God super-computer downloading all of its data into Stakar and Aleta, and merging them into Starhawk. COLOSIMO: The book didn’t cover how Stakar and Aleta married or had three children after merging with the Hawk-God—but in FOOM #21 you mentioned they had the children via “artificial test-tube means.” Was this backstory one you planned to delve into had the series continued? STERN: Probably. I’m sure that I would have gotten around to something about that eventually.

The Final Frontier (top) The original GOTG series concluded with Marvel Presents #12 (Aug. 1977). Original Al Milgrom cover art courtesy of Mr. Milgrom. (bottom left) Roger Stern, with co-plotter Len Wein, brought the Guardians into the pages of Thor Annual #6 (1977). (bottom right) Stern was Ms. Marvel editor when writer Chris Claremont guest-starred Vance Astro in the final issue of the series, #23 (Apr. 1979). Cover by Cockrum/Pérez/Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

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COLOSIMO: In FOOM #21 you mentioned that there was an easy enough way (as outlined in the Morbius series) to bring Stakar and Aleta’s three children back from the dead, if needed. It seems the people of Arcturus (creating children in their incuflask factories) and the Caretakers (genetic engineers on Earth)—both from Gerber’s Morbius book [Adventures into Fear]—had ways to do this. Do you remember which you may have planned to use? STERN: It’s been over 40 years, so I don’t remember for sure and for certain, but I believe that I was going to go with the Arcturian version. COLOSIMO: In Defenders #26, Steve Gerber tied Killraven into the past history of the Guardians’ timeline. Did you have any inkling to team up the Guardians with Killraven had your series continued? STERN: I don’t recall having any plans along those lines. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have gone there eventually, just that I had no specific plans. COLOSIMO: That same issue of the Defenders also mentioned the Bionics Wars of the 1990s—allowing for the merging of Deathlok into the Guardians’ universe, although he wasn’t specifically shown or mentioned. As far as you were concerned, was Deathlok part of that universe too? STERN: Again, I hadn’t the time to consider other future time periods that much. I’m not sure if even Mark Gruenwald had come up with any sort of unified Marvel future timeline at that point. COLOSIMO: After the Marvel Presents series ended, you worked on the next appearance of the team (vs. Korvac)

in Thor Annual #6—then about four months later the team reappeared at the start of the classic “Korvac Saga,” beginning in Avengers #167. You’re credited as co-plotter for that issue. Was this popular storyline created, or became an option, due to the demise of the Guardians’ series? STERN: The Thor Annual was originally conceived as a way to help promote the Guardians’ series. But Marvel Presents was cancelled after I had plotted the story with Len Wein, so that Annual wound up being my last hurrah with the Guardians. The “Korvac” storyline simply took advantage of the Guardians being at loose ends. And that wound up making George Pérez happy, because he always wanted to draw every character who was out there. COLOSIMO: You took over as editor of Avengers from #173 through 177 (and 181), wrapping up the “Korvac Saga,” coincidentally, the issues heavily involving the Guardians. How much input did you give the creative team concerning the use of the Guardians? STERN: I might have made a few suggestions. But other than that, Jim [Shooter, then-writer of Avengers] and George—and then, Jim on his own—didn’t really need much help from me. COLOSIMO: The month after Avengers #181 was released, Ms. Marvel #23 appeared on the stands— guest-starring Vance and edited by you. Writer Chris Claremont said a body was needed for story purposes. Was it your idea to use Vance in order to keep promoting the team in the Marvel books?

The Milgrom/ Wiacek Team A pair of charactercrammed original art pages featuring Bob Wiacek’s inks over Al Milgrom’s pencils: (left) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), a page from Marvel Presents #11. (right) From the collection of William Colosimo, a page from Marvel Presents #12. TM & © Marvel.

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Guardians Forever A George Pérez pinup of our galaxyspanners, from the artist’s 1977 publication, George Pérez: Accent on the First ‘e’. Courtesy of Ted Latner. TM & © Marvel.

STERN: No, as I recall, that was all Chris’ idea. He needed a big hunk of future-tech for his story, and Drydock was right there, in near-Earth orbit. COLOSIMO: According to the letters page in Marvel Two-in-One #73, you gave Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio some assistance with the Guardians crossover in Marvel Two-in-One #69—coming up with the idea that Vance went mad on his 1,000-year space journey, with his powers coming to the surface during that time. Were you in essence the team’s caretakers with Marvel staff for a bit—the go-to guy? STERN: No, it was more along the lines of my being recognized as the last writer to have handled the team in their own series. Writers looking to use the Guardians— or some subset of the team—would sometimes ask me if the stories they had in mind worked with what had already been established. COLOSIMO: Did you pitch in—uncredited—on any of the team’s other appearances? STERN: Not that I can recall. COLOSIMO: After Marvel Two-in-One #69, the team went into limbo for almost a decade—until Jim Valentino’s Guardians of the Galaxy series pitch was accepted in 1989. During that period, did you ever have a pitch for another Guardians book, or any desire to revisit the characters? STERN: Well, John Byrne and I briefly talked about pitching a Guardians series, sometime after our run on Captain America. But both of us soon became so busy that it never got far beyond the “You know, we ought to pitch this” stage.

MARY SKRENES Women in Comics Wiki.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Do you have any recollection of assisting Steve Gerber on Guardians of the Galaxy, specifically the creation of the character Nikki”? MARY SKRENES: I can only think that [Steve Gerber and I] talked about the characters during one of our many Brew Burger dinners. Evenings, after Marvel closed for the night, he and I and other writers and artists often gathered there. We all talked about concepts and plots. Steve liked input from many of his buds. I may have tossed off the Nikki concept there. I imagine some of those occasions gave him the idea that we should collaborate. I believe this must have been before he and I started working together. I say this because Gerbs said that he sent plots to Al [Milgrom] and dialogued them later in the typical Marvel fashion. I had always done full scripts for DC and did them for Marvel. He was astonished at this. When we created Omega [the Unknown], he was giddy at the prospect of working that way. He did full scripts for the rest of his life. His scripts were so full and rich that I couldn’t read one and be able to look at the comic for at least a year afterwards. So, I believe that was probably the extent of my involvement.

BOB WIACEK © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: What do you recall about working on the Guardians of the Galaxy in Marvel Presents? BOB WIACEK: It was my very first Marvel assignment. My first issue was #7, and I remember Al [Milgrom] and Archie Goodwin—who was editor-in-chief at the time— wanted to try me out as the inker for Marvel Presents. Terry Austin inked the previous issue but he was assigned to ink Captain Marvel, which Al was also penciling at the time. Archie liked my inks on Mike Grell’s pencils for Legion of Super-Heroes at DC at the time and gave me the opportunity to ink GOTG, which I will always be grateful for. Working with Al was a whole lot of fun.

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by G

lenn Greenberg

Peter Quill is a jerk, with a mother named Meredith who died when he was a boy and an extraterrestrial father he didn’t know about, or meet, until he was an adult. Those facts span every version of the man also known as Star-Lord. Beyond them, however, the backstory, abilities, and very nature of the space adventurer really depend on who is writing him, and on the medium in which his stories are being told. The version introduced more than 40 years ago, the one appearing in comics published today, and the one portrayed by Chris Pratt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies represent very different visions—but that’s actually the way it’s been with Star-Lord from the beginning. In just the first few years of his existence, he underwent several relaunches and reworkings. None of them really took hold, and for most of his history, Star-Lord has been relegated to comic-book limbo—until crossing paths with another heavily reworked concept, the Guardians of the Galaxy, with both ultimately benefiting greatly. But to reach that point, Peter Quill had to go through a long, circuitous, and sometimes tumultuous development process, guided by some of the most successful and acclaimed creators in the comic-book industry. They planted seeds that would finally flourish decades later.

A COSMIC DESTINY

Created by writer Steve Englehart with artist Steve Gan, Star-Lord first appeared in the black-and-white magazine Marvel Preview #4 (Jan. 1976), in a 32-page story that established his origin and set up his intended ongoing status quo. Upon Peter Quill’s birth on February 4, 1962, which coincides with Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth’s moon all being in alignment, his mother is accused by her husband, Jake, of having cheated on him, as the baby looks nothing like him. Over Meredith’s protests, Jake takes the newborn baby out into the night, intending to kill the child—and dies of a sudden heart attack under the stars. Peter, raised by Meredith alone, develops a fascination for space and science fiction. At age 11, he’s thrilled to witness the arrival of a flying saucer and brings his mother to the landing site to show her. The aliens aboard the vessel see the human observers and open fire, killing Meredith. Peter survives and swears to get revenge. By 1987, Quill has joined the US space program to get to the stars and track down the aliens. In his obsession, he becomes ill-tempered and ruthless, willing to crush anyone who stands in his way. His determination serves him well—Peter ends up serving aboard Earth’s Space Station Eve. There, in 1990, the crew is visited by a mysterious higher power that calls upon them to select one of their members, at the next lunar eclipse, to become the “Starlord” (sic—the hyphen would be added later on) and assume a glorious destiny in the cosmos. Quill wants to be chosen, and steve englehart is crushed when his superiors choose his rival instead. steveenglehart.com. Unwilling to accept the decision, Quill moves to eliminate the competition, apparently killing several security guards who are simply trying to do their jobs. The remaining guards are ordered to shoot to kill, but as they open fire, Quill disappears, having been whisked away to the heart of the Sun by the higher power—a being who looks like a bearded old man with long white hair and dressed in a long flowing robe, who calls himself the Master of the Sun. Quill wonders aloud if this being is God, to which the Master replies, “Do I resemble him? But all men do, Peter—for it is written that God created First Flight Man in his image. Perhaps I… am not what I seem.” The Master bestows upon Quill the uniform of the Star-Lord— Original cover painting to Star-Lord’s first appearance, without explaining what a Star-Lord actually is or does—along with from Marvel Preview #4 (Jan. 1976). Art by Gray Morrow. the ability to fly and breathe in outer space, and a unique gun that can shoot any of the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth. The godlike Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). being then enables Quill to experience the feeling of avenging his TM & © Marvel. mother’s death, bringing Peter to a point where he’s ready to move Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

The Un-Hyphenated Space Hero From Marvel Preview #4, (left) Star-Lord creator Steve Englehart’s text page describing the genesis of “The Starlord,” and (right) co-creator Steve Gan’s accompanying pinup. TM & © Marvel.

on. The Master offers him the opportunity to forge a new path as the Star-Lord, and Quill accepts. At that point, the saga was born. But it was derailed immediately thereafter, despite Steve Englehart’s long-range plans for the character.

CHARACTER BUILDING

According to Englehart, the creation of Star-Lord came about after he was approached by Marv Wolfman, then the editor of Marvel’s black-and-white magazine line, to come up with a character bearing that name for a new science-fiction feature. “Marv came to me with the name Star-Lord, I came up with all the rest,” Englehart tells BACK ISSUE. The timing was fortuitous. At that moment, Englehart was deep into researching astrology, and had come to embrace it as a useful tool. “The basic theory is that all the different parts of the solar system are moving and each one has an effect, and you can see the effects play out,” he explains. “It’s hard to pin down. It all boils down to whether you can accept that there are influences beyond what we can look at, and I’m pretty convinced there are.” Given the opportunity to develop a new character set in outer space, Englehart decided to incorporate astrology into the concept. “My main idea was, I wanted a guy who was the biggest a**hole in the world, just completely irredeemable, but by the end of the first issue, he’d be talking to the Master of the Sun,” Englehart says. “The idea I had was that, over 12 issues [of Marvel Preview], Quill was going to go outward through the solar system and he would stop on each planet and have an adventure based on the astrology/mythology of the planet. For example, if he got to Venus, it would be a love story. When he got to Mars, it would be a war story. It would be like an anthology in that sense.

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And each time Star-Lord went through one of these adventures, he would become more human, he would discover aspects of himself that he didn’t know he had. And he would learn about love, about war, about government when he got to Jupiter, and so forth.” According to Englehart, Peter Quill would conclude his journey on Pluto. “That was back when Pluto was still a planet,” he notes with a chuckle. “And the idea was, when he got past Pluto, he would finally be the Star-Lord, completely self-aware.” It’s important to note that Englehart decided to set the series firmly within its own universe. “Completely standalone,” he says. That worked for the storyline, given its incompatibility with the chronology, continuity, and details of the Marvel Universe. Also, in a universe where you have cosmic beings like Galactus, the Grandmaster, the Living Tribunal, and Eternity playing active roles, a figure like the Master of the Sun comes off as somewhat quaint, hardly an all-powerful being. In keeping with his anthology approach, Englehart also accounted for the visuals for each installment. “My idea was to get a romance artist for the Venus story,” he says. “Jay Scott Pike would have been my choice—probably inked by Vinnie Colletta! Then get Joe Kubert or Russ Heath for the Mars book, the war story.” Obviously, Englehart completed the first story. “I did the one where he was a complete jerk,” he says. “I did everything I could to make him unlikable—that was my point. I mean, just the name Peter Quill—both of those names are synonyms for ‘dick.’ I wanted you to not like him, so that as he became a better person, a more fully rounded person, you would be struck with awe and amazement, watching this guy grow and change. It was writer’s hubris—‘I can do this, I can make this work.’ But we never got a chance to see whether I could or couldn’t.”

LOST IN SPACE

The origin turned out to the only Star-Lord story that Englehart ever wrote. “That was part of my abrupt departure from Marvel,” he says. By the summer of 1976, he was over at DC, where he would write, among other things, Justice League of America and his highly acclaimed run of Batman stories in Detective Comics. Most of what Englehart had in mind for Star-Lord was never realized—including what, exactly, it meant to be a Star-Lord. “I don’t think I would have known until we got to issue 12,” he says. “My approach to writing was always to let the characters tell me where they wanted to go. I didn’t plot way out to the future. For example, Mantis [introduced during Englehart’s run on The Avengers] was going to be one thing, and then she just turned into something else and I was like, ‘Oh really? That wasn’t what I had in mind, but here she is, and let’s see where this goes.’ But I do know that once we got to issue #12, Star-Lord was going to be the most self-aware guy in the universe, so cosmic that he would be, maybe, one with God.” Speaking of whom—what were Englehart’s plans for the Master of the Sun? “He was intended to be God, basically,” the writer reveals. “Not the actual God right then and there, because He wouldn’t be standing around looking like an old guy. But they were standing on the Sun and they weren’t dying, so there must have been something going on with him. I wouldn’t have expected to see him again. As we went through the solar system, that would have been Star-Lord on his own. Possibly at the end of the journey, Star-Lord would’ve met steve gan this guy again, but [the Master] was basically just a way to set Star-Lord on his course.” While Englehart never wrote the other Star-Lord stories for Marvel, he did revisit the concept and produced at least one more adventure. “In like 1979, 1980, when the Mullaney brothers [Dean and Jan] were doing Eclipse Comics, they wanted me to do an ongoing series for them,” he explains. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I do Star-Lord?’ So I did a second issue, with Marshall Rogers. I think we called him Skydancer, but it was essentially Star-Lord. It took place on Mercury, so there was a lot of thinking and learning, and a lot of childlike behavior. So I did write the Mercury story, basically. But I can’t tell if you if it ever got published!” (An extensive Google search turned up no evidence that it did.) Following Englehart’s departure, Star-Lord was put on hold. Then, at around the same time that people around the world were lining up at movie theaters to turn a rollicking space adventure by George Lucas into a blockbuster phenomenon, a new editor and a new creative team—one on the brink of superstardom—revived the character and gave him a shot at longevity.

Close Encounter (bottom) Original Steve Gan art from Marvel Preview #4’s Star-Lord story, sans lettering, featuring the character’s origin. Courtesy of Heritage. (top) The same page from the printed magazine. TM & © Marvel.

A STELLAR RETURN

“Magic” was how editor John Warner described the combination of himself, writer Chris Claremont, penciler John Byrne, inker Terry Austin, and letterer Tom Orzechowski, with regard to the 51-page Star-Lord story they produced for Marvel Preview #11 (Summer 1977), marking the second appearance of the character. Warner, in his foreword to the issue, wrote of “five people forming a perfect and balanced synthesis of concept and execution, each one’s contribution enriching the one before it.” The end result: the realization of a vision of “an original SF novel in a comics format.” Essentially picking up where Englehart had left off, Warner, Claremont, and Byrne nonetheless made some significant alterations to the Star-Lord concept. First and foremost, they dropped the astrology element. “No one but Steve Englehart, the original writer, could have maintained it,” Warner wrote in his foreword. “None of the rest of us really know enough about astrology and it is not something you can understand with a few nights (sic) research.” Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

They also set their story a considerable amount of time after the Kip and a tough, street-smart girl named Sandy, who have been origin, to account for the changes to Peter Quill and his status quo. captured and held prisoner by the slavers aboard their command Quill was now primarily a pacifist who loathed killing, determined vessel. Star-Lord discovers that the slavers are helping to finance the planned overthrow of a local Emperor, and with Kip and to put his violent past behind him and committed to heroic, Sandy tagging along, he sets out to the Imperial Center on altruistic pursuits. “Chris and I felt uncomfortable with Quill being quite as twisted as he was in the first story,” the planet Sparta to stop the coup d’état from succeeding. Warner wrote. “However, I don’t think we have The mastermind behind the treachery turns out contradicted anything…. Time and his new awareness to be Prince Gareth, the Emperor’s jealous uncle, have mellowed Quill out just a bit.” and Star-Lord’s ultimate showdown with this would-be Further, Quill now traveled aboard a sentient, usurper leads to several stunning revelations about living, female starcraft called “Ship,” who could Peter Quill, his origin, and his parentage. It would be easy today to read this story and, change her shape and turn invisible, and with whom he shared an empathic link—and perhaps something without proper historical context, assume that Claremont on a deeper emotional level. Instead of setting out to and Byrne were heavily influenced by the original Star visit each planet of our solar system, Quill and “Ship” Wars. But the fact of the matter is that they were were already well beyond that relatively limited region working on their project well before that movie was chris claremont and exploring the farthest reaches of deep space. released on May 25, 1977. And yet, this Star-Lord “From John [Byrne]’s and my perspective, it was, story certainly evokes the feel, and in some cases, © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. ‘Okay, we’ll just start from scratch—we know what we even the look, of Star Wars. It’s a sweeping tale, with know from the first issue and we’ll go on from there,’” Claremont tells plenty of action, exotic-looking aliens, space battles, and swashbuckling BACK ISSUE. “And from my perspective as a writer, it was, ‘Screw it, I’ll do derring-do. Kip and Sandy are very much in the same mold as Luke high-adventure science fiction. And not superheroes so much as just really Skywalker and Princess Leia. And there are some startling coincidences, cool, different visuals. And because these are one-off, self-contained stories, indicating that Claremont and Byrne were very much on the same let’s try to do them from a non-comic-book-traditional storytelling metric.’” wavelength as George Lucas—for one thing, one of Prince Gareth’s In this second adventure, Star-Lord (or still “Starlord”—at this point, villainous allies is actually referred to as a “Sith-lord!” Marvel was going back and forth on whether to include the hyphen) But as he was developing the Star-Lord relaunch, Claremont did look and “Ship” confront a crew of brutal aliens who have been invading to a leading science-fiction creator for inspiration: author Robert A. worlds near the galactic rim, causing mass destruction and taking the Heinlein. “I’ve been a fan of Heinlein’s since I learned how to read,” he populations away for enslavement. Quill befriends a callow boy named explains. “That story was me trying to channel everything I loved about Robert Heinlein. One of the great honors of my life as a science-fiction writer was meeting him when he got the Grand Master Award [from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, at the Nebula Awards in 1975]. I made a complete fool of myself. I tried to say to him, ‘You are my hero, you are the reason I’m a writer’—and I said nothing.” Claremont provided an afterword for the issue, in which he acknowledged his creative debt to the author. And if that wasn’t enough, the front cover of the magazine featured a blurb that said, “A novel-length science fiction spectacular in the tradition of ROBERT A. HEINLEIN”—but that crossed a line. “Boy, did we catch s**t on that,” Claremont says. “It never occurred to anyone in Editorial that Heinlein was alive and maybe we should ask permission before using his name.” According to comics historian Brian Cronin, in the 194th installment of his “Comic Book Legends Revealed” column at CBR.com (dated February 12, 2009), Heinlein’s lawyers contacted Marvel to express their displeasure. Marvel quickly published a second printing of the issue, with the blurb removed. Aside from that flap, the experience was a positive one for Claremont. For Byrne, however, working on Star-Lord was apparently not much more than a minor, forgettable gig. Byrne rarely grants interviews nowadays, but over the years, he has posted comments about the story on his website, ByrneRobotics.com.

“In the Tradition of Robert A. Heinlein”

john byrne © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

(inset) Marvel Preview #11 (Summer 1977), with its soon-to-be-removed blurb touting an acclaimed sci-fi master. Cover by Ken Barr. (left) Courtesy of Heritage, original art to the first page of the Star-Lord tale in that issue, signed by the legendary team of writer Chris Claremont, penciler John Byrne, and inker Terry Austin. TM & © Marvel.

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“I was strictly ‘Art Robot’ on that book,” he wrote on November 18, 2008. “I had not even heard of Starlord (sic) before Chris asked me to work on it.” Byrne revealed that even while he was illustrating the story, it was not making much of an impression on him. “Any interest I had [in the character] kind of petered out four or five pages before the end of the story,” he wrote. Byrne also explained that he worked on the project “while I was living in London, Ontario, where I was for about 11 months in 1976. That places it on the cusp between Iron Fist and X-Men.” Despite his apathy for the story, Byrne did acknowledge, on April 27, 2013, that Star-Lord “was clearly a significant turning point in my neophyte career. It was on the basis of that particular pairing of Terry Austin and myself that then-EIC Archie Goodwin decided to assign us both to X-Men, so a good case could be made for ‘John Byrne’ (whatever that means!) having really begun in that book.” The Claremont/Byrne collaboration also has the distinction of being the only post-origin Star-Lord adventure that Steve Englehart has ever read. His reaction? “I said, ‘God bless ’em, they’re not looking as the same thing I’m looking at. They did what they did, and it’s a good story, but that’s not my [Star-Lord],’” he says. “The cosmic underpinnings of the whole thing disappeared. So I lost interest at that point. It had nothing to do with who was working on it, it’s just that I had this very clear image of this guy and nobody else could pick up on that. I think he became significantly less of an a**hole pretty quickly—they were trying to fit him into a more conventional mold.”

A COSMIC CONTINUATION

Despite the top-notch creative team and new approach, the second coming of Star-Lord did not make as much of a splash as you might think it would have. But Marvel still saw potential in the concept, and Claremont was eager to do more with it, so Star-Lord returned in Marvel Preview #14 and 15 (Spring and Summer, 1978). For these stories, Byrne was a no-show. Instead, Claremont worked with penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Bob Wiacek. Each tale was self-contained, but built upon what had been established by its predecessors. “The essence of my three Star-Lord stories was, each one is Star-Lord: The Movie,” Claremont says. And, as is done in any good movie series, the subsequent installments explored and further developed the regular characters, with Claremont focusing on “Ship” in particular. In the 37-page lead story in Marvel Preview #14, Star-Lord and his sentient starcraft find themselves in a space battle against an alien race called the Lorq, and end up crash-landing on a harsh, desolate world. Quill is badly injured, in a coma, and in her efforts to provide medical treatment, “Ship” manufactures a physical, humanoid body for herself, that of a beautiful woman, into which she deposits part of her consciousness. Once Star-Lord awakens, and fails to recognize “Ship” in her new form, she decides to hide her true identity from him, adopting the name “Caryth Halyon” and finally acting on the strong feelings she has for him—until she is overwhelmed by her emotions and backs off, much to Star-Lord’s confusion and frustration. At the same time, the pair discover the presence of a unique life form on the planet, one that the Lorq are determined to possess. Star-Lord and “Caryth” work together to foil the Lorq, and through this experience, Quill learns and accepts the value of love and companionship. (Maybe this story should have taken place on Venus!)

Shipping Out Quill and “Ship” converse, on this original Carmine Infantino/Bob Wiacek page from Marvel Preview #15 (Summer 1978). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

In Marvel Preview #15’s 28-page tale, “Ship” takes charge after she and Star-Lord discover that an alien race, the Haalmhad, have destroyed the planet Carillon and its entire population in a merciless attack from space. Now the Haalmhad have set their sights on another world in the same solar system, and “Ship” vows to stop them, by any means necessary. She even warns Star-Lord not to get in her way, or she’ll leave him behind. When Quill asks her why she’s taking this so personally, “Ship” reveals her origin, explaining that long ago, she was a sentient star whose “children”— the planets that orbited her—were destroyed by an alien force not unlike the Haalmhad, in the midst of an interplanetary war. “Ship” was also destroyed in the attack, but her consciousness lived on for ages. She eventually encountered the Master of the Sun, who helped her assume her current form and gave her a new sense of purpose. But now, driven by anger and a lust for vengeance, “Ship” is at odds with Star-Lord, who is determined to prevent any additional deaths. Can their partnership survive this deep conflict of ideals? “The idea [behind these stories] was to demonstrate that there are consequences,” Claremont says. “When we throw out all these things like, ‘Let’s drop big bombs on planets, let’s have wars,’ people die, people suffer, and they’re not just liner notes. We tried to deal with aliens as real people, to deal with situations as real, and create dynamics that would work in a self-contained story—basically, a short movie.” The Claremont/Infantino collaborations on Star-Lord were fine stories, but it’s difficult to deny that they lacked the “magic” that John Warner had described when referring to Claremont and Byrne’s work on the character. Infantino was a master storyteller, and his artwork was never anything less than solid, but if the team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin wasn’t enough to make Star-Lord a fan favorite, these follow-up tales weren’t going to accomplish that task either. Still, Claremont says he thoroughly enjoyed working with Infantino. “It was great,” he says. “As much fun as it was working with him on Ms. Marvel. It was the same parameters as working with John and Terry. I basically threw everything at them but the kitchen sink—and probably including the kitchen sink, because we had the space. It was like, ‘Okay, you guys think you’re hot, I think I’m hot, let’s see what we can do.’ And it was the same thing with Carmine.” Star-Lord would return again, for another stab at success, but without Claremont at the helm. He moved on to focus his attention on the X-Men and various other assignments—which, incidentally, included occasional stories for Marvel’s Star Wars series. It thus fell to another highly versatile writer with a deep interest in science fiction to continue the adventures of Peter Quill and “Ship.” Convincing him to take the job, however, took some doing.

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

“In Full, Brilliant Marvel Color” (top) Pages 5 and 6 from Marvel Super Special #10 (Winter 1979), illustrated by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. (bottom) Palmer’s colors for those pages. Art scans courtesy of Tom Palmer, with special thanks to Tom Palmer, Jr. TM & © Marvel.

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The Origin Revisited A recap of Quill’s backstory, provided in Marvel Super Special #10 by writer Doug Moench and artists Colan and Palmer. (left) Page 17. Note the Duotone artboard effects. Original art scan courtesy of Tom Palmer, with special thanks to Tom Palmer, Jr. (right) The origin continued, on page 18. Scan of Gene Colan’s uninked pencils courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

WHERE NO MOENCH HAS GONE BEFORE

from a meteor storm that devastated their homeworld. Star-Lord is “What the f*** is this, is this supposed to be the Green Lantern Corps welcomed by the leader of the ark, a man named Noah, and befriended or something?” Doug Moench remembers asking when Marvel mag- by a beautiful young woman named Aletha, who escorts him on a tour azine editor Rick Marschall and his associate editor, Ralph Macchio, of the vessel’s wide variety of cities and environments. Quill is shocked called to offer him Star-Lord. “And I recall being told, ‘Nobody knows, when he is told that the vortex transported him across time as well as that’s up in the air. If you want to take it over, you can decide.’ And I space—that the ark, and its inhabitants, are all that’s left of the planet said, ‘No, no, I don’t want to take it over.’” Earth. But he soon realizes that there is far more that he needs to know The little that Moench knew of Star-Lord came from conversations he’d about his new surroundings, which puts him on a collision course with had with Claremont when the two writers socialized. “Chris was describing Noah and the military force that backs him. his ideas for the character, the stories he had in mind,” he explains. “And I Along the way, Moench attempted to give at least some explanation responded, ‘Oh, you like Robert Heinlein, huh?’ and Claremont replied, of what being a “Star-Lord” actually means. Early on, as “Ship” tries ‘Yeah, he’s my favorite.’ So when they asked me to do it, I said no at to ease Quill’s troubled mind into much-needed sleep, she tells him, first because I did not like Heinlein that much. I was much more “Dream of the Star-Lord’s very special destiny…. You have been enamored with science fiction that leaned toward hard exalted, Peter, above all others on your former plane… you science fiction, but with more social commentary. I loved have been given extraordinary powers and insights… Ursula Le Guin and Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg— you have been granted the very stars… you are truly a and Alfred Bester, he may have been my favorite.” lord of the stars…. The beings of a billion billion Moench says that Marschall and Macchio were, worlds… they will need your abilities and they will for some reason, convinced that he was the right person pray for your aid… they need you, Peter… they need to take over Star-Lord, and they called him again. “I think you, Star-Lord.” The story was momentous in that it was the it was Ralph who said something like, ‘You gotta do it, first Star-Lord tale published in color—high-end, and you can do it any way you want. It doesn’t have to be exactly the way Claremont did it.’” “full-spectrum” color, the kind reserved for Marvel’s That was enough to convince Moench to give it more prestigious magazines, like Epic Illustrated and a shot—though he couldn’t simply ignore everything The Hulk! And Moench was not the only newcomer to the character. The art was provided by penciler that had already been published. “I had to read doug moench the previous stories, do catch-up learning,” he says. Gene Colan and inker Tom Palmer, who had worked “Englehart’s take, the astrology angle, was the opposite together extensively on classic runs of Doctor Strange of hard science fiction.” Like Claremont, Moench chose not to include and, of course, The Tomb of Dracula. Palmer did double duty here, that aspect of the canon. also serving as colorist—and he pushed himself to the limit out of his Relaunching the concept in Marvel Super Special #10 (Winter 1979), great enthusiasm for the material. “That Star-Lord book was special for Gene Colan’s amazing scienceMoench maintained the basic status quo set up by Claremont: Star-Lord and “Ship” discovering new cosmic wonders and righting fiction work,” Palmer says, citing the double-page spread showing the interstellar wrongs, and sharing an empathic bond—though Moench vast exterior of the massive space ark as a particular highlight for him to eliminated any hint of romantic feelings between them. As the story work on. “I recommended to Gene an art book by illustrator Robert gets underway, Star-Lord and “Ship” are separated when Quill is yanked McCall, who painted fantastic spacescapes and vehicles. McCall’s work into a strange vortex. It transports him far away, to a three-million- inspired me on many of my advertising jobs—anything with a space year-old space ark running a full light-year in length and carrying a background, planets, the way they’re lit. Gene embraced the book along civilization of two billion people across the galaxies, having escaped with his own creative talent and produced incredible images.” Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

Life or Death for Quill? Original Bill Sienkiewicz/Bob McLeod art to the title page of Marvel Preview #18 (Spring 1979). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

Palmer took a unique approach to inking and coloring the pages, to get the best results out of the upscale printing process. “I lightboxed all of Gene’s penciled pages onto Crafting Duo-Tone full sheet art boards, working at a larger scale than I usually did,” he explains. “Once I transferred all that artwork, I gave the original pencil artwork back to Gene. And then I made two sets of exact prints of the artwork I had done—one set was for the line (inked) art and the other set I painted over. I used acrylics, airbrush, anything I wanted. And then those two sets of prints were melded together when the book was printed. They shot the painted art as color, and they surprinted the line art over it.” Palmer describes that Star-Lord story as “a one-time effort. I committed myself to a risk of blindness lightboxing all those penciled pages. And I actually lost money on that job. I don’t remember what I got paid, but it wasn’t enough. I’m not blaming anybody, it was my choice. With that book, working with Gene, and because I love science fiction, I saw the opportunity to really throw

24 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

all my time and effort into it, and I’m glad I did. I had a ball doing it. And I’ve still got all the artwork.” Moench remembers very little about the story, other than the enormous space ark and Palmer’s significant contribution. “The coloring was spectacular—beautiful,” he says. It would be the last time that Star-Lord was given production values of that caliber.

THE FINAL FOUR

A few months later, Star-Lord was back in black-andwhite, returning to his original home title as the main feature in Marvel Preview #18 (Spring 1979). Moench returned as writer, producing a story involving Star-Lord and “Ship” investigating the presence of a vastly powerful energy source on the mostly technology-free planet Redstone. Once there, they get caught up in a conflict involving the planet’s ruler, Quan-Zarr, genetically engineered “beastmen”—basically half human, half lion—and a weapon that can shatter worlds. As the situation escalates, Quill forms an uneasy alliance with Sylvana, a beautiful (and barely dressed) sword-wielding inhabitant of Redstone, who urges him to intervene to save the millions of people on the planet, even if it means breaking his vow to never take another life. Moench was joined by his collaborator on Moon Knight, artist Bill Sienkiewicz, whose style at the time was heavily influenced by that of Neal Adams. Paired with inker Bob McLeod, Sienkiewicz delivered trippy, dynamic, lush, drama-fueled visuals that very nearly compensated for the lack of color. But following this tale, Star-Lord was placed back on the shelf for a while, and his time as a feature character in Marvel’s magazine line was over. He would next appear in a trio of stories published in the company’s standard color comic-book line. Marvel Spotlight #6 (May 1980), written by Moench and illustrated by Tom Sutton, provided an expanded version of Star-Lord’s origin, establishing how he and “Ship” first came together and revealing that the Master of the Sun intended Peter Quill to be just the first of “an entire legion of Star-Lords… to ensure peace and seek justice throughout the vast cosmos.” In the “present-day” section of the story, Star-Lord and “Ship” return to the Master, just as he is being confronted by members of the same group of aliens that murdered Peter Quill’s mother. Quill tries to protect the Master, who turns down any help from his protégé. The Master then surrenders to the aliens and ultimately reveals his true identity—and his total lack of divinity. (Englehart did have the Master say to Quill, “Perhaps I… am not what I seem,” didn’t he?) This was a big deal, of course—a major retcon to a key element of Star-Lord’s canon. Looking back, Moench thinks that “debunking” the divine nature of the Master stemmed from his own skepticism about the existence of God and about any belief system based on what he likens to “ancient superstitions” and “fairy tales.” He is quick to add, however, “The one thing I didn’t want to do, and I don’t think I ever did in my writing, was hurt or make fun of anybody who did take it all seriously.” Star-Lord returned in the next issue, Marvel Spotlight #7 (July 1980)—as did Moench and Sutton—for a tale set on a world called “Heaven,” inhabited by winged humanoids living in cities built upon solid clouds in the sky. Quill intervenes in what appears to be an execution—a wingless man named Thorn being thrown from one of the cities to the surface far below—and discovers that by doing so, he has committed a major violation of the civilization’s culture. Star-Lord and Thorn are pursued by Shreen, a female huntress, who is determined to mete out the proper punishment. By the end, Quill has witnessed the power of sacrifice and has grown from the experience.

Last Stand Star-Lord’s last new Bronze Age adventure, in the final issue of Marvel Premiere, #61 (Aug. 1981). Original cover art by Tom Sutton, courtesy of Heritage. (inset) Terry Austin penciled and inked the cover to this deluxe reprint, Star-Lord: The Special Edition #1 (Feb. 1982). TM & © Marvel.

After a one-year hiatus, Star-Lord resurfaced in Marvel Premiere #61 (Aug. 1981), in another story by Moench and Sutton. Entitled “Planet Story,” it is told in three chapters. First, Star-Lord investigates the remains of a civilization on a now-uninhabited world and falls into an alien deathtrap, his life energy being drained away. Then, part one is retold from the point of view of the planet itself, which is revealed to be sentient and thus has its own take on the situation. In part three, Star-Lord and the planet provide dueling narrations as the climactic events unfold and Quill struggles to escape a gruesome fate. The end of “Planet Story” marked the end of Moench and Sutton’s association with Star-Lord. Moench says it was not difficult to move on—he considers his time on Star-Lord more of a footnote in his writing career, even though he worked on the character longer than any of the creators who preceded him. “I agreed to do one, then I agreed to do another, then another, then I agreed to do another couple,” Moench says. “But I never committed to being ‘the new Star-Lord guy.’”

IN AND OUT OF LIMBO

By 1982, the Chris Claremont/John Byrne run on The Uncanny X-Men was over and was already being hailed as a milestone of the comic-book industry. Both men were now bona fide superstars, with Claremont remaining as the mutants’ main driving force and Byrne now serving as both artist and writer on Fantastic Four, which he was returning to top-seller status. To capitalize on their success, and to perhaps give Star-Lord another shot at attracting a large audience, Marvel published Star-Lord: The Special Edition #1 (Feb. 1982), a one-shot comic book reprinting the full Claremont/Byrne story from Marvel Preview #11, now colorized by Glynis Wein. As an extra bonus, six new story pages were added—a prologue and an epilogue, each three pages in length. Byrne did not return to provide the new content, but Claremont did, as did Terry Austin, with Michael Golden handling the pencil art. (Austin illustrated the comic’s new wraparound cover.) The added framing sequences take place about 100 years after the original story, and address some unfinished business involving Star-Lord and the surviving characters. “I wanted a happy ending,” Claremont explains. “I closed the circle. The Byrne story opens the circle, and we wanted something to make The Special Edition special. Michael had some time free, and I won’t pass up any opportunity to work with Michael, and I said, ‘Fine, we’ll close the circle and everybody lives happily ever after.’” The Special Edition was the final word on Star-Lord— at least for the next 14 years. In 1996, Marvel hired bestselling science-fiction novelist Timothy Zahn and artist Dan Lawlis to revive the concept in a three-issue limited series. The storyline features not Peter Quill but a new character, a young man named Sinjin Quarrel, who discovers “Ship” abandoned and suffering memory loss, with Quill having been missing in action for years. Circumstances force Quarrel to take on the identity and uniform that Peter Quill left behind.

As a lead-in to the new series, Marvel published The Special Edition again as Starlord Megazine #1 (Nov. 1996), sporting a new front cover by Byrne and Austin and a back cover by Michael Golden. (Note that for the Megazine, as well as the new limited series, Marvel dropped the hyphen again. This was done by the editors, Tom Brevoort and Yours Truly, to return to the original version of the character’s name.) Following the Zahn/Lawlis series, Star-Lord was put on hiatus again. Eventually, the character made yet another comeback, with Peter Quill in the suit—but not the same Peter Quill as before. In a major departure from all previous approaches, this current comic-book incarnation of Star-Lord exists within the main Marvel Universe, also known as Reality-616, with a similar background to that of the original, but some major deviations. Official Marvel reference materials indicate that the original Star-Lord inhabits Reality-791, and has not been seen since The Special Edition. (All of the original Star-Lord stories, from Englehart/ Gan to Zahn/Lawlis, were collected by Marvel in the 2014 trade paperback Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy.)

TM & © Marvel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

Star-Lord Cover Gallery The earliest appearances of Peter Quill. (top) Marvel Preview #4 (cover by Gray Morrow), #11, 2nd printing (cover by Ken Barr), and #14 (cover by Jim Starlin). (middle) Marvel Preview #15 (cover by Joe Jusko), Marvel Super Special #10 (cover by Earl Norem and Peter Ledger), and Marvel Preview #18 (cover by Bob Larkin). (bottom) Marvel Spotlight vol. 2 #6 (cover by Bill Sienkiewicz and Joe Rubinstein), #7 (cover by Frank Miller and Bob Wiacek), and Marvel Premiere #61 (cover by Tom Sutton). (bottom) Peter Quill in his most recognizable form, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as played by Chris Pratt. From Avengers: Endgame (2019). TM & © Marvel.

STAR-LORD ON SCREEN

It is the current interpretation of Star-Lord that serves— albeit loosely—as the basis for the character in the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. What do the original writers think about what is undoubtedly the most popular, most widely known version of the character they developed decades ago? “The [movie] Star-Lord works well, although I thought he was an idiot in Avengers: Infinity War,” Steve Englehart says. “I was very sorry it was him who caused things to go wrong. . . . In the moment, I was like, ‘No, he wouldn’t be that dumb, he wouldn’t do that!’” Chris Claremont, with a slight hint of disappointment in his voice, says, “A lot of the stuff I created for Star-Lord, like I created for Carol [Danvers], got erased, both in the comics and in the films. On the other hand, I only did three Star-Lords.” When it’s pointed out to him that one of those stories—the one he did with Byrne—is probably the best-remembered of all, Claremont replies, “And it has nothing whatsoever to do with the character as he exists today.” But on a lighter note, he comments, “But, hey, who knew his dad was a living planet?” Doug Moench sums it up thusly: “I watched both Guardians of the Galaxy movies on Blu-ray because I’d heard that Peter Quill does these mix tapes of great songs from the ’70s and ’80s, and I decided I had to hear how good the music is. Having watched them—the movie version doesn’t seem like the same guy at all!” But given the history of Star-Lord, that’s pretty much business as usual. While on staff at Marvel Comics, GLENN GREENBERG spearheaded the 1996 Star-Lord revival, and also worked on such worldfamous characters as Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer, and Dracula. Since then, Glenn has become an awardwinning writer and editor whose work includes comics, fiction, journalism, screenwriting, and marketing.

26 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

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28 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

The Guardians of the Galaxy were, for the most part, gone from Marvel Comics for nearly a decade before Jim Valentino submitted a series pitch to Marvel editors. Using Steve Gerber’s work with the Guardians as a foundation, Valentino added significantly to the Guardians mythos over a two-and-a-half-year stint on the series. The Guardians of the Galaxy book was a hit with fans, showcasing a positive sales slope throughout Jim’s run. Due to the formation of Image Comics, for which he was a co-founder, Valentino was unable to finish his larger Guardians story—although we will cover what was to be, and how the overarching story would have resolved. In this section we talk with a variety of people to give a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes view of the series. This includes series writer/penciler Jim Valentino, in his definitive interview on the topic. Also interviewed are Marvel’s editor-in-chief at the time, Tom DeFalco; Valentino’s studio mate (and inker on several of his Guardians works) Rob Liefeld; series colorist Evelyn Stein; Jim’s assistant (and eventual Image Comics publisher) Eric Stephenson; writer of New Warriors (featuring a young Vance Astro of Guardians fame), Fabian Nicieza; and even Jim’s wife, Diane Valentino, along with his son, Aaron Valentino (who happened to create Taserface, and also was the model for the Protege character). If you enjoyed the original Guardians, check out BACK ISSUE #65 for additional coverage of the team, as both Guardians-themed issues combined make good bookends on the group.

Where It All Began In late April of 1989, Jim Valentino penciled a Guardians team shot to include with his series pitch. At a later date, Chris Ivy inked a copy of the pencils, which was then used to promote the series in several places. This 2015 image is a recreation of the inked version. Pencils, inks, and colors done by original inker Chris Ivy. From the William Colosimo collection. Guardians of the Galaxy TM & © Marvel.

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by W

illiam Colosimo

JIM VALENTINO © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: I know Jack Kirby was a huge influence on you. What do you think you specifically took from studying him and applied to your work on the Guardians of the Galaxy title? JIM VALENTINO: That’s impossible for me to quantify. His influence on me was deep and profound, but mostly in terms of storytelling. COLOSIMO: It’s clear you were highly influenced by comics themselves. But what about sciencefiction movies or TV shows? How much did these spark the imagination, especially with the Guardians? VALENTINO: Probably not as much as one would think. The conceit of the series was an exploration of the Marvel Universe 1,000 years in the future, so, by its very nature, it had to be more comic-centric. I did pick the Guardians stars’ function as communicators and transporters from Star Trek: The Next Generation and I did listen to a lot of soundtracks while drawing, but most of the influence was from comics. That said, I am a huge science-fiction fan. Harlan Ellison and Ted Sturgeon were friends, and Heinlein, Matheson, Asimov, so many others were favorites. COLOSIMO: Can you describe the studio you had with Rob Liefeld? What was the atmosphere like? This (and your studio at home) was where at least the early issues of Guardians were created. VALENTINO: Rob and I shared several studios over the course of several years, and when we weren’t sharing a studio we’d hang out with one-another. So I’m sure the Guardians, What If?, Hawk and Dove, The New Mutants, etc. were conceived and created in close proximity to one another. COLOSIMO: You seemed to get regular work on What If? vol. 2 prior to and during the Guardians series. How did that come about? Was there any specific attraction to that title other than somewhat steady work or that you had already known editor Craig Anderson from your time working with the San Diego Comic-Con? VALENTINO: What If? was an anthology title with no set creative team, so it was a title that was open to pitches. I was a huge fan of DC’s Imaginary tales and later, the [original] What If? series, so the title was right up my alley. In fact, I always considered the Guardians to be a sort of ongoing What If? since their future was not necessarily the future of the regular Marvel Universe. That gave me a lot of leeway to move in most any direction I wanted to move in. As for Craig and I, yes, we were friends in San Diego when we both lived there in the mid- to late ’70s. COLOSIMO: So, the What If? issues that you wrote were all original story ideas that you pitched, not specific assignments from the editor? VALENTINO: I think the first one (#3) may have been assigned. “What If Wolverine Was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?” (#7) was Rob’s idea. Issue #25, the “Atlantis Attacks” one, was assigned, and #11, “What If the Fantastic Four All Had the Same Power?,” was from a reader’s suggestion. I’m pretty sure I pitched every other one I wrote. COLOSIMO: Had you read the first Guardians series in Marvel Presents as it hit the stands? I think it’s a safe bet—as an Avengers fan—that you knew of them from the “Korvac Saga.” I know you knew of the team by 1984 at the latest, as you wrote an article on superhero groups for Amazing Heroes #53 and included a write-up on the Guardians. VALENTINO: I believe that I first saw them in Marvel Two-in-One #5, then later in The Defenders, as I was a fan of Steve Gerber’s work and he wrote both of those series. Then I’m sure I followed them onto Marvel Presents and The Avengers.

A Preview of Things to Come Original art to the cover to Marvel Age #88 (May 1990). Jim Valentino pencils with Terry Austin inks. This issue of Marvel’s promo-zine came out the month prior to GOTG #1 and was used to promote that new series. (inset) The published version. TM & © Marvel.

PITCHING THE SERIES

COLOSIMO: In Comics Scene vol. 2 #13, you mentioned that it took about six months to come up with an angle for a Guardians series. We can see that they were on your mind, as you penciled a story (written by Steve Englehart) in Silver Surfer Annual #2, which contains a splash showcasing various alien races; the narration seemed fairly open to interpretation for the penciler. That splash featured a Badoon and a Centaurian, among others. This issue likely hit the stands in the weeks right before the 1989 WonderCon event. Do you have any memories pertaining to the Guardians in that period of time? VALENTINO: Really? I said that? Hmm… well, maybe that’s true. Honestly, I just don’t remember anymore. What I do recall is that Rob and I were going up to WonderCon in Oakland mostly because Tom DeFalco and Mark Gruenwald were going to be there. I had several pitches for them including a new take on The Defenders (now lost to time and fading memory), and a Marvel version of the Teen Titans that I was going to write and Rob was going to draw that we called the

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Back After a Decade of Silence! The original art to the cover of Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (June 1990), minus cover dress. Jim Valentino pencils, Tom Christopher inks. Prior to this issue, the team’s last real appearance was in Marvel Two-in-One #69 (Nov. 1980). TM & © Marvel.

Young Avengers. As I recall, when we pitched it Tom told us about the New Warriors, which he had just created for an issue of Thor that had yet to be released. At any rate, I wanted one more pitch, so I thumbed through the Marvel Universe Handbook and came across the Guardians’ entry. I called up Rob, asked him what he thought about them—he said they looked cool, but they didn’t have a story. Two nights later on a midnight trip to the bathroom, it hit me—the shield, the exploration of the 31st Century, all of it. I remember I barely had time to type it up on my old Royal and draw the cover piece before we jumped on a plane to Oakland. COLOSIMO: You came to the con armed with several Marvel pitches—a globetrotting Defenders, Young Avengers, and one called Pym People. You also had the Guardians of the Galaxy pitch, which came with a team image— the first time you penciled them—with inks by Chris Ivy. How did Chris get that task? Did Chris frequent one of your studios at the time? VALENTINO: Honestly, I don’t recall. I doubt that there would have been enough time for him to ink it prior to my going to the convention, so he probably did so

afterward. I remember liking the job he did over me on the aforementioned What If? #11, and I remember requesting either him or Sam de la Rosa to get the Guardians job, but other than that everything gets kind of fuzzy. COLOSIMO: What attracts you to group books? All of your known WonderCon 1989 pitches happened to be team books. Was that a conscious decision? VALENTINO: Yes, I’ve always liked groups. I like playing the different personalities off of one another. It’s easier to reveal someone’s nature through their personal interactions. I liked the fact that no team is dependent on any one character, unlike a solo book. So you could have real or implied danger, especially in a group like the Guardians where no one had a solo series. But I’ve always been a fan of team books. When I was a kid my favorite books were Justice League and The Avengers. COLOSIMO: Did Mark and Tom have time during WonderCon to discuss and review the pitches, or did you hear from them later on? Do you remember the gist of the interaction there, at the con? VALENTINO: Both Tom and Mark were extremely generous with their time and Tom did, indeed, go over all of the pitches with me. He didn’t like the Defenders pitch—he felt it should be US-based—and he wasn’t fond of the Pym People, which was a group based on all of Pym’s various identities such as the female

Hitting the Newsstands The first issue of a run that basically showed a consistent sales increase through Jim Valentino’s tenure on the series. The June 1990 cover-dated issue likely hit the newsstands on April 20th, 1990. TM & © Marvel.

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Yellowjacket and Black Goliath and so on. And he was quite surprised by my and Rob’s Young Avengers pitch, as his issue of Thor that debuted the New Warriors was, as I recall, on the drawing board. He also expressed surprise at my Guardians pitch, as he’d been thinking about reviving them only 500 years in their future, so 2500 AD. He saw them as being a galactic-wide group similar to the Green Lantern Corps in scope. I told him that I could easily set that up and did so first in issue #8 where [Martinex] was contemplating a Galactic Guardians team. COLOSIMO: The Guardians series was picked, getting the green light a little over a month later. Do you remember anything about the approval process during that waiting period? This was when Mark got to you concerning coming up with the list of all surviving Marvel characters? VALENTINO: It was a very quick turnaround, and I don’t recall anything specific from then. As for Mark’s request that I make a list of every surviving Marvel character and where they would be 1000 years hence—at first I thought he was busting my chops, but that list wound up being very valuable for me to solidify my ideas. Mark was a very smart man, and both he and Tom always had my respect. COLOSIMO: Was Mark Gruenwald the one originally taking the editorial reins of this series, or was Tom DeFalco set to be the editor if the book was to be approved, since he was already mulling over his own potential Guardians series before seeing your pitch? VALENTINO: Well, Tom was the editor-in-chief of the entire line, and Mark was his second. They had a very close working relationship from what I could see. But Craig Anderson was always designated as the series’ editor. It made a lot of sense, as Craig was the editor of Silver Surfer and What If?, so his was the “cosmic office” and he and I had a long-standing friendship and a fruitful professional relationship up to that point. COLOSIMO: What was your relationship like with Tom and Mark while at the company? After the Guardians series started, how much interaction did you have with them? VALENTINO: Very little, save for social interaction, and that was more with Tom than Mark. They both believed very strongly in supporting their editors, so they wouldn’t interfere. As far as I know, my relationship with both was very good. COLOSIMO: Did you eventually use ideas in Guardians not only from the Young Avengers pitch (like the characters Malevolence, Photon, and EightyFive) and your earlier series idea The Protectors, but also the other WonderCon pitches as well? VALENTINO: Probably. Never let a good name or concept go to waste, says I. Especially if one pitch fails, recycle what you can from it. COLOSIMO: Up until this point, your longest stint was on normalman— which was basically 12 issues, an Annual, and a couple of shorts in Cerebus that ran ahead of your series. As a parody, it was different in tone from the Guardians, although similar in that you had creative control and relied on homages or alternate versions of popular comic characters. Did normalman prepare you well in any way for Guardians? VALENTINO: It was my first long-form series, so yes. Up until normalman, my longest story had been seven or eight pages. Through that series I

“Blowed” Up Real Good! Action in the Mighty Marvel—and Valentino—manner, from GOTG #1. Inks by Steve Montano. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

learned a lot about plotting, pacing, cutting, and stretching. [Editor’s note: For the story behind Jim’s normalman, see BACK ISSUE #77.] COLOSIMO: Your original Guardians pitch likely had two years’ worth of one-sentence plots (per issue), so editorial knew what direction you wanted to go with the series. After you were off and running on the book, how much editorial oversight was there—factoring in that the book dealt with rarely used characters, an alternate future, and had a positive sales slope? As writer/artist, you didn’t write full scripts that could be reviewed, did you? VALENTINO: Actually, I did write full scripts, at the editor’s insistence. Thing is, the way I write is, I do my first draft in the layout stage, so the scripts were actually the second draft. There was very little pushback in terms of plots, but they did want me to extend the first arc from four to six books, which made it a bit awkward for me. The editor told me that he wasn’t happy with my characterization, so I wrote issue #8’s “Down Time,” which was pretty much all characterization. I was finding my footing with the characters. By the time we got to the aforementioned issue, however, they were very solid. And he’d occasionally toss in a line of dialogue or letters column comment that never quite fit. Still, compared to others, there was very little pushback. COLOSIMO: Being the writer and also your own penciler, was there any need for you to do style guides or model sheets for the team or new characters, either for editor approval or in case a fill-in penciler was needed? VALENTINO: No. I drew a group shot for the pitch and the first four covers, which were done before an inker was chosen for the series, thus starting the “all-star cover inking squad” that lasted for the first 25 issues. But other than that, no. COLOSIMO: Speaking of the cover inkers—how were you able to obtain the services of all those artists for your book? If I remember correctly, George Pérez hadn’t worked for Marvel for a while before inking the cover to #7. But you were also able to obtain the inks of stars like Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee. VALENTINO: Well, in the case of those three—George, Todd, and Jim— I knew all three of them, so I just asked if they would. No doubt taking pity on me, they all agreed. I usually requested cover inkers that had some connection to one of the characters in the book—so Jim Starlin inked the Protege cover; Ron Lim, the Surfer cover; Al Milgrom inked the Defenders cover; and so on. COLOSIMO: You kept all your ideas for the series in one master notebook? How would you make sure you were able to organize your ideas for the

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All-Star Inkers Early GOTG covers penciled by Jim Valentino: (left) Nikki’s in the clutches of Taserface on the Mike Zeckinked cover of issue #2. (center) Mike Manley inks Jim on issue #3, with Starhawk getting the heck out of Dodge. (right) Todd McFarlane inks on the Force-spotlighting cover of #5. TM & © Marvel.

series as random story points for events to be dealt with down the road popped in your head? VALENTINO: I kept a notebook for review. It was pretty loose—a sentence or two, just guideposts. Its real advantage was that I would re-read the previous issue and take notes—where the signposts were, what I was thinking when I wrote them. That helped a lot of plot threads see fruition. I tried to conclude plot threads within three issues, and there were usually several of them going on at once, so I needed reminders. COLOSIMO: There are a number of ways a comic script can be presented. When you had other people penciling your book—say, for example, GOTG #23 and Annual #2—what kind of scripts did you hand in? Very detailed? Would you break down the panels on each page with thumbnails, giving camera angles? Or was the layout more up to that issue’s penciler? VALENTINO: I didn’t draw layouts. I gave page and panel descriptions, yes, and full dialogue. Since I’d always written and drawn my own work, I never got used to working “Marvel style” and didn’t like it as a writer or as an artist when I’d work with other writers. COLOSIMO: The first couple issues of the series felt to me part reminiscent of the What If? title, and part gamebook like a “Twistaplot”—as if the reader was right there in the story. Was this in any way intentional on your part, or probably just the way this one young fan read into it at the time? VALENTINO: I can’t speak to “Twistaplot” because I’m unfamiliar with what that is. [Editor’s note: Like Jim, I was unfamiliar with “Twistaplot” until Bill’s question… so I looked it up. It’s a series of kids’ gamebooks published by Scholastic in the early to mid-’80s featuring unnamed, genderless protagonists, allowing the reader to imagine him- or herself in the lead role.] I can say that to my mind the entire series was, basically, “What If? Team-Up.” The series was set in a possible future, therefore anything that happened did not reflect continuity, like a What If?. Its conceit was to explore the Marvel Universe and its inhabitants 1000 years hence, thus a team-up. My challenge was to introduce characters that made sense and weren’t all immortals or descendants or whatever.

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THE CHARACTERS AND THE READERS

COLOSIMO: How did you see the individual personalities of the seven core members of the team (minus Vance Astro, who we’ll get to later)? VALENTINO: I’ll try to be as succinct as possible… Aleta was, as Yondu called her, a “goddess.” If you look, you’ll see that her feet never touched the ground. She was warm, caring, and supportive, except toward Starhawk, whom she irrationally blamed for the death of her children, something she knew intellectually, he couldn’t stop from happening. This was to show that, like all “gods,” she had feet of clay. A higher being with one flaw, if you will. She was the group’s heart. Charlie [Charlie-27] was a by-the-book military man. He was the team’s pilot and, I think, its emotional rock. No one argued with Charlie, everyone got along with him, but, inversely, no one wanted him to lead the team because he would do it by strict military rule. Also, Charlie wore his heart on his sleeve and was unlucky in love as his relationship with Nikki showed. For her it was purely sexual; for him it was much more. I would have changed that with his relationship with Broadside had I the time to develop it. Marty [Martinex] was cold and aloof, the intellectual of the group who was socially awkward. This made him unfit to lead the team, despite being the smartest guy in the room. I’m not sure that I ever quite got a handle on Marty beyond that—he was the most difficult one for me. Nikki. I loved Nikki. Nikki was the promiscuous party girl. I tried to imply that as well as I could. She wanted to have sex with everything—man, woman, inhuman, fire god, it didn’t matter. Except for reptilians. She hated reptilians because at a very tender age she watched as they committed genocide on her home world. Nikki was very immature, having grown up on a spaceship in virtual isolation. She was tough and competent, but she was all about having fun. She was pretty much the exact opposite of Marty. Starhawk was a condescending jerk. He would split as soon as the fighting started, then sanctimoniously tell the others to “accept the word of One-Who-Knows.” I never understood why he was so popular with the fans, he should have been reviled. Of all of them, he was the one I wanted to write out of the series.

Yondu, the noble savage. A warrior and a spiritual leader along the lines of Native Americans. His life was defined by his deep faith and high morals, which eventually, much to my chagrin, made him leave the team. He was the group’s soul, and one of my favorite characters. It broke my heart to see how he was portrayed in the movie. One thing, if I may, about the Guardians as a group. I never saw them as a team of superheroes—they were a light army. They didn’t battle villains, they liberated the oppressed. This is why they were not adverse to returning deadly force. I always found it funny that only in superhero comics do the heroes never kill. In movies, TV shows, novels, and real life—heroes kill. What sets them apart from villains is that villains kill the innocent, heroes kill to protect the innocent. The reason they don’t kill in comics isn’t due to some high moral ground, but so the villain could return again and again. The Guardians would kill if it meant saving an innocent life. At least “my” Guardians did. COLOSIMO: Do you remember any characters that appeared in the book that were specifically modeled after an actual person’s appearance or personality? VALENTINO: Most of my characterizations were based off of my reading of Steve Gerber’s and extrapolated through an amalgam of people I knew, including myself. The only character that I can think of that was directly modeled both physically and personality-wise was Broadside. She was modeled after a family friend. COLOSIMO: The team had been missing from Marvel books for almost a decade before your series started. With your new series, you added revamped costumes to boot. Some characters had costume tweaks; some, like Aleta, had complete overhauls. Were you given fairly wide berth with the team’s look, given the characters weren’t on Marvel’s radar for most of the decade? VALENTINO: Yes. There was no merchandise or anything for the characters, so I don’t think anyone cared. I didn’t get any pushback at all. But, let us not forget in those days before billion-dollar movies, the X-Men and everyone else changed costumes often, so it really wasn’t that big a deal. COLOSIMO: Nikki’s “hair”—did you decide from day one that it would be fire? Through her earlier appearances, depending on the artist, one might have assumed it was flame-shaped hair in some instances, fire in others. VALENTINO: I thought “shaped like fire” was kind of dumb and, I’m not sure, but I think Al Milgrom drew her with sparks coming from her head. [Editor’s note: As noted in his Firestorm interview in BI #112, Al Milgrom is no stranger to drawing flame-headed heroes.] There were other characters with their heads on fire—I just liked it. I think they changed it back the day after I left the series. COLOSIMO: During the time you were working on GOTG—or after the fact—did you ever get to talk to Steve Gerber about either of your runs with the Guardians? VALENTINO: No, unfortunately. I only met him a couple of times, although we had some mutual friends both of us were close to. I’m not sure that he even knew I was working on the book. I’m pretty sure that I would have been afraid to ask him what he thought about it. COLOSIMO: Early on in your book, your letters column paid homage to the letters column of the first series by taking the same name: “Readers’ Space.” You also took a page from Gerber and used your earliest letters columns to give a history of the Guardians’ world, along with a suggested reading list of all the adventures that came before. With those early letters pages, it seemed like you had a respect for the source material and also wanted to give readers a clear picture of this rarely visited team and their world. Were those early text pieces your idea? How important did you feel they were? VALENTINO: Yes, they were my idea. I thought it was important to bring new readers up to speed on what had come before, so I

summarized the team’s appearances and noted the original comics for each respective summary. One thing about the letters column was that the header was a swipe from the old “JLA Mail Room” logo. I asked if it was cool that I do that (I had done it before in normalman #1) and Mark Gruenwald thought it was funny and gave me the green light on it. I loved the idea of having a recognizable DC homage in a Marvel comic. [Editor’s note: The late Mark Gruenwald was also a fan of DC’s Justice League of America—he wrote “The JLA Reader” special edition of Amazing World of DC Comics, 1977’s issue #14, and, of course, his own Marvel series, Squadron Supreme, is based upon the JLA. See BI #103 for more details.] COLOSIMO: You answered all the letters (with the exception of some that appeared in one issue) that were published in the letters column. How did this process work, seeing how you were only at the Marvel offices on one occasion? How were letters selected for publication? Were they ones that brought up points you wanted to cover? VALENTINO: FedEx back in those pre-email days. They’d send them to me, I’d type ’em up with my responses, and send them back. I always tried to have at least one negative letter and the rest would, hopefully, clear up some story point or another.

THE ART OF GUARDIANS

COLOSIMO: It seemed that for several pages each issue, you would employ a technique where you would pencil an image (usually just part of a specific panel) in blue, then series inker Steve Montano would ink the image on a separate overlay that looks like wax paper. This would create a superimposed effect. Was this technique a personal favorite at the time, or just something commonly done at that point? VALENTINO: Those are called color holds. Color holds would print the line in a specific color besides black, so the figure or whatever would be blue or red, etc. Once comics started being colored in Photoshop, color holds became unnecessary as the same effect could be achieved by simply turning the black line to the desired color. COLOSIMO: Did you ever get a chance to talk with Steve [Montano] during your run on the book, or was it all through notes on your art boards and messages through the editor? VALENTINO: Only once. Craig kept us separated, because I tend to have an overabundance of personality and Steve is a lot milder than I. There was this contest Marvel ran for all of the books being released that year wherein the winner would get a signing at their local comics shop and dinner with the creators of the book. So Steve and I went to New Hampshire and met there for the first and only time. I thought he was a very nice guy. COLOSIMO: I’ve seen a few of your covers that were redone before publication: #12, 14, 20, and 27. Do you remember editorial ever asking you to rework any interiors for any reason? VALENTINO: No, I don’t. They probably did, I just wouldn’t remember something like that. They were paying me a fair rate and I was a professional. I just took changes as part of the job. Then I would bitch, moan, yell, and cry about them to my friends… like every professional does!

A Nod to the Justice League (top) The first letters column header of the GOTG series was an homage to (bottom) the Silver and Bronze Age JLA Mail Room letters column header from DC’s Justice League of America. GOTG TM & © Marvel. JLA TM & © DC Comics.

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Firelord Joins the Fray Original art to the cover of GOTG #4 (Sept. 1990). Jim Valentino pencils, Scott Williams inks. Firelord becomes the first (part-time) addition to the team in this era. Jim liked the idea of a large, rotating membership. TM & © Marvel.

COLOSIMO: Concerning inking your own work—I know you inked the unused version of the cover to #27, along with a pinup of the team in 1992, the pinup being the piece that made you realize you did not want to ink superhero work. Other than those two pieces, do you remember inking anything else Guardians related—like the cover corner box art characters, or the letters column header images? VALENTINO: No, I don’t believe that I did. Rob [Liefeld] inked the corner box image of Charlie on the Mark Texeira cover. They used to pay extra for corner box art… I don’t recall the amount. I always tried to put in a character that didn’t appear in the cover drawing but was told to stop doing that as the book was going over budget. My solution was to draw a vignette directly on the cover, so they wouldn’t have to pay extra. As for inking, I just didn’t have that slick line that superheroes require. I’m fine with my humor and auto-bio work, but not superheroes. It’s either a lack of talent, as my critics would say, or a mental block—either way, I suck at it. COLOSIMO: Speaking of that black-and-white 1992 team pinup that you inked—those were printed out on 11x17 paper. Did you decide to create this and print it

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out on your own dime, maybe to give away to fans at conventions or via mail as a promotional item? VALENTINO: I originally did the piece to sell at conventions but hated the way it turned out so much that I don’t think I brought them to many shows. It was awful. COLOSIMO: Let’s talk about several things you did on the book that might not immediately be associated with the scripter or penciler’s duties. The series had two title logos—the initial, smaller one ran on the cover to the first 16 issues, and a larger logo debuted on the cover of #17 and was used through the end of your run. Did you design both logos? How much involvement did letterer Ken Lopez have with these? VALENTINO: No, just the latter one. The first was designed and finished by Ken Lopez. The latter was designed by me and finished by Ken. COLOSIMO: About a quarter of all of your GOTG covers included a word balloon. Were all of these directly from you, or did editorial ever add any on their own to the covers? VALENTINO: I did most if not all of them. When I’d send in a cover sketch I’d have logos, balloons, and blurbs scribbled in. This was probably a holdover of my coming up through small press and alternative comics. I tended to see comics as a whole—that included logos, balloons, etc. COLOSIMO: Not every issue, but many opened with a double-page splash on pages 2 and 3. Usually we could find that issue’s credits on these pages. The credits harkened back to the way Stan Lee would do them in the early years of Marvel—very lighthearted, sometimes rhyming. Continuing in that vein was your initial idea and doing? VALENTINO: Yes, it’s something I continue to do to this day with my Shadowline books. Unlike Stan, though, who always made the letterer the brunt of the joke, I always point the barb straight at myself. COLOSIMO: For the most part you ended each issue with a cliffhanger, many times as a splash page. It was fairly common for these pages to contain a few comments or blurbs running along the bottom, promoting the next issue. Were these usually written by you? VALENTINO: Always, yes. In fact I wrote most of the editorial footnotes, too. Keeping them as similar to Stan’s as possible (“Encylopedic Anderson” and so on). COLOSIMO: At the end of each letters column there was usually a small box promoting what was to come in the next issue. Did you write these? VALENTINO: Yup. What can I say, I’m a control freak. I just tended to see the book as a whole. COLOSIMO: Through the few years you were working on the series, I would imagine you would occasionally find yourself in conversations with non-comic fans that would ask what you do for work. How would you describe the series to the average layperson? VALENTINO: In those days, whenever you said you did comics, citizens would assume you worked on newspaper comics, so you had to be specific about working in comic books. When asked, I would describe the book as “Star Trek in spandex.” For those who still had blank stares I’d add, “superheroes in space.” It’s funny, because these days, when I say that my book at Marvel was The Guardians of the Galaxy, their faces light up and they reply, “Oh, I loved that movie!” Then I have to explain that the movie Guardians are different than the ones I did, and I’m back to blank stares. Sometimes ya just can’t win!

GUARDIANS, THE SERIES

COLOSIMO: Do you have any memories of the first time you saw your GOTG #1 on the stands? VALENTINO: Not really, no. Rob and I did this thing where one of us would go into the store when we knew the other’s book was out that week and bring it back to the car so we could look at it in private for the first time. He would go for me, I for him. We never knew how the books were going to turn out, what the editor would add, what the colorist would do, etc. I think that was one of the things we loved about Image is that we could follow the pages all the way through—there were no surprises. COLOSIMO: You mentioned that you were asked to extend your first story from four to six issues in length. Do you remember how this altered your original plan? Did you extensively lengthen the battle versus the Stark on the planet Courg? Do you recall the reasoning for the change in story length? VALENTINO: I don’t really remember why I was asked to do this, what the reasoning was. I want to say it was for a possible trade paperback, but that doesn’t seem right. What it did was make me stretch a tight four-issue plot into a padded six-issue one. As I recall I wasn’t real happy with the request. COLOSIMO: In 1992, towards the end of your time on the book, Marvel did release that first six-issue story as a trade paperback. It sported a new cover but no other extras. Do you remember any of the events surrounding this release? The individual issues couldn’t have been that hard to find in comic shops at the time, I would imagine. VALENTINO: My sense is that it was to capitalize on the advent of Image and that may have been it; it could have also been in the works for quite a while. I just don’t know what their reasoning was. COLOSIMO: Just like you brought readers up to speed on Guardians lore in the first four letters columns, you also spent five pages of the first issue invested in a visual review of all the major events the Guardians took part in, starting with their first appearance up until their last one, prior to your book. While it was visually appealing and, of course, was chock full of cameos from 20th Century Marvel characters, was the main purpose of this to help readers become more comfortable with this likely foreign territory, thereby keeping their attention? VALENTINO: Yes. It was to give new readers the backstory. One of Jim Shooter’s dictums that I always agreed with was that every issue was someone’s first. Introduce your characters, explain your milieu, do so succinctly and smoothly as part of the story. The Guardians were just not that well known—they hadn’t been published in around seven years, so it was incumbent on me to introduce who they were, where they came from, and the reality they inhabited. COLOSIMO: After defeating the Stark, the team finds Captain America’s shield—but they have to contest for it versus Force, a group of villains that the Guardians would later form an uneasy alliance with. Was the group originally intended to be thoroughly evil? They seemed to develop into something not so corrupt as time went on. VALENTINO: I don’t think most of them were “evil,” per se. Perhaps Brahl and Scanner. Brahl was the only one who wasn’t an original character. He was one of Korvac’s henchmen in the sixth Thor Annual (which guest-starred the Guardians). He was a bad egg, but I think the rest were just thieves, weren’t they? You’ll have to forgive… memory does tend to fade after all these years. COLOSIMO: Issue #7 basically introduced us to your larger story, that of the Protege and the Universal Church of Truth, and was formatted as a split issue, with different stories running at the top and bottom of the pages, eventually with both stories merging near the end. Did you have any trouble getting this format approved? Was this something you had seen elsewhere in comics? VALENTINO: I believe that John Byrne had done a dual storyline in an issue of The Fantastic Four, but he didn’t bring the two storylines together. I could be wrong about that, but that’s what I recall. I believe that I told my editor what my idea for the issue was in a phone call, then showed him the sketches on how it would work. I don’t recall there being any resistance to it at all.

Split Issue (top) Valentino’s dual story in Guardians of the Galaxy #7 (Dec. 1990) inspired him to halve each page’s layouts. Inks by Montano. (bottom) Force’s Interface wields Cap’s shield on the cover of #6. Inks by Joe Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

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Wolverine’s More Violent Descendant! Original art to the cover to GOTG #9 (Feb. 1991). The Guardians finally discover what happened to the lost colony of free Earthmen (Marvel’s mutants!). Jim Valentino pencils, Rob Liefeld inks. TM & © Marvel.

COLOSIMO: You’ve mentioned that you disliked Starhawk and wanted him out of the book. In issue #7, Starhawk reveals his ultimate fate to Marty. When you wrote this, was this revelation just a hint at an event that would probably happen at some point well down the road, or were you aggressively looking to put the wheels in motion concerning these events? VALENTINO: Both. I believe the idea came out of my reading of the three-part origin from the last few issues of Marvel Presents, so I was trying to set that up. COLOSIMO: On your run, Starhawk originally garnered the most fan mail, with Charlie eventually overtaking him. Did editorial have any issue with you potentially getting rid of a key member of the team who was so popular? VALENTINO: Probably, which is why I brought him back as “Dark Starhawk.” Originally, I wanted to change his name to ShadowHawk, but Tom DeFalco said no. He suggested that I should create a new character with that name. I knew that Starhawk was going to discorporate and re-inhabit his infant body at some point in the not-too-distant future. COLOSIMO: Issues #9 through 11 featured the “World of Mutants” storyline. Within these pages you reveal that the free colony (from the Guardians’ first appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #18) were, in fact, Marvel’s mutants. Rancor, an even more vicious descendant of Wolverine, was featured in these issues. She and her lieutenants rule over the planet Haven, which has by this time been converted by the Universal Church of Truth. This storyline, like all the others, tied into the Marvel Universe of the 20th Century—but now using one of the most popular characters of the company. What were your thoughts on tying to Marvel’s hottest properties at the time—Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and the Punisher? Was there ever any editorial suggestion to go in that direction? VALENTINO: No, not really, but that was the conceit of the series. My self-imposed job was to try and make the connections to the 20th Century as unique as possible. So, to use your examples: Rancor was a direct descendant of a 20th Century hero. The Ghost Rider, or Spirit of Vengeance as I called him, was possessed by the same immortal entity that Johnny Blaze was possessed by. And the Punishers were a street gang that modeled themselves on Frank Castle as he was portrayed in Vance’s docu-chips of 20th Century superheroes. Each had a unique point-of-origin, something I tried to do with every character I introduced. I also used a lot of less popular characters like the Howling Commandos, Wonder Man, Vision, and others.

THE GOTG/LSH “CROSSOVER”

COLOSIMO: This never came out in your series, but two teams of villains you had created—Force and Rancor’s group—when combined, equaled an homage to DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes. The key wasn’t so much in their look, but rather their powers. Did anyone catch on to this, and when was this to be revealed? Were the Legion writers of the time—[plotter Keith Giffen and] scripters Tom and Mary Bierbaum—aware of this? VALENTINO: No one ever commented on it, no. I was trying hard not to be too obvious, I guess I went too far in the other direction. At any rate, the characters in Force broke down like this: Broadside = Star Boy, Brahl = Phantom Girl, Interface was Brainiac 5 and Element Lad combined, Scanner = Dawnstar, Photon = Wildfire, EightyFive was Cosmic Boy in Mon-El drag, and I don’t believe Tachyon had a Legion counterpart. If he did, I don’t recall it. Rancor’s crew broke down like this” Rancor = Timber Wolf, Replica = Chameleon Boy, Blockade = Colossal Boy, Mind-Scan = Saturn Girl, and Shaddo was Shadow Lass. Side-Step had no counterpart at the time, but later a character was introduced into the Legion named Gates who could also teleport. And, no, before you ask, I don’t think Side-Step influenced Gates at all. Bat-Wing and Rhodney also didn’t have counterparts—I just liked their names (Batman and Robin). If you read between the lines, you may note that they were a gay couple. Finally, Giraud, who later became the Phoenix in that storyline, was named after Jean Giraud, a.k.a. Moebius. As for Tom and Mary Bierbaum, I only met them once very early on in my run. I very coincidently was seated next to them on a flight. I introduced myself as the gatekeeper of Marvel’s 31st Century. I suggested to them we do an unofficial crossover, figuring, why not take advantage of this circumstance. My impression of them was that they were not at all interested and, in fact, were very distant. At some point early in the flight I stopped trying to converse with them. I’m sure that they’re very nice people, they were probably just tired from a convention. At any rate, I decided to do the crossover on my own, hence the two teams as described above. [Editor’s note: As chronicled in previous editions of BI, this wasn’t the first time such “unofficial” Marvel/DC crossovers occurred, from the aforementioned Squadron Supreme, to Avengers analogs appearing in JLA, and others.] COLOSIMO: Replica, a Skrull who was destined to become the youngest Guardian, debuted in #9. What can you tell me about her personality? Was her main function in the book to illustrate the conflict one might have with their belief system? How did fans respond to the character? VALENTINO: For the most part fans didn’t like her—they considered her “whiny.” I saw this as a failure of my writing ability. As noted she was created to take the Chameleon Boy slot in my ersatz Legion, so making her a Skrull seemed a natural. We were dealing with the Universal Church of Truth, which was created by Jim Starlin as a notvery-thinly disguised Catholic Church. The Church was a through-line that connected the Mutants, Spirit of Vengeance, and Protege storylines and would have culminated in issue #50.

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Replica was a very young, unsophisticated 13-year-old. She was a devotee of the church, having been indoctrinated at a very young age, and her religion was in almost constant conflict with her time in the Guardians. To make things worse, she was ashamed of her race, the Skrulls having become a universally despised and oppressed minority. When she met the Protege, she fell apart emotionally. Not because she was “whiny,” but because she had come face-to-face with her god. Think of a Christian meeting Jesus, or a devotee meeting Krishna—she was terrified, as any believer would be. Readers didn’t see it, or they didn’t comment on it. I failed to get it across, so I quickly wrote her out of the series, with plans to bring her back in the Galactic Guardians, where she would have grown up a bit. COLOSIMO: Can you tell me some of the backstory on Wileaydus/Spirit of Vengeance, the 31st Century Ghost Rider of sorts? VALENTINO: I’d read an interview with Starlin around that time about Autolycus (the character from the same planet as Wileaydus) in the Warlock saga. In Greek mythology, Autolycus is the maternal grandfather of Odysseus (yes, I looked it up). However, Starlin indicated that he saw it phonetically: Ought-To-Like-Us. In the same vein I named Wileaydus, phonetically Will-He-Aid-Us. And the character was incorrectly called Autolycus at one point or another. Whether that was my mistake or not I’m not sure—regardless, it should have been caught by the editor. COLOSIMO: Guardians #12 featured a revamped Taserface, now called Overkill. Can you explain the reason for the transition? Did you originally want to feature Taserface, as he was your son Aaron’s creation, with him eventually morphing into something you envisioned? And what role did Overt-Kill (from Spawn #6) play in this transition? VALENTINO: Well, I was fully aware of what a dumb name it was, but my son was five years old, and by putting a character he created in the comic, I was his hero. I rationalized it by saying it was no dumber that Prune-Face, Two-Face, Clayface, or any of the other characters with “face” in their name, and I offset it by giving the other Stark similar names—Darkeyes, Blackhand, and so on. Also, I think within the first or second story he was stripped of his name—an easy way for me to change it down the road, which I did in issue #12. As for Overt-Kill that came about because Rob told Todd [McFarlane] that Aaron had created a character called Overkill, so out of respect for Aaron (still a kid at the time), Todd changed the name of their character from Overkill to Overt-Kill. COLOSIMO: Clearly, your Guardians run was well planned out. When it came to the two Annuals, however, how much control and advance notice did you have? Both the 1991 and 1992 Annuals were part of a four-part crossover with Annuals from different Marvel series. In both cases, your Annual was the last part, and featured Korvac. How difficult did you find it to produce tales outside of your main story and tied into other books? Did you have any say on the main villain to be featured though the 1991 Annuals? VALENTINO: I didn’t have any say in choosing Korvac as a villain in those Annuals—that came from on high. And, as I

Mutants and More! (inset) Jim Lee inks #10’s cover. (top) Inside, the new Phoenix rises. (bottom) Covers to GOTG #11 and 12, inked by Bob Wiacek and Art Thibert, respectively. TM & © Marvel.

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Quest for the Shield Original cover art for the 1992 GOTG TPB collecting the first six issues of the series, in which Vance Astro and the team were able to obtain Captain America’s shield. Jim Valentino pencils, Steve Montano inks. From the William Colosimo collection. TM & © Marvel.

recall, I didn’t have a lot of information about the other Annuals. So I just told the story I wanted to tell and reserved a single page to recap what happened in the other Annuals. I decided to do a continuity implant that would set up the story of the shield, tell Korvac’s origin, introduce Dr. Strange, the Inhumans, and Galactus, and officially induct Aleta into the group. In fact, both of the major stories in that Annual were continuity implants, both set before issue #1 of my series. Oh, and I snuck in another nod to the Legion. The two dignitaries on the Moon were named Rene and Jacques, after Legion financier R. J. Brande. In fact, the older man looked like R. J. In the second story, “Encounter on Europa,” I was able to give some backstory to the mutant storyline, give the team their second costumes, which debuted in Marvel Two-in-One #5, and their ship, the Captain America—and I even tossed in some actual science about Io and Europa. The second Annual was just not that memorable to me. I believe that I only drew three pages in it and had Eric Stephenson ghost one of the backup stories, which,

by the way, was his first-ever writing gig, even though he wasn’t credited. By the time the second Annual came, I was burnt out and overwhelmed with the business and creative sides of Image. COLOSIMO: In Annual #1 we meet Krugarr, the 31st Century Sorcerer Supreme, who is accompanied by Dr. Strange, now known as the Ancient One. What do you remember about the creation of Krugarr? VALENTINO: He was named after my mentor, Ken Krueger. Ken was a fixture in the San Diego comics scene when I lived there in the mid-’70s. He was a loveably crusty old guy who was a member of First Fandom—that is, an attendee of the very first science-fiction convention. He was one of the people who was instrumental in founding the San Diego Comic-Con and, as Mark Evanier once said about him, “The grown-up in the room.” Ken was responsible for publishing some of the first works of Harlan Ellison, A. E. Van Vogt, Greg Bear, Dave Stevens, Scott Shaw!, myself, and so many others, so this was my nod to him. Thus, Krugarr’s name is pronounced Crew-Ger (not Crew-Gar), just like Ken’s. COLOSIMO: Did he ever tell you his thoughts about your success with the GOTG series, and the Krugarr character named after him? VALENTINO: No, we never really talked about stuff like that. I know he was proud of me as he was of all of the kids he mentored. We would discuss pretty much everything under the sun except comics. But I’m sure it amused him to have a character named after him.

The First “ShadowHawk” Once Starhawk emerged as a darker amalgamation of Stakar, Aleta, and the Hawk God, Valentino wanted to rename him ShadowHawk but was told no. Scan from the 1992 Impel trading card. Jim Valentino pencils and inks. TM & © Marvel.

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THE GREAT BEYOND

COLOSIMO: Issues #13 through 16 introduced us to the Protege and his followers, in what seemed to end the first chapter of the Guardians saga. Thanks to Starhawk, the team lost the ability to guide the Protege, a godlike child who could instantly “learn” anyone’s powers or abilities. What were your ultimate plans for that character? By the end of issue #16, it seems he attracted the attention of some pretty big hitters—Eternity and the Living Tribunal. Earlier in that same issue, Marty ominously asked Interface what might happen if the Protege were to run into someone on the level of Galactus. VALENTINO: I was setting up what would have been the 50th issue storyline. Craig had suggested that we do it as a double- or triple-sized issue with all splash pages and double-page spreads, which would have fit the scope I had in mind. The idea was that the Protege, leading the Universal Church of Truth and the Stark, who had by now become devotees, would attack our Solar System. All of the Guardians and Force would band together to try and stop them. Recognizing the carnage, Galactus would show up, figuring he could consume the mineralrich Earth at long last. Upon seeing how powerful Galactus is, the Protege would attempt to “learn” his power. But because Galactus is so powerful, Protege’s abilities went into overdrive. He doesn’t

just absorb Galactus’ power, he absorbed Galactus’ life energy, killing him! Unable to physically and psychologically deal with that much energy, Protege, as a Warlock -type being, cocooned himself. This causes the Living Tribunal to pull Protege out of Eternity, ending the war, decimating the church, and, if I remember correctly, destroying the Earth. In an epilogue, similar to the one at the end of issue #16, we would learn that the Protege created a universe within his cocoon as he grew to manhood, completely forgetting his past life. The problem is that he cannot create life, so his universe was empty and he was bereft of any life experience. Somehow or another (and I’m not sure I even knew how then) he bursts out of his cocoon on 20th Century Earth as a full-grown man called the Beyonder. COLOSIMO: Your overarching 50-issue story with the Protege was one of ultimate power with minimum responsibility, and what can happen in that scenario. Was there any special reason this story spoke to you as one you wanted to tell? VALENTINO: Honestly, I don’t recall. I would think that a lot of it had to do with my admiration of Jim Starlin. Another would be that the Guardians were a cosmic group and, thus, they needed a cosmic-level story. The idea of a Messianic cosmic child was appealing on a lot of levels. An Alexander the Great child-god interested me.

Hot Wheels (left) Ghost Rider in space!!! It happened here first, kiddies, in GOTG #13 (June 1991). (right) Courtesy of Heritage, an explosive Spirit of Vengeance vs. Starhawk original art page, from issue #14. Art on both by Valentino and Montano. TM & © Marvel.

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Ultimate Power, Minimum Responsibility Original cover art to GOTG #15 (Aug. 1991), finally introducing the Protege, the child at the center of Jim’s planned 50-issue storyline. Jim Valentino pencils, Jim Starlin inks. TM & © Marvel.

Two points about the Protege: 1) A lot of readers seem to have misunderstood the character. He was a seven-year-old child who was told all of his life that he was a god. He didn’t know any better. He was worshipped by entire planets and he had unbelievable, godlike power. If he didn’t act like a “brat,” he acted like a child who was told all of his life that he could do no wrong, all of his whims were correct simply because they were his. And 2) He was modeled after my then-seven-year-old son, Aaron, so maybe I’m a bit prejudiced. COLOSIMO: In #16, Interface told Marty the origin of the Protege—but it was to eventually be revealed that the story passed down was a false one, spread by the Church. VALENTINO: Protege’s parents would have been revealed during the Protege War story (probably between issues #45–50). It would have been revealed that his father was Yondu’s god, Anthos. A reader had pointed out that Anthos was an anagram for Thanos, which I loved and wanted to use. So,

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his father and Yondu’s god was Thanos. His mother was HER, the female Warlock, now known as Paragon, which was her name when she was first introduced as a male in the sixth Hulk Annual. COLOSIMO: No real question here, just comments: GOTG #17 came out very close to Jim Lee’s X-Men #1. And while Lee’s book was obviously the big news at the time, your #17 seemed—at least to this fan—to be a first issue of sorts, also. It featured a streamlined version of the team, back on Earth, a new direction (as the first part of the Protege story was finalized)— this was basically MY X-Men #1! VALENTINO: That’s nice, thank you. However, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that you would be in the minority on that, but still, that’s very nice of you. COLOSIMO: But at any rate, in #17 we learn that Nikki’s full name is Nicholette Gold, and I believe it was also here that Marty’s last name—T’Naga—was revealed, along with the information that his ancestors hailed from Africa. So, more backstory was being discovered about various members of the team. Can you tell readers where Nicholette’s full name came from? Do you remember anything about the new reveals on Marty? VALENTINO: I was trying to create some diversity within the group. Nicholette came from a singer, Nicolette Larson. I thought it was a pretty name and I always thought that Gold was short for Goldberg or Goldstein, indicating Jewish ancestry. Marty’s ancestry was African, Wakandan specifically. COLOSIMO: Guardians #17 through 20 showcased a stripped-down version of the team—basically four members in the core group, as Marty ventures off to form the Galactic Guardians. After a bit into the series, it seemed that the lineup was in frequent rotation. Did you envision the Guardians somewhat like the Avengers or Legion in the sense of having a rotating lineup? VALENTINO: Yes, although they didn’t have as large a talent pool to draw from as either of those groups. COLOSIMO: I have heard some readers criticize Vance’s “Major Victory” persona, the gist of it being that he was basically a Captain America clone. Was this a transitional phase for the character? VALENTINO: Yes, it was meant to be temporary. Vance was supposed to be the leader of the team, but he was a mass of anger and self-pity so his entire story arc from his getting the shield, to his relationship with Aleta, to his shedding his containment suit, to his becoming an ersatz Captain America, was all designed for him to become comfortable in his own skin and be the leader he was meant to be. The last story I was able to do during my run was the beginning of their first voyage back to the 20th Century. There, Vance would have worked alongside Cap (and maybe Marvel Boy as he was then called), he would lose the shield, Aleta would be freed from Starhawk, and he would have emerged as Major Astro. His own man, and the leader of the Guardians. COLOSIMO: Vance was set to die had you continued on the series. Did these plans come relatively early to you in your work on the book? VALENTINO: No, they progressed as Vance progressed through his story arc. My feeling was that he would have reached the end of his journey as a character, so killing him off would not progress his story, but, rather, his teammates’. His death would affect the team profoundly, moving each of them forward emotionally. As I think about it these days, I realize that would have been a mistake, not only because it would have denied him to future creators, but also, it would deny the team of a fully realized leader.

REALLY OLD MAN LOGAN

COLOSIMO: The team returned to Earth in #17, and while there you originally wanted to introduce a 1,000-year-old Wolverine into the series. The idea was nixed by X-Men editor Bob Harras, as he understandably didn’t want to show that Wolverine could live that long. He also didn’t approve the follow up idea—showing Wolverine dead. It seems understandable that Marvel wouldn’t want you adding or subtracting anything to the mythos of one of their most popular characters. But, what if your first request—to feature Wolverine— was approved? What were your general plans for him? Did you want him to join the team, as his replacement character, Talon, did? VALENTINO: I’m not sure that I really had any plans for him; if I did I don’t recall what they were other than the fact that he would be an extremely old man. I completely understood Bob’s objections and agreed with him, and, as it turned out, Talon became one of my favorite characters in the series, so all’s swell that ends swell! COLOSIMO: Did you have any preliminary thoughts as to how he may have appeared visually in the series (other than missing one claw, thanks to Gladiator)? VALENTINO: Very old, very wrinkled. COLOSIMO: Wolverine was not to be featured, so you created Talon in his stead, a character that you used for about a year, until you left the series. What was the general fan reaction to Talon? As the months went on, and you completed more stories with him—did you feel he was a good fit in the series? VALENTINO: Oh, yeah, I really enjoyed him as a character. He was modeled after Steve Englehart’s Beast as the character appeared in The Avengers. Talon was the screw-up, the comedy relief. He was fun to write and fun to draw. COLOSIMO: GOTG #23 featured a fill-in artist—Mark Texeira— as you were being spread thin at the time due to working not only on the newly formed Image comics, but also GOTG Annual #2 and the larger-sized #25. Was Mark picked at your suggestion? VALENTINO: Believe it or not, Tex, who was a pal of mine, told me that he couldn’t get a gig on a superhero book at the time. Apparently editors thought his work was too gritty or something. I knew I needed a bit of a break, so I asked Craig if Tex could draw the issue. Since Craig was a fan of Tex’s work, he readily agreed. Tex inked the cover of that issue except for the corner box headshot of Charlie, which Rob inked. I thought Tex did a great job on it, and a couple of years later I commissioned him to paint the ShadowHawk/Vampirella cover, a painting I still own. COLOSIMO: Mark’s art gave the issue a very different look. What was the fan reaction to the art this issue? Did you feel his style fit the tone of the book? VALENTINO: The fans loved it—mail was overwhelmingly positive. I was a huge fan of his, so I was pleased as well. I thought the different approach was refreshing. COLOSIMO: GOTG #24 and 25 finally saw the introduction of the series’ most requested guest star, the Silver Surfer (now known as the Keeper). Why was his appearance held back until the end of year two of the series? VALENTINO: Because it seemed only natural to have Galactus as the adversary in issue #25. And, if you’re going to feature Galactus, bringing in the Silver Surfer just seemed like the right thing to do. COLOSIMO: GOTG #25 sported a foil-enhanced cover. What role did you play in the decision to use an enhanced cover, particularly that type? How did you like the end result of your art merged with the enhancement? Was fan reaction to this cover overall positive? VALENTINO: I don’t know what fan reaction was to it. I had originally asked for a hologram of the shield to be on issue #20’s cover, but was told that it was cost-prohibitive for the Guardians. I wasn’t all that thrilled with the foil, but thought it was okay for what it was. COLOSIMO: A lot of Yondu’s story arc through your series revolved around Photon, a member of Force and a female Centaurian, something Yondu thought long extinct. I’ve seen you mention in the past that you loved Yondu, but his story somewhat wrote itself and he needed to leave the team. At what point did the character basically tell you how his story would unfold? Once Yondu found a colony of his people alive and he left the team, was his interaction with Photon completed?

Wolverine Proxies (top) The terrifying Talon, on the Jim Valentino/Erik Larsen cover of GOTG #19 (Dec. 1991). (bottom) A fingerlickin’ good art page from Heritage, from issue #20, setting up an appearance by Rancor. TM & © Marvel.

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VALENTINO: The story of his leaving started when he first met Photon in issue #5. When next we were to see her, during the Protege War, Photon would be carrying Yondu’s pup in her pouch (theirs was a race of Marsupials). The clue was in issue #16 where they said that they had come to an… understanding. Had to be subtle about these things in those days. COLOSIMO: What can you tell me about the 1992 Guardians poster that Rob Liefeld inked? VALENTINO: Marvel was doing a lot of posters at the time and they asked me to do one. I asked if Rob could ink it. I don’t recall who colored it. As I recall they held it back for quite a while, only releasing it after Image was announced.

A NEW IMAGE

COLOSIMO: Rob brought the idea of Image Comics up to you in, I believe, the summer of 1991, and Image was announced to the public in January 1992. You were still at Marvel until a few months later. Originally you planned to do another team book at Image— The Pact—but decided against that and went with the unused Archie Comics’ Fox pitch as ShadowHawk. You had eventually asked Marvel editorial if you could continue writing the Guardians, but relinquish penciling duties as you realized juggling both companies would be difficult. How much work with Image were you doing up through the spring of 1992, when you left Marvel? Was it mostly working on the concepts of both your new book and what Image was as a company? VALENTINO: It was insane. There was so much going on, it was ridiculous. We had gone from employees to businessmen, from part of a large company to creating a new company from scratch while trying to keep up with deadlines and all of the demands on our time. We were being interviewed on television, in magazines, everyone wanted a meeting—there were people coming at us from all sides and we had to do our books or the whole thing would go toes up before it even started. Conventions were offering us serious money to appear at their shows. It was just insane. It was like going from one full-time job to juggling four or five of them. And that’s not to mention finishing our obligations to Marvel. COLOSIMO: How did Eric Stephenson come about to ghost-write a story in GOTG

Jim and Rob Together Again Former studio mates Jim Valentino (on pencils) and Rob Liefeld (on inks) team up once again for Marvel Press Poster #118, from 1992. Scan courtesy of William Colosimo. TM & © Marvel.

Annual #2? What kind of direction did you give him? Did you do any significant rewriting to it while editing it before sending it in? VALENTINO: He was trying to break into the industry at the time, so he interviewed me on spec for a pitch to Wizard magazine. We had to redo the interview several times and I got to know him a bit, I liked him. So, I asked if he wanted to ghost this story. I’m not sure how much direction I gave him, but I must have given him some. Then when he brought it back to me I edited it in front of him, showed him where he was going wrong, and explained why. He told me years later that it was very instructive for him, which was very nice of him to say. COLOSIMO: Your last addition to the team’s line up was Rita DeMara—Yellowjacket. She was a newer character, a villain that began siding with the Marvel heroes. You introduced her into the book with your script for #28, but didn’t have time to do anything with her character other than lay some foundation. How did you see her personality? Was one of her main functions to add a pair of 20th Century eyes to the team’s (mostly) 31st Century adventures? VALENTINO: Yes, adding Rita was my idea. I liked the character, and as a person from the 20th Century my feeling was that she could add that sense of wonder that none of the other Guardians were capable of. For her the 31st Century would be a place of wonder—she would become our fish out of water. Another thing I’d planned was that the team would pick up Killraven on their return to the 31st Century, and he and Rita would become involved in a romance. COLOSIMO: How did you feel Killraven would have meshed with the group? Was the thought to add him one that was toyed with when you originally planned telling the “War of the Worlds” story? VALENTINO: When I left the title, the Guardians were in the 20th Century. The way I had it figured was that they would have made a stop in Killraven’s time (I don’t know how anymore) and pick him up there. He would have been in his 50s, his war over, his friends gone—so he went with them into the future. I remember pitching to Tom DeFalco at a dinner somewhere my version of the “War of the Worlds” as a two-issue prestigeformat book. I told him that my idea was kind of the reverse of the original H. G. Wells story in that the Martians would be carrying a virus that would infect and kill all super-people. This would explain why there were no super-beings during Killraven’s time. He gave me a green light on the spot. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to do it. COLOSIMO: Marvel eventually decided to part ways with you, your last full issue for all intents and purposes being Guardians of the Galaxy #27. How much of a disappointment was it to you that you couldn’t finish the larger story that you had planned to tell through the book?

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VALENTINO: I was very disappointed. Rob and I were the only two Image founders who wanted to finish our Marvel stories after the formation of Image. In my case, I’d been setting up signposts all along pretty much from the start of the series. I asked if I could just write, maybe do covers, as I was neck-deep in Image both creatively and business-wise at the time. But they thought it best to make a clean break. I was very disappointed. I genuinely loved the Guardians—it wasn’t just an assignment for me. COLOSIMO: You’ve stated that the book had a positive sales slope through your run—I’d assume after your first issue, there was a bit of a drop-off in orders for a couple issues until the book started reaching the readers hands, then it increased in numbers up though your last full issue, #27. Any general idea on what the numbers were at the end of your run? Around 200,000 in monthly sales? VALENTINO: Yeah, somewhere in that vicinity, but let us not forget that Rob, Todd, and Jim were selling in the millions at the same time. Funny, it was a solid mid-range book at the time, but publishers would give their eyeteeth for sales in the 100,000 range today. COLOSIMO: In the late 1980s, you were co-creator on a series idea called The Protectors. This series didn’t get off the ground, and when you started Guardians you took some of your ideas from The Protectors and merged them into the GOTG. You left GOTG before you could finish your larger story, so you attempted to finish it somewhat in 1994 with Keith Giffen in a project at Image called The Galactic Legion. That series was too impractical to get off the ground. Missing the GOTG and wanting to revisit a team of space adventurers, you decided to go back to The Protectors, rename it The Alliance, and publish that in 1995—possibly using a couple characters that were created for Galactic Legion (characters that were likely riffs of GOTG characters, so things in Galactic Legion could ring true to GOTG). You ended up cancelling The Alliance after three issues as you felt it wasn’t progressing as you had envisioned. Does any of that backstory need to be corrected or added to? VALENTINO: No, that’s pretty much how I remember it. Brian Murray collaborated with me on The Protectors and, as noted, Keith on The Galactic Legion. In both cases I tried to use the characters and concepts I could identify as solely my own out of respect for my two friends. COLOSIMO: Rob Liefeld went back to Marvel in 1996 to do The Avengers (with you scripting that first issue). Did you have any thoughts at that time to present a revamped GOTG pitch to the company? VALENTINO: No. It was very clear that they wanted the [Image] Big Three only (but they couldn’t get Todd) to revitalize their marquee properties.

BACK TO BASICS

COLOSIMO: What inspired you in 2004 to come up with the pitch for a revised Guardians series, featuring the original team? VALENTINO: It seemed like a good idea at the time. COLOSIMO: If the pitch would have been accepted, did you have plans to pencil it along with the scripting duties? Were you looking to take this on as a monthly title? VALENTINO: I would have written it, most likely with layouts, in the hope that, unlike the Avengers project, whoever they chose to pencil the book would follow the layouts.

Untapped Potential (top) Yellowjacket was Jim’s last addition to the team roster right before his departure from the series, so he didn’t get the chance to draw her for the book. Jim Valentino pencils, Chance Wolf inks, and Evelyn Stein colors. From the William Colosimo collection. (bottom) A couple of years after leaving GOTG, Jim reread the series and realized he missed the team. After a failed attempt initiating a pseudo-GOTG book with Keith Giffen called “The Galactic Legion,” Jim put out The Alliance in 1995, a series he cancelled as he felt it wasn’t turning out as he had hoped. Shown is the cover art to The Alliance #1 (cover “B”; every issue had two covers). Jim Valentino pencils, Dan Davis inks. From the William Colosimo collection. Yellowjacket TM & © Marvel. The Alliance TM & © Jim Valentino.

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The True Origins of the Protege Pencil sketches of Thanos and HER (formerly Paragon), by Jim Valentino. If Jim had to continued on the series, it would have been revealed that the origin of the Protege previously given was false, and his real parents were in fact Thanos and HER (with HER not knowing Thanos’ true motives, as at the time he became a seemingly benevolent god known as Anthos, Yondu’s deity). HER would have likely joined the Galactic Guardians. From the William Colosimo collection. TM & © Marvel.

By the way, did you know that the Avengers project was originally to be drawn by George Pérez, working from my layouts? Not that George ever needed anyone to do layouts for him, let alone me, but, as ever, he was extraordinarily gracious. COLOSIMO: Your 1989 Guardians pitch was delivered with a team shot for a nice visual. Do you remember drawing any type of concept art to send along with the 2004 series pitch? VALENTINO: No, just the pitch. COLOSIMO: Your 2004 pitch seemed to clean up some of the scientific inconsistencies that the original team was saddled with, and altered some of the leads fairly drastically in the process. The first story arc would have seen the Guardians form a team, and by the fourth story arc the Badoon would have been defeated—so the core ideas behind the team would have been the same. Did you have any thought on what you might have liked to do after that point… possibly revisit and finish an updated version of your Protege story? VALENTINO: No, I didn’t plan anything beyond the initial proposal. The thing about the science in the original concept is: The first Guardians story from Marvel Super-Heroes #18 was written in 1968 or before. In 1968, we hadn’t even landed on the Moon, much less explored the outer planets. In 1968, we thought that all moons were like our own, dead, crater-filled worlds. Exo-planets were science fiction, ditto for black holes. It wasn’t that the science was inconsistent, it was just plain wrong. We’ve learned so much in the years since and, as an astronomy buff, I had to address that. COLOSIMO: Some of the Guardians characters you’ve worked on and others you’ve created have been on

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the silver screen in varied forms, and also appeared in toy stores. In the last several years, we’ve seen Marvel reprint your Guardians run in an omnibus and three trade paperbacks. We’ve also found your run being reprinted internationally (including a very well done hardcover from Spain). What do you make of the resurged interest in your work on the title, and the fact that another generation is able to access the material easier through the new reprints? VALENTINO: I don’t kid myself about these things— there isn’t a renewed interest in me as a creator or in my take on the Guardians. The reprints are the result of the movies. Marvel is just monetizing the franchise in every way they can, which is smart business. I’m very grateful for the books and think they’re very nice, but I find it always best to keep these things in perspective. COLOSIMO: While your career in comics has many significant accomplishments, some people feel your GOTG run is your signature series. What are your thoughts about the lasting effect that this body of work—about three years of your life—has? VALENTINO: I don’t think about things like that. I see my career as a whole and don’t try to quantify its value. This interview aside, I don’t want to be one of those people so concerned with their “legacy” that they live in the past—there is so much to do in the future. History decides who and what it will remember, not us. And, corny as it may sound, for me, I’m grateful to have raised my children, traveled the world, and made the friends I’ve had being a part of the one thing I’ve loved more than anything— comics. To my mind, that’s success!

TOM DeFALCO © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Jim Valentino handed in his Guardians of the Galaxy series pitch to you at WonderCon in 1989. Before that, you had your own take on the Guardians, but it was more of a Star Trek: The Next Generationinspired galactic team, basically the Guardians in name, with no actual original Guardians. Is that what it was going to be? TOM DeFALCO: Yeah. It was a space opera, set in the future, where the original Guardians of the Galaxy were the inspiration for basically an organization that went out and policed the galaxy. COLOSIMO: In issue #8 of his Guardians book, Jim started setting up the seeds for a Galactic Guardians team, based on your concept. Were you thinking of taking what he planted there in his series and doing your version at any point down the road? DeFALCO: No. Once I committed to Jim, and Jim’s version, my version was put to the side and kind of forgotten. COLOSIMO: Jim and Rob Liefeld gave you and Mark Gruenwald several pitches at WonderCon. Do you have any recollection of how that went down? Did you review the pitches there at the show? DeFALCO: There’s no way I would have reviewed the pitches at WonderCon. Comic-book conventions are much too chaotic. In those days when we went to a comic convention, we’d start working with the breakfast meetings, and then end at about ten or 11 o’clock at night. Afterwards, there weren’t enough brain cells to read any pitches. That’s probably the reason why I go to so few comic-book conventions these days. I no longer have those kind of hours, but that’s what comic-book conventions mean to me. COLOSIMO: Mark Gruenwald had asked Jim to come up with a list of every possible Marvel character that would still be around in the 31st Century, and have that as a piece of reference for the series. How early on did the series go into your hands rather than Mark Gruenwald’s? DeFALCO: It actually kind of went the other way. I think that… what I’m going to tell you may not be true, but is probably the closest to the truth as I can get. A lot of times with these presentations, Grueny and I would sit down and we’d read them either together or look at them and say, “Hey—tonight how about we read such and such presentation and we’ll discuss it tomorrow?” I really don’t recall how Jim’s went. But, once I was on board with it, I would have turned it over to Grueny—and then he would’ve been kind of shepherding it. My view of editor-in-chief was that I should be focused on things that were going to be six months, a year, two or three years from now, and not work on anything in a practical manner. I was planning for the future, and letting the actual editors deal with today’s matters. COLOSIMO: Craig Anderson handled all the day-to-day editing, and he probably wouldn’t approach you too much with issues on a monthly book… DeFALCO: No. The editors basically were in charge of their books. The only time I would tend to step in would be if the book started to go down in sales. And then if the book was starting to go down in sales, then Grueny and I would pick up the last bunch of issues from a month or two before the downslide, and then we’d read the bunch of issues. Then Grueny and I would try to figure out what went wrong, and then we would meet with the editor and discuss it then. But otherwise, it was Craig’s show.

COLOSIMO: Jim basically had a storyline that was going to run a good 50 or so issues. He left around, say, halfway through—issue #27. He was planning on doing some things like killing off Vance Astro in the 50th issue, and introducing Killraven into the team, and making Killraven turn out to be the son of Franklin Richards. Those types of things, whether those would have got approval or disapproval from editorial—that would have all come from Craig? DeFALCO: Craig would have been the first line of defense. There were a number of things… I’m trying to remember what the rules were in those days. The only time an editor would have to talk to me—there were four or five different occasions where an editor would have to run something past me first. And one of those things would be a major change in status quo, or the killing of a character. So, if Jim proposed killing Vance Astro to Craig—if Craig approved it—then Craig would have to talk to me first before he could actually instigate that sort of thing. I don’t remember what the five occasions were anymore, but I know killing a character and a major change of status quo were two of the things. And the reason for that was in those days, anytime anybody wanted to introduce a new villain or a new character, they used to feel, “Hey, we’ll kill off so-and-so!” just to prove how tough this guy was. I was not a big fan of killing off characters. I think that if you’re going to kill off a character, let them stay dead. And there are certain characters that you just shouldn’t kill off, because it affects the fundamental basis of the series. COLOSIMO: I know in the case of Vance Astro, it wasn’t to just flippantly kill someone off for shock value. DeFALCO: I was just getting into general [details], not specifically Jim. I don’t ever remember there being a discussion of the death of Vance Astro. Now, 20-plus years later—it’s probably closer to 30-plus years— I can’t tell you how that discussion would have gone. COLOSIMO: Guardians was different than, say, the Spider-Man family books where you’ve got to coordinate between four different series. Jim was doing his own series, set in the future, a different timeline, with B-list characters. So, since he was the writer and penciler, would someone in his position have been required to let the editorial staff know in advance, “Okay, the next half-year, this is my goal; this is what I plan to do in the book”? Or would something like that not be required? DeFALCO: Well, in those days, we had kind of a looser system. Whenever you were working on whatever title you were working on—for the most part—you knew where you were going to be in the next six issues. And for the most part, what we focused on was more the personal soap-opera dramas. “Who’s Peter Parker? What’s going to be Peter Parker’s social situation? What’s going to be his business situation? What’s going to be his relationship with Mary Jane or whomever?” We focused on the personal soap-opera aspects for the next six months. They were more informal discussions between the creative team and their editor. That’s not the kind of stuff I was involved in, except for the books that I was writing. So, I’m sure Craig and Jim discussed where they were headed, and what they were doing—but it’s not like either one of them needed

Sentinel of Liberty (left) Vance becomes Major Victory. Issue #20 cover by Valentino and Danny Bulanadi. (right) Al Milgrom inks Jim on #22’s cover. TM & © Marvel.

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any approval from anybody, other than if they were gonna have a major change of status quo. If they were going to—I don’t know—blow up the spaceship and strand them on the planet, and they were no longer going to be going around the galaxy, they would be stuck on one planet for the rest of the series, that would have been a major change of status quo, because it would have been a totally different kind of book. But other than those sort of things, those discussions would have just been between Jim and Craig. Because Jim was the writer and the artist, he didn’t have to get the artist on board with whatever he wanted to do, and he also didn’t have to coordinate with any other title. COLOSIMO: He was focused on his one title, and that was it. DeFALCO: Yeah. And whatever was happening in The Avengers would have no effect on his book. COLOSIMO: From what I understand, the entire run of his book had a positive sales slope. So as long as his numbers were going up, that probably meant, “Just let him do what he’s doing, because obviously, the book is selling, people are liking it.” DeFALCO: Yes. Certain books, I stayed away from, because I figured all I could do was screw them up. If memory serves correctly, that book was doing fine; it was a fun title. It was one of those titles that whenever I would pick up an issue and read it, everything worked—just leave it the hell alone. One thing I do remember about Jim’s initial presentation: I’ll probably screw up the numbers, but I believe he listed the first couple of stories. But he had an arc, and I’m not sure if the first arc was six issues or— COLOSIMO: I think it took six issues before they found Captain America’s shield.

DeFALCO: Yeah, and then he had another, the next six issues to 12 issues. So that if the book got cancelled in six issues, all questions were answered. If it gets to 12 issues, all questions answered. And I don’t know if he went beyond 12 issues. I remember looking at that, and saying, “Boy, this is a really slick, intelligent way of doing these things. Now I have another way of doing a presentation!” COLOSIMO: It’s funny you say that, because Jim talked about his presentation style from back then, and he said this was not the best way to present a pitch, so it’s interesting to hear that you did like it. DeFALCO: I did like it. I liked it more for myself, so that when I was thinking of a series, I would do that. I’m probably the world’s worst pitch artist. My pitches are like a series bible that fits on one page, maybe two pages, tops. My attitude is it should be such that you can hand it to any writer, and they could write the book. COLOSIMO: Jim was both the series writer and penciler. What would a contract at Marvel look like for a freelancer who did both jobs, somewhere around the late 1980s? DeFALCO: Back in those days, if somebody was working on a comic book, they were working on it without a contract. COLOSIMO: So it was basically month-by-month. Is it something where you were paid royalties based on how many units were sold? DeFALCO: You were paid a page rate. In those days, we had all these basically established rates—everybody got the same deal. So, if your book sold X number of copies, if it was a direct-only book, I think if it sold over 40,000 copies, you got a percentage or royalty based on all the copies over 40,000. If it was a newsstand comic book, I think the cut off was 100,000—I don’t remember what the percentage of royalties was at that stage. But everybody got the same deal, it was a standard deal. We didn’t bother with individual contracts. I used to feel that, “Hey, everybody’s doing the same kind of work, so the deal should be the same deal, no matter who you are.” ’Cause if your book is printed, it’s printed—it doesn’t matter if you’ve been in the industry for one year or ten years, you’ve got one printed book and you should be paid accordingly. I know it’s not a theory that people like today; today everybody has to have their own custom-made deal. COLOSIMO: Well before the first issue came out, Jim did the Marvel Age [Marvel’s then-house zine—ed.] cover promoting it, the first four covers for the series, and actually the first several issues were completed on his end. Is something like that standard? Did you want to see a number of issues finalized before you solicit? DeFALCO: Well, what we tried to do was schedule the book so that we’d have a couple of issues done before the first issue had to go out, so that you were not under the Dreaded Deadline Doom. Unless you’ve actually worked on a monthly comic book, you cannot imagine what a mental and physical strain it is to produce a comic book on a monthly basis. We’d do everything we could to make life as easy as possible for our guys, because once you send out that first issue, you are under the grind. And if you can’t keep up, then you have to bring in other people to do it because it’s gotta be done. Every month, there has to be a book. In those days, you depended on the newsstand. If a book ever missed its shipping date, basically just cancel the book. COLOSIMO: That was the need for inventory stories—for emergency purposes? DeFALCO: Yes. Because the repercussions for a newsstand book missing shipping were pretty severe in those days. COLOSIMO: I know that part of the reason you considered Jim and green-lighted the series was that he had proven himself to be able to do a monthly book. He was doing some What If? issues before this, and some various fill-in issues for Marvel in the year or so before Guardians. DeFALCO: We had total confidence in Jim’s ability to produce. COLOSIMO: There was a lot of action in his book early on—right from page one of issue #1. Jim had mentioned that editorial asked for

Rancor is Back! And Bat-Wing and Mind-Scan are with her, on GOTG #21’s (Feb. 1992) cover, courtesy of Heritage. Inks by Dan Panosian. TM & © Marvel.

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Gender Bender Vance’s mind is blown by Aleta as the new Starhawk. From Guardians of the Galaxy #22 (Mar. 1992). TM & © Marvel.

more characterization, so he used his eighth issue to develop the team a bit more. Is that something you might have asked for after the non-stop action through the first six or seven issues, or would that have been Craig? DeFALCO: That would have been Craig. My theory about action is: characterization flows from action, so I know today people separate character scenes from action scenes. I used to believe that they should be… an action scene is a character scene, because the character’s dialogue during the action scene—the way the character reacts during it—it tells us all sorts of things about the character. COLOSIMO: Absolutely—under stress. DeFALCO: My feeling is, people pick up comic books to see very interesting visuals and interesting things. In those days, they were not looking for radio scripts, which to me seems were just a bunch of heads talking. COLOSIMO: Today, there’s more decompressed storytelling, but back then, there was still a huge Kirby influence as far as the books really needed to look dynamic, with the characters exploding on the page, lots of action, that type of thing… DeFALCO: We certainly wanted them to look dynamic and we wanted them to have a lot of action. I don’t know if that’s the Kirby influence, the Stan Lee influence, the “Big” John Buscema influence, or just the basic tools of fiction. All stories moved a lot faster in those days. Did you ever watch Star Trek or anything like that? COLOSIMO: Yes—the original series and the Next Generation. DeFALCO: With Star Trek, it started off—the crew was dressed in Nazi uniforms in the middle of a battle, and that’s how the episode started! And then you’d get your tag-in commercial line. But stories, you need action to help a story along. These days, I look at comics sometimes and I think, “It’s the first two issues and the story hasn’t really started yet.” And then you walk into a movie and in the first half a minute, there is some explosive thing that has just happened. The old theory was, “You grab them by the throat on the first page, and yank them through 22 pages,” or, “You grab them by the throat with the first sentence, and yank them through a whole novel.” That’s what works in all successful fiction except for comic books these days, which explains why comic-book sales are what they are. COLOSIMO: Was there any selection process for using Craig Anderson on that book, or was he just your go-to editor? DeFALCO: I don’t recall how Craig became the editor of that book. There is a good chance that Jim first presented his concept to Craig, who then presented it Grueny, who then presented it to me. ’Cause Craig and Jim were old buddies. So there’s a chance that that’s how that worked out. COLOSIMO: Before Jim brought in his pitch, you had your own Guardians pitch going. I heard Craig might have had his own pitch for a series concerning Marvel’s future. Was that true? DeFALCO: I was unaware of it. And my pitch, I don’t think I ended up ever showing it to anybody at Marvel. COLOSIMO: So it was something you were working on, but you didn’t show anybody other than Mark Gruenwald. It was still in the planning stages? DeFALCO: Yeah. It was somewhat worked out to the point that I eventually used it for something else. I just remember when we were looking at old titles and that sort of stuff, I remember hearing “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and thought, “You know, that’s a terrific title for something, we should be doing a book called Guardians of the Galaxy.” And “All right, let’s come up with something for Guardians of the Galaxy.” And I might have mentioned to Grueny, “We should be doing that kind of book—called Guardians of the Galaxy.” COLOSIMO: I think you might have mentioned in the past that once a week, you’d walk in on the editors discussing the latest episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that kind of got the creative juices going on your pitch.

DeFALCO: That’s what basically started me on my road. It’s funny, Star Trek: The Next Generation—I had seen the first episode, wasn’t particularly enamored by it, and never thought of it again until I kept hearing the editors talking about it. Matter of fact, my next connection with it is that Peter David wrote a couple of [ST:TNG] novels, and Peter was one of our guys, so I bought his novels. And one day, I thought, “Hey, I’ve bought like three or four Peter David novels, I should actually sit down and read one.” And then, “Hey, wow, it’s actually pretty good!” COLOSIMO: But you’re saying that the Star Trek novels that you were glancing over, that might have inspired you for a galactic type of team using the Guardians name? DeFALCO: No, when I heard that the guys were talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation, I thought, “You know what? I know basically what Star Trek is; it’s guys in a spaceship travelling around the universe.” I worked on my presentation then, before I had actual contact with Star Trek: The Next Generation. I didn’t read the novels or anything until years later. I think it was already off the air before I actually read a novel. COLOSIMO: How did you envision Jim’s new series: were the Guardians the true stars, or did you think it was more about the Guardians being somewhat secondary—that they’re basically bringing you to the meat and potatoes of the book, which is showcasing the Marvel Universe in that future timeline? Or did you not see it like that? DeFALCO: No, I saw it in a very commercial way. I figured that if we emphasize the fact that this is connected to the Marvel Universe for the first couple of issues, people who like the Marvel Universe and like the Marvel comics may pick this thing up—because we knew this would be a hard sell. Science fiction is always a hard sell in comics. Especially in those days, the further away from the basic

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Charlie’s Mangles Charlie-27 pummels Blockade on a dynamite battle page from GOTG #22. Original art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

Marvel Universe we were, the harder the sell was. So, we wanted people to think that this is really deeply connected and figured, “Okay, so the first couple of issues, we’ll emphasize that.” By then, either we have the readers or we don’t have the readers. And let the book go on and be what it was, because those high connections could only work temporarily. COLOSIMO: Throughout his run, Jim did keep up using a constant flow of Marvel-related characters. Those initial issues though seemed to me like a mix of a few things, whether it’s Jim’s work on What If?, a tour of the Marvel Universe, or even a lot of the gamebooks like “Choose Your Own Adventure” or “Twistaplot” that I read as a kid. I wasn’t sure at first if Jim was trying to decide which direction to go in. But at any rate, the positive sales slope showed that people liked what he was doing. DeFALCO: Yeah. And listen, I’m sure Jim himself was trying to figure out where he was going. When you’re on a monthly book, you’re constantly trying to figure out what’s working and what isn’t working. “Where do

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my passions lie?” Because sometimes your passions say, “I should go in this direction,” even though commercialism says, “I shouldn’t go in that direction.” You try to balance the two. It’s always a struggle for the right balance, because there is no formula. COLOSIMO: Jim eventually made the Starhawk character darker, and wanted to change his name to ShadowHawk. He ran that by you, and said you had mentioned to him that you loved the name, but to create a different character named ShadowHawk—which he did for a different company. Did you think Starhawk was a big enough character that maybe it would be too confusing to change his name for readers? DeFALCO: I just didn’t like the idea of changing a character’s name. If you wanted a character called ShadowHawk, come up with a new character called ShadowHawk. Instead of making Starhawk ShadowHawk, and then somewhere along the line, there’d be the new Starhawk! And then the old Starhawk and the new Starhawk would end up battling over the name! Because that’s what happened every time that sort of nonsense happened. I used to think, “Once a character is named, let that be the name.” The character who was originally called Captain Marvel ended up having like five or six different names. I think comic books can sometimes be confusing enough. We don’t need to add to our misery. Changing a character’s name or costume—those were also part of the rules that had to go by me. COLOSIMO: He changed a number of costumes for the series debut, so that sounds like something you would have approved before the first issue. A couple of them were fairly radically changed. DeFALCO: Some of those things—fine. We were setting the ground rules. These were characters that hadn’t been around for a while, he wanted to introduce them in different costumes—that was fine. And then later on, play with them. Yeah, that sort of thing is good. COLOSIMO: For his issue #50, he was hoping to do a double- or maybe triple-sized issue. Financially, would that have been a practical thing? DeFALCO: We often did that in those days. I think we would have looked at the schedule and see if we could schedule doing it. That was not such a big deal in those days. So, my guess is we probably would have done that. I’m making this up, but I guess the conversation would have been Craig Anderson would walk in and say, “Issue #50 of Guardians is coming up and Jim would like to do a double-sized issue.” I would’ve looked up and said, “Can he handle it on the schedule?” And if Craig would’ve said, “Yeah,” I would’ve answered, “Go for it.” And that would have been the end of it. COLOSIMO: Jim told me he proposed a “War of the Worlds” two-issue series that you had approved. It would have had the Marvel heroes versus the Martians, and been an introduction to the world of Killraven. Do you remember anything about the “War of the Worlds” miniseries idea? DeFALCO: I always liked Jim. Jim’s a good guy, and I got along with him. You know, I’m sure if he proposed something that sounded like we could sell it, I would’ve said, “Yeah, sounds good; let’s do it.” I don’t recall that specific project, but he said it was approved—so I have no reason to doubt it. In those days, we were on a roll, we were expanding, things were going great. There’s one secret to publishing: You actually have to publish things. So if Jim wanted to give me a couple of extra things to publish, I would’ve said, “Yeah!”

ROB LIEFELD © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: How did you originally meet Jim Valentino? ROB LIEFELD: Jim and I met in the Southern California comic-book scene of which there was just three or four guys. A buddy of mine named Art Thibert, who I had met, who’s one of the premier inkers in the comics industry of the last 30 years, he was inking Jim’s Myth Adventures for whatever that company was. And again, we were the only people who really were in the Southern California comic-book kind of community at that time. A few people in Los Angeles— we were certainly the only people in our neck of the woods, which was Orange County. So, I had known Jim as a fan. I had seen him promoting normalman, but then met him as a peer, and we just became fast friends. Jim is immediately engaging and does not hide the wealth of knowledge that he has of comic storytelling. At that time Jim was also doing animation in addition to comic-book work, so he had so much wisdom and I drank it all up; took as much of it as I possibly could. Eventually, we shared a studio for… I think it was two years at least, and it was when he got the Guardians assignment. COLOSIMO: From what I understand, you shared a studio in Anaheim? LIEFELD: Yes. COLOSIMO: Like you said, it was a smaller scene, so it was natural that you two paired up. LIEFELD: Yeah, we had good energy. You don’t share studios with people you can’t stand. The studio was about a 30-minute drive for me every day. And about a five-minute drive for him. He had a family; [I was] a young 20-something… the space we liked was closer to him, [so] I drove to be near him and to learn from him. I don’t think it’s an insult to say, he is under-celebrated for all that he brings to the table. About the second year into Jim’s studio, I decided I’d get a place closer for myself. When I was going to start writing, penciling, and inking New Mutants, I needed to save hours. The time that I was spending to commute, I just decided to get a studio closer to my home. Jim got a different studio. I would drive over to see him; we’d see each other once a week. But we were no longer on top of each other the way we had been. COLOSIMO: A few years ago, you were at the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con and revealed that you did a Marvel sample page, a Pérez-like ten-panel Guardians sample page. LIEFELD: I was just looking at it the other day. Yes, sir. COLOSIMO: Awesome. On the video, you mentioned that you still had it. Now, that was something that was independent of Jim, done before he brought up the Guardians? LIEFELD: Oh, my gosh, yeah. It was when I was trying to break in. You know, this is interesting because it 100% pertains to Jim and the Guardians in one way, in that the Guardians had been underserved, and when you’re doing sample pages—the sample pages that I did to try and break in… ultimately, the stuff that got me hired were my own characters—an eight-page Youngblood story. But the stuff that I was mailing in, I would do the Imperial Guard, or in this case Guardians of the Galaxy, because I thought they hadn’t had the spotlight shone on them, and if I was the guy who could make them look cool, maybe they’d remember me! Bottom line is, the Guardians are a great group of characters that was being published right when I got into comics—1974, ’75, ’76 is a very rich awakening period for me— and they were wrapping up their brief run. They had been in The Avengers quite a bit when they stopped getting their own title [Marvel Presents]. But then they kind of went missing in action for many, many years. And I just want to get this out of the way: Jim Valentino brought the Guardians of the Galaxy back from the dead—period, end of story. I don’t know how a run that was as successful as his gets overlooked as much as it does. But for me, I feel like it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. COLOSIMO: I agree with you, because the newer Guardians series, they’ve had some issues with literally a couple dozen covers and Jim was never asked to do any of the covers, which I always thought was interesting. LIEFELD: Yeah, he did a couple, right? But nowhere near what he could be doing. You run through these different cycles, and clearly, it’s because the Guardians that are on screen are the ones that assembled in the 2000s. And let’s call them the original Guardians of the Galaxy, which Jim thrived under, have not had their spotlight as yet. And I’m sure you’re going to get to this and I’m getting ahead, but right now, currently, Marvel is publishing a Ghost Rider in space. I always go, “Jim did this. Like, he did this. He’s on the cover!” Ghost Rider on a space bike is like, 1990 Jim Valentino! Are we going to act like that didn’t happen? It’s so weird to me. And Punisher in the future… Jim is a maestro.

Finders, Keepers (top) Claws and fangs on GOTG #23’s Valentino/Mark Texeira cover. (bottom) Silver Surfer’s Ron Lim was the perfect inker for Jim’s cover for issue #24. TM & © Marvel.

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See, now we live in a world where the Guardians of the Galaxy are really cool and funny, because Guardians of the Galaxy—the film franchise— definitely ignited the Deadpool movie being made. Because Fox said, “Hey, there’s a property no one ever heard of that just became a blockbuster brand. And we’ve got this other one that has a lot of comedy in it, and maybe we should take a swing at that.” So it’s this weird dynamic that Guardians directly—I can tell you for a fact—was directly influential in getting Deadpool greenlit. [Editor’s note: Deadpool fans, check out BACK ISSUE #102 for his history.] The fact that I made Deadpool and Jim did his long run on Guardians, and it’s just this weird connection. But that Guardians run was really successful and it went a long time. Maybe it would’ve gone even further had Jim not jumped ship with us and started Image, but… all I have is praise for that stuff. COLOSIMO: On top of the Guardians pitch, Jim also brought the Young Avengers pitch to WonderCon in ’89. In Young Avengers, many of those concepts made it from there to Guardians of the Galaxy, like Force and Malevolence, and I think the issue #1 story title. Do you remember if any of that stuff was yours? LIEFELD: None of the stuff Jim has in Guardians is mine. That’s all Jim. We had kind of split the baby in regards to ideas for Young Avengers, and when it didn’t go through we just kind of took our own concepts and again, whether it was Jim using them in Guardians, or I think I held on to a lot of mine until Youngblood. There were characters that I felt I could peel away and give over to Marvel—I did, but the stuff that Jim used, that’s all Jim. And that Young Avengers was a hell of a pitch, man. COLOSIMO: What about Jim’s Guardians pitch? LIEFELD: Guardians was a great pitch because—I’ve got to tell you, to this day… the richest concept that Jim created, the one that you just go “Ohh!,” the concept of the Stark, and some Cro-Magnon race discovering a satellite with Tony’s armor and using it to advance and become aware! I just go, “That is great! The Stark!” And he said, “Isn’t that a great name?” I just think it’s funny because now you’ve got all the Starks running around Game of Thrones and then you’ve got Tony Stark. But I think Jim—from his first storyline, and Captain America’s shield being the Holy Grail—he grounded it in a way that modern day fans would go, “Hey, what’s going on over here in this book and who are these characters?” ’Cause I want to say again, Jim Valentino brought Guardians of the Galaxy back from the dead. They had no juice whatsoever. Zero juice! They were not even kind of coexisting. It’s not like they had had some art in some recent book. He really did hit the ground running and from what I could see, built fans every single issue.

Curses, Foiled Again! A foil-embossed cover—and an appearance by Galactus!— made the milestone issue #25 (June 1992) something special. Cover pencils by Valentino, inks by Hilary Barta. TM & © Marvel.

In the competitive world that we were in, I always speak of the fact that I jammed New Mutants with Cable, and Deadpool, and Domino, and all that stuff because I needed to level the playing field. My two biggest modern contemporary peers, Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee, had Wolverine and Spider-Man at their disposal. The two most commercial entities that really were selling all the copies, and the eyeballs went to those characters first and foremost all the time. And so, you go, “I can’t compete with Rictor and Boom-Boom. I need to gear up, I need to get better toys in the sandbox if I’m going to get people to turn their attention to me.” Similarly, again—Guardians of the Galaxy was nobody’s idea of a hit comic until Jim showed everybody how it could be great. Didn’t it last 50 issues? COLOSIMO: His story was to run 50 issues—Protege story— but he left after #27 and a couple of Annuals. LIEFELD: But how long was the actual run beyond him? COLOSIMO: Oh, they cancelled the book, I think, with #62. Around 1995. [Editor’s note: Guardians of the Galaxy #62 was cover-dated July 1995.] On Jim, to add to something you said—the sales slope—I think every issue of his basically, maybe outside of the second or so, there was a positive sales slope through his entire run. That was something fantastic. LIEFELD: Yep. And what readers need to understand is, you don’t get to stay on a book as long as he did if you didn’t perform. It’s still a performance business. It’s changed slightly because you don’t get as many opportunities—it’s really a six-issue arc business now. But, back then—if you were slipping, you got replaced. And people were getting moved off of titles all the time. But, if your book was pumping… both Guardians and the book I was doing at the time, New Mutants [were doing well]. I can remember… I’m over on the right side of the studio drawing New Mutants and he’s over on the left side drawing Guardians, and it was just great. He just “got” the Guardians— [before Jim,] it was nobody’s idea of a runaway hit assignment. Look, my love for The Avengers kind of died around issue #202 when [George] Pérez left. And I’ll tell you what was happening in the business at the time was: royalties had kicked in, and now the top book to do— which had been The Avengers all through the ’70s when I was a kid— The Avengers and Fantastic Four, obviously [Amazing] Spider-Man. Then X-Men became the big breadwinner. It attracted all the big talent—from Michael Golden, to Art Adams, to Paul Smith, [Dave] Cockrum for a second run after [John] Byrne left… I mean, really big talent migrated towards X-Men, and Avengers just kinda didn’t have the best [talent anymore]. As a fan—for me as a guy who was spending my quarters and lawnmowing money—it just didn’t have the same spark to me anymore. Things shift, time passes, things change. The line to work on Guardians of the Galaxy wasn’t exactly a long one, that’s what I’m trying to say. Just like the line to work on New Mutants wasn’t a long one. Just like the line to work on Hawk and Dove. Sometimes you can make a name for yourself fixing up a house and flipping it, and that’s kind of what the business felt like at that time, and we were in a shifting mode where the Pérezes and the Byrnes were getting tired, doing less work. Guys like [Frank] Miller were only doing prestige projects; they weren’t monthly guys. It was a new world to sort out… Who were the voices that fans cared about?

52 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

Something Inhuman This Way Comes In a 20th Century team-up with the Guardians, the Inhumans meet their doppelgangers. From GOTG #27 (Aug. 1992), Valentino’s last as writer and artist. Inks by Montano. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

And so Jim made certain Guardians was a book that his voice was heard. I dug that stuff so much, because Jim had a passion for it; he never phoned it in. It wasn’t another assignment—it became his vision, his book. He cared so deeply about it. It was great to watch. It was phenomenal. COLOSIMO: And like you mentioned, no one was looking to necessarily jump on a Guardians title. I don’t think they were used for literally almost a decade, until he took them on. LIEFELD: Hence, the “Back from the dead” statement. They were ignored, dormant, in a drawer—whatever you want to use. And then it’s like, “Here, make this work.” Jim’s writing was phenomenal. He doesn’t get enough respect due to the art that he was producing, the commercial appeal it contained. And the one thing, man, I’ll tell you right now, Jim Valentino can lay out a page with the very best of them. Look, I pulled my kid aside the other day—he’s not really into comics. I had done two pages—not a spread—but they read off each other really well. I said, “Do you understand why this works? This works because of the placement of the panels and the figures on the page…” I was trying to explain to him the basic tenets of storytelling, which I think—as an old guy—is missing from a lot of current comics. Jim is a hell of a storyteller, a hell of a page designer, and all of that goes in the mix when you’re making a choice. He brilliantly utilized a planet where they’re hunting mutants. Ghost Rider in space, Captain America’s shield—familiar concepts that the modern audience would go, “I want to check this out—that’s Ghost Rider flying through space there!” And if that was your portal into Guardians, more power to you, man, because then Jim would make sure you were back for the next issue because you liked Starhawk and Charlie, Yondu and Nikki, and the rest. I know they put his stuff out in trades a couple years ago and I scooped them up, pored over them. They’re here in my studio, next to all the other gazillion books I have. I have basically three bookshelves in the garage, and then I have my stuff in my studio, which is the equivalent of two bookshelves, and the Jim Guardians stuff is here with me. It’s nearby; I have crazy respect for it. COLOSIMO: Jim mentioned that the Guardians pitch was the last one he worked on for that WonderCon, and it was a last-minute pitch that he got an epiphany about, putting the least amount of work in it. I know you had mentioned in the past that he ran it by you and you said the characters looked really cool. Do you remember anything else about discussing the actual pitch before going to WonderCon? LIEFELD: I just know that when he told me that they were trying to obtain Captain America’s shield—and that was kind of the Grail— and I’m like, “There it is! That’s it!” That was the story. I think he knew it, too, that’s why he got excited. You can watch somebody spark to something, you know? And when they figure it out, it’s awesome. I think that’s really what DeFalco and the powers-that-be sparked to. It’s a great mission, it’s a great initial mission, and obviously he got the Stark along the way, and all these other adventures that were jumping out at you. Rancor… that first couple years is some great stuff. I don’t have it in front of me. I haven’t looked at it in a few months. From the time I was there, sharing with him, watching the pages go from his plots, to his pencils, to scripting his pages, sending them off to get inked, I watched all that stuff happen and it was very exciting. I think anyone who wanted to dismiss him couldn’t. We’re in a very competitive business. Both of us would spend long hours trying to make sure we stayed in the game. The game was shifting— everything about the game—the marketing of comics, the processing of comics, gimmicks, all that stuff. Jim—I’m sure he brought this up to you—but something I still hear fans say, because I inked the giant Guardians of the Galaxy poster that was released. I love that thing so

much. Just a pleasure, I always loved inking over Jim’s stuff. I did a couple of covers. And Jim was like, “I’m going to have different guys ink different covers,” and Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee, and everybody said yes. Mark Texiera, Jim Starlin, Pérez—everybody said yes. He got everybody. I remember going, “Damn, I wish I would have thought of that.” That’s Jim; he earned it. Bringing a guest artist to ink on every cover—brilliant! It just made Guardians so fun. His run is just such a fun run. Everybody learning their limits, testing their limits, expanding their powers, their personalities. Why they were abandoned for ten years is news to all of us who grew up with the “Korvac Saga,” where they were basically featured cast members in The Avengers. Just seeing that dynamic play out, and then just having them kind of disappear? They’re cool characters. Great visuals, too! I’m just really happy that this spotlight it getting shined on that stuff. Obviously, the Guardians is a brand that I think is pretty evergreen for Marvel now, and I’m sure we will see those characters. I know they did a miniseries with them not too long ago, a spinoff, bringing the originals back—but they could stand to do some more with them. It’s funny… I’m part of a couple of Facebook groups that only celebrate the Bronze Age of Comics. You always get “The real Guardians” posts with Charlie, and Yondu, and Nikki, and Starhawk. And it’s like, “Who are these other guys?” It is funny, to my kids, the Guardians of the Galaxy is not the Guardians that I grew up with. COLOSIMO: When Jim approached Mark Gruenwald and Tom DeFalco at that WonderCon, were you standing there? Do you remember anything about him handing over the pitches? LIEFELD: I know I was there, I know I went to a ballgame with him and Tom DeFalco, I don’t remember anything otherwise. I just know

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Jim really wanted to land a series up there, and they were open to listening. WonderCon is the magic place, it’s where I got hired in 1987, and it’s where Jim nailed the Guardians in ’89. COLOSIMO: Jim’s last issue, #27—it was an Inhumans story—there was one panel you had inked, uncredited. Was anything like that common? You were working such long hours together, did you ever have him assist you with New Mutants? LIEFELD: We collaborated on a couple of stories, obviously the What If? and maybe a backup story… But, that kind of back and forth— yeah, like there was in Hawk and Dove [miniseries] #4… COLOSIMO: Layouts…? LIEFELD: No, no… Hawk and Dove, he didn’t lay out anything on—he gave me a layout for a cover. But the interiors, that is 100% me; I could not be prouder. Jim was very influential on how I approached a page, very influential on all my layouts—but on What If? I worked directly from his layouts. One of the best times I ever had in comics. I wish he laid more stuff out for me. The one time I laid a short story out for him, with Wolverine and Nightmare, I think for Marvel Comics Presents, we would go tit for tat. What I was going to say is, in Hawk and Dove #4, I ran a panel over to Art Thibert, who’s not too far from me, to have him ink it because I just wanted something to look different. Sometimes you just want to go, “I want this to look exactly how I penciled this right now.” I wish I would have done more over Jim, but that panel—that was just probably occupying the same space—came over for the afternoon. I either asked to ink it, or he asked me to ink it. At that point, especially if it’s his last issue, it’s not like his first ten issues where he’s being watched over closer, it’s his domain now, right?

I gained a lot of new fans because of the popularity of Deadpool. So, I will put up the What If? Wolverine pages on my social media and I’ll have people ask me when it’s coming out? When can they get it? They’re so looking forward to it. They don’t even know it exists. And then I looked into it, and it hasn’t even been reprinted. I’m gonna tell you right now, about six or seven images from that What If? went on T-shirts, bumper stickers, posters for Marvel; it was heavily pilfered for graphics that they licensed. But that collaboration with Jim was so rich and fun. This is all fresh to me, because I picked this stuff up like three days ago, I was looking over it going, “Oh, man,” I remember Jim would lay out pages on 8.5x11 sheets in ballpoint pen. At least the stuff he would do for me… it was all there, you would go, “Oh, man, look at the blocking of that shot…” I think he is an underrated artist and storyteller, one of the best storytellers, period. I wish I’d done more with him. I don’t know what he’s still capable of today, but definitely I need to hit him up for at least one more story before he retires completely. We had a great time. I think the last thing I did with him with Guardians was that poster. I distinctly remember busting my ass to get that in on time. It was such a big piece; he drew it really large. COLOSIMO: What were its dimensions? If 11x17 is your standard comic page, what would that poster have been? LIEFELD: I think it was at least 24 inches tall, and I don’t know how big across. It’s big. I think he bought the custom Bristol [art board] at the art store, so it wasn’t like a couple pages taped together. It was a big, giant piece. I just remember it barely fit on my table— I had to keep turning it and turning it. So fun to ink, and then it was colored up so beautifully. COLOSIMO: I remember you had said in the past that What If? #7— the Wolverine, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. issue—that’s one of your most requested books to sign. LIEFELD: Here’s the deal—it’s Wolverine, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.! That’s 1989, 30 years old. [Recently,] Mark Millar makes Wolverine an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.? And I’m like, “You’re welcome.” We definitely paved that road. I mean, it’s Wolverine! It’s What If? In today’s social media there are so many people who don’t know it exists. “When is it coming out?” “When can I get it?” “How do I get it?” If you look at my Instagram, the other day I put three pages up and it’s like, “I just ordered this.” “I just bought it.” “Just scored one on eBay.” “Had to have it.” Or, “This was my favorite Wolverine.” “This is my favorite What If?” “This is one of my favorite stories you ever did.” I tried to buy it on Comixology… they don’t have it. Its never been reprinted, and it’s not available digitally or in any collection ever—so chew on that one. I’ll be talking to Marvel about getting that out, sooner than later. It was incredibly popular. Doing Wolverine was my dream. I’m on record— he’s my favorite character. I feel like we “got” it—we left nothing on the table with that one. Jim and I kind of jammed on the story ideas, and then he wrote it and laid it out. Oh, the layouts! So much fun, I was just able to draw— I didn’t have to think through the storytelling. But I learned so much. Jim is a great teacher. Anyone who mentored under him benefited greatly. I know I did, 100%.

Wolverine, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Jim Valentino story and layouts, Rob Liefeld pencils, and Scott Williams inks, from What If? vol. 2 #7 (Dec. 1989). Original art courtesy of ComicLink (www.comiclink.com), via William Colosimo. (inset) Its Liefeld/Williams cover. TM & © Marvel.

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EVELYN STEIN WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Was Craig Anderson your go-to person for everything on Guardians, or did you have any dealings with Tom DeFalco? EVELYN STEIN: Basically it was Craig, because he had a certain number of books that he was responsible for, so he would be the one I would go to. Tom DeFalco, I hardly ever saw him. We’d sometimes see him walking around the office, but he wasn’t involved much [with coloring assignments]. COLOSIMO: I’ve noticed on some of the original art pages I have from the series that Jim occasionally put colorist notes in the borders. Would those notes transfer to your photocopies clearly? And if so, would Craig suggest you listen to those as much as possible? STEIN: I only saw one issue with his notes. I think I might have asked Craig about it, “Should I pay attention to these notes?” He didn’t want me to change anything I was doing. COLOSIMO: From the two color guides you sent me, it’s hard to see anything in the borders. STEIN: When they reduced it down to 8.5x11, they might have taken that out. I would get two full copies of the

book, 8.5x11, just printed on Xerox—because they would have to be the same size as the comic book, as opposed to the Bristol board. COLOSIMO: When you started the book, were you given a color guide for the seven main characters, or did you look at old issues and old appearances and create what colors you thought would match those older appearances? STEIN: I guess he showed me the old copies, and told me what colors are supposed to be. Since I was so familiar with the percentages of yellow, the percentages of the different color makeup of the different colors and the codes for them, I was able to color accurately— ’cause I knew how they would print out. I had color charts printed on newsprint. So, you get an idea what the color percentages would look like once they’re printed on newsprint. And so, I would follow the established colors of the characters. COLOSIMO: As the series progressed and new characters were created like Replica or Taserface, would Craig tell you specifically what colors they should be? How much say did you have in new characters’ color schemes? STEIN: I had some say, especially if they hadn’t appeared before and there wasn’t anything established. I did have a say. Basically, how I would do that would be, if they were in front of other characters who were established, then you’d have to do something so that you could tell them apart. You wouldn’t want to do the same colors of the character they’re standing next to. You would have to do something that would separate them from the rest of it. And then, of course,

Creating Comics GOTG #19 (Dec. 1991), story page 20. The team’s arch villains—the Badoon—make their evil presence known again. Showcased here are the 11x17 art page featuring the pencils/inks/ lettering, along with the 8.5x11 color guide. Jim Valentino pencils, Steve Montano inks, Evelyn Stein colors. Both pieces from the William Colosimo collection. TM & © Marvel.

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Valentino Moves On (left) Shortly before he left GOTG, Jim retold the Guardians’ origin in issue #26 (July 1992). (right) Although he originally wanted to use this name for a rechristened Starhawk, Valentino’s ShadowHawk became his breakout hit at Image. Issue #1’s (Aug. 1992) foilembossed direct market cover, by Valentino and Liefeld. GOTG TM & © Marvel. ShadowHawk TM & © Jim Valentino.

you’d have to alter the backgrounds—the backgrounds are secondary. So you’d have to put in a background that they didn’t disappear against. COLOSIMO: You would get two copies of the 8.5x11 book—the photocopies. At first would you map out all the colors—that’s where you put the “YR3,” or whatever the color-separation code was with the line to the body portion—you would do that for the whole book, and then once you identified every area to color, then you would go through the pages again and add the watercolors? STEIN: First I would look over the whole story, and then I would just paint it. And then after I painted each page, I would draw the codes, but I painted first and then I’d draw the codes. COLOSIMO: What was the purpose of writing the codes and the lines from the character to the code number after it was watercolored? STEIN: So that the color separators would know what color it was supposed to be for each part. It’s a guide for the color separators. Because they can’t really look at it and determine what the code is. The actual painting is so the editor and everybody could see what it was gonna look like when it was printed. But for the separators—they needed to have that direction, ’cause they couldn’t just look at the color and say, “Oh, that’s supposed to be ‘R2B2’.” They’d need the code. COLOSIMO: You told me in the past that sometimes you’d get things at the last minute, and you would have to work overnight to do the whole issue. Was that common? STEIN: Not so often. I would get a few days some times. It depended. But, yeah, every now and then I’d have to work all night. I had a table that was facing the window, and I could watch the sun rise while I was working. I’d get a big burst of energy when the sun would come up. And I had the TV on in the other room, so I could hear the TV, but not see it. COLOSIMO: Optimally, how much time would you have needed to do what you felt was a great job on a complete issue? STEIN: If I worked on it slowly, I could do an issue in a couple of days. COLOSIMO: Did the covers take longer to do than your average page? STEIN: If I had a cover, I would probably take longer to do it, because it is the cover. But, I always got a feeling that whoever did the covers [in the Marvel Bullpen] did a very quick job on them.

ERIC STEPHENSON Erni Lenox.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: The story goes that you first met Jim Valentino while reaching out to him for an interview, potentially with Wizard magazine. Is this accurate? Was that interview ever published anywhere? ERIC STEPHENSON: Man, it’s been a long time, but as I recall, what happened was I had started contacting various comics magazines trying to get work doing interviews. Wizard had just launched and they seemed interested in the fact that I was based in Southern California, so they asked me to look at the guest lists for upcoming conventions in my area and then pitch them some ideas based on that. I saw that Jim was going to be at a small show near where I live, so I suggested going out to talk to him about his work on Guardians of the Galaxy, and they gave me the green light. I hadn’t contacted Jim ahead of time, so I pretty much just showed up at the convention with a tape recorder and asked him on the spot. He agreed and invited me to sit down and interview him right there and we wound up talking for an hour or so, then exchanging contact info so that I could follow up with him. And, of course, when I got home and started transcribing the interview, I realized the tape recorder had stopped midway through the interview, so I had to call up and ask if we could do the second half of the interview again. Wizard accepted it for publication when I sent it in, but before it ran, Image was announced and they asked me to go back and talk to Jim about ShadowHawk and his involvement in the formation of the new company. Once I did that, the interview ran in Wizard #12. COLOSIMO: Did you begin working for him or assisting regularly in some way while he was on the Guardians book? What did that entail? STEPHENSON: Not right away, but over the course of doing the second pass at the interview and then going back to talk to him

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Enter: Gladiator A white-haired Gladiator was set to join the ranks of the Guardians in this planned three-issue story arc. This commissioned GOTG #41 cover recreation is an homage to (inset) the Golden Age Superman #1. Jim Valentino pencils on the main figure, with Chris Ivy background pencils and inks. From the William Colosimo collection. GOTG TM & © Marvel. Superman TM & © DC Comics.

about some follow-up stuff, Jim and I developed a friendship and even after the interview was done, I’d drive down to his studio to go to lunch and talk comics with him. At some point, he asked if I’d be interested in helping him set up signings, which sounded great. I think I set up two different signings for him. I think it was in-between the first and the second signing that Jim told me about Image and said he was going to need someone to help him around the studio so that he could maintain his schedule on Guardians and launch his first Image book. As memory serves, though, that didn’t actually start until the beginning of 1992, when Image was announced and he moved into an office at Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Studios, but at that point, I was helping with the letters pages—Jim would pick the letters to run, then I’d respond to them, and he’d edit what I’d written. He’d talk over stories for Guardians with me, and I’d take notes and then write up the plots, which again he would go in and edit. It was great, because he was essentially teaching me how to write comics—giving me a level of feedback I wouldn’t have received otherwise. COLOSIMO: Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #2 had a six-page backup story entitled “Faith No More,” with the scripting duties credited to Jim. As it turns out, you were actually the ghost writer of the story. How did the opportunity to write this specific story come about? STEPHENSON: Jim may remember better than me, but as I recall, Jim was juggling a number of different things around the time that Annual was coming together and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to try my hand at writing a story for Marvel. He knew I wanted to write comics and that I’d submitted some pitches to Marvel, and he was very encouraging. He was totally upfront about me doing it as a ghost job, but he was also clear about the benefits of doing uncredited work, which was mainly that I could learn on the job without trying a Marvel editor’s patience or coming across as too green. And it was great, because I wound up doing more than one draft of the plot and then a couple different drafts of the script, and Jim didn’t hold back—he marked the hell out of that stuff! But he was right—it was a great learning experience. COLOSIMO: Was this your first published (although uncredited) script? STEPHENSON: Yup. COLOSIMO: Did you discuss the story in detail first? How much direction did Jim give you before you wrote it? STEPHENSON: Oh, yeah—Jim knew what he wanted from the story and how it would fit into the main narrative for both Guardians and the Annual. We sat and talked about it, and it was cool because, when I’d interviewed him a few months earlier, we’d obviously talked at length about his work on the book and where he was going with the characters, so I had a decent sense of how Jim was approaching things. It also didn’t hurt that I was a fan of the book— I’d been reading Guardians since Jim’s first issue, so I was familiar with everything that had happened so far. But, yes, Jim was very specific about the purpose of the story, so it wasn’t a case of me pitching something to him or anything like that.

We talked it over, as I would imagine any writer would discuss a story with their editor and then I went off to do a first draft. COLOSIMO: After bringing your script back to Jim, how heavily did he rewrite or edit it? Do you remember any of the criticism he gave while reviewing the work with you? STEPHENSON: I can’t remember how many drafts I did of the plot. I know I did at least two before Jim was happy with that. Most of his feedback on the plot was regarding mechanics—what a writer should and shouldn’t do in terms of writing for an artist. He emphasized brevity, and he gave me a lot of tips regarding how to describe things quickly and clearly. I think it helped that Jim was both an artist and a writer, because he saw the whole thing, you know? He’d been writing and drawing his own comics, but he’d also written for others and he knew what worked for an artist and what would drive an artist crazy. In terms of the script, my first draft had almost more red ink on the page than black by the time Jim was done with it. I think I’ve still got that somewhere, actually, but he was very thorough in his critique! Some of that was about how the characters talked, but some of it was just general direction about how to communicate story points more effectively through dialogue or not to assume the reader knows things they don’t, things like that. He was very patient with me, though, and while there were some bits that he finally just said, “Okay, do it this way!” and wrote in the dialogue himself, I was happy with how it turned out. I mean, it’s not a particularly complex story, but it was important for me to get that first bit of writing down and have someone explain the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all. Looking at the story now, it’s funny, because I can remember spending a lot of time on this… but it’s so short, and dialogue-wise, it’s fairly sparse. Left to my own devices, it would have been pretty wordy, I think, but Jim was a great teacher!

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FABIAN NICIEZA © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: In Marvel Age #89, the preview issue for the New Warriors series, you were featured in an interview where you laid out plans for the book’s first year. You mentioned tentative plans for a four-issue arc where Jim Valentino and yourself would bring the Guardians to The New Warriors for a crossover that would deal with issues surrounding Vance Astro. Can you tell me any more detail on what that arc would have dealt with? Also, do you remember why those plans fell through? FABIAN NICIEZA: I remember that I had talked to Jim about doing a crossover, but I also knew my year-one mark would be the “Forever Yesterday” story and the main focus of that had to be the “return” of a truer

version of Nova. I also knew the year-two end point would be the Trial of Vance and Thrash’s origins. I always felt my Vance Astrovik had nothing to reconcile. As a character, all roads were open in front of him, not in his rearview mirror. Clearly, with the budding Firestar romance angle and the mutant angle and the child-abuse angle and the “on trial for manslaughter” angle, I had plenty of material with which to develop Vance that didn’t require—in fact, would only have been complicated by his future version. The plans fell through solely due to me, and in hindsight, I was pretty unfair to Jim, because I kept realizing I needed to push the Vance-meets-his-future-self story until I felt Vance Astrovik was in a more grounded, confident place himself—and that wasn’t until he turned into Justice in year three of the New Warriors series! That wasn’t fair to him or to the GOTG. I think Jim might have inferred that meant I didn’t like his book, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. I enjoyed what he was doing on his title a lot! At the end of the day, it was just my arrogance and desire to hoard a corner of the Marvel Universe— New Warriors—that was “all mine.” Having to deal with the incessant annoyances of working on the X-books, New Warriors was my refuge and I was probably a little too controlling of them for that reason.

DIANE VALENTINO WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Jim got the Guardians go-ahead in the summer of 1989, and then he was let go in the spring of 1992. For those three years, what was his workday like, if he worked at home? Did he have a home studio or did he work with Rob? DIANE VALENTINO: Well, he worked at home initially, but then it was during that period when he and Rob Liefeld also shared a studio for a while. They had a studio space, but then a lot of times he’d come home at nine or ten o’clock at night, but he’d just stay up and still draw. So he worked at home as well. I can’t remember how long it was they had the studio, I really can’t. It was a while back. [laughter] I just remember it was up in Anaheim, ’cause we lived in Garden Grove and Rob lived in Anaheim.

Picking Up the Pieces A “what could have been” cover commission to GOTG #52, an homage to Jim’s GOTG #1 cover, by Jim Valentino (pencils) and Joe Rubinstein (inks). Jim’s Protege story would have ended in #50, with a couple issues’ worth of aftermath following, resulting in a modified team lineup. Their first adventure would have likely involved Asgard, now ruled by Loki. From the William Colosimo collection. TM & © Marvel.

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COLOSIMO: About that three-year period, are there any stories that you remember about Jim working on that book? What was he like during those years? VALENTINO: It was kind of like an exciting time and a high-pressure time, together. Of course, he’d been in the comics field for so long, but it was his first real book that he was the lead person on for a major company. He’d worked for smaller companies and himself. And he did animation work for a while up in L.A., doing storyboards. He had his hands in so many different areas of comics, but this was the first time that he was working for one of the two major companies on an ongoing book… he had done a couple of guest things. There was a lot of pressure; he had to prove himself. He was probably older than a lot of people getting their first shot at a comic book at Marvel or DC. So, it was good and bad in that he brought a maturity level to it that a lot of people don’t. And certainly a strong background. But it was a lot of work, it was a lot of work—we had little kids. Our kids were young. COLOSIMO: His work ethic seemed pretty intense. He showed me some of his notes that he was taking back then, and it looks like he had the first seven issues of Guardians written and penciled before the first issue even came out. VALENTINO: Yeah, that sounds about right, because he thought way ahead. It wasn’t like, “Oh, well, I guess I’ll do this this month.” [laughter] It was planned way ahead. It adapted as it went along, but he had a pretty good idea of where he wanted to go with things. COLOSIMO: His whole 50-issue storyline that he was planning was about the Protege character—a story about maximum power, minimum responsibility, and what happens due to it. To your knowledge, did he have that whole bigger story mapped out when he was starting the book, or was it just more of a “We’re exploring the Marvel Universe” kind of thing? VALENTINO: I can’t remember if it was totally mapped out, but I know that one of the things that excited him about doing this book was that he was familiar with the old Guardians of the Galaxy, and it was very exciting for him… they sort of gave him a lot of freedom to revamp it. That’s what they were looking for. Light a fire under the title and make it new, basically. So he was real excited about that because he knew the backstory. He knew the background, he knew all of that stuff, and—don’t ask me where they came from—but he had the ideas of what he wanted to do with it. And I don’t know if he told you this, but Aaron, our oldest child, was the model for the Protege. He created that character from Aaron. COLOSIMO: Yes, he showed me the pictures where he dressed him up in the blanket. VALENTINO: Yeah, to get the draping and stuff. COLOSIMO: Through those few years did he ever bounce any Guardians story ideas off you, or get any feedback from you… to see what someone else thought? VALENTINO: Very little, because I didn’t have that knowledge and that background that he did. But there were storyline points, or the way sometimes some of the stuff kind of related to life in general and what was going on. And we’d talk about it in that sense. But like I said, I did not have that comic-book background.

Modeling the Protege Jim’s son Aaron modeling the Protege character on New Year’s Day 1991, for use on (inset) the cover of GOTG #15. Picture courtesy of Jim Valentino. TM & © Marvel.

AARON VALENTINO WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Your father has stated that you created the template of the Taserface character when you were a child, when you were “seeing” the character in comics, as toys, on TV, and other places. He then drew the initial concept based on your description and developed the character from there, using him as the antagonist in the first issue of the series. Do you recall any other tidbits of Taserface’s early development or what he meant to you at the time? AARON VALENTINO: I was five when I created Taserface. At the time I was super into SilverHawks and The Real Ghostbusters, both popular kids cartoons in the mid-’80s. I think that Taserface was created as a kind of amalgamation of both a SilverHawks character and a Ghostbusters ghoul, with a dash of Iron Man. Taserface was an early creation that my father just happened to find awesome. I think I sold him on the name alone. COLOSIMO: How did that make you feel? That had to be pretty exciting for a little kid. VALENTINO: I recall feeling proud that something I had created was in a real comic book, that both my father and I would sign at conventions and book signings. Creating things that would end up in real-life media was commonplace in my house and life at the time. My father and all of his friends were comic-book artists, writers, and all-around creative types, and my whole family was creative in some way. In my family, exercising your imagination was encouraged. COLOSIMO: Your father had plans to link you to his series in another way. As the broader storyline developed, it was revealed that the story of the Protege—a potentially all-powerful child—would become the crux of the book. You were the model for that character—complete with blanket as a makeshift cape—with pictures taken and used as reference for the cover and interiors of the character’s first appearance in issue #15. How did you feel about having your likeness put into a major comic title? Do you have any memories of that process that you care to share? VALENTINO: Modeling for the Protege was fun because I could watch my father sketch him while I was modeling. Seeing myself turned into a superhero before my eyes was awesome. I remember it being really hard to stay still long enough to pose for the pictures and drawings. When I was that young, it was just another cool thing I was doing with my father. When I got a bit older, I could look back and really appreciate the love my dad was showing for me by wanting to include me in his creations, a part of his soul that he himself was sharing with the rest of the world. At the time it was just fun and exciting Dad’s work stuff.

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

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Buttery

Forgive the personal start, but, as a kid, I discovered Rocket Raccoon when he guest-starred in Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982). The ongoing storyline had catapulted the Hulk into space, and in issue #271—which was his 20th anniversary celebration—the Hulk found himself on a planet of anthropomorphic animals. I remember excitedly telling my friend, Simon Rebeiro, about the hilarious issue: “The Hulk ends up on a planet of talking animals, where the main character is called Rocket Raccoon!” To which Simon replied, “What, like the Beatles song?” I liked the Beatles, but I didn’t know they had a song called “Rocky Raccoon” (primarily written by Paul McCartney), on The White Album (1968). It’s a folk song, set in the Old West, about a young man—Rocky Raccoon— whose girl runs off with another guy. The lyrics open: “Now somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota, there lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon…” Rocky decides to track down the pair and checks into a room, in the local saloon, “only to find Gideon’s Bible.” The subsequent showdown does not fare well for Rocky. Incredible Hulk #271, written by Bill Mantlo with art by Sal Buscema, opens with: “Now Somewhere in the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon!” Rocket, and his best friend Wal-Russ (a walrus), enlist the Hulk’s help to stop the theft of an ancient book called (spoiler alert) Gideon’s Bible. Understandably, Buscema admits he doesn’t remember bill mantlo all of the hundreds of comics he’s © Marvel. drawn, but volunteers, “I do remember thinking that this was really quirky, or something like that. I should realize that, with comics, anything goes! Wish I could elaborate, but it was 37 years ago!”

BILL MANTLO

Anyone who’s read Marvel comics from the mid-’70s to the mid-’80s would be familiar with Bill Mantlo. He wrote approximately 700 comics for Marvel (and three for DC). Towards the late 1980s, his assignments began to dry up. Bill went to law school (got his degree in two years) and became a criminal defense attorney for the New York Legal Aid Society. He also took up (and excelled at) rollerblading. On July 17, 1992, Bill was rollerblading home when he was struck by a driver just four blocks from his home. Bill careened over the hood of the car, his head hit the car windshield, and he was thrown onto the street. The driver fled the scene. Bill suffered massive brain injuries and has been in hospitals and care facilities ever since. These details were explained in the benefit book Mantlo: A Life in Comics (Sleeping Giant Comics, 2007) by David Yurkovich and Bill’s brother, Mike.

That’s No Mere “Puny Talking Animal,” Big Guy! Rocket Raccoon’s breakout appearance, in Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982). Cover by Al Milgrom. Unless otherwise noted, scans accompanying this article are courtesy of Jarrod Buttery. TM & © Marvel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 61

The Mantlo Brothers Mike and Bill Mantlo today. BillMantlo.com.

Mike Mantlo maintains the Bill Mantlo Support Fund (www.billmantlo.com) and is happy to talk to BACK ISSUE about his brother: “Bill and I were both Beatles fans, and still are to this day. With Bill being the older brother, it kinda worked this way: Bill would cobble together his weekly allowance money (I seem to remember it being about 50 cents a week), and whenever a new Beatles album came out (usually about two records per year during those heady years) he would plunk down his $3.00 or so and rush home to wear out the grooves. This is where I came in… Bill would let me sit and listen to each record with him and sort of ‘indoctrinate’ me in the ways of Beatlemania. This eventually graduated to all things rock ’n’ roll, and I received a very thorough education in ’60s R-n-R history under his tutelage. It was a magical time! “When he came up with the idea for Rocket Raccoon it was a bit surprising, as Bill was a much bigger fan of John Lennon than he was of Paul McCartney, but the Western cinematic theme of that song really stirred Bill’s creative juices, and building the characters from McCartney’s seeds was, for Bill, relatively simple.”

THE SWORD IN THE STAR

Rocky and His Friends From “The Sword in the Star!” in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976). Written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Keith Giffen. TM & © Marvel.

Bill Mantlo started the science-fiction serial “The Sword in the Star” in Marvel’s black-and-white magazine Marvel Preview #4 (Jan. 1976). (Coincidentally, this magazine also featured the first appearance of Star-Lord, as discussed elsewhere in this issue.) Mantlo’s lead character is Prince Wayfinder, of the planet Ithacon, who is searching for a mythical sword of power that may help him find a new home for his people. The series’ only other chapter appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (June 1976). Gorgeously illustrated by Keith Giffen, Wayfinder meets a walkin’, talkin’, pistol-packin’ raccoon called Rocky (who speaks with a distinctly British accent!). Giffen was interviewed by Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama in 2014: “Rocket Raccoon was created on my very first-ever professional comic-book job. Bill really helped me get a foothold in there. He was a huge supporter of my stuff, and he was one of the only supporters of my stuff when I broke in. Remember the old Beatles song ‘Rocky Raccoon’? I think that was part of the inspiration. I think we were trying to do our version of Howard the Duck. You know, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. “He was a throwaway gag. I wish I could say I had a lot more to do with his development, but honestly, I’m credited with creating the character when all I did was draw a raccoon!” Mantlo was interviewed by Mark Waid in Amazing Heroes #60 (Dec. 1984): “Rocket was a secondary character in ‘The Sword in the Star,’ which itself was a feature that never went anywhere because all the vehicles for it died. Rocket did a walk-on part in the series. Keith had him marching out of the swamp, dressed in battle armor, and smoking a pipe—which I didn’t realize until later was an almost exact rerun of the way Howard the Duck first appeared.

62 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

I called Keith and said, ‘This is fun, let’s go with this.’ I tried to sell the idea, and I kept getting told, ‘Funny animals don’t sell; we’ve got Howard, we don’t want to do any more animals; we have this problem with it being based on a Beatles song’—all that sort of thing.” Wayfinder and Rocky’s cliffhanger in Marvel Preview #7 was not resolved. However, in Mantlo’s later Micronauts #35 (Nov. 1981), it was revealed that Wayfinder eventually found the sword, travelled back in time (becoming the self-styled Time Traveler), and created the Microverse.

HALFWORLD

With a slight name change, Bill circumvented the Beatles problem and brought Rocket into the mainstream Marvel Universe in Incredible Hulk #271. The Hulk arrives on Halfworld, largest planet in the star system known as the Keystone Quadrant. Almost immediately he meets Rocket Raccoon, who packs rocket-powered skates and laser pistols. Rocket explains that half the planet has been stripped bare by robots laboring to build a gigantic starship. The other half is a paradise, populated by highly evolved animals that make use of technology provided by the robots. Nobody knows the origins of the Keystone Quadrant, nor why it is surrounded by a Galacian Wall, but the answers may be within Gideon’s Bible—an ancient book written by the Firstcomers. Villainous Judson Jakes kidnaps Rocket’s girlfriend, Lylla, and steals Gideon’s Bible from the sanctuary called Cuckoo’s Nest. Rocket and the Hulk battle Killer Clown

robots—created by Jakes’ chief scientist, a turtle named Uncle Pyko—before rescuing Lylla and the book. Uncle Pyko seizes the opportunity to remove a wild card by sending the Hulk back to Earth via a gamma-powered transporter. All in all, they may have been right when the issue was billed as: “What is probably the zaniest Twentieth Anniversary Celebration in this, the Marvel Age of comics!” Opinions in the ensuing letters page were polarized— many readers loved the issue, but some hated it. Mantlo told Waid: “When we got hate mail on the Hulk book, it was the first time that I realized that some people drew a real distinction between superhero comics and funnyanimal comics. I guess I read all comics equally.” Al Milgrom was editor of Incredible Hulk and remembers his working relationship with Mantlo: “I like Bill, I liked his work, and he was very reliable, and very willing to work with not only me as an editor but also a variety of artists. We would very briefly talk over plots but— as often as not—Bill would just write the plot and bring it into me. I don’t think I knew much about Rocket— if anything—when Bill decided to guest-star him in The Hulk. I don’t think at the time I was even aware that Rocket had appeared in the B&W magazine.” After Incredible Hulk #271, Rocket received two flashbacks in issues #272 and 276. He warranted a footnote in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #10 (Oct. 1983), which acknowledged: “Rocket may be the same raccoon who appeared in ‘The Sword in the Star’ in Marvel Preview #7.”

Rocket, Robot Fighter (left) The attitude that captivated Marvel Studios audiences was clear in our furry friend’s early outing in Incredible Hulk #271. By Mantlo and Sal Buscema. (right) The Mike Mignola/Al Milgrom-drawn covers for the 1985 limited series, Rocket Raccoon. TM & © Marvel.

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ANIMAL CRACKERS

Now, That’s Really a Splash Page Rocket—“Rocky”— with the misspelled “Llyla” and Wal-Russ, on page 5 of issue #1 (May 1985) of Rocket Raccoon. TM & © Marvel.

No longer needed as caregivers, Rocket, Llyla (sic), and company leave Halfworld aboard the robots’ starship. Waid asked Mantlo about Rocket’s previous appearances: “I would ignore those almost totally because what Mike and I are doing is very different. Consider those ‘test marketing issues.’ What we’re doing is a space opera adventure story with talking animals. I’m not writing a comedy strip here—I’m writing Carl Barks done 1985. I have plans for the series if it goes somewhere, but right now I’m just interested in seeing how it does.” Mantlo was also interviewed by Kurt Busiek in Marvel Age #25 (Apr. 1985), explaining: “Rocket Raccoon is something I’ve always wanted to do. Comics are a lot of different things to me. They’re Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they’re Carl Barks, they’re Will Eisner, they’re Wally Wood, they’re Steve Ditko… there’s a lot of influences in what comics are, and I’ve never liked being typecast into doing a specific type of comic. Rocket Raccoon is, I guess, my bid to do Carl Barks— recognizing that I’m not Carl Barks. I do think that I’ve got a little bit of a mike mignola deranged sense of humor that fits best 5of7. into the Marvel format. What I wanted to do is take Carl Barks iconography—funny animals— and do them Marvel style. I think Rocket Raccoon is a chance to do something that couldn’t be identified with anybody else. A chance to do something that wasn’t superhero or space adventure, but a bizarre combination of all the different milieus I’m familiar with.” Milgrom inked the third issue of the miniseries and recalls, “Around this period, Mike Mignola was coming around and looking for inking work. He did not want to be a penciler. And I said, ‘Listen, what d’you want to be an inker for anyway? Clearly your drawing is great, and you ink your own stuff great, so what is this obsession with being an inker? Nobody wants to be an inker. Take it from me, I’m an inker! As an inker you make a great penciler! Why don’t you do a story for me? Why don’t you draw something for Marvel Fanfare?’ “I told Mike, ‘I’ll make it easy for you. What do you like to draw?’ He replied, ‘I kinda like Sub-Mariner, and supernatural stuff—magic, sorcery—and also drawing animals.’ I sent Mike home and I called up Bill Mantlo and I said, ‘Bill, I’ve got a young artist here—he’s a pain in the ass [laughs]—but he’s really good.’ And I said, ‘We were talking about what he likes to do and he’d like to do the Sub-Mariner, and he’d like there to be some supernatural elements, and if there’s some way you can work in animals— those three elements are what he said he’d like to do. I want you to do a backup story for Fanfare.’” Long story short, “A Fable” appeared in Marvel Fanfare #16 (Sept. 1984), and was a hit. Milgrom continues: “Bill was so pleased and impressed with Mike’s work that Bill suggested to Marvel, ‘What about if we do a Rocket Raccoon miniseries? And hey, by the way, there’s this terrific new penciler that Al discovered—what if we get him to do it? He likes drawing animals, and he did this Sub-Mariner story, and he did a really swell job!’ The bottom line is that, because of me getting Bill and Mike together, they worked on that miniseries together.” Carl Potts edited Rocket Raccoon. He included an editorial in issue #1, writing: “After I became an editor at Marvel, Bill began bugging me about doing a limited series with the characters. He gave me a rundown on the plot and showed me some samples Mike [Mignola] had worked up and I was hooked!” Potts was later quoted in Mantlo: A Life in Comics: “It was a fun project, something different from an odd corner of the Marvel Universe. As with all of his projects,

And then, in 1985, Rocket received his very own four-issue miniseries (May–Aug. 1985), written by Mantlo with pencils by Mike Mignola. Therein, Rocket must save the day as rival toymakers Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne go to war. Amidst the tumult, Uncle Pyko reveals that he’s deciphered Gideon’s Bible. It is a ship’s log. Halfworld was originally founded as a hospice planet to treat humanoid patients with mental disorders (“Loonies”). When funding was cut, the doctors decamped—leaving behind the patients and pet animals in the care of robots. Over time, the robots genetically manipulated the animals to take over the patients’ care. The robots supply all the technology that the animals require (including toys to amuse the loonies), whilst also building a starship capable of breaching the protective Galacian Wall left by the departing doctors. Rocket and friends solicit the help of the now-advanced robots—who quickly develop a treatment for the patients.

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Raccoon Cameos (left) Impossible Man as Rocket in Silver Surfer #33. By Valentino/Lim/Christopher. (top right) A pop-in in Quasar #15. By Gruenwald/Manley/Panosian. (bottom right) John Byrne gets Rocket stoned in Sensational She-Hulk #44. TM & © Marvel.

Bill had a lot of enthusiasm for Rocket Raccoon. I remember getting a But what’s on the screen is so radically different than what I did, it’s just another raccoon character with the same name.” kick out of the plots when they came in.” Potts also spoke about Mantlo praised Mignola, and inker Al Gordon, in Marvel the change in printing processes at the time: “It was one Age: “Mike is incredible, and Al is bringing out everything of the first books Marvel put on the awful flex-o-graphic Mike puts in the pencils. The two of them complement press system. I felt bad for the creators, especially Mignola. each other beautifully. Mike’s panels are just filled His first big pencil assignment and it gets this garish color with low-density blacks.” with detail, shadow, contrast.... Some of the dynamism, Mignola was approached for comment, but his the figures in motion, are as funny as the dialogue. management politely declined. Within Mantlo: A Life And indeed, a lot of the dialogue is as funny as it is because of the pictures Mike drew. When I saw Mike’s in Comics, Mignola stated, “Rocket Raccoon just seemed pencils, I just started giggling, and writing dialogue to like something that might work with my drawing style. I think Bill always had a zillion projects in his head; fit those pencils. It gave me a chance to do things I it was just a matter of finding the right artist for them.” wouldn’t have thought of in the plots. It might have been On the Geek and Sundry website in 2018, Mignola a totally different book with another artist.” seemed pragmatic: “Rocket Raccoon was just a job. Gordon remembers the miniseries: “Mike Mignola al gordon It’s not like something I created. Granted, I was and I have been friends since he was in high school— the first guy to do a lengthy Rocket Raccoon thing. he’s a few years younger than me. I had started Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 65

working in comics in my early 20s and by that time, I had being doing it for a few years and deluded myself that I was a professional. Mike was already drawing some really great stuff by that time and I was a pretty big fan. “Mike would occasionally help me out by filling in blacks, and erasing pages on deadline gigs, and I thought he could—at the very least—get some inking work, so I tossed his name around to the editors I was close with at Marvel. He finally got a few inking gigs and honestly, Marvel was obviously underusing him since his pencils and designs were so nice. I’m not sure how

The Tree’s with Me! (top) Rocket and Groot star on this variant cover for Annihilators #3 (June 2011) by Jelena KevicDjurdjevic. (bottom) Artist Timothy Green II’s re-imagining of page 5 of 1985’s Rocket Raccoon #1, in Annihilators #4 (Aug. 2011). Story by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. TM & © Marvel.

Mike got the Rocket Raccoon gig, but I think he just asked me if I wanted to ink it, and since I loved Mike’s work, and especially the very cool Killer Clowns and such that Mike was so excited by, and since we lived in the same area, well, what else could I do? “All the stuff in that miniseries was pretty cool to ink. I love horror stuff as much as Mike does, so it was a real dream to be involved. I knew he loved drawing snakes and lizards and giant apes and such, and the more monster-oriented animals. Mike’s clowns were perfect Nightmare Clowns and I really dug doing all the different textures and fur and the weird robots and stuff. Everything was a blast. I’ve heard people say that I really added a lot to Mike’s drawings—that’s nonsense. I think I did a pretty good job, but I was darn faithful to the pencils. That was the way Mike was drawing at the time. All that crazy fur was in the pencils!” Gordon only inked issues #1, 2, and 4, and explains: “I was on issue #2 of RR when John Byrne had asked his editor, Mike Carlin, to ask me if I wanted to be the regular inker on Byrne’s Fantastic Four, and I wasn’t about to turn that down. I conveyed that to Carl, who was very angry with me that I would even consider it. Carl pulled issue #3 from me and gave it to Allen Milgrom. And to my recollection, I got #4 in before Allen finished with #3.”

DON’T BLINK

After his miniseries, Rocket received a full-page entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #11 (Oct. 1986), confirming that, after he left Halfworld, Rocket met Prince Wayfinder; and that “The outcome of that conflict is unknown.” The Impossible Man imitated Rocket in Silver Surfer #33 (Jan. 1990), but Rocket’s next actual appearance was a cameo in Quasar #15 (Oct. 1990). The Cosmic Avenger accidentally disrupts the laboratory planet of the Stranger, freeing many of the Stranger’s specimens—including Rocket, the insinuation being that, after leaving Halfworld, Rocket was captured for study by the Stranger. Rocket next received an updated entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #9 (Aug. 1991). The following year, Rocket—transformed into solid stone—appeared in the final panel of Sensational She-Hulk #44 (Oct. 1992). The next issue included a non-speaking flashback depicting how Rocket was petrified (literally) by a D’Bari weapon. At least Rocket got one line in issue #46 where, after the petrifaction is reversed, he explains he was attacked when he stopped to refuel. There appears to be a Rocket cameo, on a video screen, in the background, on the final page of The Incomplete Death’s Head #11 (Nov. 1993). Jokingly, there’s a raccoon-like pelt on the wall of Lord Armageddon’s throne room in Incredible Hulk #415 (Mar. 1994). Next, Rocket appeared in one panel in She-Hulk’s law offices, in She-Hulk #1 (Dec. 2005). He’s seen on another video screen in Exiles #73 (Feb. 2006) and received an updated index entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook (Nov. 2006). That’s six comics, four index entries, and 11 cameos in 30 years. And then everything changed.

ANNIHILATION

In the Annihilation limited series (Oct. 2006–Mar. 2007), the Marvel Universe is invaded by the forces of Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone. Annihilus is barely repelled and, in his wake, the alien Phalanx sweep in and conquer the Kree Empire in the Annihilation: Conquest miniseries (Jan.–June 2008). In the precursory Annihilation: Conquest– Starlord [instead of standard “Star-Lord” spelling] miniseries (Sept.–Dec. 2007), written by Giffen, with art by Timothy Green II, Kree rebels “encourage” some of their “detainees” to join a Dirty Dozen-like strike team 66 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

against the Phalanx. The leader of the team is Peter Quill: Star-Lord. Two of his recruits are Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Annihilation begat a solo Nova series. In a 2014 interview with Albert Ching for Comic Book Resources, editor Bill Rosemann explained that sales proved strong and so they decided to do another event— with the intention of launching a cosmic team book at its conclusion. “One night I sat on the floor and went through my Marvel Universe Handbooks, and started putting sticky notes on any old cosmic character that we hadn’t yet brought back,” explained Rosemann in the CBR interview. “And I remember my wife walks into the room, and sees all these stickies everywhere, and says, ‘What in the world are you doing?’ I said, ‘I want to build this crazy, cosmic, ragtag, underdog team—and here’s who’s going to be the star of the show,’ and I open it, and show her a shot of Rocket. And she said, ‘That’s a raccoon.’ I said, ‘Yes!’ I thought Rocket was the best, with the jetpack and the laser guns—and I felt there would be great humor if we would play him straight, in that we treat him like he’s SpiderMan. He makes jokes, but we don’t belittle or make fun of him. I was a big fan of the Rocket Raccoon miniseries from the ’80s—so it is so amazing to see Bill Mantlo get the acclaim he deserves, and to see Marvel and so many people reaching out to him and helping him with his care.” Rosemann showed his selections to Marvel editor Tom Brevoort, who suggested the addition of a 1960s Marvel monster. Rosemann chose Groot but acknowledges that it was writer Keith Giffen who put Rocket and Groot together. “One’s a raccoon, one’s a tree, of course they’re going to be friends!” said Giffen. Timothy Green confesses: “Rocket Raccoon is the main reason I took on the project, and I love the idea of Rocket’s best friend being a walking tree! I had already started another book when Bill Rosemann asked me if I wanted to work on the series. I told him that I couldn’t, but after he mentioned Rocket would be in it, and Keith Giffen would be writing it, I put my other project on hold. When I was a kid I loved the Rocket Raccoon miniseries. Unfortunately there wasn’t a follow-up. So when Bill mentioned Rocket would be in it I got really excited. “I had no communication with Keith Giffen at that time—everything was relayed through the script—though my editor let me have a lot of fun and freedom with the series. I had a month or two to do sketches and get a good feel for all the characters, which is usually not the case. My original sketches for Rocket were either too similar to Mignola’s or too realistic. Eventually I found the look I liked, though he ended up looking more like my cat than a raccoon! Rocket

“A bit of Moebius” A signature moment for Rocket in Annihilation: Conquest–Starlord #1. When informed by the author of this article that his work is reminiscent of the masterful Moebius, Timothy Green II replied, “Moebius inspired my work for so many years, and though my style has grown and changed so much there’s always a bit of Moebius in everything I draw.” TM & © Marvel.

was always the most fun to draw. Star-Lord and Mantis were next. When I did the Rocket and Groot series later [see below], I thought a more cute and cartoony Rocket would work better for that story.” In Annihilation: Conquest– Starlord, Groot sacrifices himself to allow the team to escape. Rocket saves a splintered remnant, plants it, and regrows a miniature Groot— reinforcing their camaraderie and providing cinematic inspiration. After the Phalanx (and their surprise leader, Ultron) are defeated, the survivors form a team to prevent further such incidences. Although “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a name previously used for a group of heroes from the future (see: BACK ISSUE #65 and elsewhere in this issue), Rosemann suggested that this team could be the first group to use the name— at Rocket’s suggestion. When the Guardians of the Galaxy movie was announced, Rosemann assumed it would feature the original, futuristic team— but was thrilled when he discovered it was the modern-day iteration. He told CBR: “People would say, ‘Rocket Raccoon, really?’ I’d say, ‘Yes, Rocket Raccoon. This character is amazing, and he will appeal to millions of kids, and kids of all ages.’ It’s a raccoon with a jet pack, and a blaster, and a bad attitude. What is not to love? And there’s a giant walking tree that’s his friend. That is gold. James Gunn and the moviemakers—they got it, and did wonderful things with them.” Mike Mantlo confirms: “In 2014, Bill was treated to a private screening (in his room at the nursing home) of Guardians of the Galaxy, courtesy of Marvel VP David Bogart. When we determined that it would not be possible for Bill to attend the theatrical screening that Marvel held for

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Topless Titan Rocket Raccoon… shirtless! Sketch by and courtesy of Timothy Green II. Rocket Raccoon TM & © Marvel.

staffers, crew, etc., Mr. Bogart asked if there was any way Marvel could accommodate Bill so he could see his creation come to life. Marvel really stepped up, sending a DVD copy of the as-yet-unreleased film in a briefcase attached by handcuffs to a member of their security staff, a projector with sound system, and a bunch of ‘swag’ (T-shirts, Funko figurines, comics, etc.). David Bogart and David Althoff (Marvel VP—Legal Dept.) met me and my wife, Liz, at the nursing home, and Bill viewed the film with a huge smile on his face. The highlight was when his name rolled across the screen in the credits… it was the best day he’d had in years! I couldn’t be more thankful to Marvel for all they’ve done for Bill in this past decade!”

ROCKET AND GROOT

Guardians of the Galaxy ran for 25 issues (July 2008–June 2010), followed by the cataclysmic Thanos Imperative miniseries (Aug. 2010–Jan. 2011). Next, Marvel published a four-issue Annihilators miniseries (May–Aug. 2011). Within each issue was a serialized Rocket and Groot backup story, by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and artist Timothy Green II. We follow Rocket as he returns to Halfworld, discovering that his memories are… incomplete. Halfworld is, in reality, a bio-organic ecosystem that operates as the largest known asylum in space for the criminally insane. The impenetrable Galacian Wall is the outer shell of the asylum. The guards are made to look like clowns to enhance the cheerful atmosphere of the place. Anthropomorphized animals—designed to be friendly and reassuring—act as wardens, but are also biological components of the living prison. When the Star Thief, a stellar-level psychic and old foe of Adam Warlock, was admitted to the asylum, his psychic powers began to assume control. As its security chief, and part of the living lock-and-key of the asylum, Rocket had his memories erased before leaving Halfworld forever. All his recollections of friends, clowns, loonies, and bibles were merely romanticized fragments. But upon his return, the bio-organic key is completed, and the Star Thief—a man who can snuff out stars with a thought—is on the verge of escape…. Green has fond memories of the series: “After finishing Annihilation: Conquest–Starlord, Jean-Marc Lofficier and I pitched a Rocket miniseries. I wanted to expand upon the original miniseries that Mignola had done all those years ago. At the time they didn’t think a solo Rocket

Solo Star Skottie Young’s Rocket Raccoon #1 (Sept. 2014). TM & © Marvel.

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series would sell. A few years later they asked me if I’d be interested in working with Abnett and Lanning on ‘Rocket and Groot.’ I couldn’t say no to that. Those guys wrote a hilarious script!” The following year, the Guardians of the Galaxy returned to comics. Rocket finally received a side-splitting solo series by Skottie Young in July 2014. Also in July 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy opened in cinemas—and Rocket became a worldwide star. Although the cinematic Rocket is computer-generated, he was based on a real raccoon named Oreo. Guardians was filmed at Shepperton Studios in England—not traditionally an area famous for raccoons! Sallie Bent, Oreo’s owner, explains: “Although many zoos have raccoons, they are not cooperative and affable like Oreo! A lady from a mobile zoo put the filmmakers in touch with us, although at the time it wasn’t obvious they were from Marvel as it was all done under a false name. We didn’t know it was Marvel until we arrived to meet James Gunn and his team that day. We quickly realized who it was when we were ushered in immediately to sign a secrecy agreement. James met Oreo. He played with him for three hours and that was it, Rocket became based on Oreo. “Oreo was perfect for Rocket. He let them soak him with water, shave his fur off, study him endlessly…. They needed to know what he looked like wet, what happened to his fur, and they took some fur, too. All raccoons are incredibly tactile and dextrous, and Oreo was no exception. He had to work with boxes and other items so they could study his hands. He had to react to different noises—both familiar and unfamiliar, as well as familiar and unfamiliar people. All sorts of things. It was very complex with 360-degree cameras, 250 animators, literally loads of people studying him. It took place at Shepperton, our home, and at James’ home as well. It was a really cool experience and James is still in touch now, a really, really lovely and very talented man.” Making sad headlines around the world, Oreo passed away after a short illness on February 7, 2019, at the age of ten. “Oreo was an amazing animal; he loved everyone and other animals too,” continues Sallie. “No fear, just calm acceptance and interest in whoever came his way. He did a lot of work with autism and end-of-life care, giving great pleasure to many and he instinctively knew how to behave with each person. James Gunn fell in love with him and vice versa, a match made in heaven. Oreo proved that when he sat on James’ shoulder on the red carpet at the European premiere. All the lights, cameras, screaming people, loud music… nothing phased him. James came back to Oreo’s suite at the hotel afterwards and rolled round the floor in his very nice suit playing. Oreo truly was one in a million.” Reflecting on Rocket’s original miniseries, Milgrom sagely concludes: “I don’t even know if it sold that well, but we know eventually Rocket went on to bigger and better things. And that’s life in the funnybooks—you never know where your next superstar is going to come from!” The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Sal Buscema, Al Gordon, Timothy Green II, Al Milgrom—and Sallie Bent and Mike Mantlo for their generous help. Thanks also to John Trumbull. JARROD BUTTERY lives in Western Australia. He would like to dedicate this article to Bill Mantlo and Oreo Raccoon. They never met, but they breathed life into a superstar.

THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL Two decades after his miniseries, I was thrilled to see Rocket return to prominence. Abnett and Lanning’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Thanos Imperative are among the great comic runs of the Modern Age. Peter Quill is the lead character, but Rocket is the breakout star. A few years later, I re-read the series with my son, Jamie. He too latched onto Rocket as his favorite character. Comic conventions are rare in Western Australia, but I started requesting Rocket commissions from visiting artists (several of whom had never heard of Rocket!). And then, in early 2014 (before the movie opened), Jamie announced that he wanted to cosplay as Rocket. With zero experience, my wife and I bought some faux fur, constructed a costume, and Jamie won the Youth Cosplay category. From that, he was invited to attend (in costume) the local premiere of the Guardians movie. He’s now too old—and too tall—to fit the costume, but he’s still occasionally recognized at our one annual convention as the kid who was Rocket Raccoon.

Rocket Gets Real (left) Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, as seen (by millions) in the Marvel Studios films. (right top) Oreo, the real raccoon upon which the movie version was based, and (right bottom) Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn with his furry friend. TM & © Marvel.

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We’re so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed over this selection of illos of Marveldom’s most popular talking critter (sorry, Spider-Ham) that we had to give it the gallery treatment! All images courtesy of Jarrod Buttery.

agnes garbowska

alan davis

brad walker

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chris mcquinlan

Rocket Raccoon and Groot TM & © Marvel.

alex saviuk

francis manapul

david yardin

george pérez

paul mason

skottie young

Joe Jusko (left) and Jarrod Buttery at Melbourne’s 2013 Supanova convention. Joe is holding his preliminary stewart mckenny

joe jusko

sketch of the Rocket illustration showcased in this gallery.

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While somewhat outside the scope of the main article and BACK ISSUE’s editorial purview, an issue dedicated to the Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn’t quite be complete without acknowledging the new version of the team, due to their standing in popular culture from a very successful movie franchise. Going backwards in time (possibly counterintuitive, considering we’re talking about the future): The smash hit movie from 2014 was heavily inspired by the 2008 Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy comic series, which gathered quite a rabid following. The creators of that 2008 series had a deep respect for the original Guardians team, as did Andy Schmidt— the Marvel editor who was the brainchild of the group that was eventually handed off to Abnett and Lanning. So not only the Guardians’ name, but the work with the characters, inspired what was to come. In this section we talk with Schmidt, the Marvel editor who pushed for the cosmic title resurgence that led into a new Guardians team, along with Keith Giffen, the main writer who helmed the various books that introduced and brought the new version of the team together.

WILLIAM COLOSIMO: In late 2004, Jim Valentino had sent a pitch to Marvel featuring a revamped version of the original Guardians, which went unread. It seems everything somewhat began for the new Guardians team with the 12-issue Thanos series from 2004.

A Blast from the Past! Jim Valentino returned briefly in 2008 to pencil a variant cover for GOTG vol. 2 #7, an homage to his GOTG #1 from 1990. Chance Wolf inks. Original cover art courtesy of William Colosimo. TM & © Marvel.

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by W i l l i a m

Colosimo

Not Your Father’s Guardians (left) The end of this miniseries assembled the new Guardians of the Galaxy. Annihilation: Conquest #6 (June 2008) cover by Aleksi Briclot. (right) Cover to Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #1 (July 2008), spotlighting the revitalized team that would go on to star in Marvel Studios movies. Cover art by Clint Langley. TM & © Marvel.

By late 2004, did you already have an idea on what you wanted to do with Marvel cosmic and the Guardians of the Galaxy name? Would that be why Jim’s 2004 pitch went unread? ANDY SCHMIDT: I don’t recall Jim ever contacting me with a Guardians pitch. If he had, I know it would have been a tough sell. I think I would remember seeing something from Jim because I loved his run on the book. Oddly, I do remember Rob Liefeld pitching me on Guardians of the Galaxy vaguely in that same time frame—maybe a little earlier, if memory serves. But it wasn’t the right take on the characters at that time. I remember reviewing his pitch and feeling it was just too nostalgic at that point. It was very similar to Jim’s run on the book in the ’90s. COLOSIMO: Did you pitch the original Guardians internally to Marvel? SCHMIDT: Yeah, I definitely showed Rob’s pitch around. It wasn’t like, “Oh, look at this slam-dunk thing.” My memory is a little hazy on some of these details, so I’m a little hesitant to go on record on some of this stuff. But I think that’s when the discussion came up specifically about the title, Guardians of the Galaxy, being something that just doesn’t sell. And me, being a big science-fiction fan, and fan of the original Guardians of the Galaxy from the ’70s, and a fan of Jim’s Guardians from the ’90s—that was one of my favorite comics of all time. I know we all talk about how terrible the ’90s were, but I loved that book. I loved it! As a fan, I found the ’90s—and part of this was, I just happened to be the right age to get caught up in the zeitgeist of it all—but the ’80s and ’90s are near and dear to my heart. I can go back and read a lot of stuff that was put out then and be like, “Okay, I can see why the industry viewed some of this as not great for the industry,” but I still had a lot of fun with it. I have the advantage of nostalgia. I loved Jim’s book. As a Guardians of the Galaxy fan I was a huge science-fiction fan. As I recall, I was pitching Marvel Cosmic and space stuff for a while, and trying to get Marvel to give me the reins, essentially. By me, I don’t just mean me, I mean my office. I worked for Tom Brevoort. Tom ran the Marvel Heroes office, which is Avengers, and FF, and that kind of thing. And so, we had been working with Starlin, we’d been doing the Infinity comics, we did the Marvel Universe: The End, we did The Infinity Abyss, stuff like that when we were doing Thanos. So Marvel Cosmic kind of fell in our purview so to speak, and so I was trying to pitch something larger. I’m like, “Hey, I think there’s room

to hunt here. I think there’s interest if we just hit this right.” And one of the things I was saying was—and this was never intended as a dig on anybody because, like I said, I’m a big fan of this stuff—is that I just thought it was time for a new take on it. That we had kind of been going back to the ’70s’ and ’80s’ storylines, and those characters a lot, and I thought it needed sort of a refresh. And so I had been pitching these big ideas like big storylines, and I had chosen all these characters. I was starting to get through. I was finding sort of like my internal allies, that sort of thing. Not that it was a big fight—it was never a fight, it was just kind of like, “Eh, I don’t know. This stuff doesn’t sell great. Seems pretty risky.” And I think it was somewhere in there was when Rob pitched me that idea. And the reason I remember that Rob pitched me the Guardians, and I remember placing this fairly decently in that timeline, is because Rob didn’t really know me all that well, we’d met a couple of times. But I think he talked to Mike Marts—but I could be wrong—about doing Guardians, and Mike said, “Well, we’ve got an editor here that’s really interested in the cosmic stuff, and you should talk to him.” So Rob actually came to me because I had already been talking internally about it. I liked what Rob put together and I think that was when I first really brought up the name “Guardians of the Galaxy.” And that’s when it was like, “Well, that won’t work because that book doesn’t sell.” I was like, “Oh. Oh… well, all right.” Going forward, that was really valuable information. Then we were doing the Thanos book with Jim, Jim left the book, and then I asked Tom if I could reach out to Keith Giffen to come on as writer, because I’d been a huge fan of his work over the years. I was specifically thinking sort of like the “Five Years Later” Legion of Super-Heroes-type stuff. That was a pretty similar vibe that I thought I wanted to take Thanos in. And Tom said, “Okay, reach out to him,” so I called Keith and we started talking and he came on. [Editor’s note: The “Five Years Later” era of LSH will be covered in the next edition of BACK ISSUE.] COLOSIMO: By the time you started on Thanos with Keith Giffen, you already knew the original Guardians wouldn’t sell. But by this time, you were sold on the actual “Guardians of the Galaxy” name itself and wanted to create a new team? SCHMIDT: In the back of my brain there was always, “We’ll get to a Guardians of the Galaxy book,” but I knew that there was going to

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Star-Lord and Friends A great Guardians gathering in original art form, detail from page 1 of the Rocket and Groot backup feature in Annihilators #1 (May 2011). Courtesy of its artist, Timothy Green II.

be an overhaul to it, it was not gonna be the same thing that it was. Part of that was I knew that we needed to set it in present day. It’s a lot easier to get Marvel fans interested if they feel like it can influence the Marvel Universe. And so, by the nature of putting it into the future, you kind of lost a segment of the audience already. At least that was my theory. We don’t have a ton of market research on these things, we don’t have a ton of data. My theory was, because that’s kind of the way I was as a reader, “Oh, okay, that takes place in an alternative dimension or an alternate timeline.” It’s got to be a really super-cool concept to get me to pick that up. If I’m really a superhero fan of the universe, I can’t buy every book that Marvel and DC publish— as much as I would like—so you’ve got to find your criteria to choose them. That was part of it. So, I had been pitching a lot of different things. I had certain characters I wanted to use. I started working with Keith, Keith had characters he wanted to use. He brought Star-Lord in. Star-Lord was not on my radar. I hadn’t read the original Star-Lord comics when I was a kid. I didn’t even remember it well enough to realize Star-Lord wasn’t in the Marvel Universe. Keith brought that up and I said, “What are you talking about, he’s in the Marvel Universe?!” Then I went back and reread it and said, “You’re right! He’s not!” He was kind of concerned. He thought that was going to be an issue for Marvel. I said “Well, just not gonna bring it up.” COLOSIMO: He told me that he had changed the character so drastically, that it was almost a different character altogether.

TM & © Marvel.

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SCHMIDT: Yeah. That’s true. When he shows up, he’s got cybernetic implants, and he’s not wearing a costume at all, and he goes by “Quill.” He doesn’t want to be called “Star-Lord.” This was all stuff that Keith talked to me about. I think that’s what Keith just wanted to do, and it gave Star-Lord something really interesting for us to play with, for Keith to play with. Like, he didn’t want the uniform. Clearly something had gone on. It gave him a little backstory, a little bit of mystery. He was a little bit more angst-y in Thanos, and then he got more humorous as we went on. That was our general approach: take this seriously, have a little humor, and as it goes along, if people are buying in, you can bring more lighthearted elements in. It was really important to my mind, which I communicated to all the various creative teams involved throughout: the threats have to be real; they have to feel big; it has to have weight. Within that, we can have levity—and we want it—we want that contrast, we want the up and the down, but the threats have to feel real. And specifically with Keith. We talked a lot about Keith and Marc [J. M. DeMatteis] and Kevin [Maguire]’s Justice League work. What I said to Keith was, “When you guys did Justice League…” and I worked with that creative team on the Defenders book, there was a five-issue miniseries that they did. What I had said was when Keith and Marc and Kevin were doing that book, was that the first 15 or 16 or whatever issues it was had just nailed this tonal thing, where it was an adventure book with humor. I remember saying to him, “It was when Darkseid showed up with bunny slippers, that that was the moment the book flipped for me.” It became a humor book that occasionally had adventure in it. I said, “What I’m looking for is more of that thing. This is an adventure book, it’s a war book, honestly, with humor. But the humor is secondary.” We had these conversations amongst all the various creative teams. Dan [Abnett] and Andy [Lanning] have a really great sense of humor between the two of them, or senses of humor. Javi [Salas] is really funny. I had hired all these guys who have wonderful comedic senses and that work in comics and then was saying, “Okay, but reel this in… and then as we go further, we can bring that in if this thing is successful, then it’s easier to bring those elements in.” In terms of Guardians of the Galaxy, specifically, the title’s always in the back of our heads, we all had these characters that we liked that we thought could work together, and the idea eventually became during the process of putting the first “Annihilation” event together the idea became, we’re building towards the team book that we’re all calling amongst ourselves “Guardians of the Galaxy,” because what else are you going to call it? But, we also decided that the “Annihilation” event itself shouldn’t be about building a book. It should be about these main characters that are involved, and it needed to have an ending that made sense. And Marvel actually asked me, “Like, okay, we’re going to roll out” by the time we got to the end of “Annihilation.” They were on board with Guardians of the Galaxy, and they said, “Okay, so we’re going to roll out an ongoing series of Guardians of the Galaxy out of this, right?” And I said, “Umm, no. [But] we can get there…” We didn’t in that event, did not build it specifically to create that book, because we wanted to be as true to the characters as possible. And we left them in a place where they’re still in the same area, they’re still together, but we shouldn’t launch that. They they were not going to let me not launch a book out of it. I was like, “Well, then, let’s launch Nova.

Marvel’s Favorite Odd Couple Rocket and Groot—plus an iced-over, star-spangled relic—on Clint Langley’s cover to Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #2 (Aug. 2008). TM & © Marvel.

Let’s launch Nova now, and then we’ll build the Guardians of the Galaxy out of the next event,” because Nova was the main character of “Annihilation.” But I didn’t even want to launch the Nova book at that point. I said, “Let us do one more event where we can form the team and do that.” So we went into setting up “Annihilation Conquest,” with the idea of the Guardians of the Galaxy book at the end. If you look at the end of “Annihilation,” it’s not a “rah-rah team” [character] moment, and honestly, my feeling—and I think most, if not all of the writers involved, at least—felt, “This is a war story.” Usually when you come out at the end of a war, people have formed these amazing bonds over what they’ve just been through, but they don’t usually come out and form a team that then goes on adventuring somewhere. It just didn’t feel natural, it didn’t feel right for those characters coming out of that situation. I still think that was the right decision. I’m sure Marvel would still have liked it if I had agreed to launching the book. COLOSIMO: Your reasons sound totally legit, though. If you had to start after that first “Annihilation” series, were you comfortable with the members you had there? Because they fluctuated greatly between that and “Annihilation Conquest.” You brought in Rocket, and Groot, and all those. SCHMIDT: Right. So Keith wanted to use Groot, and I had mentioned Rocket, because I grew up liking Rocket. But Keith was the one who put the two together. Those were two completely separate conversations. Keith was the one who came in and said, “Rocket and Groot, and Rocket lives in Groot, and they’re friends.” I was like, “This is the most bizarre, insane, and kind of awesome idea!” But, what I was saying earlier, tonally, I didn’t think it fit with the first “Annihilation.” But once that was over—“Okay, ‘Annihilation’ was quite successful.” I think that’s fair to say, at least financially and what not. “So we can bring in some of those elements.” So, had we launched Guardians of the Galaxy out of “Annihilation,” Nova probably would have been the main character of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Now ultimately, Nova wasn’t even in Guardians of the Galaxy, and I think that was the right call. We didn’t build it to launch a team book, so we could have gone, “Okay, we’ll have Drax—he’s been around, and we’ll have Star-Lord, he’s been around, and we’ll have…” whatever, but then we would have had to have launched an ongoing Guardians of the Galaxy book and if it was Keith writing it or if it was Dan and Andy writing it, we would have had to have then quickly brought in whichever other characters—you have the new Quasar, Phyla-Vell, probably would have been a part, because that’s just the nature of how those events work. You find a way to smooth that over for the audience so it seems a little bit more like it makes sense. We were trying so hard to give these characters reasons to exist, and reasons for fans to root for them, and to be interested in them, that they all had their various points of view, they all had their missions. Them all just getting together didn’t really make a ton of sense. The one thing I can tell you, because we had these discussions, was that Marvel said, “Well, you set up Nova, Nova’s the main character.” The idea of a Guardians of the Galaxy book that briefly got bandied about was that Nova would be the main character, and that still didn’t feel right—at least not to me—and I also felt like Nova could carry his own book. So, we went with a Nova series while we built the team—and with “Annihilation Conquest,” knowing that it was going to launch a book, that gave us time to bring in some new characters and figure out those team dynamics. One of the things that I look back on and realize that I felt like we never quite got right: we never really figured out what to do with Gamora. COLOSIMO: I was wondering how she came into the mix. Who brought her in? SCHMIDT: I’m pretty sure it was Keith that wanted her in, and I said, “Sure.” But I never felt like we differentiated Gamora really from Drax,

honestly. They served sort of the same purpose. But we’d already done so much with Drax; that he was closer to the center of the story. I never felt like we differentiated Gamora all that well, at least up through the first “Annihilation” event. And then I remember seeing the movie, my wife and I were invited to the red carpet premier of the Guardians film in L.A., and we went up there and I remember when they altered the personalities for the films. And I remember going, “Oh. They clearly recognized the problem we had… and they fixed it!” Gamora and Drax are totally different in those movies, they’re very different roles. And I remember going, “Okay, fair enough… you’re freed from the continuity,” but as an editor and as creators, it’s our responsibility to figure out how to make that work within that continuity. And that was one of those things I never really felt like… we did great with all the dudes, but we didn’t do as well with our female characters. That was just my feeling, kind of hindsight. Keith essentially, as I put it, got the “offer you can’t refuse” from DC, and so we knew that he was not going to be able to be the lead writer on anything going forward. I think he was able to carve out the Star-Lord mini... He was going on to [DC’s] 52, and all kinds of other stuff, and was offered I think quite a good contract. I remember him calling me up and saying, “Hey, I got offered this thing,” and I don’t think he gave me the details, but I can just tell, the way he was talking, I was like, “I don’t think I can compete with that. That sounds pretty great.” And there, he had [DC’s] Dan DiDio in his corner there, who really wanted him there. It’s not like there was anybody at Marvel that didn’t like his work or thought it was bad or anything, but he had me in his corner—well, I’m not the publisher. I don’t think there was a lot I could do there. I remember talking with him and saying, “It sounds to me like you’ve got to take it. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be all right.” There was such a good reaction to the Nova miniseries, and Dan and Andy seemed like the obvious choice to take the reins from there.

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KEITH GIFFEN WILLIAM COLOSIMO: Killraven was a character from the Guardians timeline, per Steve Gerber, as Gerber merged those two worlds in a Defenders story. You had penciled two Amazing Adventures [starring Killraven, “War of the Worlds”] issues—issues #35 and 38. Was #35 your first published story? KEITH GIFFEN: No. My first published story was the “Sword in the Star,” in an old issue of Marvel Preview, the black-and-white magazine. It cover-featured Satana. It was the backup feature, where I first drew Rocket Raccoon [as detailed in the previous article—ed.]. COLOSIMO: When Rocket first appeared in Marvel Preview #7, he was a raccoon of seemingly British descent called “Rocky,” named after a Beatles song. In that issue, there’s a text piece by writer Bill Mantlo where he states Rocky Raccoon was one of your touches as co-creator on that chapter. Was that more of a one-off character, or do you think if the series would have continued, he would have been in there for longer? GIFFEN: He probably would have been there for longer as a supporting cast member. To be honest with you, he was a throwaway character to me. I never dreamt it would reach this level with Rocket Raccoon. But then, that’s been my career, mostly. I thought Lobo was a throwaway character. I’m really bad at predicting which characters are going to go someplace. But Rocket was just a… “Eh, we needed a funny animal character… eh, let’s do this.” It was literally that thought. And Bill being a huge Beatles fan, that’s how the name came about. I wish there was more to this story that I could talk about how we were doing it, and we saw a future for the character, but no, it was just two guys who needed a story beat in there, so I threw in a raccoon. COLOSIMO: Let’s jump all the way ahead to 2004, to the Thanos series that ran for 12 issues. Jim Starlin did the first six, you did the next six. That series seemed to be the point where Marvel started pushing their cosmic characters… or at least where it snowballed. GIFFEN: Possible. The Thanos thing—I remember when, I think it was Andy Schmidt, the editor, he called me and asked me if I’d be interested in doing Thanos. And my first thought was, “Why are you calling me?” He said, “Well, Jim’s gonna leave the book.” So, I wanted to do it—I had some ideas for Thanos, but literally I told him, “Look, you’ve gotta call Jim, Jim’s gotta give his blessing. He’s got to say it’s okay for me to do it. ’Cause if Jim says he doesn’t want me to do it, or if there’s any reticence, I’m not going to do it, because Thanos is Jim’s character.” And Jim was really generous. It was basically, “Hey, go ahead; don’t f**k him up too bad!” So I did the Thanos series. And it was fun to do, I enjoyed it. I got to do a whole different take on the character. And, it is what it is. The book eventually died, and I moved on. When it comes to stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy or their film universe, the first thing I really did that had a direct impact on the movie was the Drax miniseries. COLOSIMO: In the Thanos series, why did you decide to reintroduce Peter Quill to readers in a supporting role in the story? GIFFEN: I liked the Star-Lord character, and he had been rattling around in the back of my head. Mostly, it was just looking around for Marvel cosmic characters that were currently not being used. I remember doing this. I was really determined, “I’m not gonna use characters that are being used. I don’t want to go through the frustration of having an editor approve it.” I did not want to go through that process, so I deliberately looked for characters that were more obscure. And Peter Quill, he just kind of fit the bill. I probably would have done the character with a

Marvel’s Cosmic Initiative (top) Writer Keith Giffen planted seeds for the evolution of the new Guardians team in Thanos #7 (May 2004). Cover by Starlin and Milgrom. (bottom) Giffen continued his cosmic saga in the Drax the Destroyer limited series. Issue #1 (Nov. 2005) cover by Mitchell Breitweiser. TM & © Marvel.

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A Raccoon and a Tree… Giffen’s dialogue on this page from Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord #1 (Sept. 2007) epitomizes the Rocket and Groot Marvel moviegoers have grown to love. Art by Timothy Green II and Victor Glazaba. Scan courtesy of Jarrod Buttery. TM & © Marvel.

made-up name, because he bore so little resemblance to Peter Quill, but I got lucky in that Peter Quill was available. That was just a stroke of luck. COLOSIMO: If that Thanos series would have continued, did you have any future story arcs in mind at the time? GIFFEN: I had a few that were rumbling around in the back of my head. Thanos can just go on, and on, and on. With the right storytelling, he can sustain his own series for as long as you want him to. For the life of me I couldn’t tell you what those plans were, but had the Thanos series continued, I am pretty sure I would have come up with something. COLOSIMO: Like you mentioned, the Drax the Destroyer series was next up after Thanos. How did that series come about? GIFFEN: That was the editor, Andy Schmidt, contacting me and going, “Hey, interested in doing something with Drax?” And back then he was a green guy with what looked like a pirate suit with skull and bones and stuff. I remember asking, “Well, if I’m going to do that, I’d like to do something about his look. I’d like to modify his look a bit so he doesn’t look so clownish.” That was all approved. So, I hunted down a bunch of aliens that, again, nobody cared about, made up one or two, and just did the Drax miniseries. I was just interested in what would happen if an alien prison ship crash-landed in an isolated area in a small town, and there was no help coming, and people had to deal with it. And the story just grew… on that story, once I nailed the personality of Cammi—the girl in the book— the rest of the story just fell into place. COLOSIMO: That Drax series led into the “Annihilation” event, and while some of those characters’ individual series had different writers, you helmed the main Annihilation series… GIFFEN: Yes. By the way, when I started Drax, we had no idea “Annihilation” was coming—that wasn’t even a thought. Maybe Andy had a few thoughts about it, but I started the Drax miniseries figuring I’d do the Drax series. I knew nothing about “Annihilation” until midway through, when Andy started talking about it. COLOSIMO: That’s exactly where I was going. I was wondering at what point in this process did you realize that a new Marvel Cosmic was being created. It sounds like Andy was more of the head behind that… GIFFEN: Yes, he was the guy behind that. I started as a hired hand. The whole “elevating the Marvel cosmic thing”—-that was his baby. That was his baby. I think I was maybe about halfway through Drax when he started talking about it. By the time I finished Drax, it was full-blown conversations and I was like, “Yeah, I want on board that. Definitely I want on board that.” And it took off. But he went, he got it approved, and we started working on it. But when I started on Drax, as far as I was concerned, I was doing that series and I’d move on. The genius behind “Annihilation” is Andy Schmidt—period. COLOSIMO: And then, after Annihilation, this leads into your last work with the Guardians. The “Annihilation Conquest” event started. While you didn’t do the Annihilation Conquest series itself, you did the Star-Lord series, which basically brought the core elements of the actual new team of Guardians together. So you had Groot, and you had Rocket, they both made appearances… GIFFEN: And, by the way, I had the group set up and Andy Schmidt said to me, “What about the raccoon?” So even including Rocket Raccoon in there came from the editor. COLOSIMO: Once you decided to use Groot, it just seemed natural to have the raccoon with the tree, basically? And that’s what Andy came up with?

GIFFEN: No, Andy came up with using Rocket Raccoon. And when he mentioned Rocket Raccoon, I thought, “Well, yeah, Rocket would ride around on Groot.” Then it became the natural creative process. But I can’t take any credit for bringing Rocket Raccoon into that. Andy was the one who came up with it; I wasn’t even thinking of Rocket Raccoon at that point. I was trying to figure out who the group was. COLOSIMO: Did you think those two, Rocket and Groot, were a natural team to you? GIFFEN: Oh, yeah, they meshed together real well. I really enjoyed doing Rocket and Groot. Special thanks from the author to the following individuals, without whom this project would not have been possible. In alphabetical order: Paul Anderson, Spencer Beck, Michael Browning, Jarrod Buttery, Sadie Colosimo, Tom DeFalco, Michael Eury, Rose Rummel-Eury, Keith Giffen, Chris Ivy, Ted Latner, John Lewandowski, Rob Liefeld, Al Milgrom, Fabian Nicieza, Andy Schmidt, Mary Skrenes, Evelyn Stein, Eric Stephenson, Roger Stern, Aaron Valentino, Diane Valentino, Bob Wiacek, and Chance Wolf. …And a very special thanks (for numerous reasons) go out to Jim Valentino. WILLIAM COLOSIMO normally spends his free time documenting the history of the sport of mixed martial arts, but was pulled away for this special research topic. A longtime collector of Guardians of the Galaxy original art and comics from the Valentino series (and Marvel Presents), he can be reached at wcolosimo@yahoo.com.

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“SOME OF THE BEST MAGAZINE WRITERS AROUND”

Wow! Another fantastic issue of BACK ISSUE magazine [#113]! When I visited Golden Apple Comics in L.A. and saw the cover featuring the 30th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman, I couldn’t wait to buy it. Safe to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Once again, great job by all the writers covering this groundbreaking comic-book film. It was especially interesting reading the comments of screenwriter Sam Hamm and his feelings about the 1989 Bat-phenomenon. As much as I love director Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movie trilogy (especially Batman Begins), Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks again to you and all the writers on an amazing job with coverage. You are very fortunate to have some of the best magazine writers around. – Jason Strangis Thank you, Jason. While ye ed’s name tops the masthead, it’s the labors of our talented pool of freelance writers that make each issue of BACK ISSUE a joy to read and a valuable reference source.

MIA: IRV NOVICK

I see with the relevant [Batman] articles in BACK ISSUE #50, 73, and 113 that you are slowly producing a sequel to The Batcave Companion (ten years old now!). The only thing missing so far is an article on Irv Novick. Or have I missed it? – Michael Connolly I hadn’t thought of these articles as an unofficial Batcave Companion vol. 2, but we are slowly stitching that together in BACK ISSUE, aren’t we? There’s lots more pertinent Bat-material to cover, so Gotham City will remain an occasional stopover for BI, as early as the upcoming issue #123. We have not done an Irv Novick profile. Some years back a writer was working on one, but he became too busy to contribute and I let it fall off my radar. Thanks for reminding me of Irv. A look at his Bronze Age Batman and Flash work would definitely be of interest to many BACK ISSUE readers. (If any of our regular contributors is interested in taking this on, please contact me privately.)

ENJOYED HIS STAY AT ARKHAM

Like most every comic fan (and BI contributor, I am sure), I was standing in line the day the Batman movie opened after months and months of handwringing since Michael Keaton was announced as filling the title role. Thankfully as well, I remember leaving the theater completely satisfied and feeling a thrill when the crowd erupted at certain moments, notably the first view of the Batmobile. The story of Michael Uslan making a movie head realize the significance of superhero legends should be heartening to anyone who has ever had to explain their love of superheroes.

The interview with Sam Hamm was a joy to read. His intelligence, passion, and knowledge of the character came through in almost every word he “spoke.” Is there any chance that his version of the Batman screenplay has been printed anywhere or still exists? With superhero movies now being their own genre, we miss out on those adaptations they always used to do. I always find/found it interesting to see what scenes were changed or omitted from the released movies since the adaptations were always created from screenplays that were not final. Batman comics of that era were just fabulous and very well covered in the issue’s articles. I have heard Jim Starlin’s story of his removal from the series before and always found it a shame. Batman #414 was, at the time, and still remains one of my absolute favorite Batman stories of all time. For a writer most often associated with cosmic storylines, Starlin could certainty write special stories set at street level. My question regarding the comic strip article is, how can we convince a publisher to get those Batman strips back into print? As well as The World’s Greatest Superheroes strip, if I’m starting a wish list... As a final comment, kudos to everyone involved in the Arkham Asylum article. A wonderful piece that was not your standard examination of a work and all the more refreshing because of it. Articles like these keep us from thinking we know what to expect from BACK ISSUE and ask we readers to examine what we think about the stories and the medium we love. – Brian Martin If any reader knows the answer to Brian’s question about Samm Hamm’s original Batman screenplay, please let me know and I’ll share it here. I’m glad you liked the Arkham Asylum analysis (as you did with the Dr. Manhattan examination in #112, as you commented in a previous letter). Those scholarly perspectives aren’t the norm for this magazine, but when a more cerebral series warrants it, we’ll certainly doff our superhero T-shirt and reach for our professorial tweed jacket (with elbow patches) and pipe.

BLAXPLOITATION FILMS

Since the above term has come up twice already in the issue— and I’m not finished reading it, giving it room to pop up again— I thought I would send in a comment. There seems to be an impression among some of the interviewees that Blaxploitation [or “Blacksploitation”] films are films that exploit African Americans somehow. The explanation is simpler and more benign than that. The late ’60s and early ’70s saw the rise of a new film genre: the Exploitation film. They were made cheap and quick and upped the sex, violence, language, action, and maybe the most important for their marketing, nudity, over the standard Hollywood film of the era. Some examples would include: Vanishing Point, Big Bad Mama, and The Last House on the Left. Blaxploitation films were simply Exploitation films that stared African-American actors and frequently had AfricanAmerican talent behind the camera. I take that back: the Blaxploitation films were frequently better than the ones from white filmmakers. The name is just part of the same thought process that found it necessary to slap “Black” in front of the codenames for superheroes who happened to be African or African American. – Doug Abramson

GLAD HE GAVE #114 A CHANCE

When I heard about the Black Superheroes of the ’70s issue, I almost passed on it. My first thought was, “Beyond Black Lightning and Luke Cage, what are they going to cover?” My second thought was how I felt about these comics when they hit the stands. Please don’t take that the wrong way—if a character was entertaining and interesting, I didn’t care what color he was. But in an effort to integrate the African-American point of view into comics, the pendulum swung almost too far for my tastes, into an area that, ironically, seemed racially prejudiced. It seemed like any black character in a comic book had to be named Jefferson or

78 • BACK ISSUE • Guardians of the Galaxy Issue

Washington and had to talk jive. Even back then, in my naive teen years, I questioned whether that was an accurate representation. I lived in a small rural town that was pretty much 100% white. Reading this stuff, I wondered if all black people talked and acted like that. It didn’t help that many of the predominant African-American characters had to have the “Black” adjective in front of their name, just to hammer the point home. I remember wondering why we didn’t have characters called White Batman or Green Martian Manhunter. Of course, it was a different time, and the zeitgeist of the day called for black characters to behave a certain way. So, to circle back to my original point, I was pleasantly surprised at BI #114’s coverage. Collecting these characters under one roof made me realize that not all black characters of the ’70s were black stereotypes. There were quite a number of them that treated them not as black men, but as men, without the need for angry social commentary. So thank you for yet another entertaining issue. And let us all breathe a sigh of relief that the Black Bomber never made it to print. – Michal Jacot

A VIEW FROM ACROSS THE POND

It feels like a crazy old world at the moment. It’s hard to work things out. Are we experiencing the last hurrah of yesterday, or is this the beginning of how it’s going to be for the foreseeable future? I dare say that the events of the last few years in the UK (I’m talking about the self-inflicted wound of Brexit here) must seem unfathomable to anyone in the USA with even half an interest. Conversely, a lot of what’s been happening in the US seems utterly perplexing to most of us over here. If Martin Luther King, Jr. was correct and that the arc of the moral universe does indeed tend towards justice, then it feels to me as though we are currently living through a period that might best be described as stagnant. With all that in mind, BI 114’s “Black Superheroes of the 1970s” theme felt like a very timely, and if one may use the word— relevant issue. Legion of Super-Heroes © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

It was hugely instructive and affirming to read about the efforts that were made to render the fantasy world of superhero comics in some way reflective of the world around it. I take my hat off to all those creative pioneers and trailblazers who fought to make it happen. The thought of a young black reader skimming the pages of a 1960s, or even a 1970s, comic and not once seeing himself represented seems utterly absurd now. As ridiculous, in fact, as the idea that simply portraying a black character could be in any way contentious. It’s clear from the many excellent articles that any number of obstacles were placed in the way of progressive writers, artists, and editors by a management culture that would have preferred the status quo to prevail. And yet the response to this foot dragging was quite clearly—If not now, when? So in some respects, we’ve come a long way. And yet a quick look at the world around us tells us that there’s really no place for complacency and self-congratulation. Until the day comes when a character’s skin color, religion, or ethnicity isn’t referred to, or seen as important, there’s still plenty of room for progress. – Simon Bullivant PS: On another, far more trivial note—can I say how much I’m looking forward to BI #117’s “Stand-in Superheroes”? The personal email informing me of its upcoming publication really made my day. Glad my note cheered you up, Simon! Thanks again for the theme suggestion. Hope you liked the issue. And your perspectives on issue #114 are appreciated as well. Next issue: Heroes of Tomorrow! A Mon-El hero history, STEVE LIGHTLE’s Legionnaires, and the controversial Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years era. Plus MIKE SEKOWSKY’s Manhunter 2070, MIKE GRELL’s Starslayer, Charlton’s Space: 1999 tie-in, Paradox, and MIKE BARON’s unfinished Sonic Disruptors series. Featuring contributions from TOM AND MARY BIERBAUM, JOHN BYRNE, KEITH GIFFEN, JOE JUSKO, VAL MAYERIK, WALTER SIMONSON, CHRIS SPROUSE, TIM TRUMAN, MIKE VOSBURG, MARK WAID, and more. Mon-El and the ’80s Legion cover by Steve Lightle. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

Guardians of the Galaxy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 79

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

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

Go to www.twomorrows.com for other issues, and an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

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DEADLY HANDS ISSUE! Histories of Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Yang, the Bronze Tiger, Hands of the Dragon, NEAL ADAMS’ Armor, Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu mag, & Hong Kong Phooey! Plus Muhammad Ali in toons and toys. Featuring JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, STEVE ENGLEHART, PAUL GULACY, LARRY HAMA, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, JIM STARLIN, & others. Classic EARL NOREM cover!

ARCHIE COMICS IN THE BRONZE AGE! STAN GOLDBERG and GEORGE GLADIR interviews, Archie knock-offs, Archie on TV, histories of Sabrina, That Wilkin Boy, Cheryl Blossom, and Red Circle Comics. With JACK ABEL, JON D’AGOSTINO, DAN DeCARLO, FRANK DOYLE, GRAY MORROW, DAN PARENT, HENRY SCARPELLI, ALEX SEGURA, LOU SCHEIMER, ALEX TOTH, and more! DAN DeCARLO cover.

BRONZE AGE AQUAMAN! Team-ups and merchandise, post-Crisis Aquaman, Aqualad: From Titan to Tempest, Black Manta history, DAVID and MAROTO’s Atlantis Chronicles, the original unseen Aquaman #57, and the unproduced Aquaman animated movie. With APARO, CALAFIORE, MARTIN EGELAND, GIFFEN, GIORDANO, ROBERT LOREN FLEMING, CRAIG HAMILTON, JURGENS, SWAN, and more. ERIC SHANOWER cover!

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BACK ISSUE #112

BACK ISSUE #113

BACK ISSUE #114

MAKE MINE MARVEL! ENGLEHART’s “lost” issues of West Coast Avengers, O’NEIL and INFANTINO’s Marvel work, a WAID/ NOCENTI Daredevil Pro2Pro interview, British Bronze Age Marvel fandom, Pizzazz Magazine, Speedball, Marvel Comics Presents, and backstage at Marvel Comicon ’75 and ’76! With DeFALCO, EDELMAN, KAVANAGH, McDONNELL, WOLFMAN, and cover by MILGROM and MACHLAN.

ALTERNATE REALITIES! Cover-featuring the 20th anniversary of ALEX ROSS and JIM KRUEGER’s Marvel Earth X! Plus: What If?, Bronze Age DC Imaginary Stories, Elseworlds, Marvel 2099, and PETER DAVID and GEORGE PÉREZ’s senses-shattering Hulk: Future Imperfect. Featuring TOM DeFALCO, CHUCK DIXON, PETER B. GILLIS, PAT MILLS, ROY THOMAS, and many more! With an Earth X cover by ALEX ROSS.

NUCLEAR ISSUE! Firestorm, Dr. Manhattan, DAVE GIBBONS Marvel UK Hulk interview, villain histories of Radioactive Man and Microwave Man, Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy, and the one-shot Holo-Man! With PAT BRODERICK, GERRY CONWAY, JOE GIELLA, TOM GRINDBERG, RAFAEL KAYANAN, TOM MANDRAKE, BILL MORRISON, JOHN OSTRANDER, STEVE VANCE, and more! PAT BRODERICK cover!

BATMAN MOVIE 30th ANNIVERSARY! Producer MICHAEL USLAN and screenwriter SAM HAMM interviewed, a chat with BILLY DEE WILLIAMS (who was almost Two-Face), plus DENNY O’NEIL and JERRY ORDWAY’s Batman movie adaptation, MINDY NEWELL’s Catwoman, GRANT MORRISON and DAVE McKEAN’s Arkham Asylum, MAX ALLAN COLLINS’ Batman newspaper strip, and JOEY CAVALIERI & JOE STATON’s Huntress!

BLACK SUPERHEROES OF THE 1970s! History of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire! A retrospective of artist BILLY GRAHAM, a TONY ISABELLA interview, Black Lightning, Black Panther in the UK, Black Goliath, the Teen Titans’ Mal and Bumblebee, DON McGREGOR and PAUL GULACY’s Sabre, and… Black Bomber (who?). Featuring TREVOR VON EEDEN, STEVE ENGLEHART, ROY THOMAS, & a BILLY GRAHAM cover!

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BACK ISSUE #115

BACK ISSUE #116

BACK ISSUE #117

BACK ISSUE #118

SCI-FI SUPERHEROES! In-depth looks at JIM STARLIN’s Dreadstar and Company, and the dystopian lawman Judge Dredd. Also: Nova, GERRY CONWAY & MIKE VOSBURG’s Starman, PAUL LEVITZ & STEVE DITKO’s Starman, WALTER SIMONSON’s Justice Peace (from the pages of Thor), and GREG POTTER & GENE COLAN’s Jemm, Son of Saturn! With a Dreadstar and Company cover by STARLIN and ALAN WEISS!

SUPERHEROES VS. MONSTERS! Monsters in Metropolis, Batman and the Horror Genre, DOUG MOENCH and KELLEY JONES’ Batman: Vampire, Marvel Scream-Up, Dracula and Godzilla vs. Marvel, DC/Dark Horse Hero/Monster crossovers, and a Baron Blood villain history. With CLAREMONT, CONWAY, DIXON, GIBBONS, GRELL, GULACY, JURGENS, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN.

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.

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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! NOW SHIPPING! (256-page FULL-COLOR Trade Paperback) $37.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-092-2 (272-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! GET 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. NOW SHIPPING!

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ALTER EGO #164

ALTER EGO #165

ALTER EGO #166

DRAW #36

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

Spotlight on MIKE FRIEDRICH, DC/Marvel writer who jumpstarted the independent comics movement with Star*Reach! Art by NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, IRV NOVICK, JOHN BUSCEMA, JIM STARLIN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, FRANK BRUNNER, et al.! Plus: MARK CARLSONGHOST on Rural Home Comics, FCA, and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Justice League of America cover by NEAL ADAMS!

WILL MURRAY showcases original Marvel publisher (from 1939-1971) MARTIN GOODMAN, with artifacts by LEE, KIRBY, DITKO, ROMITA, MANEELY, BUSCEMA, EVERETT, BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, SCHOMBURG, COLAN, ADAMS, STERANKO, and many others! Plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt with more on PETE MORISI, JOHN BROOME, and a cover by DREW FRIEDMAN!

FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA (FCA) Special, with spotlights on KURT SCHAFFENBERGER (Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, Marvel Family, Lois Lane), and ALEX ROSS on his awesome painting of the super-heroes influenced by the original Captain Marvel! Plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s “Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt” on Superman editor MORT WEISINGER, JOHN BROOME, and more! Cover by SCHAFFENBERGER!

MIKE HAWTHORNE (Deadpool, Infinity Countdown) interview, YANICK PAQUETTE (Wonder Woman: Earth One, Batman Inc., Swamp Thing) how-to demo, JERRY ORDWAY’s “Ord-Way” of creating comics, JAMAR NICHOLAS reviews the latest art supplies, plus Comic Art Bootcamp by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY! Contains mild nudity for figure-drawing instruction; for Mature Readers Only.

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WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

BACK ISSUE #120

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Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this retrospective by publisher JOHN MORROW and Comic Book Creator magazine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors! Introduction by MARK EVANIER, Foreword by ALEX ROSS, Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ, and a new cover by TOM McWEENEY!

HEROES OF TOMORROW! Mon-El hero history, STEVE LIGHTLE’s Legionnaires, and the controversial Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years era. Plus SEKOWSKY’s Manhunter 2070, GRELL’s Starslayer, Charlton’s Space: 1999 tie-in, Paradox, and MIKE BARON’s unfinished Sonic Disruptors series. Featuring the BIERBAUMS, BYRNE, GIFFEN, MAYERIK, SIMONSON, TRUMAN, VOSBURG, WAID, and more. LIGHTLE cover.

CONAN AND THE BARBARIANS! Celebrating the 50th anniversary of ROY THOMAS and BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conan #1! The Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel Conan stories, Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of Thunder, Warlord action figures, GRAY MORROW’s Edge of Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian at Dark Horse Comics. With an unused WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover.

Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40 GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE, and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS COVER from 1981!

SUPERHERO ROMANCE ISSUE! Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark’s many loves, Star Sapphire history, Bronze Age weddings, DeFALCO/ STERN Johnny Storm/Alicia Pro2Pro interview, Elongated Man and Wife, May-December romances, Supergirl’s Secret Marriage, and… Aunt May and Doc Ock?? Featuring MIKE W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB LAYTON, DENNY O’NEIL, and many more! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS.

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TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #22 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #23

P. CRAIG RUSSELL career-spanning interview (complete with photos and art gallery), an almost completely unknown work by FRANK QUITELY (artist on All-Star Superman and The Authority), DERF BACKDERF’s forthcoming graphic novel commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, CAROL TYLER shares her prolific career, JOE SINNOTT discusses his Treasure Chest work, CRAIG YOE, and more!

WENDY PINI discusses her days as Red Sonja cosplayer, and 40+ years of ELFQUEST! Plus RICHARD PINI on their 48-year marriage and creative partnership! SCOTT SHAW! talks about early San Diego Comic-Cons and friendship with JACK KIRBY, Captain Carrot, and Flintstones work! GIL KANE’s business partner LARRY KOSTER about their adventures together! PABLO MARCOS on his Marvel horror work, HEMBECK, and more!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #78

SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! How Kirby kickstarted the Silver Age and revamped Golden Age characters for the 1960s, the Silver Surfer’s influence, pivotal decisions (good and bad) Jack made throughout his comics career, Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, a classic 1950s story, KIRBY/STEVE RUDE cover (and deluxe silver sleeve) and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (DELUXE EDITION w/ silver sleeve) $12.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #79

See “THE BIG PICTURE” of how Kirby fits into the grand scheme of things! His creations’ lasting legacy, how his work fights illiteracy, a RARE KIRBY INTERVIEW, inconsistencies in his 1960s MARVEL WORK, editorial changes in his comics, big concepts in OMAC, best DOUBLE-PAGE SPREADS, MARK EVANIER’s 2019 Kirby Tribute Panel, PENCIL ART GALLERY, and a new cover based on OMAC #1! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Spring 2020

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RetroFan: The Pop Culture You Grew Up With! 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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RETROFAN #1

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RETROFAN #2

RETROFAN #6

RETROFAN #7

RETROFAN #8

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!

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 Lone Ranger in Hollywood, The Dick Van Dyke Show, a vintage interview with Jonny Quest creator DOUG WILDEY, a visit to the Land of Oz, the ultra-rare Marvel World superhero playset, and 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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RETROFAN #3

RETROFAN #4

RETROFAN #5

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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RETROFAN #9 (NOW BI-MONTHLY!)

RETROFAN #9 features interviews with two TV superheroes, Seventies’ Captain America REB BROWN… and Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE BARTLETT! Plus: remembering the Captain Nice TV series, the Wonderful World of Coloring Books, star-studded Fall Previews for Saturday morning cartoons, an eyewitness account of The Cyclops movie, the actors behind your favorite TV commercial characters, Benny Hill’s invasion of America, a trip to the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, 8-track tapes, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, Please add $1 per issue and SCOTT SHAW! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.